Amoxicillin Allergy

 

Our sweet baby is covered in red spots, from head to toe! Emma has an apparent allergy to amoxicillin that was discovered after being on a round of antibiotics for an ear infection. A few days before Christmas we had to take her to urgent care when she was screaming hysterically at bedtime. Emma very rarely cries at all, so when she was inconsolable, we knew something was wrong! They immediately discovered an ear infection in her right ear and prescribed a dose of amoxicillin which we began that night. After being on the antibiotics for 5 days, she was hysterical again and had a fever, so we took her back to the walk in clinic. This time her left ear was infected, so they upped her dose of amoxicillin and off we went. After being on the higher dose for 2 days I noticed a red bumpy rash on her stomach and chin. The pediatrician advised us to stop giving it to her immediately and bring her in as soon as possible. So this morning we headed in for a Saturday sick appointment at the pediatrician's office. Low and behold, they have to assume that she has an allergy to amoxicillin. It isn't definite as it could also be a rash that has developed as a result of a viral infection, but to be safe, we have to assume it is an allergy. Unfortunately her left ear is still infected so they had to give her a new antibiotic (azythromicin) for the next 5 days. Yippee! Thankfully the rash doesn't appear to be bothering her at all and she is still our sweet, happy girl! Unfortunately the rash has gotten worse today and covers her entire body, from her scalp to the palms of her hands and soles of her feet. We are just praying now that the new medicine clears up the ear infection and doesn't have any negative side effects! We are beyond ready for everyone to be healthy around here again!

Emma: 6 Months

Emma,

We had another crazy month, but thankfully no ER trips were involved. :-)  You are half a year old!  How is that even possible.  Seriously?? 

At the beginning of this month, we started back with solids after taking a break due to constipation issues.  You tried many new foods this month: oatmeal cereal, sweet potatoes, pears, peas, and prunes.  You liked all of the new foods okay, but prunes are definitely your favorite!  However, eating is just not your favorite thing to do.

You had some good and some bad nights this month.  Some nights you went a full 12 hours without any feedings (rare) but we still had to replace your paci multiple times in the night.  But other nights you nursed 1-2 times in the night.  Nothing consistent still.  Your inconsistency is surely related to your many illnesses this month.  You were sick at the beginning of the month and the end.  Lots of congestion and a runny nose.  One night you had to sleep in the rock and play in our room because you were too congested for the paci...a requirement for sleep. Just yesterday we had to take you to the walk-in clinic because you were hysterical at bedtime.  You have your first ear infection and are now taking amoxicillin for the next 10 days.  :-(  Naps have also been hit or miss as a result.  You still eat every 3-3.5 hours during the day, with 5-6 feedings per day.  You continue to be a very fast (efficient) nurser with 5 minutes on one side being a typical feeding.

You can now sit up all by yourself and are starting to rock on all fours...yikes!  When did that happen?  I literally sat you down on the floor one day and realized you could sit on your own.  Oops, guess I should have tried that sooner. ;-)  You can also hold the bottle all by yourself now.  No signs of teeth yet, which for some reason makes me happy.  No teeth means you are still a little baby. :-)

We celebrated your half birthday today with a cake (for the adults), but are truly just in shock that you are already 6 months old.  Slow down, okay squishy?

6 Month Stats
- Diapers: Size 3
- Clothes: 6 & 9 Months
- Shoes: Size 1 or 2
- Weight: 17 lbs. 8 oz.
- Height: 26"

You are so precious Emmie!  If we could freeze time, we would, so we could soak up more time with you being so little.  Yes, we would like more sleep, but you are worth it!  Someday you will sleep through the night and so will we.  Until then.....

Hannah: 33 Months

Hannah,

My beautiful girl!  Your 33rd month of life has been full of ballet, traveling, Thanksgiving, sickness (again), Christmas countdown, and another potty training attempt.

One of my favorite conversations with you happened this month.  It went like this:
You: "Mommy, I like you."
Me: "Hannie, I love you!"
You: "No Mommy, I like you!"
Me: "Well, I like you and love you Hannie."
You: "I love you too Mommy!"
Sometimes, you just make my heart melt!  I will never stop loving you precious girl! 

For Thanksgiving we went to MeMaw and PaPaw's house in Florida.  You did such a great job on the ride down and back!  You even did great when we drove home through the night and had to transfer you into your bed at midnight.  It was so fun to see family!  When we returned from Florida, we wasted no time to start decorating for Christmas.  We started two Christmas traditions this year.  First is our advent calendar with a winter playmobile scene and bible verses that tell the story of Jesus' birth.  You love pulling a new piece out of the calendar to add to the scene every night.  Our other tradition is our Christmas countdown books.  We have 24 Christmas books in a basket under the tree and each night you pick one for us to read at bedtime.  Our first book (on Dec. 1) was "The Bearenstein Bear's Christmas Tree"...a family favorite from when I was little!  We all love spending time snuggling under the tree. :-)

This month you napped more often than not, which was a nice change!  Unfortunately your naps are still very short (never longer than 45 minutes) and you wake up screaming, crying after your cat nap...still tired and yawning. :-(. You are also taking a long time to fall asleep every night (1-2 hours some nights) and waking during the night and early in the morning.  You are just so overtired!  The great news though is that you are still sleeping in your big girl bed like a champ! You have still never attempted to get out of bed on your own...amazing!

Ballet lessons continued this month and you still like them very much.

You truly are the best big sister!  It is very rare that you are mean to Emma and are always wanting to hug her and play with her.  Every time I put Emma down for a nap you say, "Make good choices Emma.  Have sweet dreams.  Wait until your light is green.  Night Emma."  Just so sweet.

You spent most of this month sick with two more colds.  Yikes!  Will we ever build up immunity to all these germs?  Unfortunately all this sickness has been the hardest on Emma and this month things got pretty bad for her.  At the beginning of the month, Daddy went to Vegas for a work trip and we were on our own for the first time.  Scary!  Things got very bad on the second night that daddy was away when Emma took a turn for the worse and I ended up having to take her to the ER in the middle of the night.  I had to call my friend to come over and stay with you (since you were already asleep) and you did such an amazing job!  I ended up having to stay at the hospital with Emma for almost 24 hours (she was fine, but it was just precautionary) and since Daddy was away, you were shuffled around to several different people.  You woke up to Mrs. Asheley and you didn't bat an eye.  You did try to get her to give you candy for breakfast, but who can blame you.  ;-). When Mrs. Asheley had to leave, our neighbors came over to watch you (an older couple that you have met just a couple times).  Again, you didn't have any issue with that.  You just went about as if everything was normal.  So amazing!  When I realized Emma wasn't getting discharged anytime soon, I called another friend/neighbor to come get you.  You went over to their house with no fuss.  Thankfully I was able to get out by about 5pm and come get you at their house.  You were completely fine and didn't want to leave.  I was shocked by how adaptable you were throughout the whole ordeal!  I am forever grateful to our amazing friends and neighbors for being so incredible that day!  And I'm so proud of you for being so big!

Yet another attempt and failure with potty training happened at the end of this month.  Same results...holding your pee all day long.  Back to diapers.  Some day.  We scheduled a physical therapy evaluation to discuss your toe walking and potty training issues at the end of the month.  My guess is that you are dealing with some sensory processing issues, but we will see how it goes.  No matter what the outcome, we know that you are PERFECT!  There is nothing major that we are worried about, but just want to do everything we can to help you overcome these little struggles.

Other 33 month stats:

-You wear 3T and 4T clothes (size 4-6 leotard and size small tights)

-You wear size 8.5 shoes (size 9 ballet shoes)

-You wear size 6 diapers 

You are such a joy and we are blessed to call you daughter! 

 

 

Emma: 5 Months

Oh Squishy,

You are just so squishy that I can't help but call you that all the time!  You are sleeping now and I miss your little squishy face.  You are such a sweet little girl, so laid back and smiley.  Every time I get you out of your crib you give me the biggest smile...every single time!  Love that!!  You have also started the cutest thing - touching my face when I am holding you.  You reach up and put your little hand on my cheek with the biggest smile on your face.  It's like you are trying to tell me how much you love me.  Baby girl, you sure do know the way to melt my heart. 

You generally go down for naps and bedtime very easily now (with just 2-3 paci reinsertions) and with rarely any crying.  I often look on the video monitor a few minutes before the end of a nap and find that you are already awake, just rolling around (silently).  You truly are such a chill baby!  I LOVE this age!  If we could only get you to stop waking those 4-5 times through the night for a paci reinsertion. :-)

You are rolling all over the place these days and moving all across the room just by rolling.  You are very content with rolling and don't really have much of a desire to sit up yet.  You can sit up with the boppy behind you for support but you quickly fold forward, reaching for something in front of you and then end up on your belly, rolling around again. :-)

This was a big month in your life.  You had your first taste of table food this month.  We started with rice cereal on October 27 and you LOVED it!  We then introduced avocado, which you were not a huge fan of.  We tried it for a few days but you continued to spit it out, so we stopped and moved on to sweet potatoes.  You loved those!  Unfortunately you started pooping a lot less so I was worried about you getting constipated (like your sister did when she was this age) so I backed off the solids completely by the end of the month.  We will start again soon with oatmeal cereal instead of the rice, as I think that is probably what is causing the problem.  We also gave you a sippy cup of water for the first time this month.  You only tried that a few times and were mostly just using it as a chew toy, but when a little water would get in your mouth, you seemed to like it.

Not only was this month filled with fun firsts, but it was also filled with some drama.  The first mishap was Halloween night.  We went trick-or-treating with some good friends and you were a champ most of the night, but by the last hour or so you were starting to get pretty fussy (for you).  Since you rarely get upset, it is always surprising when you start getting fussy.  I just chalked it up to you being overtired from being out past your normal bedtime.  I put you to bed as soon as we came home and you fell asleep without any trouble.  But at 10:30pm everything went down hill.  You were wide awake and fussy.  Feedings, rocking, singing, gas drops, or the paci didn't put you back to sleep and I was at a complete loss as to what was going on.  You never were hysterical, just wide awake and agitated.  You were awake until 5am when you finally nodded off.  It was our worst night yet.  Not fun!  The next day you were still fairly agitated and not sleeping well.  When I was changing you out of your pajamas, I took off your socks and discovered the cause of all the fussing....there was a hair wrapped tightly around 3 of your tiny toes on your right foot.  Your toes were starting to turn purple and the hair was cutting into your skin.  I felt so bad and cried hysterically for a full 30 minutes, repeatedly telling you how sorry I was!  I was so scared for your little toes and probably would have taken you to the doctor if my parents (MeMaw and PaPaw) hadn't been here to assure me that you were okay.  I just felt so bad for being frustrated with you the night before for not sleeping and was upset with myself for not finding the hair sooner!  Since that incident I have been checking your toes and fingers very often!

The other drama of the month was your first trip to the ER and admittance to the hospital on November 14.  YIKES!  It is such a long story, but I will try to just give the highlights.  Daddy was out of town for a business trip so I was on my own with you and your sister.  All day you had sounded congested with rattly breathing, but were eating well and happy, with no fever.  So I decided to not take you into the doctor's office, for fear of wasting everyone's time.  I put you to bed and everything was fine until you woke up at 11pm, struggling to breath.  I held you for an hour trying to get you back to sleep.  I took you into the bathroom with hot water on in the shower (steam) to try to clear your congestion....that didn't work.  Then I tried cool air instead...nope.  Tried the humidifier (which had been running in your room all night already)...nope.  I was out of options and could see your little chest sinking in further with every breath.  I knew you weren't doing well.  I ended up calling a friend to come to the house and stay with Hannah while I took you to the ER.  After a breathing treatment and an oral steroid (and a Tylenol suppository for your 102 fever), the doctor was still not seeing enough progress, so they admitted us for overnight observation.  You were diagnosed with croup which really is not a big deal, but since you are still so little they were being extra cautious.  I held you in my arms the entire night and the following day because anytime I tried to lay you down, you were a mess.  I didn't mind all the extra snuggles though.  I stayed up all night and day (38 hours in total) just to be sure you were okay.  Overall it was probably an unnecessary trip to the ER, but when it comes to you and your sister, I will always air on the side of caution.

We finished out this crazy month with a trip to MeMaw and PaPaw's house in Florida.  It was your first trip to their house and your longest car ride yet (7.5 hours).  You did great!  You slept most of the way down and back and only had one minor meltdown when we were just 5 minutes away from MeMaw and PaPaw's house on the way down.  The highlight of the trip was your first Thanksgiving, when you met two of your great-grandmas...Maga (Great-Grandma Hunsinger) and Great-Grandma Schaefer.

