A & E and Little C: February 2014

Thursday, February 20, 2014

National Love Your Pet Day

Apparently today is National Love Your Pet Day, so I thought it would be appropriate to post about the two members of our family that have really taken a back seat since Elizabeth has been born.

Shooter is 7 now but looks 100 because he is so grey. He pretty much spends his days laying around, begging for food, or barking at whatever is walking down the street. He doesn't really play fetch much with Carson, but MAN, when it's hunting season, it's GAME ON. He is definitely Andrew's hunting dog and hasn't slowed down a bit when it comes to retrieving ducks. He lives for it! I guess Andrew works him so hard during hunting season, he gets a break the rest of the year. He's a loyal pup and puts up with Carson stepping on him (since he doesn't bother to move). He does get a young streak here and there and gets a little crazy when he and Lucy wrestle and chase each other. He's a good pup even though this nuttiness when he wants to be fed in the morning and evening drive.me.crazy!

Lucy is 6-ish (we think) and is such a "momma bear." She is very protective of both Carson and Elizabeth. She's a goober for sure. She completely loony when she's playing fetch with Carson. She's like a crack addict and can't get enough. She shakes with excitement. She never became a hunting dog (which was supposed to be the deal when we kept her... she was a stray that found us), but her purpose has certainly been to entertain us. She has a little head but acts like it's too heavy to hold up... she always comes and rests it on your leg or on the side of the bed. Any yes, her tongue is that long... it's actually longer than this picture portrays! She can drive me crazy too because her days on the street make her a little aggressive towards other dogs, so she really goes nuts when she sees people walking their dogs. She's also indecisive... in or out, in or out... make up your mind, Lucy!!! She's a sweetheart though, and I love watching her play with Carson.

C Nugget

I promise we still have 2 kids....

Carson has been the SWEETEST big brother (although, he still hasn't gotten the hint that you do NOT put things over her face.) I seriously can't take my eyes off him for 2 seconds when he's within close proximity to her. I walked away for a second and came back to find him in her crib with her. Eek!! He ALWAYS has to give her a kiss when she wakes up or he hasn't seen her in a little bit. He loves to be wherever she is and wants to help. He calls her his "Little Princess" or "Elizabeth Jane"... anything besides these two names is NOT ACCEPTABLE in his book.

Thankfully the weather has been better the last few days, so we've finally been able to spend some time outside in the evenings.

He loves playing fetch with Lucy

Trying to climb a tree that's not climbable

Helping Daddy with the garden.... we just harvested a bunch of carrots and he helped pull them out and wash them. FYI - they were SUPER yummy!!!

Practicing his casting into a bucket. Andrew promised him a prize if he made it in the bucket... he got it once!!!

He is such a SWEET and funny kid. I am obsessed with his precious little voice and wish I could bottle it up and remember all the funny things he says. He's incredibly observant and makes linkages between unrelated things all the time that just blow my mind. He still loves all things cars, planes, and trains and loves to play in the dirt, throw sticks in the water, etc. The loves to play pirates and wrestle. In other words, he's all boy! I think he is also a sensitive kid that really needs a lot of love and attention from his mommy and daddy. He loves to just BE with us. He loves to snuggle and wants to sleep with us all the time. I think the adjustment from being an only child to one of two was a little difficult for him in that he wasn't getting all the attention and affection that he was used to. We unintentionally did a little experiment. One week recently at school was NOT a good week. He had a write-up on his daily report SEVERAL days during that week. Looking back, it was probably one of those weeks where the weather was bad and he spent more time than he should have watching TV and playing iPad. I was probably messing with Elizabeth and Andrew was cooking. The next week, he slept with us several times and we were able to all go outside and play together each evening after school. That week, he had no issues at school.... hmm... makes you wonder! We're certainly trying to give him as much attention and one-on-one time that we can, even if that's meant him sleeping with us or one of us (usually Andrew) sleeping with him in his room. I used to be so opposed to it, but he's just so sweet and I know he will only be little for a short period of time, so I don't mind. How can you resist waking up to that sweet voice saying, "Mommy, I want to snuggle with you."

Love you, sweet boy!!!

Sleeping Beauty

I could seriously watch her sleep for hours...

Such an angel...

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Valentine's Day!

We woke up to this sweet face on Valentine's Day.

As soon as Carson saw I had the camera and was taking pictures of his baby sister, he wanted to join in the fun.... in the crib.

Real men wear pink!

