Irony or Just Plain Mystifying?

Isn't it ironic? Nope, those are all coincidences.

What is ironic is what I saw in the car next to me while driving the other day: a passenger with oxygen tubes in her nose sitting next to a driver smoking.  With all of the windows closed.

Hide 'N Seek

(Matthew is hiding under the tree house in our family room)

Grandma: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9.*  Okay, here I come!  Is Matthew in the cabinets under the TV?

Matthew: Nooooo.

Grandma: Is he in the bathroom?

Matthew: Nooooo.

Grandma: Is he by the computer?

Matthew: Nope.

Grandma walks towards the tree house and Matthew is hysterically laughing.

Matthew: I see you!

Laughter among all abounds.

* My mom does know how to count but Matthew says "6, 9" every time someone counts.

Cry It Out, Part Deuce

When Thea was about 6 weeks old, she began sleeping 10-12 hours at a time at night. She did this at least 3-4 days a week and when she didn't she slept about 9 hours at a time. Let me also say that she is the easiest baby to grace this earth when it comes to going to sleep. Since birth, we have been able to put her down when she is tired and she goes right to sleep. Uh. May. Zing. 

Right before her 4 month appointment she had a few nights where she woke up every few hours (ie at 10:30pm, 12:30am, and/or 3am). The doctor said this could be indicative of a growth spurt if it happens from time to time but if it becomes a pattern...well, there is no reason for that. And from that point on, I think she has slept all night 3 times. She is now waking up every night between 1 and 2am. If I feed her, she goes right back to bed and sleeps till the morning. Although I'm tired, if she really needs to eat or snuggle or whatevs, I am more than happy to continue to provide for her. In fact, I consider it a blessing. That said, if we're waking up to have some fun, I was ready to leave this family get together a loooooonngggg time ago. 

Long story long, since no parent can seem to find the manual that can tell you exactly how to love and care for their child, cry it out has begun. Our doctor encouraged us to only allow her to cry for set periods of time based on her age. Welp, if anything can be said about Thea's personality based on cry it out, one might say she is persistent, confident, and an alpha (read: really, really uninterested in others ideas about how things should be handled). Have I mentioned that Mike has only awakened once while Thea has been crying? And that one time he woke up, he fell right back to sleep before she had stopped crying? Oh, to be a man. (Read: Mike has offered to bottle feed her numerous times, I just turned the offer down because I'm stupid, I mean, up anyway). 

The plan: more cry it out and if it continues to be useless, maybe add in a dream feed before I go to bed and see what happens. I mean, the possibilities are endless. I could abandon the family, Mike and I both can abandon the family, Mike and I can bring Matthew with us as we abandon the family, we could leave Thea at the firehouse, we could leave Thea at the hospital, we could leave Thea at Hobby Lobby. The world is our oyster.

"New" Bed

Matthew has never tried to climb out of his crib, although a couple of times I have caught him with one leg up in the ledge. In the last month or so, Matthew has been walking himself to bed rather than being carried. For these reasons (and the fact that Thea is still sleeping in a pack 'n play #secondchildsyndrome), we thought it was time to give a toddler bed a try. Here's what happened after songs were sung and the prayer was said:

Big Day!

The morning started this way:

Today Mike and I took Matthew to his preschool to meet his teachers, check out the room and to meet his fellow classmates and parents. 

Matthew was fantastic! He took to the teachers right away and played with just about everything in the room (including a Curious George doll he found hugged, said I love you to, and then immediately threw on the ground). 

Later in the day, Thea rolled over for the first time and as you can see was quite happy about it!

Great little Wednesday here.

I Don't Like Your Kitchen, Louisiana

After having a great day at the zoo on Wednesday, we stopped at Popeyes for a snack. For whatever reason, Mike has been dying to try their chicken. We placed an order for chicken nuggets and while we were the only ones in line we waited FOREVER to get our chicken and credit card back. Never a good sign. 

You guessed it. Today we closed our credit card account because the number had been stolen. They spent money in Las Vegas and Australia today. That sounds fun and Matthew could have seen a kangaroo!

Thea's Four Months Old...Well, She Was Yesterday

Thea had her four month old check-up today. She was 13 pounds, 3 ounces and 24 1/2 inches, both in the 50th percentile. Her head circumference was 42 centimeters which is in the 75th percentile. Yay for a healthy girl with a big ole head!

An update on what she is doing these days: smiling, laughing, cooing, and trying to roll over from her back to her stomach. She is sleeping 10-12 hours on a regular basis at night, although last week we had a few nights in a row where she woke up twice. She is finally taking a bottle easily. The trick? Using the vintage type bottle that parents used in the 80s with the brown rubber nipple and no ventilation system. Eats. Like. A. Champ. Only cost $16 for one bottle because they aren't sold in stores any longer. 

We spoke with our doctor about how we are much more relaxed this time as a parents and have few or no questions at each appointment. He shared with us that one mother came in last week with an excel spreadsheet of how many times her baby would suck during each nursing session. She wondered if 247 times was normal. The doctor said he had no idea. I know what's not normal. Being able to count to 247 in the middle of the night and then recording it. 

We then asked if it was okay to bring both of our children at the same time to their next check-ups at 6 months/2 years. He said of course and went on to say he just had a mother come with her 13 children for check-ups! Not a typo, people. Thirteen children. He said those children were his morning. 

Back to Thea...we are beyond grateful for our happy, healthy and beautiful daughter and very much look forward to our next 4 months with her. It only gets better from here...