Ellie-ism & her 2 year checkup

Wow! I can't believe my little girl is now 2 years old! We had a great party over the weekend. A lot of people weren't able to make it, but we had a great time anyway....

Last night we were watching Ellie eat and she wanted more chips. We are really trying to get her to talk - she doesn't say a ton, but she's adding new words every day - so Chris prompted her to say, "Chips, please." No go. Again the prompt. Nope. Ellie, please ask for chips and then say please! Nothing.... Finally, Chris said, "Ellie, say please."

"Pleeeeease?"!!!!

We roared! She had never said it before and said it perfectly - just really drawn out like, "Leave me alone! I want a chip!" LOL!!!

She had her 2 year appt on Monday. She's doing really well and charmed the doctor. She's just so sweet and generally well behaved. She was 90% for height (35.5" although I think it was actually 36") and 45% for weight (26lbs). All in all, a good checkup!

Sam's 2 month checkup

Only have a sec. I'll fill in later:

Sam now sleeps 5-6 hours a night! Yeah! And she slept 8.5 the other night. Wish this would become a trend. LOL!

Sam is smiling a lot - to me. Sometimes to others, but not as often at all. Ugh. I really wish she were a little more relaxed around others. She is also squealing at herself in a mirror

Was 23.5" for length (90%) and 9lb 13oz (25%?) for length.

She's doing GREAT. Tracking me and others. Very alert. Standing up when held! Holding up her head. Adorable.....

Words Ellie says

These are all from before she turned two and are in the approximate order she started saying them:

Baaa (as in what a sheep says)
More - sign - point at opposite palm
Food - sign - fingers to mouth
Moon - sign - wave hand in air
Eeeeee (what a cat says)
Arr arrr (what a dog says)
Need a diaper change - sign - pat diaper
Bye bye
Hi
Cheese (chee)
Done (duh) sign/word - raise both hands in air
Bath - sign - scrub body
Drink - sign - pretend to shake sippy cup
Please - sign - pat chest
Thank you - sign - tap fingers to chin
Duck (duh)
Apple (ackle)
Cracker (acker or cacker)
Dog (dah)
Dad (daa) She has been saying this forever!
Hot (haaa)
Itsy bitsy spider - sign - rub forefingers and thumbs together - similar to the real sign
Avocado (ac-ado)
Apple (apple!) She says it really well and will use it if she doesn't know other words!
Open (opah)
Banana - sign - peel other forefinger
Car sound
Mama Finally!!! Says it a lot!
Ball (Bah)
Balloon (Bah-oooh)
Book (boohk - very soft k)
Plane - sign - arms out to sides
Okay
Baby (for Sam)
Egg Odd since she's allergic!
Key
Shoe Pointed at her foot and said it...

This week may be better than last....

I stepped on the scale and I was down to 190.5. I was at 192 a few days ago - and I was stuck at 195 for 6 weeks. So that's a start....

I also got an email from the people I did consulting for a few months ago - and they want me again! Yeah! I just have to make sure they pay me enough....

Weightloss....

Okay, I've decided on my two goals for right now....

First one is to get into a size 12. I have no clue how long this will take me. But if I go by how much I weigh and how much I think I'll weigh at size 12, it'll be about 15 weeks. That puts it at.... Hmmm... let's see.... the beginning of October. Yikes! While that sounds *really* far away right now, I know time flies so I'm just going to keep going. This is the size goal.
The second one is to do a 5K. This is the fitness goal - for now. I would like to do one sometime in late July or August. A lot of it will depend on Sam and if I can do something like this without her freaking out. We'll see.....

For the record:
I'm 5'10" and 190.5lbs. Theoretical weight goal is 160. (This may change once I get close - depends on how I look/feel.)

left thigh 25.25" right thigh 25.125" hips 44.5" waist 40" chest 35" breast 43" left upper arm 11.25" right upper arm 11.375" neck 13.5"

YIKES!!! Well, I have to remember, I had a baby 8.5 weeks ago. Still sucks though....

Sam's pouts...

Sam is so funny! I noticed today that when I wasn't paying enough attention to her while holding her, she'd start pouting.... That lower lip would come out and she would look so sad! Then she would start to whine and eventually cry. Unless I started smiling and talking to her. Then she's smile back! Silly kiddo. So cute!

