Nursery

I posted about Adara's nursery a few years ago (outer space nursery) but I haven't really mentioned Remi's nursery.  This is likely to do with the fact we moved into a new house two weeks before Remi was born.  So it's still not done.  But I wanted to show off her little space.  Which is actually her little space plus her sister's space because Adara's room is being remodeled (some day) and Adara LOVES sharing a room with Remi.  I'm thinking even when Adara's room is done they will likely still share a room until Adara is older and wants more space.  You will see in the pictures we still need a rug (already picked out--just need some $$$ which is in short supply with two monthly daycare bills) and curtains (hopefully will be put up this weekend) but everything else has been pretty functional.  The theme of her room is boats because Remi means "oarsmen" or "rower."

Love the light coming in the windows and watching all the trees outside as I nurse.

Pictures are all boar/oar related

Loft bed for Adara and crib for Rems down below.  Adara made the butterfly hanging over Remi's crib for her as a present.  My girls are so sweet!

The mobile I made for Remi when I felt crafty on maternity leave. 

Now....my next project will be making a fairy/princess room for Adara......<3

7 Months

We had hoped this month would be a little more fun and a lot less sick.  But nope.  We got round 2, 3, 4, and 5, 6, 7.  We are SO done being sick.  And our littlest Remiroo got it the worst.  In between rounds of tylenol we have lots of smiles and cuddles.  Her daycare teacher, Ashley, reports Remi might be one of the fussiest but she is also one of the cuddliest.  Some babies are just dead weight when you hold them but Remi always finds a way to hold on to you back.  And she loves to hold on tight!  She laughs at her sister the most.  Physical therapy might be going a little better (like on a scale of 0-10 and getting a 0 in the past she is now at a 2, maybe.).  Her therapist was very concerned she was turning into a butt scooter (which is apparently the worst thing ever....) but now we are doing more tummy time again and she is scooting on her tummy too.  She pushes up but she has not figured out how to go forwards.  She is pretty good at going backwards though.  And her sensory stuff just seems like a non-issue.  The BEST thing she has started doing is waving.  She loves to wave hello and goodbye and I'm pretty sure she gets what they mean because she always seems to nail the timing.  AND second baby syndrome...we kind of skipped over the whole spoon feeding thing.  Remi is now eating solids.  Pretty much whatever we eat but haven't tried any nuts yet.  And her teeth--four on the bottom and one on top.  I am loving her goofy grin.  She still is sucking at the sleeping through the night thing but we haven't done sleep training yet because I feel like she needs to nurse to help her sniffles and what not.  Again, second baby might be a little more babied because she is my last and needs to stay a baby forever, right?  But she might not be a baby for long because she is already wearing 12 month clothing...ahhhhh.  We love her (big sis extra included!)!!!

7 Months!

A half-year!

This past month has been horrible.  Remi was literally sick for the entire month--her whole 5th month of life.  We don't have a lot to report other than eye infections, ear infections, antibiotics, diarrhea, diaper rashes, temperatures, snot (lots of snot) and throwing up.  It was horrible.  She got so weak and overly congested that she stopped nursing for a few days and I was pretty sure we would be moved inpatient.  Then she turned 6 months and life just got a little better.

Remi was supposed to start physical therapy this month for torticollis.  She went to one appointment and it was h-e-double hockey sticks.  She hated it and screamed the whole time.  We had to cancel her next appointments due to illness and I'm dreading going back.  She was also diagnosed with "sensory integration disorder" but I'm pretty sure she was just so upset about being in a stranger's arms that everything was just setting her off.  We will see.  She seems completely normal to everyone else who meets her and continues to eat all types of food including peaches, mangos, peas, pears, avocado, banana, and she just tried some blueberries.

No progress on sleeping through the night because she was just too sick to even try any interventions.  She didn't gain much weight from 4 to 6 months (only weighs 16 pounds--which seems small to me because Adara was like 100 by this point) but the doctor is not concerned because she gained 2 inches in length.  Here is to a healthy 6 month baby!

Happy half-birthday to our Remigirl!

5 Months

Overnight it happened.  She turned into a big girl.  With chucky thighs and little rolls.  Two bottom teeth pooped up.  She started sitting up.  She has even pushed up on her hands and knees a few times (mostly when mad).  And she started eating solid food.  Yep, all overnight....or that's how it felt to this mommy.

