Pool Time and Other Craziness

First family day at the pool!

It was still pretty cold, so she only went in up to her thighs. 

I have gone once so far by myself with both girls during the day while Micah was at work. Angela hung in the stroller while I swam with Natalie. It was surprisingly manageable... until Angela got bored and started crying. Speaking of managing things with 2 ...Going to the store is stupidly hard. Mostly having to get Angela out of the car, into the wrap, out of the wrap, back into the car, out of the car and into the house- always trying not to wake her up through at least one of those transitions. I can't just bring her in with her carseat because if I have Natalie and Angela's carseat both in the cart... there's nowhere to put groceries.

Confession: multiple times now, I have driven off and forgotten to strap Natalie into her carseat. I am just so flustered trying to get Angela to the car while she's flailing backwards because it's so bright outside while keeping at eye out to make sure no cars are coming to mow down Natalie as I tell her approximately 5.7 zillion times to stop picking flowers and playing with ants and come to the car right this minute before I start counting!!!! After finally getting Angela tucked and strapped and at a point where she's not screaming (she's not a fan of the carseat), I just get in the car and start driving. Both times, I didn't make it far before Natalie started freaking out, screaming that she wasn't strapped in. Which is funny. Because she also has a tantrum every time we put her straps on. So, I pull over and strap her. But, still. Yikes.

I'm struggling to figure out how to get this girl on a more predictable schedule now that she's over he little growth spurt. If I just try to consistently follow the pattern of eat-be awake-go to sleep- repeat now, she sometimes (usually) sleeps for 30 minutes or less, making her feedings start-to-start only 2 hours apart at times. When she was sleeping more, she was very consistently eating every 3 hours. Now that she sleeps less overall during the day, I think it's time to start condensing her sleep into a few long periods with scheduled feedings instead of 700 3-minute naps spread throughout the day with intermittent snacks. Here, she poses with a cup of tea that Natalie gave her.

She smiles a lot now, but it's hard to photograph. She doesn't like the light on my camera, so when I take a picture, she always scrunches up her forehead all confused and curious.

6-8 Week Growth Spurt

After her routine had become somewhat predictable, yesterday, Angela randomly started waking up to eat every 2 hours all day and 3 times at night. I looked it up, and, sure enough, there is a growth spurt that occurs around 6-8 weeks. Hopefully this should just last a couple of days and then we can get back to a more manageable norm.

 

 Micah can coax a smile out of her, but it's elusive and hard to capture. Her longest, most alert period of awake time are first thing in the morning and right before we go to bed, so fortunately Micah gets to be here for them.

Tommy Pickles Complex

My child did something disgusting with her dinner tonight. Then, when confronted, she did something even more disgusting.

Angela Stats

Angela went for her 1 month check up today. She'll be 6 weeks tomorrow, so we're a little late, but whatever. She weighed in at 10 lbs 5 oz and is just under 23 inches long. I was shocked by just how much weight she has gained. Still, she's hanging right there in the above-average-but not-outrageous range in the growth charts. The doctor said that her once-weekly elimination habit just means that I am producing milk that contains the right balance of nutrients that she needs, so she is just metabolizing it very efficiently. Go mammary glands! I finally asked about this giant mark on her butt cheek (since it seems weird to me but no doctor has ever made any comment about it) and the Doctor said that it looked like a Mongolian spot (funky blue birthmark), which surprised her, since they rarely happen on Caucasian babies. Weird, but totally harmless. Should go away in a few years. She is consistently waking up just once at night to eat. She goes to sleep between 10 and 11pm, eats around 3am and then sleeps until 6-7am.

Here is a study in green:

This is the only decent picture that I have from the past week or two. I keep forgetting to document every second of her life, like I did with Natalie. Oops.

Natalie has been super emotional lately. Like, throwing tantrums over super tiny things and being inconsolable. It seems like tired behavior, but she's been doing very well at not fighting naps and she hasn't decreased her amount of night sleeping very much. Maybe a growth spurt or something to account for an increased need for sleep? All I know is, she better learn to suck it up, because I am not raising a sissy child that cries at everything!

Postpartum check: check

Had my OB follow-up appointment and I am officially A-Okay. Scary part: I had to get weighed. Yikes! Somehow, despite my pre-pregnancy weight being 10 lbs less than it was before becoming pregnant with Natalie and gaining 10lbs less during the course of pregnancy, I still somehow weigh just as much as I did 5 weeks after giving birth to Natalie. A lot of good all that exercise during pregnancy did for me. Pshhh.

My mom came into town to visit last week. It was AWESOME. Being alone during the day with both girls depletes me pretty quickly- physically, mentally, emotionally. So, the company was very helpful. While she was here, she stayed with Angela while Natalie and I went to the YMCA for a zumba class. Natalie was scared to go into the nursery after a few weeks of not going. The class felt great and made me more eager to get back to exercising regularly. Only 2 more months until Angela will be old enough to take. Until then, I just need to motivate myself enough to go in on Saturday mornings while Micah can stay with the little one.

Angela is doing great. She has a definite routine emerging. She is pretty fussy in the evenings, but usually goes for a good 5-6 hour stretch between feedings for the first part of the night. Angela usually wakes up at night fewer times than Natalie.

Natalie wants to be all up in Angela's face still. Which is awesome, when Angela is awake and interested in her surroundings. But it's a pain when Angela is sleeping/eating. Angela went 8 days without pooping, which had us a little concerned. She is a crazy toot monster.