Did You Hear That?

That was probably the sound of Daphne voicing her distinct displeasure with her two month appointment. First she had to be undressed (the indignity) and weighed (excuse me? You don't make a lady get on the scale) and stretched to see her height. Then she had to be declared absolutely perfect (duh!) and shot in the chubby little perfect little thighs three times (sob!).

But we got confirmation that she is, in fact, extraordinary. She is more than average in some ways more than others. For example, she is 75th percentile in height and 95th percentile in weight. Her head is also in the upper 90th percentile. Lots of brains (and wonderful leg chub) on our little lady.

Daphne carried the pain of the appointment with her home, and rather than just passing out and sleeping it off, she screamed to the heavens for much of the day unless being held just so, until properly dosed with Tylenol and completely wiped out. Poor little Buddha.

Happy to report she is feeling better now, and back to her self.

The numbers:

Height: 23 inches
Weight: 12 pounds 4 ounces

Daphne: Two Months

Well, hello Daphne. I say hello because the last few weeks have been like meeting a whole new baby. I mean, once you get a mommy that doesn't have to disappear to the hospital, or isn't on some random meds either changing or messing with your diet, you are really quite a different baby. You sleep better, you eat better, and maintain a very high level of cuteness, chubiness and snuggly.

You are still a little lady of "extremes" and you still express yourself freely, but we like all that - we manage to find the funny in your little body containing such a strong personality. Especially because it comes with your smiles. And your giggles. And your "barks." I don't know what else to call it, but you do, you do these little bark things and they are possibly my favorite noise in the world. Definitely a top five. You are especially fond of smiling when you know it is bed time. I have read about this in the baby books... you are wanting to avoid sleep to enjoy more play time, and so you will do ANYTHING to get it (I added that last part), and it so almost / sometimes (or always, when your daddy is on the other side of the smile) works. However, you are in need of much sleep these days, so we usually regret letting that happen.

You are still quite liked by Cooper - he comments on your cuteness and he likes to be near you. This was more than we hoped for. I thought hoping for acceptance was a stretch, so this liking of his sibling is a real treat.

Your favorite thing to do right now is stand up. You LOVE to be perpendicular to the floor. I will often prop my feet on the table in front of the couch and lie you back on my thighs. You will sit and coo and smile at me for a while, and then you will start pushing off with your legs and that is when I know it is time to stand you up. And as soon as you are upright, that is when you bark and start kicking/tapping one of your legs. Honestly, this routine NEVER gets old and always makes me smile.

I love so many things about this current stage, easing out of newborn into babydom...

You are starting to sleep more at night. We all love this - you are a happier baby when you sleep well. And when you wake up you make this little panting noise - when I hear that noise on the monitor I can start heading into your room, cause it is just a matter of time before you start really waking up.

I love the way you ball up your fist and then let it out when you are eating. Sometimes you just place your little hand on my chest and look up at me, but usually when you are eating your hands are busy.

You have a Hulk Hogan stretch. Your brother was a full body stretcher, too, but you seem to always place your arms like the Hulk. Hilarious. You are a little Hulk princess.

You are getting bigger, but you still curl your legs up into the fetal position like a little froggy. This makes diaper changes and costume, I mean, clothing changes difficult, but it is so cute it is worth it.

Your personality keeps coming out. We have figured you out more, and we have allowed you some normalcy in your life and schedule. You are a happier baby because of it, and that makes me happy. You are changing so fast, I feel like I blink and you are different - your face is fuller, your neck is stronger, you make a new noise. This time goes by so fast. We already cannot remember life before Daphne, it is like you have been a part of us all along. We love you baby girl.

Cooper Kitty Cat Clementine

I find it hilarious that most of the time Cooper insists on us calling him "kitty cat." I find it even more funny when his alter ego gets more involved and we have to call him "Cooper Kitty Cat Clementine."

