Happy Three Months, Jesslyn!

Yes, I've been meaning to post this since Wednesday. I did cheat, and created the post, knowing full well I wouldn't actually be able to publish until a later time... So here we are!

Jesslyn is 3 months old now! Wow, time flies, huh?  And there are definitely tell-tale signs that she is older.  They are as follows:

~Less crying.  Apparently, babies cry the most during the first three months.  We've definitely noticed a drop off.  The biggest change came when she started waking up from her naps and "growling" rather than crying.  :)  It's really not a growl, but that's the best way I can describe it.  And when you go in to get her, she just kinda looks around at everything, and is so happy and smiley when you pick her up.  It's as if she's saying, "You're here!! Oh, I'm SOO happy to see you!!! I've missed you, Mommy/Daddy!!"  Much more fun than picking her up screaming (though she is still crying when she wants to eat in the middle of the night.)

And for the most part, she really only cries when she wants something and we're taking too long to figure it out--if she's hungry, over-tired, or wants to be held.  Those are the big three.  She'll occasionally cry if she's dirty, but she's pretty forgiving of that, unless you've got her sitting up, which brings us to....

~Sitting up.  Not by herself, mind you.  But we put her in Jeremiah's high chair (slowly becomingher high chair...) and she LOVES to sit there and look around.  We've also propped her up in her moses basket, which she also enjoys.   A Bumbo or Bebe Pod is on her Christmas list.  :)

~More talking.  More growling.  She and Jeremiah will have these little conversations back and forth--it's so cute!  It's almost as if they understand each other (and I'm sure on some level, they do, at least moreso than we...)  More smiling.  More interaction.

~Work those legs! This gal does NOT want to lay down, and is happy for a very short amount of time doing so (unless there's a toy dangling over her head... even then, she'd rather be sitting up.)  She loves to practice "standing", and really supports herself well.  We've started putting her in Jeremiah's old activity center (which he still trys to climb into...) and she loves it.  Still ends up tilting forward, and needs adjusting, but her feet touch the floor perfectly, just as they should (keep in mind the min. age on this thing is 4 months... she's been in it a few weeks now...)  That's our big girl!  Speaking of....

~Goodbye 3-6, hello 6-9!  Yes, she's almost out of her 3-6 month clothes.  Well, really, it's the pants she's outgrown.  They're not long enough!  And with her cloth diapers, most don't accomodate her [non-existent] behind [just like her Daddy.]  Her pajamas?  Forget it.  I put her in a pair, and they BARELY fit.  That's the last time she'll probably wear those... And I just bought her so many cute 3-6 month things (didn't have much, despite all the clothes I bought while pregnant... didn't know if she'd need warm or cold weather clothes.)  So we'll probably bump her up to the next size by Christmas (might hang on to some of her tops a little while longer... those usually get the most dirty anyways, since she's still the "Spit-Up Queen!"  Bow before her and she'll annoint your head with oil... err... spit up. :) 

~Hand/mouth coordination.  She's got that one down pretty well.  It used to be... "Where's my fist?  I wanna suck on my fist!  Has anyone seen my fist??? Fist???  FIST!!! HELLO, FIST, WHERE ARE YOU!! WAAAAAAAHHH!!"  And now it's, "I wanna suck on my fist.  Where's my fist?  Oh yeah, there it is.  **suck suck suck** No, wait, I didn't say fist, I said BINKY! WHERE'S MY BINKY??? WAAAAAAAAHHH!!"  We're making progress.  :)

That's the big stuff.  Sleep wise, she does very well, though still somewhat quirky...  Her morning naps have only been lasting 45-60 minutes lately (and then she wants to play...) but her afternoon naps still tend to be 2.5-4 hours long (sometimes she wakes up wanting to eat, then goes back to sleep, as if it were nighttime.... I think she gets confused....)  By 7-ish, though, she's ready for bed!  

Nighttime has been off lately (I blame a growth spurt...)  She usually sleeps from 7-4-ish, eats, then sleeps 'til 7:30, 8.  Sometimes she wakes up early (anywhere between 11 p.m. and 2 a.m.) and then again at 6, then sleeps 'til 9.  But for the most part, she's still only getting up once a night, sleeping 12 hours total.  Add that to the 1-2 hours in the morning (sometimes split over two naps,) and the 3 hour nap in the afternoon, she's only up 7-8 hours a day.  The gal likes to sleep!  I don't blame her.  She's like her Mommy in that regard.  :)

And now... pics!

