Week 103/4 Hannah is (almost) 1 Month Old

To my dear children,
I bet you've had a blast this week with both grandma and grandpa. Once grandpa arrived on Saturday, we were busy riding trains and seeing wild animals. We were looking for something to do on a rainy Saturday afternoon and grandpa suggested that we go ride the new-ish commuter train. (For those of you who don't know grandpa, he's an uber train enthusiast) While Hannah pretty much slept the whole way, Nathan loved it!

In fact, grandpa started to train Nathan to pick up time tables. In a few decades, they'll be worth a few bucks.

We had a freak cold front come in this weekend, bringing the temps down to the 60s and 70s. A few years ago, we were sweating like pigs in 100+ degree weather. So we took advantage of the cool weather and went to visit the Austin zoo. Last time we went, Nathan was fearless. This time around, he was a bit more cautious and loud lion roars now scare him. We had a nice picnic (except for the ravenous peacocks who were trying to snatch our food) and then headed home just before the clouds cleared up and warmed up the weather.

Even though there are no elephants at the zoo, Nathan came up with the idea of imitating an elephant.

 Nathan's English vocabulary has gotten tremendously better just this week. He's starting to say more words and use expressions like "alright." In chinese, he's starting to speak in phrases.

Hannah can't talk yet, but she can hold her head up pretty well in the baby bjorn. I can actually fold the top flap down and she can hold her head enough not to flop backwards.

It's so crazy that in 2 days, Hannah will be a month old. Wow, what they say is true, time with the second one whizzes by.

And in about 2 weeks, Nathan will turn 2. I actually picked up Nathan for the first time this week and was shocked at how big he has become. Maybe it's just that I'm used to carrying a little newborn, but his legs now dangle down around my thighs when I carry him. [sniff] he's getting to be such a big boy.

So, we decided to celebrate Nathan's birthday early since your granparents were in town.

 I was pretty surprised when you blew out the candle without prompting after we finished singing the "Happy Birthday" song. You did it quick too! And then when we ate the cake, I was pleasantly surprised to find that you, like most kids your age, ate all of the frosting before you ate the cake. (In the past, you preferred cake to frosting)

 Then we opened up presents. Nathan has been opening up lots of presents lately for Hannah, so when presented with a box wrapped with sesame street characters, Nathan knew right away that his task was to rip open that paper to uncover the surprise underneath.

Grandma and grandpa got him some new trains and track for his Thomas collection. Nathan's favorite new train is Henry. He can sit down and play with the trains for hours. I'm not kidding. Hours.

On Monday we went to a park nearby and Nathan got a chance to ride his new scooter around. He was able to ride the scooter all around the (what we think is) 1 mile loop. Daddy helped him steer since Nathan hasn't quite gotten that down yet, but I'm sure soon he will be whizzing around our neighborhood in no time.

Today is my first official day being alone with you guys. I'd say things have gone pretty smoothly so far. Hannah is still pretty much sleeping and nursing every 2-3 hours. Around 4-5 in the afternoon Hannah will stay awake for the most part and take lots of small catnaps until around 9-10. During that time, she is also constantly wanting to feed. At night, she sleeps for about 2 hour stretches on average. They say that at about a month, babies start to sleep longer. Let's hope that it is true.

 If you look at the picture below, you can see where Hannah was preparing for a growth spurt. She was feeding every hour! And sure enough, a few days later, her harness was a bit tighter. Luckily we had an appointment on Tuesday where the doctor readjusted her straps.

While I miss sleeping for stretches longer than 2 hours, I keep trying to remind myself that these precious moments will come and go. And this time around, the disrupted sleep schedule doesn't bother me as much. 

She seems to be snacking for many of her feeds in that she will nurse for about 10 minutes and then doze off to a deep sleep. It's difficult to wake her. The baby whisperer suggests that I start nursing for about 5 minutes on one breast and then have her finish her feeding at the other. This way she gets the good hindmilk. I'll continue to nurse on demand for a week longer to see if she starts to sleep longer on her own, but if not, I will try something new. 

When not nursing, Hannah doesn't mind hanging out in the swing for 5-10 minutes. Any longer, she starts to fuss. Like mommy, Hannah falls asleep anytime she's in the car. This was not the case with Nathan. Other than that, I'd say there aren't really any other major milestones yet. Although in a few weeks, that will not be the case. 

Well, that's it for now. I love you both lots and pray that things continue to go smoothly as the three of us spends our days together. 

Love, 

Mommy

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