Although today was a tough day. She wanted the boob almost every hour. But she wouldn't eat much - just a snack - and fall fast asleep. So frustrating!!!
But she's still cute as hell....

Ellie and the (no so) terrible twos

She's so funny! She's definitely showing when she's upset - she'll hit at things....
But today when I got mad and yelled at her, she looked at me from the corner of her eyes.... And smiled. And smiled more. And grinned. And laughed.... And kept it up until I just lost it and laughed my ass off. She's so cute! I try hard NOT to react like that, but this time I just couldn't help it!

What a doll!

Nope, shouldn't get excited. Grrr!

Now, her not sleeping through the night last night could have been the result of freaking out while mom was at the grocery store. While I was there, my cell phone rang. Uh, oh. Either Chris forgot something or......

Well, just as he was calling me to yell for help with Samantha, Ellie hurt herself. (Not badly, but definitely loudly! LOL!) So I high-tailed it to check out. As I was checking out (self checkout), he called back to say he had gotten Sam settled so I canceled checking out and headed back to get us food for dinner. (Hadn't made it that far.)

But Sam had freaked for a while and was very needy. I felt so bad for her! It seems that no one can really calm her except mom and mom's boobs. Chris tried a bottle, but no luck. She's come to the point where she's refusing them. Not good - no time at all for mom to get a break....
Don't get me wrong. I adore my daughter, but it's nice to have some time without having to worry about her. Ellie was definitely easier that way! Ah, well! It will all work out, I'm sure. (I have the feeling Sam will be more snuggly. That would be great!)

One other really bad thing I've noticed over the last few days - it seems that Sam has eczema. This sucks. I was hoping Ellie would be the only one. And I'm not sure if it's my imagination or what, but it seems much worse than Ellie's. So I'm slathering her up when I change her. I hate to do that, but it seems to make this better for her. She has her 2 month checkup in 1.5 weeks so I'll talk to the doctor then. Poor girl!

She's moved!

Yeah! I'm so excited! Ellie is in her new room. Now I can get Sam's room ready for her and try to get her used to sleeping in there during the day. (I have the feeling Sam will be in the bassinet or cosleeping until she's about 3-4 months old.)

Ellie was so cute. She got soooo excited about this! I'd been slowly moving her things into her new room and referring to it as her "new room" for a while. And while Chris and I were taking apart her crib, she was just spazzing! She was so thrilled to be moving!

Now I need to figure out what to do for decorating it. I was going to move all her shelves, but I think I'll leave 'em in her old room and get her some new stuff. I just wish I could go with her by myself to have her help me pick stuff out. I know I can do it with Sam, but I think it would be nice for Ellie to be with mom by herself and do it. Oh, well!

But since we might be moving in the next 6-9 months, it doesn't make sense to do a whole lot of decorating. I'm thinking I'll buy some bare wood shelves and paint them pink. Then I'll try to find some matching pink ribbon to hang the cute letters (E-L-L-I-E) that Laurie made as well as for on the cream sailcloth curtains I have. Now how I'm going to decorate the curtains, I have no clue. But I'm thinking the pink ribbon and some lions might be fun. She LOVES lions!
She's also trying more and more words. Yesterday she said "curly" and today she repeated "cool"! She's going to be talking in sentences soon, I hope!

And it just got shittier....

Well, that consulting gig I was hoping to get - I didn't.... Bummer. (He says more opportunities are coming up, but we'll see....)

My shitty week....

Well, this week has not been the best. I am trying to get some consulting work with the company I used to work with..... and I *still* haven't heard back. (They promised I'd hear by last Friday. Now they are saying this Friday. We'll see.) And no indication of whether or not I'll get it even though the guy I'd be working with really wants me to get it.

Then I got a call from the OB/GYN office. My PAP came back bad. I had had a bad PAP when I first got pregnant so they did another one. Bad. So then they did a colposcopy. Low dysplasia. Then another PAP. And another colpo. Moderate dysplasia. The doctor mentioned that there was a good chance that it would clear up after I had Sam.... But nope. Another bad PAP. So I get a colpo in a few weeks. Fun.

Then AF (Aunt Flow, that monthly visitor) decided to rear her ugly head. Yup, even thought I'm exclusively breast feeding (EBF), I get the joys of having to deal with her. Damn.

