Max - 3 months old!

My baby guy is 3 months old!
He now weighs 13 pounds, 1.5 ounces and I have already had to pack away some clothes that he's outgrown...he now wears a mix of 0-3 and 3-6 months.  Most things get retired because they become too short.

So, what's this little cutie up to?
He learned how to roll from his belly to his back a couple of weeks ago.
He still enjoys tummy time and he's been "playing" a lot lately...he kicks and grabs at toys while under his gym.

He loves chattering...he's had some pretty lengthy conversations with his daddy...he coos and shouts out when we talk to him.  I think he'll be giving us actual laughs any day now, too!

He likes his B but he also sucks on his thumb a lot!

He's becoming a serious drool monster...and he spits up sometimes, too, which is weird for us because Lucy never spit up.  I think it's time for him to start accessorizing his outfits with a bib...
He still loves being outside!  I can't believe he's big / old enough to sit up in the umbrella stroller but it's true so lately I've been putting him in there so he can enjoy the great outdoors and keep an eye on his crazy sister (or fall asleep).

Apparently, he's also big enough to sit in the Bumbo...

this comes in handy when he and Lucy need to see eye to eye to have serious discussions:

He also continues to loooooove bath time!  Dave has been nervous about giving him a bath but finally gave it a go one day when Lucy and I were out.  Piece of cake!  Max loves it so much that it's actually something we want to do!  Lucy still likes to help sometimes, too!

Max is such a good little sleeper!  He's also a good little eater!  He doesn't complain too often but when he does, it's usually either because he's hungry and we're not reacting quickly enough or because he's overly tired.  We bundle (swaddle) him at night but during the day, he often sleeps "free."  He sleeps in his bed, on our bed, in the swing, on his lounger, in our arms, wherever...

He's such a little sweetie!
There really isn't a list of things he doesn't like...he used to get annoyed when we touched his feet but that doesn't seem to bother him anymore...and he used to scream through diaper changes but now he's at least 50/50 so if he's yelling through a diaper change it's probably because he'd rather be eating or sleeping...
The only thing he really hates is red lights.  When we're in the car, we should be moving!! 

Look what my Granny made for him!

She also made one for Lucy 3+ years ago...

And of course my guy loves owls!!

More school stuff

She has her own cubby where she hangs her giraffe backpack...which, so far, she has taken home every night despite the fact that all it contains is a jacket...

When I picked her up on Monday and Tuesday, she wasn't ready to leave - I walked in and she looked at me but continued playing...I took that as a good sign!  In the late afternoons, as many kids start getting picked up, they condense those remaining into one room (not hers).  So when I find her, we go to her room to get the all-important backpack and on Monday she showed me the musical instruments in her classroom:

They have a cute little bench outside that she needed to sit on before getting in the car both Monday and Tuesday...

Monday was full of excitement.  Tuesday she was a little hesitant but her teacher made sure Lucy was busy right away.  I had a bad feeling about today, the third day, especially because Dave took her instead of me and that was another change...

But she seemed to be doing well when they left home.  Today is "grey day" and she was excited to be wearing her grey:

However, I got this text from Dave this morning: "Screaming and crying at drop off"

I emailed her school and by 8:51 I had the following reassurance:
Just checked in with Ms. Julie.  Lucy was playing and having fun.  Julie said she only cried for a couple of minutes and then she got involved playing.  She was smiling and wearing a cape when I was in the room.

Super Lucy to the rescue!

Lucy's first day of preschool

Lucy started at her new school yesterday.
She's been very excited about it and she talked about it a lot in the days leading up to her first day - to anyone who would listen!
When I woke her up, I reminded her, "It's your first day of school!" and she smiled and yawned and whispered, "Yay!" with her eyes still half shut...

The excitement continued through getting ready, on the way to school, and as we walked to the door.  Once inside, everyone was greeting her and she got a tiny bit shy but when we walked into her classroom, she was once again full of confidence and excitement.

