Sophia's Christening-The Pictures

Sophia's Christening

On the 4th of July, we baptized Sophia in a small ceremony at my mom's house. Our cousin Todd is a pastor and is amazing. We are so lucky to have him in our lives and the ceremony was so personal to us, because he knows us. I have a few pictures, but my battery died on my camera, so the rest are on my brother's camera.

We chose Rich and Rebecca as her Godparents. This was a big, hard decision for us to make because there are a lot of people in our lives who could fulfill that role. We chose them because they seriously do so much for us and for our girls. They came running at 1 am, when I went in to labor to stay with Emmy, they always come to the house to watch the girls, they spent the weekend at our house when we went out of town for a friend's wedding to stay with Em. Rebecca is always on the floor or in the princess castle playing with Em. It's like they know when we need a break and they pick up and take charge, giving baths, feeding dinner etc. They take care of my girls, like they are their own and I know that both girls, will always feel comfortable talking to them and going to them for advice.  And really they are here.  We are super fortunate because we have a ton of family in town and we get a lot of help.  Our girls are good, because they have such a large family presence and consistency in their lives. 

A tradition that Zig's sister created was for all our kids to be baptized in Dad's Christening gown, which is over 60 years old.  It is beautiful and its an heriloom!  We first baptized Emily in it a few years ago, then Livi, and now Sophia.  I am not sure why Ryan wasn't baptized in it though.  Jenn is going to have the dates of each baptism sewn into the gown.  It is a beautiful tradition and I am so glad Jenn decided to share this with us.  She has always been so thoughtful.  I really admire that about her.  Needless to say though, Sophia "christened" the Christening gown with a big blow out. Awesome. Thankfully, we acted quick and was able to get it out.  Anyway, here are some pictures, and there are many more to come!

4 months!

Sophia is 4 months old!  She is seriously the most calm baby ever.  Really. I am not just saying that because I am biased.  She is just so super chill, it's awesome.  That being said, when she does cry, it's rough. She can be really hard to calm down if and when she gets upset. 

We had Sophia's 4 month check up last week. She is right on track and our Ped is very happy with her progress and how she is meeting her milestones.  All this time I have thought that Sophie is so much bigger than Em, but percentile wise, they are exactly the same.  Looking back at Emmy's records, she really didn't start dropping on the curve till about 6 months though. Hopefully Sophia continues being such a good eater.  Here are some stats from Sophia's checkup:

• She weighs 14 lbs even.  She is in the 50th percentile for weight (she is a little bit heavier than Emmy, I think Em was about 13 and a half pounds at this age.)
• She is 24 1/4 inches long. 50-75th percentile in height (she is about 1/4 inch shorter than Emmy)

I think the big difference between the girls in that Emmy was longer and has always carried her weight in her belly.  Sophia is a little shorter and carries her weight mostly in her cheeks, but also spread out evenly through the rest of her.  She has those amazing arm and leg rolls. 

I was seriously AWFUL about taking pictures this month. It was hard because it was my first full month back at work, so there weren't a ton of opportunities to do so. Boo.  June was a good month for us though.  Sophia is really developing her personality.  She is super happy, not greedy with her smiles at all, and very chatty.  She is so super sweet!  Here is what she has been up to this month.

