3 Months

 3 months old! Ida is weighing in at 11 pounds 13 ounces and is 23 inches long putting her in the 35ish percentile.

Ida is such an easy baby. She doesn't much like being held so our whole day pretty much consists of her waking up, feeding her, putting her under her play mat, then when she gets tired I swaddle her, lay her down and we start the whole thing over again. Yup... Easy. I do have to remind myself to go over and give her attention because I could probably go the whole day without really giving her quality time attention and she would be fine. She's just a happy, content baby.

 Ida is just thinking about learning how to grasp onto object. About three weeks ago she started reaching for the toys on her play mat and will hit at them (with a super adorable concentrated face). Then about a week ago she discovered she has hands and stares at them all day. I think it's pretty cute. :) She gets frustrated when she tries to grab something and her fingers wont work. It will come. She has also just started licking. I think it's so funny. If you stick something up to her mouth or she puts her hands by her mouth she will start licking them. Also, like Jacob, she really likes sucking on her hands. And if I put the pacifier in her mouth she will bring her hands really close to her chest like Jacob did.


Ida has rediscovered her voice and I think it's the cutest. I feel like it has such variation. So many different sounds and tones. She first started talking at the end of 1 month, but then she kind of stopped and has restarted talking a couple weeks ago. I love it! She especially likes to talk when she is getting tired or wants something.

And although it doesn't happen as often she still gets really upset really quickly. She can be fine and if I do something that's not what she wanted she goes from 0-60 in about 2 seconds. Thankfully, she usually settles down pretty quickly as well unless she is having what Scott and I call an "episode". Which is when she gets really really upset and screams and screams and the only thing i can do to settle her down is put her in her swing with her pacifier. But, the "episodes" don't happen very often.

Ida LOVES her wub (lion pacifier). When I hold it up to her you see her eyes get really excited then she starts concentrating really hard so she can try to grab it to put it in her month. It is pretty funny.

Ida is a great eater and a great sleeper. She is currently eating every 2-3 hours and is a very patient eater. I do think it's cute though because she is started to

get excited about eating and when I lay her on my lap to get ready to nurse her she immediately opens her mouth wide open and starts searching. But also when she's done eating she's done. And if I try to get her to eat more she gets really upset. She is also only waking up once a night to eat. Somewhere between 3-5 which is really nice! So she goes to bed between 8 and 9, wakes up to eat once then wakes up for the day between 7-8. Her napping has been really awesome as well and she takes a few half hour naps a day and one long one every hour in a half.

All in all I can't really complain. I think she is the cutest and super easy.

Jacob Turning 2

I officially have a two year old! We celebrated Jacob's birthday today with family and friends. Thanks all that came! Jacob is way into tractors right now so we had a tractor themed birthday party. I think  he loved it. Especially his cake.

So just a little update on Jacob. He is a little guy weighing 24.6 pounds and 33 inches tall (15 to 20th percentile). He is so easy going and fun (as long as he is well rested). I love his laid back personality. He is (and has been for a few months) starting to get into some terrible two's I think and likes to push his (and moms) limits. He is in a defiant and maybe slightly rebellious stage. Some days worse than others. But he likes to see just how far he can push mom before getting into trouble. It can be very very taxing on me some days and I struggle to have patience with him but this too shall pass. He tries to be big and wants to do things himself.

I, for the most part, let him try to do whatever he wants by himself and tells him if he wants help he can ask. I know he gets frustrated when he can't do something but practice makes perfect! His big thing right now is when he is eating he wants to cut everything up himself. Some things are easier than others but he is getting pretty good at it. Jacob is becoming a little teaser and likes other kids reactions, especially when it's screaming (I guess he's practicing to be a big brother). This I'm not so excited for. But when another kid doesn't want him to have something he will touch it just to make them scream... Over... and over... and over. But he also loves watching kids and I guess finds them funny because they can do almost any silly thing and it will make Jacob crack up. I LOVE this kids laugh! It is so contagious! The best is when he is watching a movie and starts laughing. I would call Jacob a people watcher. Usually when we go to the park he just sits and watches (and learns) from all the kids. Sometimes I don't like it so much because the older kids so things at the park that aren't age appropriate for Jacob but yet Jacob thinks he can do them.

Jacob is such a picky eater. Some days it's a struggle to find one thing that he will eat. The two things he does love right now and will eat whenever offered is grapes and oatmeal.

But our usual food options for lunch are a pb&j, chicken nuggets, pizza rolls or hot dogs. Ya... I know... Nice and nutritious... He usually eats breakfast really good and we rotate through pancakes, waffles, french toast or oatmeal. For dinner he will very rarely eat what I have cooked, sometimes if it's a pasta he will eat it, and so his lunch options usually become dinner options as well. I feel like I need to get that kid on some pediasure or something to get some nutrients in him.

