Lily: 2(ish) months

Lily turned two months old on the 29th of July. With all the party prep for Kate's birthday and the having two kids and all, I got a little behind on the posts. Since I head back to school next week I thought I would take the last few free moments I have to update everyone on the littlest Ryan.

Lily had her two month appointment at the beginning of August and passed with flying colors. She weighed 12.5 pounds and was 23.5 inches long, 86% in both areas. She cried a bit during her shots but did well overall until about 6 hours later when she woke up screaming with a slight fever. We made it through the evening and she was on the mend the next day.

We are slowly coming to realize that Kate was a baby saint. Lily, though she probably is very good compared to a lot of other babies, is what J and I have deemed fussy based solely and unscientifically on our experiences with Kate. I asked J what score he would give her on the non-existent fussiness scale with 10 being highest. He replied with a 6 but changed his mind the next day to 9 after she screamed in his face for 20 minutes and then cried the rest of the day. She is getting better as she gets closer to 3 months old, but we have had some pretty stressful days where nothing seems to make her happy.

The other challenging issue has been that, up until a week or so ago, Lily didn't really like anyone other than me. Babies love J, but not Lily. She didn't want anything to do with anyone or anything. Unless I was holding her, she was unhappy. This makes for an unhappy mommy, unfortunately, as I have things to do, places to go, etc. As she gets a little older, though, she and Daddy are getting along a lot better and she has been flashing him some smiles lately.

Kate is pretty much in love with Lily. Every so often Kate tells me to put Lily down and come and play, but overall Kate is very sweet with her. We have to watch carefully because Kate loves to hug and kiss Lily every chance she can get. We are very happy with Kate's interest level, but she can be a bit rough and we are constantly reminding her to be gentle. Kate is a great helper and likes to cover up Lily with her blanket and give her a pacifier when she is crying. Overall, I think they are going to get along just fine.

At Kate's party, Lily got to hang out with Aunt L and Uncle C. She spent most of the day being passed around since I was in full hostess mode. I knew we were turning the corner with her because she didn't need me all day long. Uncle C doesn't really love babies, but he did a good job when it was his turn to watch the little one.

The last few sessions of tummy time have been very productive- at least the first minute or so. Lily is getting very good at holding up her big head and has even flashed us some pretty cute smiles (which is another great thing that has happened in the last few weeks- little missy is all smiles). Here are some of my favorites from our recent tummy time sessions.

To end the post, I figured I would finally get around to the picture comparison I have been meaning to do since Lily was born. Though Lily has a lot of catching up to do, we see a lot of similarities between the two girls. Though Kate seems to be winning in the size competition (at two months old Kate was 15.5 pounds compared to Lily's 12.5 and 25 inches compared to Lily's 23.5) we think they are going to look a lot alike. We'll let you (and some time) be the judge.

Kate is Two

Two years ago today our first baby girl was born. After trying to get pregnant for almost a year, after having a doctor tell us our chances of getting pregnant without medical intervention were way way less than one in a million only to find out one day later that I was already pregnant with Kate, and after surviving the ever-present worry (mainly on my part) that this baby would be born healthy, Kate joined our family as healthy as can be and full of personality from day one.

With Daddy's curly hair, long lashes, and Mediterranean stubbornness and Mommy's button nose, doe eyes, and fair skin, she's the perfect combination of both J and me. Life with Kate is an adventure and every day she fascinates us with her inquisitiveness, intelligence, goofiness, and horrible dance moves.

To celebrate Kate's big day, Yia-Yia graciously allowed Kate to borrow her birthday so we could throw her a party. It was probably the biggest gathering we have had at our house, and, fortunately, we had a lot of help to put the final touches together (THANK YOU Maw-Maw, Ti-Ti, Yia-Yia, Papou, and Jen as well as all my neighbors who I borrowed things from!).

One of the highlights for Kate was the new slide Papa and Gi-Gi bought her.

Maw-Maw bought bubble guns and the entire party loved them, though Kate had just as much fun dumping the bubbles out as she did shooting the gun.

I made a fun fishing game that kept everyone busy for an hour or so.

Kate did a pretty good job blowing out the candles and we didn't even practice beforehand.

She even got a small piece of cake... thank you Daddy for okaying the cake.

Since she loves Elmo, I got her an Elmo balloon...

... and Maw-Maw bought her some great shoes...

... adorned with her favorite monster.

Kate has made some incredible advances over the last few months. She has started saying two and three word phrases, she has learned to count to ten, and she has started to sing along to some of her favorite songs. She picks up words at an incredible rate and we have realized that we really have to watch our mouths so as not to have a potty-mouthed two year old running around.

Most recently, Kate surprised us by deciding to switch over to her twin bed on her own. We tried to move her over about four months ago to get the crib ready for Lily, but Kate utterly refused the new nighttime arrangements. We spent a good two weeks cajoling, bribing, forcing, and begging her to give up her crib. No dice for four months.

The last trick we tried was to move her crib into her new room about a month ago so she could get comfortable with her new digs from the safety of her crib. Over the last few weeks I read Kate her nighttime books in her twin bed. At the end of the reading, I asked her where she wanted to sleep and she would always say crib, pack up her animals, climb out of her new bed, and make a beeline for the comforts of her crib. Surprisingly, three nights ago she said she wanted to sleep in her bed. And though I have had to spend some extra time helping her go to sleep and she has made some very early appearances in our room the last two mornings, every time has been easier and she hasn't mentioned the crib once. I'm not sure what made her change her mind. Maybe it was all the hype about being a big two year old.

So, to end this post I thought we would look back over the last two years. Though it is cliche, picking out old pictures reminds me how quickly time flies and how much my baby girl has grown up over the last two years. Before we know it, she is going to be headed off to college (hopefully on scholarship). Cue sappy sentimental music...

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Kate was born on August 17, 2009.
She weighed 9 pounds and was 21 inches long.

One day old

Six months old

1 year old

At one year old, Kate weighed 26 pounds 12 ounces
and was 32.5 inches long

15 months old

18 months old

At 2 years old, Kate weighs 34 pounds and is 37.5 inches tall.
She is almost ready to wear 4t clothes and, if she continues to grow at her current rate, will be knocking on 6 foot's door at 18 (sorry baby girl- you can thank/curse your daddy for that one).
I guess we better get her interested in a "tall girl" sport like volleyball or basketball.