Happy 2 month Birthday Baby Rowan Marie!

I have a slew full of posts to catch up on, this one is the furthest overdue.  Rowan is officially 2 months old.  She is growing like a champ!  We had her two month check up a while back and here are the stats:
Weight 11 pounds 10 oz, Height 22.8 inches (she has grown almost 2 inches in these two months, no wonder she is hungry all of the time) and head circumference 15.3 inches.  So, much like Lily she knows how to eat and grow and we are so proud.

Every day is more and more rewarding.  We are so in love with Lily and everyday she makes us laugh but it is different with Rowan.  We are at the stage of FALLING in love with her.  Our love grows more everyday and truthfully we all know how much fun it is to fall in love but you forget that feeling when you are not in the process.  We are in the depths of it.  I smell her and smile, I can't wait to snuggle her when she is gone from my arms for too long, I notice every little change, I eat up every little smile.  Our hearts are exploding with new love and it is wonderful.

2 months!  This little sweater outfit makes her looks like a chunk, but it really is a lot of extra material and her giant cloth diaper underneath.

She is smiling a lot more, cooing when you talk to her and even giving a gentle greeting few times when Colin enter's the room and says hi to her while she is breast feeding, as if to say, "hi dad, I am so glad you are here, look how great this is."  She loves to hold our fingers now and grabs onto you whenever she can.  She is calmed by placing something on her face and she continues to need her independent time, where she is close to you but not being touched.  It is fun to watch her change.

Our girls

We were fortunate enough to have one of Colin's family friends take a few pictures 2 weeks ago.   Aubrey did a spectacular job considering what she had to work with.....a very cloudy and crummy day, nap time for Rowan and my little Lillian who poses for EVERYONE would not pose or smile once despite every bribery technique known.  Little did we know she was feeling crummy and hours later she spiked a 103 temp.  She was sick for 7 days.  It was the start of our 2 week December downfall.  So keep that in mind as you take a gander at my beautiful girls.  This is Rowan at 6 weeks old.

There are so many things I try to repeat in my mind so as not to forget this time around.  I love the way she gets so excited and crosses her eyes and opens them wide just as she is about to eat.  How when she is so excited she forgets to open her mouth all of the way and so she latches on and makes the funniest whistling, gurgling, spitty noise (I laugh every time),  how she clenches her fist when she eats versus Lillian who shrugged her shoulders. I love that when she talks she demands your attention, only talking when you have full eye contact with her.  It always starts with a smile and when she realizes she has your approval and full attention she tries and tries and tries so many new sounds.  I love how when she hears my voice she calms right down.  I love that she needs alone time and time to be independent but with the crowd.  Rowan loves to sleep with her entire face nestled your arm, she constantly needs something on her face just as Lillian did.  She is patient, sweet and gentle.  She is growing so fast and with everyday our love grows.

Lillian continues to be so loving towards her sister.   She continues to make us laugh and smile all day long.  Her favorite games right now are chase (screaming "you can't catch me") and hide and seek.  She loves to play dolls and with Thomas the train.  She recounts her stories in full detail and her sentence structure continues to amaze us.  She is constantly singing,  songs old and new.  She makes her own songs up to common themes like Twinkle Twinkle or she takes songs we all know and love and adds her own melodies.  She cannot wait for nastics na nastics class (gymnastics) (pictures to follow) and she loves to dance.  Our evening pass time is frequently dancing as I can hold Rowan and bounce with her and Lily is happy the  entire time.  Lily keeps saying she is a big girl now.  Reminding me that since she is a big girl she can ride on the water slide (saying it with a tilt of the head, with her eyes looking out to the side with a slight smile), I try to tell her she still needs to be taller but that is not working, hopefully she forgets about it by summer time.  I love that being a big girl really only comes down to riding the water slide (something we have not talked about since maybe July).  She is right though, she is a big girl....she is 100% potty trained both day and night, she dresses herself, puts her shoes on by herself, even zips her pants.  She has so much spunk, so much ferver and so much drive. Colin and I frequently talk about how we can direct it in positive ways versus letting it get the best of us.  When times are tough, like  on a daily basis we have a few stand-offs, Colin and I always joke saying, "well this is what it is like raising a CEO." Truthfully though I don't think it is a joke.  She is a leader, she leads with laughter and smarts.  I am proud she is my big little girl.

