Alright Already!
We know. We haven't been as good at posting frequently since Nicholas was born. Poor second children. I think the problem isn't so much that we aren't impressed by him as we have half the time we used to have. We think Nick is great. We just have a difficult time getting around to sharing that with everyone else.It doesn't help matters that Nick is so very easy going. We simply don't have much to complain about! He is sweet tempered, doesn't cry or fuss much and eats and sleeps very well. Since our last post even his early morning fussiness has diminished and we have stopped needing to put him at an angle to sleep. He smiles a whole lot - big toothless grins. He loves to watch people's faces and, sadly, the television. He likes to grab a lot with his hands, so we try to give him a soft toy or blanket to play with.
MILESTONES
There have been quite a few in the past weeks. This weekend we experimented with moving Nick into his crib in the "nursery" with Lux. We were hesitant because we were afraid how his noisy sleeping would affect Lux and how her restless sleeping would affect him. It turns out that everything worked just fine. Lux still gets up frequently in the night, but we don't think that has anything to do with Nick's presence.
Nick also (mostly) sleeps through the night. He still gets up around 5 am, but goes back to sleep until about 7 am now.
Nick drinks breast milk from a bottle like a champ.
Today Nick went to his first Bowie Baysox game. This is Lux's third season, so it won't be the last for Nick. He slept through most of it, but the Baysox got creamed, so he didn't miss much.
Two month doctor's visit - We went on Friday for Nick's two month visit. He, as we suspected, is very big. His height, 25 3/4 inches, is off-the-charts tall. He weighed in at 13 pounds, 5 ounces, which is in the 90th percentile (not surprising given his height). His head was at 74th percentile - 16 inches around. He can bear weight on his legs well and the doctor noted he was great at following with his eyes. His tracheomalacia seems slightly improved. And he handled the whole thing well, although the four shots did make him pretty angry.
Since our last post we've had a visit from Granddad Dan and Grandma Janie. They were terrific and helped a whole lot in preparing our backyard for the seeding which we hope will result in a lush lawn for the kiddies to play in this summer. They were also kind enough to rent a behemoth of a car which allowed all six of us to travel together, instead of in two cars. They brought really great beach outfits for both Lux and Nick in cool Hawaiian prints. Each has a matching hat, and Lux, who is being taught she needs a hat when she goes outside, has been wearing hers lots. Nick will have to wait a little longer until he can sit better for his hat to stay on.
We went shoe shopping for Lux, who needed some good sturdy play shoes now that the weather has changed. Lux loved running around Nordstroms, but did not much care for the kind man who wanted to measure her feet. We came home with two pairs, one of which will be great for puddle play in the wet summer to come.
Dan and Jane also helped us get our Jeep in for servicing, a seemingly simple chore which has become virtually impossible given the fact that our second car does not fit two adults and two car seats. This was particularly necessary since the air conditioning has been breaking down and one day a week or two ago the temperature got into the mid-80s, which was a hint of how uncomfortable summer will be. We told the Jeep people to be very good to the car because Nicholas was born in it. They were either impressed or horrified. We're not sure.
It wasn't all chores, there was an awful lot of playing and fun during their visit as well. One of Lux's favorite games to play lately is tea party. She asks, often, "Party?" then sets out her cups and saucers and pours for everyone. At first she only wanted human party-goers, but she has started having her own parties with her doll, baby doll and sometimes a Teletubbie. We also sometimes have real tea parties, where Lux gets to drink sweet milk with a splash of tea in it.
We also had a brief visit from Scott Black, whose daughter Sofia is just three months older than Lux and whose son Leo is just 6 weeks older than Nick. He was kind enough to have a tea party and watch some Maisy Mouse with us before Lux went to bed.
