Name that Baby

Although nobody thinks they look similar - what do you think?

(Hailey is the photo on top, Jordan on the bottom.  Both taken at one month)

Month 1 - January

We had such a fun month with our new addition.  The best part is that we spent the majority of it together.  Doug had three weeks of paternity leave, so we had lots of time together as a family.  We had lots of visitors to meet Miss Hailey, managed to sneak in a trip to St. Louis to see the Burgess clan, did lots of home projects, bought a new car to haul around our two pieces of precious cargo and countless snuggles with our family of four.  What a wonderful month.

Jordan continues to be such a big helper and loves her new baby sister.  She likes to give her a pacifier and usually says - "Don't cry Hailey".  Unfortunately she usually jams it in there and doesn't take no for an answer even when Hailey isn't interested in a pacifier.  We are learning about being gentle with the baby.  She insists on holding Hailey multiple times a day which can be a bit nerve-wracking but they both seem to enjoy it (okay, mainly Jordan).

Hailey continues to gain weight - on her month birthday she weighed 8 lbs, 8 oz.  She is a very efficient eater, which is very nice for her mom.  She is still spitting up, nothing like the projectile that she was having the first week when I was overfeeding her little tummy.

Sleeping has been a bit different than her sister, but she is starting to get the hang of it.  We have two feedings per night (around 1 and 4).  For some reason, she has trouble getting to sleep after the 3:00/4:00 am feeding.  She doesn't really cry - it's a fuss (more of a snort, really) which keeps her mom up for a while.  My guess is that this is tummy related and it will get better quickly and most likely when I have the guts to move Hailey into her own room.  Currently she is sleeping right by my bed where I hear every single little noise.

Hailey is awake a bit more during the day and is starting to smile.  She loves to be warm - sleeping in front of the fire is her favorite place.  Her neck continues to be so strong which makes tummy time really enjoyable.  In fact, sometime she falls asleep on her belly which is her mom's favorite position, too.

Jordan continues to grow both in height and language.  She is getting so tall - weighs right around 24 lbs and is talking more and more every single day.  My mom sees her fairly often but last week noticed how much more she was talking within a span of five days.  She tends to repeat herself at this stage and builds on her sentences.

Daddy fix the TV.

Daddy fix the TV in car.

Daddy fix the TV in Mommy's car.

Several months ago she learned the upper and lower case alphabet.  Sometimes I still think it's so amazing that she already knows them.  She even challenges herself and turns the letters around.  (J upside down is a lowercase R, W and M, Z sidewise is an N).  She has also mastered her colors although the word yellow is fairly unrecognizable.  She can count to 17 - usually she repeats 17 a few times, ending it with a very definite "Seventeen!" 

This month she starting to learn to say the ABC song - which is usually done before letter recognition for most kids.  She skips a few strands of letters, but it's so much fun to hear her singing them.  She is learning to share and take turns - which can be hard but she is getting so much better.  Eating is still a sore spot for us (doesn't seem to bother her at all).  She is still taking a late afternoon nap in her crib.  Not always sleeping, we hear her upstairs talking or singing or kicking the sides of her bed.

The main thing I have learned this month is how different the two girls are as babies.  I'm sure it's a good lesson to learn early - not to compare them and to get ready for how different they will continue to be.  Although it seems obvious, I thought they would be more similar - both in looks and in behavior.  It's going to be a fun challenge and I'm really looking forward to seeing them interact more and more.  One of Jordan's favorite evening activities is laying next to Hailey on her activity mat.

Smile!!!

I finally got a picture of Hailey smiling! She is smiling more and more- and when she does her whole face lights up. Not the best picture but look at that cutie.

Girls

Hailey at four weeks with her sweet big sister. This morning, Jordan told me that Hailey was "mine - not yours" and that she wanted to "hold her". What a special time with these two sweet girls.

Hello, Hailey!

You were born at 7:40 a.m. during the most beautiful sunrise.  Everybody commented on it when they walked into the room - even the doctor!  You were born face up (which is opposite of most babies) but still had the most beautiful face and head.  When I was pushing everybody kept telling me how much hair you had!

I got to pull you out and hold you close which was one of the most special moments of my life.  You were perfect.  Everyone in the room guessed how much you weighed.  I guessed 7 lbs, 3 oz and I was correct.

You screamed for a long time when you were born and were very alert.  From the very start, you were a good eater and a pretty good sleeper.  You would prefer to be close to mom or dad when sleeping and it's actually nice to have a sweet little cuddle baby.

We were so excited to meet you and bring you home, so we left the hospital one day early.  We drove home in a snowstorm and you slept the whole way.  We rang in the new year as a family - feeling very complete and excited for 2013.

Looking back, I remember something that a friend told me a few days before you were born.  You were overdue (stinker!) and I was getting a little antsy.  She told me how excited she was for us to experience the birth of our second baby.  She said, "It's just as much of a miracle the second time."  You know what?  She was absolutely right.

Getting Back to Blogging, Sisters

Well, I've been a bad blogger since the month that I went back to work and Jordan turned 18 months.  Looking back, it's so fun to remember the small things that I captured in Jordan's monthly updates that I most likely would have forgotten.  I am determined to try again.

2012 was a wonderful year - loving our new home and watching Jordan grow up.  She continues to amaze us every single day.  Stubborn, sweet, kind and 100% lovable.  In April, we found out that she was going to be a big sister.

I was a little bit nervous about how she would react to the baby.  She didn't want to talk about the baby and usually cried if I held another person's baby.  Jordan grew up a lot in the last six months of my pregnancy.  Slowly, things got a bit better but it was my main concern - how the first meeting would go....

Why was I so nervous?  With these two, it was love at first sight.

Lazy morning

Still in our PJs