Rose at 21-22 Months

My little Rose is getting so big so fast. I think she's grown a lot in the past few months. I don't know if that has increased her size on the growth chart, but her 24 month clothing is getting too small and she is fitting better in the 2T clothes. Pants are still a big long, but her body is definitely looking more toddler-like than baby-like.

Rose at 21 Months

Beautiful smiles

Rose at 21 Months and Zoe at 2 Months

Though Rose does have her tantrums and we really struggle with getting in the car seat and putting on a diaper and pants at times, I love this age. She repeats everything you say. Her development is wonderful to see. She now strings sentences together to tell you what she wants, she knows pretty much all the words to "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star," she can count to 10 (but often omits 2, 5 and sometimes 9), she can sing most of her ABC's, she knows many of the words to other favorite songs like "Ba Ba Black Sheep," "Skinny Marinky Dinky Dink," "Itsy Bitsy Spider," and a few others.

Rose counting at 21.5 Months

Over the past month, I've also noticed her ability to play independently. It's been really helpful when I have things to do or need to attend to Zoe. As long as I'm in the room, or close by, she can often play by herself for up to 30 minutes. She loves taking care of her babies, putting them to bed or taking them for a walk around the house with her stroller. She also loves sitting with a pile of books around her, looking through and reading some. When we go to museums or play areas, she gravitates to the trucks and cars more than the dolls, but at home she loves her babies and books. She also loves to chase, or be chased, around the house. Playing tag is one of our favorite activities before bed. We have also gotten into the routine of reading "Goodnight Moon" each night before bed. We often read a second or third book. The other staples are "The Giving Tree," "Brown Bear, Brown Bear", and "Sam I Am" (Rose's title for Green Eggs and Ham). 

In addition to books, Rose also loves electronics. We skype often with family and Rose knows which button to press to get to the Skype app. If she finds one of our phones unattended, she brings it to us. We've given her one of our old smartphones connected to wi-fi to play with. It's her device to watch her "Aula de Portugues" (or "Portuguese Class"), which are kid's music videos in Portuguese. She loves "Avo Cantigas" and his songs, but frequently needs "help" getting the app back when she presses a button on the phone.

Rose loves electronics - here at the library

Rose will be out of school for half of November and all of December due to travel and family visiting. She has not forgotten any of her friends as she often asks me to sing "rock-a-bock-tick-tock" (or Rock a Bye Baby) replacing "baby" with the different kids at school. Rock-a-Bye-Baby is now our nighttime song after reading. Since she's been out of school, we've tried getting her some socialization by going to several museums and the park as much as we can. Unfortunately, she's still more strongly connected to her family than to other kids.

Enjoying one of our many fall farm visits

We continue to have success with Rose eating. She loves meals, and beef entrees still tend to be her favorites (meatballs, shepherd's pie, etc), though she also loves soup and fish. She often asks for cheerios, crackers, cheese, or raisins, which we limit to occasional snacks or after she's had most of her meal. This week she's been asking for hummus and actually ate a fair amount of it for snack today. We also continue to only offer water or kefir milk. We have given her regular milk, but she doesn't really like it now that she is so used to the kefir.

Rose also feeds herself just about every meal. She's coordinated enough to use both the spoon and the fork (it appears she is right-handed) and only resorts to using her fingers if she is very hungry and doesn't have the patience to use a fork, or if her attempts at using the fork have been unsuccessful. We still have to cut up some food for her, and she's good at telling us if something is too big, or if a spoon-ful is "too much."  Most foods are fine, except for watery soups, which end up all over the table, floor, and Rose. Her top canine teeth have finally come in, so now we are waiting on the bottom canines and the two-year molars. When her teeth bother her, she is a very cranky child.

Sometimes feeding yourself is messy

We continue to cloth diaper Rose and haven't made any progress in potty-training for the past few months. The novelty and excitement of using the potty has worn off, but Rose does go every morning and when we remind her (pee only). She now lets us know she needs a diaper change when she's very wet or when she has pooped. She likes to help put her diaper in the washing bin, and to help dispose of her poop in the toilet. I hope that school will assist with potty training when she goes back in January, or when she moves up to the 2 year old class in February-March.