Lux's vocabulary has been growing considerably, though others would still be pressed to decipher some of her words. She uses two and three word combinations frequently now. Sometimes we worry that she is behind in her language skills, but then we have met several older children who haven't progressed that far, so we reassure ourselves that she is developing just fine. Some of her common sentences are "Dada eat tea?" "Dada read book?" and "Dada cook food?" but her all time favorite is "Dada hold?" which sounds a lot more like "Dada Ho?" and means she wants Paul to hold her. Susan is largely chopped liver. When Paul is at work Lux talks about him all day, and when he is at home she talks to him all the time.
We are continually amazed at the seeming depths of Lux's knowledge. It appears that she knows many letters, but this could just be our imagination. We forget that she understands virtually everything we say, and are often surprised, as we were the other night when we were frantically searching for batteries for her CD player so that we could play her lullabies and Lux calmly handed us two batteries she found in the guest bedroom.
Lux likes girly things like pedicures and putting on makeup, but hates having her hair brushed. She likes watching baseball and was actually engrossed in the Baysox game today for about 5 innings, demanding "more" after every pitch. We bought her a Baysox cap, her first real baseball cap, and she picked out a Louie the mascot doll to give to Nick. And yes, she actually gave it to him. Then, after the game, Lux and Paul ran around the bases and she gave Louie a high five.
We are beginning to miss some of her sweet babyish words and actions as she grows into a little girl. She will no longer give kisses or zrbts. The sounds she used, like "Zzzz" for sleep, are being replaced by words, and she doesn't sign so much any more. Still, it is all worth it to see her chase the cat around with a tape measure and say "Nyah Nyah, silly" when anyone could see that it wasn't the cat, but her who was being silly.
She is still very sweet to Nick, greeting him each morning with a chorus of cheery "Hi Nee"s. She is also adding "Bye Nee" to her repetoire. She likes to get really close to him and look him eye to eye and if Susan is reading her to sleep at nap time and Nick starts to cry, she insists that he be brought in to hear the story too.
We are still struggling with her sleep, as she wakes several times a night. Apparently this isn't too unusual for her age, and we try to gently put her back in her own bed. Sometimes she accepts this and sometimes it brings tear and screams of "Dada Ho! Dada book!".
Lux is still taking swim lessons, and while she likes getting in and out of the pool, splashing in the shallows and jumping from the edge, she does not like the actual swimming part of the lesson. There is lots of complaining and NoNoNos and apparently this is one of the only times she actually calls for Mama (since Dada is the one swimming with her).
Nick and Lux are both enjoying Music class, where Lux does great clapping along and playing the instruments, but is still struggling with the fact that the instruments get put away when the song is over. Nick is more alert now in class and seems to really enjoy the music.
On Fridays we all have a playdate with Juliana and sometimes some other girls from the neighborhood. Nick sleeps through this for the most part. Lux and Juliana still largely play side by side, rather than together, but Lux can say Juliana (Iana) now and wants to do the things she does, especially wear a bandage on her finger. Julianna's bandages are for decoration only, but at our house we have gone one step further by not using real bandages, but instead wrapping Lux's finger in one of the thousands of free return address labels we get in the mail.
Lux also learned the other day that she can drag a chair from the dining room into the kitchen to access things on the counter. This could mean trouble. Her spitting when she doesn't get her way has continued, though we continue to simply wipe her mouth and not make a fuss over it.
She is a choosy eater who likes her carbohydrates. Cereal, bread (actually toast), fruit, rice and noodles are her favorites, but sometimes she goes crazy for cheese, yogurt or roasted turkey. She also likes soy "chicken" nuggets and fish sticks and dipping carrots into hummus. Yesterday she ate a whole plate of rice and noodles with chopsticks, leaving the chicken and vegetables for Paul to finish. More often than not she will turn her nose up at the well rounded meal that Susan has prepared for her dinner, but will make it up with a large breakfast. Sadly, she has not been much interested in her tea time "Egg Nyah Nyah" lately.
Next up - Flying with to California with two under two. Will Paul and Susan survive?
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