1/5/12

Marielle is 5 months old today! She has changed so much; she’s much more of a person. She has the best smile and when she crinkles her eyes, it makes me melt.

Elianna seems to have adjusted to having a sister pretty well. Marielle is the first person she asks about when she wakes up and while there are times she isn’t interested in her, most times she wants to include her in everything. For Marielle’s part, she loves Elianna; if Elianna is in the room, her eyes follow her around the room and she has a huge smile on her face.

For Elianna’s part, she’s become quite the little mother. She ‘pumps’ for her dolls and will feed them, either with a bottle or ‘breastfeeding’.

Elianna pumping

She wants to feed and burp Marielle and does a pretty good job, only gagging her a couple times with the spoon.

Ah, yes, we’ve started solids and the Divine Miss M is a fan. Avocado is her favorite, closely followed by bananas. Sweet potatoes are meh but she’ll eat them. Tonight she even grabbed the spoon from me and jammed it in her mouth. She also screamed at me when I walked away to get her more. She’s going to be a good eater, just like Elianna, at least I hope so!

The fog has lifted!

And not a moment too soon! Those 1st few months were pretty rough, I won't lie. There were times when I really wasn't sure I was going to make it; the only reason I kept going was that I had to. It was slow coming but I definitely feel I've come out the other side.

Which is awesome because Marielle has become a really sweet, happy baby. It took awhile but now we realize that her ear piercing screams don't necessarily mean she's upset...she's just a screamer! Seriously, the girl has a future in horror movies. But now that we know it's not always a mad thing, it's pretty cute. She's kept Elianna up from a couple naps:

Me: Elianna, why aren't you sleeping?

Elianna: My sister is screaming so I'm counting my toes.

Because that is the obvious thing to do when one can't sleep, right?

I've also realized that if I'm going to do any justice to this blog I'm going to have to do it with Marielle or Elianna on my lap and I'm going to have to type FAST. Marielle's attention span is what you'd expect for a 4 almost 5 month old and Elianna has decided she likes to put plastic bags over her head (eek!) so leaving her alone even if all the bags are away is not an option. This doesn't leave much time for showering, let alone blogging but I'll do my best. No pictures this time but I'll get more up there soon.

Time marches on...

Marielle had her 2 month appt today and she has rocketed up the scale for weight from 4% to 22%; she weighs in at a whopping 9lbs 12 ounces. She's already out of clothes that Elianna wore for 4-6 months!

We're getting more awake time during the day and she's started cooing and smiling which is just awesome. She has regular smiles and she has ones where she crinkles her eyes up that make me laugh because they are so infectious!

Elianna loves talking about Marielle; every day when she wakes up she asks, "Where Mawi-el?" She loves giving her hugs (which kind of look like head butts) and she asks to do tummy time with her most days. We're still not sure what, exactly, Elianna thinks of her little sister but at least she's not trying to give her away on the street corner so we're all good. Actually, I'm wrong. Recently, we asked Elianna if having Marielle around is fun. Her answer was an immediate and direct, "Noooo."

Elianna is so much fun and so much work all in the same breath. She's talking, talking, talking and amazing others with her verbal skills. She also takes doing it 'by self' to a new level. This is a child who, if you carry her up the stairs because she's taking too long, will scream at you, make her way back DOWN the stairs, as fast as possible so she can go up the stairs by herself. This, of course, completely negates you carrying her up the stairs to save time.

Halloween approaches and we are trying to figure out what to give out for the holiday that isn't completely at odds with our aversion to so much sugar but doesn't make us the house that gives out toothbrushes with paste. Elianna has decided she wants to be a donkey. Hopefully we can find something that is cute enough for her. If not she'll just have to be cute enough all on her own...shouldn't be too hard.

Settling in!

