21 Weeks Old

This week has been crazy. Our weekend was a bit nuts, with 3 extra adults and 1 extra kid visiting. We had a great time, but have taken quite a few days to recover. As a result, Tuesday AND Wednesday passed with no photos being taken. Thursday night we finally put Caitlin in her pjs to snap her weekly photos.

She is all about grabbing things and putting them in her mouth these days. If it is close enough to reach, she will eat it. As soon as we put her down next to the bear, she grabbed him and started chewing.

Caitlin is such a wiggle worm!

And she is almost always happy. Except the evening hours - she's pretty clingy then. I figure she is probably hungry, but she spends way too much time looking around, watching the tv or laughing at her brother to eat. We have figured out that she likes to nap on her stomach. She will fight it a bit, but once she's out, she takes a decent nap.

We tried giving Caitlin oatmeal and she was very much against it. She made terrible faces and spit most of it back out. This week I actually tried a bit of a sweet potato. That was Cooper's first food, so we gave it a whirl. She was a bit more on board, but didn't gobble it up the way Cooper did. These are two very different kids!!

Go Cowboys!

Late August, we headed to Dallas with Cooper for his second Cowboys game. Caitlin spent the night with Aunt Sassy and our trip wasn't without a bit of chaos trying to get out of town. We agreed to take Caitlin to my sister's house and realized almost there that neither of us had the frozen milk. Thankfully, Lin agree to pick it up from the house and we got on the road for Dallas.

We checked into the hotel before running an to a Cowboys store. Cooper needed a new jersey and we had some time to kill. Unfortunately, we didn't find anything so we headed back to the hotel to get ready for the game. Our initial plan was to grab dinner at a burger place before the game, but Cooper very adamantly said he wanted to go right to the game and eat a hot dog.

We all enjoyed the game and Cooper is a big fan of watching sports. He devoured a foot long hot dog and wanted cotton candy, but I nixed that saying we could get ice cream. However, there is no ice cream sold in the stadium! We made it to the end of the 3rd quarter before heading back to the hotel. Cooper could have stayed longer, but it was getting late and I needed to make bottles.

Since then he's asked about going to other games. Jason and I talked about who is going with him to a game later this year and Cooper piped in asking if he could go. I know they would have a great time together, but I just don't think he's quite old enough. The atmosphere is different during a preseason game. Plus, the tickets are quite pricey to spend on a 3 year old who wants to get up and go to he bathroom and get more food every 30 minutes. He loves watching football, but he also really loves to move around and people watch. Maybe next year we can do a regular season game. Until then, preseason it is!

20 Weeks Old

This child has seriously grown in the past few weeks. Last week, I put her on the changing table to get dressed and suddenly she looked 6 months old. It was like everything filled out and she was so much older. I did not like it.

As a result, I packed away all of the 3 month size clothes this past weekend. We unpacked and washed the 6 month size we'd been given. Once again, I realize how lucky we are. We received clothes from two people for Caitlin and it will not be possible for her to wear them all. I unpacked 45 onesies. I also hung up around 57 outfits and counted about 20-25 pairs of pants & shorts. I'm certain she will be in the 9 month size before we can wear all of that. It partially makes me sad - I love buying her stuff, but really don't need it. Everything is so cute and most of it is in really good condition. Probably from only being worn once before! I figure at this rate, I could put her in everything once, wash it and pack it away. And we still probably would not touch it all!

I tried giving her oatmeal over the weekend. I wasn't sure if she was ready. We were well into veggies at this point with Cooper, but Caitlin has seemed happy after she nurses. Cooper never seemed to be satisfied. I bought oatmeal, ground it up with the coffee grinder and mixed it with a bit of water.

She did not like it. At. All. We suffered through 3 small bites and the poor girl had the worst look on her face. Finally she threw it all back up. The question was answered - she was not ready. Lately she tries to eat everything she can get her hands on, but I guess that's just her thing and not her way of begging for real food. So, we'll wait and see what happens. The good news is that I don't need to step up my baby food making game!

Clearly, she's happy enough!

19 Weeks Old

Caitlin is such a ham these days. She's usually smiling or laughing. And she makes quite a bit of noise! Evenings can be tough - she loves to be the center of attention or be held. Which makes dinner time difficult. I have found that the exersaucer is a good 10-15 minute entertainment center for her. She's pretty well over the bouncer and tries to arch her back and scoot out of it anytime we put her there. As soon as we lay her on the floor she flips over and gets mad because she can't flip back. Needless to say, it takes a lot to keep her happy.

We've officially moved to a new section of clothes in the closet. This was one of Aly's outfits and I love the colors. Caitlin loved the bows because she could bend her neck and eat them. I keep thinking she's either teething or trying to tell me something.

She has also figured out how much fun it is to blow raspberries and is constantly sticking her tongue out to do so.

These two...they are constantly looking for each other.

She can hardly focus on nursing because she is worried about where Cooper is. He can't keep from talking to her or playing with her. Even when she is asleep...which usually ends with him in trouble. I really hope they love each other half this much in 5 years.

4 Month Check Up

Caitlin's 4 month check up happened to be the same day as her birthday. Jason was off, so we both took her to the doctor for a visit.

I keep thinking she's such a big girl! Honestly, it's all in the thighs. Thankfully, chunky baby thighs are cute.

She weighed in at 15lbs 8.4oz - 75th percentile.
She's 25.5" tall - 88th percentile
Head circumferance is 41cm - 61st percentile

Just like Cooper, she's well above average. Though not quite as big as he was (17lbs and 27 3/4") but that's ok. Girls should be smaller. :-)

Dr. K asked about the probiotic we give her daily. I feel it helps quite a bit and he felt that we should continue giving it. He asked if we had started solids - which we have not. I've not really felt that she was ready. With Cooper, I knew he was ready. I had no doubts that he wanted real food. Caitlin hasn't shown the same signs. Dr. K's response was that we should follow her cues and she'll let us know when she's ready. His opinion is that every baby is different and some can wait the 6 months, but others are ready much earlier (Cooper). For now, we'll hold off.

The poor girl ended the visit with a few shots. We'd given her Tylenol before the appointment, but she was still a little feisty that afternoon. And boy were her thighs sore! She'd just start screaming at the drop of a hat. Thankfully, she was herself the next day and we lucked out by avoiding any fever.

18 Weeks Old

We came off of a the Labor Day weekend having spent quite a bit of time at home. Jason took off the last two days of the week to work around the house & use up some vacation time. We managed to get quite a few things done around the house and even completely made over our front flower bed.

Caitlin spent a lot of time on a blanket under the tree - where she LOVES being. That girl is a fan of being outside.

Tuesday came and we were all back to school and work - much to Cooper's disappointment.

Lately, we have a hard time taking her photo because she is too worried about finding Cooper to look at the camera. And he is too wound up to stand still.

4 Months Old

This past month has been a game changer. Caitlin is growing so much! I find myself going back to read posts about Cooper at this time because I'm amazed at how much change happens in such a few short weeks. Though, really, I know that will continue.

We moved Caitlin from the 3 to 6 month pajamas. Some are a bit too big, but others fit perfectly. She talks non-stop some days. And she's started rolling from back to front. She still hates it most of the time.

Her smile is infectious. She grins at almost everything, especially her big brother. I've also noticed that she follows us more. When I'm holding her in my lap she'll turn around to look up at me. She will crane her neck to find Cooper when he's running around the house.

Generally speaking, she is a very happy baby. I hear all the time that everyone just loves her...and with a grin like that, I can see why. News flash: she's not happy from 5:30-7:30. The witching hour(s). She IS happy at 3:30am when she wakes up to eat. As long as we get her fed quickly. Some nights she sleeps all night, which is awesome. Other nights she's up around 3am. Not awesome. If I could figure out what causes the difference, I'd be a happy camper. However, we do the same thing each evening and she still manages to surprise us daily.

Phone Friday

I'm pretty sure this will include the entire month of August! Yeah, I'm terrible at this.

After a harried start to our vacation with just a bit of confusion getting through security, I was pretty excited to sit down and have a beer in the airport.

Caitlin experienced her first flight and Cooper made his third.

We started the first full day of vacation with Bloody Mary's!

Saturday began with "square donuts" and a view of Jackson Square.

My kiddos at lunch...we're all a bit sweaty from a long walk.

The one thing I wanted in New Orleans - Sucre. So. Totally. Worth. It.

Cooper was in a cupcake coma here.

One very large ice cream sundae.

Wishing Nana happy birthday!

I put Caitlin in her Little Sister onesie a few weeks back, but she soiled it at daycare before I could snap a photo. This time, I grabbed one BEFORE school.

 Cooper was pretending these stakes were his Ninja swords. I kept thinking he was going to slay vampires.

We caught Caitlin trying to roll over a few weeks ago. At the time, this was as far as she could go.

Our second Astros game of the season

I love walking in to see Cooper playing with his sister. Even if he does worry me at times...

We took Cooper to his second Cowboy's football game. I keep hoping one day he'll look at the camera/phone.

Almost an entire month of sleeping in underwear without accidents! The two days he didn't quite make it, he'd gone to bed exhausted from playing hard with friends.

She sleeps like her brother.

Cooper received a new Yoda shirt in the mail and could not wait for it to be clean so he could wear it.

I practically squealed with delight when this came in the mail. I took this photo myself and paid someone to edit out PB's cord because I knew I wanted it on a big canvas. I'm thrilled with it.

As a reward for no overnight accidents, we took Cooper to see Planes at the theater. He loved it.

Caitlin had her 4 month appointment - complete with shots. :-(

This little girl was ready for Aggie football!!

We celebrated Labor Day by spending some time in the water.

Jason and I finally opened a bottle of wine we brought back from California when Cooper was a baby. We've been scared - it was our biggest purchase. We were both afraid it wouldn't be as good as we remembered. It was. It may have been better.

We kept Caitlin cool outside in the shade with a fan blowing on her.

 Cooper begs every week to be in the photos with his sister. He waited patiently before jumping in.