{six months}

Where to begin.

I was a little late taking Quincey's six month photos, so I decided to make it a "double shoot" and get some of Kaydence too for our Christmas card this year. This post is a little daunting to me because I feel like I have so much ground to cover since I am an entire month late documenting Quincey's six month milestones. As I write this, he is officially seven months. Cry.

He proves daily that he is growing too fast by the fact that all he wants to do is walk around the house all.day.long. He started walking holding our hands around six months and we soon discovered he was well on his way to be walking by seven months (just like his daddy). Unheard of, right? I need to get it on video to prove it. He is standing solidly on his own right now. And when he does fall, he just butt plants and even tries to break his own fall. Tonight, he was standing by himself for quite some time and then just took four steps all by himself. I don't know what I'm going to do with such an early walker. I'm not ready. Cry.

He still doesn't babble too much. And if he does, he just says "ghee." Today though, he was crying in his highchair after he finished eating lunch and he said "ma." That was the first time I've ever heard him make the "m" sound. Maybe he'll actually say "mama" before he says "dada." We shall see.

He went through a really rough teething spell this past month (well, technically two months, since the last time I wrote an update he was just five months). We have discovered that he really doesn't handle pain well at all...especially teething. Kaydence never really had too much of a hard time with teething as I recall, but not so for this little man. His two bottom teeth popped up shortly after he turned six months. I need to get a picture of them one of these days. They are slowly but surely coming in and they are oh so cute.

At Quincey's six month appointment he was still not sleeping through the night. He would wake 2-3 times a night yet to nurse, but he was barely eating anything during the day. I suspected he was making up for it at night. I would always nurse him when he woke up from his naps during the day. But I found that he would be so happy and alert that he couldn't stay focused on nursing and would get distracted and not eat. I talked to the pedi about it and she said to switch up his nursing from when he wakes up to before he goes down for his naps. I knew he would eat fine and most likely fall asleep, but she said to make sure to put him down awake. So for a long while I would change him after I was finished feeding him and then put him down awake. He did great and he started sleeping through the night shortly thereafter. So he would go down at 7:00 p.m. and sleep until 6:00 a.m. It was heaven to finally get a full nights sleep. I have somewhat switched back to nursing him after he wakes up now and he is doing better than he had been. Although, I do nurse him before his afternoon nap.

We hit another rough patch though when he got a cold this past month. It was such a horrible cold and on top of it he was/is teething, so it wasn't a good combo. He started waking again during the night to nurse when he was sick. But now he is back to sleeping through the night. I am so grateful...I was beginning to wonder if it would ever happen.

His daily schedule is as follows:

6:00/7:00 a.m. -- wake-up/nurse/diaper change (he then comes into our bed until Kaydence wakes up at 7:00 a.m.)
7:00 a.m. -- play 8:00 a.m. -- eat breakfast (cereal and fruit)
9:00 a.m. -- nap
10:30/11:00 a.m. -- wake-up/nurse/diaper change
11:30/12:00 p.m. -- lunch (veggies/fruit)
12:30 p.m. -- play
1:30 p.m. -- books upstairs with Kaydence (tuck Kaydence in for her nap)
1:45 p.m. -- nurse
2:00 p.m. -- nap
4:00/4:30 p.m. -- wake-up/nurse/diaper change (although, he has been skipping the nursing latley)
6:00 p.m. -- dinner (veggies/fruit -- or nibbles of whatever we are having)
6:45 p.m. -- bath (every other night)
7:00 p.m. -- pj's, nurse, bed

 ...then he'll (usually) sleep through the night until 6:00 a.m. and then it starts all over again.

He is such a sweet, sweet boy. If I leave him with someone else to run errands, etc. and come back home, he always hugs me and tries to eat my face/chin. I adore it. He loves his daddy though too. Quincey was so excited to see his daddy tonight when he came home from work...he was panting like a dog.

Quincey loves his solids now. He eats three meals a day, which he started doing around six months. He is starting to eat more and more actual solids now too, instead of all purees. How is it possible??? Seriously, where is the time going?