Our schedule this month started stretching out a little bit, with 60-90 minute wake times.  You were eating every 3-3.5 hours and napping for 1.5-2 hours after the first three feedings of the day.  We completely dropped the 4th nap and you are awake from around 4pm until bedtime at 7pm.  For the majority of the month you were nursing 1-2 times in the middle of the night, but by the end of the month you had a couple nights where I was able to hold you off until your first morning feeding...so 11-12 hours with no feedings!  YEAH!  Hopefully this trend will continue.  You continue to be a speed eater, averaging just 5 minutes per feeding (one side only) and 30-40 minutes total for the day. 

5 Month Stats
- Diapers: Size 3
- Clothes: 6 & 9 months
- Shoes: Size 1 or 2
- Weight: 16 lbs. 5 oz.
- Height: 26"

Squishy, I sure do love you!  I love your laid back personality and the joy you exude to everyone around you.  I love that you are in no hurry to learn more skills because neither am I.  I want you to be my little baby forever!  Promise?  You are such a bright light in our lives and we love you more than you will ever know!

Hannah: 32 Months

Hannah Banana,

Wow! What a crazy month we have had! We spent the month dealing with more sickness, celebrating Fall and Halloween, starting ballet lessons, voting in the presidential election, and just having fun!

This month started with yet another runny nose for you! :-(. I tried a natural cold remedy that I found online (1T honey mixed with 1t cinnamon four times per day) but I honestly didn't notice much difference. Thankfully you are not usually bothered by a cold and still have a ton of energy and are just as happy as can be. You did have to miss one day of school this month because of all the snot though. :-(. At the end of the month I also noticed a rash on hour cheeks, chest and arms. It lasted for just two days and didn't bother you at all, so not sure what it was....possibly fifths disease or a reaction to a new pair of pjs you wore. Who knows!? During Emma's 4 month check up I also mentioned to the doctor that you are still walking on your tippy toes. She checked the range of motion in your feet and referred us for a physical therapy evaluation at the local children's hospital. We will make that appointment soon.

We took our annual trip to Cagles Family Farm to take pictures in the pumpkin patch and kick off the Fall season. You spent most of the time on the bouncy pillow thing and we had to literally pull you off of it to head home. You would have jumped for hours if we had let you! You were also a big fan of the pumpkin bread we had there for snack. ;-). The next day we went to the pumpkin patch at the church behind our house. Since both you and your sister started melting down the day before at the farm, we weren't able to purchase pumpkins there, so we picked them out at the church. We picked a big one and two little ones (one for you and one for Emma).

I tried to plan several fun at home activities this month. The first was building a pillow tower, which gave you hours of fun. You loved climbing on it and falling off. Lots of giggles and smiles despite feeling sick that day. We also made a sock puppet which you were in love with for several days! You held me hostage for the entire first day saying, "Talk to Hannah" and showing the puppet all of your toys. You also surprised me this month when I realized that you know nearly all the letters of the alphabet now. It had been a while since I "tested" you on them and you knew all but 5 or 6.

Naps were hit or miss this month, with days of napping vs. days of not napping being 50/50. We also noticed a dramatic decrease in your appetite this month. You eat very little at every meal and waste so much food unless it is a "snack", which you seem to have no problem eating! The few foods that you did like this month were feta cheese, watermelon, "oakie milk" (oatmeal), salmon, grilled cheese, candy, sweet potatoes, broccoli, pasta, meatballs, and cheese in general. One of my favorite quotes from this month was after I had a very rough night with Emma and I told you I needed a nap. You said, "Lets go eat. It will make you feel better Mommy." Haha. More of your other favorite quotes this month were, "Mommy, how does your neck feel?" (I have been going to the chiropractor for a while now because of my chronic neck pain), "Oh yeah", and calling me "Momma". Your go-to prayer at bedtime is "Heavenly Father, thank you Jesus for this wonderful day. Thank you for protecting us and making me feel better. Amen."

Your favorite things this month were the moon (when you see it you get so excited and say "hi moon"), going to the "toy store" (any toy that has toys...but you are so good because you never ask us to buy anything and when it's time to go you simply put the toys back and walk away with no problem), your pink lovie (you carry it around everywhere with you in the house but we have a rule that it has to stay in the house or in the car), when mommy talks for Emma to you ("hi sissy"), the song "Children of The Lord", when daddy does "roll the baby" in the towel after a bath, and singing yourself to sleep at bedtime and nap time. One of your least favorite things this month was washing your hair at bath time because of your fear of getting water in your ears. :-(.

We celebrated Halloween in a few ways this year. Our first activity was trunk or treat at your school. You dressed as a princess in one of mommy's old ballet tutus and a crown...so cute! Next was your halloween party at school. When mommy got to the school for your party I saw your class walking down the hallway and you were the line leader for the day! So cute! Our final celebration was on halloween when we went trick or treating with your friend Anne in her neighborhood. You dressed up as Little Bea from your favorite bedtime story because my was way too cold for your princess costume that night! For the first few houses you were very timid but after you realized what was happening, you had a blast and didn't want to stop! You also had a major obsession with our neighbor's blow up pumpkin. You would ask several times each day to "see that man's pumpin" and always laughed at the witch that sticks out of it.

We had your first parent/teacher conference this month at school. It was surreal to be on the parent side of a conference! The teacher pointed out that you are very attached to your friend Hannah and that you really don't play with anyone else. That made me a little sad because I want you to be confident enough to be your own person and not be a follower! But I also realize that not everyone can be a leader or should be. We will just have to be very mindful of the friendships that you keep as you get older as you will likely be very influenced by others! Speaking of friends...you had a very hard time sharing with your friend, Anne this month. She came over for dinner one night with her parents and you spent more than half the night throwing a fit over every single thing she touched. I hope it was just a combination of you being tired from no nap that day and the time change, but whatever it was, I definitely did not like it!

One of mommy's dreams came true this month when you started ballet lessons! Mommy took dance lessons for 15 years and absolutely loved dancing, so when I found out that I was going to be a mommy to a little girl I was beyond excited to pass on my love of dancing. Your first class on on October 29. We went to the local ballet store to buy your first leotard, tights and ballet shoes and you were so excited to be a ballerina! Your first class was a success and you loved getting to dress up as Snow White (each week you will dress up as a different character from a story). You dressed up as Sleeping Beauty in your second class and learned first position.

You came with mommy when I voted in the presidential election and really liked it. However, the only reason you liked it was because it meant that you got to play on the playground at the church (our polling place) after I finished and they gave you an "I voted" sticker. ;-). When I told you that our candidate didn't win (the next day) you said, "Awww, maybe next time." :-)

Other 32 month stats:
-You wear 3T and 4T clothes (size 4-6 leotard and size small tights)
-You wear size 8.5 shoes (size 9 ballet shoes)
-You wear size 6 diapers

Hannah Banana, you make me laugh. I love your sense of humor and the joy you bring us is immeasurable! We love you more than you'll ever know!

Life with two!

Life has been so hectic that I haven't kept up with the blog except to write monthly summaries for the girls (very surprised I have been able to keep up with that even!). But I have a 30 minute window right now while both girls are in bed - not necessarily napping, but that's for another post! :-)

Emma is 4 months old now and Hannah is 2.5. It has been a crazy, but wonderful 4 months! Other than the first week or two of crazy postpartum hormones and Hannah's rocky transition to being a big sister, things have truly been wonderful. Yes, we are tired and no Emma is not sleeping through the night, but truly I am loving having two little girls! This is such a precious stage of life and I know just how fleeting it all is, so I am doing everything I can to enjoy each moment! (Of course don't ask me how I am liking it at 3am!).

Hannah truly is the best big sister, always wanting to play with Emma and giving her hugs and kisses galore. She loves to tell her to "make good choices during nap time" and "don't cry, okay?" If Emma is crying (VERY rare) Hannah is sure to try to help make her feel better by saying, "What's wrong Emma? It's okay!" She loves to make silly faces at her to try to get her to smile, which doesn't take much these days. It makes my heart smile when I see them interacting and look forward to watching their relationship grow!

Emma is such a joy! Is she the perfect textbook baby, no, but then again who has one of those?? But she really is so laid back and happy. She very rarely cries and if she does there is always a reason (hungry, tired, or in pain). She is on a fairly predictable schedule which makes discerning her cries that much easier too. She started out life very serious (it took us a long time to get her to smile!) but she has since made up for it by smiling all the time! She is so incredibly squishy and I just can't help but squeeze her (gently of course) every time I hold her...don't you want to squeeze her right now too!? While she does wake 1-2 times ever single night to eat I truly am okay with it and know that it will eventually end. It's funny how much more laid back I am this time around. I'm not sure if its because Emma is more laid back or because I know she is my last or what, but I can honestly say I am enjoying motherhood so much more these days!

I do think that my hyperemesis experience has helped in making the transition to two a little easier. After 10 months of feeling so sick, anything is easier than that! I used to be up all night feeling nauseous, so being up all night with a hungry baby is so much better! So despite how awful HG was, I am thankful that it has given me a greater appreciation of the little things!

Overall the transition has been a smooth one which I am so thankful for! My biggest fears going into having two babies were that I wouldn't love the second as much as or the same as the first....absolutely NOT the case! It can't even be explained, you just have to trust me...this will not be an issue! Another fear I had was that I was going to take away from the special bond I have with my oldest. This is also not true! While I do not have as much time to spend one on one with Hannah there are so many special memories we are forming as a family of four now instead. I still get my alone time with Hannah when Emma is napping (baby's sleep a lot in the first few months!) but when they are both awake things are a bit more hectic. But that's what life is about...the crazy times turn into the best memories!

Thank you Lord for blessing me with two beautiful girls (inside and out)! I am blessed to be their mother and I pray that You would remind me of that in the crazy times and in the times of quiet (as rare as they are)!

Emma: 4 Months

Sweet girl,

I don't know how you've done it, but you have made me fall even more in love with you!  4 months is  by far my favorite age with you (so far) :-).  This month has been a busy one and one of limited sleep, but despite that it has been wonderful.

 

Here's what you were up to each week of your fourth month of life:

Week 15 (September 28-October 4)

 

• Diaper size: 2, Clothes size: 3 months and 6 months
• We took you on your first trip this week!  In the middle of this week we took a trip to Panama City, FL to visit Grandma and Grandpa Vaccaro.  Aunt Julie was there and you got to meet Uncle Chris for the first time!  The drive down was okay, but you only slept for 40 minutes (2 twenty minute cat naps).  You did much better on the way home, taking two 1 hour naps!  A champion in the car seat, rarely fussing.  Such a good girl!
• Unfortunately this is the week your nighttime sleep started going downhill.  You were only eating 1-2 times in the night, but I was having to replace your paci anywhere from 1-4 times in the night.  Exhausting!

Week 16 (October 5-11)

• Diaper size: 3 (only because we ran out of size 2's), Clothes size: 3 and 6 months (mostly 6)
• The first half of this week we were still in Panama City.  Your naps were great while we were there, but nights were rough!
• This week you started "talking" a lot more with high pitched "ooos" and "ahhhs"
• Nights were rough all week, probably a result of travelling.  And naps were hit or miss once we were home.  Always takes some time to get back on track after a trip with kids.
• I weighed you near the end of this week and you were 15lbs!
• You are now starting to grasp toys more easily.
• This week you really started to drool!  
• Your eyes have been very goopey/runny for the past week or more...definitely something to talk to the pediatrician about.

Week 17 (October 12-18)

• Diaper size: 3, Clothes size: 6 months (packed up all the 3 months stuff!)
• This was a week of firsts - your first trip to a pumpkin patch (Cagle's Family Farm), your first trip to the playground behind our house (and their pumpkin patch), and your first time in the doorway jumper.
• By mid-week you had a few good nights of sleep (one night you went 8 hours with only one paci insert) compared to where we were last week.
• You were constantly blowing out your diapers this week....so much poop!
• You continued to "talk" a lot this week!
• You had your second cold this week.  Hannah is picking up so many germs at preschool and bringing them home for all of us.  You had a runny nose and lots of sneezes.  Your sleep was very off (short naps resulting in lots of snacking all day).  
• You continue to nurse on only one side per feeding, for 5-7 minutes total.  Hard to believe how big you are despite nursing for such a short amount of time!  Mommy must have super milk! :-)

Week 18 (October 19-25)

