Stasa's take on the Royal Wedding

I should send a thank you to Will and Kate for scheduling their wedding during my leave. I got up at 4:00 AM to start watching the coverage and was so glad that I did. As tired as I was, it was so worth it. Stasa woke up a little before 7:00 AM and came downstairs to watch the rest of the wedding with me before going to daycare.

Our conversation after the camera showed Kate:
Stasa: Mommy, who's that?
Me: That's a princess bride, Stasa. See? She's in her pretty white dress.
Stasa: Princess?
Me: Yes, that's a princess.
Stasa: Mommy, I a princess tooooooooooooooo!
Me: I know, I know, you're a princess, too.

We had this same conversation every.single.time they showed Kate. Of course our kid thinks she's a real princess. Why wouldn't she? She thinks everything pink is a princess outfit. Pink and white polka dotted ruffle pj shorts? Princess pants! Pink ruffled skirt? Princess dress! Pink tutu? Princess dress! Pink pull-ups? Princess diaper! At least her self-confidence is high. I should count my blessings, right?

Tummy time in our house

I try to get Lexi to do tummy time at least once a day and she also gets tons of modified tummy time when she's on our chests. She's getting stronger and stronger every day and was able to hold her head up high for a few times during this morning's tummy time.




And sometimes she just isn't in the mood for tummy time and decides to end it on her own.


Of course if we're doing anything on the playmat when Stasa's around, she insists on being part of it. Every time.

5 Weeks Old

You'll never guess who's come to live with us

When Stasa was born I learned about this magical teething toy that everyone swore by, but after checking it out online I refused to buy it. First of all it was $20 and secondofly it was wearing too much makeup. Most of my mommy friends had already purchased this streetwalking teether and were aware of my hatred for her. Now they're dying from laughter because she's come to live with us thanks to Tom's coworker.

Let me introduce you to Sophie the Giraffe.

Stasa is over the teething phase, but the minute she set eyes on this thing she claimed it for herself and refused to put the squeaker down. See for yourself:

Looks like Lexi will have to find her own teething toy when the time comes because I don't think Stasa is giving up that giraffe.

On an unrelated note check out how cute the girls were being before dinner:

I'm too brain dead to make a coherent post or too lazy or whatever

Time-outs have become a joke around here and we're at a loss at what to do about it. Here's what happened yesterday: Stasa hit Tom out of frustration and he put her on the step for a 2 minute time-out. She gets up the minute he turns his back and she's SMILING and LAUGHING. He sits her back down and tells her she's in time-out. She keeps laughing. He tells her "daddy's upset" and she says "daddy sad?" Then she gets up and tries kissing him and says "daddy happy now?"As if a kiss will get her out of time-out. It's like a big joke to her and it's insanely frustrating to us.
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Stasa's vocabulary amazes me these days. She'll bust out with something and I think "when the hell did she start saying THAT?!" And I love love love how she pronounces certain words and I don't care that it's wrong. Everyone should say chocolate "shoclate". It makes it sound special. And she's so observant. Now when we get in the car she instructs everyone to buckle up and won't stop harping on me until I actually buckle my seat belt.
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I think Lexi is starting to give us some real smiles and I love each and every one of them.

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I've been writing a lot about our lack of sleep. I was fully prepared to wake up in the middle of the night with Lexi, but I didn't expect my great sleeper to start waking up, too. And as I've said before it's so easy to get an infant to fall back asleep (or at least our infant) - I feed her and she goes into a milk coma. Stasa's a bit more difficult and we've been giving in and either letting her sleep in our bed or we lay in her bed with her until she falls asleep and I think that's why she's still waking up every night. Tom and I keep saying that we need to just suck it up and put her back in her own bed alone, so that's exactly what I did last night when she woke up at 2:30. I sat outside of her room and kept putting her back in her bed and after about 10 minutes of crying she fell back asleep in her own bed. Alone. BIG GIRL. I'm going to do the same thing every night until she starts sleeping through the night again.
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And to round out the randomness, pictures from yesterday.
(When did she get so old?!)




Shifty-eyed Lexi doesn't trust anyone...

Happy Easter and happy monthday!

First family picture (yeah, we're behind the 8 ball on that one) - too bad it's blurry. We'll have to try again.

And our big girl playing in the yard:

And hunting for eggs...

