Sitting

It's funny how as parents, we're always looking forward to the next milestone. Ian has started smiling and cooing already and now I wonder when he'll laugh, discover his hands and sit up. Ian is no where near sitting up, but this picture shows how strong he's getting. Today a random guy at Caribou asked if he was 4 months old. I realize he's gaining weight quickly, but geez!

Anja, on the other hand has been sitting up for quite some time. Now I hope that she starts sitting in a more specific location.
Full force potty training will begin soon.

God help us.

And our carpet.

Little Mommy

Anja is turning into quite the little mommy. She is absorbing things at a rate that is even alarming to someone like me who has studied the rate at which children learn. Luckily, she usually uses that knowledge for good, not evil. She is still very much into helping with Ian. She's getting much better at holding him and can now feed him a bottle, complete with a request for me to put a burp cloth on her shoulder (which she actually uses to wipe his chin if/when he dribbles some milk). If I hold him, she'll even successfully burp him and lectures Dan about the appropriate method for doing so! (She firmly believes you should utilize a flat hand, not knuckles.) She's definitely the proud big sister and will defend Ian if one of the other kids at daycare gets too close when I'm dropping her off. I love how helpful she is! Well, until she decided yesterday that she was going to help me nurse Ian, too. I'll leave it at that so I don't have to post a disclaimer on this blog.

But sometimes, just sometimes (ok, more like daily!), she'll use her sponge-like-absorbing-ness for other purposes. As a toddler, we often give her 2 choices for things, like sitting with us at the dinner table even if she claims she doesn't want to eat or going in time out. It has now come back to haunt us.

Anja: Daddy, play catch wit me!

Dan: Not right now, Anja. Maybe later.

Anja: Daddy, play catch wit me or go in time out. Which one you want to do?

Oh dear.

Way Behind/Far Ahead

Between Ian's constant hunger and the German group arriving a week ago, I have been a little busy, hence I am way behind on the blog. Here's a quick recap of some major happenings in our world:

We had lots of visitors. This picture of Ian looking like he's hung over from milk is probably one of the last pictures we have of him wearing newborn sized clothing. This was also the same day that Anja's friend Lyla and her family came over. May have been one of the first times that I have seen two toddlers actually play together instead of near each other. It is also an example of why my photography skills are no where near my sister's or our friend, Alison's. Please note the foot in the bottom of the picture. I rock. And am too lazy to go back and crop it now.

Awww, Ian's first 0-3 month outfit. You can't tell, but it's a short sleeved romper. Remember those few days when it was around 75 degrees around 2 weeks ago? Yeah. It's snowing as I'm typing this. Yay, Minnesota.
1st self portrait of the fam. I love the look on Ian's face. He must know what he was born into.
I also took Anja for a tour of what will likely be her preschool next year. I can't believe she's old enough for that already! She misses the cut off for some programs by 4 days, but Lakeville's program said to bring her on in for a tour and they'd see how it went. So Anja, Ian and I went for a visit last Friday to check out the class that she would be in. She LOVED it and has been begging to go back ever since. She knows she has to be fully potty trained to go, so every time she uses the bathroom, she thinks we can pick up and head right to the school. At least she's motivated! But the director of the program and the various teachers were very impressed with her, so it looks like we won't have any issues with sending her. Assuming she does finally finish potty training, that is! She joined in on the singing and dancing, play time, chatted with the teachers and kids, and showed off her vocabulary to all the right people. It was nice to hear a professional tell me that Anja is very advanced for her age. (Yes, I am tooting my own horn on her behalf - deal with it.)

And last week, a group of 35 German teenagers and their chaperones arrived for their 3 week stay. We've had a large number of issues already, but we've been able to solve them all quickly so far. So much for maternity leave, eh? Luckily for us, the chaperone staying with us, Isi, is awesome and very helpful. Plus Anja loved her from the very first day, so that's even better!

And now I am off to go finish the laundry that resulted from Ian's first up-to-the-shoulders blow out that caught Dan by surprise last night.

Let the fun continue!

Oh, so hungry!

Our little man doesn't know how to read. Beyond the ability to draw that conclusion because he is not even a month old, I have proof. If he were able to read, surely he would have visited any number of websites that state that the average newborn gains 4-8 oz per week for the first month of their lives, up to 10 oz. How is this proof, you may wonder? Please recall that Ian weighed in at 7 lb 9 oz a mere 3.5 weeks ago. For those of you unfamiliar with the wonders of newborns, they actually lose weight right after birth and the hope is for them to be back to birth weight by 2 weeks. Ian had already surpassed his birth weight before he was a week old. By his 2 week appointment, he had already reached 8 lb 15 oz. And at 3 weeks, he was a plump 10 lb 8 oz. For those of you unskilled in math, that equates to more than a pound a week (remember, he lost weight right away!). He is packing on the pounds at a tremendous rate. And, as a nursing mom, last night was one of those points that you hope you never hit. We realized that I can't keep up with his appetite.

"Normal" babies apparently eat roughly 2-3 oz, up to 4 oz every 2-3 hours and slowly increase it as they get older. Ian will down 5 oz as if it was simply the appetizer and then turn beet red and scream at you until you feed him more. And then repeat the whole thing about 2 hours later. Sometimes only 1. Especially if it's between 10pm and 7am. Enter, formula. Anja didn't have a drop of the stuff until she was 11 months old. Due to Ian's appetite, he's already had 3 bottles of the stuff. I think he's working on bulking up so he can take on his big sister by 6 months. Or he is in to collection chins. Hard to say.

Day he was born:

Adding chins by 2 weeks old:

Token and Tutu

Token cute picture of Ian.

And my Doppelgänger in a tutu I wore 30 years ago.

Bath time

Keeping in mind that Ian and I were in the hospital for awhile after he was born and he received baths there, the 25th we gave him his first bath at home. It went far better than at the hospital, that's for sure. In fact, there was not even any poo involved. Can't say the same for the other end of things. Thank goodness for well placed wash cloths. He did look adorable after the fact, though.

And ever since then, Anja has been asking to help with Ian's baths. Today I asked what she wanted to do to help and she couldn't come up with anything, but wanted him to have a bath at the same time that she did. So that's exactly what we did. It worked out rather nicely, actually. And since his belly button hasn't healed enough to really get him in a bath, I decided to not press my luck and left his diaper on until the very end. Definitely a good move.

And for comparison purposes, here is Anja after her first bath.

It appears that Anja developed jowls much earlier than Ian.