Delilah is 3 months old!

-Just about out of her 3 months Carter's clothes, for sure the 6 month size is more comfy!

-DROOL DROOL DROOL!!!! Her bibs are totally slimy at the end of the day; we had to get the kind with the waterproof backing to keep her clothes from getting soaked. The days I don't use them, she's soaked to the waist in about 30 minutes flat!

-Chews on/plays with her hands all the time.


-Bats at her toys and is coordinated enough now to get a few into her hands to chew on, especially her rainbow wood ball.

-Prefers to be on her play mat, in her bumbo, or standing on someones lap. She REALLY doesn't like to be held cradled on her back in people's arms. There's too much to see to be laying on her back where she can't see things!

-Gave us her first "real" laugh on her 11 week birthday, and she's done it a couple of times since then (even for Granny and Granddaddo when we went to Arizona to see them this week!)

-Loves to scream and screech when she's happy! Loves to "talk" and let you know how much she is enjoying her day.

-Fights sleep like no one's business. She seldom falls asleep on her own, usually needs "help" which means nursing, getting patted, or being rocked to sleep.

-Out of the reflux wedge for bed! She's now in her crib, but a side effect is that she is waking up in the night again (which is actually more typical for her age anyway, but I will miss my 8-9 hours of sleep!). She usually wakes around 2 or 3 then again at 5 or 6. Eats and is back asleep in 15 minutes flat.

-Still pretty sleepy during the day, but she is starting to have more of a long nap and awake type schedule rather than short little cat naps and awake times during the day.

-Bedtime is around 9 or 10, so getting better!

-When she's fighting sleep, she rubs her hands all over her face (and drags them through the drool) then rubs her hair. She gets some pretty wild hairdos!

-Rolled over on her own for the first time on her 3 month birthday, this picture is actually right after she did it! Does pretty well with tummy time, seems to like looking around from that vantage.

-Her hair has grown about an inch since birth already! It's not really falling out, but it's growing in a golden brown color. It's going to look like she's had a bad dye job pretty soon-golden roots with dark tips! What kind of mom would DO that to their child! LOL

-Oliver loves her to pieces, but we have seen a bit of jealousy and rough play lately, which is normal but still makes Mama sad. For the most part though, he LOVES it when she is laughing or smiling and will often call Shawn and I over to see how he's making her smile or screech at him.

-His behavior has gotten much better with a bit of consistency with the rules (thank you Love and Logic!). He's at the point where we can somewhat reason with him, but is still having a hard time making good decisions the first time around. His mantra when he has to go to time out is "I'll be good NOW!!!" Poor kiddo, mom and dad want to raise an independent son who makes good decisions, is caring and thinks about his actions. Sure is tough to be 4!

-Oliver continues to crack us up. I really don't know where he comes up with some of his ideas and stories! He makes up his own words (did you know that your heart "reclecks" the blood and "shoops" it around until it's all "swiggy" inside your body?). He is so wonderful at wanting and giving hugs and kisses, giving compliments, and just overall being sweet. He has the funniest way of saying things; so adult and yet so "4" at the same time!

Miss D at 2 months!

Has it really already been two months? This goes by far too fast, especially when I know she'll be our last baby. :-(