We spent the day with family and my god did it get hot and humid. Stasa had a blast popping bubbles that daddy and her uncles blew for her and was a natural at egg hunting (although how hard can it be when the eggs are out in the open and you have no competition?). We played one of my favorite games, Phase 10 (a rummy game), and I managed to lose to a bunch of yahoos. Stupid 2 sets of 4. Worst phase ever.

After we came home and ate a quick dinner, Stasa and I covered our walkway in beautiful sidewalk chalk drawings. And when I told her it was time for a bubble bath, she threw herself to the ground and insisted that she was drawing, as if that would make it okay for her to stay out longer. Of course once we were inside and drawing the bath she forgot about everything else and was her happy self again. Bubble "bafs" are the best, don'tcha know. 

AND today is thrice as special for us. Not only is it Easter, but it's also Stasa's name day and Lexi's first monthday! 

Our night in pictures

Pardon the amazing illustrations, but I think they really get the point across.

We started off the night with Lexi passed out on Tom's chest. Well, really we started out the night with Lexi asleep on me and me passed out on the couch. Then around midnight Tom woke me up, took Lexi and we moved to the bed.

And then I woke up to Stasa begging Tom to wake up. Off I went to return her to her own room.

Of course that's the point when Lexi decided to wake up, too.

Tom and I switched kid duty and after I fed Lexi and put her to sleep, I curled back up in my own bed.

And Tom eventually joined me.

And that's when things started getting crowded. I finally caved and brought Lexi to our bed in the wee hours.

Then at one point I woke up, stretched and kicked what I thought was the cat...

...but it turned out to be Stasa. We have no idea how she managed to climb into our bed (it's pretty high off of the ground) nor do we know when she joined us, but I do know that shortly after she came in, the last member of the family made herself at home on my hip and legs. Good thing we have a king sized bed.

Fend for yourself, kid

Before we had kids the rule for dinner on the weekends was Fend for Yourself, otherwise known as Kari Eats Like Crap. Last night we brought back Fend for Yourself and Stasa got the picture right away. She ran into the kitchen, pointed to the counter, and declared that she would be having "breassess" for dinner. So breakfast she had - a bowl of strawberries and watermelon followed by 2 bowls of Fruit Loops. As you can see, she was quite happy with her selection.

4 Weeks Old

The new witching hour

I can totally handle the "old" witching hour. I've got that one down pat - whip out a boob to soothe Lexi and a craft to entertain Stasa. Easy peasy. 

The "new" witching hours are killing me though. For some reason these girls have decided to try to break me down between the hours of 1:00 and 3:00 AM most nights and last night was no exception. 

First Lexi wakes up and I can usually get to her before shes fully awake which keeps her from screaming like a banshee. I'll get her changed and swaddled faster than a NASCAR pit crew and then nurse her to sleep. Because she looks so precious and is so cuddly when she's asleep, I'll rock her for an extra 10 or 15 minutes before putting her in her crib. It seems like the minute I get settled in bed and relax into my pillow I hear the creak of a door and little feet padding down the hall.

Then it's back out of bed and into Stasa's bed to calm her down and get her to fall back asleep. Sometimes, like last night, I end up dozing in her bed while waiting for her to fall asleep only to be jolted awake by the banshee cry. I can feel my body tense from worry that it'll wake up the monster, but a quick check next to me confirms she's dead asleep. Finally. 

So I make the trek back down the hall to Lexi's room and start the diaper change, swaddle, nursing and rocking routine all over again. Only this time after I put her back down in her crib I wait a few minutes to be sure she's not going to wake up squawking. Once I'm sure she's fast asleep, I creep out of her room and check on Stasa one final time. Now that I'm sure they're both passed out, I drag my zombie self back to my own bed and am asleep the minute my head hits the pillow. 

Then sure enough both girls are awake again. After glancing at the clock I realize I've actually gotten closer to a couple of hours of sleep this time and it's time to get up for the day. 

Look at them...plotting their next move.

Why I won't get a good night's sleep for many many years

I have the flu. In the past that has meant many days of sleep. Not so much this week. Actually not so much any week now that we have an infant. I used to be able to sleep through anything and everything. I used to be able to sleep until early afternoon. And when I was sick I used to be able to sleep whenever I wanted. That all changed the day I had Stasa.

Now the faintest of baby grunts wakes me up. Pitter patter of Stasa feet down the hall? Yep, I hear those before they hit my doorway. Pretty much any and all baby/kid noises wake me up now.