We were asked to send a backpack and she was pretty darn excited to put her giraffe backpack on (big surprise that she owns a giraffe backpack, right?):

We walked in and the first order of business was to show her teacher her new blanket in her nap bag.  I wanted to get her a new blanket for school so she's have something new and special but GranJan stole my thunder and bought her an Anna and Elsa blanket at the Disney store in Monroe on Sunday.  She, like most girls (and many boys!) her age, is all about Frozen.  She wore her Anna and Else t-shirt, had her Olaf undies on, had her hair in "one braid - like Elsa!" and had her blanket.  Her teacher, Ms. Julie, acted appropriately excited:

Here's what the blanket looks like:

I emailed the office staff to check throughout the day and they said she was doing great but I couldn't wait to pick her up and hear all about it!  She told me she had a great day and that she loves her new school.  Some highlights include a new friend named Reese (like "Reese Cup!"), the cafeteria where she ate lunch at a picnic table, and all of the baby dolls.  She said she was ready to go back again the next day.

Today is water day at school and she was instructed to wear her swimsuit to school under her clothes...which she thought was one of the coolest things ever!  She was excited again this morning and was really good about getting ready but when we got there, she was a little hesitant when it was time for me to leave.  Luckily Ms. Julie swooped in with an activity and I escaped but I'm preparing myself for some rougher drop offs as we work through this transition...
When I called to check on her today, they told me she was doing well but definitely seems hesitant when it's time to do something new...she's just got to get used to the place.

Here she was this morning:

The backpacks are meant to hold winter coats and gloves and stuff like that when it gets colder (right now we have a sweatshirt jacket inside in case she's ever cold in the classroom) so that things don't get lost or mixed up with someone else's.  And even though she only has a jacket in her bag, she insisted on taking it home last night...cute stuff.

Lucy's last day

Today is Lucy's last day at Abby's Child Enrichment Center.
When we started looking for places last year, we liked both Abby's and Kids and Cribs and ultimately Abby's had the edge since it is within walking distance of our house.

Lucy's come a long way over the year she's been there...while she still often prefers to play alone, she's gotten so much better at sharing and she's constantly talking about her friends at school.  She's become a lot friendlier outside of school, too, and we know this socialization has done wonders for our girl (as hard as it was to take her sometimes).

We adored her first teacher, Ms. Megan.  She made the experience so positive, especially for this crazy mama...We were devastated when she left (especially me...remember when I got myself so worked up at 7 months pregnant that I started having contractions?) and it was even worse when they took her out of Lucy's classroom immediately (instead of letting her soak up her last two weeks with her class - and letting them (and their parents!) soak up the last of their time with her).

Luckily, we couldn't have asked for a better replacement than Ms. Florence.  Over the last few months, Lucy has learned so much and has fallen completely in love with Florence.  Sometimes when I ask her who her best friend in her class is, she names her teacher!  We love Ms. Florence so much that we opted not to have Lucy move up to the 3 year old room in April and instead stay through the summer in the 2s with her best friend.
She's always keeping the kids busy with crafts and projects and other learning exercises (often with supplies she bought or brought from home).  Those experience have certainly helped prep her for preschool.

Lucy's a very bright girl (and I'm not just saying that because I'm her mama...or maybe I am...but she's always seemed exceptionally smart to us...) and it's time for her to move into a class with kids her age.  We decided that not only a new classroom and teacher were in order, but a new school as well.  And when we gave our notice at Abby's, no one even asked us why we were leaving, let alone tried to talk us into staying...so we're feeling good about our decision.  We'll miss Florence big time but she had to leave her class one way or the other.

So today is Lucy's last day at Abby's and on Monday, she will start preschool (and extended care) at Kids and Cribs.

First day vs. last day -
She still used a B when she started there! 

