Sleep: He used to sleep 6 hour stints but now our longest is usually 3.5-4 hours at most. The hardest thing is that he tends to poop right as I lay him down to sleep which wakes him up and of course we do a diaper change and then it's a long time to get him back down.
Weight: We're going to use up the size 1 diapers just because we have them but he's ready for size 2.
Cooing: He doesn't talk very much. Just a little noise once in a great while.
Tummy time: We don't have him on tummy time that often as he has some tummy issues that causes a lot of spitting up often and tummy time makes that worse. He also doesn't even try to pick his head up in tummy time but we do hold him on us up to our shoulders and he pushes off and is gaining neck strength that way.
Enamored with Katelyn: Katelyn comes up to say "hi" and he will follow her with his eyes as she walks away and goes to play.
Finding his hands: His hands are finding his mouth more and more as he's discovering movement :)
Snorting: When he's crying hard enough, he snorts
Tummy issues: Luke cries a lot after each feeding until he burps belches and then often spits up at that point and feels much better. Poor thing! We're looking into possible causes to see if there's anything we can do to help or if it's just normal baby fussiness/spit-up. Seeing the dr. tomorrow to rule out any serious issues just in case. Dedication: Luke was dedicated this month and grammy and pop pop from Michigan came to visit for a week! Katelyn sure enjoys both her grandmas!
14 Months for Katelyn
Chairs: She Loves to sit on things that seem to be made for her size. This includes the bumbo chair (she LOVES that thing and can get in and out on her own), a white stool grammy bought for her, and any pillow that she can sit on.
Rambling: If you ask a question, she will answer. Albeit in her own little toddler language but she is quite the talker! (see video below)
Doll: While mommy takes care of Luke, Katelyn takes care of her baby doll. She pats her back/burps her, rocks her, lays her on the baby gym mat, lays her in the boppy pillow, lays her in the swing or rock n play.... it's adorable how much she mimics and it's precious to watch her do it. She now even pats US on the back when we're hugging her.
Throwing: We are learning how to throw balls now! I really have to watch to be sure she's not throwing anything hard to hit Luke!
Dress-up: Kate loves to "put clothes on" which means draping them around her neck. She puts a piece of clothing on then walks around the room. Sometimes she hands clothes to us to put on her head for her as "headpieces" are her favorite. So silly!
Books: She is still as enamored as ever with books. She now likes to bring us books and sit in our laps for us to read them to her.
Calming Luke: In the car the other day, Luke was crying and Kate just kept talking and nodding toward his directions looking as if she's trying to calm him.
The past weekend I had timeable (but painless) contractions. Dr told me I was in early labor but who knew when things would take off. I woke up Tuesday morning feeling a little crampy but that was no different than the weekend so I brushed it off. I stayed in bed thinking about plans for teaching for the day. Got out of bed at 6:21 figuring I ought to shower when I stood up and realized... Did my water just break?! (Last time my water never broke until we were partway through pushing). Still not quite convinced I thought I should call in to prep for a sub just in case. Woke up Tyler, told him I was barely feeling contractions and to keep sleeping but that I think it could be baby day. During my shower contractions picked up and turned from uncomfortable to pain. Tyler got up and started getting Katelyn ready for the day. We traded off so he could get ready but those contractions went from bad to worse quickly so I called Ty's mom over to watch Katelyn so I could try to focus on relaxing through the pain. We were ready to go and things just seemed to be going fast. In the car Tyler was trying to get an "on the way to the hospital" picture and I told him he'd have to wait for this contraction to pass. It was taking forever and Ty was trying to get out of the driveway so he kept saying "just try to smile". I told him to just wait a minute. Contraction passed , he snapped a picture, and we were on our way! ( good thing bc that was my last break in contractions). Waves of contractions hit but there was never rest in between. They went from painful to unbearable back to painful and back again, but no rest. Tyler was freaking out over traffic and I kept telling him to relax, we're not having the baby in the car. We got to the hospital and the lady at the desk asking questions realized how intense things were and rushed us into a triage room. I went to the bathroom and felt nauseas. Immediately after throwing up I felt the urge to push. Nurses were scurrying to get me into a wheelchair to get me to a delivery room (insert typical birth movie scene here) Then trying to rush me up on the bed. Not quite an easy way to relax through contractions;) I somehow managed to get on the bed just in time to push and 30 minutes after pulling into the hospital, Baby Luke came into the world! (8:48am) It was such an insane whirlwind of events! Less than 2.5 hours from plans to teaching for the day to welcoming our 2nd child into the family! We are so blessed and thankful for our miracle baby! Now two healthy children! One that we thought we had surely lost at 3 months of pregnancy (Luke). (Look earlier in the blog for the entire story). We are now home figuring out how this whole two children thing works:) A little about Luke: -He is massive! (9 lbs 6 oz) -Because he is massive he wants to eat. A lot. And ALL the time... -What works to soothe him: tight swaddles, warmth, bouncing, and he's been finding his fingers here and there. -His cry sounds like a pig squealing. -To make things funnier, he often snorts while crying. -He can self soothe?! The other night I laid him down drowsy but quite awake. A few minutes later he fussed for two minutes and then fell asleep! On his own! Is this a fluke? I'll take it :)
Katelyn is close to 13 months!