At 2 months:
-Sleeps 5-6 hours a night (last night she did 7 1/2! Not sure if that's a good thing or not, but I sure appreciated it)
-Takes 3-4 naps, is usually still sleeping more than awake
-Baby party time is down to 9pm-11pm, so bedtime is creeping ever so slowly closer to brothers!
-Wears Carters 3 month sized clothes, although they are starting to get tight. 3-6 month sized in other brands
-Wears size 2 diaper
-REALLY talks and coos when she's being changed or standing on dada's lap
-Still seems to love brother the best!
-She'll kick up onto her side, but doesn't take the roll all the way over
-Sleeps in her wedge at night. Tried the bassinet once, woke up an hour later trying to suck on the sides, I guess she was still hungry!
-Loves her playmat, stares at the birds. Doesn't really grasp toys yet unless you put them in her hands, is just starting to bat at the hanging toys
-Music is good! She loves it just like her brother. If you sing to her the coos go nuts!
-Good at being out and about. Prefers her Ergo carrier to the carseat. I use the infant insert with her still, her legs are still too short to sit in the carrier without it. Makes her warm, but as we are usually outside when she's in it, that's a good thing. We are going to Leavenworth with Ryan, Cristy and Mackenzie this weekend, so the warm carrier will be just the thing for window shopping!
-Ollie continues to be great with her. We've been having some issues with attitude and refusing to follow directions, but it's always directed at Shawn and I, never Delilah (although, I did overhear him saying to her as she was in her swing "You're not that cute, you really aren't..." We had a bit of a talk after that one! It was hard not to laugh...)
-Oliver is so HUGE!!! I tried to carry him in from the car after a playdate yesterday; he was completely asleep. I pulled it off, but felt like I was carrying a teenager! His head was slumped over onto my shoulder and his feet were banging me below the knees. I know I'm no Amazon in the height department, but sheesh. This boy is going to be taller than me in 2nd grade!
-Speaking of school, I went to the Kinder info meeting at my school this week! Crazy to think that my "little" man is going to be in school this fall! We will be taking him to Creekside, and I'm really excited to think about all the good things that he will be learning! I ADORE my school, and can't imagine him going to school anywhere else.

I think that's about it for now. Love my kids!

Comparisons

I know "they" say you shouldn't compare your kids (who IS this mysterious THEY anyway? And why are we supposed to listen to them?!?!), but it's not like I'm going to post "You know, now that we have Delilah and she is just so much more perfect than Oliver, we are giving him away" or "You know, Delilah really doesn't live up to her brother's mold, so away she goes"...This post is more about comparing looks and attributes at different stages in life. It's a way for me to hit memory lane with my son; was he ever as small as Delilah? The pictures say so, but when I had to carry him up the stairs today for "chill out time" in his room, I think the pictures lie...

Also, this is a way for me to participate in a long standing Smith/Fountain family ritual. Come on Smiths/Fountains, you ALL know what I'm talking about. It's "WHO DOES SHE/HE LOOK LIKE?" game. Drives my brother nuts when we all have get togethers and we start with the "He really looks like so and so" or "She has so and so's eyes". David has said on a few occasions "I look like me. Moving on..." Ha! Sorry brother, it's a genetic/behavioral imperative that we compare. Connects us to the past, to the people we are related to. So, I compared, especially with the help of Photoshop allowing me to find and put pictures together so easily. Hopefully, at some point in time I'll find and scan photos of Shawn and I at similar ages and let the games REALLY begin! (This activity is so vital to family wellness that I will be calling my mother after I post this to start hashing it out!)

For the sake of consistency, Oliver's photos will always be on the top or left, Delilah's on the bottom or right.

The official post birth weigh in. Something I noticed that hadn't really popped out at me before I did this was how PURPLE Oliver was. He spent the next 5 days on oxygen for immature/wet lungs, but I don't' think I realized the extent of his breathing issues at the start until I saw this! Also, he was so skinny! Delilah only had a pound on him, but he was longer. She also got about 4 more weeks to cook, so she came out screaming and pink. I remember thinking at her birth that they really didn't resemble each other. Oh how wrong that first impression was...

Daddy with his babies. Crazy how similar they are!

So, I officially make babies with a lot of hair who don't like to breathe...You all are pretty aware of Oliver's 16 day NICU stay, but might have missed our debacle with Delilah. When she was 4 days old, she decided to hold her breath while she was sleeping and turned white as a sheet. We brought her to Children's in Seattle where, after a 5 day stay, she was diagnosed with "apnea of prematurity". While she wasn't premature, apparently it's a breathing thing that can happen to kiddos until 44 weeks gestation. She was on caffeine until her 4 week birthday, and seems to be fine now. So, in some respects after Oliver's NICU stay we were pretty prepared for the Children's experience, but man, it sucks to see your kids hooked up to monitors and IV's, to be worried that they won't be well, that they hurt. All is well now, of course, but both of my babies are now on Premera Blue Cross's "expensive baby" list!