Remi has been so much fun lately.  My favorite thing she is doing is just laughing absolutely hysterically for no apparent reason.  It's like she sees humor in the mundane tasks of life and then it's contagious and everyone around her starts cracking up.  She can go to pissed off just as fast she can go to happy.  Her daddy and I often joke about those being Rem's only two moods: happy and pissed.  And she can change on a dime.

We let big sister pick out Remi's first food.  Initially, Adara wanted her first food to be chocolate.  We explained chocolate is not really a food....more like a treat.  Adara then settled on peaches.  And lucky us that peaches are in season.  So we went and bought beautiful, prefectly ripe, organic peaches and made our favorite babygirl some food.  AND she loved it!!! When Adara was little it took her a little bit to get the hang of eating.  But Remi has already figured it out after like the first 5 bites.  She snaps the spoon in her mouth, slurps/sucks up the contents of the spoon loudly like a vacumm cleaner, and pulls away like a turtle.  The whole process is hilarious.  But I think Remi's favorite part is sitting up in her highchair at the table like a big girl.  She beams and looks beyond proud to sit next to her sister who she still madly adores.

With the whole hitting four month thing we have had some sleep regression. Blah.  My perfect sleeper now wakes up a couple times throughout the night.  We are hoping to nip this in the butt soon but that cry is just so loud.  And sleeping has been a challenge all around because the other thing Remi is doing is sleeping on her tummy, head burried into the mattress.  This just freaks me out because SIDS is no joke.  I try and roll her over or turn her head the side and five seconds later she is back in the same position.  This has resulted in us moving Remi back out of the crib (yeah, I know) and into our room so I can have a peace of mind hearing her breath.  It's amazing.  We thought we had this sleep thing so figured out and then we get the curveball.  Remi hasn't started phsycial therapy yet for her torticollis but I'm wondering if that will help.  While Remi can roll from back to stomach easily, I have not seen her roll from stomach to back.  And when she is sleeping on her stomach I worry that she might get stuck there.  So yes, we made forward progress and now we are regressing.  But that's okay with me because I would rather miss some sleep and have a peace of mind about the situation than miss sleep and be up worrying with bad thoughts all night.  

Remi has grown out of most of her 3-6 month clothes and fits best in her 6-9 month of even 12 month clothes.  She loves making farting sounds (or rasberries as they are more kindly called) and this is frequently the sound I wake up to in the morning.  She takes long naps at home and does not sleep at school at all.  She still loves toys and finds music to be calming.  Her latest interest is in Rio puppy.  She frequently is tracking him around the house.  She went camping for her third time.  She goes with the flow.  And she had her first fever.  We love our RemGem (Adara calls her this) and can't wait to see what next month will bring!

Happy 5 Months!  (We were both about to go to sleep, hence the PJs, because our little one wasn't feeling too good)

4 Months

If I would have written this post when Remi was 3 months and 3 weeks I would have said this bottle thing may be a lost cause.  But then something amazing happened!  We have been trying to hold out as long as possible putting Remi into daycare because it's so flipping expensive to even have one kid in daycare, let alone two.  Like, completely unreal expensive.  But I have been struggling providing enough entertainment to our Remigirl while doing dishes, laundry, and trying to get enough sleep (working nights).  So, when our daycare called and basically said, it's got to be now or 6 months from now I immediately said NOW!  With very little preparation on either end Remi went off to school!  It was crazy.  I had a complete mix of emotions but as soon as I saw how happy our sweet girl was with all of her new little friends I knew I made the right decision.  She gets so excited to go to school--she flaps her arms, and does exaggerated breaths, and gets super big eyes!  It's awesome that a 3-month-old can communicate as well as she can!  AND she already learned something important in school--how to take a bottle!  The first few days she pretty much starved but by the second week she was completely like, I got this!  And again, she looked so mighty proud of herself.  Money well spent.

She had her 4-month check-up and weighs in at 14.1 pounds and 26 inches long.  I thought Adara was long and skinny but Remi has Adara beat on both accounts.  She probably would have weighed more if she had not gone on her hunger strike.  We also learned she will be starting physical therapy for torticollis.  I thought this had resolved itself because she has been turning her head in both directions but the doctor is still concerned she is holding one shoulder higher than the other.  