The day I got AF, I felt my sides - they were itching like crazy - and my skin felt weird... So I looked. Stretch marks! Explain this - why is it that I can go through an entire pregnancy and not get one, but I get them literally overnight for no apparent reason! Double damn. (Last time, I just used Vitamin E cream and they went away. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping the same is true this time.)

Then today I went to the dentist to get a filling. Only the tooth was cracked so badly they needed to do a crown. And when they were doing the mold, the crown next to it came off! I guess I should be glad that it happened at the dentists office, but it still sucks. So instead of it being about $200, it's going to cost about $1200! I know insurance will pay for some of it, but definitely not all. Grrrr.

Now I'm just waiting for the novacaine to wear off enough to eat. Hmmm, maybe this will help with the weightloss.

Well, off to upload some photos. Maybe that will cheer me up - lord knows I need it!

Sleeping through the night? Should I get excited?

Whoa! Three nights in a row! Wow! *knock on wood* Sam had slept from 5-7 hours each night. Luckily, only the first night was I truly engorged... And last night she actually slept in her bassinet. *whew* I love sleeping with her, but I just don't sleep as well.

She's also starting to kick things! I put her in the bouncy with Ollie the Octopus and she started kicking at him! Yeah! I don't remember when that's supposed ot happen, but this tells me that she's starting to really be aware of her body and that she can make it do things.

Ellie-ism II & update

Wow! I can't believe my little girl is almost 2 years old!! Wild... She is doing so well. The terrible twos are starting to rear their ugly heads. She will throw small tantrums from time to time when she doesn't get her way.

Yesterday she was wanting to put on some lotion and I told her she could have one more pump of it. So she rubbed her hands together and put the lotion on her belly and wanted more. I, of couse, said no... no more lotion. She threw a fit and walked away from me bawling her eyes out. She walked over to the big fern and hit it!

I immediately said, "We do NOT hit!"

She looked sheepishly at me then bent over to kiss the plant.....

She's definitely a card! But it took everything I had not to laugh at that.

The most exciting thing is the number of words she's adding daily! Today she repeated HOT DOG. Yesterday, it was KITE. The day before was APPLE BITE and APPLE WHEEL! She's also added TIRE, SHOES and several others! (So many that I'll quit listing her words in teh "lists" section.) After being so frustrated with her not talking, I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Yeah!

I still see her getting frustrated, though. It's as though she's embarrassed to say things she doesn't know how to pronounce well. Chris thought that was silly - until he noticed it, too....
It's such a delight seeing her personality blossom. She's so wonderful!

We are currently in the process of moving her to her new room... I have the room almost ready for her to move into. I need to move all the stuff on her walls and get her bed and rocker in there. Oh, and put up curtains and a few other things, but the room is mostly cleaned out. It wasn't intentional, but it should be done by the time her second birthday is here. I hope she likes it! I think she will.....

Samantha....

Ah, Samantha! What a sweet little girl! I just realized that I hadn't put anything in here since her birth almost 2 months ago. Bad mom!

So... what's Samantha like? Well, I know they say not to compare your children, but I don't know how else to describe her.

She's snugglier than Ellie ever was. I could never sleep with Ellie because she was such a little wiggle worm. Sam, on the other hand, just loves to snuggle up most of the time.

She's also more needy than Ellie was. Ellie was content to just hang out most of the time. Sam loves to be held and loves to eat! I think the favorite place to snuggle is my boob. LOL! While I love this, it's kind of hard to do it all day. Don't get me wrong, Sam will hang out by herself, but is definitely interested in being held more than not.

She's also JUST starting to smile! I saw a few small ones over the weekend - that weren't associated with gas. She has such a gorgeous smile.... I can't wait to see the full blown ones!
She also seems to be way ahead developmentally. I know the doctor said that at 1 month, but I wasn't sure about that. Then I read WTETFY (What to Expect the First Year) and WOW! She's able to hold herself standing on her legs - not supposed to until 4 months or later. She turns to look at me and has since birth almost - again, not supposed to until 4 months. She will also look at others now, too! She's almost keeping her head in line with her body when pulled up. She LOVES looking at herself in the mirror that I hang over her on her gymini. She'll coo and jabber at herself for several minutes. It's so cute!

And I get so many comments on just how gorgeous she is..... She looks just like her daddy and her grandma Judy at this age. It'll be interesting to see if she looks like them when she grows up!

