I'll do a post about our lovely Christmas weekend soon, but I have so many photos from this last week that I wanted to get all the pre-Christmas stuff posted first.
Now for probably a dozen too many pictures from last week:
^^I'm proud of myself for finishing most Christmas-related tasks early so I could spend the last half of the week having Christmas book readathons where Jack brough allllll of his Christmas books into my bed and we read every last one for over an hour. Hope this becomes a yearly tradition.
^^Just look at dem delicious leggies!
^^We got a few days of snow. Our neighborhood feels like the cutest little snowglobe with those huge trees surrounding us. Love waking up to this view.
^^Snowball fights! These are the moments when I wish we lived near his cousins, so we could round them all up and throw them outside to giggle and play in the snow for hours.
^^Jared and Fighter Pilot Alice chasing Jack around.
^^Asking to hold Alice while he watched "The Star" for probably the fifth time of the week (a cute animated movie about the nativity story from the perspective of the donkey).
^^Making gingerbread houses, front camera view and rear camera view. Alice was having a rough night so I spent the evening bouncing her around.
^^Nursing view from the rocking chair in Alice's room. How cute is that butterfly snowflake I made last year??
^^And to all a goodnight! The view from the hall right outside our bedroom. I always end up peeking out this window after I put Alice back down after her night feedings.
(^^Ward Christmas Party. Yes we had socks on Baby Alice, but they kept falling off and getting lost. No worries, it was very warm in there.)
This week I took myself to the dentist THREE TIMES within a seven day period. Zero stars, would not recommend. One cleaning, one left-side-mouth cavity filling appointment, one right-side-mouth cavity filling. On my way out today they said, "Bye, we'll see you in six months!" And I said, "I hope I never see any of you jerks again." (jk, Home Alone reference. I didn't actually say that.) I never had one single cavity before I had kids. But pregnancy wrecks havoc on my oral hygiene and at my pregnancy cleaning I was feeling too terrible to schedule cavity fillings so they saved them all for postpartum. Five little cavities filled this week, whoops. Very glad to have that behind me, and to not have months of pregnancy barfing decay all my teeth in 2023. It feels strange to reflect on my life and realize that prior to this week I'd only ever experienced routine cleanings, and one cavity filling appointment after Jack was born. This one week has included more cavity appointments than my previous entire life put together. That's a fun fact that I hate about this week.
We have snow sticking to the streets and trees today. It is absolutely beautiful. Like living in a snowglobe since our street is surrounded by enormous evergreens. Here are a few more pictures from our week:
"Dad, do you know what I'm grateful for today? [pensive pause] Pooping on your face." (followed by fits of laughter. I think one of his preschool friends must be a potty mouth because the potty jokes did not exist until a month or two ago and now they are absolutely out of control.)
It's Christmas time!!!! I know it has been for a while, but I tend to be a stress case until all the Christmas shopping is 100% done, which is what we accomplished over the weekend. I feel so much lighter and I'm excited to chill and make paper snowflakes while watching Christmas movies. Which we'll probably do a lot of this week, since Jack has the flu. Hooray. Who needs one last week of preschool before holiday break to chill and catch their breath? Not me. I'm just hoping Alice doesn't catch it! There was one day last week where she was screaming and inconsolable and she wouldn't breastfeed at all. I'm suspicious that it might've been due to something I ate (dairy, likely). She's back to normal now and I'm staying away from dairy and also keeping a food diary for the future. Here's a cute Baby Alice picture from yesterday when we got her all dressed up for church and then decided to stay home because Jack spiked a fever of 102:
^^^Jack getting in his morning snuggles with Baby Alice
I'm gonna be honest, I had no idea yesterday was Monday. Jared got off from work early like he always does on Monday so that probably should have tipped me off, but nope. I'm still living in a newborn daze I suppose. That said, I am loving the current baby stage! Alice has a bit of a lingering cough from being sick last week, but otherwise she is back to her normal self. On average she's waking up twice a night. Sometimes more, but frequently only once, so absolutely no complaints. When I can I try to remember to wait 2 or 3 minutes before going to get her during the night. Often she's not hungry or even awake and she stops crying and goes back to sleep quickly. I wish I had known that tip with baby Jack. I honestly think we made his sleep worse by attending to every cry immediately. Most of the time he was genuinely still asleep and I was disrupting a perfectly good sleep cycle. So if you're about to have your first baby, stick that tip in your back pocket. (I do this if a nap seems extra short too. She usually goes back to sleep by the 2 minute mark if she's only been napping less than an hour.) I think I first read this concept a year or so ago in the book "Bringing up Bebe." In France everyone does this and the author calls it "Le Pause." I've also heard this tip recommended by sleep consultants.
