Incessant blogging...

I know I have bombarded this blog with posts lately, but I feel the extreme urge to catch up ;)

Livi, or Livi Louie as Audrey calls her, is almost 6 months old! Oh my goodness, where does the time go??
I can't believe it! She is something, this one! She is sitting up on her own, holding her own bottle and almost rolling over. She doesn't really seem interested in trying to roll over most of the time, so I am trying to "work" with her on it. She just honestly doesn't seem to care if she rolls over. I am ok with that since she is on target with everything else. She is starting to discover her "voice", and has almost given me a heart attack several times with a random squeal.. but it's quite adorable.

Sleep...well that's another story. She is not a natural born sleeper, like Audrey is, so that has been somewhat of a challenge. I think we have figured it out though. She has to have HER blankets, one side is silk/satin, the other a soft chenille (?). She has one that is just her blankie, the other is a full size blanket. Before we figured this out, sleeping was non existent. All of it wasn't her fault, she is a GASSY baby, and man, does she spit up! She could " easily win a baby toots competition", yes, that is a direct quote from our pediatrician.
We sit her upright for a minimum of 20 minutes after she eats and that alone has helped tremendously! She is not a "fussy" baby, she is just a little more particular than Audrey was. She has been consistently sleeping a solid 6 or 7 hours for almost a week now, so I consider that progress!

I am adamant that each of my girls be treated equally, but maintain their own unique personalities. We had a stumbling block earlier this month with our infant daycare teacher. She has really had a hard time differentiating between the two kids. She was absolutely marvelous with Audrey, but she wanted to treat Livi exactly the same way  she did Audrey. Well, that is a problem. Livi requires a little more attention and "work" than Audrey ever did. Livi has to have her blankets, has to be sat up after feeding, doesn't like to be rocked, doesn't like to be swaddled and burps and spits up constantly. Not recognizing these differences was making them both miserable. Jeremy and I both made trips down in the middle of the day to show Debbie how to handle Livi, and give her some pointers. This week was much better for the both of them!!

I cannot believe I will start making her baby food in less than 3 weeks. After her appointment the 1st week of May, I expect our pediatrician to give the go-ahead on real food!! EEK! It kind of worries me, especially with the gassiness...I guess we shall see how it works out!!

2 year check up and catch up....

So, as I have always said..Audrey's a little petite! She is in the 18th percentile in height and head circumference, and 38th percentile in weight. But she is very healthy. "Perfectly" healthy, and still ahead of the curve for a 2 year old. Her vocabulary is quite extensive for a 2 year old, the pediatrician was pretty impressed. She only had one shot today, and this time Jeremy took her. It's the 1st appointment I have missed, but I have missed several days of work since coming back from maternity leave, to take care of whoever is sick, so he volunteered. Thank goodness! He experienced first hand, the heart break of watching a kid get shots. No fun!!

There is pretty much nothing Audrey can't do. And there is nothing she will not attempt to do herself! Her favorite phrase, besides "no", is "I can do it!" I hear that in my sleep. We have actually altered our morning routine and I get up 20 minutes earlier to deal with and combat the "independence". Sheesh...I guess it's my fault! I always said I wanted her to be independent...Wish granted!

She is 90% potty trained only having the occasional accident. I can handle that. We are still using pull ups at night, but I hope to stop that relatively soon.

We are tweaking the discipline process right now. I REFUSE to spank at this age. I don't think it's constructive for anyone, and I will not compromise my relationship with my daughter, so that leaves time out and redirection. We honestly have not done a very good job being consistent, so that is changing immediately. 2 warnings, then timeout. No negotiating or excuses, no matter where we are. That's a struggle for us in certain situations, but it is in her best interest, and we are both committed to it. As I am typing this I realized that it sounds like we have to discipline Audrey all the time, which is not true. We rarely have to use any form of discipline, a simple "No" or "Stop" usually works. She has her bad days like every other kid, when we have to use time out ALOT, but those days are few and far between. I refuse to let her think bad behavior is acceptable, regardless of the situation. (teething, etc) I think this one is harder for Jeremy because she is a daddy's girl. I don't want to impede that relationship at all, but I don't want to be the only disciplinarian, so we have come to a happy compromise.

We shall see how it goes ;)

Easter pics!

She LOVES her "baby Livi"

My big girl!

She is such a daddy's girl!! They are off to hunt eggs ;)

And she is soooo excited about it!!

The other man in her life, her Grampa!

Apparently jelly beans are really exciting! She ate some for the 1st time today, and LOVED them!

My baby's 1st Easter!

Watching morning cartoons with Daddy!

Lovely girl!

'My 1st Easter!!!

Easter

We had such a good time today! We went to Jeremy's grandmother's house and Audrey had an absolute BLAST!! I will not lie, I was a little worried. Audrey is cutting 2 year molars, had no nap, and Livi is just her own little person. She does not like to be rocked to sleep. She prefers to lay down and put herself to sleep, but she has to have HER blankets. Don't get me wrong, she is happy 99% of the time, but there are those 1% days...and they are rough. BUT....today was fantastic. Audrey played with the bigger kids at Granny's, which was so bittersweet. I can't believe she is big enough to "play" with the bigger kids. She has been a little clingly to me lately, but after about half an hour at Granny's she was off and running. Livi did wonderful, considering so many people held her and played with her. She has to have her time to decompress, but the truck ride home seemed to decompress her just fine.  Oh what a great day!! Today was probably the first time in 2 weeks that neither one of them was fussy!! I cannot express the joy I feel on days like today! It makes "fussy" days worth every single second! Livi even let me rock her for 10 whole minutes tonight! SCORE!!!

 Happy 1st Easter!!

My ever so happy baby girl (yes, she is sitting up on her own now)!!! Audrey absolutely ADORES Livi..She is a great big sister!

I LOVE this face....She usually does it when she is about to be a little mischevious!

She was so EXCITED to hunt eggs! I think we are entering a new chapter with Audrey. She is exploring the world, and I am loving every minute of it! She is becoming quite independent, which is what I always wanted for her.....but it is so hard as a momma. Jeremy's cousin put it in great perspective today (shout out to Farrah)...She called me a "helicopter momma", as she is one too... We hoover! Hahaha! I guess I need to let my little girl grow as a person and let her explore...look at the smile on her face..What choice do I have?? ;)




P.S.....We have adoption on the brain!!!!