Rhys @ 5 months

Yesterday Rhys was 5 months old. I have no idea where the time has gone or how that happened so quick!

She has rolled over a handful of times from Front to Back.  Mostly she does it in her crib, but Tuesday David saw her do it while she was playing on the floor.

Rhys is starting to move around.  We put her in the center of the crib and often find her squished against the top/front of the crib when we go in to get her.  Today I put her down on the floor to play and she moved a good 3ft backwards.  She's starting to turn herself around too..we've found her turned 90 degrees several times as well.
She is really interested when we eat.  She watches like a hawk and even tries to grab whatever we have.  Best example of this was my Christmas dessert.  She did her best to grab on to my plate!  We'll probably start trying cereal soon.

When I'm at work, Rhys goes through 2 or 3 bottles depending on the day.  Somewhere around 9-12 oz.  She's been going 3 hours between feeds when I'm around, and on bottle days she'll go even more.
We are still waiting for Rhys to decide that she likes to sleep during the night.  I'd have to say this is our least favorite part of the newborn stage, but she has gotten better recently.  She wakes us up around 4 or 5am for a snack.  Much better than before, but could definitely be better.

Rhys likes to sit in the Bumbo and play with her toys, she likes tummy-time with her toys, she likes to watch her sister Natalie running around, and she still likes to cuddle - especially with Mommy.

Overall, Rhys is a pretty mellow baby.  Other than the lack of sleep, we don't have any complaints.  And, it seems like she is starting to outgrow the spit-up phase. Hooray!

Stats:
Weight: about 16lb 3 oz.
Height: about 24 inches
Diapers: size 3
Clothes size 6mo and 6-9 mo

It has taken the better part of my evening to upload these few pictures, so I think I'm calling it quits for the night.  Comparison pictures and Christmas posts will have to wait a few days until I have more time to fool with the computer / Blogger / Internet, etc.

Merry Christmas - 2011

Merry Christmas from our family..

Rhys' Christmas Card

Fun video of Natalie helping Rhys open her card

Natalie's Christmas Card

Cute video of Natalie opening her Christmas card from Papa & Grammy

Christmas Card Pictures

I think most everyone reading our blog should have received our Christmas card..and if you didn't, send me an email so I can add you to the mailing list...Here are some of the good pictures and a few outtakes.

(Shannah, I stole your idea of saving the proof...it's great to have a digital copy.)

 And, by the end of it, this is how we all felt..

December Days

This might be one of my favorite pictures.  Natalie told us she wanted to put on "my boots". And a fireman hat completes the outfit. The best part is she came up with it on her own.

I thought we might get Natalie to sit with Santa this year.  We were really talking it up and she was excited, but when we got there it was a different story. She wanted nothing to do with him.  I was actually not sure if Rhys would even sit there..she has some stranger issues sometimes. But, Rhys was a happy camper and we finally convinced Natalie to stand there.  Natalie is squinting, not crying; they should really find Santa a new location..the sun is just too bright for good pictures.

I put Rhys' dress on in the morning and thought she needed a headband since she rarely wears red and we have a few different red bows.  Natalie also wanted to wear a headband, so we dug out this purple one to match her.  Of course getting them to take a picture together is no easy task...

We headed out to Avila Barn to visit the animals for a while.  A little boy and his family were getting ready to leave and gave Natalie a bag of food to feed; she thought it was pretty fun and wasn't afraid at all.



In the evening, Natalie watched some Christmas cartoons and had popcorn.  First batch we've ever made for her at home. I know she's had a few pieces here and there,  but we hadn't ever made any for her.  She was more into the movie than the popcorn.

She may not like salty popcorn, but she definitely has a sweet tooth...David helped her make the Gingerbread house.  She was gobbling up the candy faster than he could assemble the pieces.  This is the end result, after we took away the candy supply.

They were busy making the Gingerbread house, and Trisha & I were busy baking.  I think this was at least the 4th annual Christmas baking, but it might have been 5 or even 6 years that we've done it!  It involves lots of butter, lots of chocolate and lots of fun.  We can't wait until our girls can help with the cookies.

Rhys has finally gotten to where we can put her sitting up in the stroller!  I took the girls out last weekend.  It was a little chilly, and I I realized half-way thru that I probably should have brought hats for them, but at least they both had hoods on their sweaters.  I think our double strollers will get a lot of use going forward..!

Just for fun. Our mantle in 2010 and 2011.

I don't think I ever posted, but this is how I shared the news with David that baby Rhys would be joining our family. While he was away on a business trip, I decorated. It took him a few minutes to realize there was an extra stocking and he thought I was joking that we'd have a 4th one hanging from our mantle.  Nope, not a joke, Rhys was on her way. It's been a year now and we couldn't imagine it any other way.

