Cleo's 1-month stats

Cleo had her 1-month doctor appt. today and here are her stats:

9 lbs. 8 oz. (yahoo!) = 54% weight
21" long = 40% height
Head is 14.25" = 23% for head circ

I actually asked the doctor to weigh her again for me b/c I thought the nurse had made a mistake. I thought she was in the 8 lbs. range, but she's really 9 lbs. 8 oz, which is super exciting! She's gained nearly 3 lbs. in a month, which I am happy about. What I wasn't happy about was waiting for an hour to get into the doctor for my scheduled appointment, b/c they had a "crazy morning." They seem to always have "crazy mornings" when I'm there. I like our pediatrician, but I'm going to explore others at this point. I'm sick of the long waits. By the time we left, we had been there for 1.5 hours, Gus was starving (and cranky) and Cleo was starving (and crying). It was a fun ride home. :)

ek

Busy Bees

This past weekend was a busy one for us. It started off with a somewhat sad moment when Andy said goodbye to his Raleigh 3-speed bike. This bike holds many fun memories from our time in Chicago. Andy bought this bike for himself and then he bought me a 3-speed, and we enjoyed riding them around the various neighborhoods in Chicago in summer and fall. Lovely times! Andy LOVED this bike so much. It was stolen once and he was absolutely heartbroken, but he moved on and bought a new 3-speed. But as soon as he bought the replacement bike, we saw a crazy dude riding around our neighborhood (Logan Square) on Andy's bike! The orange basket was a dead giveaway. We chased the guy down, negotiated with him, and in the end Andy paid the dude off to get his bike back (the guy swore he bought the bike and didn't steal it...). Anyhoo...it was quite the experience. Then Andy traded the replacement 3-speed bike to my hairdresser for a haircut and highlight (for me)...good times. So Andy never rides this anymore, and he sold it to a KU student late last week. I was somewhat upset that he was selling it, but at the same time, it's silly to hold on to it if we can make some $$ off it. But the day he sold it, he kept mentioning it, and even said that he keeps looking out for it when he's driving around Lawrence. So cute. I still have my 3-speed, but it needs new tires. I'm not ready to give it up yet. Andy and I both also have mountain bikes, so those are our "good" bikes. Someday I'll get back to riding a bike!

Friday night our friends Tom and Marisa had a "happy hour" at their new home. It was really a housewarming party, b/c they just bought a really cool old home and are rehabbing it. They had a bunch of folks over and had Free State beer, so it was a really fun time. Kids were running around, I had a delicious brew, we met new people, and things were very sweet. Then Saturday our friends Jenny and Cory had a goodbye party b/c they are moving to Oregon. It was bittersweet...I'm super sad to see them go, but happy for their new adventure. The party was really fun...another great time for the kiddos to run around and eat watermelon and play. Then Sunday night we went over to Tom and Marisa's for dinner. They made homemade veggie burgers and corn on the cob, and we finished it all off with some peach pie. It was a lovely evening, even if all the kids (Gus, Ebi and Cleo) were a little cranky! :) Gus and Ebi really like hanging out, I think. They are a year apart (Ebi is turning one soon), but they dig each other's company, and even gave each other kisses and hugs before we left. Maybe Gus' first girlfriend? :) I'm super psyched for next weekend, too, b/c Kelly and Cherie will be in town Saturday. We're celebrating Kelly's birthday by getting manis/pedis and having lunch and drinks. I'm SO looking forward to some time with the ladies.

Things are going fine these days. Summer is winding down and Cleo and Gus are growing so fast. Cleo is getting chubbier by the day, so that is fun to see. She has her one month appointment tomorrow, so I'm excited to see what she weighs. She's fitting into all the fun clothes folks bought for her, so I'm having a ball picking things out for her to wear. She's sleeping ok at night...every night is a little different, but she's doing pretty well overall. She'll sleep in chunks, but getting her to fall asleep without crying has proven difficult. She gets so upset when she's overtired...Gus, I think, was the same way. We're hoping to move her to her crib in a couple of weeks.

Gus is great...hilarious these days! He literally surprises us every day with new words or phrases. He put together his first complete sentence this weekend. Andy told him he needed to lie back down for his nap (he woke up early from his nap yesterday) and his response was, "I don't want to do that." lol...He's really into saying "no!" these days...more so than usual. But overall he's really sweet. He dances all the time and if I say "Shake it, Gus!" he will shimmy and shake with me...he's a fun little guy to be around. I think he realizes that Cleo is part of the family unit now. When she's not around, he asks where she is "Where Kee-o at?"