In other news Remi's hand-eye coordination is amazing.  She can pick up whatever she wants and it goes straight into her mouth.  She loves to play with toys--I don't remember Adara being this into toys.  If she doesn't have a toy she lets us know she wants something!  She is still very smily and loves to laugh.  She has also started to try and sit up.  She can only sit about 30 seconds before her tummy muscles give out and she topples, but she is getting a stronger core everyday.  She is also wearing 6-month clothes.  I feel like she skipped a step....what happened to 3 month clothing?!  She continues to sleep through the night but has started being a little fussy going down and getting up around 6am instead of 7am.  She loves her sister more than anything.  Her whole face lights up when she gets any attention from her and she starts cooing.  All of it melts my heart.  Happy 4 months Remigirl!

4-month babygirl <3

3 Months!

Happy 3 months old to our sweetest Remi girl!  You are so much more alert these days.  You have started reaching for things with purpose and when you get your fingers around something it goes straight for your mouth!  Your smiles continue and you have added on some laughs.  You only wear 3-6 month clothes now.  Tummy time is a breeze for you and you continue to roll over on occasion.  You also went on your first camping trip!  How many 2-month-olds can say that!?!?  We are very proud you survived it (literally, because I was slightly worried you might freeze to death.....).  I have a feeling there will be a lot more camping in your future because you just happened to be a natural.

Our biggest struggle has been the bottle battles.  Man, you hate it.  Just the sight of a bottle can lead to full out screaming rages where you tense up every muscle in your body.  We have started very slow by just trying to have you make some positive associates with the bottle by playing with it.  A few times you will tolerate letting us put the nipple in your mouth but you absolutely refuse to suck on it. Chew on it?  Yes.  But no sucking allowed.  Which is completely ridiculous because you suck on EVERYTHING else, including your own forearm.  You gave yourself a hickey on your arm the other day!  What the heck, child?!?  The thing that you don't know yet is that you have two very stubborn parents.  We do plan to win this battle because I cannot be around to nurse you 24/7...in fact, next month I have an all day conference that I absolutely cannot bring you to.  I hope things are going more smoothly with our bottle friend by then.

Other than the bottle, you remain the best spirited little lady.  You are just the sweetest.  And thank you for sleeping through the night every night.  Also, thank you for liking to sleep in until almost 9am.  Now, if we can just get your big sister to understand how great sleeping in is.....

3 Month Babe w/ 3 Year Old Sister

Two Months

What lucky parents we are to have a two month old just like you!  I went back to work this month (when you were 6 weeks old) and you must have known because you have been so very kind to us in the sleep department.  You have always been the sleepiest of babies but we especially needed it this month!  You have adjusted unremarkably well.  You won't take a bottle from anyone but me (so smart to know that Mama feeds you!) but it doesn't seem to matter because you just don't eat while I'm at work.  I fear it's too long for you to go without food so Daddy R has been coming half-way through my shift for a feeding.  Because you won't take bottles I have over 200ozs of breastmilk in the freezer--what a change from last time around when I was constantly stressed about my milk supply!

In other news you have also turned into the smiliest baby!  All I have to do is look at you and you bust out the biggest gummy smile.  It makes my heart melt.  The best/worst is when you are nursing and I look down at you and you bust out a smile so all the milk in your mouth pours out all over your face.  It's like you can't even contain your happiness!  I love you SSOOOO much.  It's so easy to be your Mom and I can't believe how you just seem to fit so perfectly into our family.

The doctor says you are growing straight up on the growth curve (no curve for you!)!  12 pounds and 24 inches long!  Starting to wear less of your 0-3 months clothes and more of your 3-6 month stuff.  AND your eyes are still blue.....before you were born your Aunt Lily and I had a strong feeling you would have blue eyes and dark hair......it's very weird we were right.  And now we are just wondering if the eyes and hair will change.  I loved your sister's big brown eyes but your deep blue/grey eyes (I swear they turn purple in some lights) are just as magnificent!  You are lighter in complexion than your sister and you are starting to get the baby mullet!  And your personality is defintely goodball to the max!  Everyone says you look older than your age (just like they said about your sister).  We love you Remi Violet!

Just ignore the spit up on my sweatshirt....Happy two months!