Knock, knock...brought to you by Stasa.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Roll on over, little girl
Lexi's daycare teachers have been telling me how much she loves tummy time and how well she's been doing. Well, tonight we could really see how well she's doing. And yes, that's crazy Stasa running around in the background with a burp cloth. She wanted in on tummy time, too.
And what does tummy time lead to you ask? Well, crawling, for one, but also this:
She started rolling from her belly to back awhile ago, but a few days ago we noticed she would wake up on her belly. At first I figured it was a fluke, but she's been rolling over consistently now.
And what does tummy time lead to you ask? Well, crawling, for one, but also this:
She started rolling from her belly to back awhile ago, but a few days ago we noticed she would wake up on her belly. At first I figured it was a fluke, but she's been rolling over consistently now.
Okay, honey
Stasa's such a sponge and repeats the most random things. Okay, maybe they aren't random, but coming out of her mouth - they're hilarious.
Me: "Stasa, let's go upstairs and get ready for bed."
Stasa: "Okay, honey."
Stasa: "Watch BobBob please, honey?"
Me: "Can you put your shoes on so we can go to the car?"
Stasa: "No way!"
Stasa, leaning back in her inner tube in the pool: "Ah, this is the life."
And then, there are the things she says that melts my heart. Likesuchas...
Upon picking her up from daycare: "Oh, I missed you!"
When walking up the stairs before bed time: "I LOVE YOU MOMMY!" ::blows kisses::
While watching me get ready in the morning: "Mommy beautiful."
So much sweetness wrapped up in such a little person.
Me: "Stasa, let's go upstairs and get ready for bed."
Stasa: "Okay, honey."
Stasa: "Watch BobBob please, honey?"
Me: "Can you put your shoes on so we can go to the car?"
Stasa: "No way!"
Stasa, leaning back in her inner tube in the pool: "Ah, this is the life."
And then, there are the things she says that melts my heart. Likesuchas...
Upon picking her up from daycare: "Oh, I missed you!"
When walking up the stairs before bed time: "I LOVE YOU MOMMY!" ::blows kisses::
While watching me get ready in the morning: "Mommy beautiful."
So much sweetness wrapped up in such a little person.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Monday, Monday.
Huge progress this morning. Ha-uge. Stasa walked into daycare, happy as a clam. And stayed that way even as I was leaving. I've been trying to prepare her every night and morning and this morning we had quite the conversation about "skuuul."
Me: What do you do at school?
Stasa: Sleep all night and wake up.
Me: All you do is sleep?
Stasa: And pick boogies.
So. No crying. Happy Stasa. At school. Progress.
When I picked the girls up this afternoon, there was a sheet in Stasa's file alerting us that it's the start of the Splash Day season. Every Tuesday Stasa needs to come to daycare with her bathing suit, towel and sunscreen for her class's Splash Day. There was also a coloring of 2 dogs and a bunch of bones since they've been discussing animals and animal sounds.
We did a bit of playing while we waited for Tom to get home and finish his workout. Stasa was a busy bee and wanted to play with just about everything. She surprised me by cleaning up (without any prompting from me) between activities, singing "clean up, clean, everybody, everywhere!" She helped Lexi "play" with the jumperoo, prepared some delicious crabby patties for me, and helped build a robot and SpongeBob out of her Legos. Busy, busy bee.
The robot "we" built:
"What happen to robot, mommy?" Yeah, I'm not buying that innocent act. Not with that Cheshire grin.
Poor robot.
The best I could do with what we have.
What's that, you say? Isn't it obvious? It's SpongeBob. Duh.
And Lexi was busy snoozing away after all of that "jumping" and playing.
Me: What do you do at school?
Stasa: Sleep all night and wake up.
Me: All you do is sleep?
Stasa: And pick boogies.
So. No crying. Happy Stasa. At school. Progress.
When I picked the girls up this afternoon, there was a sheet in Stasa's file alerting us that it's the start of the Splash Day season. Every Tuesday Stasa needs to come to daycare with her bathing suit, towel and sunscreen for her class's Splash Day. There was also a coloring of 2 dogs and a bunch of bones since they've been discussing animals and animal sounds.