23 Months Old -- 3 Months Old... Really...

"AHHH!! Jeremiah!! Your spikiness!! It tickles!!!"

"Uh, Mom, do you mind, I'm trying to suck on my fist here..."

"See?  Told ya."

"Yeah, Mommy put this blanket here so I don't ruin her throw pillows when I spit up (because it's always a 'when,' not an 'if.') So I'm going to chew on it. :) "

"Let's see... e=MC..... squared?? Cubed?? And do I really just want my two front teeth for Christmas??"  The ponderings of a baby...

"Yes, I am cute.  Yes, you may take my picture." :)

"Dad-dy... people are watching... someone might see this pic and put it on their blog, for all the world to see, and then the other babies won't think I'm cool anymore!"

No comment. :)

"Aww, I love you, too, big brother.  But I'm really worried about the angle Mommy's using to get this shot... I mean, really, my butt isn't that big.  It's not!  Oh well."

Par-tay!

Last night, we had our third semi-bi-annual Christmas party!

It was an uber good time, though I was a bit stressed all day leading up to the party... We had a lot to do that we had didn't get done during the week. But, I had lots of great help, even though I think they wanted to walk out on me at one point... It was all good, though!

Once again, we had TONS of food, though I think there was less left over this time than last time. My Mom brought stromboli and made deviled eggs, and I made pork dim sum, beef teriyaki, two kinds of chicken wings, polish pigs in a blanket [actually, Jeremy made that one,] and some other random stuff, including lots of sweets [different cookies, brownies, bars, etc...] Yum!

Special thanks to James and Stephin for all their help the night before, and with the ornaments, which doubled as numbers for the game AND favors! Extra special thanks to my Dad for all the cleaning he helped out with. And SUPER extra special thanks goes out to my babish and my Mom, who probably felt the brunt of my frustrations, yet still provided so much help, which was greatly needed and greatly appreciated!

The game was a blast with lots of surprising hits, and a few things that people just couldn't get rid of! The favorites of the night: old school board games! The Game of Life, Chutes n Ladders/Candyland, Sorry and Clue were all up for grabs. An odd hit was a "glove box tool kit." Go figure.

But yes, uber fun, lots of yummy food, good conversation, a merry ole time!

For those of you who couldn't make it, here's a short clip of the party in action!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

:)

Splashy, splashy, party, party!

Finally!  After many months [2] and many frustrating evenings [dozens,] Jesslyn now enjoys bathtime!  Yay!

I tell ya, it was getting really frustrating giving her baths... The first time we put her in the baby tub, she hated it and screamed the whole time.  So I gave up on that, and tried just giving her sponge baths, thinking maybe she didn't like the whole "full frontal" part and was getting cold... Nope, that didn't work either.  

Lately, though, she's been enjoying it more and more.  I knew we were making progress when she first wouldn't cry until I washed her hair, and then she even tolerated that.  Then Jeremy gave her a bath, and held her in the [tiny] bathroom sink, and she enjoyed that, too!  

The other night, I figured, "What the heck," and threw her into her baby tub again.  I don't know if it's the whole freedom of movement part, or just the splashy-splashy part, but she really enjoyed herself.  

And that, my friends, makes Mommy a happy camper.  :)

Happy 12 weeks, Jesslyn!

**Note: Quality is just so-so, as it was taken with my phone and not our camera.  So there.  Now you know.  :)

***Note: She's got some rollage on her arms, huh?? 

Can men breastfeed??

According to this article, yes!

Looks like I won't be the only one who can get up at 2 a.m. for that mid-night feeding, when Jeremy/Jess Jr Part 2 comes around... 

;)

Jeremiah, The Karate Kid

In a rare appearance, we see the little ninja getting ready for a night of... ninja-ing?

This little ninja moved so fast, all we could catch of him was a blur...

That's enough action for this little ninja!  Time to cozy up on his ninja-soft blanket, and dream ninja dreams...

Fun times with Daddy.

Notice how Jeremiah is trying to get away (he managed to get pretty far, considering all he could do was rock back and forth...)  Yeah, it was pretty late, and both kids were ready for bed.  But they made the best out of it.

Well that's just great...

I'm sure most of you have heard about the melamine they found in infant formula in China. Manufacturers were adding it to the watered-down milk before production in order to fudge their protein levels. This left over 50,000 babies sick, and a few dead. Scary stuff.

