Monthly Snapshot September 2013

This is something I started for myself in April, but then never got around to keeping up with.  I want to keep track of milestones and basically just grab a "snapshot" of what's going on in my kids' lives - what they're into, what they are working on, what they absolutely hate, etc. I'm hoping I can start doing it on the first of each month, for the previous month.  I'm going to try and keep the format the same so that I can easily compare their changes/growth month-to-month.

In my OCD/perfectionist/Virgo world, I would have liked to have started this when Emily was first born - so that I would have a complete history.  But if there's one thing I've learned about motherhood, and life in general, it's that there is no such thing as perfect and living is messy.  If I tried to do everything perfectly, I would never do anything.  So I'm starting now, and it's just going to have to be good enough.

So here goes:

October 1, 2013 - Snapshot

Emily Jane

Stats...
Age: 3
Clothes size: 4T
Shoe size: 7.5/who knows

Favorites...
Food: PBJ, macaroni & cheese, blueberry waffles
Book: any of the Halloween/Fall books I just got out
TV Show(s): Doc McStuffins, Sophia the First, Jake & the Neverland Pirates
Toy(s): anything that's not actually a toy (like a straw or a stick=a magic wand); and her "Doc McStuffins" checkup kit

Milestones?
1. Working on potty training.  Mommy decided not to buy any more diapers (just GoodNights for bedtime).  Wearing panties everyday and keeping them dry most days.  Still does not go to the bathroom on her own - has to be reminded, but there are fewer and fewer fights about going to sit on the potty.

2. Can put on and take off her own shirt - most of the time.  She's been able to dress herself from the waist down for a few months, but shirts/dresses are still a bit of a challenge.  Every day it gets easier.

3. Able to recognize several letters and single-digit numbers.  Has known the full alphabet song for some time, but just recently started being able to identify individual letters (recently we passed a parking garage with a giant lighted "P" and she said "look, Mommy! A 'P'!"  I was impressed.

Challenges...
1. Temper.  She is very emotional and quick to display her emotions.  If she's mad, she makes a horrible face and growls, sometimes hits/kicks/bites.  We are working on her controlling her temper.  She is also very quick to turn to tears if she doesn't get her way.  She wants instant gratification and it is hard for her to understand patience.  In other words, she's a 3 year old.

2. Still has trouble opening doors with round handles (knobs).  We're not sure that's a bad thing though...

3. Following directions (in general).  Again, she's 3.  She's going to do what she wants.  We will tell to do (or not to do) something and she will start doing it again a few seconds/minutes later.  Such as touching Caroline's face & hands.  She has been told only to touch her feet or belly (for tickles).  But has to be reminded constantly not to touch her anywhere else or get in her face.

Always wants to hold Caroline

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Caroline Elizabeth

Stats...
Age: 13 weeks (3 months)
Clothes Size: 3-6 months (3 month PJs don't fit anymore, 3 month onesies still fit--but barely)
Shoe Size: doesn't wear shoes - tiny feet just like her sister though

Favorites...
Food: formula! (we stopped breastfeeding around 6 weeks)
Book: whatever Emily's reading (I put her in her buggy seat and she comes into Emily's room and we all read a story; she actually really likes it)
Toy: nothing really, just yet.  She really digs her papper (pacifier), but will let you know when she doesn't want it (by sticking her tongue out when you try to put it in her mouth); we have also started giving her chewy things (like the teether in the photo above) and she loves to have a blanket up around her face (obviously not at bedtime, but it does help her get to sleep)
TV Show: obviously she's not hardcore-glued to the TV like Emily, but she does enjoy sitting in her bouncy seat and being pointed toward the TV when either cartoons or a ball game are on :)

Milestones...
Sleeping! Well, she's (mostly) sleeping through the night.  There might be one or two nights out of the week that she stirs in the night and I have to go in and replace her papper and turn her fishies back on, and then the really rare nights/early mornings where I have to feed her to get her back to sleep; but for the most part, since about 5 weeks old she has been sleeping long stretches during the night, and now she sleeps from about 9 or 10pm to about 6 or 7am.  On the weekends, she will sometimes sleep in until 8am.  She's definitely a much better sleeper than Emily.  I don't know if it's because we still swaddle her or not.  We only swaddled Emily for a week or two and I don't know why that is?  But Caroline loves to be swaddled at bedtime - I think it's sort of a cue for her because she almost always goes right to sleep.  Hopefully that continues even after we stop swaddling.  I have heard you should stop around 4 months because it will inhibit their motor skills from developing or that they could potentially suffocate from rolling over and not being able to use their arms to push themselves back over.  But I am mostly a believer in going with your gut and taking cues from your baby.  She can get out of a swaddle; almost every morning the blankets are in a wad all around her, but they haven't been up around her head or anything.  I have heard of people swaddling from the waist down, but since her flailing arms are the problem, I don't see how that would help.  I will probably swaddle her until either she starts to roll over and/or until she doesn't like it anymore.

Grabbing.  She's not doing a whole lot of grabbing and holding things yet, but she will drag her open palm across her blanket or bib and grab a hold of it, and then (of course) try to put it in her mouth.  I think she's going to be like Emily (sucking on her raggy).  She likes putting her fist in her mouth, but we are trying to keep her from doing that because I don't want her to be a thumb-sucker (like my best friend's mom says, "you can throw away a binky, but you can't throw away a thumb!")  I'll have a hard enough time getting the papper away from her in a couple years, I don't want to have to try to break the thumb-sucking habit.  Anyway, we are encouraging her to hold onto things; offering the Sophie and different chewy toys.  She will hold on for a minute, but usually she drops them.

Playing. First time in the "jump-jump".  She isn't a big fan yet.  She's still a little small, but because she likes to be "upright" so she can see everything, and because she has really strong neck and leg muscles, we decided to go ahead and let her try it out.  We had to pad her with a couple blankets to keep her vertical, and she only likes it for exactly 2 minutes and then she's done.  She got mad because she couldn't reach the parrot attached to the side, but it's so exciting to see her discovering new things.  And a little bid sad.. this is my last baby and it's going TOO fast!!

She's doing great at staying awake for a little while after each feeding.  She likes to sit on Mommy or Daddy's knee and she LOVES when big sister Emily comes around and talks to her.  She lights up at Emily's voice which makes my heart so happy.  I can already see how much she is going to look up to her.  LOVE. IT.


Challenges...
There aren't a great many challenges for a newborn, except that EVERYTHING is a challenge.  She pretty much has it easy.  The biggest thing she has to worry about is why someone isn't feeding her the minute it hits 3 hours since her last bottle.  The concept of "every three to four hours" is completely lost on her.

Overall, I feel like Caroline is a much easier baby than Emily was.  Whether it's because she's actually more easy-going/happier, or whether it's because I'm more relaxed and confident in my parenting ability, I guess we'll never know.  She does cry, but certainly not the non-stop colicky, I-hate-you-and-everyone-and-everything cry that was the norm for the first 4 or so months of Emily's life.  Once we put Caroline on formula (and Zantac for reflux) she pretty much only cries when she's hungry or tired (neither of which last very long if you give her what she wants!).

So there's the update for the month of September.  Looking forward to looking back on all the changes & exciting things that happen in October!!