Sleep

Last night I drove up with my mom to the outlet mall in Oshkosh (about 1hr 15min away) since it opened at midnight to meet Alle and shop. The deals weren't so great but we shopped til around 4:00. The plan was for me to sleep when I got home till about noon and then Jeff would be leave again to go hunting. I had the best sleep!! He thought I would hate it waking up at noon but I think that was the first time since Emily was born that I had almost 6 hours of continuous sleep. I felt so refreshed getting up. So of course now I am not too tired but since both of the kids are sleeping I should be heading there soon. They had a rough night with Jeff and it was technically my first night away from Emily. She sure gave Daddy a hard time. Hopefully things are back to usual tonight. Even 6 more hours of sleep would be nice.

Hopefully back on track

Stephanie has been off of her nap schedule since Jeff left on Friday. She had to come to work with me on Friday since Jeff was gone and she usually is napping and Jeff is home so she stays home with him. I tried putting her down for an early nap but that didn't work. So she missed her nap on Friday and was so happy to go to bed at 7:00. Then she slept til almost 8::00 on Saturday and we were at my parents for my Mom's birthday in the afternoon so she missed her nap again and then again she went to bed early, we'll almost 8:00 this time. On Sunday she actually was able to watch most of the Packer game since she slept til 10:30 Sunday morning (she was up some time during the night, but I don't know for how long). Then again to bed around 7:00. So today I wanted her back on track because I know she will be up late for Thanksgiving and can't have her missing more naps and wanting to crash at 7:00 on Thursday. She was falling asleep in the car this afternoon but I kept her awake so she would go right down for a nap when we got home. Of course that didn't work and she wouldn't fall asleep at home and we needed to go get Mia from school. Thankfully she fell asleep on the way there and actually slept in the car after we picked her up and while Mia did her homework. So she finally got a nap in. Now hopefully she is back on track. We are off (of work) for the week so hopefully we have no more nap conflicts.

The bumbo is a hit

Even though we use the bumbo seat to sit Emily up, Stephanie has taken a liking to it. She will sit in it, carry it around, and sometimes wants to get Emily out of it. I have even used it for her at work to sit and eat since she doesn't have a seat there and will take a bite and get down and leave since she knows shes not buckled in. But since she still fits in the seat I can use it for her when I am right there, since she could easy get out of it. I think she is getting more use out of it now than she did when she was learning to sit.

Teething

Emily is constantly drooling and wanting something in her mouth. Usually it is her 2 little fingers, most convenient, but sometimes a toy. The problem with the toy is that she is always dropping it and resorting back to her fingers. She does get mad at her toys sometimes when she can't get the part she wants in her mouth. Since she is always drooling and wet she is constantly getting a little reddness around her cheeks and chest. We are always putting lotion on it but it's hard to get her dry. We go through at least 5 bibs a day. Plus more bibs used for eating.

Jeff's birthday

Jeff's birthday was last month but his parents came by last weekend for the Packer game (yay Packers!!) and we had steaks, potatoes, and cake. Stephanie could not wait for the cake and went back for seconds after her nap. She loved the Packer cake because she recognizes the Packer "G" on all the Packer stuff around.

Hunting season

Jeff left this morning to go hunting. I hate when he leaves but I know this is one of the few times he gets to leave and hang out with his friends. I'll never understand his love for hunting but I knew what I married into. He is so excited since his friend Fetter flew in from Australia last night. He hasn't seen him since he got married here and moved to Australia 2 years ago. Jeff will come back for Thanksgiving but then back up for next weekend. He sure owes me big time for this.

Snapping

Stephanie has learn to snap with her right hand this week. I noticed her making the movement with the correct fingers and once I did it, it was easy for her to copy. She does make some sound, though sometimes you have to really be listening to hear it, but she can do it. I'm so proud of my big girl.

