Sarah’s Fourth Weekiversary

Posted on December 28, 2011 by Katherine

In two days Sarah will be a month old.  I didn’t think time could move much faster than it already was moving, but at this rate it feels like Sarah may be starting school tomorrow.

Sarah mostly slept through her first Christmas.  Lucky for her she had Ted to open her presents.  This Christmas was filled with Skype instead of travel.  On Christmas Eve we did a post dinner skype with Jack and Ben.  Then later on we skyped with my sisters, aunt, and cousins and participated in Yankee Swap with them.

Then on Christmas morning we opened stockings and a few gifts from Santa and each other before a breakfast of cinnamon rolls, eggs, and fruit salad.  We then opened more gifts before skyping with my sisters, Jack, and Ben again.  We all opened the presents from aunts to nephews and a niece and then Ted and Jack played the drums together.

Then we participated in a five location conference skype with Great Nana, Uncle John, Gram, Pops, Auntie Kristen, Uncle Josh, Abby, and Aunt Dede reporting in from MA, NH, two FL locations, and us representing NC.  Craziness!  And yet the sound quality was better on that massive skype than it was when we just skyped with RI.  Mysterious internet.  It was great to see everyone and just amazing to see everyone all at once.  Other than missing out on hugs and getting to pass the babies around, it was just like getting together in real life.

After all the skyping we fed Ted a quick lunch and got all dressed and ready.  Just before it was time to head out I put Sarah into her Christmas outfit.  She immediately filled a diaper and leaked on the outfit.  Pat changed her into the dress she wore Chrismas Eve and she let us know in no uncertain terms that she would need to eat before we left the house.  I fed her and burped her and she proceeded to puke in my hair and all over my shirt.  I went upstairs and washed out my hair and changed shirts and we were ready to go!

We arrived at Kate and Peter’s fashionably late, but hopefully Ted and Sarah distracted everyone.  Ted was on his best behavior and made himself right at home.  He passed out hugs left and right and had everyone laughing with him.  Sarah slept while we ate dinner and woke up when we were done, just in time to be passed around to everyone for snuggles.  After dinner we took a walk and Ted tried out his new scooter.  Luckily the rain held off for us and we came back just in time for dessert.  We had a great time.

Posted in Baby, Christmas, Sarah, Week-iversary | 1 Comment

Merry Christmas!

Posted on December 25, 2011 by Patrick

Posted in Christmas, Ted | 3 Comments

Sarah’s Third Weekiversary

Posted on December 22, 2011 by Katherine

This week we didn’t have a doctor’s appointment to tell us how much Sarah has grown, but she has outgrown her newborn diapers and some of her newborn pajamas.  I have been putting her in some of the super cute 3 month size outfits that she got as presents and have been continuously surprised that they fit.

She has been focusing on our faces much more this past week.  She will spend a long time just quietly examining my hair line especially.  I remember Ted doing that too.  I assume the contrast between my light skin and dark hair is the easiest thing to focus on.

She has been holding her head up for longer and longer periods.  She also continues to use the weight of her head to throw her whole body wherever she wants to go.

 

Posted in Baby, Christmas, Sarah, Week-iversary | 3 Comments

Sarah’s Second Weekiversary

Posted on December 14, 2011 by Katherine

We took Sarah to her two week well-check today.  The doctor said that she looked great and that she had gained back enough weight that she was over her birth weight (which is what they hope for by two weeks.)  She is now 8lb 12oz which puts her in the 60th percentile for weight.  She is 21.5 inches tall, which is the 90th percentile for height!  She didn’t get that from me!

A lot of Sarah’s facial expressions and movements remind me of Ted when he was this small.  One thing I don’t remember is him being this vocal though.  I don’t mean crying.  Sarah is frequently making little noises.  She squeaks, purrs, snores, and makes little noises that seem to say, “hello?  I am over here.”

This past weekend Auntie Christine came to visit and help us get ready for Christmas.  On Friday we got a tree from the Farmer’s Market.  Saturday we decorated the tree and the house and went to the Christmas Parade.  On Sunday Ted got to spend some quality time playing with Auntie outside.  Then Sunday night after Auntie had to head back to Boston, Ted and Pat went to the Christmas Celebration at Pullen Park.  It was a very fun, action-packed weekend.

