Rock a Bye Baby

Bryn's Smart Trike

Breck's Big Wheel

Bryn wants to feed herself, messy or not

I don't know if it's because she is starting part time at day care tomorrow or that summer is ending too soon or how grown up she's seem lately, but I rocked Bryn a little longer tonight before putting her to bed. I was trying to memorize the feel of her cuddling on my shoulder, her soft breaths, the weight of her across my chest - such a sweet feeling. Her first year sure did fly by. Every day, she's coming into her own personality a little more.

Today I got her a Smart Trike and Breck a big wheel. She liked feeling like she was part of the action chasing her brother on her bike. She's such a character and so smart. She knows where the frozen yogurt tubes are in the door of the freezer and practically sprints whenever she hears the freezer door open. I think she'd just keeping eating those all day if I let her. She seems like she's going to be an adventurous eater. She wants to try everything anyone else is eating. Her favorites right now, besides frozen yogurt tubes, are watermelon, cheese, and CostCo macaroni and cheese. And she likes all carbohydrates - bread, crackers, pretzels, pizza, quesadilla.

I'm enjoying time with both kids this summer though Breck keeps me busy with all the activities he likes to do - sports camp, tennis lessons, swimming, t-ball, etc. And of course lots of time riding his various vehicles - bike, scooter and now big wheel. He goes goes goes all day and then crashes hard at night. I wish I could bottle some of his energy!

Babyzilla

Babyzilla - aka Bryn - is walking like crazy now. She took her first step on June 9 and now after a week of lots of practice in Arizona with Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Heather, she is really on the move. If Breck thought she was annoying before, just wait!

It has been fun to watch Bryn grow up into her own person, some things similar to Breck and some different. Breck is stubborn but Bryn is already taking that to a whole new level! I finally have her spending the night in her crib (though with wake ups), but still  have not gotten her to nap in the crib. She will cry and cry and never go to sleep (I let her go almost 2 hours once - painful for both of us). I hope I can get her there before she starts day care in August.

We had a great visit in Arizona. Breck went to Wet n Wild three times and loved it. Hopefully next summer he will be tall enough for all the rides as he definitely wasn't scared. He's growing into a confident little boy which is nice to see. He also really swam for the first time. I ran into someone giving a lesson at the pool and booked one for him. It seemed that one-on-one time is what he really needed to make the leap to swimming more than one breath's worth. She pushed him to do more and he did it. He was so proud of himself. He's a lot more confident in the water now and I can worry just a little less.

Breck's creation in Scottsdale

Breck is also doing tball this summer. I'd be just fine with this being the last summer of that! The games are boring and the parents are something else, especially from this year's team. I almost feel like I'm back in North Ridgeville. I'm hoping he really gets into tennis so I have someone to play with in a few years. He'll start lessons again in July.

I am really enjoying learning tennis myself and playing as often as I can get time. It's been fun to learn a new sport and feel rejuvenated again. The hard part is finding the time and also dealing with still some pain in both feet. I know losing weight will help that so I'm focusing on eating healthier and moving more.

So far summer has been fun. It is nice to be off "work", but it's not exactly relaxing to be home with 2 young kids. Still, I'm very glad to get to spend the time with them. They grow up so fast.

I am the worst blogger ever! Here is Bryn 10 months old tomorrow and I haven't written anything since last July! I've been a little better with her baby book, but not by much! Partly second child syndrome and partly that being a teacher is pretty all-consuming. If it weren't for the summer breaks, I don't think I could stay with it. One of my colleagues described it as feast or famine and she's exactly right. We get tons of time with family on break, but during the school year, there is never nearly enough time.

Both kiddos are growing up so fast. Bryn started crawling a month ago and I don't think walking will be far behind. She loves to pull herself up to a stand on anything she can. She really wants to keep up with big brother so it won't be long before she's chasing after him full speed. My tiny little girl (1 percentile for height) can only get her tiptoes down in her walker so she can only manage to scoot backwards so far, much to her frustration. Brandon says she needs a pair of high tops. Her first tooth broke through on March 3, which is good because she's not a big fan of baby food. Best thing about my little girl - her smile lights up her whole face. What a cutie.

