4 weeks

WHY do kids have to grow up so fast?? I spent half the day packing up Summer's newborn and 0-3 clothes. She didn't even manage to wear half of them, and I missed getting photos in some of the adorable stuff we have been given by friends. I can't believe she is already 4 weeks old, but at the same time it seems like she has been with us a lot longer. She's already grown SO much! So I'll keep taking a zillion pictures a day, because she won't ever be this little again, and in no time she'll be running around being wild, just like Garrett . . .

I bought bows for her hair--ordered some from a friend at http://prissymissboutique.com/ , but also just got some Wal-mart cheapies because I couldn't wait any longer to put a bow in her hair. Totally out of character for me . . . the last time I REALLY did my hair was for my senior pictures. But she looks so freakin' cute!!

During our little photo session, Garrett decided to do "This little piggy" on his sister. I couldn't resist more fingers/toes shots. He's so much bigger than her. I really can't get over how gentle he is with her . . .

And, of course, I can't take pictures of Summer without a picture of Garrett.
Note the messy face. Grandma Becky mailed him a package of M&Ms, which he quickly dispatched.

And my crafty moment for the week. The chair Garrett sits at for our meals had gotten quiet nasty from the messes Garrett likes to make, so I bought some fabric and recovered it, then put vinyl over it to protect it. Turned out pretty cute, if I do say so myself, and Garrett LOVES having his new special Cars chair!

Another "I love my sister" moment

We had our weekly preschool playdate today. Summer was getting tired and it was time to go, but Garrett wasn't having it. So after a minor tantrum, I had to carry him out to the car. Summer stayed in with the other mommies while I got Garrett situated. After he got over his fit about having to leave, he frantically started asking "Where is Summer??" over and over again. At least I'll never have to worry about forgetting her.

He keeps putting toys near her, wherever she is. She'll be 4 weeks on Thursday, so the newness should have worn off by now. I think we're just blessed with a little boy who truely loves his sister and isn't threatened by her.

Garrett is napping for the 2nd day in a row. BOTH kids are asleep in their rooms right now, so I may just go try and take a nap while I still can. Or at the very least, have some ME time!! Woot!

My Baby Summer!

We try to let Garrett hold Summer whenever he asks--and he asks often. Today when I gave her to him, he first told me to get the camera and take a picture. Then he informed me "You can't have her back!" When I asked her why he told me "My baby Summer." Okay then. At least he likes her!

Monday photo fix . . .

I really meant to take/post pictures of Summer on Thursday when she was 3 weeks, but didn't get around to it. So we had a mini photo session this morning. She loves tummy time (as long as it doesn't last too long), and has pretty good head control already.

My mom sent the PJs Summer is wearing when I was pregnant with Garrett. I put him in them once, and then put them up because he looked utterly ridiculous in lavendar PJs. Mom swears they are unisex, but boys just can't wear purple PJs and looked dignified. But I kept them, on the *off* chance our second would be a girl :-) I went back and looked through my pictures, and discovered Garrett wore this PJs in AUGUST. He was 3.5 MONTHS old when he fit into them. Summer fits in them now, at 3.5 WEEKS. I just can't get over how diffent they are, in size, appearance, and temperment. It just baffles my mind!

Note the toy stash: I put Summer on the blanket and went to get the camera. When I returned, the toys had been added and Garrett informed me "I shared with Summer!" Such an awesome big brother!

Garrett on August 11, 2006, at 3.5 months of age
(you definately CAN see some facial similarities!)
Keep in mind Garrett was an ounce heavier at birth.

Puppies had to check her out, and I realized I haven't taken ANY pictures of them with her yet. They both love her to pieces, of course.

While I am taking pictures of Summer, Garrett keeps going "No, not Summer. Summer doesn't want picture. Take Garrett's picture!" And laying in front of the lense. So of course we had to take obligatory pictures of him. Got some really funny ones to bribe him with in his teenage years . . .
This one, however, turned out beautifully. He looks so much like his daddy!!

Weekend in Review

We had an okay weekend--Saturday morning was great, but Sunday evening was enough to bring the weekend rating from "great" to "okay". More on that in a little bit.

Anyhoo, Brad had volunteered with the Coast Guard Auxiliary on Saturday. Jess's birthday was Sunday, and her hubby had to work all weekend (nights), so we decided to take the kiddos to the zoo. They could only stay until around noon, but Garrett, Summer and I stayed until 2:40.

We went to the petting zoo and Garrett and Xander brushed the pot bellied pig. There was also some really beautiful Macaws there. Garrett thought the Elephants were pretty cool--he tried to give them his graham cracker. "I give them treat," he informed me. Luckily, I was able to retrieve the cracker--I am pretty sure that isn't on their approved diet list.



We fed the giraffes. All three boys thought that was pretty darn cool. Garrett and Xander did it all by themselves, and even little Logan (who will be a year old in a few weeks, can you believe that??) got a kick out of it. Garrett kept taking the lettuce to them and saying "Here you go, and here you go . . . " He gave them a TON of food, and was still bummed when it was gone. The picture of him below is when the giraffe actually licked his hand, he was pretty surprised, but not scared, by that one. For some reason, though, when telling Daddy about it later, he said "I feed dragons!" Go figure.