 He loves Baby Mum Mums. And I just started him on puffs last week and he loves those as well. He is doing really great at "chewing" bigger chunks of food now. Today I gave him carrots that were in bigger chunks (but still soft) and he did really great. I try to make most of his foods, but I do like some of the food pouches for on-the-go when needed. He has had a good variety of foods so far...they are as follows:

avocado
apples
bananas
pears
prunes
mango
peaches
sweet potatoes
pumpkin
acorn squash
spinach
millet
peas
green beans
carrots
broccoli
corn
yogurt

Hmmm...I feel like I may be missing some. His favorite is by far sweet potatoes, which was one of Kaydence's favorites too. He loves a sippy cup of water after his meal and he does really well drinking on his own.

Kaydence continues to adore her little brother. She calls him her "best buddy." She is so sweet when she talks to him in her high pitched mommy voice. If he is napping or something, she always asks "mommy, where is quincer?" She is always thinking about him. And if he is playing in the living room by himself, she will say "but mommy, Quincey is alone...he doesn't like being alone!" She keeps him good company and takes very good care of him. On days when she wakes up before him, she will always ask where he is. And when he wakes up, she is the first in his room. She takes the stool from the bathroom and takes it into his room and stands on it at the side of his crib talking to him in her most adorable high pitched mommy voice. It kills me. She is also enjoying playing with some of her old baby toys again. lol

We are gearing up for the holidays, which means lots of traveling and lots of company. This weekend, we are taking Kaydence to her very first play. I ordered a package of three plays through the Milwaukee Children's Theater (The Five Little Monkeys, Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, and Pinkalicious). She has such a love of the arts...music, dance, acting...so we are so excited to expose her to the theater. My sister gets to babysit the little man.

Well, I'm sure I have missed some things, but my brain is mush right now. I will hopefully come back and add Quincey's stats from his six month appointment...when I find them. lol

And now, my babies...

{little man plaid and sweet ballerina girl}

oh dear, i have really neglected my blog this month. i meant to blog this ages ago. better late than never i guess. i have a little thing for retro plaid pants and since i couldn't find what i was looking for, i decided to make some of my own. i bought a pair of retro plaid pants from Ragstock and upcycled them into these little man pants. i'm sort of in love with them and want to make more. of course, quincey wears them well. :-)



this month was a huge milestone for my sweet little girl. kaydence had her first official ballet class at a dance academy. she adores it! and she even practices her moves at home...it is so precious and melts my heart every time. she got to pick out her leotard and was so very excited for her first class. here are a few photos of her with her little friend on the first day. she was actually sick this day. fortunately, we have plenty of time to get lots of fun photos.

{five months}

 dear sweet boy,

you keep growing and growing.  i am a flood of emotions.  you brighten my days with your ever growing awareness and strength.  my heart is so full when i think of you and your sister and all we are blessed with.

when i look at you, i see your daddy.  not in your looks necessarily, but in your mannerisms.  even now, i can already see you will be much like him.  not much phases you.  you sit with contentment on anyone's lap.  and even when you're not on a lap, you play so nicely and will let us know with mild complaint when you need to be picked up.  

will you be a swimmer?  will you be a chef?  will you be a musician?  will you be a daddy?  the questions are endless and so are the answers.  but no matter what you become, it only matters who you are and our hope is that we bring you up in a way that you discover that at an early age and use it to better the lives of others along your way.  we know God has a very special plan for your sweet little life and we can't wait to see all the wonderful things he has in store for you.

one of the reasons i said "swimmer" is because when you take your bath, you kick like a mad man.  your little legs just go crazy in the water and you love it so much.  and a chef?  well, this is wishful thinking on my part (lol).  how wonderful would it be for you to be my own personal chef? :-)  but i'm hopeful because of the way that you study me in the kitchen and are so interested in food and how it's being prepared.  it makes me wonder if you'll have a way with food...just like your daddy does.

you are sitting up so well now.  you even catch yourself from falling when you excitedly sway about with glee.  your giggle still sounds like you're holding back, but i love it just the same. 

your smile.  your smile is infectious and every time i look at you, you flash your big smile at me and i melt.

you are such a solid little man.  when i weighed myself on the scale and then held you and weighed us both, i did the math and it appears you are a little over 16lbs already.  i have a feeling you will be getting close to 18lbs by your six month appointment.  kaydence didn't weight that until she was 15 months old.  yes, you are a solid little man and i couldn't love your chunky little thighs and plump little fingers any more than i do.