I love Miss Rose's personality. She's such a joyful child and makes my life more fun. She has her occasional meltdowns, which primarily take place when she's tired or when her teeth hurt. But overall she is a great child. She's a great helper most of the time and sure does love her music (to sing and to dance). When we go somewhere new or where there are older children, she is very shy until she warms up. If she is participating in a group activity, she is very good at waiting her turn and following directions. She is also very good at sharing and I have a difficult time seeing her surprised and somewhat hurt when others don't share in return. I've also noticed her act bored with programs that she goes to often (like storytime), but she is paying attention in her own distracted way. 

Rose dancing at 22 Months - the girl has some moves!

Thankfully, Rose has remained healthy through these late fall months. She was a bit snotty early in November when she was in school, but since she's been out, she seems to be cleared up. I worry about her going back to school during prime sick season and hope she doesn't bring anything back to us (mainly Zoe), but I'm sure it is inevitable.

Stay tuned for updates on our winter activities and a 3 month update on Zoe. I'm catching up!!

Lots of Pumpkin Patches

I continue to fall behind on the blog posts, but will try to catch up before the new year!

Here is a quick photo recap of some of our fall adventures. We probably visited 3-4 pumpkin patches and went on at least two hayrides. Rose got to step out of her comfort zone a bit and explore some new activities. Zoe, still being so new to the world (and in the 4th trimester), slept during most of the trips, with some nursing sessions as needed.

One of our first adventures of the fall season brought us to Hill Ridge Farms, about an hour from home. The farm was amazing and I wish we got there earlier. We still ended up spending over 5 hours enjoying their many activities and eating lunch. We did the hayride to get pumpkins, did the train ride to see some fall displays, saw some animals, raced some ducks, climbed hay stacks, crawled through tunnels, and rode a giant log swing. There was so much to see and do and Rose had a great time. The food available for lunch was mediocre, but their bakery was excellent.  We will definitely head back there again next year and I look forward to having Zoe get to participate in the fun.

Rose is bravely climbing through the tunnel

One of several hayrides

We also visited Farmer Ganyard at Upchurch Farm and got to meet the farmer himself. We talked to him a bit about how we could support the farmland in Cary to prevent the land being used for development. It's a shame that farmers are better able to support themselves when the farm is a tourist attraction as opposed to it being used to grow food for people.  

At the Upchurch Farm, we enjoyed another hayride to get pumpkins, and got to go through a corn maze.  Rose led the way and only led us to 1-2 dead-ends. She also had a great time jumping in the "corn box." Of course, she did not want to go in the toddler corn box, opting instead for the older kids box. In the older kid's box, there was a slide feature that was not available in the toddler box. Since there were lots of kids playing in the older kid's box, we had to watch her a little more closely.

Navigating the corn maze at Upchurch Farm

Enjoying the climb and slide in the corn box at Upchurch Farm

We had a great fall enjoying the wonderful farm activities located in the Triangle. Since Thanksgiving, we've also been enjoying some holiday activities that will be posted on another day. I'm so glad we live in this area and have so many options for reasonably-priced toddler and kid-friendly activities.

Zoe's Second Month

I've been slacking on the blog. It's tough to keep up with two little ones and the holidays. This blog post is about a month old. I'll try to get her three month update on the blog much sooner.

Here is a recap of Zoe at two months:

Zoe's 2 month photo shoot

Zoe continues to grow like a weed. At her two month wellness visit, she was 11lb, 9oz (69th percentile), 22.8 inches (65th percentile), and had a 15.6" head circumference (70th percentile). She still nurses like a champ, taking large gulps and finishing up quickly. I don't mind taking a break from what I'm doing to feed her because she's usually done quickly. Burping her, on the other hand, takes forever. She continues to spit up a fair amount, has hiccups a lot, and takes a long time to burp. We have also started trying to give Zoe a bottle. We've probably tried 5-6 times with only 1-2 successes. I asked for advice on some mom Facebook pages and we tried having Colin feed her, tried various nipples, different bottles, and holding her in different positions. Nothing has really worked and she continues to act like she's choking when she tries to suck. When she's not screaming/crying, she just chews on the nipple. I hope she starts taking a bottle soon because I am stocking up on the milk storage. The Milkies Milk Savers got me about 100oz of breakstmilk in about 6 weeks. Now that I've started pumping and we are establishing a routine, I find that I am leaking less, so I am using the milk savers less often.