We did a bit of playing while we waited for Tom to get home and finish his workout. Stasa was a busy bee and wanted to play with just about everything. She surprised me by cleaning up (without any prompting from me) between activities, singing "clean up, clean, everybody, everywhere!" She helped Lexi "play" with the jumperoo, prepared some delicious crabby patties for me, and helped build a robot and SpongeBob out of her Legos. Busy, busy bee.
The robot "we" built:
"What happen to robot, mommy?" Yeah, I'm not buying that innocent act. Not with that Cheshire grin.
Poor robot.
The best I could do with what we have.
What's that, you say? Isn't it obvious? It's SpongeBob. Duh.
And Lexi was busy snoozing away after all of that "jumping" and playing.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
What weekend?
I know it's cliche, but time flies. How the hell is my weekend already over? It's kind of hard to even remember everything we did. It was so muggy on Friday so after Tom's workout we drove over to the mall to let Stasa run around the play place. It was there that we learned that when another kid slaps her, she just stands there and takes it and then follows said kid around to play. Before we went to the mall, we played upstairs while Tom finished his workout. 
We had originally planned to get up early on Saturday so we could eat breakfast and be out of the door by 8:00 to check out this huge yard sale I saw advertised. Well, after having Lexi up and down throughout the night, I wasn't in any sort of mood to get out of bed super early. We managed to get everyone in the car by 10:00, which still seems early, but for yard sale-ing it's definitely on the late side. We ended up spending $16.50 and came away with a few sets of pjs, a Levi's dress, a couple pairs of jeans, a shirt and a sweatshirt for Stasa, some baking pans and other miscellaneous kitchen items, a play shopping cart and a child's rocking chair. Not bad for a Saturday morning.
That evening we took advantage of the nice weather and went out for some bubble blowing and chalk drawing. Stasa's getting much better at blowing bubbles and at one point started chasing me around the yard with the huge bubble wand.
This morning we woke up on the early side thanks to two little girls in our bed, but no bother because we like taking advantage of the weekend mornings. After getting Lexi down for her morning nap, Stasa and I took off for the pool. It was a gorgeous warm morning, but man, the water was C.O.L.D. I convinced Stasa that it would be fun to run in circles in the kiddie pool to warm up. Once we did that I didn't mind too much when she splashed me. Although every drop of water initially felt like ice. She thought my reaction was hilarious. We only stayed for an hour and then went back home for lunch and nap.
Tonight we headed over to my manager's house for a casual barbeque. She has one of those houses that looks like anyone else's from the curb, but once you step inside you realize it's just gorgeous. The kitchen is new and shiny, has a great open floorplan and a beautiful Viking range. The rest of the house (from what I could see) is just as nice. The kind of house where I go "oh, shit" when I walk in because I know I'll need to be on my game to keep Stasa from ruining anything. Luckily she was fairly well behaved, with a couple of mini tantrums thrown in because she couldn't get what she wanted. Now we're home and I'm desperately trying to stay awake so the weekend won't end. It's a losing battle.
Friday, June 24, 2011
First week finished
I was surprised at how easy it was to return to work this time and can't believe my first week back is already over. Tom and I were sad to have Stasa leave Gigi's and knew she'd have a hard time with the transition, especially since she's been with the same person for so long. But it is nice having both girls in the same place - makes for a more convenient drop off and pick-up for us among other things. At the end of each day we're given a daily communications sheet for each girl. Lexi's includes when and how many ounces she ate, her exact nap times, and a log of all of her diaper changes. Stasa's tells us what she ate for lunch (and how much), how well she napped, and what she did that day. Both sheets also have a section that notes what supplies each girl needs.
Day one:
Tom came with me for the first day to make it easier on all of us. Both girls were a mess. It didn't help that we were the first ones there because there were no other kids to distract/entertain Stasa, but I prefer to drop off early so I can pick up early. As we left, both girls were crying. Well, Lexi was crying. Stasa was in a ball on the floor, crying her heart out. Once we were in the car, I only cried for a moment and then was fine, which was somewhat surprising since I cried for the entire ride every day for a week when I went back to work last time.
That day I called 2 or 3 times to check on the girls and was told they were doing great, but Lexi was struggling with the bottle. At the end of the day we learned that Lexi hardly slept at all and refused the bottle until she was starving and even then she cried through all of her feedings.
