Little man at 4 months

- Lots of smiles and some giggles if you try really really hard

- likes looking at the cute guy in the mirror

- purposefully grabbing and hitting at toys

- He enjoys when I sing to him or when we all dance around. He's also started babbling so much- I think he is trying to sing along

- for the majority of the past 8or so nights, Kellen has slept all.night. Like 11-6 at least. His parents are loving it. 

- along those lines, we are kicking him out of our room and into his crib in his shared room with Zoe this week. Fingers crossed...

- spent his first few nights away from home this past weekend when we visited my family in PA. He enjoyed all the attention. 

- he chews or sucks on his fingers a lot though he has yet to find his thumb 

- Kellen got to meet both of his uncles this month, and gets to meet his Oma and Opa this coming week when they visit from Wisconsin. 

It's the little things

Zoe, at almost 27 months, is such a source of joy and laughter in our house. Here are some of my favorite things right now:

- Kisses her own boo boos

- Calls "yoo-hoo" for missing objects. Pretty sure she expects them to call back.

- Says "bye" as she flushes potty and watches *everything* go down. She has done really well with potty training. Still has accidents occasionally and keeping dry at naptime is not a given, but we've seen so much progress in the past few weeks. 

- Counts to 12 pretty consistently-- 1 to 3 are somehow the trickiest for her. She often says "1,3,2" and recently created "eleventeen" somewhere between 13 and 18.

- Likes to sing, which she usually does with her eyes closed, very dramatically and cracks us up. A crooner at heart.

- In a sequence of events, everything is "first"

- Such a good big sister-- she tries to make Kellen hold her finger, she loves when "he look me" and she is always telling him "you ok baby Kellen" when he's crying.

- says "I miss you" 

- most common phrase? "Help you me!" Which means she wants to help. She's pretty insistent with this one and standing and watching no longer passes as helping. Other common phrases are "no, zosie do it" and "I don't want to". Oh joy.

 

Kellen at 3 months

Playing on his mat is his favorite past time right now, batting at the animals and admiring himself in the mirror. He also loves grabbing onto his links on his carseat, and putting his fists in his mouth. He gives out smiles pretty willingly now and can be quite a flirt. Kellen is still up once a night to eat but has given us some 5-6 hour stretches here and there. He is generally in bed by 8pm and was doing awesome at putting himself to sleep both at night and naptimes but this past week he's been fighting it a lot more. That can make the days loooong. But those days where he gives in and naps for 2.5 hours or more are great-- they usually overlap somewhat with Zoe's nap so I can get a few things done!! 

However i also don't mind a day or two when he's awake for most of her nap-- poor guy hardly gets any mommy-to-himself time so I'm happy to oblige. 

It's amazing how big he has gotten. This week I've switched out all his 3month sleepers and onesies for 6mo ones. A few things still fit but probably not for long. I'm enjoying buying lots of nautical boy clothes especially for warmer weather :)

10 years ago...

10 years ago, we were Sophmores in college.
10 years ago, Geoff had a beard.
10 years ago, my hair was long and sporting the remnants of a perm.
10 years ago, you could often find us at the bowling alley on a weekend night.
10 years ago, Geoff didn't drink coffee. On our first date to Barnes&Noble he got an apple juice...
10 years ago, the majority of our time spent together was in the lower level of the library.
10 years ago, this gal and this guy officially started dating.

10 years later, we've finished college and each earned a Master's degree. We both have quite a coffee habit. Geoff no longer has a beard and my hair keeps getting shorter. We've become husband and wife, and now mommy and daddy to two beautiful babies. We haven't been to the bowling alley in years and most of our time at the library is spent in the kids' section. Lots of things have changed in 10 years but not the fact that I'm crazy about this guy. I'm so glad to be on this crazy adventure with you, Geoff. Can't wait to see what the next 10 years bring {hopefully more sleep}!

Smiles and sleep

An update on what Kellen has been up to:

- continues to be a good sleeper overall- working on putting himself to sleep because he still prefers to be held and as much as I enjoy that, it just isn't possible most of the time. Plus he sleeps better in his bassinet (without a little girl poking his cheek or yelling in his face). He does much better with this at night than for naps during the day. He usually goes to bed between 7-8pm, eats around 11, again at 3 and up sometime between 7-8. 

- still working on a good eating schedule during the day-- he inevitably sleeps through one of his feedings or needs to eat early and then there is the working around sister's schedule...

- giving lots of smiles and starting to chatter/coo especially after diaper changes or when he just wakes up. Zoe probably elicits the most smiles from him, without even trying for them 

- he likes baths which is good because  he poops through his clothes like it's his job. That stage can be over anytime now, thank you very much. We're moving to size 2 diapers this week

Zoe continues to be a big "helper" when it comes to Kellen- getting diapers out, throwing things away, getting burp cloths and whatever she was doing in this picture ha. We're working on her understanding that he needs to be left alone during his naps, his limbs are not as flexible as she thinks, and that his crying is not the crisis she thinks it is. She is usually sweet with him and smothers him with her love. It's hard to believe he's 2months already and getting so big (almost too long for his 3mo sleepers)... But it's hard to remember our little family without him! We're so grateful for our laid back little guy!

Our little girl turned 2

Blueberry pancakes and two candles that she didn't know what to do with helped us kick off Zoe's birthday. She opened gifts and eventually seemed to understand that there was something special about this day.

She got lots of phone calls, cards and happy birthday songs from family, and extra hugs and kisses from us. We went out for dinner to a local Mexican place because quesadillas, rice and beans is one of the meals we can count on her eating :) plus mommy and daddy love Mexican so it's a win-win.

Zoe Paige, you make us pull out our hair and tear up with love within the same moment it seems. You crack us up with your spunk and attitude and melt our hearts with your "I love you"s and cuddles. You are a wonderful big sister to Kellen and your taking on of that role has made us love you all the more. You grow more and more each day it seems and while it's hard to watch you get bigger, it's exciting to watch you learn and discover and master new things. We love you more than you could possibly know. Happy second birthday sweet girl.

It's a boy!

On December 30th we welcomed Kellen George into our little family via planned repeat C-section. His name is a tribute to our fathers-- Kellen from combining my dad's name (Keith Allen) and George which is Geoff's middle name and his dad's first name.

He weighed in at 7lbs 11oz. Zoe came to see him 3x in the hospital and has welcomed him into the family with lots of hugs and kisses. "Baby" is her first concern upon waking in the morning, while mommy has to beg for a kiss and hug :) she loves helping with anything baby related and has lots of opinions about what he should be doing - play time on the mat, in the swing, open eyes...

Kellen is an easy going little guy. He doesn't cry much- he whines to let me know he's hungry and otherwise grunting is his main form of communication. Typical boy? Ha. He lost a pound before his first pediatrician appointment but at his 2 week checkup was up to 8.8lbs so you can see he is a good eater! He had some occasional irregular heartbeats before and after birth which we were told isn't uncommon in newborns and at his follow-up EKG everything was normal; we are very thankful. 

Geoff is able to take 6 weeks of paternity leave which has been so helpful and we love having him at home. We're enjoying our family of four and while it's been (and will continue to be) a big adjustment, we love our new normal!

It's taken 4 weeks to get this update online so more posts will be coming but clearly don't expect them to be punctual;)