Our biggest obstacle continues to be her cradle cap and skin in general. When we remove the cradle cap, her head gets so flaky and dry and it somehow seems to make her face worse. The rash on her face has gotten better between one and two months, but is not yet completely clear. We voiced our concerns with Zoe's pediatrician, and were told the face rash looked a lot like the cradle cap and both looked inflamed. The pediatrician recommended 1% hydro cortisone all over her face and head, but I've been very hesitant to use a topical ointment often at such a young age. I try to clean up the cradle cap every few days and keep her face clean and dry.

Giving mommy a smirk

Zoe's eyes remain blue, though not quite so clear blue as they were. Her blonde eyelashes and eyebrows have darkened a bit over the past month, and her hair continues to be brown. She is very fair skinned and I still think she looks more like a Miller than a Clemente, but her filling in has made it difficult to figure out who she looks like.

At two months, Zoe is much more alert and looks towards sounds. She knows her mommy and has started giving us our first smiles and coos. Not only is she a big girl, she's also fairly solid. From the beginning, she's always been fairly easy to hold/handle and is already starting to hold her head up fairly well. We did notice a little bit of fussiness that peaked at 6 weeks, but for the most part, Zoe is a pleasant baby. She just doesn't sleep long stretches during the day and she continues to be a vocal child. At her two-month visit, the doctor gave her a clean bill of health and was pleased with her development.

Focused and alert as she looks at her mommy with her filling-in face

We continue our adventure with cloth diapering and were fairly successful during the second month. There were very few blowouts, and occasional leaks. I had purchased some second-hand all in one diapers, a few of which proved to have stretched elastics (they kept leaking). I found the cotton prefolds with Thirsties brand polyurethane (PUL) covers to work really well at keeping everything in the diaper. The only problem is that they are bulky. Between Rose and Zoe's diapers, I'm back to washing diapers every 2 days or so.

Several of the mom and pregnancy blogs continue to give me updates of the developments I should expect with my baby after she's born. Around 6-7 weeks, the blogs tell me I should start to see sleep patterns emerging and longer stretches of sleep at night. Ha! That's a good one. I do remember Rose taking really good morning naps (like 3 hours), and Zoe has also been sleeping fairly well in the morning - usually if she is in the carseat or if I am wearing her in a wrap.  I've been trying not to swaddle her during the day, to differentiate days from nights, so her constant jerky movements often wake her up. At night, she's been sleeping 3-4 hour stretches and very rarely do I get a 4-5 hour stretch. Since she nurses quickly, it isn't so bad. I do feel bad about putting her back down if she doesn't burp quickly. With Rose, I would nurse her on one side, change her diaper, and then nurse on the other side before putting her back. With Zoe, I nurse her on one side, try to burp her, and then put her back to sleep unless she poops during the feed. Zoe doesn't seem to mind and I feel much better having a shorter nursing session in the middle of the night.

Snoozing with mommy on the deck

The first six weeks flew by (in hindsight). A second baby is so different than the first. With Rose, I remember staying in pajamas all morning, having breakfast brought to me in the bedroom as I nursed Rose, and not really getting out much. With Zoe, I'm up every morning at 7am, dressed and having breakfast with Rose. Zoe often gets woken up by Rose, who wants to wish her a good morning, or "a morning" in Rose-speak. My mom helped with Zoe and Rose's care through Zoe's 5th week and then I had a week on my own before Rose went back to school and I started working from home part time.  We managed to get to story time 2-3 times that week and enjoyed walks to the park on nice days. 