Day two:
The night before we talked to Stasa about her new school and reminded her that she and Lexi would be going again in the morning and talked about all of the fun things she would get to do. I prepared everything the night before to make things easier on us in the morning and decided to pack one of our Swaddle Pods for Lexi to make swaddling easier in the hopes she would sleep longer during the day.
I did drop off alone and talked to Stasa on the ride there about what she would do at school. She was fine until we walked in the door. Then she lost it. I left again with both girls crying and I felt awful leaving, but me lingering would have just made it harder for everyone.
I called again a couple of times throughout the day to check on the girls and both times I was told they were doing great. Lexi's teachers said she slept so much better with the Swaddle Pod and had a pretty good day, but that she needed to be held most of the time. I had also left a pacifier there and they said that helped calm her and put her to sleep, too.
Day three:
We started the day off great - Stasa woke up, asked to sit on the potty and actually went. Drop off went pretty much the same as the day before, but Lexi stopped crying before I left. Poor Stasa walked in as if she was walking to her death. She was crying, but walking willingly to the infant room (where the little kids combine in the morning). When I left the teacher had to close the door to keep Stasa from following me out. Once I was at work, I only called daycare once to check on the girls and was told they were fine and happy.
The girls' rooms are right next to each other and Stasa's class was inside when I came for pick-up, but I managed to sneak into Lexi's room first so I could get her settled in the car seat. Then Stasa saw me through the window, came running over with a huge smile and her daily communications sheet and told me she tried sitting on the potty.
Day four:
Lexi was a gem at drop off. She was smiling, cooing and just all around happy. I put her in her crib and focused on loving on Stasa before I left for work. I left with Stasa pressed against the glass partition, crying out for me.
Somehow I made it through the day without calling daycare at all. I figured if anything went wrong, they would call me. Pick-up was fantastic. I was told that Lexi didn't cry at all the entire day and is happy to take a bottle now. After getting Lexi strapped in her car seat, we went outside to get Stasa. She was happily riding around on a toy car. When she saw me she ran as fast as she could and gave me a great big bear hug. It was the first day she said bye to the kids and the teachers and when we came inside she showed me her artwork (a colored cat) that was hanging on the wall.
Day five:
Drop off wasn't nearly as traumatic as it has been, Stasa walked in and started crying, but mostly because I wouldn't let her have her chew blanket. We usually only let her have it at nap and bed time, but have made an exception this week since it was a big transition for her. By the time I left the room, she had stopped crying and was helping the morning teacher. Apparently they have their own special routine since we're usually the first ones there.
Stas and Lexi were both in a great mood when I arrived for pick-up. Once we were in the car, Stasa told me her version of her day and then as we were pulling away she said, "bye Stasa's skuuul. I love you, Stasa's skuuul. See ya." LOL I think she likes it, what do you think?
The happy 3 month old
Day one:
Tom came with me for the first day to make it easier on all of us. Both girls were a mess. It didn't help that we were the first ones there because there were no other kids to distract/entertain Stasa, but I prefer to drop off early so I can pick up early. As we left, both girls were crying. Well, Lexi was crying. Stasa was in a ball on the floor, crying her heart out. Once we were in the car, I only cried for a moment and then was fine, which was somewhat surprising since I cried for the entire ride every day for a week when I went back to work last time.
That day I called 2 or 3 times to check on the girls and was told they were doing great, but Lexi was struggling with the bottle. At the end of the day we learned that Lexi hardly slept at all and refused the bottle until she was starving and even then she cried through all of her feedings.
Day two:
The night before we talked to Stasa about her new school and reminded her that she and Lexi would be going again in the morning and talked about all of the fun things she would get to do. I prepared everything the night before to make things easier on us in the morning and decided to pack one of our Swaddle Pods for Lexi to make swaddling easier in the hopes she would sleep longer during the day.
I did drop off alone and talked to Stasa on the ride there about what she would do at school. She was fine until we walked in the door. Then she lost it. I left again with both girls crying and I felt awful leaving, but me lingering would have just made it harder for everyone.
I called again a couple of times throughout the day to check on the girls and both times I was told they were doing great. Lexi's teachers said she slept so much better with the Swaddle Pod and had a pretty good day, but that she needed to be held most of the time. I had also left a pacifier there and they said that helped calm her and put her to sleep, too.