Sweet big brother!

Yep, four days later... all those chocolates are GONE. Whoops! :-)

Those baby blues!!!!

In the car ride on the way to school, I told him to tell all his friends "Happy Valentine's Day" when he got to school.... well, that's exactly what he did. He marched up the steps, stood in the doorway and announced to EVERYONE, "Happy Valentine's Day!!!!" His arms were outstretched like he was making some grand proclamation.... hysterical kid.

We had family play time outside after school! I'm sure Carson was hyped up from all the candy he got at his school party.

Andrew and I enjoyed a nice meal at home together... we'll just have to go out another time. I'll take artichokes, sweet potatoes, and shrimp though ANY day! It's so great being married to an amazing cook!

2 Months!

We are now closer to 3 months (11 weeks today!), but close enough. :-) Minus a little sleeping blip, everything at the 2 month mark has been about the same the whole month.

These days are filled with lots of sweet smiles, "talking", and playful shrieking. She is the happiest right after she wakes up. Elizabeth is very easy going most of the time but her "witching hour" tends to be around dinnertime, but thankfully, it's usually pretty short-lived. She seems to get her gassy spells in the evening which I think is the cause of most of her fussiness, that and just being tired.

She loves to lay flat and stretched out either on the changing table, bed, couch, or floor and talk to whoever wants to lean over and talk to her. She especially loves talking to her mommy but is starting to really recognize her daddy and grandparents. She loves to pull her legs up to her chest and can really get her tush off the ground.

She is loving bath time and has fun kicking her legs and making the water splash. We usually just put her in the big tub with a washcloth under her head and 1-2 inches of water.

She also likes her paci... "her sheep" or "her giraffe" according to Carson (she has the Wub-a-Nubs with the Soothies attached).

She still prefers to nurse but is getting better at taking a bottle. She's still being swaddled to sleep and has occasionally gotten out if I don't wrap her up really tight in the SwaddleMe or Halo Swaddle Sleep Sack. A tight swaddle definitely works best. She does still like the swing and likes the music. It cracks me up because one of the melodies is my high school's alma mater.

She doesn't take much convincing to go to sleep. If she's swaddled and remotely tired, she usually will take her paci and fall asleep on her own. Almost all naps are in the crib now. She will rarely fall asleep while rocking or in my arms. She really doesn't like being held for long periods of time and so far hasn't been much of a snuggler. :-(

She's recently found her hands and loves to suck on them.

She's not the biggest fan of tummy time... neither was Carson. She tolerates it the longest if I get down to her level and she can look at me. She also likes looking in her mirror. She loves to stare at her Stim Mobile. Carson loved it too when he was little. He even noticed when I changed the card out... he is the most observant child I know!

Before 2 months, she had been sleeping 7-9 hours at night, and a couple times, even went 10 hours. However, almost to the day, when she hit 2 months, she regressed back down to about 6 hours. Boo. Most nights I'm getting up just once which isn't too bad. Thankfully, the last week she's been back at the 7+ hour stretches. I've been putting her down between 8-9 and then she's dream feeding before I go to sleep, usually between 10-11. The last week she's been staying asleep until 5 or 6.

She also loves to stand in your lap just holding your hands. She easily pulls from laying to sitting and then can push herself up to standing while just holding my hands. Strong little girl!

We aren't on any real schedule yet, mostly because I haven't forced anything. We didn't have a rigid schedule with Carson either. She does usually wake up at about the same time each day and follows the same pattern during the day of 'eat-play-sleep'; however, it doesn't always occur at the same time every day. Most days, she takes her long nap in the morning or around lunch and takes more shorter naps in the afternoon and early evening. We do have a consistent bedtime routine at roughly the same time every night though. We've just not been at home a lot or have been running around, so it's a little hard to keep a consistent schedule. She's thankfully very go-with-the-flow.

She's still a very efficient eater and only nurses for 5-15 minutes total; however, she does eat every 2-2.5 hours for the most part during the day. It is rare to go 3 hours unless she takes a long morning nap.

I'm almost certain the dark hair is here to stay and won't be falling out. It's longer now than it was when she was born and is very full and thick. It's real hair, not thin baby hair. I love that I can clip little bows right in and don't have to fiddle with head bands.

I'm still not sure on what her eye color will be. They still look dark grey. Sometimes I think there is a hint of blue, but other times I don't. We'll see!

Wearing Mommy's 32-year old Feltman Brothers dress...