Lydia is growing like a weed at 4 Months!

Lydia has spent the last month doing a lot of fun things like cooing, smiling, laughing, sitting in her bumbo seat and doing lots of tummy time. She tries to roll and will swim with her arms and legs a bit. Although she still likes her pacifier at times her favorite thing to do now is put her hands in her mouth. Lydia is intrigued by the tv and still enjoys laying on the floor in her boppy pillow next to Claire. We just started trying her out in her jumper and she seems to like it. She also just tried her first bite of rice cereal tonight. Sometimes I look at Lydia and think that I am holding baby Claire, it takes me a few seconds before I correct myself and remember its Lydia. The girls really do look similar but the biggest difference is Lydia's dimple. A few of our friends call her "Little Mindy." I think she hit a big growth spurt this week and started growing out of her 0-3 mo clothes. At her 4 month checkup she stretched out from her last visit and weighed 13lbs and 2 oz (36%) and was 24.5 inches tall  (58%).

She is either waving hi or saying, "stop taking pictures Mom." I can't tell.....

Claire had a great Christmas and got a lot of fun new toys to play with. Her favorite so far is the Zingo game that Santa gave her. I was shocked how quickly she caught onto the game. She is getting better at writing her name and learned what date her birthday is at preschool. She repeats a lot of random things she shouldn't but maybe that is our fault! At times her 3 year old temperament reminds me of Animal from the Muppets. Claire started swimming lessons last week when we joined a gym and is doing a bunch of fun activities and classes through their childcare. She is not a big fan of going right now because it is new and scary but I am sure she will come around to liking it.

I can not believe she tried the rice cereal. It was awful!

Look Claire still fits in the bumbo seat...

Lydia is 3 Months Old!

These months go by so fast, I feel like I just completed her 2 month posting! Lydia has been babbling a lot these past few weeks and likes to give big smiles. She has started sitting up in her Bumbo seat for short periods of time and is getting better head control. We continue to give her some tummy time but she really enjoys just lying next to Claire watching their favorite shows. She has slept through the night on a few occasions but generally gets up once in the middle of the night between 4 and 5 am. She is a really content baby and I am looking forward to her first Christmas!

 

 

 

 

I am so proud of both of them for not crying for Santa!

Claire hamming it up at her Christmas Program.
She is the short one to the far right in a black with white polka dots dress.



 

Claire Saying The Pledge of Allegiance

Lydia is 2 months old!

Time has flown by and Lydia turned 2 months old this week! At her doctors appointment she weighed 10 lbs 15 ounces (50%) and was 21.75 inches tall (23 %). At 6 weeks old she started growing out of her newborn clothes and is wearing size 1 diapers. Her hair on the top of her head is finally growing back in, she had her Dad's hairline for a few weeks. Chad says when she breaths heavy and grunts Lydia sounds like an angry bird. She has started to smile more, coo, and is now sleeping 5-6 hour stints at night. She is a really good baby!

                                         
 
                                     
 
                                      
 
Claire's latest activities are that she loves to do letter tracing and is getting really close to being able to write her name. She can also say the entire pledge of allegiance and has about 5 books memorized that she can read to you perfectly. She is a great big Sister and is still really proud of Lydia but she can have her difficult times where she is stubborn, demanding and can't sit still like all 3 year olds. Her newest thing is that when you ask her to do something she will say, "No,Never!" in a real sassy way. I don't know where she picks up on some stuff. She also loves to sing songs, play board games and is really good at a robot game on my phone.

Claire is 3 today!

Our amazing daughter Claire turned 3 today! We are so proud of all you have accomplished and the wonderful big sister you have become.

Lydia is 1 month

It almost doesn't seem like it but our new Baby Lydia turned 1 month old today. Things have been a lot busier since coming home from the hospital and now having 2 kids. Claire is still very proud of her baby sister. Lydia has been a good influence on Claire. It used to be hard to get Claire to drink her milk but now that she sees her baby sister drink it, she will now ask me for her cup of milk. Lydia is such a strong eater and at a week old started drinking 3 ounces and now is up to 4 ounces. She continues to sleep a lot and is a very content baby. She has started sleeping between 3-4 hours at night.

Lydia lounging in her favorite bouncy seat

Chad multi-tasking with both girls.

 Some fun pictures of the girls together......

Claire was gearing up for the River City Roundup Rodeo

Lydia's Birth Story

Our new baby girl Lydia Ann was born on Sept 7th at 12:01pm. She weighed 7 lbs 2.6 ounces and was 20 inches long. She had a unique birthing story and ended up being delivered in my doctors office since my labor was only 4.5 hours long. When I called my doctor to tell him that I thought I was ready to go to the hospital after only having contractions for 2.5 hours he told me I had better come into his office so that he could check my cervix before trying to check into the hospital. So 45 minutes later when I showed up at his office and he made me wait  another 15-20 minutes to see him. He told me I was fully dilated and could have this baby now if I really wanted to. I had only hoped I was 4-5 centimeters dilated so that I could go to the hospital and have an epidural started because I was in so much pain. I told him I would rather go to the hospital since it was only a few minutes away from his office. After my doctor told me they could not give me any pain medicine at the hospital and calling a rescue squad to take me and waiting another 15-20 minutes I felt the urge to push. I gave about 8 good pushes and Lydia ended up being born at the doctors office on an exam room table. This was the first time in over 37 years that my doctor had delivered a baby in his office. A few minutes after I delivered we were sent in the ambulance to finish up in the Labor and Delivery at Bergan Mercy. Lydia's Echo cardiogram was done on Thursday and they found 2 minor heart abnormalities a PDA (Patent Ductus Arteriosus) and a PFO (Patent Foramen Ovale) that are common in infants and should fix themselves over the next 6 months. Our Pediatrician reassured us that she has clean bill of health. Big sister Claire is very proud of her new sister and still continues to be a good gentle helper. We had a lot of friends and family come visit us in the hospital and came home on Friday afternoon.