Ellie: 8 Months

Now that we are a day away from Ellie being 9 Months I am going to finally get around to posting her 8 month update. Its a little busy around here. Month 8 was a big one, so many major milestones hit and they just keep coming! Ellie is still such a super happy baby but she has decided that she likes to be very close to her Mama so if I am in the room she wants my full attention! Gah...babies, so needy. ; ) 

We are excited to spend our first holidays with our new baby girl and experience the season as a family of 4! She isn't going to be super into any of it this year but it will still be fun to do everything together as our new family.

Ellie continues to be such a joy and a fun baby and we LOVE her to absolute pieces!



Stats: 
Around 20lbs (total guess, we will find out for sure next month)
Wearing size 3 diapers during the day and size 4 at night
Wearing 9-12 mo and 12 mo clothes
Teeth: Zero - my girls are late to the teeth game

Likes:
Rolling around on the poof (bean bag thing)
Putting EVERYTHING in her mouth
Playing with the dog food/water bowls
Watching her sister play
Squealing 

Dislikes:
Not getting attention from Mom
Getting a toy taken away that she isn't allowed to play with
Riding in the carseat

Milestones/Firsts:
Full on sitting completely by herself - no more fear of her possibly falling backwards
Crawling!! She finally took off this month and now she is a little speedy thing all over the house
First Halloween - WonderBaby
First birthday party (her big sister turned 4!)
Continues to try new foods everyday and is a good eater

Sleep:
Still a pretty good sleeper for night and naps. We have been very lucky!

Family:
Ellie loves loves loves to watch her sister and "play" with her. Molly gets the best laughs out of her and Ellie likes to sit and watch Molly play with all of her toys and join in too! Ellie has also become quite attached to me and is definitely a Mama's girl right now.









Happy 8 Months Ellie Belly!!!

Wonder Woman and a 4 Year Old

And just like that I have a 4 year old. Seriously. Not possible. Man that went by fast. Looking through her baby photos and I feel like that was yesterday. #timeslowdown



To properly honor our 4 year old Molly we went all out on an awesome and fun Wonder Woman birthday party. She also decided she wanted to be Wonder Woman for Halloween so we got lots of use out of our costume.

Once again with the help of my bestie Laura and her amazing crafting skills we found some things on Pinterest that we liked and then put our own spin on it and put together some really incredible DIY decorations that really set the party apart.

We also had the neatest sign (card) out in our front yard to surprise Molly when she woke up. These are seriously the coolest. The picture does not due it justice...such a fun and oversized way of celebrating. Thanks Card My Yard!









Yep! That is Molly's face on her cupcakes. She had a very specific request for her face to be included.

True to tradition we had a bounce house for all the kids to get their energy out and have a good time. The grown ups were enjoying themselves too. And lots of superheroes came!









Everyone had a really good time and Molly had a blast with her friends and family. Another birthday party in the books!

Happy Birthday sweet girl! We love you like crazy and even though you challenge us sometimes we could not imagine living a life without you in it! It has been so fun to watch you grow and we look forward to the year ahead! xoxoxo

Ellie: 7 Months

The days and months are starting to move so fast now! I am to the point where I really do want it to slow down a bit. Those first months feel like years but now I blink and a week has passed and Ellie is growing and changing right along with it. So here we are at 7 months (really 7.5 now) and she is getting so big and has become so much fun! 




Stats: 
around 19lbs (total guess)
Wearing size 3 diapers during the day and size 4 at night
Wearing 6-9 mo clothes and some 9-12 mo

Likes:
Eating - she has really started getting the eating thing down and is enjoying it
Attemping to crawl - this past month she is rocking back on all fours and is really trying hard to figure out how to move.
Swinging - she will smile and giggle anytime you put her in the swing. She also loves being outside.
Anybody who will smile at her - she is seriously the easiest baby to make smile. You just have to give her a little grin and her face just explodes into a smile.

Dislikes:
Not being able to crawl (trying so so hard)
Not getting her naps
Being held when she wants to move

Milestones/Firsts:
Rocking on all fours
Rolling all over the place
Swinging on the park swing
Eating and drinking water
Trip to the State Fair
First trip to the pumpkin patch
Got Baptized!

Sleep:
Naps are hit or miss...we have had too many 1 nap days lately. Sleep at night is the same, she still wakes up 1x per night. We are planning to "cry it out" this month sometime which is the same time we did with Molly.

Ellie Baby! You are such a joy to be around and your happy energy rubs off on everybody around you. Your smile lights up the room and I cherish the evenings when I get to snuggle you to sleep. You are the perfect addition to our family and we love you so much!

Ellie: 6 Months

Half a year. It is hard to believe. Somehow we made it. ; ) Ellie is developing more and more of a personality and its fun to watch her be so attentive to things. She really likes to take in what is happening around her and focuses on things so intently. She definitely likes to observe. I can tell she will be the more cautious and reserved of my girls. That doesn't take much with Molly though. 