Ted putting the rocket ship on the top of the tree.

Sarah’s First Parade!

Ted had the best view.

 

Posted in Baby, family, Sarah, Week-iversary | 4 Comments

Ted is forty-four months old

Posted on December 14, 2011 by Patrick

Turns out blogging output slows by orders of magnitude when you have additional babies. Who knew?  Ted’s certainly aware of delays these days, as his forty-forth month-iversary coincided with new baby sister Sarah’s zero month-iversary. She was eight days late!

Ted was well prepped though. We took a sibling class at the hospital before Sarah was born and he learned all about the different cries babies make and how to change their diapers (a skill I only wish he was ready for).

Ted seems to be taking the change in-stride… mostly.  We’re not sure what he thought before his sister got here, but I think he realizes she’s sticking around for good.  He does like the title ‘big brother’ though, and in his mind it is a promotion over ‘big kid’ and comes with some more power and responsibility.

In November, Ted got to play out in the leaf pile generated from our one tree.  He helped me rake and made a pretty sweet dive into the pile afterwards. (Last year’s leaves.)

Kate and I got to attend Ted’s Thanksgiving performance and party at his preschool.  He and his class sang some songs and then his teachers went crazy with some sugary sweets, just like the first Thanksgiving.  Here Ted is eating a massive cookie with sprinkles on it.

He’s sporting a school-crafted construction paper headdress for Thanksgiving.

His forty-fourth month also included a week-long visit from aunts Christine, Kim and Anne, as well as cousins Jack and Ben.  With Jack there was much playing, running, and goofiness to be had.

Goofiness and Pixar pajamas, apparently.

 

 

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Adventure is our business, and business is good

Posted on December 9, 2011 by Patrick

Some more shots of Ted, Jack and Ben hanging out together from the week leading up to Sarah’s birth.  It was a bummer Ben and Jack couldn’t meet their new cousin in person, but cool that they and Ted got to spend some time together.

Keeping the couch firmly planted.

Train ride at Pullen Park.

Natural Science museum

Boat ride at Pullen Park.

Posted in family, Ted | 2 Comments

Sarah’s First Weekiversary

Posted on December 7, 2011 by Katherine

Sarah is one week old today!  Hard to believe I spent the the entire week before last with one thought going through my mind:  I cannot believe she has not been born yet!  I was sure she would be born by Thanksgiving if not sooner.  With Ted I was convinced he would be late and then he was born on his due date.  A doctor told me second children usually come earlier than firstborns.  Not in this case!  Who knows how long Sarah would have stayed in there had she not been induced or evicted, as I like to say.

Eight days after her due date Pat and I headed to the hospital for a scheduled induction.  I was worried that forcing her out before she was ready would lead to a longer labor or even a c-section.  Luckily none of that came to pass and I had a much shorter labor and was able to forgo the pain medication again.

Since we were expecting her so much earlier she missed meeting Auntie Kim, Auntie Anne, and cousins Jack and Ben by a day.  She also only had super short visits with Auntie Christine, Grampa, and Gramma.  Luckily Sarah did get to spend some quality time with Gram and will get to see Auntie Christine again this weekend.

This week we took Sarah to the doctor twice.  The first time was her 48 hours after leaving the hospital weight check.  She was down to 7lbs 12oz from her birth weight of 8lb 9oz.  They asked us to come back in another two days to check again.  She gained 3oz in those two days so they were satisfied she is on the right track and our next appointment is her two week well check.

Sarah sleeps in our room in a bedside co-sleeper.  I am absolutely loving this.  When we had Ted in our room during his first days it was in a pack and play and I had to get out of bed to see him.  Which I did every time he made a little noise.  I didn’t sleep at all when he was in our room.  We moved him to his crib in his own room pretty quickly.  This let me sleep between feedings which was wonderful, but after walking back from his room I usually had some trouble falling back asleep.  So far with Sarah I have been able to place her back in the co-sleeper and fall back asleep immediately*.  Of course now that I have admitted this, it will change, because that is what babies do.

*Except for the couple of times when she has turned into what Pat and I lovingly call her voracious velociraptor moments, where she will go four hours trying to nurse constantly with no break, chomping on anything within her reach.

Posted in Baby, family, Sarah, Week-iversary | 3 Comments