I'm currently reading the first actual book I've read in a long time. I read all kinds of magazines these days, but since having kids I have a hard time sitting down to read a book. It bums me out b/c I really enjoy a good book. Andy went to the library and got me the new David Sedaris book, When You Are Engulfed in Flames, and it's amazing so far (of course). It's a bunch of short stories, and I'm trying to read it slowly b/c it's so funny and amazing. I really love his stuff! We saw him in Chicago when he did a reading of his essays and he was awesome. I wish he would come to Lawrence soon.

That's it for now! Hope all are having a good week.

My babies

Gus in his new pj's from Cherie, Aaron and the boys...he LOVES them...he's really into monkeys right now. Thanks, Rourkes! He looks somewhat annoyed in this photo, but I don't remember why! Probably b/c it's bedtime...

Cleo sleeping...little cutie pie. We still can't figure out who she looks like...

Gus is at daycare, I got a decent night's sleep last night (I always try to count the hours but I can never remember when I slept and when I was up feeding her...), but I feel more rested than I did yesterday. I'm sure I'll need a nap later today, though. I'm listening to jazz on KJHK right now, so that is nice. Cleo is sleeping, and it's rainy outside and kinda cool...supposed to be in the 70's tomorrow...I'm psyched about that. It's the time of year that I am so ready for autumn to be here...my favorite season of all.

-ek-

One day at a time!

Things overall are going well. Andy and I are taking things one day at a time...trying to manage with a new baby and a toddler. It's so hard! I knew it would be...but I guess I didn't really know how hard it would be. But at the end of the day (cheese alert!), I am so thankful to have two healthy, seemingly happy kiddos, so it's all worth it. And we know that it will all get easier as time goes on. We're still just trying to figure out how to eat dinner together every night! It's hilarious...it's such a cluster trying to stay on a schedule with a baby who eats all the time and a toddler who is in bed by 8pm. But we're doing it.

Cleo update!

Cleo turned 2 weeks old Tuesday. Even though it's only 2 weeks, I can't believe how fast it's gone by. She is a darling. She was sleeping like a champ for the first couple of days, but now that she's awake a bit more during the day and knows there are things going on around her, she cries a bit more when we leave her sight. But overall, she's a really good little baby so far. We have her sleeping in our room in a basinette (or sometimes in bed with us, when I'm too tired to care), which is way better than what we went through with Gus. He was in his crib from day one, and he hated it until he was about 2 months old. I was such a zombie with Gus, getting about 1/2 hour of sleep every night. We plan to move Cleo to her crib at about 2 months, but for now, our room is working out. We have somewhat of a pattern established, but each night is a little different. Basically Andy and I are wiped at 9pm or 9:30pm, so I feed her and we all crash for a bit. She's waking me about every 2-3 hours to eat, so I usually feed her at least 2-3 times a night right now, which means I'm tired but at least I'm getting small chunks of sleep. And Andy lets me sleep in with her while he gets Gus up and ready for the day, which definitely has helped. And with Gus at daycare 3 days a week, I can nap with Cleo during the day, which I definitely have been taking advantage of. I cannot wait until she's sleeping for longer periods at night, though. I hate being tired...it's the worst. So far nursing is going well, but I'm always paranoid that it's not b/c of my experience with Gus. I don't know what she weighs right now, and I'm tempted to take her into the lactation ladies for a weight check (even though I hate going in there). I think she's a little over 7 lbs. right now, though. She's still little, but she's gaining. She weighed 6 lbs. 3 oz. when we left the hospital, so she's put on about a pound since then. I can't wait until she is out of the newborn clothes and into the 0-3 months clothes! I don't think Gus ever fit into the newborn stuff...

I jumped the gun...

I made the huge mistake of going to Old Navy today to try on non-maternity clothes. It was just depressing, b/c I have some weight left to lose before fitting into anything attractive! And Cleo had a total meltdown in Old Navy b/c she was both hungry and tired, so that sucked for me. I'm not going to try that again for awhile...

Gus update!

Gus turned 2 yesterday! We had some folks over Saturday to celebrate, and Gus had a blast opening gifts. We opened the rest of his gifts last night, and he now tells people he's "2" when they ask him how old he is. He also says "Bye-bye Keee-o" to Cleo when I drop him off at daycare. It's cute. And he's still blowing her air kisses and giving her hugs. He's pretty affectionate towards her, which is super cute. I can't believe Gus is 2...I'm still in shock he's growing up so fast. I realize now how fast Cleo is going to grow up b/c I've seen it with Gus. I feel like he was her age just a bit ago.

Well, that's it for now. More later!