42 Weeks Old

I finally snapped Caitlin's photo for this week on Friday. It was rough week. Tuesday, we quickly ate dinner and headed to Kohl's to look at new dishes. I'm on the fence and we left empty handed.

Caitlin wasn't feeling great, but she seemed ok. Shortly after I sat down to nurse her, she threw up. All over me & the sofa. I yelled for Jason, he grabbed her and tossed me a towel and I ran to the bathroom for wet rags. I quickly cleaned up the sofa while he stripped Caitlin for a bath. She threw up again on him. We got her cleaned up, I jumped in the shower (since some of the vomit was in my hair) and he sat on the sofa holding Caitlin. We knew it was coming & Jason caught the next wave in his hands. At this point, she didn't look too hot. I tried giving her water, I tried nursing a bit, only to end up with more vomit in my lap. I finally got her to drink some water and we decided to let her sleep in our bed. Shortly after we settled down, she threw up again. That would be third load of laundry for the night.

We finally got her settled down and made it through the night. The next morning, she woke up in a good mood and ate well. I decided to send her to daycare...only to get a call later that afternoon that she'd been throwing up again. We brought her home, she spent Thursday with Jason and seemed to be on the mend. Until Friday, when I pulled her out of her crib covered in vomit again. Guess who stayed home again on Friday?

Over the weekend she really started to feel better. Sunday she ate like she'd been starved for days, which she had. I found out Thursday that there was a bug going around her class and she was one of 5 kids out. Fun times.

Also, there are only 10 weeks until she is one. The part of me that is tired of pumping is excited. The rest of me...not so much.

January Phone Photos

We started the month with a trip to the movies. Cooper had been dying to see Walking with Dinosaurs, so Caitlin stayed with Aunt Sassy and we headed out.

He loved it!

We had to un-Christmas the house. Cooper fought his tree...and lost.

We finally took him in for his 4-year check up.

When she isn't screaming at us, she really is a happy baby. I love her smile!

Jason & I went away for a weekend and this was the only photo I took. We stopped at Sister Creek Vineyards and the tasting room is in an old cotton gin.

Someone started to move around the house. She also got tired quickly.

And then she decided to start climbing up things.

We borrowed a baby jail for Caitlin and set it up. She's not really thrilled with it, but I use it when I need to go upstairs. Because I still haven't bought a baby gate...

Cooper finally moved up to the Dolphin class at swim! He was also rewarded with a new Lego set.

41 Weeks Old

Swimming lessons moved from Monday to Tuesday, and that has really made taking Caitlin's picture hard. We get home later, the kids have to have baths (that pool water is funky) and by the time I grab the camera, everyone is grumpy and ready for bed.

I picked up these pajamas on sale & knew they'd be perfect for the week of Valentine's Day. I also have a weakness for pjs, so...I couldn't resist.

40 Weeks Old

Caitlin has been out as long as she was in. I struggle with what felt longer - the time I was pregnant or the time since she was born. Probably the pregnant part, though that seemed to fly by.

Speaking of flying by, February is almost over and I'm not sure what we've done. Caitlin had her 9 month appointment this same day. It shocks me almost every day how she is so tiny compared to Cooper. I won't lie, I was not expecting that! I really thought she would be about the same size, or maybe a bit smaller. Cooper weighed almost 23 pounds at this age and Caitlin is just under 19 pounds. I can still carry her in the car seat and Cooper had outgrown it well before this age. We've put her rear facing in the convertible seats before, but she just looks so tiny there!

We rock our Christmas jammies as long as they fit. Also, Cooper loves to wear mis-matched pajamas on a daily basis. These matched, but usually it drives my type A self insane when he's wearing construction truck pants and a Star Wars shirt.

Visiting Santa 2013

It's no secret that Cooper is terrified of people in costume. He has no desire to go to Disney, he wasn't thrilled with the Sesame Street characters at Sea World and he's not a fan of Santa. Each year, Santa makes a special trip to daycare for photos. It works out perfectly, and we don't have to fight the lines. Cooper's first photo was great. The second one...he was screaming. The third was ok, but only because we compromised and he stood beside Santa. Giving him the side eye.

This year, he told us he was not going to see him. I didn't really give it much thought, since I really just wanted a photo of Santa with Caitlin. Unfortunately, Santa was booked up this year and didn't make it to daycare. Jason was off before Christmas, so he braved Bass Pro Shops with 2 kids and went alone. We both begged Cooper to take a picture with his sister.

Cooper wasn't thrilled with the idea, but when the employees told him he was too big to sit on Santa's lap, he brightened up quickly. Caitlin, however, was not too sure.

Cooper: 4 Year Doctor Visit

I initially set Cooper's 4 year visit in December, only to find out it was the same date & time as his school Christmas party. Since I didn't want him to miss that, I moved the appointment to January.

The nurse asked a series of questions about his development. I laughed when Cooper chimed in to answer some himself. She then took him to do his hearing & vision test. When they came back, she told me something I already knew. He talks a lot & asks a LOT of questions. I just laughed.

Dr. K still thinks he will be a really tall kid. We talked about our eating habits and exercise. He passed his hearing & eye tests with flying colors. They were a bit curious about his cholesterol - since there is family history of high cholesterol at and early age, the doctor ordered a blood test (which came back fine).

We finished with 4 shots and no tears! I rewarded Cooper with a trip to Chick fil A so that I could finish working while he played.

Height: 45.5" - 99.89%
Weight: 48lbs - 98%

9 Months Old!

When people ask me how Caitlin is, I usually say She's crazy. Or She's nuts. Because it is the truth. She is either cracking up at her brother or screaming. She is impatient and demanding. She's stubborn. Just...crazy.

Caitlin can move all over the house now. She doesn't crawl, but she does this strange belly slide where she pulls herself with her arms & it looks sort of like swimming. She will pull up on things and crawl up some things. Thankfully, not the stairs. Because I still haven't bought a baby gate. I'm pretty sure she's not afraid of much either.

She loves to eat, but is pretty picky compared to Cooper at her age. We started giving her breakfast - usually yogurt or applesauce. Lunch is 2-3 cubes of baby food and dinner is 2-3 cubes, plus some other random stuff. So far, she isn't a big fan of table food. I keep putting things on her tray, but not too much passes the test. I'm actually ok with that. It is less messy. And I hate mopping. She is pretty good with feeding herself small things like baby puffs or cheerios, and loves the Mum Mum crackers, just like her brother.

She can say a few things - the typical "ma ma ma" or "da da da" and "ba ba ba." I'm not always sure she knows what they mean, but she can get very loud and demanding when she talks. So maybe she does...

Her face lights up when she sees Cooper. He is still a great big brother. I find myself depending on him often to help out around the house & watch her. It's a lot to ask of a 4 year old, but he really is great. I do think she's in a phase where she's not 100% sure of men. We've noticed a few times where she is unsure of her Pops or Papa, Uncle A or even some of our friends. And she even shunned her Aunt Sassy one day after church. I don't recall Cooper going through that phase, but I've heard it is pretty common for girls.

One big difference between Cooper & Caitlin, aside from the obvious boy vs. girl thing, is their sleep habits. Cooper was a champion sleeper. He slept all night around 6 weeks old and kept that going until he was 2 years old. Caitlin has been a totally different child. She just has not been a great sleeper. I think, maybe, she slept ok from the age of 3-4 months, but then the 4 month wakeful hit and it was pretty well one sickness after another and she was up all night. Some nights it was only 1-2 times. Other nights...5-6 times. Most of the time we could go it to her room, put her paci in and she'd go right back to sleep. But broken sleep is rough and was starting to take its toll.

After the 1st of the year, I made the decision to sleep train her. I bought a book for the Kindle, read the chapters for her age, and we let her cry. I knew her issue was that she just didn't know how to put herself back to sleep. She wasn't hungry, she didn't NEED to nurse, she just wanted someone to come in her room. The first 7-10 days were...rough. She cried a lot. One night, I'm pretty sure she cried from about 4am-6am. But it got better and by the second week she was consistently sleeping all night. Some mornings she's even slept until 7am! My only regret is not starting the process sooner.

She was being pretty uncooperative the day we tried to take these. By the time Cooper tried to take a picture with her, she was really done.

The following week, I took Caitlin to the pediatrician. She's doing really well and the doctor didn't seem concerned about anything. He said most kids get teeth between 6 & 9 months, so it isn't too unusual for her to still be toothless. He didn't feel that we should hold off trying any new foods - and even said that eggs & peanut butter would be ok to try. Big change from 4 years ago when we held off on quite a few foods with Cooper! I haven't tried either thing yet - mostly because I just haven't thought about it. We'll probably start giving her some whole milk when she's around 11 months old. He was more worried about her drinking whole milk from a bottle instead of a cup, than trying it early. Since she's been taking water from a sippy cup, I think we'll be ok.

I fully expected Caitlin to be well past the 12 month clothes by this age. She's really surprised us and stayed pretty well average. Most of her clothes are 9 month size, however she can still fit into some 6mo. Nothing like her big brother!

Height: 28" - 62%
Weight: 18lbs 12oz - 59%
Head Circumference: 17.32" - 53%

39 Weeks Old

The weekend before Cooper was born, we had snow in Houston. I think we went home from work early, where I propped my feet up & worked. Jason ended up meeting up with my sister for a drink. That's been the last bit of snow we've seen in years. We've had ice (though I don't remember when that was) but nothing major.

Last month, Icepocolypse headed toward Houston. Thursday afternoon was a waste of time with everyone wondering will they or won't they close schools. I didn't ask our school what would happen, since I overheard a teacher telling another one she would need to come in early if the school closed. The next morning, everything was closed. So I got the kids dressed & out the door (early) only to find a deserted daycare and I sign on the door.

We came back home, I turned on the tv and tried to work. Just a few short days later, round two was coming our way. I couldn't chance trying to work & take care of the kids at the same time, so Jason took the day off.

We finished up our "snow day" with photos that evening. Cooper DID actually get to see a little snow. It never was enough to stick, but I made him bundle up & go outside to run off some energy.

38 Weeks Old

Caitlin has started to not like having her headbands on. She'll be on board with it for a short time, and then ends up yanking them down around her neck. Despite that, she's still pretty stinking happy.

She's also really loud.