Oh, about her neediness.... I forgot to mention that she is needy for me! We have.... I mean, Chris has tried to feed her bottles for several weeks. And she has never had a bottle and been done. She's always needed to finish up with a quick nursing session. Ugh. No breaks for me. I am wondering if this is because of the bottle or because she just needs me...

But since I've started taking her into bed and co-sleeping, she's been sleeping 5-6 hours a night. No, I don't really like co-sleeping (no real issues with it) - I just don't sleep as well. And I don't get to snuggle Chris. That bums me out.

She's so funny, though. Yesterday I had to pump and I was about 15 feet from Sam.... And she kept waking up! When I covered myself, she would sleep. The second I started pumping again, she would fuss and wake up a bit. And she had just eaten! LOL! Amazing!

Whoops! Someone stirs!

General thoughts

So the thought for the day is: How do I remember to Blog stuff so I can keep track of it? I loved doing Ellie's pregnancy journal and it was fun looking back at it, but I really wish I had kept better track of all her milestones. So my goal is to track Ellie & Sam's milestones here....

Which leads to the second thought: How can I back up these blog entries? I need to figure this out so that I don't lose them. I would be crushed! ACK!

Other thoughts:
Photography.... I can't believe how much photography is on my mind these days. I am constantly looking at other people's photos for ideas.... Whether the photos are snapshots, serious amateurs or professionals, I love looking at all of them! They all give me ideas and thoughts.... I want so badly to do this professionally at some point, but don't feel I'm quite ready. I have so much to learn. (ACK! I need to look closer at Carol L's link. Free classes?!? How can you beat that?)

I need to try to get some good pictures of Ellie & Sam together again. I haven't gotten any in over a month. I have several snapshots and I'll always keep taking those, but I really want some nicer ones....

Thank yous.... Yikes, what a bad person I am! I have so many thank you cards half done or not done at all and I *need* to send them! Same with the announcements, but don't want to send those out until I send the thank yous.... (Not sure about the etiquette, but I'd be annoyed getting an announcement before the thank you if I gave a gift.)

Crested Butte.... Things are starting to move in that direction! Yeah! I would LOVE to move there. Last weekend looking at houses was so huge for me. It makes me realize it's closer and definitely going to happen. And it was so breathtakingly beautiful! This is where Sam's neediness can get a bit frustrating right now. I want so badly to just leave her with Chris for several hours and take a bajillion photos, but I can't really do that. She's definitely a momma's girl and would have a fit if she couldn't nurse to finish up before going to sleep!

Being a mom to two.... Wow! It's a lot of work, but man, do I love it. It's odd right now, though. I still really see Sam and Ellie separately. I think this is because they don't really interact. I can't wait until Sam is old enough that Ellie can teach her things and interact with her. I have the feeling they'll be wonderful friends. But right now, when I am with Sam, I only think of Sam. And same with Ellie - I only think of her.

The hard times come when they are both melting down... Sam (generally) wanting food and Ellie wanting more attention. Most days aren't too big of a deal, but some days (like yesterday), I'm so ready for Chris to get home and help out. And I look forward to a glass of wine to unwind! Yesterday was tough even after Chris got home - Sam wanted to eat almost from the time she and Ellie woke at 4pm until almost midnight. I thought today was starting the same way, but luckily she went to sleep....

But being a mom of two actually makes me think about number three! Crazy. I know, I'm crazy. Especially since I'd be 41 when #3 was born! Doubly crazy!

A few other Ellie things

I was thinking about my blogs and realized I forgot a few Ellie things!

The other day Ellie walked up to me with a package of new batteries and said "Bat"... Then she indicated that she thought we ought to put them in the battery case for Sam's swing. Blew me away since I didn't even know she'd paid attention when I was doing that!

She knows how to take her clothes off and (mostly) put them back on again. I need to start seriously potty training!

She jumps up and down like crazy.... Both feet only hitting the floor once before launching herself back into the air. Over and over and over. It's hysterical!

She also walks up and down the stairs one foot one each step - just like an adult. No hands!
She LOVES the main theme from Winnie-the-Pooh as well as Itsy Bitsy Spider and will listen to them for HOURS on end. ACK! (Chris and I call it "IBS" so as not to remind her that she may want to listen to it...)

Ellie-ism

Today Ellie dropped her spoon on the floor. And since we we've been doing "please" and "thank you" for a while, I asked her what she said if she wanted her spoon...

She said, "Uh, oh!"