After the Shuman clan headed off to take their naps, Garrett played at the splash park for a while, which is where the picture at the top of the post came from. We then went to a very packed Diego show, which he LOVED. I wish I could have taken some pictures, but Summer woke up so I had to nurse her and keep an eye on G-man instead. She was awesome for the entire time--she either slept in the wrap or the stroller pretty much the whole time, except when she was nursing. Our zoo recently started offering camel rides, and Garrett REALLY wanted to do that. Of course, that wasn't going to happen with Summer there and me with no help, so I told Garrett next time we go, Daddy would take him. Ever since, Garrett has been saying "I want to ride those ole candles." For some reason, he can't QUITE say "camels". We told him we would try to go next weekend, with Daddy, so he keeps saying "I go see Diego and candles at zoo next weekend!"

The rest of Saturday was uneventful--Garrett napped in the car on the way home and slept until almost 5, Brad didn't get home until late, and garrett was a pain for bedtime--he didn't get to bed until almost 9. That, of course, set the stage for his worst meltdown yet, which occured on Sunday. I've whined ad nauseum about his sleep problems at night and how he refuses to nap. When he gets really overtired, and I mean really overtired, his behavior gets unbearable. That was what happened on Sunday night. We're talking complete, utter meltdown, with him hyperventilating from crying so much, trying to hit and kick Brad and I, etc. etc. etc. Brad was finally able to get him calmed down, but I had to cuddle with him to get him to go to sleep (this was at 5pm, keep in mind!). Downside--you can't cuddle your 2 year old in a toddler bed and nurse a 3 week old baby. So Brad had to keep Summer while I got Garrett to sleep. And of course she was hungry during that time. So he had to give her a bottle. Which made me cry . . . it's completely irrational, she's a great nurser so its not like its going to hurt anything, but I was NOT ready to give her a bottle yet. But Garrett definately needed me more, so on some level I know it was necessary. But it still sucked. So, basically, Sunday was pretty crappy.

On the upside, Garrett was up only once, to go potty, and then slept until 6. Which for him is a really good night of sleep. He is still refusing to nap today, but what else is new. Summer slept well too, and was up only a couple of times. A good night of sleep has gone a long way today! I hope we can get somewhere with Garrett's sleep troubles soon though. He becomes this completely different (and completely AWFUL) child when he is overtired.

Sorry for the INCREDIBLY long post!

My little piggy!

Updates on the weekend are to come when I have time to upload photos, but we did go see Laura yesterday and Summer weighs 9lbs, 6oz at 3 weeks, 3 days old. Keep in mind at 4 months, Garrett weighed 11lbs, 12oz (That was the closest weight I could find on the blog). That weight means she has gained just over an ounce a day . . . that's INSANE to me! Garrett was such a slow grower in his first year, it appears Miss Summer will not be like that. She's such a little piggy, but so darn cute :-)

I want those cars!

Soooo, Garrett's newest thing is finding pictures of cars (or trains, boats, airplanes, whatever) in books and magazines and going "I want those cars!" . . . It's driving me batty!!

3 Weeks

Summer turned 3 weeks yesterday. It seems like she is growing so fast already! She has pretty good head control and will stay awake for a couple of 1-2 hour stretches a day. She doesn't like the car seat very much, but enjoys her swing and of course the sling or wrap. She has a fussy day every couple of days, but overall continues to be an easy baby.

Garrett continues to love her a lot. He was holding her the other day and said "I love you Summer!" My heart melted. Of course, later that day, he pointed at her and said "I don't like her . . . " Oh well, that's a 2 year old for you. He loves giving her his cars. If I pick them up, he takes them away from me and says "No, I gave these cars to Summer!"

We had a very busy week--My Gym on Monday, playdate on Tuesday, a preschool playdate on Wednesday, and the library for storytime on Thursday. So today we're mostly sitting around the house and trying to clean up the house. It wasn't bad for my first full week alone with the kids, but Garrett continues to get on my last nerve pretty much daily. I love him to pieces, but he is sleep deprived (and making me sleep deprived), so it just isn't the best situation. I always laugh when people ask me how I am sleeping . . . my 2 year old is the one who is keeping me up more than my infant. So anytime I am home, I get strung pretty thin pretty fast. Keeping moving is a plus, but also wears me out. I (in an infinate move of stupidity, I think) agreed to let Brad go out with the CG Auxilliary all day tomorrow, so we're hoping to go to the zoo with Jess and her kids. Not sure what I was thinking when I agreed to that!!

Comparisions . . .