Day three:
We started the day off great - Stasa woke up, asked to sit on the potty and actually went. Drop off went pretty much the same as the day before, but Lexi stopped crying before I left. Poor Stasa walked in as if she was walking to her death. She was crying, but walking willingly to the infant room (where the little kids combine in the morning). When I left the teacher had to close the door to keep Stasa from following me out. Once I was at work, I only called daycare once to check on the girls and was told they were fine and happy.
The girls' rooms are right next to each other and Stasa's class was inside when I came for pick-up, but I managed to sneak into Lexi's room first so I could get her settled in the car seat. Then Stasa saw me through the window, came running over with a huge smile and her daily communications sheet and told me she tried sitting on the potty.
Day four:
Lexi was a gem at drop off. She was smiling, cooing and just all around happy. I put her in her crib and focused on loving on Stasa before I left for work. I left with Stasa pressed against the glass partition, crying out for me.
Somehow I made it through the day without calling daycare at all. I figured if anything went wrong, they would call me. Pick-up was fantastic. I was told that Lexi didn't cry at all the entire day and is happy to take a bottle now. After getting Lexi strapped in her car seat, we went outside to get Stasa. She was happily riding around on a toy car. When she saw me she ran as fast as she could and gave me a great big bear hug. It was the first day she said bye to the kids and the teachers and when we came inside she showed me her artwork (a colored cat) that was hanging on the wall.
Day five:
Drop off wasn't nearly as traumatic as it has been, Stasa walked in and started crying, but mostly because I wouldn't let her have her chew blanket. We usually only let her have it at nap and bed time, but have made an exception this week since it was a big transition for her. By the time I left the room, she had stopped crying and was helping the morning teacher. Apparently they have their own special routine since we're usually the first ones there.
Stas and Lexi were both in a great mood when I arrived for pick-up. Once we were in the car, Stasa told me her version of her day and then as we were pulling away she said, "bye Stasa's skuuul. I love you, Stasa's skuuul. See ya." LOL I think she likes it, what do you think?
The happy 3 month old
And the jokes begin
While we were in Chicago, I taught the boys a joke I heard on Yo Gabba Gabba. It goes like this.
Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Interrupting cow.
Interrupting cow --
MOO!
Get it? The interrupting cow inter-- nevermind, you get it. Well, the boys LOVED it and were telling it over and over at the dinner table that night. All of a sudden I hear a small voice say "gock, gock, mommy." And there's my little big girl smiling broadly, patiently waiting for my "who's there?" Here's her version.
Gock, gock. (complete with knocking motion)
Who's there?
Cow.
Cow who?
::pause::
MOO!
I love it and will happily play along while she tells it over and over and over again.
Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Interrupting cow.
Interrupting cow --
MOO!
Get it? The interrupting cow inter-- nevermind, you get it. Well, the boys LOVED it and were telling it over and over at the dinner table that night. All of a sudden I hear a small voice say "gock, gock, mommy." And there's my little big girl smiling broadly, patiently waiting for my "who's there?" Here's her version.
Gock, gock. (complete with knocking motion)
Who's there?
Cow.
Cow who?
::pause::
MOO!
I love it and will happily play along while she tells it over and over and over again.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Potty Progress
We haven't been pushing the potty training as much anymore, although we do encourage Stasa to go potty throughout the day and almost always change her "panties" in the bathroom to help her make the association.
Well, Monday afternoon she announced that she needed to go, walked into the bathroom, dropped trou and went. And as she was going she was applauding herself and asking for a "nummy num," otherwise known as a potty treat. Fast forward to this morning when she woke up dry so I asked if she wanted to sit on the potty. She walked into the bathroom, climbed up on the potty and asked for a book to read. LOL As I was walking down the hall to get her book she yells, "MOMMY I PEE PEE! I GO! I POTTY!" Now, she announces this all.the.time and usually there's nothing in the pot, but this time she actually went. And as soon as she pointed it out to me, she said, "I flush it down? NUMMY NUM!"
She's going to get it.
