Family update

Since it has been a while I thought we would do a quick update. I will run down the whole family.

Gillian:

Gillian (Gigi) turned three months old this week. She is a very sweet, easy going girl. She doesn't cry very much and started to smile a couple of weeks ago. She has started to coo and I thought I got a little laugh about a week ago. I was tickling her under her chin yesterday and got a legitimate laugh out of her. This one was the real deal. I was tickling her so I guess I cheated, but I will take it! She loves to sit up and look around and has really good head control. Her favorite position is to sit up in your lap. She also likes to be held up, facing over your shoulder. I guess she just wants to see what is going on. Like her brother, she is not a fan of tummy time. She either screams like you are killing her or she falls asleep.

Stats:

Birth: height = 20 inches, weight = 8 pounds, 1 ounce
Two weeks check up: height = 20 1/4 inches (50th percentile), weight = 9 pounds (75 percentile)
Two month check up: 50th percentile all around. Perfect! Height = 22.5 inches, weight = 11 pounds, 2 ounces, head = 38.4 centimeters.

As for looks, she may have my eye shape, but her eye color still remains to be seen. It is currently a dark blue. She has my dark hair and Brad's darker skin tone. Luckily, I think she escaped what the Noble side (my Dad's side) of my family calls "the Noble ear". The Noble ear is one ear that sticks out more than the other one does. I have the Noble ear and I think Gabe does also. Gillian has my mom's ears. They are hairy though?! I am really hoping that hair falls out! I joke that I will have money saved for laser hair removal for her if it doesn't. Yikes! Funny side note: I took her to have professional photos taken. The photo I liked the best was almost a no-go because the light behind her was shining through the hair on her left ear. She looked like an elf! Good thing for photoshop. :)

Gabe and Gillian each have definite traits from Brad and me, but they are completely opposite of each other. When Gillian was first born I was worried that Gabe and Gillian looked so different from each other that you wouldn't be able to tell that they are siblings. Gabe has my fair complexion and Brad's lighter hair. He also has Brad's hands and feet. Gillian has Brad's darker complexion, my dark hair, and my hands and feet. Their facial structure is very similar though. I especially see it when Gillian cries. They have the same pouty bottom lip.

Gillian is a very good sleeper. Starting at about five weeks she has routinely slept through the night. Maybe once or twice a week she will wake up once to eat, but is easy to get back to sleep. She is easy to put to bed (I may regret saying that) and despite her disinterest in a pacifier, she is a pretty good self-soother.

As with all major life changes we are working through an adjustment period. Our only real glitches have been a possible allergic reaction that Gillian has had to dairy in my diet. She broke out in a rash on her face and down her neck that started out looking like baby acne, but then got much worse and would come and go. It also was upsetting her tummy. The doctor said these symptoms were likely an allergic reaction and, in almost all similar cases, was probably due to dairy in the mother's diet when breastfeeding. I went cold turkey off dairy for two weeks to see if it improved and it did. The rash went away completely, but she is still having some tummy issues. I have read that an infant's digestive system will be mature at four months. I am hoping this all clears up then. For now, I am off dairy. It is worth it for her, but I won't lie...I miss cheese! Gillian is a lovely baby. She loves to ride in the Baby K'tan, sit in her swing, and she almost always falls asleep in the car. Gillian is a very sweet baby. I love her so much!

Gabe:

Gabe is two years old now (27 months). He is 50th percentile for height (35 inches), 25th percentile for weight (26 pounds, 6 ounces), and 50th percentile for head circumference (48.3 centimeters).

Gabe moved into his new big boy room with a twin-sized bed in September. We are so proud of him! We were kind of worried it would be hard to transition him out of his crib and into a twin bed with rails, especially since we were also changing his room. We were really expecting a rollercoaster ride because Gabe had been waking up several times a night for about two months prior to transitioning him and was difficult to get back to bed. This was very unusual for him because he has always been a good sleeper. Given the strange sleep pattern we were in, we thought we better get started with this transition because it could be a rough, long road and we needed that crib for Gillian in December. But, nope! He moved right in to the new room and bed and never looked back. He started sleeping through the night again that first night. I think he had outgrown his crib. Not really, but I think the crib mattress was too firm and, because he tends to sleep diagnally in his crib, he was waking himself up when he would roll over and hit the sides. So, it turns out that the timing was good and he was ready to move after all. His room is decorated with robots and rockets. It turned out pretty cute...pics to follow soon.