I want to always remember this phase... partly so I can make fun of him for it when he gets old enough to be embarrassed about it... good natured-ly of course, and partly because I know some day he will be too cool to hold my hand, or give me "lots of kisses" while waiting for me to finish signing up for a gym membership, and remembering this phase will remind me of when he was still my little guy. My quirky, sweet, lovable, adorable, crawling, always under-foot little guy.

Wouldn't trade him.

Sledding

I took Cooper to the hill by our house today and we went sledding.

It was awesome.

I can't believe I have a little boy who is old enough to walk up a sledding hill by himself, and brave and fun-loving enough to laugh as we fly down a fairly steep hill together.

When we first got to the top, he was a little apprehensive, and wasn't sure he wanted to go down. I told him we could watch a few other people and then go down together, or, if he still didn't want to slide down, we would walk back down the side of the hill. It is so cool that he trusted me enough to slide.

To Compare...

Daphne looks, in many ways, almost identical to Cooper as a baby, and yet, to compare the two little loves of my life would be impossible.

Where Daphne has a dimple in her right chubby cheek, Cooper does not.

Where Daphne has a head full of fluffy dark hair, Cooper was bald, or appeared to be, as any hair he had was so light in color it blended into nothingness.

When Cooper was an "easy" baby, quick to fall asleep and seldom crying, Daphne is demanding and needing more from her mama, her daddy... the world. I don't want to say she is "hard" because that sounds bad, but it is the truth, she is "hard" comparatively. It isn't bad, because I wanted her so badly that no matter what she is doing, whether it is waking up for the umpteenth time or fussing for no reason, I am happy to be along for the ride. I would have been just as happy to be along for the ride with Coop, too, as he was equally wanted, but he was content to just sit back and coast.

Where Cooper was happy to sit in contentment, Daphne is already pushing to the extremes. She cries with force when she is unhappy, and then she giggles out loud when she is fast asleep. He is a boy that maintains the happy middle, and she is the girl, pushing either end.

I know I will always love the mellow calm and contentedness that is Cooper. He is the snuggle in my lap. He is the boy that lights up every time I walk into the room - almost always happy, seldom finding anything in his life that can't be fixed by some M&Ms or a good cuddle.

I also know I will always love the crazy ups and downs that is Daphne.

You can't pick and choose the parts of a person to love. Without the downs, there couldn't be the ups, and despite the queasiness that can be brought on by the roller coaster, there is nothing that compares to that flip in the stomach the ride will give you. When she giggles in her sleep, I feel that flip. When she flaps her arms like a bird because smiling as big as she can isn't enough, I feel that flip.

My two little babies. I love them so much. They almost appear to be the same person, separated by 2 years and 9 months (minus 4 days), until you look closely, or watch them in motion. He is the yin to her yang. They already balance each other out.

To be able to experience both in this lifetime feels gluttonous.

Solo

I almost titled this post "Shit" as it would be more apt, but as I try to make this kid-friendly as I really keep writing here for the kids to one day have some documentation of their childhood, I kept it clean and opted for "solo." Also true, but slightly less descriptive of the last 48 hours.

Steve resumed his internship Wednesday, so needless to say, Tuesday night / Wednesday morning, while Daphne rocked the sleep and only woke up once at 1:00am (though I didn't lay her back down until 2:30am), Cooper woke up at 2:35 throwing up what appeared to be water... which (combined with NO other symptoms) made me think it was just a nervous stomach due to the shadow-fear issue. After changing his sheets and calming him down and changing him, I eventually got him back in bed just in time for when Daphne woke up again at 5:00am-ish (things are getting a little bleary). I nursed her and then passed her off to Steve and attempted to sleep only to get up so he could go to school. Despite operating on a combined 2 hours of sleep (I can't go to sleep before around midnight no matter what... I blame Daphne for sleep training me for the first 6 weeks of her life to NEVER sleep) I rocked it out around here - did a load of laundry, the dishes, entertained both kids and ensured adequate sleep for all without relying on the television to entertain Cooper at all. Just when I was feeling cocky as I had both kids down for a nap, Coop cried out from his room and I went in to find diarrhea all over him, his bed, his stuffed animals... EVERYTHING. This led to more clean up and LOTS of breath holding until Steve got home and I could run down to the basement to do more laundry.