(I think ill blog once a month in between Luke's and Katelyn's next month of development.)
-Katelyn now likes to give a sarcastic laugh (a deep hardy Ha Ha)-still as joyous as ever-starting to cry and really throw tantrums over things she wants. -now kisses. Tonight when reading a book, she leaned forward to kiss the animals in every page. Sometimes kisses are open mouth toward an object with a lick. Sometimes it's a kiss noise a few inches away with a quick nuzzle. -still treats her bed like a crib. Even though she often climbs in and out during the day, she always stays and cries until someone comes to take her out of bed. I specifically haven't encouraged her to see that connection as it's kind of convenient for now. She'll figure it out sooner or later. -The day we brought Luke home, she decided to grow up overnight and walk! She is starting to take off and can walk across the room without any help and boy can walk fast! -If you turn on music, even if it's in the background of a commercial on tv, munchkin shakes her groove thang! Those little hips get going and she bounces. She's hilarious as it's like she cannot control it. Even in a pool area with background music, she immediately dances. She notices music when most of us don't.
Monday, October 7, 2013
12 Months... 1 Year Old!
It's so hard to believe that our baby is already 1 year old! I will say that birthdays have changed their meaning this year... Although my birthday is the day before Katelyn's, I was far more excited for hers as it carries such amazing memories welcoming her into our lives.
Birthday Party!: We celebrated Katelyn's birthday a few weeks early since we had so much going on in September-October and then we'll have a newborn so we really wanted her to have her own day. My mom flew in to help me prep for it and of course to celebrate and spend time with Katelyn. Katelyn did a great job! Woke up from a nap shortly before the party, she ate a great supper, loved all the attention, got excited with each gift opened, and loved the cupcake I made her. It was actually a healthy version made without sugar but made with bananas and applesauce. The icing was made with mainly powdered sugar (and a tiny bit of greek yogurt) and although I thought she'd go crazy over the icing, she was more excited about the cupcake (more like a muffin) and turned it upside down to eat the underside more than the icing! Silly girl! Note to self- make more muffins!
Vocabulary: We have added the words "down", "yep", and signs milk and all done. She also points a lot- often to ask for more.
Sitting: We LOVE to arrange things, turn around, squat down and sit on it. Whether it's a pillow or stuffed animal or just a bucket. Anything that is her size!
Steps: Gaining more balance as she practices walking holding on to one of our hands. She sometimes accidentally takes a few steps without realizing it. We need to work with her more on it because it's really just about confidence now. She has the balance and skills.
Teeth: We have 5 teeth now! 2 on bottom, 3 on top!
This should be the last post by me before baby boy is born! We have about 2 weeks left until the "due week" but we'll see what he decides on timing (or even more so what God decides on timing). I won't lie, I'm feeling very uncomfortable. I don't remember pregnancy feeling like this to the point where bending down is nearly impossible with how incredibly low he is and everything I do causes contractions. Anyway, I think baby boy will look a little different than Katelyn- at least their 20 weeks ultrasounds shows a little different face shape in my opinion. Baby boy on the left, Katelyn on the right. We're excited to see him in real life! Dr. said "this is NOT a small baby..." scaring mama quite a bit, but then she mentioned that Katelyn wasn't small either (oh phew- I was thinking she meant 10-11 lbs?!) Sounds like he's probably about 7lbs already with a few weeks to go. Praying God knows the timing best and that labor is a little faster and even more efficient than last time but you just never know! Baby boy loves to stretch out those legs and push hard! Anyway, his appearance should be coming shortly in the next few weeks so keep us in your prayers that labor goes well, that he's perfectly healthy, and that Katelyn learns to transition and love her baby brother!