• She has been meeting all her milestones for her age. She reaches for toys, can clasp her hands, roll from back to belly, and she puts everything in her mouth, to name a few.
• She drools a ton, but it's just the age.  Emmy did the same thing and we didn't get teeth for her, for a few months down the line.
• She wears size 2 diapers.  After many blowouts trying to use up the size 1's we had, we just decided to move on.
• She is still on the same eating schedule that she was on last month (nurse at 6, then eat 4 1/2-5 oz bottles every 3 hours during the day, and then nurse 1-2 more times before bedtime)
• Bedtime is pretty close to 7 every night.  She turns into a grump if we push it back much more.  This was the best decision we made for our kids.  Early bed time.  It keeps us sane.  It does suck that we only get about 2 hours to spend with them in the evening, but I would rather play super hard for those 2 hours, than have a grumpy baby/kid to deal with by keeping them up later.  And it's important for Zig and I to have that time to spend together each day. 
• She still fits in her 0-3 month clothes, but they are starting to get snug, so we have started putting those away, and phasing in the 3-6 month clothes. 
• She sleeps from 7pm-2am, wakes up for a quick feed, and then I wake her up at 6 to eat again before I pump. By definition, she is sleeping through the night. She has hit the 4 month wakeful period, and while sometimes I hate waking up to walk to her room to offer the paci, she is so super smiley and happy to see me, that it kinda makes it worth it.  We are just being patient and reading her cues.  If she wants to eat, I am going to feed her.  If she continues to wake a lot at night, we will reassess it at around 6 months and make a decision on if we want to try and do some sleep training, so she can really learn to self soothe. With Emmy, by the time I finished reading the Ferber book, she was sleeping again.  At her age too, it's totally understandable that she is waking because she is so much more aware of her surroundings.
• We starting letting her sleep unswaddled, because she really didn't seem to care either way, and I figured it was easier to break the habit before she got to used to it.  She was still sleeping the same either way.  However, I started swaddling again because she goes down much easier.  Otherwise she has long (loud) conversations with her hands before going to bed. We are going to stop using the swaddleme blankets and switch to receiving ones though, that way if she breaks free, it's no big deal.
• We pierced her ears.  I know this can be a hot topic, but it was a choice that Zig and I made.  We did it with Emmy and never had any problems and now, she is super proud of them.  Soph cried for all of 2 seconds and then was back to her happy self.  That being said, they turned out crooked, noticeably, so we took one out and are going to get it fixed this weekend.  It sucks, I know, but I still don't regret our decision.  I have heard horror stories about kids getting them done later in life and I figured I would get it done before she even realized they were there and was less likely to mess with them.  To each their own. I think the sound of the piercing gun is what scared her anyway. Sweet little pearls for a sweet little girl. :)

That's all that I can think of for now on the stat front.  June was a great month!  We are really enjoying being a family of 4!

Emmyisms/Emmy 2.5

Hey guys, I have a 2 1/2 year old.  WHAT!!??  My first little has been in our lives for 2 1/2 years.  Crazy!  She is so much fun, but definitely a toddler.  She makes us laugh one minute, and makes us want to tear our hair out the next.  She is a total light switch, but we are lucky that the laughing happens a lot more than the hair pulling.  She says the FUNNIEST, most crazy things these days.  And she hears everything. EVERYTHING, so we really have to what we say now.  She is very quick to point out when we let an "adult" word slip. 

Here are a couple of things Emmy says that is always sure to get a laugh out of us.

• Don't for get the Scrum Screen! (aka sun screen).
• What are we haaaaving?-Said every night at dinner when she climbs up into her chair.
• Gee Whiz guys!
• I wuv you Mommy, and I wuv you Daddy, and I like baby Sister.....No wait, I WUV her.
• If you ask her what she wants for dinner, her response will ALWAYS be "Mac-n-cheese"
• When we were potty training we used to bribe her with "special lotion."  Every night now, after she goes potty for the last time, washes her hands and climbs in bed she will ALWAYS say "Daddy...you fergot the special lotion!  Silly!"
• She likes to repeat Zig and I's conversations in the car to her buddies.  The other night, we drove by a house that is for sale in our area and Zig said "Wow, look at those windows! Those are great. They are the most efficient windows you can buy." She repeated the entire conversation back to her buddies in the silliest, most serious voice.
• I wuv you guys both
• What's-a-dis? -What's this.  Said about everything.
• I want to get deowwwn-said with a southern twang every night at dinner.
• Hey, what's the big idea guys!-Thank you Donald Duck.
• Mommy, I love this Ketchup! It is beautiful!  It is yellow like the sun!-referring to mustard.
• Man down!-said one day when Howie fell off the couch

Emmy is my perfect helper.  I no longer have to holler at the dogs to stop barking, Emmy takes care of that for me.  She carries Sophia's bottle bag into school every morning.  She refers to it as her "satchel".  She likes to pull her stool over to look at Sophia in her crib and watch me give her baths and change her diaper.

Here are some other Emmy stats:

