2 Months

Amelia was 2 months old on May 30th! It snuck up on me so I didn't have time to plan her outfit and change my mind 23908472938569 times as I normally do. We had a tough time getting her picture done because of some lighting issues (it is always light with me!), but I got two or three that I liked in the end (out of close to 100). So, first the ones I like:

Precious baby girl- she is working so hard to figure out her hands lately
Sweet smiles
Smiling with her whole body
Serious face
Silly baby girl!
Happy girl

Sucking on her lower lip

So many different faces! It also appears the crazy hair is here to stay for awhile longer - yay! I love the wild hair!

Yawning means my time for happy faces is almost up!

How can she be 2 months old?

And the out takes:

Inside it is too dark! As you can see, Amelia is very much into kicking lately.

So, then I took her outside where there was LOTS of light. Which created the shadows on her face...
And made it so she wouldn't open her pretty eyes!
It was also super windy...Amelia was not a fan of the wind. And then I spent 10 minutes chasing our age notecard around
Evidence of wind

So, then I moved into the shade of the tree and turned her so she wasn't facing the wind...only to come up with some speckled skin (even with fill flash! Argh!)
A smile in spite of the wind/sun
More speckled- ness

I think this one is cute....but speckled!
This one could be okay with editing...but who has time?

So, back inside we went. We still didn't have great light.

The changes are coming hard and fast this month. Physically, Amelia is growing like crazy. Tonight she is wearing a six (6!) month sleeper and it is about the right length. Two weeks ago she was in 3-6 month outfits. Who knows what next week will bring! Actually, I know that next week will bring our 2 month well visit with our ped. I'm interested in seeing how much she has grown.

Over Memorial Day a few things happened. Amelia was fussy in the evenings, she started producing buckets of drool and the amount of spit up has increased. All of these clues indicate we are starting with the teething. The swollen gums confirm that teeth are on their way - it could still be several weeks from now based on what her mouth looks like. I don't know exactly when we'll see our first teeth, but they are a'comin'.

One of the other fun things to watch is Amelia's sunny disposition. She is a big smiler and in the last week has added a hysterical giggle to go with her great big grin. She absolutely LOVES having people talk to her and does a downright adorable jig if you smile and talk to her (especially mama - what can I say? She is still a mama's girl). She also has been doing a lot of talking back - which I think it cute at this stage. No so much when she turns two. The two of us have some pretty deep conversations when it is just us by ourselves. The conversations only happen when we are alone because most of the time she is trying to keep an eye on her older brother. She really has to work hard to keep her eye on where he is and what he is doing. And when he plays with her or gives her attention? She about creates a tornado with the arm waving, feet kicking that occurs.

She has noticed her hands and spends about 50 % of her time trying to get both of her fists into her mouth. The other 50% she spends either pummeling herself in the face while attempting to get the hands into her mouth or pulling up her dress to expose her diaper to the world. It appears that she may also be rolling, although no one has yet to see it. I leave her in one position and leave the room for a moment and come back to find her flipped over the other direction. So far, I have only witnessed her easily rolling herself onto her sides from her back (both L and R).

and most of all, my shirt currently smells strongly of spit up. On both the left and right side. This is the life!

P is for Precious

William is all kinds of cute and devilish at the same time. He can push my buttons faster than...anything I can think of and then melt my heart in the next moment. He is stubborn and loving, irritating and sweet all at once. In the above picture, he discovered Amelia's hiding spot (her crib) and climbed up to make sure she wasn't having fun in there without him. After clbiming up there, he said to me "Baby not sleeping! Eyes open!". Well, of course they are after you scaled the crib and then poked her in the eye!

Here are just a handful of other things he has said over the last few weeks that John and I have laughed over later (why, yes I am writing them down as blackmail for later):



"Guy?!??!"
-Explanation: This quote is from before Amelia was born. We have a dump truck and a bulldozer toy that have drivers. When they were new, we referred to the drivers and the "guys who drive the truck". Inadvertently, we had named the drivers both guy.