The first two weeks I started working (weeks 7-8 of maternity leave), I had Rose in school 5 half-days weekly. Since Rose takes 2-3 hour naps in the afternoon, I figured I could get 2-3 hours of work done in the morning and 2-3 hours in the afternoons. I learned in those two weeks that I could really only count on 2 hours of work in the morning between Zoe's needs and drop off/pick up taking some time, and that 2-3 hours of work at a time was difficult to get anything accomplished in between handling a toddler. We decided to switch to 3 full days for the rest of my leave so I could focus more on work. 

I continue to be so grateful for having a job that allows me to have a work and life balance. While I love spending time with my girls, I really enjoy my work as well. At times it can be challenging to balance work with the girls, especially when Zoe gets hungry in the middle of a conference call, but for the most part, I can work uninterrupted for several long stretches and take breaks to feed or play with Zoe.

I haven't been able to exercise as much as I'd like. The weather this fall hasn't cooperated all that much, and when I have gone for a walk, Rose usually wants to walk too. Our walks then end up being short and slow. As a result, I haven't lost much more weight, but have managed to get into my more forgiving non-maternity jeans. I haven't tried going for a run yet, and expect that to be a challenge when I finally do. Breastfeeding so much makes me feel like I am constantly hunched over, and I really do need to work on my core and back. There just never seems to be enough time in the day for everything I want/need to do.

Stay tuned for Zoe's 3-month recap, Rose's 21-22 month recap, and our fall/winter photo shoot pictures!

Happy Halloween

The best picture I could get of Rose in her Halloween outfit for school

On Halloween morning, we took some pictures of Rose and Zoe in their Halloween shirts and then headed to the party at Waverly Place in our costumes (thanks to my friend Katie for passing them on to us).  We got lots of compliments as Rose enjoyed the playground, checking out the booths, and walking down the catwalk.  At the end of the event, we shopped and enjoyed lunch outside on the patio at Whole Foods.

Rose and Zoe smiling for the camera

The Miller ladies 

Daddy and his little girls

Fisher(wo)man and our lobsters

We hadn't been able to find time to carve pumpkins this past week, so after Rose decided she wasn't going to nap, we carved some pumpkins in the driveway. It was getting late in the day, so we wanted to be available to the trick or treaters in case anyone came early. Plus, it's easier to clean up outside.  Colin is very artistic, certainly more than me and impressive for someone without any training. While he looked for some inspiration for his design online, I used my store-bought stencil set to design my pumpkin. With Rose wanting to help, there was no way my stencil outline was going to work out.  Thankfully, Colin drew a face for me and Rose to carve. Rose managed to let me cut and then we both worked to clean out the inside. Meanwhile, Colin designed, cut and cleaned out a second pumpkin.  I was surprised that Rose was so helpful at (and into) cleaning out the pumpkin, but once we were almost finished, she wanted to put all the seeds back inside.  

You'll notice in the pictures below that Rose is in a cat Halloween costume that she only wore about 30 minutes. It's nice to have friends to give you costumes...she had choices to be a cat, a flamingo, or Winnie the Pooh, and ultimately didn't end up being any of those.  We trick or treated in our fisher(wo)man/lobster outfits for about 30 minutes on our street only. Rose enjoyed trick or treating once she realized that you went to people's door, got to socialize a bit, and then they give you something to put in the bag. She didn't really get the whole costume bit and was terrified of daddy's scary mask (and a few scary costumes).  Zoe slept the whole time in her stroller. 

Zoe in her gifted pumpkin outfit while we carved pumpkins

Rose wanting to help mommy design her pumpkin with the stencil set

Rose helping to scoop out seeds and pumpkin filling

Daddy's amazing creations

Our many pumpkins from several farm trips this fall

I love that Colin's pumpkin is eating a little pumpkin

I was bummed not to have any pictures of trick or treating this year, but after pumpkin-carving (and Colin cutting his hand), the night was more of a challenge than it was fun for us Millers. Rose skipping her afternoon nap was the driving factor, coupled with her teething, a cold (runny nose) that won't quit, and our trying to fit too much in late in the day.  It was a challenge to get her dressed, I couldn't find part of Zoe's outfit as we were ready to leave (which fell slightly under the couch), Zoe generally wants to eat/nurse longer most evenings, Rose dropped the iPad on the concrete while skyping and cracked the screen, and she was overtired when we finally managed to turn the lights out on trick or treaters to put her to bed.

