Hailey is 11 Weeks Old

Dear Nathan and Hannah,

Remember last week when it went from flurries to snow? Well the next day school was canceled in AISD due to freezing temps in the morning. 

 My MOPS group had a playdate planned and a little bit of snow did not keep Santa from visiting. He was actually late because there was too little snow for his sleigh and he had to drive on mopac, which ended up being shut down at certain sections.

Nathan, you had a great idea to bring the letter that we worked on, and you even brought a candy cane for old St. Nick. He was touched and gave you a bit hug.

 We had talked about how to spot a fake Santa vs. a real Santa and after talking to the guy, you had determined that he was a real one.

 All the kids were enthralled to listen to a story read by the old man in the red hat, himself.

 Afterwards, you guys decorated cookies and hung out with some friends. As you can see here, it takes a Christmas miracle to get 2 toddlers to smile at the same time when cookies and sprinkles are involved.

 After some cookie decorating and crafts, it was time for us to take pictures with Santa. Both of you approached slowly...

 and after some small talk, including Nathan telling Santa all the details of what you want for Christmas, and Hannah, even though we had talked about what you wanted, (Wonder woman lego figure, a gun, and eyeballs) you completely made something up on the spot...you told him, Barbies. You have more barbies at age 3 than I ever had. You don't need more barbies.

 That night, we had friends come over for make your own sushi night. We were able to sit most of you guys at the kids table and you guys were so funny; telling each other jokes, asking questions, and just having little kid conversations. Too cute!

 And Nathan, you had the great idea of making Kale chips for our friends. It turned out to be a hit!

On Monday Daddy and Hannah started to get sick (coughing, congestion). So we've been taking it easy at home.  We are trying to keep Hailey from getting sick, so Daddy's been spending lots of time with both of you. You guys have been playing with duplo legos, building tents, and regular legos. And perler beads. Now that Nathan has figured out how to search the internet using speech to text, there is no limit on what you want to make. This is all thanks to your friend, Abby, who brought some ornaments that she made over to you a few weeks ago.

  I've been trying to delegate more of the household to-do list with everyone in the family. Tonight, you guys were in charge of ripping up the kale for kale chips, and building the pizzas.

You two also helped with putting the stamps on all the Christmas cards that we sent out. 

Otherwise, things have been pretty low-key. I guess a few things to note, is that Hannah really likes to wear Nathan's old shoes, and Hannah is doing a little better with keeping undies dry. Hannah, you seem to be going through a growth spurt, or something, because you are always hungry.

To simplify things we have been taking showers together. I guess this is Hannah's first time to take a shower. You two like to wear my shower caps and that is like the funnest part of taking a shower: hearing the water make spatter sounds on the vinyl just makes both of you giggle like crazy.

Dear Hailey,
You continue to grow and today, you giggled audibly for the first time. In fact, it happened while I was bouncing you on my knee, while humming the William Tell Overture. You are too cute.

 Sleepwise, you continue to sleep just under 3 hours at a time at night. You will wake to feed and then go down easily without having to spend a lot of time burping you. I think you've finally figured out a good latch, and you are no longer sucking in a lot of air. I still have not gotten a 5 hour stretch from you since a few weeks ago.

You've been waking up around 8:00-8:30 and then taking a long 2-3 hour nap starting around 10. The next nap you take is about an hour, and then the rest of the naps last only about 30 minutes. At night, you'll go to sleep anywhere between 8:30 and 10:00. You are sleeping for about 11-13 hours a day (not counting short cat naps). Generally you are pretty happy, but you still hate riding in the car seat. There is about a 10 minute stretch where you will be happy if we get in the car right after a feed. A few times, you have fallen asleep if you are really tired, but most of the time, you just cry and cry and cry. It's so stressful to drive when you are wailing at the top of your lungs.

You've rolled from your tummy to back once, but you have no interest in rolling from back to tummy. You have just hit 11 pounds at 11 weeks old.You are now officially heavier than Teddy.

Keep up with growing because you older sister and brother are anxious to play with you!

Love you all bunches. Until next week,
Love,
Mom 

From Building Leaf Piles to Snowpiles (and snowmen, too)

Dear Nathan and Hannah, 

This week has been quite busy as we prepare for the Christmas season. I've decided that we will be putting out just a few of the Christmas decorations because truthfully, I just don't have the time and energy to put everything away after the holidays are over. 

The weather has continued to stay nice...(until recently, I'll explain later)but we have been spending more time than I would like inside. 

Last Friday, I brought home a project from my MOPS meeting that I didn't get to finish. I had you two help me out while Hailey supervised.

You two took turns hammering and only a few fingers were smashed. 

 Nathan, you've gotten pretty good with nailing things down yourself. You don't even need the clothespin to help you hold the nail down.

 The end product turned out nicely. You two are very proud of your work and exclaimed that it looked just like our tree. There's even a nice clump of ornaments at the base of this one too!

 Afterwards, we brought out the Bear-nativity set and started to set it out.

Another day we stayed home and decorated gingerbread houses. We normally have friends over and make it a party, but this year, we had a free afternoon where Hailey was taking a good nap, so Hannah and I baked some cookies. It turns out the next day, we receive an invite to a gingerbread house decorating party - our friends decided to carry on the tradition! 

A few days later, I picked up a few bags of candy, made a bunch of frosting and we all sat down to make our own gingerbread house. Note to self for next time: Decorate the walls first, then, assemble the house. 

 I had to keep a close watch on you two because occasionally, someone would sneak a piece of candy or suck frosting out of the piping bag...

 In the end, I love how they all turned out. Nathan's had 3 D features like a tree out front.

 And Hannah's looked like someone dropped a bunch of candy right on the house. Very cute.

 The next night, I looked the other way as I let you two break apart your house for consumption. Aaah, so much sugar!!!

Another night we made sushi for dinner. One evening we decided to go out to a new japanese fusion restaurant for dinner and you guys (specifically Hannah) wanted sushi very badly, but knowing how picky you two were about what is inside your sushi, we promised that we would make our own that week. You two scarfed 2 cups of rice down quickly, leaving very little for Daddy and I... we had to look for other things to eat when ya'll were finished. 

 You all tend to make these giant burrito sized sushi. One entire piece took up Hannah's palm

 and it took you several bites to finish one piece.

The weather reached 80 degrees one day this week, so Daddy took you two to the Veloway to go bike riding. We were hesitant on taking you two, but Nathan, you insisted that you would be able to finish the course and you did 1.5 times. 

 Afterwards, you guys came home and raked some leaves and then that evening we met up with some friends to celebrate Hannah's baptismal birthday.

 It was fun times. Live music, delicious food, great friends, and beautiful weather.

On Saturday, I was working downstairs while you two were playing upstairs. I would hear "blasts" and "let's go fight bad guys" and "I want to be the princess!" ...ok, all normal. But then I hear loud thumps, so I go upstairs to investigate. I think this photo perfectly captures what was going on. 

 You two were twirling to fight bad guys. Nathan decided to jump and twirl off of a step stool because your "tutu" acts like a parachute and it slows your descent. Maybe...

 It's interesting to see you two integrate your interests. Hannah, you are Ok with playing cars and transformers, and will even help Nathan find pieces for his legos, and Nathan, you are Ok with putting a skirt on, and with playing prince charming when Hannah wants to play dolls.

Hailey, you had your 2 month check up. Besides getting 3 shots and crying, you did pretty well. We found out that you are in the 100th percentile in height and 26th percentile in weight. You are one long baby!

 Sleep, however is not going very well. I don't think you are sleeping enough. All the books say that you should be getting between 14 and 17 hours at this point of your life, but you are averaging about 13, lately 12. You often will wake up 10 minutes after I put you down. If you make it past 10, the next interval of wakefulness is 30 minutes. So the frustrating part is that I can sometimes spend more time getting you to fall asleep than you actually spend asleep.

One night, you did sleep for a 5 hour stretch. I was very hopeful that you would give me another 5 hour stretch the next night, but you went back to you 2 hr. and 22 minutes (average) stretch of night sleep. Last night, they were closer to 3 hours, so I'll take that for now.

Everywhere you go, people comment on how large your eyes are and how alert you look. When I take you out, people comment on how big you are for 2 months and when you smile at them, people just melt.

You still hate riding in the carseat, although there have been a handful of rides where you will be content for about 10 minutes before you start to cry. This usually happens when we take a ride after you are fed and rested.

Tonight, December 7th, 2017, it snowed in Austin, TX. We got about 2" of snow. Good for building snowballs and snowmen.

 You two were so excited as you ran around scooping snow up and throwing it at each other and me. I got to play with you guys for a bit and then Daddy came out and built two snowmen with you two.

