Kip in the Kitchen

Kip's development and speech really hit a stride these last several months and I am grateful we were all home to witness his daily growth in terms of conversation and imagination and participation.

One thing he really loved was being able to help in the kitchen. We typically avoided this since our kitchen is SMALL and not safe for a toddler but with the extra hands at home we let him in on the action and it was pretty cute.

Gosh, all of this seems like so long ago.

Weekending it

Happy official start to summer!!

Last night I was scrolling through my phone looking at photos and videos from last summer. We really lived it up last year and I am so grateful we did having no idea that summer would look so different this year. I'm mostly bummed we won't be able to go to Governors Island or Storybook Land. We made so many fantastic memories at both places and this year it just feels like we will be either trapped inside our apartment or stressed trying to find some empty space to relax without masks.

This week NYC enters phase 2 which means playgrounds are reopen but I'm not yet comfortable letting Kip return to those spaces. I was reading through a feed in a local mom Facebook group about the status of playgrounds and the consensus seems to be mom's with little kids (toddlers and younger) are NOT going back to parks this year. Mom's with big kids seem to be okay with it. This makes sense since you can more easily convince an elementary aged kid to wear a mask, keep it on, and not stick their fingers in their eyes/nose/mouth. Ugh. It's a tough place to be post-partum with all the stress of a newborn and trying to balance what feels safe for me and what is realistic.

Anyways, this weekend we did our typical weekend adventure over to New Jersey. Picked-up lunch at the drive-thru and had a picnic in a park. Kip pushed his scooter (he prefers not to ride) and we followed the heat with an ice cream treat at Sonic.

I took exactly one photo on Saturday. Babe in a beach hat.

On Father's Day we stayed inside due to the heat. I let Dan sleep in and then we just hung out at home. Last year we spent the day at Coney Island. Sigh.

A fun package arrived from Aunt Judy and Aunt Kandi and Kippy had fun opening everything and playing with new puzzles.

In the afternoon he helped me make banana bread for a snack.

Happy Monday!

Peeks from the Week

This week was tough. I feel like some days we manage just fine and it feels somewhat normal and then other days I realize the stress level just keeps going up. Since the beginning of all this it's just been exponential with only momentary lulls in the cycling worries.

The other day I got a call from my manager (she has been keeping me informed about work developments while I've been on leave). The Museum laid off 200 people and I had to call the person I've managed for the last 6 years and let them go over the phone. Our department has gone from 15 to 8. Remaining staff all get pay cuts and reduced benefits.

While I am extremely grateful to still have my job, I feel guilty for being spared while colleagues and friends were let go. Additionally, there is no end in sight for the pandemic. Even though New York City enters Phase 2 of reopening on Monday, we're watching what is happening around the country with spikes in cases and new epicenters forming. Spikes in NYC are inevitable and living in some sort of quarantine situation long term is a scary thought when we have two little kids and our jobs are not necessarily secure. I'm trying to stay positive and trust God but it's scary.

Okay, enough of that. Here is our week in review.

On Monday I took Kip to "meet the teacher" for his preschool in the fall. He was super excited to go and we had a nice little walk over to the school. We managed to convince him to wear his Lightening McQueen mask that Grandma Johnson made.

As we approached the table set-up outside the teacher said "are you Kipling?" And Kip spooked and immediately tried to pull away and said, "wanna go home." I picked him up and told him I wasn't leaving him and then I chatted with the teacher for a bit. He got a piece of candy and started to warm up a bit when they asked him about his baby sister. We were done with the whole event in less than 10 minutes.

I'm fairly certain he will not go to school in the fall. Even though they said they plan to open with no restrictions, the state has made no confirmation about school reopening. Plus, we aren't comfortable with the risks and paying that amount of money to potentially have another stay-in-place order at some point in the year. Fortunately, Kip isn't at the age where school attendance is required so although it would be disappointing, it wouldn't be the end of the world.

On Wednesday Mandy and I took the kids over to a Fort in Staten Island get outside and run around. The day was beautiful.