Colin had set up the fire pit with our chairs in the driveway to greet trick or treaters (as many others in the neighborhood do), and it would have been nice to hang out there for a bit for the two hours most people come by. It probably would have been an enjoyable night if Rose had slept her 2 hours during the afternoon (and if her teeth didn't take so long to come through!).  She's been teething for the past few weeks and I'm only now starting to see the two upper canines come through.  We had a rough time in July with the four molars and are again experiencing challenges with teething. The poor girl is miserable when she's teething. I sure hope we get through this phase quickly and that the second molars that should come in 6-12 months won't be so hard on her.

Zoe's First Month

The big news with Miss Zoe is her growth. She is growing like a weed and the statistics prove it. In just one month Zoe nearly gained two pounds and one inch. At her one month visit, she was 9lbs, 3oz and 21 inches long, putting her at the 52nd percentile for height and 54th percentile for weight. It didn't take long for her to outgrow her newborn clothes (length-wise).  I can't say I'm surprised at her growth...Zoe eats like a champ! Not only does she nurse often, she takes big gulps and seems to eat quickly.  Thankfully, I don't have any problems producing the milk she needs, and she is often satisfied after a full feed.

Her schedule is fairly predictable. She wants to eat every 2.5-3.5 hours most of the day, and generally nurses more often (like every 1-2 hours) in the evenings (dinner until 10:30p bedtime). She's been fairly consistent with a 10:30pm feed, a 1:45-2:45am feed, and a 5:15-5:45am feed. Like her sister, she sleeps well in the mornings, sometimes going 4 hours. She does great going out and sleeps well in her carseat. She also generally likes to swing and has no problems sleeping through the various noises in the house. I'm surprised when she sleeps through Darwin's barking and Rose's loud chatter (and poking and prodding).

Unlike Rose, Zoe is not as fussy during the evening witching hour. It could be that I nurse her much more in the evenings, or it could be her personality, I'm not really sure.

During the day, we've been trying to keep Zoe in the main room(s) of the house with us, or with her car seat shade open if we are out, and I've been swaddling her only at night. She often fights the swaddle, unless she has already passed out when I put her in it.

Another characteristic of Miss Zoe is that she is extremely vocal. She squawks and grunts more than any baby I've ever heard (not that I've heard many). Both the midwife and pediatrician commented on how vocal she is. She'll make all types of noises for 15-20 minutes sometimes when she's waking up. Unfortunately, Colin is a light sleeper, so her noises keep him up much of the night.  I can sleep through some of the early ones and start getting myself ready to feed her when they get louder and it seems like she is almost awake.

During Zoe's first month, she got to spend a lot time with her Avo (my mother), and we had visits from Vovo (my dad) and grandma and grandpa (Colin's parents).  She's gone to a few story times and has been out and about quite a bit. She'll often come grocery shopping or run errands with me while my mom or Colin stay with Rose. In some ways she is easier to care for than Rose. I can pop her in the moby wrap and run errands with only the occasional stop to feed her (every 3 hours or so) during the day. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to do much in the evenings because Zoe wants to nurse so often.  I'm hoping that the evening cluster feeds are preparing her to sleep longer at night.

Rose still loves her sister, showering her with kisses and showing Colin how to hold her when he appears to be doing it wrong. Whenever Zoe cries, Rose yells "mommy, Zoe crying."  She has also started suggesting "Zoe milk" - that I need to nurse Zoe to stop the crying.  We've been trying to redirect her to practice what we do with Zoe on her babies. Sometimes it works and other times she still wants to help. I can't put Zoe in the swing when Rose is around because she wants to push the swing and she does it pretty hard. We also have to be careful when Zoe is in the car seat or on the floor mat. Rose often wants to pick Zoe up to hold her.

During Zoe's one month appointment, she received a clean bill of health. She doesn't appear to have any problems hearing or with her development. Over the past few days, I have noticed her really focus on our faces like she can see them better. She's also been following the cars on the musical mobile above the changing table. Going into her doctor's visit, we were concerned about a very severe-looking rash on her face, but were relieved to have a confirmation that she just had a bad case of infant acne. She also has significant cradle cap, which Rose also had.  After almost two weeks, the acne appears to be disappearing, with a few spots still on her neck, but the cradle cap remains.

