1 Month

I can't believe our little girl is already one month old! This month has flown by! We've been busy moving, working long hours, and taking care of 2 kids!

P2 is your typical baby. She eats, sleeps, and poops, and then does it all over again. She does okay at night. I usually get up twice with her, and can get her back to sleep in half an hour as long as she hasn't decided it's morning. There have been the occasional nights where she won't go back to sleep for hours, and those make for long nights. But she is a little sweetheart even when she doesn't let me sleep.

P2 does have quite the scream now. She definitely lets you know when she is unhappy. P1 will usually bring me my nursing cover when she cries, because he knows that if she is crying she must be hungry. When I took a shower the other morning, I came out to a screaming baby. I had her in my bedroom with the door shut, and P1 was desperately trying to get into the bedroom because the baby was crying. He is such a sweet big brother.

Motherhood

Sometimes I wonder why motherhood has to be so challenging. I wonder why can't babies sleep through the night, why do they have to spit-up and blow-out, why are toddlers such picky eaters, why won't toddlers listen to you, and the list goes on and on. And then I remember that life isn't supposed to be easy. It's supposed to stretch us and make us grow. And nothing else has made me stretch and grow more than motherhood.

P2 is really a pretty easy baby, but I think a lot of that is because being a mother to P1 caused me to stretch and grow. So now taking care of a newborn is easier for me. But the stretching and growing this time around comes from learning how to take care of a toddler and a baby at the same time.

I've lost my patience a lot more with P1 since P2 came along. I could blame lack of sleep, but while that may be the reason, it is still not a good excuse. I have to grow and learn how to still be patient, kind, compassionate, and loving even when I am exhausted. I have to learn to be Christ-like in all conditions, not just when everything is easy.

Christ suffered more than we can comprehend in Gethsemane and on the cross. He must have been exhausted beyond our mortal comprehension. If anyone ever had the "right" to be less than kind, loving, and compassionate because they were tired or having a bad day, then it was Christ. He suffered EVERYTHING, all of our pains and afflictions, and yet He was still kind, patient, and compassionate.

"At each moment of His suffering, the Redeemer of the world showed exceptional self-control. He always thought of blessing others; with kindness and tenderness, He pleaded for John to take care of His mother, Mary. He asked His Father in Heaven to forgive the executioners who crucified Him." 

-Elder Carlos H. Amado, Christ the Redeemer, April 2014

Christ is our perfect example. And motherhood is truly a gift from God to help me become more Christ-like.

2 Weeks

I better write this down before I forget!

P2 had her 2 week check-up today. Here are her stats:

Weight: 8 lbs 10 oz (59th percentile)
Height: 21.25 inches (82nd percentile)

She was 7 lbs 8 oz and 21 inches long at birth. So she is definitely growing. Some of her newborn clothes are already getting small on her.

P2 is very healthy. The only issue we've had so far is that she ripped off her umbilical cord when she was 4 days old. We ended up having to take her in a few days later to have them cauterize her belly button because it was bleeding too much. We almost took her in again a few days later because the bleeding picked up again. But it finally started improving, and hopefully will be completely healed soon.

P2 is really a good baby. So far she has been a lot easier than P1 was as a baby, but the hard part this time around is taking care of P1 and P2 at the same time. But we are figuring it out, and are very blessed to have both of them in our family.

Instrument of Choice

P1 has picked which instrument to play...

The Truck:

P1 has taken a great interest to the truck lately. He can now say "truck" and he knows which one is ours. He likes to look out the window in the morning and point to the truck. He was a little confused this morning when it wasn't there because PE had taken it. And when we are playing outside, he will suddenly decide that we need to go see the truck.

Chicken

The other night we were eating dinner. Chicken stir-fry was on the menu. I fixed a plate for P1 and gave it to him. He starts pointing at all the different food items on his plate, waiting for me to tell him what each item is called. I patiently respond to all his unspoken questions: "Carrots...peas...broccoli...plate...water...cup...spoon...fork."

Then he points to a piece of chicken.

"Chicken" I say without thinking.

He looks at me confused, and points to it again.

I oblige and say "Chicken."

He then looks at me funny and asks "Bawk, bawk?"

I start laughing, and knowing it's too late to change what I've said, reply "Yes, it's chicken." P1 wouldn't eat anymore chicken after that.

It must be really confusing to be a toddler.

Update

PE is now a fully licensed professional civil engineer!!! He has worked very hard to get to this point, and I am so grateful for how well he provides for our family. We celebrated by eating at La Jolla Groves at the Gateway. It was pretty good, and then we enjoyed walking around the Gateway.

P1 playing with the trains at Barnes & Noble in the Gateway:

We are getting close to P2's due date. Right now I think we're having a girl, but that probably just means I'll be surprised when it's a boy. My doctor told me she would be out of town Memorial Day weekend, and of course, that jinxed me, and my body tried to go into labor then. It was the middle of the night, so I didn't go in. My contractions were very close together for a couple hours, but after drinking lots of water, they finally started to become less frequent. I've had braxton hicks since about week 28, but these were definitely closer to the real thing. I wouldn't mind the baby coming a couple weeks early, but still need a week or two to get everything done!!! I have a baby blanket I need to finish crocheting, and next week I am co-hosting a baby shower for a friend (so baby can't come until after that!).

And of course, I'll now rush to get everything done in case baby comes a little early, and then baby will be late. And I'll have nothing to keep me busy while waiting.

P1 knows the sign for baby, and whenever we see a picture of a baby, he'll make the sign. It's pretty adorable. He'll be a great big brother (once he gets over the shock of having to share mommy).

Making the sign for baby:

Playing with baby's carseat, he makes it look like a roller-coaster ride:

Yesterday we went swimming with friends, and P1 did great! The last time I took P1 swimming, he was not a big fan. It made him nervous to be in a big pool. But his friend is a lot more brave and adventurous, so she was having fun in the pool with her mom, so P1 finally decided that it was okay to be in the pool.

It is so much fun to watch P1 learn. He is really interested in knowing what everything is, and he is getting better about trying to say new words. He has a great memory, and will shake his head at you if you tell him a different thing the second time around. For example, there is a picture of a caterpillar in his book that he thinks is a snake and so we usually just stick with snake. But if we ever slip and say "caterpillar" he will shake his head and start getting upset until we say "snake".

P1 does great in nursery. He really doesn't get very excited when I come to pick him up, and it takes me a few minutes to convince him that we should go home. Last Sunday, he managed to get his head stuck in the small space between the dividers and the chapel wall. It was right as sacrament meeting was starting, and he suddenly starts screaming. PE had to go all the way around the divider to push P1's head out from the the other side. Poor little guy. I'm still shaking my head and laughing about that one though.

Reading

P1 loves his books. He loves to point at the pictures and have you tell him what each thing is, and if it's an animal, then you have to make the sound too. He is good at remembering what things are, so if you ask him "where is the bunny?", then he'll point to the bunny. And if you ever come across a star, he point at it, and then open and close his hands until you sing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" with him. (He doesn't sing, but he tries to do the hand gestures).

The other day he decided it was better to sit underneath the chair cushion and read his book:

 Reading on the couch: