Six Faces

Smiley Face:

Sad Face:

Squinty Face:

Stunned Face:Silly Face:Scared Face:

Up At 4am

Baby M woke us up at 4am this morning so M and I decided to spend those waking hours watching the Australian Open men's final. What a great match between Nadal and Djokovic! Some very exciting tennis was played in this grand slam final that lasted almost six hours long. Needless to say, I was happy with Djokovic's victory over Nadal. Next grand slam to look forward to: the French Open at the end of May.

My two munchkins... I could definitely see the resemblance between these two siblings. Baby M looks just like his big sister when she was a baby.
Baby M is stunned when big sister K gives him a kiss on the hand:
Something that made me sad the other day... big sister K called me "mom" instead of mommy. I couldn't believe it! What happened to mommy??? My little girl is growing up so fast.

Handy Helper

In big sister K's preschool class, each day a few of the kids are tasked with the privilege (or chore, depending on how you look at it) of being a "Handy Helper." The responsibilities include Snack Helper, Line Leader, Table Cleaner, Light Saver, Door Holder, Lunch Helper, and Book Cleaner (there may be others, but these are the ones I remember). Big sister K loves being a Handy Helper and often comes home telling us what she did. Here's a brief conversation she had with M last night:

Big sister K: I was the Door Holder today.
[She is usually the Lunch/Snack Helper or Light Saver, so this was the first time we heard of her being a Door Holder.]
M: Door Holder?? Does that mean you hold the door for other people?
Big sister K: Yes.
M: So what will you be tomorrow?
Big sister K: Tomorrow is my day off.
M: LOL!

Black Residue

Baby M has acid reflux, which accounts for his non-stop crying at times and constant spit-up. To ease his discomfort, the pediatrician told us to put some rice cereal in his milk. We started doing that maybe once or twice a day. A few days ago, I noticed some black residue in the bottle as I was feeding baby M. It totally freaked me out. M googled it and found some message boards that claim it's the iron in the rice cereal (leaving a black residue when mixed with warm liquid). It made me feel a little better that I wasn't putting baby M's milk in a dirty bottle, but I had M call Beech Nut just to be sure. They confirmed what he read online, which let out a big sigh of relief on my part. It would be nice if they put something on the box to warn consumers, but I guess that's asking for too much.

This Morning

M and I were both busy getting ready, so I had no choice but to put baby M in the bassinet even though he was crying. Big sister K was in the kitchen having breakfast, but when she heard his wailing, she ran upstairs to try to get him to stop. Her attempts of saying "stop crying, baby brother" didn't work, so she started dancing and singing in front of him. Baby M stared at his big sister, smiled, and actually stopped crying! There are no moments better than these!

Back to the Blog

My apologies to those who have been waiting for updates on my blog. I know I was MIA for a while, but it's amazing how much time goes into taking care of a newborn. I'd forgotten how life revolves around the baby and would be losing track of the day of the week if I didn't have to drop big sister K off at daycare every day. So now here is an update on what's been going on for the past few weeks (or at least what I can remember)...

Baby M is now almost two months old. He's still very fussy, cries (shrieks would be a better word) a lot, and not a great eater, but he is sleeping a bit better at night. Things have somewhat settled into a routine and I am managing life with two kids, but I look forward to the day (or night) when I can get some uninterrupted sleep.

I am happy to report that big sister K is finally out of diapers overnight. She's had a few accidents in bed, but for the most part has been doing pretty good. She's learning to write the alphabet these days, but for some reason, likes to write them upside-down. When I tell her it's not a letter, she'd turn the paper around to prove me wrong. So far, she's mastered the letters A, H, V, and T. At daycare, they have the kids trace dots that make up a letter, so I've started doing that at home with her as well.

M had baked some cookies over the holidays, which big sister K loved. There were only two left and big sister K was eating the last one when I jokingly said to her, "Can you share your cookie with mommy?" She responded, "I can share my cookie with you" and came running into the family room where I was feeding baby M. I had my hands full, so she held the cookie by my mouth for me to take a bite and said, "Don't take a lot mommy!" I couldn’t help but laugh. I was surprised enough that she was willing to share her last cookie with me, but when she told me not to take a lot, that was the real kicker.

The other day, I had the two munchkins in the car. When I went in, I heard big sister K talking. She said to me, "Shhh! I'm talking to baby brother!" then proceeded to have a whole conversation with him (well, it was more like a monologue since she was doing all the talking). I can already picture her ordering baby M around as she does with mommy and daddy.

This morning, I had both kids packed in the car all ready to go when M realized he had misplaced his cell phone. I went into the house to help him look for it, leaving baby M and big sister K in the car by themselves. We eventually found it and when I got back in the car, I asked big sister K if baby M cried (which he often does, much to his sister’s annoyance). Big sister K goes, "No. Baby brother said ah choo! Ah choo! Ah choo!" I started laughing and said, "You mean your baby brother sneezed." She's such a riot; she cracks me up.

Diaper Duty

Those on Facebook may have already sensed my frustration on this topic, but it seems that every time M changes baby M's diaper, it leaks. I'm pretty sure it's unintentional (despite my claim that this may be M's secret ploy to get out of diaper duty), but it's really getting on my nerves. There was one day where we went through every single outfit that fit baby M (which unfortunately at this point is very limited since his umbilical cord hasn't fallen off and we can't put him in onesies yet). Yesterday morning, M changed baby M before heading off to work. After his mid-morning feeding, I was holding baby M when all of a sudden, I felt a warm sensation permeating onto my skin... turns out baby M's pee leaked underneath the diaper and went through my two layers of clothing while I was holding him. That was the last straw. I've taken over all the diaper duty since then and will have to provide a lesson in proper diaper-changing to M before he can redeem himself.

While I'm on the topic of dirty diapers, let me just comment on how many diapers we've wasted in the past two weeks. Baby M has a bad habit of peeing or pooping while he's being changed. It's almost as if he does it out of retaliation because he doesn't like diaper time (it's not as if I'm a huge fan of it either). I've started to recognize the signs when an accident is about to occur (i.e., his cries start to quiet down, his kicking slows to a minimum) and have strategized my technique to minimize the mess. It doesn't always work out that way especially when he decides to pee multiple times (and he times it right when I'm wiping him down and most vulnerable), but I'm trying. At least he's eating better, but now he also seems to have developed a case of diaper rash. It's just one thing after another...

Sibling Love

I am pleasantly surprised at how well big sister K has been handling the arrival of her baby brother. She always asks for him when she comes home from daycare, and would go over to give him a kiss or a gentle pat. She's even voluntarily offered to share her beloved Winnie the Pooh lovey blanket with him (which would offend me if I didn't find it so cute, since I don't even get such a privilege). At the young age of 3, it's already evident how protective she is of her little brother. The other day, when baby M was crying, big sister K yells, "Don't cry, M! I read you a story!" I couldn't help but laugh.