Soaring, flying...

Do you have High School musical stuck on your brain now too?

"...there's not a star in heaven that we can't reach"

Well, that's not what I want to tell you about today. I want to tell you about my little fairy. E put her fairy wings on H earlier today and it looked really cute so I let her keep them on. They didn't seem to bother her. I had every intention to take a picture before they came off, but that didn't happen. Something else happened though. My baby went flying through the air. No, you didn't read it wrong. 

 I was sitting on the armrest of our couch, talking to my husband on the phone about something landlord related (we have an apartment available for rent btw, just thought I'd throw that out there) and just as we hung up I looked up into the playroom and saw E holding H by the armpits high up in the air. Well, holding might not be the right term here. I'm sure she was holding onto her at first and then started swinging her. But when I looked up H was in the air for two seconds, then landed on her back with a bump.  And a thump. Then came the tears and the running mamma. While picking up my crying fairy from the floor I had the stern mamma look on my face, calmly, but very firmly, telling E she better go to her room right now! 

 H calmed down as soon as I picked her up. She was ok. E on the other hand was crying in her room. I knew she didn't throw her sister up in the air to purposely hurt her so I found something to distract H with (snack food) and then headed to E's room for a talk. We sat down and I asked her what just happened. I expected to hear something along the lines with "I was swinging her and dropped her" to which I would've explained why she is under no circumstances to try to swing her ever again. I mean, c'mon, we have a 'no carry H rule'. I would think swinging her would be included in that rule. Maybe I need to specify every possible carrying situation. Anyways, that's not what E told me.

"I just wanted her to fly."

I couldn't keep it together. I started laughing so hard that even though I turned away and covered my mouth there was no hiding it. My whole body was shaking. New rule in our house. Never, ever make H fly. Never thought of that one before.

In denial

It's not true! Our little baby turned 1 the other day. She's supposed to be my baby forever and ever, right? Who gave her permission to grow up right in front of me? Here are some things she's been doing without my permission and some other things that happened to her as well. 

She's a great walker. It looks so silly because she looks like a 9 or 10 month old. She barely weighs as much as E did at 6 months.

She's got 10 teeth. (well, 9½ since she slipped in the tub and chipped her tooth. I've been walking around since then singing "all I want for Christmas is my two front teeth", probably out of tune since I don't know the tune. I youtubed it but then I forgot it again.)

She laughs really hard when E blows her kisses. It sounds like this "hihihihhihhihihihihihihihihihihihhihihihihihi"!

She loves her food. And she REALLY loves our food. She just loves to eat. Did I mention she looks like a 9 month old? (We actually hung out with some friends who have a 7½ month old and they were about the same size.) I feel like I have a dog. If I sit down to eat she will walk up to me and start grunting, begging for food. And if I drop it she's right there to pick it up and put it in her mouth.

She loves to dance. As soon as she hears music, or even if someone claps their hands, anything with a beat I guess, she starts bopping her li'l body and her head starts moving too. Very cute! 

I'm still nursing her. After her check up next week I'll start to wean her. Bittersweet! Bitter b/c she's my last one and I'll be done nursing forever and it's just another reminder that we're about to leave the baby stage. Sweet b/c she's so rough. Pulling and sucking and squeezing... (and I can never keep up with her growing nails). 

Don't you just love to come over here and hear all about my nipple pain. TMI what is that?

Here's a sad fact. She spent her birthday with a fever. A high one. 103.6! Found out later that it was b/c of Roseola (Tredagarsfeber for all you Swedish peeps out there, even though she had a temperature for at least fyra dagar.)

Good thing she gets a do over when we're throwing her a birthday party next month. 

Except for right now, being extremely irritable due to the roseola, she's still such a content baby. She loves to play with E, she smiles SO big when daddy walks through the door and she loves me the most. j/k, but I am her favorite person right now. 

She really enjoys toys with buttons to push. She pushes them with her thumb. And she loves to rip everything she can reach off of the refrigerator and then toss it on the floor. Do I pick it up, over and over AND over again, or do I just give up and leave it there and then walk on it and get hurt?

Her favorite thing is still tags. Every time I put her to bed she looks for the tag on the blanket. I have to make sure the blanket is turned the right way.

You know how she sucks two of her fingers, and how she so cutely puts her pointer finger next to her nose? Well, that pointer finger now goes in her nostril. Kind of gross!

She still gives open mouth kisses - LOOOOOOVE them!

Change of plans

Oh, the plans I had for tomorrow morning. Snow suits, mittens, hats, snow, sledding, lots of pics (especially of H's first time in the snow), snowman, rosy cheeks, hot cocoa...

Change of plans:
Instead of H's first time in the snow it will be H's first dentist visit. Still a first, just not as fun! At all! Here's why...