I can't really tell if she is losing more hair, but she definitely still has a significant bald area on the top of her head. Her eyes are a deep, rich blue, so Colin and I predict she will be a blue-eyed girl. You can't tell from any of the photos. I probably need to take one in the sun/outdoors with natural light. Only time will tell us what colors her eyes will be.  Now that she is filling in, I think she looks less like a Miller. We aren't sure who she looks like now. Her face is much fuller and her arms and legs are filling in a bit more slowly.

I'm again grateful for a healthy girl and look forward to the next four weeks. Hopefully they will include longer stretches of sleep, resolving acne and cradle cap, and some first smiles. We just have to get through any fussiness, which is supposed to peak at 6 weeks.

Here are some pictures from weeks 2-4. The final picture is the most recent from this period. Who do you think she looks like?

Zoe at 2.5 weeks - still fairly scrawny

At 3 weeks she is filling in and the baby acne starts

Rose trying to help daddy with Zoe

Out to dinner with the family

Rose likes checking out Zoe's toys, even though it's Zoe's 1 month birthday

Zoe at 1 month

All dolled up, but not too happy

Startled by the flash

1 month photo shoot with the giraffe Aunt Karen gave her

It's difficult to sit up when you are only a month old

  Baby acne resolving, cradle cap and male pattern baldness in full effect

The First Two Weeks With Miss Zoe

We expected that a new baby with a 19 month old toddler would be a challenge, and it certainly has been an adventure.  Rose loves her sister so much and gives her lots of hugs and kisses, but she doesn't know her strength and has a difficult time communicating her needs and feelings sometimes.  We have tried to find a balance of allowing her to participate in the care of Zoe, but setting limits and boundaries on what we allow her to do.  She tests those limits and that has led to several tantrum outbreaks. For the most part, she wants to give Zoe kisses, helps mommy burp Zoe, and covers Zoe with a blanket. Colin and my mom are often practicing the technique of distraction when it seems she wants to be involved in the care of Zoe when it is not appropriate (like when Zoe is drinking her milk).

Thankfully, my recovery has been very quick and complication-free.  I continue to have minimal problems nursing Zoe and seem to produce an adequate amount of milk for her needs. Before delivery, I had been looking into getting Milkies Milk Savers since I had a strong let-down with Rose. I finally picked one up this week after two weeks of soaking through nursing pads. I've already bottled up 15oz of milk in two days! That is the amount of milk I was losing on the non-nursing side over the past two weeks. Now I wish I had bought them before I had Rose.

I probably wrote about the "period of purple crying" with Rose when she went through her fussiness each night from 5-7pm from the first month through the third month or so.  Thankfully, we haven't noticed that with Zoe so far, but we are just getting into the third week now, so there is still time. I've been very diligent to nurse Zoe on demand fairly soon after she starts fussing. We've had a few days where Zoe will essentially nurse non-stop for almost two hours. With Rose, since I was inexperienced and we had trouble with her latch, I probably didn't nurse her as often as she wanted in those first few weeks (or even months). Now, I wonder if her nightly crying was actually her request to cluster feed in the evening before bed. I guess it's not something I will ever really know.

I mentioned that Zoe is a good eater and has a pretty good latch. I will admit that we've had a few painful sessions and I've had to coach her a few times, but overall the nursing experience has been good.  We only had one night with a 5 hour stretch of sleep in the two weeks, and most nights I get at least one 3 hour stretch. For the most part, I'm up every 1.5-2 hours. Thankfully, Zoe can nurse in about 20-30 minutes, so it is somewhat manageable.  Similar to Rose, Zoe seems to sleep the best (ie longest) in the mornings.

