21 weeks - Naps

The last few weeks have been a little rougher for Reese. She's very alert and checking out everything around her, which has resulted in poor naps (very short) and even some night wakings (gasp I am spoiled no more). Hopefully she'll work through everything soon and get back to a least sleeping solidly at night. She's never really bed a great napper, but getting her down on the first attempt would make Raegan & myself happy. Short naps actually may work in my favor as long as she doesn't get super tired. Makes it way easier to go and do things, she can just take a quick 20 minute nap in the car or carrier while we are out and about.

Arm flapping is one of her new favorite things to do. She looks like she is trying to fly away ha. She's also touching grabbing at anything with in reach, I have had my hair pulled too many times to count. her grip is very strong, it usually takes me 15 seconds or so to pry my hair out of her fist...she thinks this  is hilarious. Sitting outside in the evening seems to be the easiest way to calm her down if she's fussy. She also likes to go run errands, I pop her in the carrier and she just takes everything in, never cries. Makes errands soo much easier :)

I took Raegan to see her first movie on Thursday morning with some moms from stroller strides & their kiddos. Reese did incredibly well, she slept in the carrier for half the movie and when she woke up, I took her out and played with her on my lap. I was worried that she'd be overstimulated by all the kids and the loud movie, but it wasn't a problem for her.

Im not sure if she wants to roll over, she still has yet to, but I know she is strong enough. She's starting to sit up alone for short periods of time before she topples over. I'm trying to give her as much floor roll time as possible to get her rolling, she's got to do it sometime.

Happy watching her sister play with legos

Arm rolls

Ahh sleeping baby :)

Nudie

Peek a Boo

19 Weeks Raspberries & Toes

Reese has some newly acquired skills! She can now blow raspberries and spit bubbles at the same time, she actually does it pretty much all day. And the first thing she does when I lay her on her back is grab both feet and smile. Sometimes she manages to get a toe or two in her mouth. 

She is all chub right now, not rolling over yet but close. Her 4 month appointment was a few days ago, she was 18lbs & 26 inches, not as big as Rae was at this age but she's still in the mid 90th percentile for both.

We went to Cardiff last weekend & this weekend. I had a bit of trouble getting her to nap, too many new things to see I guess. She still slept great at night though thankfully, Raegan is a different story caught her jumping on her bed several times PJ's were not on either, but the lights were...hmmmm.

I need to come up with some more fun activities inside that both girls can be amused by. We get out of the house once a day, but are usually at home & inside in the afternoon, due to naps & the heat etc. Time to get creative! 

Loving the jumperoo, this is my go to if I need a free set of hands and she is fussy
...usually for dinner & if I am not ready to leave the house before the girls wake up. 

Constant bubbles & drool, lots of outfit changes right now

Check out those arms rolls 

Almost all the way over, but she gets stuck on her arm & just hangs out there. 

Snugglers

I would not be surprised if some teeth broke through in the next few weeks.

Loves chewing on her toes, so funny

Reese at 4+ months, Rae at 3.5 months below...pretty similar, Reese is a little darker, but they are definitely sisters.

16 weeks I think

We are chugging along here, it's already hot 105 today :( I don't want to wish time away but I'd really like it to be October so we can go outside & play more. Reese seems to be like me, she doesn't like being hot & she sweats easily. There is usually a sweat silhouette in her car seat when I take her out after running errands, even with the a/c on. She's a bit of a cat napper during the day right now (30 - 45 min), but she goes down pretty easily and she sleeps 11 hrs at night :) Right now she's working hard on rolling over, she's getting really close but it not quite sure what to do with her arm on her roll side. I'm sure in a week or 2 she'll have it. Hopefully that doesn't translate into night wakings..I did with Rae.

Justin starts his second year of residency which will consist of leaving the house at 4:30 am, hopefully home by 8pm so he can see the girls...then he'll read for 2 hrs and go to sleep. 2 weekends off a month thats it. Poor guy it's going to be a rough year. We are going to have to maximize vacation time!

Roll time with Mr. Fish, she hugs him, bites his face then throws him...probably not on purpose.

Rae is trying to show Reese who's boss here.
 She kept holding her arms down and tell her to keep them there very sternly. Reese was amused. 

Buddies again

14 Weeks Getting Organized

I'm starting to develop a pattern that seems to work for me with the girls. They usually are both asleep by 9pm. So I have been running with Oso (very nice "me time" to decompress & hear myself think) at 9ish after I get them down when Justin is at home. When I get back I get the basics done ie laundry/dishes/toy pick up and a quick shower. If we are feeling like we can squeeze it in Justin & I will watch an episode of Lost on Netflix, yes we are about 8 years late on this, but we are addicted and its a nice escape from reality for both of us. I'm usually asleep by 11 ish.  Mornings the girls are up around 7:30/8 sometimes Reese goes right back to sleep after I feed her which gives me some time to get breakfast in Rae and get organized for the day. I "usually" try to get up before Rae to get myself ready. I've found it is sooo much harder & takes much longer once the girls are up, I kick myself every time I don't get up when my alarm goes off at 6:15. I've been writing out our daily schedule weekly, whether its playgroup, errands, the park, stroller strides or something else, I always seem to be more efficient and on top of things if I know what I'm doing on a certain day before I actually wake up. Next up on the efficiency/organization situation is bath times & bedtimes. Right now Justin has been home in the evening to help me. July & on he will not be home early enough to help. I'm not as worried about bedtime, its just easier when he's home and the girls aren't rushed through the routine. Bathtime is a bit of an issue though. Rae likes to splash & poor water everywhere when I try to bath Reese, so I have to do it when she is asleep but that's also when Reese takes her long nap, so Reese has been getting lots of washcloth baths instead of in the actual tub. Rae's bathtime is hard  because she is all over the place splashing, jumping in the tub etc, so I need both hands for about 20 minutes to contain her. She also likes to streak around the house after her bath and yell "nudie" ...and is not potty trained yet so I need to keep a close eye on her. Its funny but makes things a little more difficult.

