A Week at Home

The rest of the visit to Omaha went well. Taylor did amazingly well at my dad's work (see last post) and we finished up the week with more little lunch dates and a trip to the zoo. The flight back was smooth, even with Rory awake for most of it.

It's good to be home again, except that there has been a lot of cleaning to catch up on. The other day I sorted through the girls clothes to take out the summery outfits and clothes they have outgrown and then stock the drawers with the next size up. So many piles of tiny outfits!

Rory has been cooing and smiling a lot more the last couple of weeks. She's so fun to interact with now and is awake for 1-2 hrs at a time.  She got a bad rash from a missed poopy diaper, but I gave her lots of diaper free time on the Nekkie Blankie in-between naps and used Desitin while diapered and the rash disappeared very quickly.

She had her 2 month appointment on Monday - current stats: 9lbs 9oz (15th percentile) 22.5in long (50th percentile!!! The largest number my children have ever received), 15in head circumference (25th percentile).  She took the Rotavirus oral vaccine well and just let out one little wail when she got her Dtap shot.  We'll go back in two weeks to get the meningitis shots, as I didn't want her little body to have to process all the vaccines at once.  We're on Dr. Sear's alternative vaccine schedule from The Vaccine Book, which means we go in for extra shot visits in-between regular visits but Rory will still have all her vaccines in the recommended amount of time.


Taylor has recently picked up a sassy little walk - putting her hands on her hips wherever she goes. And when you see her do this with sunglasses on, you'd think you'd just encountered movie star.  She had her Parents as Teacher's evaluation yesterday and scored at the top of the charts for Communication, Social Skills, Fine Motor, and Problem Solving.  She only missed one mark for Gross Motor because she doesn't yet alternate feet while walking up stairs...granted her legs are pretty short.  I can't say I was surprised with the overall results; Taylor is a high-energy, loquacious little girl.  When she was asked to stand on one leg (Fine Motor), she actually started hopping on it too.

Mark is pushing hard to get his program ready for release by next week, as the Windows phone will be out soon.  This means any spare moment he gets, he'll be on his laptop.  Thankfully, my parents will be in town for the weekend - Halloween! - so the girls and I will still have lots of fun.

Here's a cute shot of the girls playing dress-up at the beginning of the month, Taylor in her bunny costume from last year (she'll be a butterfly this year) and Rory in the strawberry costume Taylor wore for her first Halloween.  I'll post the real Halloween photos after the weekend!

The Beginning of Adventures in Omaha

On Wed, we flew to Omaha without incident.  The girls were both fantastic on the plane - Rory slept and Taylor gabbed the whole time about the plane and clouds and the other babies on board.

Then yesterday we had a long lunch visit at my mom's work, where Rory managed to go through all the cloth diapers in my diaper bag and I found myself on my last emergency disposable. Yeeps!  However, we still needed to stop by Whole Foods on the way home because we were going to have a dinner guest.  My friend, Megan, from Northwestern was flying in to visit her NE family for the weekend and was going to stop by our house for a few hours before headed on home.

On the way to Whole Foods I came upon a formidable obstacle: both girls fell asleep...or rather, Taylor fell asleep.  It's hard enough to attempt shopping with a sleeping toddler on your own (usually I abandon the trip if I find myself in that situation), but how does one go shopping with a sleeping toddler AND a baby??

Glancing around the car, I formulated a quick plan.  I saw my Beco carrier (the soft-structured one that can go on front or back) - woohoo! - so glad I threw this in the car on the way to lunch.  If I could just get Taylor in the carrier while still sleeping, and then keep Rory in her car seat and put her in the shopping cart, I just might be able to shop.

Success!  Taylor was so zonked that she wasn't fazed by the transfer and Rory's seat fit in the cart.  I had just enough room left over in the cart (the fold down seat in front) to stack a rotisserie chicken, a box of salad, some strawberries, asparagus, and yogurt.

When I got to the car, I loaded the groceries in and then held my breath as I attempted Taylor's transfer back to the car seat.  Sadly, I wasn't as lucky the second time around.  Taylor woke up and started screaming: she didn't want to get in the seat, she didn't want to go home, she didn't want anything but to be held in the parking lot.  Then Rory woke up.  Shoot.

I got Rory back into the car, returned the cart, and then had to force Taylor into her seat.  Taylor was crying, Rory was crying, Taylor was crying that she didn't want Rory to be crying.  The absurdity of it all was actually a bit comical: Taylor: Maaamaa! Maamaa! Rory: Maaaaaaaaaa! Waaaaaaaaaaa!  They cried the whole way home.

Dinner went well.  It was great to see Megan again and Taylor was particularly entertaining.  When I had gone to pick up Megan from the airport beforehand, I went by myself.  Child-free.  A strange feeling.  Taylor was having a great time outside with my parents and Rory had just fallen asleep, so I figured they were both better off there.  If Rory had woken up at home at least my parents could rock her, where as if she were in the car I wouldn't be able to do anything for her.  She was asleep the whole time I was gone.