Never, ever stand in a boat bathtub.

E and H update

Well, snot is dripping and the germs are flying everywhere with all the coughing that's going on around here. My girls have a serious cold. It better go away soon! We're running out of tissues, again.

H is really good at both crawling and cruising by now and she has even been taking a couple of steps on her own here and there. But I missed her first steps. She was standing by the coffee table and E called her name and she took 2 steps towards her. Hubby told me. I didn't want to miss that. I don't want to miss any firsts. But I'm glad C got to see it. He misses some firsts since he's the breadwinner around here. Still, couldn't she have waited until I was done in the bathroom? (Sorry, was that TMI? Oh well, I know you go there too.)

H has a new favorite game. She plays "tittut" with us. That's Swedish for peekaboo. There's your language lesson for today. I'm sure you'll find it useful someday. She grabs the blanket (or pants if she's getting her diaper changed), pulls it over her face, waits for me to ask "var är H?" (no I'm not translating it, one lesson is enough) and then she pulls it off and smiles when we say tittut. Sometimes it even sound like she's saying tittut. That would be a funny first word. Although she babbles mamamamamamama sometimes too.

On to E... We have struggled for the past 2 years now. You know, with the terrible two's and the wretched three's. And then the other day, about a week ago I could see in her face how she was focusing on trying to do the right thing and instead of arguing she turned to me and said, ok mamma, and did what I asked her to do. The rest of the day was like that and I was so proud of her. But normally after a good day follows a day of struggles. I'm pleased to report that we've had a great week! Could it be that she's getting closer to be four? Is that promise really true, that it gets better by the time they turn four? I've been clinging to it and it seems to be true. Sure, we still have some arguing, defiance etc going on here and there, but I did not ask for her to turn into a door mat so I don't mind seeing that strong will of hers now and then. 

I also have a couple of "she said" things that need to be told but they'll have to wait because I have to peeeee. Yep, there's that potty talk again. I'm not apologizing this time. No time. Really have to go!!!!!

She did and she said

H finally started crawling, but she's not a fan at all. She would much rather grab you by the hands and walk around with you. She doesn't care that it's killing your back. And neither do you since she's so cute. Well at least you don't care for the first two minutes, then your back tells you to care and you put her down and she screams. That's right. That content little baby has an opinion all of a sudden.
She realized today that she doesn't really need you to walk around. Cruising around the coffee table works too, but it's still pretty slow.

E has a few funny things she says from time to time that I don't think I've mentioned before. (Please forgive me if I have.)
In the fall she occasionally enjoys some apple Chris.
When she cooks she follows a reciPete.
Before she brushes her hair it's full of nuts.

3/4

H is now nine months old. That's three quarters of her first year! (Yes, still a math freak.) I was looking through some newborn pics of her and just wanted to pick up that little baby again. It made me realize how big she's actually gotten, because most days I see her as tiny. She is nine months old and still weighs less than E did at her 6 months well visit. It's a little different going from a baby in the 90th percentile for weight to a baby in the 25th. What can I say? E takes after me and H takes after her daddy. (Not that we're in the 90th and 25th percentile now. I think we both evened out a little bit.)

She's still not crawling which just recently started to frustrate her. She tries so hard and then when it looks like she's about to do it she lays down and rolls over. So she gets around. Just not in the direction she had planned.

We (read C) lowered the crib today since she can pull herself up to standing. And she will take a few steps if you hold her hands. E finds this fascinating and pulls her up to standing all the time and tries to help her. She also carries her around. We try to tell her she has to ask first but I think she ignores that because she knows the answer would be no.

Tags are still a favorite "toy".

She has four teeth.

I still serve mostly baby food but occasionally she gets to enjoy my fabulous cooking. ;) She really enjoyed that beef stew we had the other day.

Can I just say I am so tired of pumping. The only reason I'm doing it still is so that I have something to mix her cereal with. What should I use instead?

I tried feeding her egg yolk which made her puke. E fed her pb behind my back. That made her puke. I read that pb allergy and egg allergy often go hand in hand and we have those allergies in the family so the dr suggested we get her tested for egg allergy before giving her the flu shot. Please pray that it comes back negative! The appointment is the 22nd of this month.

She LOVES bath time. She now takes bath with E in the big tub and she gets so excited. Not in the same way E used to, she was more hyper excited. You can see that H gets excited too, but more in a way that she smiles, it relaxes her. It actually goes along perfect with her personality.

Well, that's all I can think of as of right now. If I think of anything else I might sneak in here and update this post. Or not. I might just spend that time snuggling with my beautiful girls instead. Or my husband if the girls are asleep. Right now they're all asleep though. And soon I will be too.

two thirds

I might be a little bit of a math freak, I know. Not everyone would count their baby's age in fractions. My baby H is 8 months old today, 2/3 of a year. And as she grows older I have a few more things to add to the list I started when she was 6 months old.

