Week Two: 2 under 2

An eventful week, but it's all a blur sometimes. This week we had Izzy's two week check up. She's not quite back to her birth weight (suprising since she loves to eat!) at 7 pounds 14 ounces, 6 ounces shy but grew a 1/2" already. Can you imagine growing a 1/2" a week? We'd all be huge! Funny stuff. Anyway, doctor said she looked great and we see him again at 2 months to start her immunizations. On the other side of things, Anna had her 15 month check up. I could have sworn she'd be at least 25 pounds with how solid I think she is. But she's still 20 pounds and 30" tall. She has wrapped up her immunizations until she starts school as she was a trooper one last time and cried only for a minute or two. Doctor said she's looking great too! She goes back in for a check up at 2 years - 2 years?! Can't believe we're on our way to being two already. She's definitely showing signs of being there.... :)

Izzy is sleeping 6 hours a night like clock work almost. We've held to our "strict" routine of feeding her about every 3 hours (this one will eat all day if I'd let her!), having a bath at 10, feed her and to bed she goes. As she gets older, we'll bath and feed her earlier. We did this with Anna and she did really well with it. Isabella is about as opposite as Anna as one could get. Izzy loves to be held and just have someone around if she's not sleeping, so she's been sleeping in her car seat at night as it cuddles her more than being sprawled out in her bed. She also lets you know when she is unhappy, immediately with her rhythmic squawking almost to the point where she might lose her voice. It's like an alarm. She spends an hour or two at a time wide awake, checking out what's going on, moving her head to the sounds she hears and just being content (when she's fed, dry and in company of course). She has thick, wavy hair that gets really curly after her bath. It's so adorable, like a little fro. Hehe. Her emblical cord fell off at day 8, so it's been nice to have her in the bath rather than a sponge bath. She's a wonderful addition to our family, adding another unique personality to this crazy bunch.

Anna, as suspected, has had some issues not getting all the attention she's used to. When I'm feeding Izzy, she gets frustrated and angry that I can't hold her on my lap and read her a book or get what she wants. She's started to swat at our faces, pinch us and she even bit Gary's chest and my finger. I don't know if she knows what she's doing is wrong or hurtful, but it's hard to discipline sometimes. We're definitely learning the trials and tribulations of parenting with her. It's her age and that her whole world has been changed by this little sister thing. So we continually pray for patience and understanding when we deal with her. On the other side of things, she's learning so much now that I can see her during the day each day. She knows the sounds a dog, duck and cow make. So cute! She knows where her nose, ears, toes, tongue and sometimes teeth are. When you ask her how do you catch snowflakes, she holds out her hands or sticks out her tongue. She says a variation of "socks" along with her hi's and yeah's. She's learned how to give kisses and hugs, but with Izzy in the picture those mostly go to her now when she's feeling in the mood. Her kisses are just like adult kisses, with her lips together making the kissing sound. It's so cute!

Here's a hilarious Anna story! Last night, Gary gave her the little cell phone that came in her purse she got for Christmas. It got misplaced for awhile. She loves it. So I was unloading the dishwasher and Anna was hanging around me with her phone. She walks around with it up to her ear saying "hi" and laughing while walking around. Well last night, she held the phone up to ear using her shoulder like we do so we can use both hands. I tried forever to get a picture or a video of her doing it b/c it was amazing that she picked up on us doing that, but she ran away or stopped doing it before I could get to it. It was great!

I'm doing great physically, feeling back to normal and glad to be me again. I'm below my starting weight pre-Anna, so I'm trying to lost another 21.5 pounds this year! Running and caring for 2 really gives you a work out along with forgetting to eat most of the day. Mentally, some days are more trying than others. I feel like a lot of the day I tell Anna "no" or remove her from places she shouldn't be. I feel horrible, but I know it's her acting out against her current situation. So with that, she's started back a day or 2 at daycare this week and seems to be a good thing for both mom and Anna. She enjoys the socializing and have more attention than what I can give her at home. Then there's Izzy, the squawker, where she'll only stop if you hold her in a certain position or feed her. Ahh... the life of a mom with 2 under 2. I give props to full time stay at home moms - it can be very frustrating at times, especially with 2 so close in age. But Gary and I remain consistent in discipline and attention, along with praying for patience.

Tonight rounded out an eventful week of parenting, with Anna throwing up just before we attempted to head to Chicago and 4-5 more times in the van about 5 minutes from home. Her car seat needed to be stripped down and washed along with clothes, coats and blankets and a good cleaning of the van. So we're home tonight and going to see what the morning brings. I think it was the yogurt I gave her for lunch that may have been bad (eventhough I just bought it). Poor little girl - she's soundly sleeping now and seems to be ok. Nothing better than kicking off the weekend with vomit! Eww....

On that note, it's bath time for Izzy and bedtime for mom and dad shortly. In the meantime, here are some more pictures (they may be new, can't remember from last week). I'll get some videos up soon too.

Izzy and Anna

Have a wonderful weekend!
Love,

GCAI