Today's adventure: Taylor went to work with my dad this morning! She pleaded that he take her with him and he agreed.  Wow!  I hope he can still get some work done.  I packed toys and snacks for her and I know that his iPhone and office chalkboard will come in handy as well.  I'll be driving out there to meet up with my parents for lunch, so it'll only be a couple of hours.  We'll see how it goes!

Wishy Washy

I'm wishing it was the weekend already, though we don't have anything planned.  We ended up going to the Scottish Festival last weekend, but it wasn't quite as interesting as our $20 admission led us to believe.  This was the best part:

The new fun thing for Taylor this week is a set of child-friendly chopsticks we bought from the Korean grocery store.  She took to them right away and can pick up pretty much anything from cereal to noodles to peanuts.

Rory's baby acne and flakiness is nearly gone now and the smooth baby skin is back.  I'm loving her funny little expressions (that last a fraction of second!) and early cooing sounds, the way she rubs her face into my shoulder, and how she grabs on to my shirt or the baby carrier with her tiny fists.

For possibly the first time since Rory was born, I made dinner - Tamarind Soup.  It was yummy.  Mark finally got a break!  He has been the chef around the house these last few months, cooking all the dinners and weekend meals.  With two little kiddies now, the last thing that is generally on my mind is "what should I make for dinner?"  But I'm slowly getting my bearings and can start taking on some of my old duties again.  For dinner tonight: burgers out with my cousin Kristina, who is in town on business.  Hehe, guess we get another night off.

I'm also trying to incorporate more exercise into my day in order to shed the remaining 20lbs from pregnancy.  While watching The Biggest Loser last night, I did 50 squats, 50 push ups, and 50 ab dealies (don't remember the exact name of the move...).  Now to just keep it up!  I'm not as much into diet changes, but here is a good blog posting I read recently about Five Food Women Should Be Eating.  Good information!

Taylor has gymnastics this morning.  Her class is now on Thursdays instead of Mondays.  I've been up since 4:30am with the last nursing session, but I may just try to stay up at this point to get more things done before the girls are awake.  Someone's got to get those clothes back in the drawers, and it might as well be me right now.

Sunny Days

The weather has been so pleasant, I've been taking all the girls out for a walk the last few days.  Usually Rory is in a carrier, Taylor walks or rides in a stroller, and Phoebe tugs along on her leash at my side.  Toddler entertainment, Vitamin D, and exercise - a great combination.

Two days ago, we got together with Sarah, Samuel, & Joseph at the Botanical Gardens to check out a dinosaur exhibit (Yay Groupon, for discounted tickets!). They turned their Biodome into a prehistoric forest of dinosaur statues and plants that the dinosaurs would have seen or eaten.  The kids really enjoyed the adventure and it was great to get out and do something new.

Then yesterday, Mark took off early from work to meet us for lunch at a Korean restaurant and then go to The Butterfly House to see some prehistoric bugs (the second half of the dinosaur exhibit).  Taylor so wanted butterflies to land on her, as she had seen them do to other kids inside the conservatory, but all they wanted to do was suck the lotion off of my legs (eee, it's a creepy crawly sensation to have a large butterfly on you).  We walked over to a playground after The Butterfly House closed and Taylor went wild on all the slides and climbing apparatuses.

Taylor and a butterfly

At the playground

Rock climbing

Fast slides

Other news: Mark and Rory are pretty much over the sniffles they picked up last week.  Rory is 6.5wks and getting more attentive and interactive by the day.  She has such wide open eyes and even smiles a little now.  She still has big spit up sessions every other day, but continues to pack on the weight so it isn't a concern.  We also found a birthmark on her a couple days ago!  It was a bit of a surprise since we hadn't seen it before now and since Taylor doesn't have one.  It's just a tiny little spot on her left side.

Taylor's memory astounds me.  She recalls things from several months ago, like what she carried in her purse at the airport on the way to CA in April (a knife, a fork, and leftover pizza).  And her imagination is always booming with new games or adventures.  She is getting really good at putting on her own socks and sneakers and has even used the toilet (as opposed to the potty) completely on her own several times (once even without a step stool!).  She's finally comfortable going to sleep in her own room again, though Mark still sleeps there so he can get a better night's rest too.

Mark has made progress coming up with a business name and logo and he secured a website domain today, so he's really excited about establishing an LLC and getting his software out there.  He's getting very skilled at putting both of the girls to sleep, which is really nice when I've exhausted all my tricks with Rory and she's still crying before bed.

I feel a lot more comfortable taking care of both girls during the day now and have been trying to pay special attention to Taylor and involve her in playtime with Rory so she doesn't feel abandoned.  Today we read a book to Rory together and Taylor got a big kick out of it.  I've been good about staying on top of laundry - you kind of have too when most of the items in the basket have some sort of baby fluids on them - but sadly our couch has become barely visible under my clean clothes pile.  Today I broke out some of my pre-pregnancy clothes (the big ones) and was glad to find I finally have something new to wear that doesn't have a maternity label on it.  Here are a couple of snapshots of life at home:

 Sister hugs (I love how Rory is looking at the camera!)

Taylor takes a picture of me nursing Rory

This weekend there are a ton of fun events going on in St. Louis - Taste of St. Louis, Scottish Games, Oktoberfest - so we're hoping to get out and go to at least a couple of them.