My parents were in town visiting for my birthday. They took William to Dairy Queen for lunch and were enjoying some people watching when a man in a large white pickup truck drove up and came into the restaurant. William watched the man walk in and studied him carefully. He was wearing jeans and a baseball cap - based on his appearance, it was very possible he worked in construction. After several moments, William breathed "Guy?!?!" in disbelief. Here he was in the flesh, his hero: Guy. He hardly knew what to do with himself he was so excited. Luckily "Guy" got his lunch and went on his way so everyone at our table could eat theirs.

"P is for Precious"
Explanation: I was laying on the floor with Amelia talking to her during tummy time this last week. William was nearby driving his 239482739625983 matchbox cars in a race only he understands. Amelia was all sweetness. She was laughing and cooing at me and I was laughing and cooing right back. Because, how do you not when they are so sweet? Several times I said to her "You are so precious baby girl. You are my precious baby girl" in my best baby talk voice and she was eating it up. Without looking up from his race, William mumbled "P is for Precious". I sat straight up and asked him to repeat himself. When he did, I was blown away*. He on the other hand went right back to his race.

*William is very interested in letters/numbers. Do I think he understands them completely? Nope.

"Little trees going down in my belly" Explanation: We had grilled chicken and a few sides for dinner one night last week. One of the sides was fettuccine alfredo with some fresh broccoli mixed in because I know William will eat the noodles and I'm hoping he'll accidentally eat some broccoli. He was on to me right away and pulled out a teeny piece of broccoli. "What's dat?" he asked me. "Broccoli, it is like a little tree" was my reply. He looked at me and looked at the broccoli. "Little tree?" he asked. "Yep, little trees" I replied, holding my breath, hoping that teeny piece was going to go into his mouth.

But no. He studied the broccoli a little longer and then pulled the neck of his shirt forward in order to insert the broccoli. He patted his chest "Broccoli in belly" he stated, very proud of himself.

What mama looking for?
-Explanation: I hear this quote about 75 bazillion times a day repeated over and over again within seconds of the last inquiry. I understand he is trying to have a conversation with me, he wants attention. But really, I'm still folding clothes. I'm not looking for anything. I promise, nothing exciting will happen without you.

I looking out the window for cows
-Explanation: On the way to Rochester last weekend, William talked to Grandpa on the phone for a few minutes. All of a sudden he is able to talk on the phone and almost have a conversation. I was enjoying listening to his side of the conversation when I heard him say "I looking out the window for cows." I was shocked! So many words in a row! And sure enough, not a minute before, the two of us had been looking out the window for cows.

I want to wear pretty dress!
-Explanation: On Mother's Day I put Amelia in a pretty dress (Note: I love girl clothes. Dressing girls up is so fun! I swear I change Amelia's clothes 3 times a day just because I can). I was ooooohing and ahhhing over Amelia's dress and trying to get a smile from her when William suddenly was jealous. He stamped his feet and demanded "I want to wear pretty dress!!"

New shoes! Lights!
-Explanation: We got William new shoes last weekend because the kid is growing like a weed. A cute weed, but still. Growing like crazy. Grandpa and Grandma were helpers that day and Grandpa managed to come up with a pair of light up tennis shoes. William was immediately in love and has now announed to everyone who will listen (and a few who won't) New shoes! Lights! And then he stamps his feet around to show them off.

"Mama! Baby making mess!"
Explanation: I heard William yelling this from the laundry room this last week. Unpon investigation, she certainly had made a mess. Spit up ALL down the front of her shirt and all over the swing cover. Now he just needs to learn how to use the burp cloth.

"My eyes are still tired Mama"
Explanation: I heard this two weeks ago when he had slept for almost 3.5 hours. I finally went in to wake him so we could go to the park (and so he would sleep that night) and when I finally roused him, this is what he said to me.


Fake laughing on the phone talking to Daddy "Jokes mama. I tell jokes." More fake laughing. John asks "Is he okay? He keeps coughing."


"I make toot toots (passed gas) in the potty Mama. [leaning over to look under his behind into the toilet] Where they go?"
Explanation: I think this one is pretty self explanatory

First Trip to the Dentist!

