My first "Tiny Treasures" post in ages! I want to be back in the habit, so I can remember all of the adorable things my babies have been doing. :) We will go from youngest to oldest.
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Lucy Cate is 3 weeks old! I can't believe how fast the last few weeks have flown.
In not-so-great news, she broke out in baby acne on Monday. Poor little thing has tiny dots on her forehead and cheeks. She is still cute as all get out, but I hope this clears up soon. Stupid hormones from Mommy!
In other not-so-great news, we are having some tummy issues. Lucy has been having some green BMs rather than normal breastfed baby yellow, and it is because she falls asleep after drinking foremilk without the fatty hindmilk. I'd never heard of this or seen it before, so this was something new for me as a fourth-time mommy. I just have to feed her from one breast per feeding, and return to the same one for the next! It works for me since I pump the other side anyway... more on that another day.
And my last not-so-great news... depending on how you look at it, that is... Lucy Cate HATES the baby swing! This was quite shocking for me, since all of my other babies have loved my magic swing when they are swaddled with white noise. Just crazy! If she is awake, she wants to be held (which is actually what Iwant too, so no problem there!) but once she is asleep, it would be nice be to able to sneak her in the swing so I can get some chores done. However as soon as I step away from the swing with my sleeping girl, her beautiful blue eyes pop open and she cries, without fail. She stops the instant I pick her up again.
That sweet baby wants her Mommy ALL the time!
I have a Moby wrap... somewhere. I really need to track it down if I ever plan to clean the house again, or have free hands for blogging. ;)
On to the beautiful stuff...
There is not a single thing in the whole wide world that I love MORE than holding my sleeping newborns on my chest. I love the little "panting" they do, the tiny noises, the way their arms suddenly leap out of their control, the way they move their little mouths as they dream of nursing. I love the way my breast-fed babies smell... something so sweet about Mommy milk. I bury my face into my little girl and breathe her in... perfection.
I also love co-sleeping. I am completely at peace with my tiny baby lying next to me in bed... feeling her delicate little body cozy and warm, snuggled beside me. I love the way she doesn't have to cry for me to feed her in the middle of the night... she just roots around until I wake up and help her. I love feeling her sweet baby heart beating next to me. There is nothing in the world as fulfilling as mothering my babies.
Lucy also has such a cute "voice." Newborns have the sweetest cry! She is awake a lot more now, and I love the way she gets that "quiet alertness" as her eyes roam from face to face.
And oh, is my baby growing! Last Monday, she had a doctor's appointment. She has bulked up to 7 lbs, 8oz and 20 inches... but again, that was a week ago. I suspect she is much bigger now. Her cheeks are CHUBBY and she has a triple chin. I love to give her smooshy cheeks a big kiss every few seconds. :)
One thing that isn't tiny about this sweet baby... her hands and feet! Her fingers are so thin and long... and her feet are boats!
I can't tell you how in love with my Lucy Cate I am... just how precious she is to me, how bonded I am to her. With each new baby, I feel my heart just growing and expanding and swelling with love. It is so true that love doesn't divide... it multiplies!
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It is time to move on to my little boy, Ben. My goodness, this child seems to have grown a foot and gained 20 pounds since Lucy arrived! He seemed like my tiny toddler when I went to the hospital, but when we came home he seemed HUGE. Having a newborn to compare him to made him seem to grow overnight. Though nothing has really changed, except my perspective.
On that note, Ben loves his baby sister. We haven't had any "jealousy" issues, but he does get quite put out when I won't let him hold her when she is eating or love on her when she is sleeping. He still is constantly shouting, "My BEBE!" all the time. :) When Ben holds Lucy Cate (with Mommy's help, of course!) he laughs. He will say, "Tiny Bebe" and "Eyes, nose, mouth, ears..." He just cracks up when she sneezes. Oh, and I still love how he calls her Lucy Cake.
I know I say it all the time... but oh my, the boy is talking SO MUCH! He says all of his colors, shapes, and counts to 15. He also identifies alot of numbers and letters, which the girls never did so early. He knows all of his friends' names, and talks about them when they are gone.