Then last night... 3 diarrhea episodes between Coop's bedtime and midnight... all requiring a change of sheets. Daphne did alright last night, and I got a combined 4.5 hours of sleep before getting up today. We did alright again during the day, but Steve had a night class tonight... I thought all was well - dinner was made, Daphne's sleep schedule was shaping up to allow for a perfect bedtime with Coop before she needed to be rocked down again. It almost worked out that way, and I did 1.5 of the 2 songs I usually sing to Coop before I had to tend to a crying baby. I got him tucked in and ran a bath for Daphne and just as I plunked her in, feeling somewhat bad that Coop's bedtime routine had been somewhat abbreviated, Coop cried out from his bedroom. I wrapped her in a towel and went in, only to be met with a distinctive smell. I managed to get him on the changing table with a towel under him and wipe him off, with Daphne laying in her towel naked as a jaybird nearby. I stripped his bed and got him in a new pull up and in new jammies. A proud moment? Not really, because he was a bit of a mess and was asking for certain toys to sleep with, and I kind of snapped at him and told him "No. If you don't go poo poo in your bed tomorrow, then you can have it, but mommy has to clean up all the poo right now, so you can NOT have Luigi," and when he continued to beg, I said "No, and I will take Shu Todoroku (another car) from you if you don't calm down and go to bed." He did. I felt HORRIBLE.

The thing is, he is smart. He is potty trained. At least almost. He NEVER poos in the potty. Only in his pull up. He doesn't poo in his pants, so it hasn't become a serious issue. But when he is having such tummy problems that pooing in his pull up means getting diarrhea all over everything, including him, me, the bed, the toys, etc., I just think NOW IS THE TIME TO START POOING IN THE POTTY. I asked him MULTIPLE times before he went to bed. I even set Daphne in the hall on her mat and sat in the bathroom with him while he was on his potty to encourage him to TRY to go in the potty, but he assured me he did not have to go. FIVE MINUTES BEFORE HE GOT IN BED. SEVEN MINUTES BEFORE I WENT IN TO THE SMELL OF POOP.

But alas, no time to worry about that, by this point, Daphne was overtired (you miss your window with her by 30 seconds and she makes you pay. You miss it by 10 minutes and there is TROUBLE and REVENGE). I finally get her down and then walk back into the living room, and my first breath reminds me that now I have to do something with all the laundry I had to remove from Cooper's room.

That has been dealt with. I have crept in to check on a sleeping Daphne and to give an almost sleeping Coop a kiss and tell him I love him and am proud of him (and to give him Daryl Cartrip (another car, I couldn't find Luigi). Everything is done. I am sitting in a dark room wondering if the poo smell is real or phantom (I can't tell anymore, I feel like it has permeated my skin).

I have watched the kids without Steve around plenty. However, up until now it has gone smoothly.

Screw it. We are all still alive. I did ok. But I am glad I wrote it down. I want to remind the kiddos of this someday.

Someday when I need to lay on a MAJOR guilt trip.

Daffers

Daphne,

It is week 7, but I think of this as week 6 + 1. See, all the books talk about how at 6 weeks babies start to sleep better and ease out of the fussy phase, but through last week we only had the one night which turned out to be a total accident on your part... you didn't MEAN to sleep 5 hours in a row. But technically you were a week early, so as of this week you are your 6 weeks post-due date, plus the one bonus week we got to spend with you. And things, they are a changing.

Oh sweet potato! Yes! You are SMILING, and COOING, and GIGGLING! I love it so much and look and sound like a crazy person trying to get another sound or expression out of you. And I almost became a crazy person since you were born - these first few weeks have been... shall we say, tough? Having to be away from you for 3 nights right when we were hitting our groove was almost like hitting a reset button. Don't get me wrong, I loved you and missed you either at home or in the hospital, and thought about you always, but spending nights away from you created a weird disturbance in our rhythm. Every person at the hospital told me to "enjoy the rest!" and "sleep a lot" cause it would be my last chance for a while. Little did they know that even if I could have ignored the aching in my heart from being away from you enough to sleep, I was waking up every 3 hours to pump milk so that I could hopefully keep nursing you. Not restful, but agonizing. Then I was on meds, then I had strep and was on meds again, and the meds I was on upset your stomach and I kind of just wondered what the heck was going on. Then we finally detoxed and you started smiling and being able to rest more.