At William's 2 year appointment with his doctor, it was recommended that William see a dentist. After the appointment, I started to wonder if the doctor saw something specific in his mouth she was concerned about or if it was just a general recommendation. Several days after the appointment was too late to find out, so we went ahead and made an appointment with the dentist. We had to cancel and reschedule a few times due to the sheer number of other appointments on our calendar after our Christmas accident and the end of pregnancy. Last week we finally got William in for his first trip to the dentist!

Waiting in the waiting room
Sitting in the chair. He was WAY less impressed than I was expecting about the chair going up and down. He was WAY more interested in the buttons making the chair go up and down. So, right off the bat, he was difficult to keep in the chair (keep in mind the only reason I actually followed through with the appointment at this point was because I was worried there was something was going on with his teeth).
Looking at the special light with the Hotwheel sunglasses on, In the end, we went up and down in the chair, played with the tooth cleaning brush and the special tools and let the hygenist count the teeth on the bottom of his mouth. She was impressed by all of his teeth. Not so much by his lack of cooperation. I was happy nobody was interested in holding my baby boy down to get a really good look inside of his mouth. The quick peeks the hygienist got were enough to calm my worries. We have instructions to bring him back in another 6 months, but we'll see how cooperative he is being at that point. Maybe we'll go, maybe we'll wait a little while. Who knows.

In other big news, Amelia had a bath tonight in the baby tub without the newborn support piece in it. She enjoyed it very much with all the extra space to kick and splash. See the video below for some of the wild splashing and kicking!

Look at that belly (and those chins! And those fat cheeks!)! She sure is growing!

Many Faces of Mia

Amelia has the funniest expressions lately! It is so much fun to watch her personality develop and see her face change! These pictures were taken all within about 3 minutes of each other.Happy baby

Serious baby

Concerned baby

Sleepy baby

Focused baby (looking at her hand)

Working baby (use your imagination)

Plotting baby (doesn't she look like she is cooking up something naughty?)

Entertaining baby

8 Weeks Old +Memorial Day Fun (or not)

We went hiking at Quarry Hill, just a few minutes away from Grandpa and Grandma's house

Grandma and William get ready to hike
The start of the hike (it wasn't all paved, I promise)

We saw turtles! And birdies! How exciting! William was so excited to look for animals on our hike. When we asked what he would be looking for, he replied "Cows and sheep". Bummer. It is too bad that I know going in you are going to be disappointed. He later updated his list to include frogs, monkeys, tigers, cows and sheep. Too bad we only saw birds and turtles.
Looking into the water for some frogs. Or fish (we didn't see either)
Our hike took us right by an old quarry. Grandpa climbed down and took a picture of us looking us: Daddy, Grandma with a death grip on William, Mama and Mia

Day #2 of dandelion blowing instruction: still no success

Grandma, William & Grandpa after hiking!
Grandma, William, Grandpa & Amelia after hiking. This could make a cute Christmas card...


....................................................
Later in the day, I realized two things:
1. Amelia was 8 weeks old today
2. I didn't really get any pictures of Amelia in the baptism dress because she couldn't wear it in the carseat. I had to put it on her at the church and take it off of her before we went home again. So, I dressed our girl up again and got to work. As always, there is a great deal of editing to be done, but I'm tired. If I waited to edit them, you would never see them.



Hiking, shopping, playing are all in a day's work! She is still smiling close to bedtime - what a great girl!
8 weeks old with the baptism dress on
Trying to make herself look bigger than she really is by spreading out.
When she smiles, she smiles with her whole body. Her arms and legs wiggle around! She is so happy!
Serious baby
Thinking about smiling again

8 week old, such a sweet baby girl
Her face is so expressive!
Not happy in this position - the dress was so slippery, she slid right off the pillow
Still not pleased, but willing to chew on the thumb for a few minutes

the end of our session...the beginning of a grumpy face

*Gah! I should have taken a picture of my grandma, mom, me and Mia! The days just went by so fast, we took pictures so we could remember WHAT we were doing each day. So busy! Why didn't we take any of our generations pictures this time? Putting it on the list of things to do!