Breck is more than halfway through kindergarten. He's not a big fan of school, except for recess, but he's doing pretty well. He is learning so much and constantly amazes us. He's reading and doing math facts. He likes math better than reading and writing. I told him he's better than some of my students at math and I'm only half kidding.

Well, I would love to write more but Bryn is coming over and trying to type. Time to play with her.

School on the horizon

Hard to believe but Breck will be going to kindergarten in just over 2 weeks! We picked up all his school supplies, including Ninja Turtles backpack, lunch bag and thermos. He's pretty excited about them but doesn't understand why they won't make him lunch like at preschool. In fact, they don't do school lunches at CMCA until 5th or 6th grade so I will have to get very organized and do lunch packing for all of us the night before.

Breck is really starting to swim like a fish. We picked up fins, mask and snorkel last Friday and he took to it right away. Now he loves to just swim around and around at the Y pool. He'll be ready to snorkle when we can get back to a beach! I gave Bryn a try in the pool last Friday (July 26) but she got cold fast even though the water and air is very warm there. We'll have to give her a few more months.

So this week I'm working on getting Bryn and me on a feeding schedule so the transition hopefully won't be too bad for Grandma when I go back to work next Thursday :( She really likes to nurse so trying to get her more used to a bottle and get me used to longer times between feeding/pumping. I'm going off the domperidone now b/c the side effects (irritability and hunger=weight gain) are getting to be too much plus I probably need to lower my milk production now that I'm going back to work and will only have time to pump over lunch.

Last weekend, I played in my first tennis matches as part of the State Games, I lost 6-3, 6-0 and then 6-3, 6-4 to my friend Vicki in the consolation match. It was fun and I can see where I need to improve (pretty much everywhere!).

We have a swimmer!

As usual, I haven't been very good about updating this, but Bryn and Breck keep me pretty busy!

Yesterday was a breakthrough day for Breck. After 3 years of swimming lessons, he finally "got" it. I took him to the SE YMCA where they have zero entry and he can touch the bottom in the whole shallow end. He put into practice what he's been learning - put his face in the water and kicked and ice cream scooped all the way to the wall. We were both so excited! He spent the next hour swimming all over the place!

Bryn is doing well. She's getting bigger and has cute baby fat now. The girl has enough cute outfits to fit three babies! She is sleeping in her swing right now - a rarity, so I got speed cleaning done and am trying to update this quickly as I can hear her stirring and she'll be ready to eat soon.

Sleeping has been ok, mostly b/c I am now worrying about good sleep habits yet. Breck is still in our bed - yes, still but last night he spent part of the night on a mat on the floor so we'll work on slowly making progress. Bryn starts in her co-sleeper but when she wakes up for first nursing, I bring her in bed and she nurses on and off all night, which means we both get sleep. I wouldn't bring her in bed if I was a heavy sleeper, but I'm not so I feel she is safe. When she is sleeping through the night and not nursing so much, I'll work on the separate sleeping.

We are getting ready for an Ohio visit on Friday. It will be a fun week  - hopefully Bryn travels well. Breck is excited to see his cousin Trey, sleep in the camper and go to Cedar Point. He's also hoping Uncle Tom will take him fishing as that is not something his dad enjoys.

I am starting tennis lessons again tonight and looking forward to having regular exercise planned. I think we will have to sign up Breck soon as he likes tennis too, but he is so much like me. He gets very frustrated if he is not doing it "right" and he wants to win all the time, but he doesn't want my help showing him how to play. Right now he is in tball and swim lessons and has a YMCA half day, 3 days a week camp for 2 weeks when we get back from Ohio so tennis may have to wait until end of summer, which already feels like it's coming to fast as my first day back to work is August 5 for a training.

Well, Bryn is waking up so signing off!