This week in the wake of the tragedy I am more thankful thank ever to have my sweet, sweet girls.  To have this time at home with them.  They melt our heart daily.  So I offer a prayer of peace to those families and that community.   May you feel the healing power of God and time and the love of those around you.  May you be able to remember the beauty of your little ones, every little sentence, every little nuance and may you find peace. 

A few songs for your entertainment

 No pictures just a few links to our live-in entertainment.  I trust you will enjoy them. (The reason Lily looks so exhausted in the first link is because she was at the end of a 48 hour virus that started with a temp of 103 for 24 hours and then 101 for 24 hours- she started singing again on day two, thank goodness).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wnmxYJfDYI&list=UL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJjhdU7EHCY&feature=youtu.be

Thanksgiving and the start of Christmas!

We had a great Thanksgiving at my parent's house with the Nye family and Aunt Susan and Uncle Bob.  It was a beautiful sunny day somewhere in the low 60's, high 50's.

The Nye's minus Lily who opted to play instead of take pictures.  The first time she saw the picture she said,"where's Yiyi (Lily) go?"  Well kiddo you opted out and I told you, you would regret it! 

We followed in our typical Thanksgiving weekend traditions and went and cut our tree down on Saturday.  It was a sweltering 30 degrees.  We were so cold after being 60 degrees 2 days earlier.

Daddy's little helper.

She sat just like so and said, "ok now I am ready (to take the picture)."

Lily liked unpacking the Christmas stuff more than she liked actually putting the ornaments on the tree.  We made a fire, turned on Christmas music, Rowan slept through part of it- giving me 2 hands....it was perfect.

The girls!

We made a quick trip to visit Grandma Vivian last week.  It was too quick but so nice to see her.  Lily had many stories to share.... Grandma Bibibian........

Christmas Rowan.  Here is to the traditions of the season, both old and new.  May laughter fill your home and  heart and may this find you all in good health and happiness, celebrating with those you love.

Happy 1 Month Birthday Baby Girl!

Rowan is officially one month old.  (Well she was on the 21st!)  We are falling more and more in love with her everyday.  The month has brought a lot of welcomed changes.  She is smiling and working on cooing.  She typically smiles while she is being changed and when you talk to her up close.  It is so fun to see all of the changes.  She has a few different smiles so far. 

Who does not LOVE baby feet?

We are starting to recognize what each little grunt means now, when she needs to be changed, feed, she is hungry....etc.  This week I really started to notice that familiarity and was so appreciative of it and then of course we had one of those days where I could not do anything right and she was in my arms all day.  Just when you think you have it under control......hahaha.

Her personality is starting to show more and more.  When she was in my womb, if you would try to touch her little foot or arm sticking out she would instantly pull away.  That desire continues to hold true in the outside world as well.  Though she does love being held she is so much more independent than Lily was at this stage.  She will fuss to be set down, she wants to be next to you, in the same room or close but she does not want to be held all of the time.  It is a nice blessing because it gives me time to brush my teeth or grab water or whatever.  I remember there were many days when Lily was at this stage that I would not brush my teeth until noon because she could not be set down without a giant melt down.

Our nights are going so much better now too!  We have her positioned just right in bed and that seems to help.  She is sleeping anywhere from 3-5 hours at the beginning of the night and then 2-3 hours in the second half of the night.  We are also having a whole lot less trouble with getting her to fall back to sleep....before it would take at least an hour with every feeding, now at times it will only take 10 minutes of propping her upright before she is able to go back to bed.  A much needed relief.  So with positioning and my stopping dairy the reflux has calmed.