These last 6 months have been challenging but also a lot of fun. I can't wait to see where the next 6 months goes!




Stats:
17lbs 4oz (75th %)
27" long (90th %)
Wearing size 3 diapers
Wearing 6mo and 6-9 mo clothes

Likes:
Watching Molly dance - she thinks its hilarious
Look at herself in the mirror
Squeal and scream like a dinosaur
Putting everything in her mouth

Dislikes:
Peach baby food
Being in her carseat for too long
When you take something that she isn't allowed to put her mouth

Milestones/Firsts:
Starting to sit up a little bit on her own
Eating 2 meals a day (breakfast and dinner)
Sleeping on her stomach

Sleep:
She has started to wake up at varying hours during the night, usually between 4am and 4:30am. She will eat (we are working on weaning her off of that) and then sleep again until around 7:30am. I let her talk to herself in her crib until 8am. She takes two naps a day, the first around 11am and the second around 3pm.







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Ellie at 5 Months | Molly's Monthly Posts

The Comparison Trap

We all get sucked into it. Its instinctual as human beings. We compare. Everything we do/have is measured up against something else to determine its worth. In a very materialistic world its almost impossible to avoid. And for some reason when we enter motherhood it seems to attack us constantly from all angles. Milestones, baby strollers, breastfeeding, schedules, preschools, and on and on and on. Its never ending. What's even worse is when you get suckered into the comparison trap in your own household. Between siblings.



From the day I found out I was pregnant with our second (Ellie) I started to compare things. I was sicker this time around than I was with Molly. I have gained X amount of weight with E vs with M. I have heartburn this time, I didn't before. And these are not always bad things. Its okay to compare within reason for knowledge sake. But it grows quickly and happens without even realizing it. One day I am comparing the color of their eyes and then all of a sudden E must not be as smart because M had already done something that E has yet to do. Boom!



Molly was a very "early" milestoner. She rolled over at 2.5 months, she started scooting at 4 months, crawled at 5.5 months, pulled up at 6 months and started walking in earnest around 11 months. All the little milestones in between were early too (grabbing toys, putting things to her mouth, etc). But there were other things that she was "late" on such as teeth (she didn't get a tooth until after her 1st birthday), words, social things etc.



Then Ellie came along and she was definitely different from the get-go and in a great way! Molly had terrible colic that really rocked our world (to put it mildly) and I was terrified to go through that again with baby #2, but Ellie surprised us and was a much happier more relaxed baby. Thank goodness! But as Ellie got older, week by week I was constantly comparing. I started to get concerned that Ellie wasn't doing this or that. I started to feel like she was behind and something must be wrong. I sent countless emails to the pediatrician that started out "Molly was doing this and Ellie isn't, whats wrong with her?" And then my pediatrician put it best, "Nothing is wrong with her," she said "Ellie is her own person." Wow, that really hit me hard. I wasn't giving Ellie a fair start in life, I was too busy trying to match her up to her older sister. I was robbing her of her own identity at 2 months old. Yikes!



I get it, it is hard. It is hard not to compare in everything and when the only experience you have is one child then its natural to look to that child for guidance but we have to remember, every baby is different. Every child has their own personality, their own view of the world and I would never want my girls to be the same. I want them to find their own way and become their own person. I want them to find their uniqueness in the world. And I certainly don't want to be the one who squashes a wish, or a trait because I was too busy comparing.

The trap is easy to fall into. Especially in the world we live in. But be careful, it can happen in your own house too and its easy to miss.

Let's all quit comparing and start celebrating our unique differences that make us who we are. One child at a time.

Ellie: 5 Months

5 months!! Almost to my coveted 6 month mark. : )  She is such a fun baby these days and her personality shows more and more each day. She has really taken a liking to her sister and will watch her play and just laugh and smile at her. So fun to see that bond start, they are going to be the best of friends. She is an all around happy baby and goes with the flow pretty well. I am excited for the next few months as some big milestones approach - this is such a fun time with a baby!




Stats:
Guessing around 17lbs
Wearing size 3 diapers
Wearing 6mo and 6-9 mo clothes

Likes:
Watching her big sister play
Rolling around on the floor
Being read to
Sweet potatoes
Jumping in her jumper
Hanging out in her carrier facing out

Dislikes:
Not being able to get something in her mouth
Rolling over to her tummy and not being able to get back to her back

Milestones/Firsts:
No more swaddle!
Rolling from back to tummy
Eating her first baby food (sweet potato and apples so far)

Sleep:
She goes to bed between 7:30 and 8pm and will sleep until around 6am when I feed her and then put her back down til around 9am. During the day she will usually take 2 naps, morning nap is usually an hour long and the afternoon nap is anywhere from 1hr to 3 hrs.