your chill-lax attitude is evident by the fact that you still haven't rolled over from your back to your belly.  you are finally starting to roll to the side a bit while you play with your feet, but you still have no strong desire to completely roll.  though, you have gotten up on your knees on several occasions and scooted forward.  maybe you will crawl before walking, unlike your sister.  you stand very well and even take steps forward.  you also stand against the ottoman without me holding you and can hold yourself up for quite some time and even moved to the side to try and get a toy.  i foresee you scaling the furniture in no time.

you have been loving your oatmeal once a day.  and today we gave you avocado for the first time.  you loved it!  i am hoping you will be one of those kids who will eat anything and will beg for food off our plates.  what a new world that would be for us. ;-)

i think you have finally fallen into somewhat of a schedule during the day.  you will wake around 7:00 a.m. and i will feed you.  then you will go back down for a nap about an hour and a half or so later.  i read two books and rock you before your nap.  then i stand in front of your crib and sway back and forth for a bit while you nuzzle your head into the blankey on my chest.  then, i lay you down to sleep.  you have been sleeping a good hour and a half to two hours in the morning.  then, you wake up and we play.  you eat again between 11:00/12:00 and go back down for another nap around 1:30/2:00 and sleep for another one and a half to two hours.  the tricky part, that i still haven't quite figured out, is our evenings.  you always seem to want to take another little nap around 5:30 p.m. or so, but if you do, then you aren't quite ready for bed around 7:00 p.m., which is what time you had been going to bed.  maybe we just need to let you take a little nap around 5:30 and then put you to bed a little later?  hopefully we can figure it out soon.  night time is still all over the place too.  you had been only waking once around 2:30/3:00 a.m. to eat and would go back down until 6:00-ish a.m.  but then for awhile you went back to waking up at 10:30/11:00 p.m., 1:30/2:00 a.m., and 4:30/5:00 a.m.  lets work on that, ok?  what do you say you go back to your once a night feeding around 2:30/3:00???   mommy could really use more sleep.  if you think i'm a good mommy now, just imagine what a great mommy i would be if i got more sleep. ;-)  i promise!

your sister adores you.  she talks to you like you are her best friend in the whole world.  she even said that you are her "best buddy" the other day.  if you aren't up in the morning when she wakes up, the first thing she will ask is "where is quincey?"  and if i put you down for a nap and she didn't know it, she will always come to me and ask "where is quincey?"  if you cry, she will always try to figure out why you are crying.  "i think he wants to eat, mommy."  "i think he is tired, mommy."  "i think maybe he has a belly ache, mommy."  and about 99.9% of the time, she is always correct in her assessment.  she cares about you so much and loves to play with you.  i pray you both will grow to be best friends and do your best to always take care of each other.   

little man, little man, you are my little man.  i can't even imagine my life without you and i have only known you for five short months.  stay strong, stay healthy, and love much.

sleep tight and sweet dreams, my baby.  feel free to stay in dreamland until 6:30 a.m. tomorrow morning. xoxo

love and kisses,

mommy

{four months}

Oh my...this is embarrassingly late.  Quincey is actually almost 5 months (in two days).  :-(  Where does the time go?

Weight: 14lbs, 2.5oz (25%)
Height: 25.5 inches (50%)
Head: 40cm (10%)

 

 

 

And just because...she wanted to hold him, but he was just done.  Sweet girl sure loves her brother though.

Where to begin???  My baby is growing and it gives me such mixed emotions.  It's so fun to see all the new things he is doing, but sad that my baby is growing up already...both my babies for that matter.