Well, Monday afternoon she announced that she needed to go, walked into the bathroom, dropped trou and went. And as she was going she was applauding herself and asking for a "nummy num," otherwise known as a potty treat. Fast forward to this morning when she woke up dry so I asked if she wanted to sit on the potty. She walked into the bathroom, climbed up on the potty and asked for a book to read. LOL As I was walking down the hall to get her book she yells, "MOMMY I PEE PEE! I GO! I POTTY!" Now, she announces this all.the.time and usually there's nothing in the pot, but this time she actually went. And as soon as she pointed it out to me, she said, "I flush it down? NUMMY NUM!"
She's going to get it.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Happy (belated) Father's Day, otherwise known as The Weekend of Tom
It all seems like a blur now, probably because I was so focused on the fact that it was my last weekend home before going back to work. No more daytime television. No more napping (though, to be honest, I didn't really nap all that much). No more doing nothing. ::sigh:: Okay, enough of that - I plan to blog about the end of maternity leave next, so I should stop hijacking this Father's Day post.
Let's see. What *did* we do? Saturday we got up a little on the later side since Lexi fell back asleep (and stayed that way). I spent the morning on our deck with Stasa while she happily splashed around in the kiddie pool. I was much too lazy to load everyone up to go to the regular pool. Plus I hadn't shaved and there's no way my vain self was ruining my hottest-mom-at-the-pool rep. Joking. As if that could ever happen.
While Stas played, Tom kicked his weekend off by vacuuming up unidentifiable animal feces and toilet bowl deodorizers from between the floor joists in our utility room. Apparently the previous owners allowed their animals go wherever they pleased and instead of cleaning up after them, they just tossed a few blue hockey pucks up there to "mask" the smell. Smooth move. Tom, of course, had to come outside to show me the fruits of his labor.
After Stasa's nap, we made the trek out to James' house for a BBQ with friends and family. I was shocked at the number of young kids and babies there since it's usually mostly adults. Graceful Stasa managed to fall no less than what felt like 20 times, the last of which resulted in a swollen and scraped knee.
Even though Sunday was Tom's day, he entertained Stasa and let me sleep in for a bit, but Stasa thinks that once she's up, everyone should be up, so that didn't last long. After I was up, we all got showered and dressed and headed out for our annual Father's Day breakfast. We originally planned to go to IHOP, but at the last minute opted for Eggspectation instead. So delicious. Stasa's been on a bit of a food strike lately and only ate a bowl of cereal and a handful of chips on Saturday so we thought she'd be ready to gorge on Sunday. We even ordered her chocolate chip pancakes (I mean, really, who doesn't like chocolate chip pancakes?!). She tried the pancakes and pushed them away and ended up eating a few berries from my meal and a bite of Tom's toast. Kid's got to eat at some point, right?
My kids are usually hams for the camera, but neither one was interested in cooperating for a quick Father's Day snap.
And here's the icing on the cake. On our way out, Lexi pooped for a good 10 minutes straight and guess what we didn't have with us? Diapers. We hadn't replenished the diaper bag after our outing on Saturday. Oops. I figured she could wait the 10 minutes until we were home to be changed, but as I transferred her from my arm to the car seat I noticed there was poop everywhere. Ugh. So what do you do when your kid has a blowout and you're out of diapers? You make it work.
Why, yes, she *is* wearing a 3/4T Pull Up. And loving every minute, obviously.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Friday, June 17, 2011
The Free Day
Both girls start at their new daycare on Monday, which is also the day I return to work. Quite a lot of transition for one day, don't you think? So today I took Stasa to her new "school" for a free day. She got really excited when we pulled up and she saw the playground and even more so when I told her she would be making new friends today and playing with new toys. I gave her new teacher all of the information they needed for the day (name, age, diapers or undies, allergies...), kissed Stasa goodbye and went to the infant room for a quick tour. The infant room and Stasa's room are right next to each other, separated by a wall with small windows. While I was talking to the infant room teacher I could see Stasa wandering around her room, crying hysterically, and mouthing "mommy?!" I felt terrible, but knew it would just get worse if I went back in her room, so I left through the other entrance.
She's only been there an hour, but I'm already itching to call and check on her. I'm planning on picking her up after nap around 2:30 or 3:00.
9:45 AM: Called to check on her and they said she's doing great, is eating her morning snack, stopped crying and looks happy.