 

Such cuties! 

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Look back at Molly's 5 month update 

Ellie: 4 Months

Hard to believe its been 4 months since I gave birth to baby E right in our living room! Crazy how time seems to move so fast when you look back on it. But I still find myself looking ahead to the fun times we have in store for us as she continues to grow.



This past month has been up and down. Ellie seems to have really "woken up" but she is still too young to really play so its a challenge to keep her entertained and happy. She also likes to be a very unpredictable napper, sometimes she naps for 40 min -- sometimes 3 hours. Its kind of nuts! But for the most part she is a very happy and fun little nugget. And gosh darn, that kid is cute! The hair!

Stats:
14lbs, 14oz (75%)
25 1/2 inches long (80%)
Wearing size 2 day diapers and size 3 night diapers
Wearing 3-6mo and 6mo clothes

Its so weird to have a big baby! M was just so tiny.

Likes:
Being swaddled for sleep
Putting her hands/objects in her mouth
Foot massages
Bouncing

Dislikes:
Being hot (you live in Texas kid, get used to it!)
Sitting still in your lap
Being in the carseat for long
The hiccups

Milestones/Firsts:
Grabbing toys and putting them in her mouth
Really watching people
Lots of laughs
*She still isn't rolling over, probably because she hates tummy time so much she doesn't get much practice

Big Sister

With all the new baby excitement around here I didn't want to leave Molly out. After all she is a BIG SISTER now and that is so very important!



So far Molly has been pretty great. We talked about her baby that was coming for a long time before Ellie was born and she was very excited about her new role. The day Ellie was born she left the house to be with my parents while I labored and then came to meet Ellie soon after she was born. She was immediately very sweet and excited to meet her. Although she did say "I wanted a baby brother!" ha! She warmed up to the idea of a baby sister pretty quickly.



The first few weeks Molly didn't miss a beat. She was very loving and interested in what baby Ellie was doing but she also went about her days pretty much like before. We made it a point to continue to take her to school and try to keep her routine as normal as we could to help her with the transition. She was great at wanting to help in any way she could and enjoyed taking pictures to school to show off her new baby.



I did have a very sad moment when I picked up Molly from school and brought her home and then had to immediately feed Ellie. Molly got a little upset and looked and me and said "I just want you to play with ME." It broke my heart.

About a month in we started to see some change in Molly. She started acting out more, throwing more tantrums, just all around demanding more attention. I knew this was completely normal but man did it wear on us. We had a couple weeks where we considered seeking therapy because she was really struggling. We tried to make it a point to give her attention when she was wanting to talk to us and to try and be calm when she had breakdowns. We had a rough month or so and she still throws some epic fits but it has gotten much better.

We had one little incident where I caught Molly punch Ellie in the face (not very hard but intentional) and that was not okay. We had a serious talk with Molly and she told us that she didn't want Ellie here. She was having a jealous moment and I totally get it. I heard it described once as imagining that your husband brought home a new wife one day, what would that feel like? I totally get it girl!

Outside of that one little hiccup she has been extremely loving towards Ellie. Sometimes she loves a little hard but its with good intentions. She likes to give her lots of hugs and kisses and talk to her about her toys and her day. She also likes to read to her which is SO sweet. I can definitely see how much fun its going to be when Ellie gets older and they can really play together. I just know they are going to have a great sisterly bond.



Molly also loves to help me too. She likes to help with diaper changes and throw the diaper away, she likes to help feed her and pick out her outfits for the day. She has really been a great help to me with some of the little things. She also likes to do what Mom is doing and had me help her babywear her doll! So stinkin' cute.



All around Molly has become such a wonderful Big Sister. It has been fun watching her grow into this new role and seeing her love her sister so much.

Its going to be an adventure keeping up with these two!

Ellie: 3 Months

3 Months! 3 Months! I now have an easy, happy all the time, on a schedule, great sleeper baby. That's what happens at 3 months right?! Ha! Not quite. But the so-called 4th trimester is over and things have gotten a little easier. Patterns have emerged, we have figured out some of her personality and quirks and she smiles...alot!

They say that the first 3 months, the newborn phase, are the hardest. And you can tell by my last post that I definitely agree. I am excited for where we are now and the little human that is starting to emerge.

My newborn is gone -- I have a baby on my hands now.


Stats:
No stats this month, won't know official weight and height til 4 mo doc appt

Likes:
Talking sessions with Dad (he can really get her going)
Watching her big sister play
Tummy rubs

Dislikes:
Tummy time...I mean she really really hates it
Being in the same place for too long

Milestones/Firsts:
Batting at toys
Grasping toys when put in her hands
Lots of drooling has started
Laughing! We got her to chuckle a few times and its adorable.







Cuties!

You can find Ellie's 2 month post here and all of Molly's milestone posts here.