These are the Days: Growing By the Day

Emmy will be 11 weeks old on Tuesday. I've seen big changes in our baby girl the past two weeks. She is noticeably more alert during her awake time, and she stays awake for up to an hour and half during the day (and often longer for the last evening awake shift she has). The real fun is just beginning! My favorite thing to do with her is "talk" back and forth- she loves it! Coo, goo, aaah-gooo, etc. are her favorite words and they are accompanied by numerous smiles and even a laugh here or there. We will "talk" back and forth for up to 20 minutes at a time, and we have each other's total attention when we do that. She will also do it with other people- the cutest was watching her do it with Davis. He was just delighted. She's a pretty good sleeper- continues to be the best of the three. I have been working the last week to really try and have her take her naps in the crib- at least the ones we are home for.... we did have a day this last week where we were not home for a single nap until the evening! That's life with three kids, I suppose. So, she's getting better with that, which is important for when we finally do move her to her room at night. She's also getting to where things will wake her up during her nap- such as noisy boys and barking dogs- so, being in her room will be best. She's doing great at night- she typically has her last feeding around 8 pm, goes to sleep by 10 pm and doesn't wake to eat again until anytime from 4 to 7 am.... She does often wake up around 2 am with a lot of gas, and I am able to calm her quietly without having to get out of bed. That's the main reason I've still got her in our room. I think it's helping everyone sleep more at night. If she was in her crib, she would be screaming, as she does when she has gas during a nap. She does have her own witching hour each day- mostly during the time before and after her 8 pm feeding. She's getting good at holding her head up by herself now. She gets tired after a bit, but I can tell she's getting stronger every day. She's paying more attention to her brothers too- and they are easily able to get smiles from her. She's a sweet and happy baby and I absolutely adore her. She makes me laugh and smile every day, and I can't get enough of her cuteness. Having a newborn is hard work, and it's constant. I feel like I am on a stop watch all day- constantly worried about what I can fit, or likely won't be able to fit, into each window of time between the deadlines of feedings. And, even more, trying to keep a schedule that allows her to take her real naps without interruption. If she's on an 8-11-2-5 schedule, I do not have to wake or disturb her nap to take and pick up Jack from school, or go to the bus stop to get Davis. If she's off, even by an hour, every day-time nap is disturbed and we get off schedule, which makes her a lot more fussy and me stressed because she's fussy. SO- we do what we can and I try to plan my days out. But, I will definitely feel less pressured when she can stretch her feedings out to even every 3 1/2 hours instead of 3. 4 will be a dream :)
The boys are good, getting settled into the school year routine. Davis has been taking his medicine for about two weeks now and we're getting very positive feedback from his teacher. He seemed a little off for a few days, but now seems fine. We aren't seeing any of the negative side effects such as loss of appetite or insomnia. The medicine wears off not long after he gets home from school, so I don't really get to see the changes. Except, when he does his homework. He is always happy to do it, and we do it first thing when he gets home. The biggest difference I notice is that I on'y have to read the instructions to him once, maybe twice and he will get it correct on the first try. When he isn't taking medicine, it's a struggle to read the instructions to him without him interrupting 8 times because he thinks he knows what I"m going to say, or he rushes to start before I finish so he either doesn't get all the pieces right, or misses the point because he's not paying attention. He's very smart- my hope is that being on the medicine allows him to slow down and take his time so that he's able to do the work. I submitted the parent referral for him to be tested for the gifted program. I hope I am making the right decision on that. So, he's adjusted quite well to kindergarten and I miss him a lot during the week. That said, life would have been very difficult if Emmy had been born at the beginning of the summer rather than the end.
Jack is proving that the three's can be harder than the two's. He's a different kid when he's alone, vs. with his brother. Great in both situations, just different. I got to be the parent reader in his class on Friday, and it was fun to see what an incredibly sweet and positive environment his classroom is- his teacher is amazing, the best we've had at the preschool. I am so glad he goes 5 days, he's getting so much there that would be hard for me to do here with a baby. And, we get more time together than we did before. My favorite part of the day with him each day is walking down to the bus stop and waiting on Davis. We have lots of sweet little conversations about things, and I've taught him songs I taught Davis but never Jack, we play I spy, and it's just nice. It's only about a 15-20 minute experience each day, but I love it.
Barron has been busier than ever at work and we are approaching the October 15th deadline. Shortly after, he will move offices and start up his new role with CIA Tax as well as keeping on with BMB. There's a lot of work and a lot of pressure, but it's also all very exciting. Despite all the extra pressures, Barron is the sweetest dad and husband. As he says, he leaves one job to come home to the next. With a newborn, there's not much of a break for any of us! We were able to unexpectedly carve out a date night this past Friday and have some time just the two of us. I loved having an evening just with him- and being able to finish a conversation without interruption- bliss!
I haven't posted about our newest purchase- a new car! A Platinum Sequoia to be exact- this is Barron's car, and the family car on weekends and for trips. Pics in the next post!
Stats on Emmy at her 2 month check-up-- she weighed in at 10 lbs 10oz. She got three shots and an oral vaccine. No fever, just fussiness for 24 hours after.
Picture time!!