 Nathan, you came in and after warming up, you complained that your hands still hurt. But when you found out that Hannah was going back outside to play, you told me that you wanted to go outside and make 1 more snowball and then come back inside, something told me that you were going to make a few more snowballs than 1.

We let you two play outside for about an hour, up to your bedtime because come on, how often does it snow in Austin?

Daddy's going to take 2 weeks of his paternity leave starting tomorrow, so I'm sure we'll get to do fun stuff next week with him. Until then,

Love,
Mommy

Hailey is 2 Months Old

Dear Nathan, Hannah and Hailey, 

Nathan is always attempting something wild and crazy: climbing to dangerous heights; cartwheels (during church even); and crazy jumps on your wheeled vehicles. 

Hannah, you seem to move at a sloth's pace (especially when we are running late) and have the (selective) hearing of a 90 year old man. 

And Hailey, you are doing a great job at making sure I don't get to complete anything off of my to-do-list. Life for me is a bunch of unfinished tasks, and if you know me, I like to get things completed. 

But I know you all do not mean to do things to spite me. I have been reminded that my perspective needs to change. I can still rely on your innocence. I can give you the benefit of doubt when you seem do something mischievous. 

So here's a better way to look at things: 

To Nathan, life is like an obstacle course and you are simply trying your best to figure it out, to stay one step ahead, all the while, trying to follow the rules that you've been taught along the way. 

Hannah, you are just soaking it all up, experiencing different textures, listening to different sounds, and really just enjoying the beauty around you. 

And Hailey, you are looking around, drinking milk and sleeping so that you can grow to be big like your brother and sister. 

I have to step back and remind myself that you three are all so little: only 5,3 and 2 months old. Sometimes I treat Nathan and Hannah as if you two were much older.  

I am quickly reminded of that when I see things like this: 

You are simply doing the best that you can and you are really proud of your work.

You really just want to be like us. The big people. You want to use the same kind of plates as we do. You want to help. I love watching Hannah mimic what I do in the kitchen. Sometimes when I hand you a utensil (especially one that you've never used but have seen me use it before) your face lights up and you mimic my movements (like chopping and then using the knife to scoop up the chopped pieces of food) so intentionally. You really are just little sponges.

Hannah, you go though periods where you love playing with your baby dolls and then weeks when we don't even know where they are.

Hailey at 2 Months

Hannah at 2 Months

Thanksgiving morning I woke up to you two skating around the house. I was pretty surprised at how well you, Hannah, were skating. 

 You are now able to skate around on the tile without holding on to anyone!

The teachers at gymnastics also told me how you are now able to do more things like skim the cat by yourself (where you do a flip over a bar). And your tuck jumps are improving. We just need to work on your right foot forward gallop.

The weather has seriously been AMAZING! 70 degree weather, with chilly mornings. On Sunday, we visited the wildflower center and went to our family's favorite spot.

 As I sat and held Hailey, I just observed you two playing. You both are brave, resilient, and appreciate a good joke. I love the way Nathan, you get this look in your eyes like you are imagining a funny scenario and then you chuckle or laugh like it is so hysterical.

Now that Hailey is cooing more, you two tend to try to talk to her more. Nathan, you are teaching Hailey Chinese and Hannah, you just like to hold Hailey and pet her head. Nathan's also figured out how to always win while playing rock paper scissors (because Hailey always puts out rock).

Hannah you love to try foods as I'm making it. The obvious stuff like cake mix batter can go unsaid, but you also like to try foods before they are cooked. I have to watch you like a hawk so you don't eat a fish scale or a chunk of raw pork.

Oh, and Hannah, you seem to have good control of your bladder now. I think it was getting to be a power struggle between us because you would pretty much refuse to go, even when you were starting to do the wiggle dance. One day, I decided to just let things go, told you that you can go pee in the potty or in a diaper. I also took away negative consequences (no dessert if you wet your undies) and started a reward system with skittles/fruit snacks. A skittle for a trip to the potty. A few days later, something clicked for you. You have been accident free for 3 days! 

 And Hailey, you must be going through a growth spurt, or something because today, you seem to have an insatiable appetite and only sleeping for 30 minutes at a time.

You weighed in at 10 pounds 8.5 ounces today. Hannah was 11 pounds at 2 months...
Tomorrow we visit the doctor for your 2 month check up. Expect shots.

 And today we wrote letters to Santa. Nathan wants legos and a bow and arrow. Hannah wants a gun and eyeballs...

Well, Hailey is up. I gotta go.
Until next week,
 Love,
Mommy