After the first few days, we also started Zoe on cloth diapers. With Rose I had used the newborn g-diapers, but didn't love the way they fit and they were difficult to get on. I was able to sell them on craigslist and recoup much of the cost I paid for them. This time around I invested in a variety of newborn diapers like xs bum genius, newborn grovia, lil Joeys, and prefolds with thirsties size 1 covers.  While Zoe still had the umbilical cord stump, I was limited to the lil Joeys, but when the cord fell off around day 5, we were able to use the other diapers.  I really like the fit and ease of use of the bum genius (we've used the one-size bum genius with Rose since about 6 months).  I also find myself using the prefolds and thirsties covers as a second option. The only thing I hate about the prefolds is that they seem soaked every time I change her. It makes me feel like I'm not changing her enough.  I'm hoping we can get Rose potty trained by her second birthday so that we can use the one-size diapers on Zoe when she is ready for them.

On Friday, September 25th, Zoe had her two-week checkup at the Women's Birth and Wellness Center.  The target at two weeks is for babies to regain their birth weight. Not only did Zoe reach her birth weight, she also gained 1lb and 0.5oz, putting her at 7lbs, 11.5oz at 16 days.  The midwife was very impressed and I'm glad that all the nursing I feel like I'm doing is showing some results.  My mom jokes that you've got to watch out for the little babies...they tend to be the bigger (taller, stronger) kids when they grow up!

While Zoe's weight is going up, my weight and waistline is going down. The weather was so nice the first two weeks that we went on lots of walks. Coupled with nursing Zoe a lot and eating fairly healthy, I'm down ~18 of the 30 pounds I gained during pregnancy and actually just fit into a few of my more giving pre-pregnancy shorts/pants. I still have what looks like a small(ish) beer gut, but I expect it will go away over the next 2-3 months like it did with Rose.

Some personality traits that we've noticed with Zoe so far are that she: often has the hiccups; hates being burped and laid on anyone's shoulder; likes the Moby Wrap and going for walks; loves to stretch out when she's waking up, but loves her feet crossed and/or tucked under her when she's relaxing; seems to get hungry for mommy's milk when meals are ready for the family to eat; and when she wants to eat, she wants to eat now.

I think she looks like a Miller and most people that see her agree. Her face is more of a heart shape, whereas Rose's face is very round. Both Colin and I have longer faces, which I don't really see in either of our daughters.  Her eyes are currently very blue, like Rose's were at birth, and she has more (dark brown) hair than Rose ever did.  She seems to have the same "male-pattern baldness" that Rose had and her eyebrows and eye lashes are very blond.  I think she is going to be blonder than Rose, but only time will tell.

I'm so grateful for another healthy baby, with no medical complications at this point of her life. I'm grateful to be able to meet her nutritional needs and to have so much support from Colin and my mom so that I can rest when I need to while caring for a new baby and spending some time with my older baby. I do look forward to a time when Zoe doesn't need me quite so much so that I can more evenly balance my time and attention with both girls. As Colin says and I repeat often, "the days are long, but the years are short." I want to be sure I don't skip through this precious phase too quickly. While it's not my favorite age since it is so demanding on a mother, I know that we'll never have this phase again.

Here is the photo recap of the first two weeks...

First afternoon at home

No problem sleeping in the bassinet or co-sleeper at home

Content in the baby swing

First Full Day at Home

Rose wanting to help with Zoe
Usually, she says "Mommy, Zoe crying" (even she knows who needs to feed Zoe)

Taking our first of many family walks on Friday September 11, 2015
Zoe is in the Moby wrap

The First Week

Distracting Rose with YouTube music videos while mommy feeds Zoe

Rose enjoys trying to make bubbles on her own (she is somewhat successful)

Zoe is looking very blond with the nightime lights in the house

Zoe attends her first story-time at the library at just one week

The Second Week

Zoe is so hungry and mommy is not coming, so she sucks on her fingers

Our sleeping beauty

Zoe takes her first trip to Wrightsville Beach, NC at 10 days

Rose has a great time with the sand and water buckets with daddy and Avo
Mommy spends most of the afternoon nursing Zoe  :)

Between cloth diapers and growing quickly,
Zoe will be out of her newborn clothes very soon

A family photo at 12 days. Rose loves to hold her little sister

Sisterly love

At 2 weeks, Zoe is waking up to the world

2.5 weeks post partum