Update:
I picked her up around 3:00, about the time they were waking up from nap. She was so happy to see me, she cried and ran straight into my arms. And then proceeded to talk a mile a minute about what she did today. She ate lunch (fish sticks, rice, veggies, peaches and milk), listened to a story, talked about different animals and played outside. I think she's going to love it.
Tom's decided to do the drop off with me on Monday since it's my first day back and last time I had a hard time leaving Stasa. It'll be nice to have him with me to force me out of the building and into my car. Wish me luck!
She's only been there an hour, but I'm already itching to call and check on her. I'm planning on picking her up after nap around 2:30 or 3:00.
9:45 AM: Called to check on her and they said she's doing great, is eating her morning snack, stopped crying and looks happy.
Update:
I picked her up around 3:00, about the time they were waking up from nap. She was so happy to see me, she cried and ran straight into my arms. And then proceeded to talk a mile a minute about what she did today. She ate lunch (fish sticks, rice, veggies, peaches and milk), listened to a story, talked about different animals and played outside. I think she's going to love it.
Tom's decided to do the drop off with me on Monday since it's my first day back and last time I had a hard time leaving Stasa. It'll be nice to have him with me to force me out of the building and into my car. Wish me luck!
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
12+ hour car ride with both girls...and I survived
I decided to take advantage of the end of my maternity leave and road trip it out to Chicago with both girls. I was originally planning to make the drive in 2 days, but decided to drive through the night at the last minute. I left just after dinnertime on Sunday in the hopes that both girls would pass out for awhile. No such luck. Lexi cried/whined on and off for 7 hours and Stasa stayed wide awake until 1:30 AM. Part of that was my fault - I had set up a portable DVD player for her with the SpongeBob movie and I should have just shut it off around her bedtime. Lesson learned.
The drive was fairly boring - we stopped about 6 times total for bathroom breaks and feedings. I was pulled over somewhere in Ohio at 3:00 in the morning for going 85 in a 70 MPH zone. The cop took pity on me and let me off with a warning since both girls woke up and were screaming and I was all alone. I did exactly the speed limit for the rest of the trip and we arrived at Matt's house around 8:30 on Monday morning.
We spent a couple of days with Matt and Loula, YiaYia and the boys. Stasa warmed up to her cousins right away and really loved playing with Alex. It was boiling hot the days we were there, so YiaYia and I set up the baby pool for the kids to play in one day and Stasa ended up spending the entire day in it. She was also a huge fan of their piano and was surprisingly gentle when playing it.
We left Matt and Loula's Wednesday afternoon and headed over to my friend, Anne's house for a long girl's weekend. On the way over I told Stasa we were staying with Anne's daughter, Avery, and she would be able to play with her all weekend. When we got to Anne's house, Stasa ran right in and made herself at home. It took Avery a good 15 minutes or so to warm up to our Tazmanian Devil, but once she did they were off playing. Anne's dad was there and he had both girls (and me) marching around the house in a pretend marching band. Stasa ate it up.
I was initially worried that our little bedtime rebel would ruin Avery's good sleep habits since we planned for both girls to share a room, but after trial and error we figured out a method that worked. We started Stasa off in Anne's bed and moved her to Avery's once she was asleep. The first night we put both girls in Avery's room and when Anne went to check on them, this is what she found. Two little girls playing doctor instead of sleeping.
After many visits and promises (thanks to Anne's husband, Sean), both girls finally passed out.
We ladies had a blast every night after the kids were asleep and Lauren and Julia were saints for putting up with 2 toddlers and 2 babies on what was supposed to be a relaxing vacation. I can't even recall all of the hilarity of having 2 toddlers together for 5 days, but it definitely provided us plenty of entertainment. And I won't pretend it was all sunshine and roses with those 2 monsters because they both definitely had their moments, usually over sharing a toy, but in my opinion they were awesome together. At one point they broke out these foam swords and attacked Anne with them while the rest of us laughed hysterically from the sidelines.
Stasa performed her patented "head dance" for everyone.
Our girls both love playing with our iPads (and Stasa did not like sharing "hers" with Aunt Julia. At all.).
I did notice that it was easier to keep Stasa on her schedule at Anne's house since Avery was there, too. And my non-sleeping baby? She decided to prove me a liar in front of my friends and slept like an angel most days and nights. She even had long moments of being awake and happy - just laying there grinning her gummy smile.
We took a quick trip to Target one day and the girls spontaneously decided to hold hands.
I was definitely sad to leave and almost teared up when Stasa and Avery gave each other the biggest hug and Stasa said "I miss you." I had to sing a song about Avery about a million and one times at Stasa's request once we were in the car. I decided to make the drive home in 2 days since I didn't get a ton of sleep the night before, so we drove to Toledo, OH and stayed overnight. In retrospect I should have just driven a bit longer because both girls fell asleep around 11:00 PM and even stayed asleep once we were at the hotel. Sleeping in 1 bed with both girls wasn't the most comfortable, but I managed to get a good night's sleep in. We finished up our drive on Monday, which took us most of the day. The girls weren't terrible, but I could tell they were tired of being in the car, especially Stasa. The last 2 hours of the trip were the worst. Stasa kept insisting that she needed to go to the potty and Lexi just wouldn't fall back asleep. We finally made it home around 5:00 PM and Stasa was so happy to see her daddy. I had been telling her all day that we were going home and we'd see daddy and she kept getting so excited and asking to call daddy.
Looking back I can't believe I survived that long of a trip alone with both girls, but I would probably do it again if I could. It was worth it to spend time with friends and family.
The drive was fairly boring - we stopped about 6 times total for bathroom breaks and feedings. I was pulled over somewhere in Ohio at 3:00 in the morning for going 85 in a 70 MPH zone. The cop took pity on me and let me off with a warning since both girls woke up and were screaming and I was all alone. I did exactly the speed limit for the rest of the trip and we arrived at Matt's house around 8:30 on Monday morning.
We spent a couple of days with Matt and Loula, YiaYia and the boys. Stasa warmed up to her cousins right away and really loved playing with Alex. It was boiling hot the days we were there, so YiaYia and I set up the baby pool for the kids to play in one day and Stasa ended up spending the entire day in it. She was also a huge fan of their piano and was surprisingly gentle when playing it.
We left Matt and Loula's Wednesday afternoon and headed over to my friend, Anne's house for a long girl's weekend. On the way over I told Stasa we were staying with Anne's daughter, Avery, and she would be able to play with her all weekend. When we got to Anne's house, Stasa ran right in and made herself at home. It took Avery a good 15 minutes or so to warm up to our Tazmanian Devil, but once she did they were off playing. Anne's dad was there and he had both girls (and me) marching around the house in a pretend marching band. Stasa ate it up.
I was initially worried that our little bedtime rebel would ruin Avery's good sleep habits since we planned for both girls to share a room, but after trial and error we figured out a method that worked. We started Stasa off in Anne's bed and moved her to Avery's once she was asleep. The first night we put both girls in Avery's room and when Anne went to check on them, this is what she found. Two little girls playing doctor instead of sleeping.
After many visits and promises (thanks to Anne's husband, Sean), both girls finally passed out.
We ladies had a blast every night after the kids were asleep and Lauren and Julia were saints for putting up with 2 toddlers and 2 babies on what was supposed to be a relaxing vacation. I can't even recall all of the hilarity of having 2 toddlers together for 5 days, but it definitely provided us plenty of entertainment. And I won't pretend it was all sunshine and roses with those 2 monsters because they both definitely had their moments, usually over sharing a toy, but in my opinion they were awesome together. At one point they broke out these foam swords and attacked Anne with them while the rest of us laughed hysterically from the sidelines.
Stasa performed her patented "head dance" for everyone.
Our girls both love playing with our iPads (and Stasa did not like sharing "hers" with Aunt Julia. At all.).
I did notice that it was easier to keep Stasa on her schedule at Anne's house since Avery was there, too. And my non-sleeping baby? She decided to prove me a liar in front of my friends and slept like an angel most days and nights. She even had long moments of being awake and happy - just laying there grinning her gummy smile.
We took a quick trip to Target one day and the girls spontaneously decided to hold hands.