Going home! Delilah seems so much chunkier to me than Ollie was. It's also fun to see the difference between a summer baby and a winter baby!

This is a fun one; Oliver at 4 weeks, Delilah at 2. My dad noticed that she's got more "delicate" features than Oliver, ie somewhat the same nose, just smaller. I've noticed that her face is a lot rounder than his, but their expressions are soooo similar that it takes me down memory lane daily when she smiles just like her brother!

This one is the best! Same arms, same smile, just the same insane level of cute!

I hope you enjoyed this installment of "mama should really be taking Oliver out riding his bike on a sunny day, but instead she's playing with photoshop and the blog...."

Hide and Seek!

This past Mid-Winter break Oliver and I got to go out and enjoy the AMAZING weather we were having with our friends Mommybrain and her two little ones, NHV and CJV. CJV, being only two months old, snoozed away in her Ergo carrier while Mommybrain and I got to catch up. NHV is Oliver's age, and the two of them had a BLAST! Cougar Mtn Zoo in Issaquah was great; it's small enough the little ones could pretty much go anywhere and never be out of sight. The best part for me, besides catching up with my fellow mommy friend, was watching Oliver and NHV play. There will be another post just for the shots of them holding hands (almost made me cry!), but first, a rousing game of Hide-N-Seek!

Hmmm...I wonder who's dinosaur boots those are...

Yep! I was right! It's Oliver! What a little rascal...

Along comes his friend NHV...I think she knows something is up...She is a smart girl after all!

Oh my goodness! That scoundrel Oliver is trying to SCARE HER! Silly boy! Don't you know girls love that sort of thing?!?!

Ummm...Oliver? I think the gig is up. She has you soooo figured out!

Good times! Thanks, Mommybrain, for getting us out of the house and showing us such a nice time!

Turtles, Yookidoo, and our happy son

We have had a music box for Oliver's bedtime that projected a rotating night sky scene on the ceiling since he was about 6 months old. We seriously went though THREE of them, trying to sleep without his "up above" was near impossible (he calls it his "up above" because his preferred song is Twinkle Twinkle Little Star). As each device was used an average of 60 minutes EVERY night, the motors in the rotation gizmo inevitably died after about 6 months, making a horrid grinding noise on it's way out. Well, this week he hadn't been getting to sleep very well because it was "too noi-zee", AKA motor about to die. Desperate for a more permanent solution, I went on an Internet search for a nightlight that would project on his ceiling.

Before I get to my sweet, amazing find, a bit of backstory. Mom D, Mom H, Papa, I love you all, but we're going to butt heads here...As a child, I was TERRIFIED of the dark. Like wet the bed so you don't have to get out terrified. I can remember having nightlights, but I also remember having to open curtains to let in more light because I was scared, then being told I had to close them, and I didn't understand why it had to be so cotton picking dark! (As an adult, I totally get the whole "freaks can look in the windows" and "you will sleep in better on a Saturday so the adults can get more sleep if your curtains are shut" thing). On the other hand, seriously?!?! Why did the night light have to either be taken away or shut off after we fell asleep? I know in Middle School I started reading to it instead of sleeping, so I get that one, but in grade school I do remember not always having a night light and being so terrified I couldn't sleep if I woke in the middle of the night.

Shawn had the same fear of the dark, but he hardly ever got a night light. Shawn and I both said that we never want Oliver to have the same level of fear (everyone at some point will be scared of the dark, it's human!), so as soon as he was showing us that he liked a bit of light if he woke up, we were more purposeful in using his "up above". Oliver, if he woke in the night when he was still in his crib, would cry if he woke up, but a quick set of the timer and he was back off to la-la land. After getting into his big boy bed, he would get up himself and hit the buttons to turn it back on. So, back to our problem with the grinding, noi-zee music box...

