Snippets of Life with Tobi

For about a month now Tobi has taken to calling me Shauna most of the time.  "Can I have some more milk, Shauna?", "Shauna, where are my blue socks?", "My baby brother is crying, Shauna.  You need to feed him, Shauna."  I have mostly chosen not to make a big deal about it, but gently remind her that she should call me "Mommy"...even thought everyone else calls me Shauna.  I can see why she's confused.  But yesterday she took it to a new level when she gave me a nickname.  "Do you know where baby Kayla is, Shaun?"  I guess the whole two syllable thing got a little cumbersome for her.

The other day I had left the TV on when I went up to get Tobi from her nap.  It was on a DVR'd epsiode of Oprah that I really wasn't paying much attention to and forgot was even playing.  I went to the kitchen and Tobi went to play in the TV room.  She came into the kitchen and asked if she could watch a kid movie.  I asked which one she wanted to watch and she chose Franklin.  When I said "sure" she ran back into the TV room and said "Oprah, I'm gonna watch Franklin now."  Uhhh...I didn't even know she knew who Oprah was... she is usually taking a nap if and when I have it on.  I guess I need to be more careful about what I leave playing...this one is way too observant to let ANYTHING get by her.

While reading "Make Way for Ducklings" with my Dad, he mentioned to her that maybe he would take her to ride the swan boats this summer.  We ended up in Boston a couple weekends ago and I reminded her about reading about the swan boats.  She remembered and she's mentioned it a few times since then.  The other day Ben pointed out a Canadian goose to her that was swimming on a little pond.  Tobi's eyes lit up as she said "Oh, I think Grandpa's gonna ride me the goose."  (It's even better if you know her little voice!)  Goose...swan.  Ride me...take me to ride.  Birds...boats.  You know it's all pretty close to the right idea!

She may be a little smarty pants but all the baby attention may be getting to her:

If you can't make it out, this is her sitting in Axel's carseat...and loving it!

5-11-11

Look who's 3 months old today.

 He's a pretty happy guy these days.  We get a lot of smiles and squeals..when he's awake.

He's getting longer and meatier (in the best sense possible) and less like a newborn everyday!

 He loves to kick his legs up in the air and get a little exercise.

 But other times he prefers to be still...

 It's getting harder to fit him in the basket...

I think he found a comfy spot here.

 A chance to kick back and relax.

 But now it's time to get back to telling us all how he really feels about things.

 Here's a little glimpse of this guy these days:

Smiles and Giggles

We did some growing up 'round here

Yesterday marked two months since Axel was born.  He had his 2 month checkup today and everything looks good.  He is 24.5 inches and 12lbs 2 ozs.  He has some baby chub now.  I love that he is totally into people and faces...and he has started smiling and cooing a lot.  He is sleeping pretty well...which means so am I.  It's not the 7 or 8 hours I've grown accustomed to...but he gives me a couple solid stretches of sleep a night, so I'm thankful.

 Check out these "guns"! 

In other news, Tobi moved into her big girl bed this week. She was excited until she saw us taking down her crib (this girl loves her crib!), but I think she has made the adjustment now.  She recently had started moaning in the mornings so someone would get her out of the crib...which is one of the main reason why we decided we couldn't put off the jump to a bed any longer.  But wouldn't you know it...she wakes up and moans in her bed until someone comes in and then she asks if she can get up.  Oh Tobi... this would be a great problem to have if it wasn't for the moaning!

 

Finally we had some warm days recently and in a week of growing up we decided to add big girl swings to our list of accomplishments!

 

Here they are...a little older and a little wiser!

 

6 weeks & 32 months

Today we all went to the doctor...it turned out to be nothing...but my throat has been burning for a couple days so I thought we all had better get checked for strep since it has been going around.  My strep test came back negative and I guess we all just have colds/virus junk.  Better safe than sorry, I guess...but sure seemed like a waste of effort to drag everyone there to confirm we had colds.

Axel just happens to be 6 weeks old today...and we got to find out he weighs in at a healthy 11 lbs. 4 oz.  That is almost a 3 lb. weight gain since birth.  I'm glad we don't continue at that pace...or at least shouldn't!!

 

Sporting a full tummy!

Tobi was everyone's best friend until she realized the appointment was for her too.  It's always fun to have a screaming child when the doctor comes in...I had 2 today!  Fun, fun!

Tobi got weighed too...it seemed a little silly to see her sitting in that little baby scale they use, especially after seeing her little brother laying in there with room to spare.  She weighed in at 35 lbs 5 oz.  I can't believe how much she has grown!  She is wearing almost all 4T and 5T clothing now...and she is only 2 1/2+...or, as I was reminded by a monthly e-mail, 32 months on Sunday.  It really doesn't matter what size you are wearing when you pick out your own clothes...she can make it work!

ONE MONTH

I know it is close to impossible to make a statement about the passage of time without mentioning how hard it is to believe that such an amount of time could have passed already...so I won't say that I can't believe my baby is a month old already.  I believe it...because I am looking at a 2 1/2 year old and remembering that it was just yesterday that she was a month old.

And I'm sure our parents would say the same about us...

 

I can do nothing to slow time down, so instead I choose to enjoy these fleeting moments the best that I can...

 

I love having you in my life, in our family and in my heart!  Happy 1st month, Baby Axel!

2 weeks

Yesterday was Axel's 2 week check up at the clinic.  Technically he is 17 days old, but they still call it a 2 week check up.  He was a champ...no crying, and he just looked around and even let the stretch him out to get a good height measurement.  Speaking of his height, this is the second appointment he's had since he left the hospital and both times he was measured at 22 inches.

They had him at 20 inches when he was born...even though, literally, the doctor's first comment about him when she pulled him out was how long he was.  I thought so too...he was bigger than everyone thought when they felt my belly...he was 8 lbs. 6 oz. but not chubby.  This led everyone, including the nurses, to be skeptical of that initial measurement... and it looks like we were right to be so.  Either Axel grew 2 inches in a few days, or he was shortchanged a couple inches on his initial measurement.

In other exciting measurement news, Axel weighs 8 lbs. 14 oz. - 8 oz. above his birth weight.  That is always a good feeling.  I know he's been eating well, but it is just so hard to know how much he's getting and if I'm reading his needs well...so the good report is encouraging.

 

 Of course the nurse practitioner had a little help checking Axel out.  

Tobi has been a great helper at home too.  Some of her help is truly useful...like her willingness to bring things to me when I am feeding her brother.  Other help is questionable.  This poor kid has had his pacifier (which is known as "sucky" around these parts) shoved into his mouth numerous times a day, whether he wants it or not.  She likes to hold her baby brother...but only for a very short time usually.  You have to watch carefully so that when she is "all done" baby Axel doesn't end up on the floor. 

 

She is still mostly busy taking care of her many, many babies.  Here's a typical line up. 

 

I don't know how she does it...one baby is more than enough for me to handle at a time! As you can see Axel fits quite well into her world.