But I have to say, you aren't ALWAYS restful. You have OPINIONS. And you EXPRESS THEM. In your baby state this means crying, sometimes tensing your whole body, and possibly even turning a certain shade of pinkish red. Fortunately you are easy to calm... once we figure out why you are mad. No, I don't like to hear you cry - not for my own comfort, but because I want you to be happy always - but I kind of like how assertive you are. I want you to be a smart and strong woman some day, and while you are YEARS away from being even a "big girl" let alone a "woman," I see a determination in you that I adore, even if takes a somewhat loud form at times.

You are finally starting to sleep more at night... as of last night, so let's keep that up, ok? We still get up 2 or 3 times a night, but at least now you are eating, getting a clean diaper and then going back to sleep relatively easily. Seriously, let's keep that up.

Basically, little girl, I adore you. I could consume your chubby cheeks every day and nothing amuses me more than watching your flail your arms when I stand you up on my lap and you get over-excited at your new perspective. I feel like you are already trying to run ahead, and I can see myself spending the next 18+ years trying to keep up.

Please, just stay where I can see you.

Babe

Apparently Steve and/or I will use "babe" as a pet name.. for each other? For Cooper? I am not sure. Now I am too self aware about using it to know whether my use of it is organic or not... Because... Now Cooper says "babe". As in, "Are you feeding Daphne, Babe?" or a million other sentences.

It is hilarious.

He is also suddenly afraid of shadows. I am not sure how this happened, but we have repeatedly told him shadows are nice/funny or whatever, but he is suspicious and will often "check on the shadows."

He also repeats everything A MILLION TIMES right now. Sometimes this is funny (like when Daphne toots, and he goes on and on about how "Daphne tooted") other times it is... repetitive ("I need some water, can I have some water, will you get me some water....").

Daphne... is deserving of her own post.

SMILES!!!!

Yes, Daphne is smiling quite a bit now, but this is more about ME smiling because... SHE SLEPT FIVE WHOLE HOURS DURING THE NIGHT!!!

Seriously.

No words.

When I woke up I was mildly panicked because I haven't been in a deep sleep in 6 weeks unless it was somewhere between 5am and 10am when the transition from me to Steve takes place and I fall asleep / pass out in our room (as opposed to the wakefulness or nap sleep I get on the couch when Daphne is up most of the night or only taking cat naps). For a few minutes I fumbled around the couch wondering where she was and what the heck had happened. That's when I realized I had not neglectfully fallen asleep "on the job," (I have this weird phobia of sleeping while holding Daphne (or any baby for that matter) for fear I will drop her or roll over on her or something (perhaps not a "weird" phobia, but appropriate), so when she is up all night or even when she is asleep, but requires being held to stay that way, I am up all night), but I was woken up because of her babbling... ON THE MONITOR. She had stayed asleep in her crib since I laid her down at 2:30 in the morning.

A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!!!

And so are her smiles. But those cannot really be explained in typed words... one must charge a camera battery and post pictures ASAP.

Out With a Bang!

Last night we sent 2011 off in style. I won't say what style, but a style for sure. At 4pm Cooper came down with a 102 degree fever (at least, I only took the armpit temperature and that is never very accurate) so he went to bed and stayed there until 10am this morning, with Steve or I checking in every 4 hours (at a minimum) to re-dose him as needed with Tylenol.

At 10pm Daphne had a diaper that exploded all over me and the couch.

As Steve said (repeatedly, in a somewhat forlorn voice, as we ate our frozen pizza instead of the fancy takeout meal we had planned)... "We are so parents."

:)