After searching, I found several hokey star projectors, but nothing that was like what we currently have. Then I stumbled upon the "Twilight Turtle"...Man oh man. It's cute, throws loads of stars up on the ceiling, easy to find (Babies R Us and Go To Your Room in Bellevue all carry it), easy for Oliver to turn on or change colors (he had it figured out in 30 seconds flat) and affordable. We picked it up last night, and our prayers are answered!

Now, on to the most fun we have EVER had in the tub...the YooKidoo "Stack and Stream Tub Fountain". Seriously, this thing is CRAZY fun! The 5 pieces can be stacked on in loads of ways, the two little creatures squirt water out of their heads in ways that makes Oliver giggle, the light blue boat has a yellow paddle wheel that pops up and spins in the fountain, and he just has a BALL with it. It's built very well, and I can see that this will be one we keep for a looooooong time. Yookidoo has another one that suction cups to the tub wall and is a faucet type toy, I'm on the lookout for that one too! I found this at Tree Top Toys in Redmond (next to Ben Franklin, or as I like to call it "craftaholic crack"). Good times, good times!

My HANDS DOWN favs of 2009!

These are my favorite of the year. I know it's completely subjective, but I welcome comments! (don't forget to scroll down and see the other 2 posts related to my favorite picts of 2009)

Fourth of July. Playing on a beach. You get the feel of the sun, the smoothness of Oliver's skin, and his concentration on the task at hand.

Seriously? Nuff said. LOL! I don't think Shawn and I take enough pictures of each other, so I really love it when one comes out good!

HAAAA-HAHHHHHAAAAA! Crazy eyes! Crazy eyes!

Another Montana shot. Love the light, the colors, the timelessness of little boy jeans.

Talk about getting the right angle!






And for the grand finale...

The shot that made me start crying when I pulled it up on the computer...Oliver and my dad.

Happy New Year everyone! May your 2010 be as bright and as happy as you deserve!

2009 in pictures, Part 2

Here we go, round 2...

This was taken at my parent's new retirement pad in Montana. There was just something about the light that day. I think three in this set of 25ish "2009 Favs" comes from this day.

Ollie putting himself in the sink.

I like the reflection of me taking the picture in the goggles. Dada wore them to snowmobile in Bozeman when we went in Feb.

Still. Quiet. Rosey cheeks.

First time trick or treating. I love this one-kid looking out the window, mom looking out of the door, and the color! Ok, it's the cowboy that I'm partial to!

Coming home from Spokane after my 1/2 marathon. Oliver was pretty entranced with riding on a vehicle that didn't require a car seat.

Pearrygin Lake State Park, early one morning. This is where I grew up, and seeing Oliver at the beach where I spent enormous amounts of time was pretty cool. The lake was so still the reflections were amazing. The contrast of his red/orange to the brown and green is pretty nice too.

Same camping trip, wearing Daddo's hat.

Future gituar hero. Love the blur in this one, it shows how hard he was jamming out.

At the 3-D movie. I makes me sad to see how grown up this one feels.

2009, review of my favorite pictures from the year PART 1

I am working on wrapping up my Project 365 for 2009 (note to self, don't do that again! Whew!), I've been going through the 9,000+ photos we took this year and I realized a couple of things...

1. We take too many pictures! Maybe without having to feel like I need to get a "Picture of the Day" for Project 365, we'll be a bit more selective.
2. Oliver is stinkin funny!
3. I think photography is my new addiciton...

In this post and the next two that follow, I'd like to share some shots that either made me laugh, made me want to kiss all over my boys, or were just darn good. Shawn will probably disagree with my choices, but hey, it's my blog!

Haa-haa! Patting the belly for a job well done!

Oh no! We sank the Titanic??!?!

NOOOO!!!! DON'T MAKE ME EAT IT!!!! NOOOOO!!!!

Steph and Maui wiped out after watching Oliver.

I know it's blury, but that's part of why I love it.

Captures Mr. GoofyPants in action. He was playing in his new "fweep-fops"

No WAY Uncle David! NO WAY am I touching that worm!

First you lick, then shoot, then suck? (Just kidding! He got to drink some lemonade before we made our summer coolers!)

Hey Dada! I can touch the sky! I really love this of the two of them. Sigh. My boys!