Quincey has mastered sitting up on his own this month.  He still leans forward a bit, but he can balance himself really well and even catches himself from falling with his hands.  I think he'll have it perfected this next month.  He is still such a good baby and very contented...unless he has a belly ache or just wants to go to sleep.  Which brings me to our latest saga.  Quincey has had a hard time pooing.  He went 16 days without a BM.  The last time I was at the pedi, I told her he would go about 7 or so days before having a BM and she said she wasn't too concerned about it because it wasn't that uncommon.  But once he hit 14 days, I was starting to get concerned.  I tried putting a call into the pedi on Friday before the long weekend, but we were never able to connect.  Fortunately I have some friends who are doctors and moms who have experienced the same thing and they gave me a little advice.  I gave him some juice (I was told prune, pear, or apple juice) mixed with water.  He drank it, but he had a hard time choking it down -- I'm assuming because it is thinner than milk?  Then he would spit a lot of it up and it still didn't produce a bowel movement, so....we ended up giving him a suppository.  It worked in a matter of 10 minutes and I think it made him feel so much better.  However, where do we go from here?  I called the pedi this morning and she said if he doesn't go again in another 3-5 days that I should give him straight pear juice.  I am hoping and praying that will work.  

This boy loves to eat that is for sure.  He is getting to be a very big boy with some very chunky things (nom, nom, nom).  He is eating so well in fact that I thought we might start him on solids soon.  He is so ready!  He keeps on drooling like crazy while he watches us eat.  So I actually did give him some rice cereal for the first time on September 2 and again on September 3.  The pedi had said that sometimes solids helps babies with their bowel movements, but I have also heard that rice cereal can be constipating, so I don't know.  When I talked to the pedi today, she said to just give him oatmeal instead of the rice, since it can be constipating.  He did well with the cereal, and seemed to like it ok, but he wasn't overly excited. lol  So I actually might wait a bit longer before pushing it.  I'm in no rush, that's for sure.  The longer I can go without having to go through the motions of making baby food, the better. ;-)  

Quincey is such a happy smiley baby.  We can always make him smile and laugh so easily -- so, so different from Kaydence.  She was such a serious baby and we really had to work at it to get her to smile or laugh.  We can even get Quincey to laugh when he is crying.  It's hilarious.  He gets so anxious to eat.  Every time I get ready to feed him and lay him down on my lap to get ready, he just can't contain himself and fusses until he gets what he wants.  It's so funny because he knows it is coming, but he just can't wait.  

He still doesn't like the bumbo too much.  He loves the exersaucer though and is starting to outgrow the swing (though he still likes it).  He stands so well and actually tries to walk while holding our hands.  He has the stepping motion down.  He is also almost crawling...or trying to I should say.  He puts his knees up underneath him and scoots himself forward.  He still hasn't rolled from his back to his belly yet though...crazy boy.  Nothing I do to try to get him to roll works...he just lays there. lol  

The other day, a friend held him for a bit while I was right there and he got this pouting lip and started crying.  I'm not going to lie, I kinda liked it.  Kaydence never cared when other people held her (which is nice, but sometimes I wished that she would show some emotion about it). lol  I don't know if he'll be a mamas boy or not, but either way, he is my sweet baby boy.  Lately, he has been wrapping his arms around my neck and it feels like a hug...I love it!

I feel like he is looking a lot more like Kaydence these days.  Maybe it is in my head, but when he smiles, it completely reminds me of Kaydence.

Oh I love my babies so...

Kaydence loves her little brother so much.  She is always so helpful and wants to play with him and give him his paci if he is sad.  She is always talking to him so sweetly.  Lately, she has been a little (unknowingly) rough when she has been playing with him.  She likes to put his toes in his mouth (which he loves), but when she grabs his legs to put up to his mouth, it sometimes looks like she is going to rip it off. lol  So I just need to remind her to be gentle.  She has never done anything intentionally mean to him though, which I'm grateful for.

Well, that is about all I can think of right now.  I'll need to be taking his 5 month photo pretty soon. :-(  Growing too, too fast!

{sweet candy girl}

I've been wanting to do a shoot with Kaydence ever since she got her new glasses.  I had to think of a way that would make her cooperate with me, so what better way than candy, right?  hehe  She was the perfect little model and loved it!  It was a memory that I will hold dear to me because she was so bubbly and full of life. Also, this is my first time ever doing a storyboard. Please bear with me as I figure it all out.  I just threw this one together quick.

{a daddy and his boy}

Believe it or not, I have zero photos of Teirney with Quincey (aside from his birth and instagram photos), so needless to say, I adore these.

