All about Mia

I have gone far too long since posting about all Mia is doing. As with all newborns/infants, she seriously changes DAILY. Here are some of her recent news:

Sleeping

Mia has been sleeping in her own crib in her own bedroom since she was 8 weeks old (the same time that we moved Luke to his own room). It was an easy transition from the portable swing in our room - we just did it one night, and it worked. No problems. I was a bit worried just because she slept so terribly in the cradle in our room - guess she just didn't care for that bed!

Not too much had changed in terms of how long she would sleep at night and how many times she would wake up until just really recently. For the most part Mia had been waking up about every 4 hours to eat (usually around 4am). However, last week we did have a few good nights of 6 hour stretches, which is wonderful! :) Then there are those (very early) morning when Mia has woken for a 5 or 6am feeding and decided that she would like to start her morning ... ugh! I can say that at least she is really very pleasant first thing in the morning.

Talking

We've been hearing coos and gurgles for several weeks now, but really in the past few days Mia has found her voice. She can squeal and "talk," and just loves doing so. It's really so cute!

Eating

The girl loves her food, and can at times be very impatient about waiting for it! She is a good eater and is happy to nurse or take a bottle. She doesn't often get a bottle, but when she does, she usually drinks about 3.5 oz. at a time.

Mia still spits up all the time. Nothing to worry about since she continues to gain weight - it's just means lots more laundry around here!

Growth

At 11 weeks when I took her in for a check of her eyes, they did a "rough" weight check. With a wet diaper and all her clothes on, she weighed 11lbs, 7oz.

She is just now starting to fit well into certain brands of 0-3 month clothing. She grew out of most of her Carter's newborn clothing around 7 weeks, and has been wearing their 3 month size since. Her feet right now are between a size 0 and size 1.

Other news

In the past two weeks Mia has started to really reach and grab for things. She seems to really like the bird and monkey on the vibrating seat. She is also interested in looking at her hands now. Speaking of hands, she loves to put them in her mouth and will often find her thumb to stick in there!

Mia tried the Bumbo for the first time yesterday and did so well. I never would have thought to put her in it this early (I think Luke was at least a whole month older before we tried - and even then, he didn't love it right away), but she seems so strong and often tries to pull herself into an upright seated position when she is reclined.

She loves bathing. I got her a little mesh seat that goes in the tub so that she and Luke can tubby together, and she loves this even more than bathing in her own little tub. Luke happens to like it too, and it kills two birds with one stone for us ... so, it's a good thing!

She has had some trouble with her eyes - the right one seemed infected and after a round of antibiotic eyedrops, they both seemed infected and worse. I took her back to the Dr. and got a new type of eyedrop that seems to be working now. I think that she was actually allergic to the first round, which explains why as soon as we stopped it, her eyes looked better. Poor girl :(!

Her favorite piece of baby gear continues to be the Ergo carrier. She LOVES being in it.

She loves watching her big brother :)

Dad's Day

Mandala had their "Dads Day" at school this week. They honored the Mommies back in February and I completely forgot the camera, so I made sure to ask Michael to take it this time around.


The kids made pizzas for their dads first thing in the morning, and I went in to help with that (boy, was THAT a mess!). So, they shared snack time with their dads, read a story, sang some songs (and did some dancing), and then enjoyed the playground together.

Love and boosters

I love watching them together ... just too sweet!

And this cracked me up - when I pulled out the Bumbo seat for Mia, Luke insisted upon getting his booster chair out and sitting next to her!

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A train ride

We met up with the Ahlemeyers and the Moores for some train riding fun at Roaring Camp this weekend. We knew that Luke would love riding the "choo-choo" again, especially with his equally train-obsessed buddy, Jack.

Riding in the open-car train:

Hanging with one of Luke's favorite people - Gina:

The Boys:

Goofing around with Aidan:

Ice cream!

Oh, and the girls had a good time too - sweet babies Bailey and Mia:

Her Royal Cuteness

and it doesn't hurt that she continues to be super sweet, very mellow, full of smiles and "talking," and just generally a really happy baby ....

...now if only she were sleeping through the night!

Christmas in March?

Yep, we had just a little final Christmas hurrah today for Luke.

Michael and I had intended to get him a train/activity table for his room at Christmas, but when we finally found one we liked (this was no easy task - it had to match the furniture and be the right size), it was out of stock. I even called the company and was told that the manufacturer was redesigning it and that they planned to carry it again as of January 15th. No big deal, right?

Well, January 15th came and went. I called a few more times, and on my most recent phone call I finally talked to someone who was honest with me ... they don't know if or when they will have it again.

SO, we decided to go ahead with something that I thought Luke would love and that is nice to have now that the weather is turning warm so that he can play with it outside - a paint easel.

Luke was really excited about his new gift today - I hope that he continues to love it and will get a ton of use out of it in the months (years?) ahead.


The first stroke



The artist at work



A chalkboard on the other side (and a dry erase board underneath the painting paper)


The first finished product!

A "picnic"

Luke set up a "picnic" today. Everything is about pretending and imaginary play right now, so I wasn't surprised when I found Luke setting up a pretend picnic for us. What made me run back and grab my camera was the fact that he set a place for Linus ... and Linus was there cooperating.

We turned Luke's pretend picnic into a real one when I decided that we would eat our real lunch (made up of items that did not crumble or stain!) right there on the staircase landing.

Mia joined us when she woke up from her nap.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Sunday morning

...and we're off to church.

I just couldn't help snapping this picture of our sweet, dressed-up babies.

Feeding Mia

It isn't often that Mia gets a bottle, so it was quite the treat when Luke got to feed his little sister.

He's been asking (well, actually, he's become a bit bossy so "asking" is putting it nicely - more like "ordering") me everyday since to "pump, Mommy, I need to feed Mia a bottle."

Behind!

So, I've gotten a bit behind on the blog ... and I think that I'm just about up to date now. I've added some posts for February (I always try to put the correct dates to them so that when I turn this into a book for Luke and Mia, the timing is all correct and sequential), so scroll down to see photos and read about what was going on around here last month!

Siblings

When I first found out I was pregnant with Mia, I thought a lot about how I might possibly love her as much as I do Luke. I also worried for Luke about how he would fare once he didn't have all of our attention. I had even found a poem that I blogged about (see "Loving Two") that described my feelings at that time.

As Mia begins to grow and become her own little person, I watch in awe as Luke takes on this new role of big brother. I honestly could have never imagined that he would actually like her, much less LOVE her, in these early days when she requires so much of my attention ... yet, he does. He shows concern for her, compassion, love, and a protectiveness that makes my heart swell. He told Mia today that she is "just so pretty."

Luke, your love for your sister makes me love you even more (if that is humanly possible). I feel so blessed to watch the two of you develop your relationship. I know that there will be so many challenging times as siblings (some of which Daddy and I will have to referee), but I am completely enjoying this time as you get to know one another and develop a bond that you will share forever.