The Trio

We've been doing pictures like this since Amelia was 20 weeks, Lily was 15 weeks, and Tristan was 5 weeks... 

A: 7 months, L:6 months, T:3 months

All about 2 years

Add Erica-11 weeks

Laughs!

Two Months!

Erica is still growing fast. She's a champ eater, with the bottle as well as breastfeeding, and it's showing on the scale. At her 2-month visit she was 13lbs 12oz and 25 inches long. That's three inches in a month! No wonder she's busting out of all the three month clothes. Almost everything she wears is 6 month size now. 

She is cooing all the time, laughing often, and interacting with us and her toys. She's learned that kicking makes her bouncy chair toys move so she talks to them and kicks again. She loves her sister and looks around the room for her when she hears her voice. Amelia will say, "Erica is happy" and Erica will laugh. She loves books-especially read by Amelia-and listening to songs. 

She sleeps so well that I feel guilty about not being sleep-deprived with a newborn. We have been blessed with two good sleepers and I pray they stay that way. We love her so much and to sound cliche-can't imagine life without her.

Just for fun, here are some comparisons with Amelia. Erica has looked older in every picture.

Two Months (Erica is 13lbs 12oz, 25in; Amelia was 11lbs 9oz, 23.5in)

One Month! (Erica- 11lbs 8oz; Amelia- 9lbs 11oz)

One Week (Erica- 9lbs; Amelia- 7lbs 11oz)

January

January has been a mess of sickenss, trying not to get sick, anxiety about getting sick, and lots of praying that we don't get sick. However, we have had some good times in between and it's good for me to look back and see that. Here are some highlights (in pictures of course): 

It ain't cool without the Binkey.

Erica's new "safe spot"-really she's just protecting the coffee.

"Daddy, please can we play games on the tablet in my playhouse?"

First Ponytail-in anticipation of swim lessons.

Still a favorite activity

First bottle for Erica 1/16/13, 7.5 weeks. She was a champ.

Not exactly what I had in mind when I asked her to help with the dishes.

That's better.

A great investment-she loves to sleep on me and therefore I only have one available hand. Granted, I can do almost anything with one hand now but not everything. 

Daddy is a very engaging reader...

She is looking at the baby pictures of Amelia, she loves staring at them.

Stringing beads is dangerous work.

A carrier like mommy's

Double babywearing.

Hipster?

No words...

Amelia loves to read to Erica. She's even learned to show her the pictures!

Coming soon: birth story!

Some videos of cuteness

Just normal life

Life has returned to the new normal. Rob is back at work, I'm home with two girls, we go out most days, play puzzles, read books, and are enjoying life as a family of four. Erica is growing like crazy-she's almost 13lbs at 7 weeks (Amelia wasn't 13lbs until 3 months). Erica is fitting comfortably in most 6-month size sleepers and although I can still squeeze her into a few 3-month onsies, they show off her curves more than I'd like in my infant. 

Amelia is adjusting to her new position in the family well. She loves talking and singing to her sister and without my constant intervention, would probably accidentally catapult her right out of her bouncy chair. Amelia has started to read to Erica. She has most of our books memorized-at least in part-and holds them precariously over Erica's head while clearly explaining the exciting plot of "Baby's First Christmas-a book about Colors". Erica smiles when Amelia enters the room and has laughed for her a few times, I can already see the sister relationship developing and it's amazing to see!

Other than that, Erica does a lot of sleeping (she's slept until 5:30 in the morning twice so far!), Amelia does a lot of playing and talking, I do a lot of nursing and baby holding, and Rob works and then comes home and cooks and cleans-what a great guy.  Some pics...

Snuggling

 She sleeps so well on her belly, wish we could put her down like this at night.

Cousins snacking together.

 Getting ready for a birthday party, all dressed up.

 Enjoying bath time!

 Tummy Time

 Flying on mommy's legs while she does sit ups...

 "Mommy, Erica needs socks and baby legs. Awww....she's awfully cute, isn't she!" 

 Thanks, Steph, for the adorable purple outfit!

 Erica makes some great faces.

 Sister time.

 7 weeks and 3 weeks bathtime. She's grown a lot!

 She's all smiles in her bright outfit!

Erica is One Month

Well, a month (and two weeks actually) have gone by and our baby girl is already so grown up! At her one month check up she was 11lbs 8oz, a full 3 pounds more than at birth. That's a 35% weight gain in a month! If I put on weight like that I'd be 240lbs by February. She's also grown two inches (to 22 inches) which is why she is busting out of all her 3 month clothing already. It's certainly different having a chubbier baby this time. She's going to catch up to Amelia soon. 

Erica has just started to coo and make eye contact. She has smiled a lot (and no, it's not just gas), and I even think I heard her laugh when Amelia started singing today. She focuses intently on toys and faces and turns toward noises nearby. She even kicks and flails her arms in excitement when she hears Amelia's voice.

She's a spit-up queen, just like her sister, although she eats like a champ. I remember congratulating myself if I was back in bed in an hour when feeding Amelia at night. Now I'm annoyed if my head doesn't return to my pillow for 15 minutes after waking up. Erica chows down so fast sometimes that she sputters and has to catch her breath multiple times. Maybe that's why she spits up so much. With her great weight gain, however, it's just a laundry problem (to quote Linda-the Lactation Consultant at Mercy). 

Speaking of sleep, Erica has been letting me sleep from 10 to 3:30 or so on a regular basis. Then she gets up again around 6 or 7 and joins me in bed until Amelia wakes up. When Rob wasn't working over Christmas break, the whole family slept until 9:30 a few times! 

For the first week or so, having two kids was a harsh adjustment. But now that we've settled in and Amelia has realized Erica is here to stay, it's becoming easier. Plus, I've really enjoyed having a baby to snuggle with again. We love you, Erica!

One Month

 One Week