We were in Madison for a wedding last weekend and we had about 10 minutes after the wedding before Teirney had to head back to Milwaukee (due to some trial prep) and I convinced him to hang around a bit for some pictures of him and our little man.  If you know Teirney at all, you know being in front of the camera is not his thing, but I'm so glad I was able to convince him to do this for me.  I love my boys!<3

 

 

 

 

 

 

{three months}

I know I will forever be saying this, but...where does the time go?!?!  How is my baby 3 months already???

Here's my sweet boy.

And because I can't forget about my girl, here is one I snapped of her just to check my lighting for Quincey's little photoshoot.  She was being her silly self and asked me to take a picture of her...fuzzy hair and all (I didn't do her hair that day).  But this is why I love my girl, she is so fun and quirky.



We have had a very busy summer so far and it's hard for me to believe it's already mid-July!  We have something going every weekend through August and by then we will be gearing up for pre-school.  Yes, Kaydence will be going to pre-school in the fall.  It's so hard for me to believe.

Quincey continues to be such good baby...unbelievably good!  I feel so blessed to have had two very good babies.  The only time he really cries is if he has a gas bubble or if he is hungry and I can't get to him (for instance, if we are driving in the car).  He does have some lungs on him during those times, but he is easily calmed when I pick him up.  He is such a little snuggler...I'm so glad I got a snuggler. :-)

He continues to sleep on his belly, but there are mornings when I find him on his back when I go in to get him.  We have been really busy lately, so he hasn't been getting much floor time.  I need to get him on the floor again to see if he'll roll over for me.  He is so close to giggling, but isn't quite there yet.  The other day he was smiling and cooing with me and I managed to get a laugh out of him, but it wasn't a full belly laugh.  I need to video tape him more (note to self).   He does little half laughs here and there though and you can tell he is so close to giving a full belly laugh. 

He is starting to reach for things a little more.  He loves chewing on Sophie (or his hands) and continues to be a big drooler.  He loves his little light up bear on his activity mat and gets so excited when he sees it.

He still doesn't love the bumbo, although he will last a little longer in it than he had been (like 5 minutes instead of 1).  He still really loves to sleep.  I feel like he has been stretching out his feedings the last few days.  He is sleeping longer stretches during the day.  But for the most part, he is still eating every three hours and every once in awhile even less than 3 hours.

Teirney's parents were in town this weekend and watched the kids for us while we went to a Brewer game.  Teirney's mom said she put Quincey down at 8:45, then he didn't wake up until 4:30 a.m.!!!  It was awesome!  And then I put him back to bed right away after feeding him and he didn't wake up until 10:00 a.m.!!!  Who is this child? lol  Kaydence never slept that late into the morning.  I have a feeling he won't be much of a morning person, like Kaydence is.

His upper body is so strong!  He will hold himself very stiff, but if you're not careful, he'll throw himself backwards when you're holding him at times.  He looks like a log falling backwards. lol  Also, he is so interested in what we eat, so I'm hoping that means he'll be a good eater.  Kaydence couldn't have cared less when she was a baby. 

He definitely likes to be in bed by 7:30 p.m.  We had church tonight and didn't get home until close to 8:00 p.m. and he screamed half the way home because he just wanted to eat and go to bed.  We'll see how he sleeps tonight.

A couple weeks ago, I noticed that his left eye looked a little turned in (like Kaydence's did).  Since then I have noticed it a couple times when he is tired.  I was hoping it was nothing and I was just imagining things, but then Teirney told me he noticed the same thing tonight.  How strange if both of our kids need glasses for this when we don't have lazy eye on either side of our family (that we know of).  Kaydence has an eye appointment scheduled for next week, so I will ask about it then.

I feel like he's such a big boy!  I guess I'm comparing him to Kaydence and I feel like she was so much littler at this point.  The other day, I stepped on the scale while holding him and then subtracted my weight and he was 13 pounds!  Eek!  He is going to outgrow Kaydence in no time!

Speaking of Kaydence, she is growing into such a little lady.  We just purchased a new car yesterday and said goodbye to "Sexy Lexi."  It was actually a little sad.  I cried on our way home.  I know it sounds silly, but we had so many memories with our Lexus RX300...I loved that car!  It served us so well for 8 years, but alas, it needed a $4000 repair, so it was time to find something else before it died on us.  Kaydence was pretty sad about it too, she cried when we came home with the new car and she said she didn't like it.  But, today, we turned her carseat forward facing for the first time and gave her a ride in the new car and now she loves it! lol  Go figure. 