Wednesday afternoon was after everything went down at work so I had a lot of phone calls. Mandy occupied Kip with painting.

We don't have plans for Father's Day but the weather will be nice so we will likely do our typical weekend visit to New Jersey.

Ivy || 1 Month Old

Ivy turned one month old yesterday! This month seemed to speed by but looking back, four weeks ago seems like a lifetime.

Ivy May at One Month

Weight: 8lbs. 11oz. (up from 7 lbs. 2 oz. at birth)

Height: 22 inches (up from 20 in. at birth)

Personality: sweet dreamer

Likes
Sleeping

Being held on someones chest...and sleeping

Nursing...to sleep

Stroller and car rides...to sleep
Being swaddled...for sleep

Big brother Kippy

Pacifier

Bedtime baths

Dislikes
Diaper and clothes changes
Not being held

Waiting more than 1 second to be latched to feed

When the pacifier falls out of her mouth

Wearing
Size 1 diapers
0-3 month clothing (most are a little big)
Loves the Swaddle Up for nighttime

Things I want to remember about Ivy at one month old:

The way she slams her face into my chest looking for the place to latch

Her sad little goopy eye (blocked tear duct)

Our girls only slumber parties in the living room (I sleep in the living room with her so Dan can get enough sleep for work and he takes the monitor for Kip if he wakes up)

The way she clinches her fists and brings them close to her neck when she has a bottle or are sucking on the pacifier (Kip did this too)

Gorilla ear

The way Kippy says "you open your eyes?" whenever he sees her awake

Her easy going "along for the ride" style

Her loud squeaks and grunts

The way she smiles in her sleep

Sleep

Oh Ivy girl is a dream sleeper and I am SO grateful and surprised. It may be a temporary phase but we appreciate it. Coming out of pregnancy sleep deprivation and into newborn sleep deprivation I was really worried about the continued lack of sleep but she just seems to like your ZZZs and, that is the place to be in this world today. Dreamland is far better than reality.

Right now her rough schedule is down for the night between 7:30 - 9:00 pm. She wakes somewhere between 1:00 - 3:00 am and again between 5:00 - 6:00 am. Then she takes a last stretch of sleep until 8:00 am when she is "up" for the day. I try to get her to nap around 10 am when Kip naps but that is hit or miss and sometimes she goes for a longer nap in the afternoon. If we go for a walk or get in the car she sleep pretty exclusively in those places. If I was to guesstimate, I'd say she has spent 70% of her first month of life asleep.

The other night she slept for an 8 hour stretch. Yikes! I'm not sure if that is even allowed at her age but she is making up for it with daytime feeds and producing plenty of wet and dirty diapers and the doctor said her weight is good so we can let her sleep!

Eat

Ivy latched successfully within the first 24 hours of life and I attribute that immediate success to my confidence the second time around. By the time we left the hospital she was latching well and my supply had already come in. Unless she is in a long car nap, she eats every 1-2 hours during the day and around 4 pm she typically cluster feeds until 7 pm when she goes down for the night. During that dinnertime window I feel like she is attached to my chest for literally four hours.

She is a daytime eater which I think really helps with the nighttime sleeping. We have also given her bottles here and there and she does well with those as long as the breast milk is room temperature (Kip liked his cold).

I have an oversupply again along with overactive let downs and so that makes our nursing sessions long and very messy. I feel like everything is covered in milk right now. Me...her...everything. Until Ivy gets the hang of managing being sprayed in the face with a jet stream of milk, we'll all be covered in milk.

The doctor confirmed at the appointment yesterday that Ivy likely has silent reflux which is the cause of her coughing and gasping noises while nursing and in her sleep. She also spits up a good deal. So far it doesn't seem to cause her too much discomfort...just me... but hopefully she will outgrow it soon.

Play

Since Ivy is such a dreamer it's hard to say how she prefers to be entertained at this point. She likes the bouncer seat as long as someone keeps bouncing her until she is asleep. Likewise for the baby swing. If I was to guess what she enjoys most during her waking moments it would be hanging with big brother and laying on his comfy bed while he coos at her in the voice he only uses when talking to her. I hope their bond grows deep.

Ivy girl, this first month with you has been sweet and while the world around us teems with chaos and uncertainty and injustice, I am grateful for you calm demeanor. You are a reminder that peace can be found right here.

Dream Girl

Ivy is such a little sleepy dreamer. I feel like Kip was always awake when he was this age. He wanted to look around. He had serious FoMO (fear of missing out) and therefore rarely napped. He was a good nighttime sleeper but during the day, he was wide awake.

Ivy on the other hand, she is a dream girl. Now almost a month old (tomorrow) she is starting to stay awake a bit more during the day and showing us her dark and gorgeous eyes. But, for the most part, her happy place is snuggled-up on someones chest...fast asleep.

Mandy calls her the President of Dreamland and I have no complaints. Two kids is hard. A toddler in quarantine is hard. I'll take all the sleepy snuggles I can get!

I know the day is not far away when she will no longer fit in my arms and no longer want to snuggle. I know, now, to treasure these moments when I get them.  I wish I had done the same for Kip.

Weekending it

Happy Monday!!!

Today, New York City enters Phase 1 of reopening! But, you wouldn't know it as a good portion of the population has been behaving like life is normal for the past several weeks while the other portion remains stuck inside and petrified. I would be in that second group. Okay, maybe not petrified but we will likely stick to our quarantine routine for the foreseeable future.

I am on parental leave until early August and I still have no word on whether or not we will be able to return to the office.

Dan has to go back to his office with the start of Phase 2.

We have a scheduled date to "meet the teacher" for Kip's preschool in the fall but we will likely pay tuition to hold his spot but not send him in the fall.

Mandy returned to living at her place in New Jersey a couple of weeks ago but she still comes over on her regular days and we spend every weekend together. I miss having her around daily for the laughs and her infinitely valuable help with Kip and Ivy. But, she has to go back to her part-time nanny gig in Jersey starting next week.

Summer weather has arrived and we are grateful but also conflicted as I know this, my favorite season, will be far from what we are used to or hoped for. Our summer bucket list is empty and our weekly adventures will likely only be picnics at mostly-empty parks without playgrounds. What a life...but we have our lives and that's what is most important.

I know it's hard for people in other, less hard hit, areas of the country to really understand and follow all the Covid-19 restrictions when it feels like an infringement on their freedom. I get that. But we are in the city at the epicenter and we can't have that luxury. Over 17,000 people have died in our tiny big city. A quarter of the nation's death toll in our state alone. How do you quantify 17,000 lives? At my job, we are all familiar with what 2,983 lives looks like. That is the number of people killed on 9/11. But now that number seems so small compared to what we've seen in the last three months. Yet still, 17,000 is a hard number to grasp.

For a moment, consider the population of your town or perhaps several neighboring towns. Now imagine every single person from that town was gone. Like someone took their thumb and forefinger and just pinched that town and removed it from the map. 17,000 lives. It's unimaginable. And, yes, we personally knew some of those who have died. And, yes, we personally know others who had the virus and recovered. This is a global tragedy. Not a joke. Wear a mask. Consider the lives of those around you who have compromised health situations. Think about the newborn babies who can't help themselves. Be smart.

Okay, that's my soapbox for the day. Now for our weekend recap.

Every weekend since the start of the pandemic, we've driven over to New Jersey to hang out at Mandy's apartment and get a change of scenery. Now that the weather is nice and some of the parks have reopened, we've picked-up lunch somewhere at a drive thru or curbside and had a picnic. It's hard for me because I worry but I'm trying to weigh our risks. We wear our masks and distance from others. Kip doesn't touch the playgrounds and we try our best to make the best of the situation.

This weekend we went to the park by Mandy that we visited the very weekend the whole pandemic hit. Warmer now...one more baby in tow...and making the most of it.

Ivy turned three weeks old on Sunday and it's felt so fast and yet so slow at the same time. I'm really soaking-in these snuggly newborn days with her but also eager to have her wake-up to the world a little more and engage with us. More update posts on her coming up I promise! She is such a sweetheart.