Right now Jacob's favorite things are tractors, Lightning McQueen/Mater, airplanes and fire trucks. I feel he is fairly obsessed with these things. His whole life basically evolves around them. When we are outside or driving he is always asking where they are. It's pretty fun. :) Jacob also loves to swim and we got him a new life jacking/arm floaty device that he loves and we love because we feel like we can let him loose a little while swimming and we don't have to be attached to his hip to keep him from drowning because he has no fear of the water. So it's a win win for all of us!

Jacob has been a great sleeper! He likes taking naps and will tell me when he wants to take one. It's really convenient. So sometimes that means one nap a day, sometimes two. I just let him decide.

The hardest is when he only takes one nap sometimes he gets pretty tired in the evening and want to go to bed at like 6 which is not happening because then he's be up at 4 am. So I have to try to keep him entertained (and not thinking of wanting to go to bed) for a couple hours before it's his bedtime. We usually put him to bed at 8:30 and he is up between 6:30 and 7. On a really good morning he'll sleep in till 8.

We are just so grateful to have Jacob apart of our family. He just has the best personality and it's so much fun to watch him grow. We love you Jacob!!!

2 Months

Little Ida is 2 months old today! We took into the doctor today for a well baby checkup and her first round of shots. She currently weighs 10 lbs 7 oz (50th percentile) and 22 in tall (40th percentile). She is starting to get some chunk on her legs. Her first round of shots went well. It takes her a little bit to get over things so she thought getting poked in the legs three times wasn't very fun and it took her a little bit so settle down. Overall she is looking and doing great!

Ida hit her fist developmental jump around 5 weeks. She became much more aware of the world around her. She loves to intact with people and loves when they will sit and talk to her. She is pretty quick to smile if you are talking to her or playing pat-a-cake with her and I think I've almost gotten her to laugh! Also around 5 weeks she starting loosing the hair, receding hair line style.  :) And started getting pretty bad baby acne :( By two months it has cleared up for the most part but her skin seems to be very dry. Especially on her scalp. She also likes to hold her thumbs between her pointer and middle fingers on both hands... I don't know why but I think it's kind of cute. :) Her legs are becoming stronger and she is starting to support herself for short periods of time. Ida is a little wiggler. Her legs and arms are constantly moving!

At 6 weeks we switched Ida from newborn clothes to 0-3 months. She hit Jacob's birth weight around 5 or 6 weeks which is crazy! She seems so big and I can't believe that's how big Jacob was when he was born!

Ida's favorite thing right now is her swing. 90% of the time she will be completely content and happy in her swing. It is pretty convenient for me.

She also is starting to really enjoy the playmat.

I feel like I am finally starting to figure Ida out. Things she likes and dislikes. What her schedule is. How she likes to sit. I think she is a very content baby and she's not tired and fed then she will lay on the ground watching everything or under her play mat. When she is sitting alone I will often catch her smiling to herself (Or who knows what... Maybe grandparents on the other side). I don't think it's hard to get her to smile at you. When she decides she's had enough of laying on the ground she likes to be put in her swing or wrapped in a blanket and cuddled. Sometimes I'll just swaddle her and lay her in her bed and she will lay calmly looking around for half an hour before dozing off to sleep.

She has starting taking the pacifier more but doesn't seem to really need it all the time. She likes to have it when she is going to sleep most of the time. I think it will be pretty easy to wean her from it when the time comes. We decided to get her a wubanub because she likes the pacifiers that I hate and the toy attached to the pacifier helps hold it in place if she spits it out so she can find it again and start sucking. Its also just really cute. :)

I feel like Ida's sleeping has been a struggle. She went through a period where I just couldn't get her to sleep during the day. So I started letting her sleep in the swing. It was the only way I could get her to sleep. At night she slept great! So it wasn't really a problem to let her sleep in the swing. Now I think she and we have figured things out better so I can get her to take naps in her bassinet.

She only takes 30 min naps though so I still will have her sleep in the swing once during the day to get a long nap in. She is sleeping wonderfully at night! Most nights sleeping for 6 hour stretches. It's been really great! Her schedule is still a little wonky but for the most part she goes to bed between 9 and 10. Get's up to eat between 3 and 5. Then again between 6 and 8. Some day's she wakes up at 7:30 and other days she wakes up at 11. So it all just depends on the day. Like I said... Still a little wonky. Her nap times are completely different each day so still no kind of schedule there. After being awake for 45 mins to an hour she is ready to go back down for another nap.

