Keeping up with a 4 year old

Life with a 4 year old could be pretty hectic between preschool, ballet, soccer, birthday parties and pumpkin patches, but throw in a newborn and I am not sure how I even have time to shower. I am so lucky we have the means for me to take a little longer maternity leave and be off until the beginning of the year. I am still not quite sure how this is all going to work when I return from my maternity leave.

Since my last update Austin had her 4 year well child check up. She is 41 3/4 inches tall (88th percentile) and 39lbs (79th percentile). One of the things they do at the 4 year well check is an eye examine. Austin did not do to well on hers and we have been referred to a pediatric opthamologist. Luke and I were both surprised since Austin is always pointing out airplanes in the sky or counting hot air balloons while we are driving in the car. We have an appointment scheduled in a few weeks, so we will just have to wait and see (no pun intended). During this appointment Austin also had to get 3 shots. These will actually be her last shots until she is 11 years old! These shots were the icky shots like the MMR and DTaP so Austin was not feeling well and was pretty grumpy for a couple days

Austin's ballet class session was coming to an end and they allowed parents in to see what they had learned during the 6 weeks. I am not sure we are going to continue with ballet. She likes it while we are there, but its like pulling teeth to get her to go. I am glad that we signed her up through the city of Phoenix's parks and recs department because the class was only $25. I think I spent more on the outfit, but she sure does look cute in it.

 We recently made a big change in Austin's life and switched her preschools. Her preschool teacher was fired suddenly (still not sure of the whole story) and we absolutely loved her. Austin had her last year in Preschool 1 and she was the driven force behind our decision to put Austin in Preschool 2 vs Pre-K. With her teacher gone it made Luke and I examine if this was the right place for Austin to be. They had recently opened a Montessori school about 5 minutes from our house and we had heard great things about it so we went for a tour and Austin did a trial day. Luke and I were highly impressed and Austin loved it and said she wanted to switch, so we did. So far so good.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 Month Old

This past week Wesley turned 1 month old. We went to the doctor for her 1 month well baby check and she weighed in at 10lbs 3 ozs (73rd percentile) and is 22 inches long (82nd percentile). She also got 1 shot, which surprisingly she did very well and she only cried for about 2 seconds. Next month for her 2 month check up she will be getting 4 shots and I am hoping it goes just as well. We discussed with the doctor that Wesley doesn't seem to have a quiet alert state and only seems to be happy if she is eating or sleeping. He mentioned that it could be colic and he suggested several things for us to try. One thing he said was that I could try to eliminate things out of my diet that are known allergens such as milk, peanuts and eggs. I haven't quite decided to do this yet, but we will see how things progress. Breastfeeding is still going well and I have actually started pumping in the mornings after the first morning feed. Wesley has had 2 bottles of breast milk which has allowed me to take some time out for myself. This past weekend I went and had my hair done. It was nice to get away. A lot different then the first time around when I could not imagine leaving Austin for 10 minutes let alone being gone for 4 hours.

Speaking of sleeping, today is the first day that I put Wesley in her crib to nap. She has been sleeping during the day in someones arms. At night she is sleeping in the bouncer (anywheres from 2-5 hour stretches at a time) and so right now she is sleeping in the bouncer placed inside of the crib. I am not sure how or when she is going to transition out of the bouncer. She likes that the bouncer vibrates and I think it also helps that she is sleeping at an angle. One step at a time...Luke and I also discussed getting her out of our room an night. I think that we will probably be making the transition pretty soon, she is quite a noisy sleeper and grunts a lot in her sleep.

Since Wesley's first bath, I have given her a bath a few more times and each time she poops in it and ends up screaming. Luke took over the job (and we started doing it in the sink vs the bathtub) and she has been doing great. I guess Luke just has the touch. Right now we are bathing Wesley every 3 days and its quite hectic on those nights with getting both kids bathed and ready for bed. I know at some point we want to switch to nightly baths (like Austin) but we might have to rearrange the schedule to make this happen.

 

 

 

 

3 Weeks Old (almost)

I like to tell a story about when I was growing up there were tons of pictures of my older brother as a baby, however there were very few of me. If I didn't resemble my brother and father so much I might actually think I am adopted. When I asked my Mom one day why there were so many pictures of Philip as a baby compared to me, her answer was, "We didn't own a camera when you were a baby." I think I might have to use this same line on Wesley... 3 weeks in and we are starting to get the hang of this. Luke went back to work today and I am pretty sure Wesley is going through a growth spurt. She literally ate for almost 4 hours straight! Lets hope she sleeps good tonight. Speaking of sleep, its getting better. Last night she was up at 10:30pm, 2:30am and 7:30am. I am up for an hour during the middle of the night feeds, which I wish I could figure out how to shorten. Right now Wesley is not a fan of being flat on her back and she is sleeping in her bouncer that vibrates inside of the bassinet (so she is up off the floor). I am not actually sure when we are going to try the bassinet by itself again, let alone moving her out of our room and into her crib. I was originally thinking 4 weeks, but now I am thinking more like 6 weeks.

Since we have been discharged from the hospital we have made several visits to the doctor for weight checks. I am happy to announce that at 2 weeks Wesley was weighing in at 8lbs 1oz. Breastfeeding is going extremely well, tiring, but well. I feel so much more comfortable this time around nursing and I have nursed in public several times already. Wesley's belly button finally fell off yesterday and she was able to have her first real bath at home. She liked it so much and was so relaxed that about 30 seconds after the pictures below were taken she pooped in it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Austin's 4th Birthday

  I still cannot believe that my "baby" is 4 years old! Where has the time gone? We started out on Friday with a visit to The MIM (The Music Instrument Museum). My Dad and Connie were in town to visit and we thought that this would be nice since we had never been. Austin really liked the room that you could play all the instruments. Saturday (Austin's actual birthday) was quite a marathon day. Austin woke up to a room filled with balloons (thank you Pinterest!) and we made her favorite breakfast, Monkey Bread. 

Austin's party this year was at Pump It Up, an indoor bounce house place. Let me just say, this is the way to go. Being 17 days postpartum I cannot imagine having the time I have had in years past for planning and putting together Austin's birthday parties. This place does it all and we just had to show up.

After the party we headed back to the house to open all of Austin's presents. I do not think she will need toys any time soon. Soon after it was time for soccer. You could really tell at soccer that Austin was dragging. At one point she just sat down in the goal. It actually was pretty cute. After soccer we finished up our night at the Sugar Bowl in Old Town Scottsdale.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy 4th Birthday Austin! - 20 Questions

1. What is your favorite color? Pink
2. What is your favorite toy? Dolls
3. What is your favorite fruit? Strawberries
4. What is your favorite TV show? Football
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Almond Butter and Jelly Sandwich
6. What is your favorite outfit? My Birthday Outfit (see above)
7. What is your favorite game? Go Fish
8. What is your favorite snack? Juice Treats
9. What is your favorite animal? a Giraffe
10. What is your favorite song? Hush Little Baby
11. What is your favorite book? The Sleepover Book (Amelia Bedelia Sleeps Over)
12. Who is your best friend? Maya and Addison
13. What is your favorite cereal? Corn Pops
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Play on the playground
15. What is your favorite drink? Strawberry Milk
16. What is your favorite holiday? Halloween
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? My Pink Teddy Bear
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Waffles
19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? Chili's
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? a Doctor