Little sickness

This morning Stephanie had her first upset stomach. She threw up right after coming downstairs and did a couple more times after that. She just wanted to rest on my lap and relax on the couch this morning. It was so sad to see her like that because she had never thrown up before. It was also hard to comfort her and hold Emily since Jeff was sleeping (he worked last night). But by noon she wanted some juice, then she had a bagel, teddy grahams, and was running around the house. She was a little whinny but much better. So whatever sickness she had, I'm glad it didn't stay long and is hopefully gone.

Rolling again

Emily rolled from her back to her front on Friday. She has been working so hard for the last 2 weeks and was getting most of the way there but then her arm was in the way so she rolls back. Yesterday morning she was trying and before she got it herself all the way over Stephanie came over to push her the rest of the way. I know, Stephanie was just trying to help. Maybe she remembers having the same problem. After she got back to her back she got to her tummy herself this time. But once she gets to her tummy she needs help getting her arms out and now she forgot how to get from her tummy to her back. So much to learn. She's getting there...too fast for me.

Big Chair

Back in September I got a upholstered chair for Emily's room. I was taking pictures of Emily in it and Stephanie wanted to get up. I thought she would get right down realizing she was right next to Emily. She didn't though but she did try to stay away from touching her. I asked her to hold Emily's hand, which lastedfor only a second, then she realized what she was doing and had to get down.

Garlic mashed potatoes

We love mashed potatoes (okay, I really love them) and we also love garlic so one thing we make are garlic mashed potatoes. Jeff made them tonight and for some reason wanted to use all the garlic we had (even though I need some for dinner tomorrow). He ended up putting about 12 or so cloves of garlic in the potatoes and we couldn't even eat them. They were too much for us which has never happened, but Stephanie kept eating them. She would eat them and then stick her hand in her mouth because of the strong garlic taste but still go back for more. We ended up having to cut her off. It reminded me of once Jeff got some really super hot buffalo wings (which he loves) and as much as he loves them he had to stop because it got too painful to eat. Usually they are hot and it is pianful but he has never not been able to to eat them before. I never understood why he would eat something that was painful to eat. He hated wasting them but he couldn't do it anymore. Like father, like daughter.

Emily at 4 months

I always take the kids to Pennys for their monthly photo picture the first year. Stephanie missed hers once by a day since we were out of town that month on the 3rd. So yesterday Emily's had her appointment and decided to scratch herself on her face 2 hours before her picture. I debated for awhile what to do and since I am so anal I was having a hard decision on what to do. I finally decided to change it for Thursday and deal with it. But here are her pictures I did take yesterday when she was officially 4 months. At 4 months she rolls over quite a bit from her tummy to her back and is almost there the other way. She has begun to eat her fingers and it is usually the first 2 on her right hand. She will hold a rattle and try to get it into her mouth but usually drops it. She will occasionally sleep most of the night (8-5, then eat and back to sleep til 7 or 8). She has eaten cereal a few times and loves to sit and look around. Every once in awhile she is scared of strangers but other times she is okay. She loves to talk and watch her big sister. She is such a sweet baby and a wonderful joy in our lives. It's hard to believe she is 4 months already.

Fun bath time

Sunday I gave both girls a bath together. It went okay and Emily came away unharmed. She got some water poured on her head once by Stephanie but that was it. Stephanie of course wanted more space but with Emily's tub in there, there wasn't much room. I think it will be better once Emily moves into the bath seat. Maybe another month in the baby tub. Emily enjoyed it more since she had more water and was able to kick around and splash all she wanted.

Little Emily wants some real food

Sunday morning Jeff made some pancakes for breakfast and even though Emily just had a bottle she couldn't help but STARE at Jeff eat his pancakes. She would watch him chew and follow his fork and move her mouth and drool. She so badly wanted some pancakes. She was also leaning as far as she could towards him to get as close as possible. She goes next week to the doctor and even though I have already started her on cereal, we will probably then start with some other foods. She can't wait.

Big sister helping

Stephanie thought it was a good idea to help change Emily's diaper. Even though I just changed Emily and Stephanie is the one who really needed to be changed. At least she was being nice and helping instead of pushing her sister away.