I'm also happy to report that we haven't needed to use the front pack or exercise ball for probably over a week now. Little miss is perfectly content in a bouncer or swing until she starts getting tired for her next nap. It's amazing. It's life changing. Pediatricians can tell you that fussiness tends to peak around 6-8 weeks and then improves by around 12 weeks. I wasn't sure I believed this because with baby #1 fussiness peaked from around 6 days until around 2 years, but every baby really is different. Here we are at week 11 and I'll be darned--Baby Alice chilled in her carseat without fussing through the ENTIRE 2-hour block of church on Sunday. I was and still am shocked to my core. I fed her at the beginning, then she chilled and napped and occasionally needed a pacifier replaced, but wow. Jared and I kept staring at each other with huge eyes like, "Is this a normal baby? Do we have ourselves a normal baby??" We've seen so many other babies just chilling in their carseats over the years but figured it wasn't in the cards for us. She still has her moments (and still hates car rides), but as long as we catch her hungry and tired waves before they crash she's generally very calm these days.
^^I thought this graph was a scam when I found it two months ago. So happy it's not.
https://diethood.com/red-beans-and-rice/
^^ Alice graduated from her swaddle and now sleeps in a Magic Merlin sleep sack. I'm enjoying her Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man era that will be gone all too soon. I see so much of me AND Jared in her depending on the picture. Makes me so happy.
Jack "rejoying" a Christmas package from Grandma Haines. Don't know if I've mentioned this but he'll often add an "r" to verbs beginning with an "e." I never correct him because I know it will end all too soon. Enjoy = Rejoy. Explode = Resplode. Escape = Rescape. Explain = Resplain. He also says "ka-do list" instead of "to do" list. It's my favorite.
Some other good quotes from Jack this week:
"I'm just snuggling wif my 3 little angels--Bunny, Foxy, and Alice."
"Jupiter is my favorite. It's a gassy planet."
And when his teacher asked if his new car smelled good inside: "Ya, it smells like cookies!"
Speaking of new car, we got our Palisade on Monday! Feels like an eternity ago, and yet here are the only two anticlimactic pictures I have for you. Rejoy:
And this interior picture that I almost didn't share but then was like, I have to share, because #relatable and it makes me lol. You're welcome:
^^This must have been taken without my knowledge at the end of a long day when Jared requested an evening drive that I knew would be filled with baby screams. And then I'm sure he sent this pic to his parents, as a husband does, as the chosen "new car" picture. Thx babe. We love the car though! The only downside is that now that our car is open to our trunk the grocery pickup guy makes smalltalk while he's loading our groceries. Otherwise I love it. The heated seats and steering wheel are life. Android Auto is a big upgrade. The space is amazing. It drives so smoothly and I feel so much safer on the road, which was our top priority. It's been a good week! Lots to be thankful for!
What a great weekend! I just feel really content lately, which is refreshing after a year of panic, sickness, misery, pain, and grumps. It's nice to be back.
OK, he's not 5 until February, but Jack just hit a huge milestone this evening that I wanted to document. This evening, Monday November 7, at 6:00 p.m., for the first time EVER in his nearly 5 years of life, Jack recognized that he was tired and, based on that feeling, decided to put himself to bed. I am SHOOK to my core. Who is this child. We had just finished dinner, Jared went upstairs to finish some work, and I said to Jack, "Hey, let's pull out some Christmas decorations! I just need to get myself a drink of water first. Would you like a drink of water?" And his response was, "No, I need to go to bed now." And sure enough, I saw this dazed look flash across his face and next thing I know I'm following him upstairs and asking if he wants to put some comfy jammies on or stay in his day clothes and he's saying, "No, I'll just wear these clothes. I need to go to sleep right now." And he climbs up into his bed and tells me, "You can say the prayer tonight. I'll just be sleeping though." So I say the prayer and leave the room and within 60 seconds he was out?!!!! I am speechless. Ok clearly not because I had to come write this extra blog post documenting the occasion. Granted, he is sick with a gnarly cold and I'm sure that's playing a factor. But he's been sick plenty of times before and never even come close to recognizing and acting on his own sleepiness. He has been my sleep fighter since day 1. This is an enormous milestone that will probably never be repeated again. But maybe it will. Dare to dream, kids.
Whelp, since I'm already writing a bonus post. I took Alice to her 2-month appointment this afternoon and other than the 4 vaccines she needed (poor baby) it went really well. She is ahead of her curve for height and weight. 12 pounds 4 oz, I think.
While I was there, Jared had the afternoon off and had his mom take him to "pick up" our new car. He was able to sign all the paperwork, but nobody told him he'd need to stop by our bank, an hour from the dealership, and do some more paperwork before it's official. So still no new car, but hopefully we'll have it by Jared's birthday this Saturday. It's been quite the Monday!