Easter

We had a good Easter spent with Family. The beginning of the weekend was spent in Driggs. I had already been in Driggs since Tuesday to spend time with my family and Clarissa while they were on spring break from school so Scott just came up Friday night to join us. On Saturday we went to the big Easter egg hunt put on by US Bank. My sister in law Crystal was in charge of it. We practiced with Jacob before we went to the big hunt so he would have an idea on how to gather the Easter eggs by placing a handful of eggs out on the lawn then giving him a basket and racing to each of the eggs. Jacob is a people watcher so we figured he would probably spend the majority of his time watching everyone else gather the eggs.

Well it turned out our practice was in vain because Jacob wanted nothing to do with any of the eggs on the ground and wanted everything to do with the playground we weren't letting him go to. As soon as we set him on the ground he just froze. (We ran him out to the middle of the lawn before setting him down so that he would have a chance at getting some eggs before the older kids got there) Then when we wouldn't let him go to the park he just sat down. Really worked out great. Haha He didn't even pick up a single egg.

 Trying to get Jacob to pick up an egg

 Jacob knocking the basket over after trying to get him to pick up an egg

 What he really wanted all along

We did get him to take some pictures with the Easter Bunny though! He really didn't trust the Easter Bunny (Do you blame him? Those bunny costumes are creepy) But we were able to get him to give him a high five and a head butt.

Later that day we decorated some Easter eggs. Jacob thought that was pretty fun and liked his green hand afterwards. :)

 Ida's idea of coloring eggs

Sunday afternoon we headed back to Idaho Falls to spend the rest of Easter with Scott's family and to have dinner. Keri and Will announced they were expecting in October. I am so excited for them! Kids are the greatest!

1 Month

I can't believe my little Ida is already 1 month old. She has been so much fun and I have completely enjoyed cuddling, and loving on her.

Ida has a fascination with her tongue and has since day one. She is constantly sticking it out and moving it around her mouth. It's kind of fun to watch. She also really enjoys being in the swing. I could probably keep her in the swing all day and she would be happy. I don't really like doing that though and don't like letting her fall asleep in it. When she starts getting tired I like to get her out and let her nap in her bassinet. But she will stay awake for an hour in the swing just looking around. It is really convenient. I feel like she is a really content baby. When she isn't being bothered with a burp or gas or belly ache she is fine sitting on the floor looking around, making noises and kicking her arms and legs. We did go through a little bit of a fussy stage around 2 weeks. But I feel like that was mostly her transitioning from sleeping all the time to being awake more. I also think she was being bothered by some gas. She only poops once a day (most of the time, sometimes every other day) and I feel like that also causes her some discomfort. Ida does like baths and getting her diaper changed for the most part. She hardly ever cries and will in fact sometimes stop crying if she is. (Could be that she is happy that I am changing her diaper)

Ida smiled around 3 weeks. I will often see her smile to herself when she is laying on the floor or in her swing when nobody is around her. I think it is the cutest! She will also smile almost every time when I play pat-a-cake with her. But she is also very quick to let you know when she isn't happy. She has some lungs on her and isn't afraid to use them! She'll go from perfectly content to screaming at the top of her lungs in less than a minute. Although she is quick to start screaming, she is also quick to forgive if you pick her up and almost immediately stops crying. So that is nice. She also likes to just cuddle. When she is crying I'll wrap her in a blanket and sit and hold her and it isn't long before she is sitting contently just staring at me. That I kind of love.

Ida also hasn't taken to a pacifier much. She will here and there but for the most part she is completely fine without it. I have mixed feelings about it. On one hand I feel she cries more than Jacob did because she wont take one. They are just so convenient. On the other hand it would be really nice not having to worry about it. So I use it sometimes but try not to also. Because of this she also does not take a bottle very well. So I might not have as much freedom as I did with Jacob because he was happy with anything you put in his mouth.

Ida has been a really good eater. She currently is eating every 2 hours which I like. I always worried about my milk supply with Jacob so this time around I'm trying to feed her more often and I'm also pumping extra everyday so I can build up my supply early. I hope that will help through the rest of my nursing experience with her.

Ida for the most part has been a very good sleeper. The first two weeks she literally slept constantly. She'd sleep so long I'd have to wake her up and feed her and try to keep her awake long enough to actually get some food before she fell back to sleep. The rest of the month we had to get her nights and days switched around. One thing I forgot about newborns is how unscheduled their sleep pattern is. No two days are the same. She sleeps at completely random times. She also seems to have sleep days and awake days. One day she will sleep almost all day and I'll be worried she'll be awake all night but she sleeps good through the night as well. Then the next day she'll hardly sleep during the day. Around two weeks I started trying to pay attention to her 90 min sleep cycle and for the most part has been working really well. By the end of the month I feel like we've figured out her sleeping at night. She usually goes to sleep around 10-11 at night and wakes up to eat every 3 in a half hours. around 1:30ish and 5ish and wakes up between 8-9. So not bad.