Sleeping when I want? Yeah, that's gone the way of the dodo. If I try to nap when Stasa's awake she gets overly concerned and upset and crawls on top of me to be sure I'm okay. Of course now when Stasa's napping, Lexi's awake and hungry. And my absolute favorite: falling asleep only to wake up because the cat has settled herself on my bladder.

No wonder parents walk around looking like zombies.

The girls

Pictures only since I'm sick with the flu.

3 Weeks Old

And the bear looks so tasty...

Playing with the girls

Cooking in her new apron (she took the chef's hat off before I could get a picture of it)


"Oh man!"


Reading and picking


What's wrong with Lexi?!


One of these things is not like the other...


Princess time

Lazy sicky day

We spent the afternoon lazing about and watching cartoons. Both girls were quiet and peaceful. The windows were wide open. It was a gorgeous day to relax and be lazy.

2 Week Well Baby Visit (and a sick visit for Stasa)

birth stats:
weight: 7lbs 14oz
height: 20.75"
head: 13.75"

discharge stats:
weight: 7lbs 4oz
height: 20.75"
head: 13.75"

today's stats:
weight: 8lbs 12oz!
height: 21.5"!
head: 14.4"!

Obviously Lexi's eating well and growing fast. The doctor was quite impressed with her growth and said she looks great. She's been congested and sounds like Darth Vader when she eats, but the doctor said that was completely normal for newborns and to put the humidifier in her room.

Stasa woke up this morning around 3:00 to have her diaper changed. Tom put her back in bed and around 4:00 she vomited allllllllllll over herself and her bed. I woke up hearing running water and found Tom cleaning up Stasa and her room. She wasn't crying and was just walking around talking to Tom while he cleaned. Of course at that point we were all wide awake (except for Lexi - miracles do exist!) so we took Stasa into the play room to watch some cartoons and relax. During that "relaxing" period she puked a few more times. Last night's lasagna was everywhere. As soon as she was done throwing up, she was totally fine - no fever, no crying, nothing. I called the pediatrician's office as soon as they opened to see if they could see Stasa while we were there for Lexi's well baby visit. Thankfully Dr. Cooper could see both girls at the same time. She did a strep test which came back negative, so she said it's most likely a 24 hour stomach virus. We've just got to keep her hydrated with Pedialyte, Gatorade, or flat gingerale and feed her crackers or toast for the next 24 hours. As soon as we got home Stasa passed out. I'm hoping she gets a long nap in since she was up so long this morning. And here's hoping she feels better soon.

Sisters

I love when Stasa tries to comfort her. She's so gentle...until she's ready to be done holding her.

Today on the Merkel channel...

Stasa holds Lexi (while watching her shows)


Tea time with Stasa


Taking care of her baby (and she counts with the correct numbers)


"Feeding" Lexi

2 Weeks Old

And so sleepy.

2 Weeks Post-Partum

Don't judge the exhausted look on my face. I know I look like I've been brought back from the dead. You can thank my daughters for keeping me up all night. Anyway, here's my belly 2 weeks post-partum. It's definitely still jiggly and squishy, but is going down a little bit more everyday. I have about 9 more pounds to lose before I'm back to my pre-pregnancy weight. As soon as I get the all clear from my OB I'll start working out to tone everything up. 

And here's my 2 week post-partum list:

1. Heartburn is gone! Although it was immediately gone the second Lexi was born. 

2. Breastfeeding this time around is much much easier. Lexi is a natural and I knew what to expect this time. 

3. Sleep is somewhat non-existent right now. Lexi's an around the clock eater once the evening hours hit, but I'm sure it'll get better soon.

4. I feel great. I felt like my normal self while I was still in the hospital and now that I've hit the 2 week mark I can start being a bit more active. 

5. We're still alive and happy.

Stickers and kisses

Stasa was in such a good mood when she came home yesterday, probably because she spent some 1-on-1 time at the playground with Tom. I made her a sticker book the other day and she's been having a lot of fun putting stickers in it and really loves the stickers that Lauren got her as her big sister gift. I'm constantly amazed at her growing vocabulary - she tells me what each sticker is before putting it in her book - "phelephant, frog, fwuack (for duck), piggies, buggies..." 







After playing with her stickers she decided to run into our office and play hide and seek in the curtains. She stands behind them, giggling and waiting for you to find her. 





Wonder what Lexi was up to while we were playing? Doing what she does best...



Stasa always remembers to take a minute to show her sister some love.



Melts my heart.