Lydia Ruth is 1 Month Old

Better two weeks late than never, right? Sorry Lydia.

1 week

2 weeks

3 weeks

4 weeks

One Month!

Height: 21.5" (64th percentile) 

Weight: 9 lbs. 9 oz. (57th percentile)

Head: 14.25" (36th percentile)

Eating: Words can not describe how much different nursing Lydia is compared to Charles. When Charlie was a month old, I remember thinking that he may be an only child because nursing was way too difficult. Thank goodness things got better and I didn't stick to that mindset :-) Lydia is a great nurser, and very quick - 4/5 minutes tops. She nurses about every three hours, but sometimes only two. The hardest parts about nursing Lydi is 1) she never comes close to emptying me (lots of milk showers) and 2) girlfriend is a vomiter. Many a times I have been covered (seriously, covered) in vomit in public and private alike. Overall, I was only sore for about two days (not counting engorgement). It also could help that I only had three weeks off between nursing C and Lyds. 

Sleeping: Girlfriend sleeps like a pro, especially the first two weeks. I even got a few solid nights of sleep. Now that she is more awake and aware sleep is a little different. During the day, she is having a harder time napping unless she is being snuggled. At night she sleeps well and only wakes up two times (normally around 2am and 5am). Overall, she sleeps like Charlie did as a newborn. 

New Skills: She is really starting to be more awake, as well as paying more attention. She is really focusing and following movement to maintain eye contact too. 

She Loves: Snuggles, milk, sleeping, her swing (sometimes)

She Doesn't Like: Her pacifier 

Exciting Things We Did:

~ Being born

Meeting brother for the first time!

~ First bath

~ Celebrated Lydia's first Thanksgiving 

(We didn't take any photos :-( )

~ Decorated for Christmas

~ First trip to Home Depot 

Charlie kept a close eye on her the whole time.

~ First day of work

More Photos: 

First family photo

Brother snuggles

Girl loves her kissy lips

After bath brother snuggles

My real life baby doll

One month photo outtake. Typical of Charlie. Take bow and put in on himself. 

A note to Lydia Ruthie: My sweet sweet girl, I can not imagine life without you. You make our family one step closer to complete. I would like to apologize for all the "not the first child" differences (for example this being two weeks late). I'm sorry for all the times my hands aren't there or don't move fast enough to protect you from your brother. I swear he just wants to play and share his toys. He's learning to share mommy as much as you are. Soon you two will be BFFs. Just know that if you have a permanent bump, it was done out of love :-) Your daddy loves you so much. It makes my heart swell to see him love you. I love you and your easy going personality. I can not wait to see the little lady that you grow up to be! You are truly loved Little Lydi Lady <3

Charlie Update

Okay, so I have really failed at keeping up with Charlie updates. Month after month sped by, then I was going to do an 18 month update, but before I knew it, that month was over too. So, here I am. Charlie is a big brother now and is one of the funniest guys I know. 

So just to do a quick update, here are a list of updates about my 19 month old best bud from the past 7 months (in order). 

~ He got his first hair cut on June 15th. Apparently, it was harder for me (as usual). I only let them cut one inch off, which grew back over night. He did great for it though! 

~ He went on his first (and 5th) airplane ride and visited Colorado for the first time. He did awesome! He flew standby and ended up spending two 12 hour days in O'Hare. He was a trooper and hardly missed any sleep. On the way out to Colorado he slept a solid 12 hours through loading, flying, unloading, standing around, and sleeping on the airport floor in Las Vegas while obnoxious music played. I was one thankful mama. 

He also slept through a concert at Red Rocks Amphitheater. Best traveling toddler goes to Charlie! 

~ He learned how to help himself to cereal.  

~ He discovered his love for trucks. He knows how to start a vehicle (luckily, he isn't quiet strong enough to turn the key yet), can say "keys", and will throw a tantrum every time you try to take him out. 

~ Learned to go down the slide himself and loves it!

~ Started sleeping great (the same night his sister was born!) Sleeps from 8pm-7:30(ish)am. Takes one nap during the day from 1:30-4pm. (He naps great at home. Not so great elsewhere.) 

~ Discovered his love for four wheelers. Okay, anything with wheels, keys, and a steering wheel. 

~ He loves playing outside. All the time. He begs to go out and will put his hat and (try to put his) jacket on too. 

~ We said good-bye to nursing on October 22. Again, probably harder for me. After a few days of getting over the confusion of daddy putting him to sleep, he was fine. I probably cried more than him. 

~ C made the cutest little tiger ever. His "roar" was too heart melting. 

~ He discovered his love for working. Everything daddy does, C wants to do to. (We won't mention the hole he put in our drywall with a hammer.) 

~ He has finally rediscovered his love for reading. Especially, the type of book pictured, he would sit and look at for 30+ minutes at a time. 

~ He became a big brother! He is so sweet with her and always checks on her. 

~ He discovered his deep love for vacuuming...and his strong hate of putting the vacuum away.

More pictures:

Says:

mama, da, tickle, sis, git, bye-bye, uh-oh, apple, ap (up), Willow, hat, baby, no, boom, shoes

(okay, I keep updating this list... his words are much more than this and keep growing daily!)

Loves:

His daddy

Working like daddy

Things that go (see above)

Working in the mill with daddy

Climbing 

Brother Theo 

Tackling/ Wrestling 

Cooking with mommy

Being outside doing anything 

All of his family!

A Note for C:

C you have taught me more in the last 19 months than I have probably learned in 19 years of life. Seeing life through your eyes changes everything. Thank you for bringing so much joy and chaos into my life. Thank you for teaching me that life goes by way too fast and helping me find the need to pause and "be." I love you so much and love seeing you learn as you go through life. 

Love you beanie.