We are starting to get serious with potty training Gabe. Some of his friends at school have already started potty training, but we decided it would be best to wait with Gabe until after Gillian was born and he had a chance to adjust. I had read/heard that potty training right before a major life change, like a new sibling, could make it harder and result in regression after the fact. We didn't want to cause Gabe any extra stress or set him up for failure by having him regress later, so we have waited to get serious until now. We have a little potty for him and have casually offered it to him, but haven't pressured him if he wasn't interested. He has been using the potty at school also. I think it is helping to see his friends use the potty. Gabe has started to show signs that he is ready. Lately he has taken a big interest in using the potty and has even told us when he has needed to go. For a while now he has made it clear that he had a dirty diaper by tugging at it. A couple of weeks ago he went a step further by telling me he had a dirty diaper. When I went to pick him up from school he ran up to me and said "Momma, poop!" while tugging on his pants. Sure enough, he had pooped. His discomfort in a dirty diaper and now verbalizing are big steps toward potty training. Last week he actually came up to Brad on two separate instances and told him he needed to "poop" or "pee". Brad took him to the bathroom and he went. Once we were in a restaurant when this happened and he ran out of the bathroom to tell me what he had done and yelled "I pooped!" It was so cute. The people at the other tables were equally proud of him!

Gabe is talking a ton now. We were a little worried that his language wasn't up to speed so we got a referral for a speech therapist. His evaluation showed strong receptive language (he understands everything that is said), but a mild expressive language delay (he doesn't speak even though he knows the words.) After about three months of weekly sessions Gabe is doing great. He is repeating just about everything we say to/around him (we will have to really watch what we say now) and is putting two, three and even four words together at a time! Yesterday I gave him a banana and he said, "Momma, I eat nana!"

Gabe has become very independent. He wants to pick out his own clothes and get into his car seat by himself. I like the independence, but it makes him kind of dangerous and makes some things take longer. Good stuff though! I love when he accomplishes a new task on his own. He throws his hands up in the air and yells "Ya!" with a big smile or he claps for himself. It is fun to watch him grow and be proud of himself.

Gabe is very sweet and playful and every bit a two year old boy! He also has a sensitive little soul. Gabe can be shy and get easily frustrated. While this has caused him (and Brad and me) some unnecessary heartache at times, Gabe's sensitive soul also brings some wonderful attributes that are my favorite parts of him. He is a very loving and insightful boy and he has a degree of sympathy/empathy that I have found to be very rare, especially in someone so young. Gabe also has a smile that will melt your heart.

Blaire:

I started back to work from maternity leave on Monday, March 5th. (Gillian actually started school on Thursday, March 1st. I started Gillian in school and took that Thursday and Friday to myself to clean the house and get a message.) The transition back to work has been pretty easy. I published a report about the drought two days before I went on maternity leave so I am able to slowly ease back in with little pressure. I am fortunate to have a nice, relaxed atmosphere at my workplace...at least during the interim. It is a totally different story when the Legislature is in session. But, for that reason, I purposely planned my pregnancies and this time in my kids' lives around the legislative sessions. Gillian will have just turned one year old when the session starts up again. Gabe was planned the same way and it worked pretty well.

As for life with two kiddos, things are going pretty well. I am getting the hang of the extra laundry and washing of bottles/sippy cups. I am getting enough rest and still have a fair amount of patience, but I have become aware that I need to take more time with Gabe to try to avoid and/or positively work through the tantrums and other toddlerisms that come standard when living with a two year old. I have found that hard to do when holding another baby, but I want both kiddos to get the time and attention that they deserve so I will find the balance. The good news is I have two arms for hugs and a lap and a heart big enough for both.

Brad:

First, this must be said...a special thanks to Brad for putting up with my crazy, manic behavior as I suffered through the hormone soup that hits about five days after having a baby. It seemed especially bad this time due to several factors...my concern for Gabe's adjustment, the holidays being piled right on top of this big adjustment, and my mom's death being still so fresh and compounded by everything just listed.

As always, Brad is a better father than I could have dreamed. Gabe knows his ABC's and can count to ten because of Brad. He is a tireless playmate and nurturer to his children.

Sandy:

Oh sweet, Sandy. What can I say about you? Poor Sandy has now been bumped down another notch. We love her so, but her walks are a little shorter now.

She is a sweet thing and is good around the kids. She used to sleep under our bed, but she has taken up her post on the rug in front of Gillian's crib at night.

Gabe loves to give her treats and she happily and gently takes them from him. The down side to that is she has gotten used to Gabe having something for her so she is always coming up to him and licking his face. Gabe is right at the perfect height to make it really easy for her too. It really annoys him. I can't say I blame him.

Because Sandy's outside/play time has been limited she has started to act out a bit. We can't really trust her off the leash anymore. Instead of staying close and coming immediately when we call her name, she has started wandering off and taking herself on walks. I even got a call from a neighbor that picked her up thinking she was lost. No good. So, we are going to have to have more structured walks with her in order to make sure she stays safe. We love her to pieces though so she is worth it. Crazy girl!