One Week In

Bryn turned one week old last night. She has been a very good baby so far -- still sleeping more during the day than at night but that should start to change as she gains more weight and eats more at one sitting. The biggest challenge for me has been to take it easy - something I never do well but I am trying. Brandon is sure getting a crash course in how much housework I normally do since he's having to pick up the brunt of it now.

Breck loves being a big brother but it's still been an adjustment for him. He's getting yelled at more than usual as he's still learning what is okay and what isn't with a baby around, so he's been a little more sensitive than usual. We're trying to show him lots of love to make him feel secure. Grandma and Grandpa Scott will arrive today and Breck is very excited to see them. He loves play time with Grandpa and we wish they lived closer so it was more often.

Bryn looks a lot like Breck did as a newborn, just with darker hair - and more of it. It will be interesting to see if she will end up with any curls. Right now it's very straight and fine.

I will try to get some photos posted later today. I need to pull them off my phone and Brandon's.

Bryn's Arrival

Bryn was scheduled to arrive by c-section tomorrow, May 13, but she decided she wanted to be here for Mother's Day instead.

Thursday, May 9, started out normally with me teaching. The 10th was supposed to be my last day. We had our district math test which meant I had to be on my feet proctoring a 60-minute exam in the computer lab starting at 10:45. Being up that long got my contractions going and usually only laying down will slow them, which wasn't an option that day at school. I did teach sitting down most of the afternoon but I was having contractions all day. When I got home, I laid down hoping they would ease up but they really weren't so at about 6:30, I had Brandon take me to the hospital so they could check it out.

They hooked me up to the machines and found my contractions were still pretty irregular, but I was starting to dilate. They called my doctor who happened to already be at the hospital delivering another baby so he asked if I was ready to have her that night. Sure, why not! I'm pretty sure if he hadn't been here already, they would have just sent me home and told me to spend the weekend in bed.

After the decision was made, it all happened pretty quick. I was in the OR by a little after 8, received a spinal and Bryn was delivered by c-section at 8:50 p.m., weighing 6 pounds, 15 ounces and measuring 19.5 inches (same height as Breck but exactly one pound less). She was looking pretty purple when they first showed her to me within minutes of her birth, so I was not surprised to hear that they were putting her on oxygen in the nursery. She also had to have some formula because her blood sugar was low. But shortly after midnight, she was breathing on her own and her sugar regulated itself so I was able to visit her in the nursery at 1 a.m. to watch her first bath and then take her back to my room.

My first impressions were that she looked very much like Breck - same nose and mouth, but had more hair and dark hair. It was curly at first but once washed, it went straight so we'll see what type of hair she ends up with. She's a beautiful little girl as every baby is to their mom.

I'm not having much more luck getting my milk to come in than I had with Breck but we're continuing to try. Her mouth is too small to properly latch yet so I've been doing a lot of pumping. I'm hoping my milk comes in today as it's day 3. In the meantime, she's had the benefit of donor milk but that supply ends when we check out today so she'll have to do some formula until my milk comes in. She's been a good sleeper so far - having to wake her to feed. But that's typical in the early days so hard to say yet if she'll be a good sleeper or not.

She's going to spend her first night out of the hospital at the Grand Wyndham Mining Exchange hotel in downtown Colorado Springs as our house is currently uninhabitable since it sounds like Brandon has furniture piled everywhere to get the carpets cleaned Saturday night. I wanted to postpone it but he wanted it clean for his baby girl, so it's off to the hotel tonight (and Target for essentials that can't be got to in the house right now!). Hopefully Brandon found a few friends to put furniture back in place tonight once carpets are dry so we can be home tomorrow. Hotels are nice but I'm ready for my home and my own stuff.

Breck has been SUPER excited to meet his sister so he's been very wound up which is hard in a small hospital room, but it's cute to see how much he really loves being a big brother. I'm sure the novelty will wear off soon and jealousy and boredom will move in but for now he just really likes to look at her and hold her and he thinks everything she does is funny. He's been spending the nights with Grandma and is ready for mom to come home, too.