Here are a couple pictures to close this post out.

{12 weeks}

On June 26, Quincey rolled over for the first time (12 weeks)!  Since then, he has rolled over a couple times...just from belly to back.  He hasn't even gotten close to rolling from back to belly.  Kaydence rolled over for the first time (belly to back) at 10 weeks.  I keep trying to get it on video, but of course whenever I get out the video camera, he never wants to do it...one of these days.

I think we have quite the sensitive boy on our hands.  He can go from 0-60 in 2.2 seconds ( i.e., smiling and happy to screaming his head off).  I'm not sure why he feels the need to get so upset over diaper changes, or being put in his swing or bouncer, but for whatever reason he feels the need to express himself....enthusiastically. lol  The funny thing is, he doesn't even have that loud of a scream, but he just gets so upset that his voice cracks as he screams...it's so sad.  But the funniest part about it is that today I discovered that I can make him smile in the middle of his screaming to the point that it's almost a laugh. lol  He still hasn't given us a full belly laugh, but he gives us half chuckles here and there and today when he was screaming I made him smile and stop crying just by beeping his nose.  Such a little faker.  lol  He tries so hard to sound so big and bad, but in reality, he is just a big softy just like his daddy.   

The one thing I have found where I am *always* guaranteed a smile is when I put his toes in his mouth.  I'll say "mama says...put your toes in your mouth" and then I'll touch his toes to his mouth and he gets the biggest smile every single time.  Whenever Kaydence hears me say this to him, she says "Kaydence says...put your hands in your mouth."  lol  She never wants to miss out on being a part of the fun.  Today, he actually held his own foot and sucked on his toe for a bit.  I was holding his leg up (because he isn't quite *that* advanced, but it was cute just the same).  I got an instagram picture of it. 

In the last couple days he is getting so much better at holding onto things.  As of last week, I was a little worried because I felt like he was pretty tight fisted yet, but this week, he has definitely loosened those fists quite a bit and is started to grab at things more.  He always plays (purposely) with his activity mat toys and if I hold a rattle in front of him, he will try to play with it by batting at it, etc., but he still hasn't actually grabbed something from me yet.  He does hang onto one of the toys on his activity mat though.  I can put something in his hand and he'll hang onto it for a little while, but most of the time he doesn't know that he is holding it and will drop it a few seconds later.  Although, in the last couple days I have noticed that he is clasping his hands in front of him a lot more, so I feel like he would probably hold onto Sophie and chew on her (if we could find her...she is currently MIA right now...sigh).  He loves to chew on my finger if I am holding him, so I think Sophie will be his best friend in no time.  And speaking of chewing, he is a drool-o-matic!  Kaydence was never really a drooler, but I can already foresee lots of clothing changes in Quincey's future due to his drool habit.  He also loves to blow raspberries. :-)

This little boy loves to be held.  Lately, he hasn't been wanting me to put him down for much longer than a few minutes.  It's fine when we have family visiting, etc. (like we did this past week), but when it's just the three of us at home on a normal day, it can be a bit tricky to try to get things done.  He loves the Moby and will always fall asleep in it, but I don't like wearing it when I am cooking by the stove because it just makes me nervous.  So that is the one time it can be difficult if he doesn't want to be put down and I have to make lunch/dinner.

Quincey is a very light sleeper compared to Kaydence.  She used to be able to sleep anywhere and through anything...not him.  Lately, his morning naps are very short...40-ish minutes and then he will wake up.  I will usually give him his paci and he will fall back asleep, but then he wakes up every 10-15 minutes or so needing his paci.  It gets old fast.  The afternoon however, he takes a nice long nap 2-3 hours.  This is all assuming we are home -- when we are out and about he will usually sleep in his carseat off and on.