First Steps: Miss Katelyn took her first steps this month! She has been practicing an average of about 3-4 steps at a time and gaining confidence. It's so fun to watch her learn new things!
Miss independent: We've noticed this about Katelyn for quite a while but even more so recently. Sometimes, we initiate playing with her and she just simply far more interested in playing by herself. Of course this is not ALL the time and she LOVES a good round of "catch me if you can" crawling or some "let's climb all over daddy and giggle all the while" and of course some good 'ol peekaboo. We really are appreciating this independent streak as I believe this is God gearing her up for a baby brother. Although, it could all change when she sees lots of attention being directed towards him but we'll just have to wait and see!
Teeth: A top tooth took a LOOOoooong time to get here and boy did we know it was coming ;) But it's in now! I'm thinking her other top teeth won't be too far behind.
Food: Katelyn eats the same old same old. I try to switch it up but it takes a lot to get her to try new foods and since she only has one tooth on the top and two on the bottom, she's still not really getting the chewing thing. Things need to mush pretty easily for her still. I did discover strained chicken noodle soup! I'm wishing it were cooler weather so I could crock pot things as everything that comes out of a crock pot it super mushy. It'll come. We have tried watermelon, carrots, and celery (from the soup) this month. I think the watermelon was her favorite when that top tooth was making an appearance. She liked the cool crunch but has since not shown much interest.
Fluffy toys: We're now into stuffed animals and dolls. Her favorite are "cindy bear" and a very large black puppy dog. She loves to stuff her face on them and roll around on them, but her very favorite thing is to sit on them. We may need to watch her close with baby brother as I have a feeling she may think baby brother is another toy to sit on.
Words: She is still saying "HI" but now says it to everyone and everything all the time. If she wants someone's attention, she'll look at them, smile, and say "HI" until they look. She also waves once in a while and is now pointing. And boy does she love to babble! (See videos at way bottom)
Music: She loves music- loves to play on the piano for long periods of time (now likes to stand on the bench and lean over to play), plays drums with wooden spoons on our chairs, and when she hears music, she often claps
Fans: Katelyn loves wind blowing in her face (which is hilarious because Tyler HATES windy days). So if we find fans, we love to stand in front of them.
Baby Brother
Things are going well with pregnancy. Baby brother is head down, starting to run out of room and making his presence known to me through lots of movement and to others through a large belly he's given me. I get lots of braxton hicks a day. Everything looks normal and healthy and we're starting to gear up for his arrival. I'm about 33 weeks so about 7ish weeks to go. I'm expecting him to make a late arrival like his sister but want to be prepared just in case. I'm back at school working and it's really hard to maneuver around students without bumping them with this large "growth" in front of me :) My job-share partner will soon be off of maternity leave so I only have 1 1/2 weeks of full-time to go, then it's on to part-time!
This past month was full of adventure! From plane rides to Detroit with mommy to visit Grammy and Poppop while daddy was in El Salvador, to our first parade, to lots of outdoor adventure!
Food: We are finding that Katelyn is afraid to try things. Sometimes, if we force that first bite into her mouth, she'll chew it with a crinkled up nose, then she'll pick up and eat the rest making happy "mmm" noises all the while. The last couple weeks we have hit a growth spurt and teething which messes everything up- especially eating but once we pop those top teeth through, I think she'll be back to normal eating habits. Oh and the fear of textures I wondered if she had? gone ;) She often squeezes the food in her hands to test the textures. Some of her foods this month have included avocado (she's still not sure if she likes it or not), lasagna, and french toast.
Sleep: We have weaned from a bottle to sleep! We still hold her and hum a song once or twice and lay her down and she knows it's sleep time. She rolls over immediately and sticks her bum way up in the air and sleeps in the oddest position! She still fights sleep about 50% of the time by crying for the first 30 seconds of being held next to her crib, but even if we lay her down mid-cry, she'll roll over and sleep. She sleeps typically 8pm-7am.
Nap: Usually takes 2 naps. About 2 hours after being awake, she'll sleep for an hour or hour and a half. After waking up and being up for about 2-4 hours, she'll be ready for a good long nap (2 hours), then is up for the rest of the day with a little rest time with a bottle/snuggling around supper time and if her earlier naps were cut short, she may take a short nap in the evening.
Movement: We are now speed crawling (often after kitty), cruising, fluent in squatting and moving from sitting/standing/kneeling. She is getting SO close to walking! She now walks holding one hand and can maintain balance (see video #2 at bottom). I bought her a walking toy (see video #3 at the bottom) and she's just loving getting around the room, pushing that toy. We have yet to learn how to turn the toy once we get stuck, but one thing at a time. I spy that we may be walking by the time baby boy makes his appearance!
Mimicking: She LOVES to mimick us- from what we say (see video #4) to what we do. Tonight, Tyler sneezed and even though she was in the next room standing against the front door looking out, she immediately mimicked his sneezing sound. So silly! She also is starting to say words like "kitty""ball""daddy""mama" after we say them. Although Kitty is one I think she's started to say without us when she sees Todd in the mornings. For some reason, I think she thinks the word kitty has to be whispered:)
Independence: We've been working on a sippy cup. Not such a big fan of it. But has learned how to hold a bottle by herself. It takes us putting it in her mouth and moving a hand up to the bottle and she knows what to do. She's still learning to lift the bottle UP to get more ;)
Missing Daddy: While daddy was in El Salvador, he had made an interactive video (actually several) for Katelyn and I to watch while he was gone. This was Katelyn's reaction to one (video #1 at bottom)
Baby Boy Tufte
Baby boy is doing well! He's 28 weeks along, growing fast and moving lots! This pregnancy I've been a lot less sick (or at least no constant nausea like I had with Katelyn) but it's been a lot rougher on me energy-wise and some issues in my back/hips (although this maybe could possibly be contributed to having 3 months between having a baby and being pregnant again and that whole raising a baby while growing another human being thing... just a thought ;) We're ecstatic to meet him, but we're praying baby boy keeps cooking for another 2 1/2 months. We aren't looking for Irish twins ;) We look forward to his arrival but I'll be honest- I'm very nervous about the first 2 months of his life. I know how dependent newborns are (it almost feels like I JUST did that with Katelyn! Oh wait... I did ;) and I know it'll be a challenge to raise 2 babies a year apart, but we are also VERY excited for God's plan in this and are feeling incredibly blessed with kids so close in age! My brothers and I were never that close since we were 5 and 10 years apart so it's a blessing knowing that these two will probably be the best of friends/enemies as they grow, but at least they'll be close! And although I DID just do this with Katelyn 10 months ago, I am amazed at how much I've forgotten until I talk with other mommies with newborns. Then I look back at Katelyn's photos/videos of 1 month old and realize how incredibly far they come so fast! I think all that will help me enjoy those first 2 months a little more- realizing it's short-lived and how he'll grow up so fast (too fast)! It's amazing how much we love him already!
Didn't I JUST post the 8 month post? This month flew past! Summer slow down! I'm not ready to go back to school!
The normal monthly photo plan is not working all that well these days with a little one who rarely sits still and certainly does not like to be on her back and will roll the instant she is set down. So we're adapting :) BIG month this month! Actually... most of it happened in one week!
Crawling: We started to army crawl at the beginning of the month, but in that one big week, she suddenly was up on her knees and learning to alternate hands/knees to move where she wanted to
Pulling Up: In that same week, she typically only crawled to the nearest couch/ottoman in order to pull herself up. This girl has always loved to stand and she is quite proud of herself!
Cruising: She also walks along the couch/ottomans just for kicks and giggles, talking all the way
Teeth: We also welcomed 2 bottom teeth and are now working on some top ones as well.
Clapping: One morning, I woke up pretty late and checked the silent monitor, assuming this means Katelyn is fast asleep. Nope- she was sitting up, teaching herself to clap. Now if anyone smiles at her and claps, she'll mimic them immediately.
All of the above happened in that one week! Big week!
Sleeping: Because of all these big moments, Katelyn struggled to fall asleep (would rather sit up/crawl/stand up in her crib despite exhaustion) but she eventually learned and is back to falling asleep on her own again. She is usually sleeping 8pm - 7am to eat, then back down until 9ish. She is consistently taking a 1.5-2 hr nap around noonish, another 1.5 hr. nap at 4ish, then sometimes a short evening nap (sometimes it's just a good snuggle). She's a great helper to help her pregnant mama to get a nap in or sometimes sleep in. (I usually stay awake at the 7am mark to eat breakfast and get a few things done, but once in a while, I'll go back to bed. Have I mentioned I LOVE summer?!)