Well, earlier this week, the FDA announced that trace levels of melamine have been found in US formulas as well! Now, the amounts found are FAR less than in the Chinese formula [something like 2,500 p/p/million in the Chinese to the .15-.25 p/p/million in US] but even the FDA is saying that they don't know how much is too much. Some parents have heard enough.

The FDA maintains that the formula is safe. Plenty of folks disagree and are calling for recalls.

And the formula companies? Well, they've been pretty quiet. Similac's done their own testing and confirm that they've found trace levels in their formula. Enfamil and Nestle, who both tested positive for melamine [or its relative, cyanuric acid....] have only said that their own internal testing found nothing.

As a parent with a baby drinking this stuff [not by choice, by necessity,] you trust those companies with your child's health. And you trust that it's going to be safe. A parent shouldn't have to worry about stuff like this--there's plenty else to worry about in the day!

I'll be keeping an eye on this. Honestly, I hope it doesn't require a recall, because I don't know what, then, I would feed Jesslyn. I don't think it'll get to that point, but you never know. For now, we'll just be cautious, and ready to blame any problems related to her kidneys and urinary tract on Enfamil [NICU, you're still on the hook for everything else....]

Happy 2 Months, 2 Weeks, and 2 Days, Jesslyn!

Or, in simpler terms, 11 weeks!

No pics right now. I'm on the crappy laptop, because SOMEONE took the charger for my GOOD laptop and hid it... or something. So now I have a dead good laptop with no charger, and a dead crappy laptop, with a charger... Ah well.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have 35 lbs of chourico sitting at my door that I need to deal with... Best bet is probably to just leave it outside, since there's no room in the fridge OR freezer right now. Oops.

I'm telling Santa I want a chest freezer for Christmas.

'Til later...

word.

Getting dressed.

Now that Jeremiah's a toddler, I try to give him as much independence as I think he can handle.  So for a while, he's been "picking out" his clothes, with a little leading from Mommy of course (usually I'll let him pick a shirt out of two I've already picked out.)  

Today, I told him we were going to pick out his clothes, picked him up, stood in front of the closet and asked him, "What shirt do you want to wear?"  He proceeded to "flip" through all of his shirts (like he sees Mommy doing at Target, trying to find good deals on the clearance racks!) and then pointed to one towards the end.  "Am-pa! Am-pa!" he said.  Turns out, he was pointing to a short sleeved plaid shirt that looks a lot like something his Grandpa would wear.  :)  When I pulled it out and asked if that's what he wanted to wear, he got a HUGE smile on his face and started speaking in his little language (that we have yet been able to translate...)

He was very proud of his choice of clothing, especially since it was similar to something "Am-pa" would wear.  What a little kook.

Turns out it's a little small... But that's okay.  :)  [I added the long sleeve tee... hey, it's chilly around here!  That certainly didn't help the fit, though...]

Obligatory silly Steeler hat poses...

6 months?

We took Jesslyn in for her two month check up yesterday.  Of course, everything looks good!  Was getting concerned when everyone kept saying, "Sick visit, right?"  Ummm... no.  I guess that's all they see nowadays--sick visits and flu shot visits.

So apparently, we have a two month old trapped in a 6 month old's body.  Yup, last month she was the average size of a 4 month old, this month it's 6 month old.  I'm guessing at four months, she'll be the size of a one year old.  She didn't seem THAT big to us, but now I'm beginning to think... "Yeah, maybe she is a bit of a big girl."  Perfectly proportioned, mind you--99th percentile for weight AND height.  Basically, she gained 2 lbs and 2 inches in a month.  Cah-razy! 

After clarifying that she was, in fact, only two months, our doc was surprised at how well she was holding her head up (I was sitting her up on my lap.)  Apparently, that's expected for 3-4 month olds, not 2 month olds (okay, 10 week olds, but she's been able to do that for a couple of weeks now.)  

He was also surprised to hear that she was already LAUGHING!  When we told him she did it when we tickled her, his only reply was, "Oh," he moved on.  Well, I'll have you know that TODAY, Saturday, November 22, I picked her up from the couch, where she was laying with Jeremy, smiled and her and she LAUGHED a REAL baby laugh WITHOUT any tickling!  I almost cried.  Awww... my baby girl laughed for her Mommy.  SO SWEET!   Now if she could just start substituting more crying with laughing...