Reese is still doing great, she's been a bit fussier the last few days. Seems like she is teething, but it'd be very surprising to me if she actually got teeth this early. I think Raegan got her first 2 at 5 months.  Raegan is starting to enjoy having Reese as a little sister. She tries to hold her hand and interact with her now. She gets very impressed with herself when she can make her smile & laugh. She has thrown a few things at her too and swatted at her, but thats the phase we appear to be in right now.

I get this face a lot from Rae ha. 

Giving the stare down

Tummy Time, she's not rolling yet, but is definitely getting stronger.
She'll prop herself up in mini pushup position for several minutes and just look around. 

We pulled out the jumperoo. Reese seems to like it, hangs out and smiles at the animals.
Rae likes to add the element of surprise, she suddenly & vigorously shakes the jumper, which scares Reese and she cries. Gentle is not something Rae has figured out. 

One of Reese's favorite items to chew on.

She fell asleep this way, it was one of those days.

Sweet baby girl. She's got some lashes.

Reese & Evie from playgroup. Born 3 days apart.

Mat time. Rae really likes to play with her on this. Still shakes it from time to time.

Another new baby container/toy. Rae again "helps" Reese with her new chair and smacks the spinning toy
...again making her cry. I'm seeing a trend here.

Love the feet! 

After dinner we all go outside for some fresh air. Reese loves laying on my legs and staring at the trees.
Rae and Oso run laps around the yard.

12 weeks - Tired Happy Chaos

My brain is jumbled and I can't get a clear thought out of my mouth or in my head before something makes me forget what I was doing or saying, but we are doing pretty well all things considered. I have a little mommy guilt from time to time when I have to ignore one child while tending to the other, and not much more than the "need to get done" is happening around the house; though we are getting out daily and doing stuff which is great. We've been to the zoo a couple times, stroller strides weekly, moms group, birthday parties etc. I'm a little worried about the heat this summer, we went to an outdoor birthday party today (it was 98 degrees) and I was pretty much miserable & so was Reese, we were both sticky, sweaty and uncomfortable. I hope I can find some good, "its waaay to hot out to go outside" activities for us to do weekly or it's going to be a loong summer.

Reese has started to giggle and seems to be ticklish. Sometimes instead of a laugh I get a shocked/startled look from her, which is pretty hilarious to me. Overall she is a really happy baby, smiles & squeals a lot. She is still sleeping great 8 to 10 hrs and will take several quick naps & 1 long nap during the day SO THANKFUL. Her drooling has increased a bunch and she's always chomping on her hand. Soon we get to pull out the bebepod infant chair & the jumperoo....I think she'll be excited, the bouncer is starting to bore her.

Happy Kiddo

This pic makes me laugh, Reese thinks something is funny, Rae is completely oblivious 

Its official she has brown eyes!

Grabs, chomps & tosses the owl

My attempt at making big sis jealous enough to actually wear her bike helmet...didn't work

Ortho Resident kids playgroup, we all have 2 year olds & babies, work out great.

All dressed up for the birthday party, changed her into a onesie as soon as we got there, waay to hot out 

Rae telling Reese to "roll over", she gotten to her side, but that's it so far

10 weeks - Back from vacation

Ah it's been 3 weeks since the last entry, but in my defense we were on vacation for 9 days and I didn't bring my laptop. Reese is still sleeping incredibly, anywhere from 7 to 10 hours a night, YES!!!! She is happy most of the time and usually easily consoled when fussy. 9 Days in Cardiff were a nice break from Riverside, though I must say my back hurt by then end of it. We didn't bring much baby gear, so I was holding Reese more than usual. I think she liked being held all the time, but my back definitely was sore. We made it to the San Diego Zoo, Reese pretty much slept the whole time on me in the carrier while Raegan ran around the Zoo and tried to play with all the kiddos.

I started workouts again with Stroller Strides. It's so great that it's walkable from our house and all the moms and kids are super nice. Reese fussed a little bit when the stroller was stopped, but was a trooper for the most part....I bribed Rae with gummy bunnies to keep her protests to a minumum until it was play time after class.

Reese had her 10 week baby well check yesterday, she weighs in at a hearty 14lbs 12oz and 24.25 inches. Not really surprising considering how plump Rae got by 6 months. She is happy & healthy, that is all I can ask for. She's starting to giggle a bit and make happy shrieking noises amidst her smiles, we have conversations these days, she's quite the communicator. She really likes staring at the birdies hanging from her bouncer, the monkey muslin blanket and any mirror we put her in front of.

I think she may be a late roller/crawler/walker. She's just pretty content where ever you put her doesn't really try to move too much yet. We do tummy time in attempt to build up her arm/neck/core strength, but she just lays on her tummy and smiles or snoozes (as you'll see below).

Hanging out on Mom's lap

Mini workout/smiles session. I think she may have figured out that those are her arms & legs flying about

Their expressions pretty much sum it up

Reese with MacKenzie, Betsy's little girl born on the same day. Reese has just a few lbs on her ;)

Happy Girl

Mom IS hillarious

Starting to drool a lot more, always blowing bubbles..a lil spit bug :)

Tummy time, just laying there smiling. Such a sweetheart