I was definitely sad to leave and almost teared up when Stasa and Avery gave each other the biggest hug and Stasa said "I miss you." I had to sing a song about Avery about a million and one times at Stasa's request once we were in the car. I decided to make the drive home in 2 days since I didn't get a ton of sleep the night before, so we drove to Toledo, OH and stayed overnight. In retrospect I should have just driven a bit longer because both girls fell asleep around 11:00 PM and even stayed asleep once we were at the hotel. Sleeping in 1 bed with both girls wasn't the most comfortable, but I managed to get a good night's sleep in. We finished up our drive on Monday, which took us most of the day. The girls weren't terrible, but I could tell they were tired of being in the car, especially Stasa. The last 2 hours of the trip were the worst. Stasa kept insisting that she needed to go to the potty and Lexi just wouldn't fall back asleep. We finally made it home around 5:00 PM and Stasa was so happy to see her daddy. I had been telling her all day that we were going home and we'd see daddy and she kept getting so excited and asking to call daddy.
Looking back I can't believe I survived that long of a trip alone with both girls, but I would probably do it again if I could. It was worth it to spend time with friends and family.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Friday, June 3, 2011
10 weeks old, sleepless nights, happy baby
The past few nights have been a joke when it comes to sleep. Take a look at how the nights have gone.
Night one: Stasa refused to sleep until midnight. MIDNIGHT. It would have been fine had she stayed in her own room, but no, there was crying, whining, screaming, and coming into our room. Around the 6th or 7th time she came in our room I lost it and started laughing hysterically. I mean the whole thing was so ridiculous. She finally fell asleep and then Tom and I passed out, too. Cue Lexi. She was up at 2:00, 4:00, 6:00, and 8:00. It was a well timed act performed by our two drama queens.
Night two: Lexi actually slept until 2:00 so I felt somewhat rested when I got up to feed her. She fell asleep after eating, so I put her sound machine on and put her down in her crib. I went back to my room only to find that a little toddler had crawled into our bed. Since she was somewhat in the middle of the bed (and asleep) I left her there, crawled in and fell asleep. But then Lexi woke up around 4:00. And I didn't get much rest with Stasa in the bed. She alternated elbowing me in the side and smacking me in the face. After feeding Lexi and getting her back to sleep, I came back to my room to get back in bed, but there wasn't any room for me. In the short time I was out of bed Stasa sprawled out and the cat had joined her. I didn't have the heart to move Stasa and the cat was giving me the stink eye so I grabbed the monitor and slept in the guest room.
Night three: Stasa stayed in her own bed all night long. And thank god for that because I had my hands full with Lexi. Oh Lexi. Let's see. I went up to bed around 11:00 and she was dead asleep and I thought I'd be able to get a few hours of sleep in before she got up to eat. As if. She was up at 12:30, back down at 1:00, up at 2:00, back down at 2:30, up at 3:00, back down at 3:30, up at 3:45, back down at 4:00, up at 4:15, FINALLY back down at 6:30, then up again at 8:00 (along with Stasa).
I can not stress enough how much I need a solid night of sleep. And while I look and feel like absolute death today, Lexi is happy as a clam.
Impromptu photo shoot fail
It was so gorgeous on Thursday - a beautiful sunny day. Lexi was in a great mood so I quickly grabbed my camera for a quick photoshoot. She smiled until the minute I brought the camera up to my eye. Stinker. Oh well, try, try again, right? Here's what I was able to salvage.
"Think I'm going to cooperate? Think again."
"Haha, I'll trick you into thinking I'm going to be happy."
"I'M DONE NOW, MOM."
After calming her down and feeding her, she was all smiles again so I tempted fate and went outside for a few more shots.
"Hmm, this doesn't seem *so* terrible."
"Wait a minute. Am I laying on the ground? PICK ME UP MOM!"
T-shirt dresses or Kari gets crafty
A friend was doing some summer shopping online and sending links to adorable summer dresses and clothes and I was feeling the urge to add things to my own virtual cart for Stasa. Instead I decided to finally do something with the pile of old t-shirts I had stowed under my sewing table. I drew out a rough pattern on brown packing paper and tested it out on an old tee.
Here's the finished product:
And Stasa modeling her new dress:
I also made a shorter dress/beach coverup out of one of my favorite old tees.
Next up: babydoll tank tops. I'll post pictures if they turn out okay.
Here's the finished product:
And Stasa modeling her new dress:
I also made a shorter dress/beach coverup out of one of my favorite old tees.
Next up: babydoll tank tops. I'll post pictures if they turn out okay.
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