• She sits up really well now. I still put a pillow behind her back b/c occasionally she will fall.
• She tolerates tummy time better now. She won't roll over right away but tries to get her little legs in crawling position. She always fails and ends up scooting backwards, away from the toys she desires.
• She has three teeth.
• We switched her from Zantac to Prevacid since the Zantac didn't do much for her. She pukes less now. (As long as I stay away from tomatoes, onions, chocolate, tea... anything that gave me heartburn while I was pregnant with her. I had chocolate sauce on my ice cream yesterday. She puked today.) But the new medicine has side effects. Stinky ones... And her reflux is still not under control. The projectile vomiting is pretty much gone, but the reflux is not. She just swallows it instead. I know it burns her little throat. We have a GI appointment next week for her.
• Her favorite toys are anything that has a tag or sounds like a plastic bag.
• I washed all of her fall clothes and realized as I looked at them that she's growing up. She's been in onesies pretty much all summer long and now it's almost time for pants and shirts. I know they will make her look so much older.
• She wakes up around 7:30. Nurses 4 times per day. Eats breakfast, lunch and dinner. And goes to bed after her 7:30 pm nursing. She takes 2 long! naps during the day. I think I have to start cutting down on her second nap b/c her last two feedings are too close now.
• She still eats stage 2 foods. Chunky foods make her gag. But she loves her puffs, that she can get into her little mouth all by herself. She's also a fan of biter biscuits. And I have to get her some of those freeze dried yogurt bites. She tried them when her friend baby B shared with her one day and she really liked them. E never did.
• She started to have separation anxiety. I know it's just a phase so I'm glad she's healthy that way. It will pass.
• If it's possible I love her even more than I did when I started this list 1/6 of a year ago. =)

My baby is 6 months old!

H turned 6 months a few days ago. That means we're half way through her first year. Where did the time go?

• She weighs 15 lbs 6 oz (35th -40th percentile) and is 25½ inches long (40th percentile).
• She is the easiest baby ever, always content and smiles so big when you pay attention to her.
• She loves her jumperoo, E's old sensor play doll, baths and to glide around in the pool.
• Every time she hears daddy's voice she turns towards it and no one can make her laugh like E.
• She has a teddy bear on her changing table that she always tries to reach when getting her diaper changed so she turns and it gets tricky to get the new diaper on.
• She is a great sleeper (and always has been), sleeping through the night since she was 10½ weeks old, now taking 2 long naps every day.
• She's always sucking her two middle fingers and when she gets tired the other hand covers the hand she sucks on.
• The finger sucking thing makes feeding her solids a little tricky and messy but she loves her food so who really cares?
• The only time she really cries is if she gets over tired.
• She rolls from tummy to back all the time. I think she rolled from back to tummy once the other day. I missed it and E says she didn't roll her. (She sounded honest when I asked and she hasn't entered the lying phase yet.)
• She wants to stand up all the time.
  
• She still spits up a lot. I do a lot of laundry.
• She has very chubby cheeks.
  
• When I change her diaper she reaches for my arm, brings it to her face and snuggles with it, smiling really big.
• I nurse her 4 times a day. Her little arms and legs move like crazy until the milk lets down. When she's done she bites her gums together. I hope she'll get her teeth late.
• I love to kiss her little neck and it makes her laugh.
• I love her to pieces!
  

Happy Birthday!

C is away on another business trip. When he went two weeks ago E was doing great. This time she's more of a challenge. Especially today. This was definitely a day of discipline. But it was also a day of fun. Yesterday she asked me for a birthday party and I though she meant a pretend one so I said ok and sat down on the floor ready to play pretend. She was pretty upset when she realized I wasn't going to drive her to the "birthday house" (church fellowship hall). I promised her that if it rained today we would make a birthday cake. And since it rained we made a gooey coconut chocolate cake. And then I remembered that H doesn't appreciate it when I eat chocolate. Oh, well... We also played a birthday memory game, hiding those little birthday cake candle holders that look like flowers under party hats and matching them up just like a memory game. Yeah, I know, it doesn't sound very exciting, but E enjoyed it.

H has been eating a lot for the past two days, waking up crying for food. I don't know if it's a growth spurt or if she needs solid food. She is 5 months old and that's when I started E on solids, but I really wanted to wait another month. We'll see how things go for a few more days. We've been out and about so much these past few days too so her sleeping schedule is a little bit off. That could be it too. We finally had a day at home today and she slept great for her first two naps. The third one she woke up early from and wanted to eat. Not sure if she woke from hunger though or just because someone (not me or E) was being loud.

