Bigs and Littles

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Enough already!

Alright, Mama.

I told you once.

I told you twice.

Enough pictures!!!!

one month old.

Where I've been:

Birmingham

Madison

tailgating at MSU football game

Kroger, many times over

McKee Park, gotta keep big brother busy!

story time at the library

various friends' houses

City Bagel

What I like:

Mama, Daddy and Henry

sitting outside in the sun

chilling and sleeping in the ring sling

sleeping swaddled in the crib

laying on the sheepskin on the dining room table

short walks in the double stroller

nursing

cute clothes

What I don't like:

getting out of the ring sling

waking up at night because the pacifier fell out of my mouth

dirty and wet diapers

changing into my cute clothes

soaking through my diapers every.single.night

long walks in the double stroller

We love our Dawgs!

Our first tailgate of the season was a hit.

State fans are excited about the big win over Memphis

but I am in love with football season sheerly for the tailgating.

What can I say?

I'm a fan of.....

dressing in maroon and white,

walking to campus,

visiting with friends,

drinking beer and eating yummy food.

The football game is merely a reason to convene.

While everyone else was at the game,

I watched Phelps and Henry play nonstop.

Good thing Miss Priss doesn't like big crowds and loud noises.

Phelps has officially usurped Lawson Joy's place in Henry's life.

And, I do believe her mother has taught her well how to pose for pictures!

"Henry, turn around for a picture."

Tailgating was going splendidly, until......

Henry decided the frog chair was his chair.

It obviously didn't matter to him that the frog chair did not belong to him.

To quote Henry...."muh".

The chair "belonging" to Henry was okay

until Anneliese returned from the game and Henry lost Phelps' favor.

The chair now belonged to her.

Yeah.

He was pretty pissed to not be sitting in the frog chair.

Can you tell?

At this time, I realized it was 10pm and time for the Dearmans to load up the stroller with their excessive amount of stuff and head back home.

Can't wait until Thursday night for the next home game!

GO STATE!

Monday, September 6, 2010

How to make.....

Hummus.

The cast of characters:

garbonzo beans, in the sauce pan -

trial and error taught me hummus is smoothest when you boil the beans for several minutes first

garlic, in the plastic cup

tahini

lemons (2)

kosher salt

olive oil, if you look real hard, you can see it sitting on the windowsill...

Cute little boy standing on his bench

I cut the lemon in half.

Henry very ineffectively squeezes the juice of the lemon.

I distract him with a lemon to taste while I juice the remaining halves.

Yep, still sour.

Mmmm, lots and lots of garlic.

Henry is timid when it comes to helping peel the garlic.

Every time I offer him garlic to peel, he covers his eyes and says "ow".

Apparently, he had a bad experience at some point.

Licking the tahini off the spoon after I add several spoonfuls to lemon/garlic/salt mixture.

Adding the olive oil.

Initially, I handed him the bottle to pour into the bowl but I quickly realized that was a rookie mistake and poured the needed amount into a smaller bowl he could easily handle.

I missed taking a picture of Henry adding the beans to the food processor but he very diligently moved them from sauce pan without losing a single one.

Finished product....

Henry likes it!

Of course, Taylor likes it but he isn't picky.

Mama?

Yep, little buddy, I like it too!

Sunday, September 5, 2010

When I grow up....

We must hide all evidence that Taylor ever owned a Vespa.

I do NOT want my baby driving a scooter or motorcycle.

Way. Too. Scary.

Favorite.

What, Henry?

You ripped a page in your book?

The wheel fell off your firetruck?

You broke mama's necklace?

Your battery-operated toy died?

That's right, Hen Hen.

Dada will fix it.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Henry eats like a bird so I am taking a new approach to mealtimes. No longer is he my unofficial helper, it is now official. He is my Helper with a capitol H. His tasks include rinsing fruits and vegetables in the sink, dumping things into bowls, stirring and standing very very close to me as we talk about our upcoming meal. I hope if he invests energy and maintains ownership over the food, he will be more likely to eat it. And, I like to cook so he is always hovering anyway. Why not put him to work?

Is he eating more?