• You turned 4 months old in the middle of this week!
• We had your 4 month check up this week.  You were 15lbs. 3 oz. and 26" long.  Everything looked good!  I told her about your rough nights and she suggested that it might be time to let you cry it out.  Boo!  I was really hoping to avoid that!  You were given two vaccines at the appointment (Prevnar and Rotavirus) and you were not happy about those. :-(. You had a slight fever and were out of sorts for a few days afterward.  Poor thing!  The only good result of the shots was the 7 hours of uninterrupted sleep you did that night.
• Diaper size: 3, Clothes size: 6 months
• Naps were hit or miss this week.  Some days were great and some were awful!
• We had a horrible week of nighttime sleep this week. :-(. You were up to eat anywhere from 1-3 times each night, with the majority being 2-3.  Ugh!  The paci didn't help to get you back to sleep and neither did rocking or walking or bouncing.  So I was forced to feed you every time you woke.  Not fun, but at least it put you back to sleep every time.
• One night this week we had a little nighttime scare.  I heard you fussing around 2:30am but it never escalated, so I just dozed off again and let you work it out since I had fed you less than 3 hours earlier.  After a little while (not sure how long because I didn't look at the clock) I felt like it had been going on long enough so I checked on you on he video monitor.  I saw your little feet facing the camera and you were on your back (I put you down facing the camera on your tummy, so you had flipped over and turned 180 degrees.). I went in to flip you back over and found the blanket over your head!  It scared me to death!  Thankfully it was a crocheted blanket with large holes in it, but it still scared me!  I rolled you back over and put the paci in, fully expecting you to need a feeding to get back to sleep, but you fell right back to sleep.  Poor baby...you were probably exhausted from trying to escape.  :-(
• You are so close to rolling from your back to your belly!  You rolled from your belly to your back several times this week in your crib.
• Your eyes are still goopey and crusty, but the doctor said that it is just a result of your clogged tear ducts and there really was no need to treat them.  The ducts will grow as you grow and the clogging will improve.

Your schedule this month was the same as last.  You were on a three hour nursing schedule with a 60-70 minute waketime after each feeding, followed by a 1.5-2 hour nap after the first three feedings and a short cat nap after the fourth feeding.  By the end of this month we started trying to drop the 4th nap and just keeping you awake after the 4pm (ish) feeding until bedtime around 7pm.

4 Month Stats

- Diapers: Size 3

- Clothes: 6 months

- Shoes: Size 1, I think...but you only wore them at the beginning of the month, so not sure

- Weight: 15 lbs. 3 oz.

- Height: 26"

We love you sweet, sweet girl!  You are truly such a joy!  Despite very little sleep this month, you continue to be such a happy baby and so easy going.  We couldn't imagine our lives without you and are so thankful for God's amazing blessing of you!  We love you all the way to the moon and back (that's a lot of love!!)

Hannah: 31 Months

"Little" Peanut,

Not so little anymore, but as I always tell you, you will always be my baby! Another month has sped by and we are gearing up for a crazy time of year with Halloween, Thanksgiving and then Christmas! It will be 2013 before we know it! Speaking of Halloween, we pulled out all our fall decorations this month and you have two new favorite toys now! Grandma's friend, Mrs. Lori, gave us two large stuffed animals (as talk as you). One is a black cat and the other is a ghost. You love them and play with them every single day. You are constantly giving them hugs and carrying them around the house. So cute!

This month was full of sickness, family and cooler temperatures. At the beginning of this month Uncle Brent and Aunt Lauren came to visit and meet Emma for the fist time and MeMaw and PaPaw came too. It was great to see everyone and you loved all the attention! At the end of the month we took our first trip as a family of four to Panama City, FL to visit Grandma and Grandpa. Uncle Chris came down to meet Emma for the first time and Aunt Julie came home too. We spent a full week down there which was great. You did a great job on the ride down and back (thanks to the portable DVD player!). The four of us slept in the same room while we were there and that proved to be very difficult. You, my dear, are not easy to sleep next to! You snore louder than most grown men! It's intense. Mommy didn't get much sleep that week and decided that I simply cannot sleep in the same room with you. We will have to figure something out for our next visit. But thankfully you did do a wonderful job sleeping in the twin bed while we were there and didn't attempt to get out on your own. Still amazes me!

Preschool has continued to be a favorite activity this month. Still no tears and nothing but smiles when I drop you off and pick you up. This month we started morning carpool and you did great! The only negative part of school are all the germs you keep picking up! You just started your third cold since starting school and you've only been going for one month! Yikes! At the beginning of this month you had your second cold which turned into croup. You gave us a major scare one night when you woke up in the middle of the night gagging and choking with the croupy cough. Thankfully that was the worst of it and it went away after a few more days.

One of my favorite things you have learned since starting school is the prayer you sing before snack time..."Father thank you, Father thank you, for our food, for our food." It's precious! You also have learned "prayer hands" which I love.

Naps have been great this month! You have actually been sleeping for almost a full hour everyday! AMAZING! I realize that many toddlers sleep for much longer every day with no issue but for you, this is a big deal! A solid hour without screaming is amazing. I really think your 'okay to wake' clock is working and I'm thrilled. Of course all the sleeping could also be attributed to the many sicknesses your little body has been fighting this month. (Thank you preschool!)

Baby dolls continue to be a favorite toy as well as little people and other small animal figurines. Your baby dolls are constantly using the potty and wearing your big girl panties, but you refuse to do the same. You would think that as often as you talk about the potty that you would want to use it...nope! We had a few random moments this month when you wanted to wear panties so I let you. However you continue to be scared to actually use the potty so you end up holding it for as long as possible. But one time this month you did actually pee in the potty! This was a big deal for you and I was so proud of you. It took a lot of back and forth and you weren't eager, but you did it and did it all by yourself! I was feeding Emma so I couldn't help you. You kept running back and forth to tell me that you had gone when actually you hadn't. But then you finally did. To help you not be afraid I had put a cloth diaper in the bottom of your little potty and told you that you could sit on the potty and pee in your diaper. Tricky, right?! :-). While it worked for that one instance you were no longer interested the following day and I didn't push it. You will get there on your own and if not I will force the issue next summer. We have stopped all talk about the potty with you and have let you take the lead completely. So any little bit of interest is exciting to me.

This month your fear of bugs really started showing. That apple didn't fall far! Mommy and Daddy aren't big fans either. According to you, all bugs are called bees and when you see one (no matter how small) you freak out. Silly girl! Another quirk that started to show this month is how much you hate having your hands dirty. One day this month you had a complete meltdown at lunch when you were eating a PBJ and your hands were messy. Yikes!