We paid another visit to Kids and Cribs and we still really like it.  Her classroom is clean and organized and looks like a lot of fun...and her teacher has been there since 2004!  It's family owned and it seems like the staff turn around will be minimal, if at all, so the people we get used to will be the people we'll always see.  At Abby's, there was a lot of new faces and when I'd ask Lucy who her teacher was for the afternoon (on Ms. Florence's early days, for example), she'd often say, "I don't know.  She didn't tell us her name." 
One of the owners at Kids and Cribs has a son in Lucy's class!  Talk about motivation to make sure it's as great as it can be in there. 

I took Lucy in one afternoon to check the place out and while she wasn't able to meet her teacher that day (she was already gone for the night), she got to explore her classroom, the cafeteria, and - most importantly - the playground.  She's very excited and has been talking constantly about her new school to anyone who will listen...hopefully the excitement doesn't fade.  Dave's going to take her in tomorrow to meet her teacher and some more of her classmates.

We're very excited for our girl and her next step!

My baby guy

I am seriously struggling with how quickly things seem to be going with Maxyboy.
Maybe it's because I had such tunnel vision with Lucy - focusing 100% on her - it didn't seem to go quite so fast...and now that I have two kids and with everything else in my life, I can't obsess over Max as much as I obsessed over baby Lucygirl...

Whatever the reason, I am freaking out a little.  Max already seems so grown!  Of course he's still a baby (and he'll always be my baby...just like Lucy will!), but rolling over already!?  Holding his head  up and looking around so much?!  It's insane!

He's so sweet...such a content baby most of the time - except for when he's hungry.  Babysitter Tammy remarked that the only time he gets upset is when he's hungry.  She's probably so impressed remembering how high-maintenance Lucy was!

He does love being held but is also happy on his lounger or under his gym.  He loves watching Lucy and tries to keep an eye on her but she's usually jumping and bouncing and running around so much that he starts to get whip-lash!

He actually likes tummy time!  Lucy got to the point where she'd tolerate it but he actually seems to enjoy himself.  He also likes watching / listening to his mobile in his bed...Lucy never cared about the mobile.

(I can't help but compare my two cuties).

He likes being bundled (swaddled) and we bundle him at night or when he's so sleepy that he can't seem to fall asleep but he also often sleeps without being swaddled and that was not the case with Lucygirl...we swaddled the heck out of that baby girl!  However, he does rely on the white noise of his sleep sheep, much like Lucy relied on the white noise of her giraffe, Buddy Man.
 

Do you see what I mean?! 
He's already a MAN!

I keep telling Dave, "I need a new baby!  This one is growing up so fast!"  He thinks I'm crazy.  Another baby was the LAST thing I was thinking about when Lucy was his age...
And we're still figuring out our new family dynamic - making sure Lucy's getting enough time and attention, making sure we're taking as many pictures of baby Max as we did of baby Lucy, taking time for ourselves, working on our house, Dani & Dave time, etc.

He's already grasping toys and actually playing!  Dave took a cute video of him batting at the toys on his gym and cooing up a storm.  He's "talking" so much lately...he and Dave have daily chats that I am sure Daddy will miss greatly when he starts school next week.

Probably we won't be having another baby...paying for childcare and schools, and eventually - hopefully? - moving into a bigger house might get in the way...and it certainly won't be anytime soon.  So does anyone have any tips for slowing Maxyboy down??

But as Dave repeatedly brings up, we do make some pretty special - and good looking! - kids!

Festival fun - St. Joe

We went to our final festival of the summer - at St. Joe in Cold Spring - last weekend...what fun!


Selfie!



Hands up...so brave!

  

2014



2013

 My big girl got to ride several things by herself again.  And she was much more interested in the rides than in the games, though we did make time to play a few.  Max was basically just along for the ride but he had a good time, too.

 

She talked her daddy into playing this basketball game -
even though he tried to protest due to the $5 charge -
and he won her a stuffed unicorn!

 

Max offered to hold onto Lucy's giant inflatable butterfly she'd won



Another awesome prize...she's very into unicorns lately so she was a happy camper



 

So happy!