• She weighs 26 lbs.  I swear Sophia is going to surprise her in the weight category any day now.
• She has a huge belly, but teenie tiny waist.  She wears 2 T clothes and still only size 5 shoes.
• She is really into matching these days. She is constantly telling us this matches that. She loves to match her bowl with her spoon and she will very quickly tell me that she does not want to wear her purple shoes because they don't match her pink skirt.
• She knows all her primary colors and can identify them if you ask.
• She knows basic shapes
• She can count past 20 and I think past 10 in Spanish. There are seriously things she knows that we have yet to discover. Thank you Steph!
• She is very independent.  She loves to do things by herself.
• She has mastered the big girl cup and now gets milk for breakfast, lunch and dinner, only in a big girl cup.  Since she has access to her water all day, we try and keep that in a sippy.
• She loves her family and she tells us with out prompting at least 5 times a day. Melts my heart every time!
• She can hold full conversations and can follow really complex commands (ie can you go into sisters room and get me X?
• She loves her buddies.  They are multiplying like rabbits.  It's nuts.  She is also obsessed with pillow pets.
• She is doing great with potty training.  She does have accidents, I won't lie, but we seriously can't complain.  The accidents are totally normal for her age.  As she continues to develop, they will be few and far between.
• She can throw a mean tantrum.  Seriously.  Crazy, out of nowhere, tantrum city.
• She loves to swim!  She is going to be my water baby in the summer.  She asks at least daily if she can go swimming and Noni's house.  We have her enrolled in lessons starting Saturday.  She is already very comfortable in the water, so I think she will pick up on it pretty quickly.

I know I say this every time I update on Emmy, but seriously, this is my favorite age.  Her imagination is so much fun and she says the best things!  We just love our sweet Emmy.  Toddler tantrums and all.

Here are some pictures of our sweet girl! Some are from the camera, some from the phone, and some from Instagram. 

Giving Uncle Rich a big hug showing how proud she is of him!

My sweet girls

Rocking out on her new scooter

Patio at Kelly's!

Big helper!

Likes to dress herself

Said to Steph will taking this "Does this look Awesome?"

Love how happy she is!

Water monkey

Arrgh matey!

With Cousin Livi

She loves her Aunt Koley!

Monkey slippers!

3 Months!

These last 3 months have been awesome.  We are really coming together as a family of 4 and I am really enjoying it.  Sophia is a super easy baby.  Personality wise, at this age, she reminds me a lot of Emmy.  She is very calm still.  Pretty much never cries.  If she does, it's because she is tired and wants to be put to bed.  Like Emmy, she really isn't big on being held while she is napping.

I knew I should have knocked on wood when I hit publish on my last post, but o'well.  Sophia started waking again to eat at night.  Honestly, it really isn't even that big of a deal.  She typically wakes up between 3-4, eats for about 10 minutes and goes right back to bed.  I actually love that time with her.  The house is quiet, and everything is so peaceful.  There are many nights that I just sit there staring at her.  She is so beautiful.

Sophia is finally at school full time, beginning about a week ago.  I stressed a lot about getting the girls, and myself ready, and getting to work on time, but it really hasn't been a problem.  I wake up at about 6, sneak in and dream feed Sophia, pump and do my make-up (Thank you hands free pumping bra), fix my hair, wake Emmy and get her ready and fed. Once Emily is almost done eating I go up and wake Sophia up and get her ready for school.  We are out the door at about 7:20 or so.  It's going really well so far.

Here is what Sophia has been up to this month:

• She talks a ton!  She is constantly chatting with anyone who will listen.
• She smiles a ton, although you wouldn't know it from the 3 month pictures I took.  We used to have to really work for smiles out of Emmy, but Sophie gives them up easy. 
• She is filling out her 3 month clothes and they are actually starting to get a little tight.  She wears size 1 diapers, but I think the next box I buy will be 2. 
• Based on my home scale, she weighs about 13 lbs, 7 oz.  She eats really well.
• She takes 3 bottles a day while she is at school  They # of oz. varies per bottle, but she pretty much eats 15 oz, by the time I pick her up.  She nurses in the morning and one of two times before bed, which is usually no later than 7:30.  She actually gets fussy if we don't have her swaddled and in bed by 7:45.  She usually nurses one more time in the middle of the night.
• We are working on floor time and lots of tummy time, but she really likes sitting up if she is awake.  She has good head control right now.
• She takes a nap pretty much after every feeding. 
• Her left tear duct is still clogged, but the right isn't anymore.  I am hoping the left one opens up here soon!
• She loves her hands.  She is constantly putting them in her mouth and holding them together.  She REALLY wants to suck her thumb, but is easily soothed with a pacifier. 
• She is a master swaddle breaker.  I kind of wonder if that is why she is waking at night.  She gets an arm halfway out and then gets frustrated.  We may try ditching it this weekend, but then again, I don't want her to get used to that thumb of hers.  I know its a great way to self soothe, but it's a habit I really don't want to have to break later. 
• We took her swimming for the first time this last weekend and she LOVED it.  That really doesn't surprise me too much, because she also LOVES bath time.

We are really loving our time with Sophia and getting to know her more and more each day.  Here are some pictures from the month.