That we are. Marielle is still an interesting sleeper and yes, 'interesting' is a euphemism for whatever word for 'bad' you want to substitute but we're managing. She's done some 4 hour stretches which have been just heaven and much welcomed but her usual is more like 1-2. The witching hours between 5-10 are still alive and well but she's a bit less crabby and we're even getting some smiles and coos which just melt my heart!

Oppi Moishe is here now and is utterly charmed by Elianna (of course!) and pronounces Marielle, "gorgeous". Nammy arrives in November and we're looking forward to her visit.

This parenting of 2 is quite the challenge and I have massive, massive respect for those who do with without help. Nikki has been awesome and has been chomping at the bit to take care of both girls. We've done it once for a dinner out and she was a rock star, like always. We are so lucky to have such a great person who really cares about the girls.

Still having trouble taking as many pictures as I'd like but I'll try.

Our sleepy girl:

Daddy and Elianna:

Tummy time!

Sleep is for the weak...

That's what I'm telling myself. I may or may not have snarled out loud when some well meaning soul 'commiserated' with me, saying that getting 3 or 4 hours of sleep at at time is "so difficult". Ha! I'd commit dastardly deeds for a block of 3 hours; I've been getting more like 1.5-2 and only 3 of those in 24 hours. Elianna was definitely a better sleeper. Still, I'm finding it's amazing how well I'm functioning on such little rest and Mike has been a rock star, making sure I get as much as possible. We are settling in, though and I have hopes of a routine in the not so distant future...only because we managed to end up with one for Elianna.

Mom and Kevin came for a visit and had a blast with Elianna. She went to the carousel and they drove north to Greenbluff farms and picked apples and peaches. She charmed them with her doings and dazzled them with her singing skills (Prepare! Prepare!). I realized after they left that we didn't take a single picture. Boo!

Oh well, here are some recent non grandparent pictures. Enjoy!

And then there were 4...

It's been awhile and it's not like you all don't know already but we have a new addition to the family! Marielle Kathleen arrived August 5th and although it wasn't quite as big a bang as her sister's arrival, it was momentous nonetheless. We were told on Thursday that due to low fluid levels, we should induce delivery. We were skeptical of the necessity but after hearing the doctor throw around words like stillbirth, etc. we were convinced. I checked in on Friday at 730 and pitocin was started around 830. A mere 5 hours later, the divine Miss M made her appearance...loudly!

We moved to a new room and Elianna made her sister's acquaintance a few hours later:

note how much pinker Marielle got in the interim...I was a little concerned!

We are settling in nicely and Elianna seems to be adjusting reasonably well to her sister. She loves looking at her and kisses her head a lot. She's almost stepped on her head a couple times and likes to cover her face with blankets so we watch them carefully but it's all innocent.

Sleep, however, has become hit or miss which I was expecting. Marielle has her days and nights mixed up and I'm not really sure how to fix that. Also, Elianna has had 2 colds since bringing Marielle home and that always messes *her* sleep up so sometimes Miss M will be crashed out but I'm still up because Elianna is upset. This too, shall pass...or so I'm told. *yawn*

A couple more pics of my cuties!

That's it for now. We're doing well and hope to get some more posts and pictures up soon!

Two year old!

Big 2 year old!

Her second birthday has come and gone and I can't believe how fast this year went. Our scrawny little chicken has morphed into a full fledged toddler who loves doing things on her own, who expresses her own opinions, who delights in trying new things and who makes us laugh pretty much daily.

Her second year celebration was pretty low key but she got plenty of birthday songs sung to her which she totally loved and she blew out candles on her very own cupcake so I think she deemed it a success. Pretty sure next year will be the one she'll start to remember so we may have to go a bit more all out but this year was fine.

It's a bit bittersweet right now because a new little one is joining our lives...very soon. Mike and I are very excited but also just the teensiest bit sad that Elianna won't be our only focus. I think she's going to be a fantastic big sister though and can't wait to see how their relationship develops.

Her favorite boots...wears them all the time:


Our gorgeous girl: