Weekending...Peeks...Life Lately...Whatever

I haven't blogged because there is very little to share. Every day here is the same dang day. We've done absolutely nothing and the summer and my maternity leave are slowwwly slippinggg down the drain of disappointment. If I think too long about what a waste this summer has been I get really depressed. Summer is my season and we have hardly even been outside due to the insane heat waves we've had that run back to back with maybe one day in between. But, it's not like there is anywhere to go anyways. Sigh. The only thing I can be grateful for is that we lived it up so much last summer that I can convince myself, to some extent, that we did enough for two summers.

I barely even take photos since there is so little to document. Here is the minimal amount that we've done.

Helping Dan make dinner.

Ivy had her 2 month well check. She was a charmer and liked the doctor until it was time for her shots. Gosh her cries were tragic. She slept most of the day and had a really fussy period but woke up her cheery self the next morning. Kip was so sweet and worried about her bandaids.

Dan and I forced ourselves outside when the day was a little cooler (like 90 instead of 98). We got bubble tea and walked for a bit in a quiet area. Kip and Dan pushed trains along the benches.

This weekend we went to NJ on Saturday just for anything to do. It was hot. Almost not worth the trip except for Chick-fil-a, some time with Mandy, and Ivy slept well in her car seat.

Ivy is a hand sucker and I think it's pretty cute. Helps on the occasions when no one has free hands to help her with the pacifier.

I don't expect this week to be much to write about/share either. Sorry family and any readers out there. Hope your summer had been more entertaining than ours. Maybe have something more exciting to share next week.

Ivy || 2 Months Old

Today Ivy turns two months old! Time is warped. It seems like she has been here forever and yet sometimes I still think...wait...wasn't she born last week? Life being so upside down in many ways hasn't helped. But our little baby sister is growing and changing every day and we sure do love her.

Ivy at Two Months

Weight: 10 lbs. 3 oz. (8 lbs. 11 oz. last month)

Height: 23.6 inches (22 inches last month)

Personality: smiley sweetheart

Sister long leg

It's hard not to compare Ivy to Kip at two months. Kip had loads of visitors, had been on a subway, bus, and ferry. Gone apple picking. Ivy has been to the doctor's office and Mandy's apartment, that's it. I know she is far too little to remember any of this but it's so strange how we have literally done nothing.

Likes

Nursing

Big brother Kippy (adores him)

Walking around "looking at lights" with Dada

Pacifier

Bedtime baths

Being on her back facing up or out

Being put in her swaddle

When Mama sings to her

Dislikes
Diaper and clothes changes

Baby swing

Baby carrier

When the pacifier falls out of her mouth

Wearing

Size 1 diapers
0-3 month clothing (growing out of them in length)
Loves the Swaddle Up for nighttime

Things I want to remember about Ivy at two months old:

The way she coos and gaas

Her smiles! (I feel like she gave me smiles much sooner than Kip)

Her demanding mad cry when she is hungry

How she is totally unbothered by her constant spitting up

How she lights up when Kippy gives her attention

The way she startles when Kip bangs something or yells loudly and she gets a pout face before bursting into tears

When she somehow gets one arm out of the swaddle and it's stuck down at her side the whole night

The way she seems to laugh in her sleep (probably just the reflux but it sounds like a giggle)

The incredibly high-pitched voice Kip uses when he talks to her

Glue diapers

How she always closes her eyes to nurse even when she isn't asleep

The way she pops-up on my shoulder like an inch worm looking around

Sleep

Ivy and I sleep together in the living room at night. I sleep on the couch and she sleeps in her bassinet. When she wakes in the night I get up and nurse her in the bouncer chair. Dan is in our bedroom at night and keeps his ear out for Kip and handles him if he wakes up. It's an interesting set-up but it's been working well. Dan gets a solid night sleep and then in the morning he gets up with Kip at 6 and I move with Ivy into the bedroom and she and I get to sleep in. Teamwork!

Her nighttime routine seems to be settling into a schedule that will hopefully remain consistent. She goes down for bed around 6:30/7 pm after a bath and a top off nursing session. I try to put her down drowsy but not asleep and we end up giving her pacifier assists a couple of times until she is in a deep sleep. She stays asleep until 3 am and when I feed her and hold her upright for 30 minutes to help with the spit-up. She wakes up again around 6 am for another nursing session and then is back asleep until 8 am when she gets up for the day. In the last few days she's been skipping the 3 am feed and instead getting up at 5 am. Personally, I like this. I would love it if we got into a flow with a 7 pm bedtime and a 5 am wake-up for her first feed and then up for the day at 7 am. We'll see if it sticks. After that, we have no daytime schedule whatsoever.

Eat

Ivy is still great at nursing and she will also take a bottle which we do on occasion. She eats about 8-10 times in a 24 hour period usually right after waking up. She doesn't like to chill too long after waking up before eating. If I delay, I'll hear about if from her. I'm not sure when things cross from silent reflux to not silent and if it's possible to have both. Last month the doctor told us Ivy likely had silent reflux which causes her to gasp and cough in her sleep when the acid comes up in her throat and hits her vocal cords. This month she also started spitting up much more than typical. She spits up constantly. Some days it feels endless and I'm covered in it and other days its much more mild. I've tried to pay attention to my diet to see if there is a something I'm eating that upsets her stomach. I'm hoping it's not dairy but I'm trying to reduce how much I have and avoid drinking straight milk or eating lots of ice cream. Fortunately, Ivy doesn't seem to care at all when she spits up and she has a special skill at aiming it everywhere except the burp cloth.

Play

Ivy has been much more awake and alert this month. Instead of just eating to sleep she will stay awake for a bit now and engage with us. She loves whenever Kip gives her any attention of any kind. She smiles when I sing to her, kicks and coos when people look at her directly, and likes to be in on the action. She gets upset if she is awake and no one is paying attention to her.

Dear Ivy, we all call you baby sister and I'm not sure if I ever want Kip to talk to you in any other voice than the high-pitched squeal he uses when he talks to you. You are a sweet little snuggler and I love our quiet mornings together. Thank you for your generous smiles that encourage me to get through each hard moment. It's a juggle right now and we are all bending and stretching to figure out how to find our flow but you are patient and accommodating and I love you. Happy two months baby girl!

Kip's Picks: Quarantine Activities

No weekend recap this week since we did absolutely nothing worth sharing. We had pb&j both nights if that tells you anything.

Instead, today I'm going to share some of the things Kip enjoyed doing in quarantine. We had some real fun and I wouldn't change all the time we had together. The five of us - Dan, me, Mandy, Kip...and even Ivy from inside my belly.

Okay, so this is primarily a photo dump. Peace out if you're not into that.

Car Wash. Soapy tub of water with toy cars.

Kinetic Sand. I got Kip a container of Kinetic Sand right before stay-at-home and this stuff entertained him for countless hours on numerous days. He still loves it. We even played with it today.

Cooking/Baking. Little chef in the making. See more pics of Kip in the kitchen here.

Duplos. My personal favorite to play but Dan is truly the master at it. We bought SO many duplo sets during these last few months.

TRAIN OBSESSION. Kip calls wooden trains "little trains" and man they may be the bane of my existence. They take up the entire living room and drive me crazy. But he love, love, loves them and is officially obsessed. He likes to play with the "train shows" on TV or while watching Steam Team (a Thomas the Tank movie).

"Do the dishes." The basics of this activity is to waste a TON of water in the sink with a few beach toys and bubbles.

Snow. Similar to the kinetic sand, this is a fun quick activity Kip enjoyed with his construction trucks. I bought a small container for his Christmas stocking and we cracked it open in April. It only takes a tiny scoop to make a big pile of "snow" so the container should last all year. If you use cold water the snow feels cold too! Just like the real deal. Kip will play with it for at least 30 minutes.

Parking Lot Hangs. During the month of April when all the parks were closed, we would go to an empty parking lot in New Jersey on the weekend to let Kip run off some steam. Just this weekend we went to Wendy's drive thru for lunch and Kip wanted to eat it in the trunk of the car and asked if he could scooter. Clearly our parking lot trips left an impression on him.

From March-May we did crafts, got hooked on movies, colored, cooked, had adventures, and created new routines. Looking back on it, it wasn't all bad. But...I don't necessarily want to go back. We'll just keep the memories instead.