Food: She's getting a little picky on textures but we're slowly but surely making the transition to self-feeding. She will pick up cheerio pieces and put those in her mouth and happily eat them, but nothing else. I can feed her pureed sweet potato (which she loves) off a spoon, I can feed her sweet potato chunks off a spoon, and I can even put the chunks of sweet potato that are on her tray (as she watches) onto a spoon and she'll eat it but she refuses to pick them up herself to put into her mouth. I'm starting to wonder if she's picky with what she touches because tonight when I was showing her leaves outside, she wouldn't touch them, just wanted to look? I guess we'll find out more in the coming months!
Bottles: Little miss loves her bottles. I've heard two schools of thought- that a 9 month old should have no more than 24 oz. of formula/milk, but then have heard that before a year that most nutrients come from milk/formula and solids are just learning how to eat? I hate when research contradicts itself and new mommies don't know what to think... I guess I'm just going with my gut and giving her plenty of solids and as much formula as she needs. I cut her off when it's just for comfort as she does know how to self soothe but other than that, I follow her lead for now?
Swimming: Somebody LOVES the water! She's gone swimming several times and just loves every instant! In fact, at the Vanderpan family reunion, she was in a little blow-up pool with her second cousin Clara and she would not stop belly laughing! Clara wasn't doing anything to make her laugh, she was just going nuts and was very happy! She crawled around the pool and tried to stand up and took a couple of "face plants" into the water and would give a little surprised look/cry right after, but then would go on giggling and smiling as normal. Then, she was shivering so badly that her hand was shaking when she was playing with a toy (the water was a little chilly and the sun kept coming/going) but when I took her out, she cried and cried- wanting to be back in the water and I'm sure was cold still until she was changed/dry/snuggled up in a thick blanket.
Father's Day!: We celebrated Father's Day! And boy does she love her daddy! One evening, she was fussing and daddy called. I put him on speaker so I'd have both hands and Katelyn immediately not only stopped fussing, but started smiling and whispered "dada!" We're still not fully sure if she knows the meaning of "mama" "dada" but she's starting to convince us little by little when she uses it in these types of instances- especially as her babbling has started to involve lots of different sounds. Mommy and daddy took a date night that evening to go to a movie once baby girl went to bed. Katelyn also went behind mommy's back and got on the internet and ordered daddy a special comic book that is about Darth Vador raising princess Leia. Silly girl :)
Giggles: Katelyn is a very joyful little girl and if she hears others laughing, she'll mimic them with her fake laugh (more of a cough than a laugh). See video at very end of post
As for #2 (baby boy), he is kicking lots a
nd making his presence known quite often. Sometimes turning full somersaults. It's crazy how more "real" pregnancy is the 2nd time around. With Katelyn, pregnancy felt like just a health condition I went through before a baby entered our life. It felt like 2 separated events? But this time, because I've seen those little baby feet on Katelyn outside my body, when I feel baby boy kicking and moving around, it becomes so much more real to me to realize that this is our son inside of me- his personality already beginning to show. I can't wait to see those little feet in real life and to see his facial expressions as he is tired or hungry or content. (I take it back, I CAN wait... I actually wouldn't mind him coming a bit late- but still on his own- so Katelyn has a little time to grow). We've been hitting up garage sales to get baby gear that we realized we will use/want (we borrowed quite a few contraptions from friends with Katelyn). Preparing here and there when we can. It's crazy how fast his is all going!
Sleep: He used to sleep 6 hour stints but now our longest is usually 3.5-4 hours at most. The hardest thing is that he tends to poop right as I lay him down to sleep which wakes him up and of course we do a diaper change and then it's a long time to get him back down. 
Tummy time: We don't have him on tummy time that often as he has some tummy issues that causes a lot of spitting up often and tummy time makes that worse. He also doesn't even try to pick his head up in tummy time but we do hold him on us up to our shoulders and he pushes off and is gaining neck strength that way. 
Doll: While mommy takes care of Luke, Katelyn takes care of her baby doll. She pats her back/burps her, rocks her, lays her on the baby gym mat, lays her in the boppy pillow, lays her in the swing or rock n play.... it's adorable how much she mimics and it's precious to watch her do it. She now even pats US on the back when we're hugging her.
Throwing: We are learning how to throw balls now! I really have to watch to be sure she's not throwing anything hard to hit Luke!
Calming Luke: In the car the other day, Luke was crying and Kate just kept talking and nodding toward his directions looking as if she's trying to calm him.