This month we started doing formal time outs with you. Pretty amazing that we have never needed to do them before now. You truly are so well behaved! Unfortunately the time outs did not work very well as you seemed to really enjoy them. After a few days you started trying to get sent to time out. You would do something wrong, like pulling on Emma's arm, and then look at me and say, "I need to go to time out." Stinker! I think it was just the novelty of something new along with the timer that we used during timeout. We often found you sitting on the steps playing with the little egg timer and if we asked you what you were doing you would tell us that you were in time out. So silly. Needless to say, we didn't end up using time out very much this month. For the most part, we are able to discipline you just by talking to you (your communication skills are above and beyond the typical two year olds) or by giving you a spanking when needed.

Your latest silly saying is, "What's the big idea?" We have daddy to thank for teaching this to you. But I have to say that it's pretty adorable!

One thing that you really struggled with this month was sharing with your sister. I fear that this is only going to get harder as she gets more interactive, but we will see. Anytime I try to put Emma in the swing, bouncy seat, exert saucer, etc. you run to grab your baby doll and try to put her in before infer Emma in. When I tell you no you have a complete meltdown. You even try to pull Emma out of whatever I have out her in which is certainly not nice! Thankfully you have gotten a little better with this as the month progressed but it is definitely something we are still working on.

Favorite foods this month were hard-boiled eggs, nuts, bread (not toast) with almond butter, raspberries, baby bell cheese, crackers, squeezy pouches (puréed fruit and veggies), applesauce, sugar snap peas, and cottage cheese. I also made you your first almond butter and banana sandwich which you loved.

Other 31 month stats:
-You wear 3T and 4T clothes
-You wear size 8-8.5 shoes
-You wear size 5 or 6 diapers (6 at night for sure!)
-You weigh 33 pounds and are 37.5" tall (90th percentile)

Little peanut, I love you! You are so special and bring us so much joy! We thank God for you every day and are so proud to call you daughter!

And we're off...

In celebration of Brian's 31st birthday we are heading to Florida for the week to visit with his family. This is Emma's first road trip and so far, so good. We have been in the car for nearly 5 hours now with with only one stop (for a diaper change) and she has been a champ! While she is not loving the car seat and has only slept for 40 minutes total (two 20 minute cat naps), as long as I continue to pop the paci in her mouth (over and over) she is okay. I have to say though, traveling with two is tough!! I'm cramped in the back seat on paci duty, changing out Hannah's dvd every 15 minutes or so (can we say short attention span!) while brian is driving with one headphone in, listening to who knows what!? At least one f us is relaxing a bit! :-) Are we there yet??

This sure was a relaxing twenty minutes when they were both asleep! :-)

Ready or Not...

We have started a new chapter in life...SCHOOL! Hannah started preschool on September 4th! She is in the two's class and going two days a week, for 3 hours each day. It was definitely bitter-sweet seeing her start "school". She was so excited on her first day and thankfully the excitement has continued.  She is in a class with one of her best friends (the "other Hannah") and she loves her teachers!  I love that she has something fun to do twice per week since there aren't a lot of fun things happening here with a newborn around.  I love that she is becoming independent, but I hate it too! :-(  My baby is growing up and there is nothing I can do to stop her.  Boo!

August 29, 2012 - Meet Your Teacher Day

Hannah did great!  I dropped her in her classroom for one hour while I went to a meeting for the parents.  She was happy when I dropped her off and happy when I picked her up!  I was pleasantly surprised!

 

 

 

September 4, 2012 - First Day of Preschool

Hannah had a GREAT first day.  Mommy and Daddy took her in for her first day of school and she walked right into her class, without hesitation!  A huge success!

 

September 18, 2012 - 5th Day of School

Showing off her "I Love School" shirt!  It's true! :-)

 

 

September's Art Work

I am taking a picture of each of Hannah's creations that she makes at school.

 

 

 

 

Emma: 3 Months Old

Emma,

You are officially an infant and no longer a newborn!  I'm just going to say it one time...SLOW DOWN!  It is baffling to mommy how fast time is flying by.  I thought time went fast when your big sister was a baby, but it is SO much faster now.  You have grown so much this past month and are even more squishy now!  I love it!  3 months really is the perfect age.  You aren't moving very much (just the occasional roll and wiggling) so you stay where I put you and you are full of smiles and giggles.  The smiles are a welcome addition after 3 months of being very serious! :-)

Here's what you were up to each week during your third month of life:

Week 10 (August 24-30)

 

• Diaper size: 1 or 2, Clothes size: 3 months, Shoe size: 1
• This week you discovered your hands!  They became a favorite play thing. :-)
• At the beginning of the week you had wonderful naps!  You were going down very easily for every nap and sleeping the full 2 hours!
• Nights were better too, with several nights of 6 hour stretches and only one feeding in the middle of the night every night this week!  We are turning a corner!
• You wore footed pjs for the first time this week.  It's been so hot since you were born that I have only been putting you in short sleeve onesies.  You look so cute in those footed pjs!
• The paci started to be an issue this week.  You are now very reliant on it to fall asleep (our fault because we really don't like to hear you cry at all!) so every time it falls out we are running in there to pop it back in.
• At the end of this week, MeMaw and PaPaw came to visit while Daddy was in NYC for work.
• Bedtime was still a battle this week as you were most fussy after the 7:15pm feeding.  We did a dreamfeed around 10pm, if you weren't already awake, but most nights you were still awake, fussing.

Week 11 (August 31-September 6)

• Diaper size: 2, Clothes size: 3 months
• You had a spinal canal ultrasound this week (on September 2) at Scottish Rite Children's Hospital.  Everything is fine, you just have a curved butt crack. ;-) 
• We took you to church for your third visit and you were still so noisy.  I ended up having to take you into the hallway during the service where you slept in my arms.  (I secretly LOVE that!)
• You had your first cold this week - a stuffy nose and lots of sneezes.  Thankfully you handled it like a champ!
• You went to the playground for the first time this week (Chamblee Methodist Playground).  You slept in my arms for most of the time we were there.  It was HOT!
• We had a few rough days this week, with short naps and fussy evenings, but overall it was a good week!  We saw some improvement at bedtime.  You still didn't fall right to sleep after your 7:15pm feeding, but if we went in several times to reinsert the paci you did eventually fall asleep.  This meant that I was able to restart the dreamfeed around 10pm.  This became my favorite time of day with you!  You would stay asleep the whole time (6-10 minutes total) and were so sweet and cuddly.
• One night this week you slept from 10:30pm until 5am with only one paci insert around 3am).  This was huge improvement!  Another night you slept 5.5 hours straight overnight!