Speaking of names, he knows his full name now. Only, if I call him Benedict he will say, "No, I Ben-Ben." When he says his full name, it is "Ben-Ben Paul WEE-ness." HILARIOUS! He will go around the house saying, "Daddy Paul WEE-ness. Mommy Paul WEE-ness..." etc. It makes me laugh so hard I cry every time.
And then he is also calling me "Wear-in" and his Daddy "A-yum." I think they all go through that phase, but I love it!
One of my favorite things he says right now is, "Is that cool, Mommy?" He will make animal sounds or do little tricks or dance for me, then ask, "Cool, Mommy?" and when I say yes, he will say, "Yeah, COOL!" So funny.
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Isabella is having some little troubles of her own! Things have been a bit shaky for her since the baby arrived... or was it, since GRANDMA arrived?!? ;)~ Bella has made dinnertime a battle, even with things she likes. She doesn't want to eat what we are having or refuses to eat, then complains of being hungry hours past bedtime. It is rough! We're trying to guide her through it as lovingly as possible... it's hard to know what the right thing to do is sometimes!
She is also having some major meltdowns. Isabella is still at that awful twilight zone stage where she needs a nap or will be cranky from 5 PM on... but if she takes a nap, she is up til 10 or later. Again, it is hard to know what to do. The length of nap doesn't seem to help the bedtime issue. We kind of wing it day by day... which probably exacerbates the problem.
Lastly, she still has pacifiers at night. At three years old, I thought she'd grow out of it by now. However, I am sure we will have it sorted out before college... so, no worries. ;) The one rule is, she can't bring them out of her bed. She has to leave them up in her room... but the last few weeks, she has been sneaking them downstairs.
I'm sure all of the above are her way of coping with a new sister in the house and having routines upended as we've had houseguests and different rules with different caregivers. It is time for life to go back to normal, as hard as that is... I know in the long run, routine and consistency are best for my kiddos. They thrive on knowing the rules and knowing what to expect!
Moving on to the "good" stuff:
Isabella's request this week was music to this homeschooling Mommy's ears! She said, "Mama, I just want to do SCHOOL again." Be still, my heart! I could forgive many tantrums for that one. We will be starting up again after the 4th of July. Lucy Cate will be 6 weeks old... it just sounds good to me. :)
Over the last month, Bella has discovered the love of gum, painted fingernails, and Madeleine Sophie's Gameboy. She loves being a "big girl" like Sophie... saying several times a day, "Look how big I am!" She has been very proud of her "big sister" status to Lucy, as she is no longer the baby sister in the house. Like Ben, she always wants to hold little Lucy and is quite pouty when I say no for a good reason.
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Finally, I will say a bit about my biggest girl.
Madeleine Sophie is pretty popular in the neighborhood now. I'm not sure how I feel about that though... I am not the kind of mom to let my 7-year-old play in the front yard alone. Her friends have to come over here to play inside or in the back yard where I can watch them from the window. I'm not going outside much with Lucy Cate yet... it is TOO DARN HOT here!
However, Adam was here last week and Sophie and the little girl across the street had a lemonade stand. She even earned a few dollars, which she was happy to share with Isabella. I thought it was very sweet of her.
Madeleine Sophie has been VERY helpful with the new baby transition. She is an old pro at this by now. She loves to hold the baby, and it gives me free hands to change Ben-Ben, cook, or even (gasp!) shower. ;)
For her 7th birthday, her grandparents bought her a Nintendo DSI. It has a camera on it, and just like Mommy... she has been taking photos and editing them non-stop. She likes taking photos of Lucy the best... even when she is eating.
Once, Sophie assured me: "Don't worry Mom. I can't get the pictures out of this camera, so no one will see your boob. I'd be REALLY embarrassed if someone saw MY boob, so I wouldn't do that to you."
Seriously, I love her. She makes my day! ;)
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And that only took me til 11:44 PM to finally finish and publish! Time to feed and change my baby... AGAIN. :) I love my little eating machine. She is worth every second!
"How can there be too many children? That is like saying there are too many flowers!"
