Fall Activities

Just a little photo update of our lovely Fall

Topsfield Fair

Apple Picking

Yoga

Playgroups

Nathan - four months

Our sweet pea is 4 months old!  This is one seriously smiley baby and we are totally eating it up!  Just about any time we address him in any way, he smiles and [a newer development] laughs!  I could just listen to his silly baby laughs all day long.

Earlier this month (10/6) Nathan started rolling over from belly to back.  I'm pretty sure he'll be quite the mover once he really gets going.  He's also grabbing at and holding on to items and a couple of times he successfully got his pacifier into his mouth by himself!  However, it's quite possible he'll be a thumb sucker.  Even though we're trying to discourage it because he's the product of two embarrassingly long thumb suckers, it's hard because there's nothing more adorable than a baby finding and learning to awkwardly suck his little thumb <3 

He still spits up a lot, but recently turned on the drooling as well - big time.  So I took the opportunity to buy some super cute bandana style bibs on Etsy.  Seriously, how adorable is this? And they're very absorbent too with bamboo fleece on the back so his clothes haven't been getting wet underneath.

I remember getting to a point with Gwen where it was clear to me that she knew I was her mom and I would find her just staring at me with a big smile on her face.  Nathan's there now, and I had almost forgotten how amazing it is.  There's no way to really describe what it feels like when someone is so dependant on you and looks at you like you're their whole world.  I've been so lucky to experience these tiny little moments with both Gwen and Nathan and I know I'll always hold on to them.

So I just looked back at Gwen's 4 month post and it's the one I wrote about her watching me eat a string cheese and smiling haha!  I still actually think about that and I love that I'm seeing Nathan do the same now.

Here are the stats from his 4 month checkup:

At birth, Nathan was 7lbs 10oz, 21in and today she is 14lbs 2oz (48th %), and 25.5in (71 %)

The Farm

We were invited to our good friend's dad's "farm" this past weekend.  We always have such a blast when we're there.  The views are TO DIE FOR and to top it off, they just put in a brand new pool and pavilion and we lucked out with an end-of-September weekend that was warm enough to hang out poolside and go for a swim!  The pictures of this place speak for themselves, it is the ultimate relaxation spot!  A little piece of heaven in upstate NY.

Nathan - three months

Photo update of my sweet babe at 3 months!

big boy in his high chair!

Too cool for....naps, apparently...

I've been meaning to write this post about my big girl since July....it's still relevant now, only the ending of the story has slowly morphed into the demise of our beloved nap time [moment of silence, please]. so sad.

It all began at Gwen's 2.5 year Dr's visit.  Her pedi was pretty blunt about the fact that we should be getting rid of the pacifier .like.now. (even if she does only use it for sleeping).  Uuuhhhh ok lady, do you realize that we just brought a new baby into this girl's life?  Taking away her pah-pah could be devastating.  No thanks!  Fast forward about a week later to her first dentist appointment and apparently she was already showing signs of an overbite.  Ok, new plan...sayonara pah-pah!

After some planning and scheming (and stressing), Justin just decided to pull the trigger one night.  Literally from night one, the girl was a rock star!  She fell right asleep, no tears, nothing.  It was like she never even had it to begin with.  We even threw a "Big Girl Party" the next day to get her excited about the fact that she doesn't need her pacifier anymore!

Naps though, now they were a different story.  At first she would nap about 50% of the time without her pacifier.  This percentage slowly declined until she would ONLY nap for Daddy on weekends.  And now, sadly, the only time she'll nap is if my timing is just perfect and both kids are in the car fed, changed, happy, and tuckered out.  Each of these elements as crucial as the next because if anything is off, one of them is going to wake the other.  I've perfected a driving loop consisting of 3 highways around our house so that I never have to stop at a light or go any slower than what is necessary on an exit ramp.  Miraculously, I've gotten a couple of hour long naps for both kids out of it so far.

I'm pretty sure 2.5 years is pretty early to be done with naps.  And although I've thrown a few pity parties, I really can't feel that bad for myself.  For most of Gwen's life, she has given me very consistent 3-4 hour naps (and that was on top of 12-hour nights).  I'm not sure why all of a sudden she's ok with getting by on less sleep - including shaving an hour or so off of her overnight sleeps.  I keep hoping maybe it's just a phase.  But one thing I've learned as a parent is that just as you think you have things figured out, that's when they change.