6 weeks old!

Can you tell I'm almost never on my laptop these days? If only blogger made an iphone app ... ;)




You can see her giant cephalohematoma -- which has thankfully gone away -- in the 2- and 3-week photos. It was quite the enormous goose egg, causing everyone to ask if she was a forceps/vacuum delivery (she wasn't).

Here's proud big sister Olivia with Audrey. She's doing so well with her and doesn't seem super jealous (so far). When Audrey cries, Olivia enjoys saying, "Wah! Wah! Wah!" in a totally monotone voice. I haven't had a chance to get a video of it yet, because, you know, when one is screaming and the other is faux-crying, I'm generally sweating and twitchy and don't think to reach for the Flip camcorder. But it's pretty funny.


We're doing really well overall! I wish I had more time to post here -- I still need to post Audrey's birth story, for instance -- but hopefully that will change at some point.

1 month old already

That whole "time flies" thing is really true. I'm not sure where the past month went! The newborn phase this time around doesn't seem as acutely exhausting -- probably because I've already lived (suffered? :P) through the Big Life Change from an adult able to do whatever I pleased whenever I pleased to someone living with a tiny, squalling dictator who is unable to do things like take showers without a lot of planning. But getting online other than to quickly check email on my phone proves to be difficult most days. I know it'll get better as she gets older, so I'm trying to enjoy the needs-to-be-held-nonstop phase we're in now.

Audrey had her 1-month appointment today. She went from 7 pounds 9 ounces at birth (and then 7 pounds 1 ounce at discharge from the hospital and 6 pounds 6 ounces two days later) to 8 pounds 3 ounces. She's 21 1/4" long (was 18 3/4" at birth) and her head circumference is 37 cm. According to the babycenter.com percentile calculator, that means:

Length = in percentile 25
Weight = between percentile 10 and 25
Head Circumference = above percentile 95

Unlike Olivia, who has consistently been in the 95th-98th percentile for height since birth, we have a little shorty on our hands. Apparently with a big noggin to boot. It's so hard not to compare the two of them.

Speaking of Olivia, she's 23 months old today! Preparation for her big second birthday bash has begun. I asked her what she wanted to do for her birthday -- not imagining she would have an opinion -- and her reply was "Have a Dora party!" I didn't think I'd have to worry about a character/theme party so soon, but a Dora party she shall have.

Pictures to come. Really. Soon (hopefully).

we're alive ...

... I just don't have a lot of time on the computer these days. :)

Back after the holidays with pictures and details about life with two!

Audrey Jane is here!

Audrey Jane
born 12/7/2009
5:01 p.m.
7 pounds 9 ounces
18 3/4"

Pictures and more details to come!

new teeth

Olivia had her big dentist appointment today. I almost cancelled it at the last minute, because the pediatric dentist's policy is not to allow parents in the back while they're doing lengthy treatments and I thought it would be way too traumatic for Olivia. I'd been dreading it for weeks.


As it turned out, it was mostly traumatic --- for me. She said "mama!" a couple of times when the dental assistant came out to get her, and apparently cried for a couple of minutes, but then settled down and was a total trooper for the rest of her appointment (which lasted almost 2 hours). They cleaned her teeth, applied a sealant, and then covered the teeth with plastic veneers to protect them from decay and make them look more like her teeth did pre-ceramic tile accident.


The dentist and her assistants talked about ice cream a lot during the appointment, and Olivia's reaction was always, "mmmm!" or "num num!" each time they mentioned it. (They gave us a coupon for a free ice cream cup at Chik-Fil-A that we redeemed on the way home.) She also apparently told them that we already had our Christmas tree up and that the lights were blue. She may have been thinking about helping me put up the outdoor lights over the weekend, though who knows!

They gave her a stuffed bear wearing an "I love my dentist" shirt, and she carried it around for most of the day. The only thing she says about her appointment is that the dentist looked at her teeth and that they're clean and shiny. So ... lifetime trauma averted, I think.


Before:


After:

seriously slacking - 36 weeks

I'm 36 weeks pregnant today, which means 4 weeks left (if I'm lucky). I alternate between wanting to get it over with already and wanting to keep this kid in forever so nothing changes. I've become accustomed to not being able to bend over and breathe at the same time, to the unpredictable, sharp stabbing pains that occasionally shoot from my back to my hip down my leg, causing me to suddenly lurch forward like the Hunchback of Notre Dame. This random pain doesn't care if I'm at home, trying to carry a 25-pound toddler up the stairs, or merely strolling around at Target minding my own business.

What I'm no longer accustomed to is an hour of straight sleep being considered a luxury. All the various discomforts of recovering from a 40-week gestational process in which a human being ... you know, comes out of your body. The profuse sweating that ensues upon hearing a tiny little baby screaming and screaming for no reason. Thinking that your breast pump talks to you.

These days, I wake up around 3am with a strange desire to go downstairs and vacuum the kitchen floor. I often worry about how we're going to permanently ruin Olivia's life and how she's still just a baby and needs our attention.

But I'm sure that just like I did with Olivia, I'll muddle through somehow. I'll get used to not sleeping again, though hopefully it won't be a year-long stretch this time around. I'll wear the dark undereye circles as badges of honor. If nothing else, maybe people will take pity and come over bearing coffee.

miscellaneous cuteness

Just jotting these down so I don't forget:


"I hear wick-wick!" (music)

da-der-roo = kangaroo

makey da play-doh (makey da brown rabbit, makey da chicken eggs, makey da pink OE)

bite of water

_______ very tasty! (most recently, I was in the shower and heard her saying, "Mmm! Ice cream cone very tasty! Num num!" When I peeked around the shower curtain, I saw her with a (closed) jar of Mentholatum in her mouth. Ack.)

soooooo many birds!


daddy pick it up now