On Monday I did a fun little photoshoot with Summer and Garrett, which is where I got the cute feet shots. When Garrett was little, I tried to take a picture every month of him on the couch. But apparently I didn't start that until he was about 3.5 months old. Sooo, the first picture is the closest one I have of him at this age (2.5 weeks) . . . with my midwife. The other 2 pictures are of Garrett at 3.5 months on the couch. I swear, Summer already looks as big now as he was then. She's pretty much outgrown her newborn clothes, and some 0-3s are already a tight fit if she is in cloth diapers. Her cheeks are so chubby, but the rest of her is just long, long long. We see my midwife on Friday, so it will be fun to see what she's weighing. Garrett was such a slow gainer--he had barely doubled his birth weight at the age of 1. I still can't get over how little she and Garrett look alike. I went into my birth expecting another blue-eyed baby with very little hair. Summer is so far from that :-)

Fingers and Toes . . . (Wordless Wednesday a little early)

Return to My Gym

We made our first My Gym outing since Summer's arrival yesterday. I was a little worried about getting everyone up and out of the house by myself that early (class starts at 9:15), but it really went quiet smoothly. Summer was up around 5, so I stayed up with her and then got ready after she went back down. Garrett slept in until almost 8, but he was so excited to go to My Gym that he was very cooperative about eating and getting dressed. Summer slept until we got there, and I had time to feed her and plop her in the wrap before we needed to be inside. Then Garrett decided we needed to use the potty, so I got to do that with her in tow. It really all worked out very well--Garrett had a great time, Summer nursed herself to sleep while I chased after Garrett, and I HOPE G-man felt like it was still just for him even though I was wearing Summer the whole time. Afterwards, we went to see our friends Leanne and Ava for a quick visit. All in all, a great first major outing after having Grandma here for a week.

2 Weeks

Miss Summer is 2 weeks old today. Seems like she has been with us a heck of a lot longer! She had a rough day yesterday--her first really gassy day, but today she was a perfect angel again. We've been taking advantage of having Grandma around and have been doing a few playdates while we have an extra pair of hands. Plus Grandma likes seeing Garrett doing all of his fun things. I took this picture yesterday. Grandma brought her this adorable little Pooh outfit. She's already almost out of newborn stuff though, she seems to be growing so fast!

Yesterday we did Preschool Hour with our playgroup. One of our friends/babysitters does it, and she does such a great job! Garrett adores her and her daughter Hazel. So much that they all shared Miss Allison's lap :-)
Allison has made magnets with everyone's name on them (so the kiddos can learn to recognize their names). Garrett proudly stuck his up on the board and clapped for himself. He then proceeded to clap when everyone else did the same. He absolutely loved the class.

Play Dough with Grandma yesterday afternoon

From Tuesday: Last minute pictures with Grandpa and Aunt Stephi before they left (Summer was either screaming her fool head off, or nursing, so the pics of her didn't turn out so great--she was cranky!)

After Grandma took everyone else to the airport, we went to the pool. Summer slept the whole time, conveniently, so Grandma and I could play with Garrett. Here everyone is looking super cute (Summer in her little sundress, Garrett in his Lightening rash guard--anything Cars is a surefire hit!):

It was an overcast day, so we could actually go to the playground too. Garrett would shoot down the slide in his wet swim trunks and say "That was amazing!" and then do it again. He has also found great joy in pretending to toss me into the pool, like we pick him up and toss him when we are in the pool. He was saying "I throw Mommy!" Then I would toss him and he would say "Okay, now its Mommy's turn!" Silly man!

Garrett's Special Day

On Monday, in an attempt to get some quality time with Garrett alone, I took him to get his hair cut while Summer stayed with Brad's folks. Getting out with your 2 year old alone is a challenge when you have a 10 day old baby who hasn't yet been introduced to a bottle. But it worked out fantastic. Garrett loves getting his hair cut because he gets suckers, so he's been asking to do it for weeks. After his haircut, we went to Publix and he got to pick out the sweets of his choice. He saw ice cream M&Ms on a stick (obsessed with M&Ms, M&Ms donuts, M&Ms Nascar, etc. etc.), and went straight for those. Even though the outing was only about an hour, I hope it made him feel like he's still my special guy. And he looked SO grown up with that hair cut!

Goodbye September

Can you believe its OCTOBER already? Brad's parents came for a visit, along with his sister. Grandpa and Aunt Stephi left yesterday, but Grandma is here until Saturday. Things are settling down. Garrett's FINALLY getting into a better bedtime routine, where we don't have to fight with him for hours to get him to sleep. Knock on wood, hopefully it will continue. He's loving having everyone around to play with him, and although the "newness" of Summer has worn off, he really seems to like her still. Hopefully THAT will continue too.

Summer is awesome, she's pretty laid back but lets you know when she wants something. And when she wants something, be it a diaper change or some milkie, she lets you know it. Nothing wrong with her lungs. :-) She continues to love bing worn, the first pic is of her in our Gypsy Mama wrap . . . I've been using the Moby a ton both in and out of the house as well. As we speak, she is snuggled in the Moby taking a good snooze. Her nights and days are a little messed up right now, but the lack of sleep isn't too big of a deal.

Random pictures from Monday. . . I have plenty more to add, including from Garrett's "special day", which I will post more about shortly (time permitting).

Haylee sleeping in the bag of goodies Grandma Compton brought for the kids.

Stacking pegs . . .

Summer out cold . . .