No. But, at least we are having fun.

I can always count on Henry's favorite foods to satisfy him but we added a new fave to the list this week.....

My attempt at a green smoothie.

He liked it!

My Helper dumped the following ingredients into the food processor:

silken tofu

spinach

frozen berries

mushy strawberries from the back of the fridge

orange juice

flax meal

We are dairy free AND ezcema free (!) for the first time in his life or I would have added plain yogurt to the mix.

It was pretty thick because we ran out of OJ and he refused to let me add applesauce so Henry decided he needed to use a spoon.

But, as always, the utensil is more hassle than it is worth so he went back to slugging it down from the cup.

We have half a block of silken tofu left so we will be doing some more smoothie experiments!

Styling and Profiling.

Grrrrr, I did it!

Life with Liza.

How can this baby only be 3.5 weeks old?

It seems like she has been a member of our family for years.

She seamlessly slipped into our little life and routine

without even a bump in the road.

Seriously.

A 2nd child is truly a blessing.

Taylor and I have confidence in our parenting skills and we were already accustomed to a short little someone dictating our days.

So what is one more little person thrown into the mix?

Life has marched on in a wonderful way!

Liza is a perfect baby.

Let's hope I'm not about to jinx our relationship with this child.

I put her to bed immediately after Henry goes to sleep, usually around 7:30. For the past several nights, she lays down without a peep as long as her swaddle is tight and her white noise machine is turned on. She wakes up to nurse and for a diaper change between 1-3 and then wakes again between 5-6. Her next wake up is usually around 7:30 and we are up for the day. I am fully aware that nighttime patterns can permanently change on any given day but I am loving the long stretch of sleep.

How can I feel so well rested with a newborn and toddler?

Crazy.

She is a happy little nurser, just like her big brother was. Our breastfeeding relationship was easy from day 1 and for that I am thankful!

Liza does not like a wet diaper or a dirty diaper to touch her precious little bum. I love our cloth diapers even more now that we have two little ones. It honestly blows my mind the amount of money people must spend on disposable diapers. We would be broke as a joke between these two little poopers.

Liza is still spending most of her day in the Maya Wrap ring sling but I am starting to lay her down on the sheepskin when she is awake and happy. Breakfast is even more enjoyable with her little face staring at us from the table.

Everywhere we go, comments abound about her hair. Apparently, everyone's brother/sister/son/daughter/cousin/niece/nephew was born with quite a bit of dark hair too. Nice knowing she is in good company! I am loving her hair as I firmly believe good hair is an important quality in life. It is quite a bit thinner than it was at birth but she still has a head full.

Please add her hair to your nightly prayer list.

We need it to stay thick and full and not recess into the little old man fringe.

Some things are important.

Enough bragging....

We did have one afternoon and evening consisting of nothing but screaming for about 6 hours. At first, I was worried her arm or leg was broken but by the end of the night, I worried only about myself and my sanity. I officially give parents of colicky babies applause for their patience. The screaming seriously put me over the edge. We have no idea why she had a horrible afternoon but she slept like her normal self that night and thankfully, she was perfectly content the next day.

Back to bragging...

I gave Liza a pacifier for the first time a few nights ago. She looooved it. She sucked and sucked for about 45 minutes with her eyes rolling back into her head in sheer bliss. At this point, I am leaving the paci in her crib and giving it to her when she is fussy during her nap or if she doesn't want to go right back to sleep at night. Our arrangement is working well. I am her paci during most of her day and that is the way I like it!

A major goal of mine is to have both babies on the same nap schedule as soon as possible. Henry naps 3-3.5 hours each afternoon and it is my daily saving grace. As soon as he is down, I wrap Liza in the swaddle blanket, sing my little sleepy song and put her down in the crib. Of course, as a newborn she is sleeping on and off all day long but this arrangement is working well at the moment and I get a few hours of total peace and quiet during the middle of the day.

All in all, she is doing everything a tiny baby is supposed to do:

Eat? Check.

Sleep? Check.

Poop? Check.

Look cute while doing it? Check.

I'm pretty sure she is one of the two best babies I've ever known.