Week 12 (September 7-13)

 

• Diaper size: 2, Clothes size: 3 months, Shoe size: 1
• Naps are still hit or miss. Some days are great and some days are awful.  I guess this is just life with a baby!
• We moved the straps up on your car seat...you are getting so big!
• One night this week, we were forced to let you cry it out at bedtime (which broke my heart!) because nothing else was working.  We tried giving you the paci (over and over and over again), rocking you, burping you, changing your diaper, feeding you more, and nothing worked.  You cried (screamed really) for 15-20 minutes until you were finally asleep.  I hated every single second of it, but there truly was nothing else that was working.  :-(
• You had several amazing nights this week where you slept 7-7.5 hours straight!  I didn't do the dreamfeed one night (in the beginning of the week) and you slept for 7.5 hours (the longest you had ever done).  This made me realize that the dreamfeed was actually making your sleep worse.  So we dropped it!
• While I was watching you on the video monitor during nap time this week, I noticed how strong your neck is.  You can hold your head and chest up for several minutes and are so very close to being able to roll over from your belly to your back (yes, you sleep on your tummy).  You spent 25 minutes practicing these skills in the middle of your nap on September 11.
• Hannah's preschool on Tuesdays and Thursdays is really messing you up.  Pick up and drop off both fall during nap time and you no longer sleep well in the car seat.  It will be better when you can have a longer wake time, but for now we are just adjusting your schedule as best we can.
• You may have had a growth spurt this week (near the end of the week).  You were very hungry and even ate from both sides for some feedings (this never happens).
• You are officially dependent on the pacifier to fall asleep now.  Reinserting it is a bit annoying.  I look forward to the day you can pop it back in yourself!

Week 13 (September 14-20)

• Diaper size: 2, Clothes size: 3 months & 6 months (footed pjs)
• You rolled over this week (tummy to back)!  It happened in your crib after I put you down after a middle of the night feeding. 
• We brought out the exersaucer this week and let you try it out for the first time.  You are still too small for it, but seemed to like it.
• Bedtime was a battle again this week, with us having to replace the paci 30+ times before you fell asleep.  Very frustrating!
• Another week of some good and some bad nap days.  I realized this week that I have another bad sleeper.  You just aren't a sleepy baby anymore. :-(
• Night time had HUGE improvements with two nights of 10 hours of sleep! (8pm-6am)  You slept solidly for 10 hours one night and the other I only had to give you the paci once around 1:30am.
• The swing is no longer my go-to when I can't get you to fall asleep.  It doesn't work anymore to put you to sleep.  We still use it from time to time for entertainment, but I think I will be ready to sell it soon.
• You started to swipe at dangling toys in the middle of this week.
• Uncle Brent and Aunt Lauren came to meet you at the end of this week.  They stayed for 3 days and it was a blast!

Week 14 (September 21-27)

• You turned 3 months old at the beginning of this week!
• Diaper size: 2, Clothes size: 3 & 6 months
• Bedtime was easier at the beginning of this week....a welcomed change!  But by midweek it was a mess again.  One night you were up and down several times, screaming hard.  I rocked you to sleep (you never let me actually sit down, but insist that I walk around and bounce you) multiple times but each time I put you in the crib you woke right back up, crying.  Thankfully things were very good again by the end of the week.
• Overnight you did pretty well this week with just one night of lots of wakings.  But every other night you wake around 1-2am when I give you the paci and you fall back to sleep.  Then you wake again about an hour later and I feed you.  You usually wake again around 6am and I give you paci one more time until you wake for the day at 7am.
• You had lots of drool this week!  Teething??

Our schedule this month remained fairly consistent.  Our morning wake time was between 7-7:30am, with a one hour wake time (including feeding) before going down for a 2 hour nap after the first 3 feedings of the day.  After the 4th feeding (around 4pm) you would take a cat nap for about 1 hour and then we would reverse the eat, play, sleep routine to play, eat, sleep before you last feeding of the day.  You remained on a 3 hour schedule the entire month, with 60 minutes being your optimal wake time for most naps.

3 Month Stats:
- Diapers: Size 2
- Clothes: 3 months and some 6 months
- Shoes: Size 1, but you didn't wear them often this month
- Weight: 15 lbs.
- Height: 24"

You truly are such a joy, Emma!  You remain very easy going and sweet.  You love to be around people and rarely cry.  We love you little squishy!

My Little Squishy

Enjoying some mommy and Emma time while Hannah is at school. Love this little squishy!

Hannah: 2.5 Years Old/30 Months

Sweet, Sweet Hannah,

I can't believe it...2.5 years old!  Really?  I know I've said it before, but please slow down!  We have spent the last month adjusting to a new routine...Preschool!  You have far surpassed my expectations with how you have handled the transition.  I was so surprised with how well you handled the separation and am proud to say that you have not cried one time!  Amazing! 

You continue to amaze me with how well you are doing in the toddler bed.  You have continued to stay in your bed until we come to get you up (from naps or in the morning).  Even if you don't sleep, you lay in your bed the whole time.  Such a good girl! :-)  You also love when Mommy lays in your bed with you to read bedtime stories or say bedtime prayers.  It's my favorite part of the day too!  You and Daddy started reading the bible together every night, which is absolutely precious.  You always request the same stories - "Baby in a basket" (the story of Moses) and "The Garden Story" (Adam and Eve).  I wanted to give you a snapshot of our bedtime routine: We start the process at 7:15 or 7:20pm with a new diaper (an overnight diaper), pjs and "naked baby" time (where you run around like a crazy person).  Next we brush your teeth (Mommy or Daddy brush them first and then it's your turn).  Then you drink water from a small paper cup.  We then go back into your room and Daddy reads you one book and several bible stories.  Next we do bedtime prayers.  We ask you what you want to pray about (usually MeMaw and PaPaw, Grandma and Grandpa, your friends, or whoever you say that day).  Then you pray, "Heavenly Father, thank you Jesus for ______.  Amen."  Then one of us prays and you are sure to interject your requests the whole time. :-)  We then sing you two or three songs (always the Barney song "I love you" and our version of "Lullaby and Goodnight" and sometimes "Goodnight Sweetheart").  We tuck you in by 7:45pm, turn on your sound machine, fan, and clock.  We usually have to come back in at least one time to tuck you in again or threaten a spanking before you fall asleep around 8:30pm.  Thankfully this back and forth seemed to subside by the end of the month.  You are sleeping for 11-12 hours each night and 1 hour tops for your nap (every couple days, but for the most part you are just playing in your bed).  But I'll take it!