And that's 'bout it.  Jeremiah didn't cry this time, which was good (if you recall, last time we took Jesslyn to the Dr's, Jeremiah screamed the whole time, thinking we were there for him, I guess.  He just does NOT trust those nurses!)  I guess we were able to reassure him beforehand that we were going for JESSLYN and not him.

Anyways, that was yesterday.  Quiet weekend this weekend.  Trip to Costco, laundry, church, sleep, done.  Short work week for Jeremy!  Three days on, four days off.  YAY!  

I love Thanksgiving, but I love Black Friday even more because it's.... DECK THE HALLS DAY!  Woot woot!  While all the crazy people are out shopping (seriously, why go out??? The deals aren't that great, unless you want to stand in line starting at 5 p.m. the night before! I've worked enough BF's to know that it's just NOT worth the HASSLE! But if you enjoy it, all the power to ya...) we'll be picking out a Christmas tree and decorating it whilst the kiddies nap.  I can't wait to see Jeremiah's reaction this year.  Last year, he got it, but only from a "shiny, bright, blinking object" perspective.  This year, I think it'll have more of an "awe" factor to it.  We'll see.  Should be fun!

Irony.

Tell me.  How does a gooey gel window decal, who happens to resemble a frog, CATCH THREE FRUIT FLIES?!?!  

Either these flies were pretty stupid (and they were) or there's more to this frog than meets the eye....

I thought it was funny.

"Baby, it's COLD outside!"

PROOF!!!

We finally caught her in action!  For the naysayers, here's a short video (well, not that short) of Jesslyn LAUGHING!  Awww... 

For some reason, though, I can only get her to laugh by tickling her when she's in her diaper and only her diaper.  I guess it's just not as ticklish through her clothes.

Now if she would only laugh as much as she cries.... man, life would be super sweet.

 

Happy 10 weeks, Jesslyn!

$10 off $25 @ JC Penney!

'Nuff said.  One per person, so I'm bringing my brother, Jeremiah, and Jesslyn (hey, if they count in the HOV lane, they should count at the store.... :)

Link is here.

Snapping Beans

Another new activity that Jeremiah just MUST do! 

 

How we kept Jeremiah entertained during James' graduation...

Congratulations, Uncle James!

"Twice as cute and half the price!"

We're big Robeez fans around here--I'm a firm believer in not forcing a baby who doesn't walk to wear shoes (hard-soled, at least.)  There's no reason for it, and it could mess up their feet when they do try to start walking.  

But I am a fan of warm feet, and sometimes, you need that extra layer that socks can't provide.  I've been using Trumpette socks for Jesslyn (they're so cute!) but at some point, we're going to need something a little more substantial.

Hence the love.  What I don't love, though, is the price tag.  New Robeez run $30+, though you can usually find a sale and get a pair between $25 and $30.  Don't get me wrong, I've NEVER paid that much for a pair.  I think the most was $15 or $16 (waited for a clearance at Endless.com, then got $5 off and free overnight shipping... sadly, they no longer give that extra $5 off.  But still a great site to buy shoes from!)  Jeremiah definitely got our monies worth out of the pairs he wore!

Enter Bugaloo's.  Same concept as Robeez (soft-soled, leather, easy to slip on and off, and super cute!) but ONLY $15!  Of course, when I see $15 is the regular retail price, then I expect to be able to find it for less (and will probably wait until I do to buy...)  But I just found them and wanted to share.  :)  Plus, 5% of your purchase will go to the International Justice Mission and help fight sex trafficking.  Not bad.  If you're going to shop and buy something anyways, might as well let a portion go to a good cause.

I would totally get these for a boy.  So cute!

Salt Dough Ornaments!

Last week, Jeremiah and I made salt dough ornaments to decorate in preparation for the holidays!  I got the recipe from ZRecs and while they came out fine, I wish they had included more instructions to make the process go more smoothly (I could probably google it and get the answers I need.)  Our two main issues were figuring out how long "several hours" is, and then getting them off the pan (it's just a basic aluminum half-sheet pan.)  I think I know how long is NOT enough, but still don't know the best way to keep them from sticking to the pan...  Will have to do some research!  

But Jeremiah really enjoyed helping me cut out all the shapes!  I let him sit on the counter and press the cutters into the dough--he loved it!  Then he would try to help me pick the pieces up and put them on the pan, but usually he would just hand me small balls of dough.

Oh, and I would recommend wearing gloves when working with the dough.  The air this time of year is dry enough without having your hands covered in salt, zapping what moisture is left from your skin... 