Tonight, after I put the girls to bed I finally had some time to put together a bunch of things I need to ship to different people around the world. Hopefully we can make it to the post office tomorrow and hopefully they'll accept my boxes. I just used E's old shoe boxes, covered up the top with a piece of white paper from the printer where I wrote the address, but I didn't cover the rest of the box. It should still be ok, right? If they say something maybe I can argue that recycling is good for the environment =)

May 26th so far

We had so much fun outside today, E and I. We played with her water table and got soaked. It started out with us spraying water at each other, but the new water guns sucked! So then we started throwing water at each other and it ended with me putting her in the water table. She loved it! She called it "a great, little pool". I can't wait for C to open up the real pool.
We try to get out during H's first nap since it's a long one and it's not too hot out yet. Yesterday we swept the car port, drew with chalk and made a new hopscotch. Yesterday's snack was watermelon and today we made a fruit salad of apples, pears, mandarin oranges, raisins and craisins.

E had pb&j for lunch today, with green beans. I made myself a Wasa cracker with hummus and put Kalles Kaviar on another cracker. I boiled an egg to slice and put on top of that cracker. But before the egg was done my helpful little E put the two crackers together and made me a sandwich. If you don't know what Kalles kaviar is I'll tell you, it's a salty pastelike spread made from fish eggs and it comes in a tube. I use it instead of salt on eggs. Not the best thing to combine with hummus.

We are on our third day without daddy. We miss him and can't wait for him to get back in a couple of days but so far we're doing great. I would have to say that the hardest thing is bedtime. And not the kids bedtime, but mine. It's so hard to go to bed alone!

Last night E woke up a few times. I think she was hot. We have to put in her a/c soon. Then she woke up at 6:30. Way too early even if she sleeps great. She came into the bedroom, grabbed my robe, put it on the floor and fell asleep on top of it and slept there for over an hour.

H is doing great. We're trying to move her to a 3 naps a day instead of 4 and we're starting to get there. Her morning nap is longer which is great for when we're home playing outside. We can just bring the monitor with us and stay outside a little bit longer. It's a bit more challenging on days we have to leave the house. Her second nap is usually the shortest one and the third one is pretty long.

One more thing before I sign out... Grattis på födelsedagen, Östen!

It only takes a second...

We went to Lowe's today to look at some lights for the kitchen. E was getting bored and was wandering the isle. I didn't think too much of it. She was checking out different lamps. All of a sudden we hear someone on the speaker saying "Hello!". We turn around and there, at an empty desk, is our daughter with a phone in her hand. The whole store just heard that. Big oops!

You turn your back to your child for a second and that's all it takes. Like when E was sitting on the couch holding H while eating a black twizzler. I went to get something in the kitchen and she bit off little pieces and probed them into H's mouth. She also managed to get a spoonful of toasted onions into her nouth at one point while I was busy putting the bag of said onions back in the pantry. Like I said, it only takes a second. So I don't even want to think about all the seconds that have passed while I've been blogging... (No worries, really. Max and Ruby is on.)

Baby H is here

It's been a while since I blogged. But Baby H showed up a couple of weeks early so we've been busy (and tired!). All day Jan 2nd I thought I had braxton hicks. I have never had them so I assumed that's what it was. But they started to hurt more and more and come closer and closer together. When I called the doctor they told me to come to the hospital. I thought that was ridiculous so I waited until we put E down for the night. Some friends of ours showed up to stay at our place with her. Thanks T & D! We went to the hospital and it turned out that I was 5 cm dilated already. The doctor was as shocked as I was b/c apparently you shouldn't be as calm as I was. And then again things happened very fast. I had to pee and right after that 5 cm had turned into 9 cm. So again no time for an epidural so it was another natural delivery. The doctor was delivering another baby so I got the midwife (I didn't like her). I asked how long it would be before I could start pushing and they told me I could push whenever I wanted to. Thanks for letting me know! I pushed for about 45 min, but I think I only pushed really hard for the last 10 to 15 minutes. Baby H was born on Jan 3rd at 26 minutes after midnight. She was 6 lbs and 19". Pretty much the same as E when she was born. I guess my body doesn't like babies when they get to 6 lbs and pushes them out no matter how far along I am.

Baby H is 3 weeks old today and we are all doing fine. E loves her and wants to hold her all the time. "I carry it", she says. I am so thankful that she is so excited about the baby and doesn't mind the new addition at all. Not that we don't see a difference in her. She is testing us a bit more these days to see if anything else has changed, like the rules. But no, sorry kid! =)

There are so many things I could write about, but that will have to wait (hopefully not another 3 weeks) b/c I have to go feed the baby now.