Rhys rolled over!

I went to get Rhys up from her nap, and I saw this happy face!

I knew it was a matter of time before she rolled over, but it caught me off-guard.  She goes to sleep on her tummy, and it took me a second to realize that she was smiling up at me when I walked in to get her.

I have a feeling she is going to be on the move soon...watch out!

Today's progress!

Just a quick update since yesterday.

We got some awesome sleep last night. Rhys ate at 9pm and then fell asleep. She woke up at 5:30am!! Woohoo. She joined us in bed and slept another 30 minutes before wanting food. Guessing her vaccines had something to do with that, but keeping my fingers crossed for a repeat.

Rhys took 3 bottles today!! Significant improvement! She still stretched them out more than I would like. She took 12 oz when she should have had 16 or so. Hoping that she got enough to make it through the night. She still seems tired today.

Natalie used the potty all day!! Last night we tried something new: the "potty timer" - I set the alarm on my phone and when it rings, we take her potty. Daycare also takes her regularly and she went enough times today that she kept her pull-up dry!! Funny that a silly name is enough to trick her into playing along. She was refusing to sit when we asked, so the timer works for now.

Great progress around here. Let's hope it continues.

4 mo checkup

Rhys had her 4 month checkup today. Not a whole lot to report. We are watching for more waking at night before we start solids. The Doctor says her nightly 2 am wake up is likely for comfort, not for food. I usually feed her because she seems hungry, but maybe we will see if she just wants to snuggle a bit. That seemed to be the case last night, so we shall see.

Official Stats:
Height: 23 in (20%)
Weight: 15 lb, 11oz. (90%)

She now officially weighs more than Natalie did at her 6 mo check up! But at least we are still ON the chart! And continues to be on the short side, but I'm guessing one of these days she will have a growth spurt and it will all even out.

She got two shots. She was already out of sorts because it was naptime, so a few tears were involved but mostly due to tiredness. She promptly fell asleep in the car while we were sitting in the post office parking lot finishing Christmas cards :)

She is getting closer to rolling over, but not quite there. She really stiffens her legs and arches her back, especially in the bath tub and sometimes in her Bumbo seat. Sometimes on her tummy it looks like she is going to crawl. She gets her knees up underneath her and pushes forward. Too soon, too soon! I know it will still be a few months, but it is just going so quickly!

Rhys is starting to grasp things and put them in her mouth. She usually takes her paci out and plays with it.

On the bottle front, she is doing better, but she isn't loving it, yet. She took about 4 ounces on Thursday, 15 oz on Friday (from 8am - 11pm) and then we tried a couple times yesterday and got 5 oz into her. I'm guessing in a normal day when I'm at work she should take about 15 ounces. So, Thursday she was definitely holding out, but she did better on Friday, even after eating half of the night away (not so fun for Mama).

As for Natalie's Potty Training Updates: there's not much to update! She did really well for the first 5 days or so, but then we were travelling for Thanksgiving where she was mightly distracted. She's been hit or miss (mostly "miss") since being back at home. Daycare is starting to work with her during the day, and we're letting her run around in undies at the house, so we'll get there, eventually.

No pictures today, but will try to post some later in the week.

Fun sayings & back to work

A few things Natalie has been saying lately so that I don't forget...

* it's not working - she uses this for everything...the other day we gave her half of a small cup of milkshake and she was tipping the cup so that nothing was going in the straw and kept saying "it's not working". Too cute! Other things that don't work: if she's having trouble with a buckle, a toy that is out of battery, a lid she can't get off, blocks that won't go together, etc.

* stuck in there - she also uses this for everything! When putting on her pants, her legs get "stuck in there" if she has trouble getting her foot all the way thru. Same thing with arms & shirts. Snacks in her snack cup that won't come out. A blankie that is snagged on something. A book under the pile of toys that she can't quite reach.

I swear she learns and repeats new things everyday! She is starting to learn all about Christmas and it's fun to watch her reaction. She's discovered Christmas lights and points them out everytime she sees some. She learned Santa at this weekend's parades (more on that later). I can't wait for the rest of the season's activities!

Her rendition of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star:
Twinkle, Twinkle, a star
How I wonder, you are
Up above
World so high
Like diamond
In the sky
Twinkle, Twinkle, a star. Yay!

I've been singing little parts of Christmas songs to her this week and tonight she was singing "Jingle Bells"..

On a slightly sad note, my maternity leave is officially over :(. Tomorrow I start back to work part-time. Rhys will rotate days home with David and I, and she will go to daycare once a week for now. Ease her into it, and hopefully avoid some germs!

I have mixed feelings about going back. I'm excited to interact with adults, take back my responsibilities with my clients and have some balance in my life. BUT, I will certainly miss my baby girl, well both of them. It's hard to be a working mom!

The transition ought to be interesting. Rhys needs to learn to take a bottle. She did fine around 5 or 6 weeks when we tried, so we didn't really focus on it much and then around 10 or 12 weeks, she decided she didn't want a bottle, at all. It is madness any time we try, so I figured it'll just have to be a rough few days and she will decide she is hungry and maybe a bottle isn't so bad. At least that is the plan. Tomorrow night might be rough, but I'm going to try to hold out and make her take a bottle. It should be interesting...!

Rhys @ 4 months

Rhys is 4 months old!  (I promise, I wrote this post on the 27th, but it has taken me a full day to upload a few pictures..so many other things to do!)

She is starting to get into her 3 hour routine pretty well and we are starting to read her cues easily. When she's been up for a while (about an hour / hour & half) and starts to fuss, she is tired and wants to sleep. She usually goes down without much fuss. She cries when she wakes up and is usually hungry.

She's eating every 2.5 - 3 hours. I was hoping that by feeding her more during the day she would sleep better at night, but so far that's not working too well. She was in a great pattern of waking once a night around 5, but lately she's been more on the 2am and 5am kick.

She is pretty happy when she is awake. We get lots of smiles from her...just not when we take pictures, apparently!

A picture of my "helper" who wanted to be in the pictures but didn't want to put down her juice cup.  She also didn't want to hold the backdrop and kept stepping on it. Oh well!

This past weekend we were home for Thanksgiving and she was really good about letting people hold her! So glad that she wasn't as clingy this visit.

She still hasn't rolled over, but I don't think it's too far off. She really arches her back on the changing table and tries to twist around on her activity mat. She really likes the exersaucer too; she spins herself around playing with all of the toys.

She and Natalie have been good at sharing a room. They don't seem to bother each other when one wakes up. (lately Natalie has been doing her fair share of waking...her 2 yr bottom molars are coming in).

We borrowed Tania's Bumbo since ours is still at daycare. Rhys likes to sit there for short periods, but then she starts arching her back and wants out. Someday I'm sure she will love it.

Natalie wanted Rhys to wear a "hat" Aka Orange Juicer. Looks like a mini sombrero!

Overall she is a pretty easy going baby. Well, except for the fact that she still won't take a bottle!! That has to end this week because I'm starting back to work part-time and she will be staying with daddy and then going to daycare 1 day/wk. Rhys is still more cuddly than Natalie was and loves to be near her mama.

We go to the Dr next week, but here's this month's stats:

Height: approx 23 inches
Weight: 15 lbs 12 oz
Diapers: we are working our way into 3s. 2s are starting to leak quite a bit.
Clothes: 3-6 mo

The 4 month pictures wouldn't be complete without a comparison shot.  Natalie had so much more hair than Rhys; I was already having to clip it back out of her face for pictures.

Potty training day 3

When I started writing this (around 4pm), I would have said Day 3 was a Fail. However, a little break, less pressure, and we are still having success!

It's Monday, so David was back at work. Daycare is closed this week, so I had both girls home and the plan was to continue the potty training.

By 9 am we had already had two accidents. She turned it around and had 3 pees in the potty, but then came "naptime". I put that in quotes, because we are supposed to nap, but Natalie rarely naps at home these days.

I put Rhys down in the crib and Natalie proceeded to run around her room getting out books, jump on her bed, climb the changing table (which we took out of her room tonight to stop her spiderman antics), stand on her head, etc. Then she woke up Rhys, and then she had 3 consecutive accidents, even with me reminding her. So frustrating.

The part that put me over the top is the next time we were standing 12 inches from the potty, I reminded her we go pee in the potty. She said "no, I don't want it" and then she peed all over the floor.

Anyone who was at her birthday party knows when she doesn't want to do something, she doesn't want to do it. Pretty sure she was just beyond tired at this point, and I was tired of cleaning the floor. So pull-up pants it was.

This gave us both a break. I didn't feel like I needed to be her shadow, and she had a little freedom to run around.

And guess what?

She told me the next 3 times she needed to potty and went without me hounding her!

So maybe she does get it.

Pretty sure we'll be doing pull-ups at nap & nighttime for now. I plan to keep her in underwear and keep working with her, but when we need to, we'll use pull-ups.

I wouldn't say she is "potty trained", but we are definitely in full-swing training mode and she is doing really well for starting from scratch and in such a short time frame. Something I read online said this 3 day method works 97% of the time, but I'm not sure of their definition for "trained", and it doesn't really say if it's just the 3 day period or if it takes longer on average.

I wanted to write this process down so I remember how tough it was when it is Rhys' turn. Keeping a two year old busy in the kitchen for 3 days is no easy task. We colored, used mess-free markers, mess-free paint, stickers, puzzles, books, Playdoh, made cookies, made "juice" (Crystal light), cleaned cabinets, played with the farm, played blocks, and watched cartoons on the 7" inch kitchen TV.

It was definitely hard, but I think it was the jumpstart that we needed.

We will keep it up and check back in next week. I hope I can report that things have only gotten better!

Sisters

Cute picture from last weekend as we were leaving for Olivier & Mason's birthday party!

Funny story: We've apparently trained Natalie that when she "holds" her sister, we need to take a picture.  Grandma & Grandpa were babysitting the girls and Natalie said she wanted to hold Rhys. I propped her up next to Natalie and she put her arm around Rhys and said "picture!"  She waited until Grandma got her camera and took one, and then she was done, jumped down and ran off.  Silly girl.

Potty training day 2

Today was another long day hanging out in the kitchen, but we've made some progress, I think!

Our day started at 7:30. Natalie was definitely not dry when she woke and didn't have to potty for a while. She completely missed the first time.

But it did get better from then on. For the day, we had a complete miss, a partial miss and THREE perfect-in-the-potty pees! I'll call that 80% for the day. Which is not bad considering we were at 0% yesterday morning.

Still working on poop. She told us several times, but hasn't sat still long enough for the cheer party.

She couldn't settle down enough to take a nap today, so that made for a sensitive Natalie tonight. No fun for anyone! It's hard being cooped up in the house all day.

Hoping to see continued improvement tomorrow.

Potty training day 1

We designated this weekend: Potty Training Bootcamp. Today was Day 1.

I've heard good things about the 3 Day Potty Training book and read thru the book. I made David read it too, because the method basically involves you pumping the child full of liquid and then watching them like a hawk until they either go potty or say they need to. At that point you run like mad to the potty. The 1:1 supervision for three days is super difficult with a 3 month old that also needs their mama.

We got up, had breakfast, got dressed and put away the rugs. We took Natalie to her room and put on her Big Girl Undies!

The next step is to have the child throw away all of their diapers. We had her throw them in a plastic bag in the trash but rescued them during naptime. Diapers = Money. Who throws away money? Besides, what if this doesn't work?? Plus, We can always use them for Rhys! The book's theory is that if you throw away the diapers, you can't revert back to them...which was super tempting after a few hours, let me tell you!

I started jotting down the potty times, but gave that up after countless accidents. By naptime we hadn't had even one successful trip to the potty! Ugh!

Natalie was frustrated and overtired, and we all needed a break. She finally fell asleep around 3:30, so we had to wake her up from her nap so we'd have normal dinner & bedtimes. She was not a happy camper, but she was DRY!!

Took her immediately to the bathroom and she cried. She hates to be woken up. So we got her down, went to the kitchen to get a snack and she announced she needed to potty and started going. I snatched her up and put her on the potty and she went!! First time ever!! We were all so excited! I had some Halloween Candy saved for her, so she got to have some.

She stayed dry for another 3 hours and then started dancing around, so I got her back on the potty and she went!!

Several times she tells us she needs to go, but then won't do anything on the potty..she waits until she is off to go. We are hoping now that she has gone a few times that tomorrow will be better.

We chickened out at bedtime. We put her in a pull-up. She wouldn't go potty before bed, and she almost never wakes up dry. We'll still try the nighttime plan in the book, but at least we won't be changing the sheets multiple times tonight. Remember, we just moved Rhys into the room too, so the last thing we need is to wake them both. If tonight goes well, we can always try tomorrow night.

Very long day. We are hoping tomorrow is smoother. And then I have the girls by myself Monday, so I'm really hoping we make some progress tomorrow.

Children's Museum

A couple of weeks ago, we took the girls to the children's museum.  David won free tickets from the radio station awhile back, and we had been meaning to go for awhile.

Playing with the trains..

 Rhys' first time facing outward in the carrier. She was really good.

 Looking through the window at Rhys...

 Rhys looking back at Sissy...

 I told David he'd better enjoy his bike ride, because it was the closest he would ever get...!

Waving "hi" to dad..

And spinning in the chair..

Natalie had a blast. I think it's safe to say we will be going back someday.  There was so much to play with and take in.  We were there 2 hours and didn't even play with everything. Great outlet for the kids..you don't have to say "no" or "don't touch"!