My big 5 month old!

Lydia is 5 months old today and has had a really eventful last month! She is doing so many things now. She is almost sitting by herself, trying to rollover and can army crawl, jumps like crazy in her jumper, eats rice cereal and baby food, can put her pacifier in her mouth by herself and loves to grab and play with her rattles and toys. Lydia can now do the biggest belly laugh when she is being entertained, and it melts my heart! She is a good sport when her big sister Claire likes to play with her (even if Mom and Dad tell her she is being too rough). I think her growth spurt continues these past weeks Lydia will eat every 2 hours and can now drink up to 5 ounces at a time. She has been consistently sleeping through the night and and smiles a bunch!

Lydia eating rice cereal for the first time.

 

Claire has also been busy this last month and can now count to 30, started taking a dance class, has finally stopped crying at the Gym childcare and swimming lessons (it only took a month), and has started sleeping through the night and staying in her room more consistently. Ever since she transitioned out of her crib when she was 18 months she has would wake us up a few times every night. We promised her when she and Lydia both can sleep through the night we will put them in the same room. We will see how that goes....

Claire pushing Lydia in her jumper and both girls are laughing.

Claire is such a little comedian and still desires every one's attention. She is my little copy cat and repeats everything I say both good and bad. I caught her saying "damn it" repeatedly the other day when she couldn't get her coat zipped and "What the heck is wrong with you" when we were reading a book. Then on the other end of the spectrum she will say, "Well thank you very much for asking". She still walks around the house and tells me excitedly, " I am a big sister"! When we were out to eat at a restaurant a few times this last month the waitress/waiter will stop to check on us and Claire will say, "Isn't my baby cute"!

Claire finally got to go outside and play in the snow this weekend.

Chad and I took the girls swimming with Cara, Howie, and Nora last week at the Ramada Tropics indoor water park (Des Moines, IA) and had a really good time. It was Lydia's first real experience swimming. She did good and just did not liked to be splashed too much. Claire had a first also, it was the first time that she could do the "big" water slides with an adult and went on them at least 20-30 times until she threw up after running up the stairs. I guess it is not a party until someone throws up, right?!

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