Time is a thief! Last night I was noticing that our favorite zip-up swaddle for Alice was getting tight. I googled when it's time to stop swaddling baby, and the results said around 2 months, which she already is! That snuck up on me. I fully thought we'd be swaddling her for several more months. Me and Jared just looked at our sweet baby burrito and commiserated on how just like that, the baby burrito stage of life is just about behind us. She's not rolling over yet so we'll probably swaddle her for another week or so, but it's bittersweet how much faster time is going with baby #2 than it did with baby #1.
Not a whole lot to report. I spent my free time this week prepping for Jared's birthday, which is on Saturday. Jack is very into geography lately. (As in, "which country did this dino live in? What country did that dino live in? Tell me every single country where every single dino ever lived, all the time, plz and thx.") He's been drawing lots of maps. Jared had his first day working at our small-town clinic--it went great, and I think he really enjoyed that when he forgot to pack a lunch he could just call and have me run something over real quick. Alice is just the best. I can't get over how she'll actually hold still and snuggle into us? Snuggling was never possible with Jack because his little body couldn't figure out how to stop jerking its limbs around constantly. The newborn phase is entirely different this time around. Alice is sleeping better at 2 months old than Jack did at 2 years old. The last couple nights she's only woken up once. I get up, feed her within 10-15 minutes, and set her back in her crib where she immediately falls back asleep. I'm in shock every time I just set her down and she just goes to sleep. Bless baby Jack's heart, but he could NEVER. To be fair, Jack is the guinea pig oldest child. I have a lot more knowledge and tools this time around. We've practiced putting Alice down "drowsy but awake" daily basically since she was born and that's helped her to learn self-soothing skills much earlier and more gently.
That's about all there is to report. Here are some pictures form Jared's phone for a change, from the past month or two:
^^Unintentional (and tired) family matching with newborn Alice. She was even matching us with olive green pjs under her swaddle:
^^A 2-month-old Alice. Love this chonk so much.
I love November. It still feels like I'm getting some cozy fall remnants, and the mornings that get frosty are novel. Thanksgiving is on the horizon (YES to food holidays), and it's fun to get excited about Christmas and prepare for it, but without feeling stressed about last-minute Christmas stuff yet. This year is especially wonderful with 2-month-old Baby Al. We're starting to get into a good routine! We're back to usually only 2 night wakings, and last night she only woke up once. She's had some extremely fussy, seemingly painful days in the past, but lately, some combo of probiotics, reflux meds, and limiting my dairy intake has her mostly very happy and calm!
Some favorites from this week.
-Postpartum clothes thrifting! Thrifted clothes are way more expensive in Washington than they were in Wyoming so this is my first time really diving into the clothes section. When I realized I'd need to buy myself some new pants I started with Walmart. I didn't find much that sparked joy for me at the price point I was looking for (cheapskate price point), so a few days later I took myself on an evening thrift date. Definitely my happy place. I'll have to do a post with some of the outfits I found and some of my thrift tricks!
-Homemade applesauce. I think I mentioned last week that Jared's mom brought us a big box of apples and a big box of pears. I needed the easiest possible way to use them up so I opted for slow-cooker applesauce. I had about 25 apples and thought I'd end up freezing half of it to pull out later. NOPE. It came out so insanely delicious that I put the full batch in the fridge and now, 4 days later, it's almost completely gone. Here is the recipe. I added a few grinds of sea salt to bring out the flavor and maybe a Tablespoon or two of brown sugar:
-Homemade pear sauce. When the slow cooker applesauce came out so good, I decided to make pear sauce with the pears that are already ripe, and then make pear jelly when the rest ripen. It was a good life choice. The smell of apples and pears slow cooking with cinnamon is the VIBE. I decided to add a few grinds of sea salt and a dash of brown sugar to this sauce, too. I left the applesauce mashed/chunky, but ended up pureeing the pear sauce:
-Bonus: French Onion Soup. I made french onion soup for the first time this week and it was a hit. The only bummer is that Alice was REAL fussy the next day--pained sounding cries, red eyebrows, the whole fussy baby thing. It occurred to me that maybe eating a bowl full of onions topped with cheese could be PrObLeMaTiC for my potentially tender-tummied breastfed baby. So I'll share the recipe with you so you can enjoy it while I'm abstaining for the next year (be aware that you need to slice and throw the onions in a pan to start caramelizing around 3 or 4 in the afternoon so they can be ready in time for dinner):
Least favorites from this week:
-Postpartum hair loss has begun and it is EVERYWHERE. Every time I run a hand through my hair there's a good handful of loose strands. Good thing I've got a thick head of hair, but I don't love finding loose hairs between my toes and in my pants and tangled in Alice's fingers and somehow just everywhere.
-Postpartum dry everything has begun. At first it was just dry skin and I was like, "Huh, I guess this is because winter is coming?" But we live in a pretty humid area, and then everything else started to dry out. Dry scalp, dry mouth, dry eyes. And I'm remembering the postpartum dry phase and trying to really up my water intake and see if that helps a bit.
Ok that's all. Here's some cute pics of a cute bb:
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