The last couple nights I have fed Quincey at 7:00 p.m. and put him to bed right away afterward.  Then he wakes up to eat around 11:00/11:30 p.m. and then he won't wake up again until 5:00/5:30.  It has been wonderful!  I was just talking to my mom the other night saying that I wish I could switch his long stretch from the early evening (when we are still awake) to the early morning (when we are sleeping).  Because he used to eat and stay awake for awhile before I put him to bed for the night and then he would sleep until 2:00/2:30 a.m., but now that I have been putting him to bed right after I feed him, he has moved up his wake up time to 11:00/11:30 p.m., which is right before we go to bed and then he doesn't wake up until early morning, which is perfect.  I don't know if that's the trick, but that is what has happened the last couple nights.  Now tonight, he'll probably switch it up again on me. lol 

There is so much to write about, but I just have to jot it down as I think about it.  I'll be doing his 3 month post in the next week or so, so I'm sure I'll write another novel then. ;-)

I took these photos last week when Quincey was 12 weeks. 

 

 

 

{soccer girl}

Kaydence had her very first soccer practice last week. She was so excited about it. She has two other friends doing it too and they are like a little posse together. Whatever one of them does, they all do. Typical three year olds I guess. :-) On the first night, we were watching on the opposite side of the field, so whenever the coaches would tell the kids to go take a water break, the kids would get confused as to where we were (haha).  And then, when they went back, they could never find their team and would end up in some other (older) team also on the field.  It was so funny.  And whenever one of the kids would run back to us, they would all follow (whether it was a water break or not).  It was so comical.  But practice this week went a little better and they all stayed by the coaches, unless it was a water break.

They don't actually play any soccer games or anything. They just meet every Monday and learn practical soccer moves by the use of fun games that they would understand, like red light/green light, and Mrs. Fox, etc.  Kaydence really loves it and looks forward to it every week.

Here are a few photos. 

 
 
 
 
 
 

   

And of course, she loves her friend, Alexander, as you can see.

{2 months}

I have been meaning to write this 2 month post all month and then today I realized that Quincey is actually almost 3 months now, so I am making myself sit down to write this.  Seriously, where did June go?!?!  I feel like I will be saying this every month for the rest of my life from here on out.

He did great with his 2 month shots.  He cried for just a little bit of course, but then he quieted right down and did great the rest of the day.  Here are his stats from his 2 month appointment.

Head circumference:  38cm (25%)
Height:  23in (50%)
Weight:  10lbs, 15oz (25%)

I feel like he is gigantic compared to Kaydence when she was this age.  He is really starting fill out and get some cute little chunk on him.  He has been wearing his 0-3 month clothes now for about a month and some of them are already starting to get a bit snug on him in places.  It has thrown me for a loop, since Kaydence didn't even start to wear her 0-3 month clothes until she was 3 months old.

Quincey is such a sweet little boy.  He is very snuggly and content, unless he has a gas bubble or something.  But otherwise, he just sits there and takes everything all in.  He is a lot like Kaydence in the sense that he really tries to figure everything out and is usually pretty serious for the most part.  Although, he does get quite happy after he eats and that is when I can get the most smiles out of him.  He hasn't quite given a full belly laugh yet, but he is close.  He gets really happy and excited at peek-a-boo already and he is so close to a laugh, but not quite yet.  He also likes it when I tap his nose a few times and say "beep-beeps."  He loves it and gets huge smiles!

We stopped swaddling him over a month ago now -- he was just a little over a month old when we stopped.  I remember swaddling Kaydence until she was 4 months old...no joke. lol  It was more out of fear that she wouldn't sleep through the night if we stopped, than it was the fact that she actually wanted to be swaddled.  I think we could have stopped swaddling her much earlier and she would have been fine because once we did stop, she transitioned like a gem.  From day one, we have never swaddled our babies arms in though -- we just swaddle their body with their arms out, so I think that helps with the transition.  Quincey started breaking out of his swaddle and then he would get cold and wake up, so that is when I broke out the sleep sacks.  I was a little worried at first that he wouldn't like it, but he actually slept much, much better once we started using them.  He wakes up a lot less and sleeps more soundly. 

He has started reaching for things in the last couple weeks (i.e. his toys that are attached to his play gym, etc.).  And this week, he is just starting to loosen his fists a little more.  He will sit in the bumbo for short periods of time, but not for too long yet.  He loves his play gym, bouncer, and swing.  I have noticed though that he doesn't like to stay in one thing for too long.  With Kaydence, she would tolerate anything for long periods of time, but Quincey, not so much.  He is very predictable with his schedule.  He will play for just a little bit after he eats, but before long he will be fussing for his paci so he can go back to sleep.  This is his schedule as of now.