Anyways, we'll make some more and see if we get better results.  In the mean time, this is what Jeremiah's been doing with them.

First, you put the ornaments in the container....

Top with lid....

Get it nice and tight...

Then, open and dump!!!

Wash, rinse, repeat!  And do so for the next thirty+ minutes...

Welcome, One & All!

Yay!  You found us!  Sorry for the change of address.  We had some issues with jeremynjess, so we moved here.  Hopefully, those issues won't follow us and stick with the old blog.  Thankfully, blogger has made the process of moving blogs pretty easy, so should something else happen, I know how to fix it easily.  

Anywhoo, life is pretty good.  We had a nice weekend in Exton, PA for my brother, James', graduation!  Yay for James!  He starts his new job tomorrow at Lexus, not far from us, in Chantilly.  It'll be nice having him back in town again--we've missed him!

While in PA, we stayed at the lovely Fairfield Inn, part of the Marriott chain.  I'm normally not crazy about staying in Marriotts, but this was such a good deal (one bedroom suite, free internet, breakfast, kitchenette, etc...) and everyone there was so nice!

They also had a pool, pf which we made good use.  Jeremiah LOVED it!  He so wanted to be swimming on his own, but was satisfied just walking down the steps, jumping into Jeremy's (and my) arms, "swimming" back to the steps, and then doing it all again!  He didn't even care the water was chilly, he went right in!

Jesslyn was such a good girl, too.  Both kids slept well while there (though Jeremiah refused to nap in the car on the way there and back...) which always helps.  And, the highlight was, Jesslyn laughed for the first time!!!  I was getting ready to give her a bath (still sponge baths... no point dealing with a baby tub when she'll just scream as soon as we put her in it...) and as I lifted her up to take her top off, she laughed!!  Not believing what I had heard, I tried tickling her to get her to do it again, and SHE DID!!!  Awww, it melts your heart....

So yes, it was a nice little trip, but I'm definitely glad to be home.  Now the fun begins--unpacking!  Woot....  And I've got lots of baking to do, because our Christmas party is just under three weeks away!  AHH!!  Oh, and Thanksgiving is next week... WHAT?!?!?  Yikes... the holidays are here!  :)

Jesslyn is 2 months old!

And getting cuter every day!

I did start to write up an 8-week post, but the pics I took weren't that great, since I had to use my phone to take them. So it never made it to the blog. I'll include those pics here. Starting this month, we're going to "monthly birthday posts". I'm sure there will still be plenty of pics inbetween, but it seems like Wednesday are not her "good" days for having her picture taken. Or I don't have the camera ready when she's being especially photogenic. Ah well.

So what's new this month? Well, her hair is getting a lot longer. You can really tell in the Election day pics, as it curls out above her ears. And there's definitely more of it, as I noticed during her bath the other day.

Her schedule is becoming more predictable. She sleeps 7-9 hours straight during the night, wakes up, eats, then goes back to sleep for 1-3 hours (depending on when she woke up.) Usually by 8:30/9, she's up for good. So it works out well for me--I can usually get up with her, feed her/change her, and by then, Jeremiah's had enough "play time" in his crib, and is ready for breakfast himself. Jesslyn will usually be in a playful mood at this point, before needing another bottle/nap around 10.

She naps well, usually two long naps with a few little "binky naps" inbetween. These are naps that don't last very long, and usually require her pacifier . Sometimes she'll take those in the swing, or in my arms. Rarely will she handle the transition to her crib for these naps. But that's okay. Her morning nap is usually about 2 hours, and her afternoon nap 2-4 hours.

Lately, she's been pushing her bedtime back and back, which always throws us for a loop--we never know when to get her ready for bed! She used to take a short nap when we put Jeremiah down for the night, and then would wake up around 11 before going back to sleep for the night at 12 a.m. But, as she did last night, sometimes she'll fall asleep at 9 and that's it! Kind of annoying when she falls asleep in her clothes and day-diaper... Oh well. At least being soaking wet doesn't wake her up prematurely! When she woke up last night (at 5:50 a.m.) she was soaked! But it took 9 hours for her to notice apparently...

Anyways, it sounds like she's waking up from her afternoon nap now, so that's all for now. She's truly a joy, though she does try my patience at times (way more than Jeremiah did.) It's worth it!!

8 Weeks Old:

See?  That's the best I could come up with.  I tried.  :)

It's 75 out!

This is my kind of November! 

Must be El Nino...

Election Day!

Pretty in Pink & Cool in Blue!