One thing that you surprisingly haven't ever been interested in is choosing your outfit each day.  I have talked to several friends and am always surprised with how opinionated their children are and what a struggle it is to get them dressed every day.  Thankfully we have never had any issues with dressing you!  So this month, I decided it was time to start giving you some options with your clothes.  I let you pick between two choices for either the top or bottom half of your outfit and then I pick the rest.  That way you are gaining some independence, but still matching! :-)  The only thing you are slightly opinionated about is that you LOVE to wear pink!

Your favorite toys are your new wooden blocks (love making "castles"), playdough, babies, little people, little animals, "teeny tiny baby" (a little plastic baby from the King Cake that Grandpa gave you), and reading.  Your favorite foods are beans, pita chips, cheese, raspberries, dried fruit, Annie's organic snack crackers ("bunnies"), cottage cheese, broccoli, carrots, frozen peas, ice cream, cake, cauliflower, bread, and pizza.  You continue to love water only to drink!  Your favorite TV shows are Super Why, Barney, Curious George, and Clifford.

Favorite sayings this month:

- "I have milk in my boops (boobs) now" - as you nurse your baby dolls

- "I'm so sared (scared)" - while you run away from Bubbles

- "Oakie milk" - for oatmeal

- "Mommy said ____" - you always remember everything I tell you!  Always keeping me in check!

- "Having a little sister is the best!" or "I love having a baby.  It's the best!"

- "It's a little bit spicy" - different foods you try, like Daddy's special chicken

- "Whatever" - thank you daddy

Speaking of sayings, you are so funny when it comes to following the rules.  Whenever anyone says "What the heck", you immediately snap your head around to look at me and say, "We don't say heck!"  I told you once that you shouldn't say that because it's not a nice word and you have never forgotten that "rule".  The same goes for "poopy" and "pee pee" because one day you were saying those words over and over, being silly and I told you that it wasn't nice to say that.  Now you have taken it to an extreme and anytime I say "Emma has a poopy" or "Let's change your pee pee diaper" you are sure to let me know that "We don't say that".  HAHA

Mommy is a little embarrassed about this, but we made your first blanket tent this month.  Yes, I know, I should have done this a long time ago, but it's one of those things I kept forgetting to do.  You loved it!  You brought all your babies into the tent and hung out in there for quite some time.  We made several tents this month.  And just to clarify, while this may have been your first blanket tent, it wasn't your first tent experience!  You have had your own pink tent for nearly a year now!  So you haven't been completely deprived! ;-)

Sharing has been a big struggle lately...go figure, a two year old that doesn't share well. :-)  While I'm not concerned, it is a bit embarrassing to have the child that cries every time someone takes something you want to play with (which always is whatever they have!) or that will have a meltdown every time your friends come over to play because you just don't want to share anything.  I know this is a phase though and am hopeful that preschool will be beneficial in this arena.

One thing that I have started to be concerned about is your love of walking on your tip toes.  You have been doing this for as long as I can remember (probably since you started walking, but I'm not 100% sure).  I made the mistake of googling tip toe walking and have now been working with you everyday to teach you to walk correctly ("heel/toe").  You can do it, but it is definitely not your natural inclination.  You always walk on your tip toes unless I constantly remind you to walk correctly, which drives us both crazy.  I am pleased to see that you can walk on your feet flat, but I don't like that it is so uncomfortable looking when you do it.  I need to call the pediatrician to see what she thinks, but I am hoping that this is just a little quirk that will fade in time.

A major point of contention this month was potty training (AGAIN!).  I was determined to get you trained (since you are definitely ready physically and you actually asked to wear panties!), so I started on August 17 with nothing but panties.  You were excited as well!  On the first day you had no accidents (YEAH!) but also no successes.  You literally held it all day, from wake time until nap and then from nap until bedtime.  You soaked your nap time and bedtime diaper!  I knew that couldn't be good, but I continued on in hopes that it would click.  On day two you had two pee accidents (one at our friend's house!) and 1 poop accident (also at our friend's house!).  Another day of no successful potty trips.  Frustrating!  On day 3 you had two successful trips to the potty!  You peed twice in the potty, but did have two poop accidents.  I was very excited for progress!  Day 4 was another bust.  Once again you held your pee all morning, until nap time (5.5 hours!) and then after nap time you peed all over the kitchen floor while running around saying, "I don't want to pee on the potty!".  UGH!  This fear of peeing on the potty is very frustrating!  I gave up on Day 5, seeing that you really weren't making any progress and were seriously afraid of going on the potty.  I decided to take a new approach and let you decide if you wanted to wear panties or diapers.  You went back and forth all day and even peed in the potty once!  But you were VERY scared.  You also peed on the couch once.  Oops.  I decided that a good compromise would be to use cloth diapers in hopes of you not liking how they feel and wanting to wear panties. Unfortunately it didn't work and the laundry required was just too much.  I tried for two more days (on and off) and you simply aren't ready.  It has been a VERY frustrating thing for Mommy, but I know that you will get it one day.  I just hope it's sooner rather than later!

On August 19, we asked you what you want to be when you grow up.  The first thing you said was, "A Mushroom".  Silly girl!  Then we asked you if you wanted to be a doctor, to which you replied "No".  We then asked if you wanted to be a Mommy, to which you replied "No".  What about a nurse at the hospital?  "YES! And I'll help the newborn babies and take them to my house and give them all a big, big hug."  HAHA  You are so silly and so precious!  I hope you chase your dreams sweet girl, whatever they may be!

Other 2.5 Year/30 Month Stats:

- You wear size 3T or 4T clothes (majority 4T)
- You wear a size 8.5 shoes now
- You wear size 6 diapers, day and night

2.5 is a very fun age!  We love you so much Hannie!  It is such a blessing to be able to watch you grow everyday!