- 7:30/8:30 a.m. -- wakes for the day and eats
- playtime with mama, diaper change, and then activity mat, bouncer, or swing
- 9:00/9:30 a.m. -- nap (in crib)
- 10:30/11:30 a.m. -- wakes to eat
- playtime with mama, diaper change, and then this is usually when we leave to run errands or go for a playdate, but if we are home then activity mat, bouncer, or swing -- he is usually awake longer during this period and sometimes won't nap until his next feeding
- 12:00/12:30 p.m. -- nap (in crib) or he will just stay awake until he is ready to eat again
- 1:30/2:00 p.m. -- wakes to eat
- playtime with mama, diaper change, and then I put him down for a nap right away, since this is when Kaydence naps and then I try to nap too when I can
- 2:00/2:30 p.m. -- nap (in crib -- this is his long nap)
- 4:30/5:30 p.m. -- wakes to eat
- playtime with mama, diaper change, and then activity mat, bouncer or swing while I make dinner -- he usually stays awake for quite awhile during this stretch
- dozes off in the swing until next feeding
- 7:30/8:30 p.m. -- wakes to eat, or he was already awake depending on what was going on that day
- playtime with mama, diaper change, and then bath (every couple days), pajamas, sleep sack, hangs out with us for a bit either watching tv or I rock him and then put him to bed for the night
- 1:30/2:30 a.m. -- wakes to eat, diaper change, put back to bed
- 4:30/5:30 a.m. -- wakes to eat, diaper change, put back to bed
- 7:30/8:30 a.m. -- wakes for the day and eats and it starts all over again

He is pretty easy to read.  When he is done being awake and held, he starts squirming and fussing a bit and then I'll put him in his crib for a nap and he'll fall right asleep.  He is amazing because I can put him in his crib wide awake and he will put himself to sleep without a peep.  It is so nice in the middle of the night because I don't need to rock him for hours to get him back to sleep.  If he is wide awake, I can still put him in his crib and know that he will put himself to sleep, it is a lifesaver considering he isn't sleeping through the night yet.

Kaydence was sleeping through the night at 7 weeks, so this waking in the night stuff is all so new to me and I dream of the day when I put him to bed some night and none of us wake up until morning...that sounds so heavenly right about now.

He loves his tummy!  I know it is against the "rules," but since we have the Angelcare Movement Monitor, we do allow him to tummy sleep sometimes.  He is a big spitter!  I talked to the pedi about it because it will literally just pour out of his mouth after feedings.  She said he is just getting rid of what he can't use...which is A LOT! lol  She said it is more of a nuisance than a problem.  I have tried just feeding him on one side, but he always likes to top off on the other side and fusses until I let him.  And since I'm a little nervous about losing my supply if I only feed from one side, I always let him.  The problem is, I probably shouldn't because it just come right back up anyway.  His bibs are always drenched with spit up.  As much as I don't want him to grow up too fast, he can grow out of his spitting at any time...so ready to be done with that already.  Kaydence was a big spitter too and it last past 6 months for her, so I think we have a long road ahead of us with that.  

Speaking of Kaydence, she LOVES her little brother to pieces.  She talks to him all the time and she will ask him questions and respond for him.  And when he is crying she loves to say "it's okay baby, I know you are sad, I will help you...here is your paci."  She is the sweetest most loving and gentle sister.  She hasn't shown any signs of jealousy and has never done anything to hurt him.  I hope and pray that will continue for a very, very long time!  She keeps trying to teach him how to do stuff, like hold onto toys, etc.  She is such a big helper and I feel so blessed by my children and the way they love each other. 

My mind is complete mush right now and I'm sure I'm missing things that I want to document, but I will have to come back and add them later when I think of them because this mama is tired and needs some sleep before the little man wakes up to eat again. :-)

Here is my precious baby boy at 2 months.

        

(little curls}

We went to the park the other week and I actually brought my camera with me...can you believe it?!?!  Haha...it really collects way too much dust these days.  Here is my sweet girl...she is getting so big!