Bubbles, Rainboots, & S'mores

Brooklynn was 2 months old yesterday!  It's kind of crazy how quickly two months have flown by.  My philosophy is since I'm not working, I'm going to take full advantage of my time off--even with a tiny baby!  Thank goodness that Brooklynn is an angel baby and sleeps magically most days.

Blowing bubbles is one of her favorite activities.

Last week we took Brooklynn to see the GI specialist again.  The good news--she's up past her birth weight!  She officially weighs 9 pounds 12 ounces.  So in her first two months of life, it took her one month to lose a pound and another month to gain it back and add one more.  Her official diagnosis is: idiopathic neonatal hepatitis.  Try to say that quickly!  In a really fancy way it means that some babies get hepatitis and they don't know why.  Don't let the term hepatitis scare you; it simply means that her liver is inflammed and hepatitis is the technical medical term for that.  The doctor said that it will go away within the first year and that there are no permanent side effects or damage because of it.  That's all I wanted to hear.  We still have to monitor this for a while with regular lab work and weight checks, but she's a tough little girl who can handle it.

She loves her right hand and she's getting pretty good at getting it to her mouth.

At two months old, here are her list of likes:  the ceiling fan in our room will occupy her time for a while, eating all day long, any song that I sing to her (she thinks I'm the greatest singer that ever lived), taking naps, her right fist (it finds its way to her mouth quite often), being held, this crazy sound I make to get her to smile, and any machine that makes loud noises (vacuum, car, hair dryer, etc.).

Some more bubbles and a smile!

We also made a trip to Disneyland last week.  We bought those two day SoCal passes a while ago and they had to be used by last Saturday.  Brian couldn't take a day off of work, so I brought Tera with us.  We picked up Toni along the way and met Becky, Hailey, and Chloe there.  Bailey loved having all of her favorite people there.  It was so fun to watch Bailey and Hailey run around and talk about Disneyland all day.  Around 2:00 we left to meet up with my parents and grandparents for lunch and the Sullivans left for the day.  We had a wonderful late Mother's Day lunch with the family and then headed back for more fun. 

We saw the scary Queen of Hearts on our way into Disneyland.  Bailey couldn't decide if she was scared or happy to see her, but she was brave enough to take the picture.

It was so much fun having Tera with us and the girls loved it!

They loved the teacups.  It was practically impossible to get a picture with both of them smiling and looking at the camera.  There was just so much for them to look at.

Happily waiting in line, as Bailey would say, "This is the best day ever!"

We went to California Adventure on our return trip.  Since it was getting a bit chilly, Toni put Bailey's rainboots in the stroller just in case her feet got cold.  (Don't ask why her boots were in the car, but I ended up being really happy they were.)   Toni watched the girls so Tera and I could go on the Tower of Terror; it was an awesome ride.  Then we walked over to the other side of the park to ride the giant Ferris wheel.  This ride surprised all of us and was lots of fun.  We then continued to walk around the carnival rides to see what Bailey could ride; she was just a little bit too short for most of them.  Then we had a brilliant idea--put on the rainboots to make her tall enough!  The idea worked!!  Bailey was able to ride any ride with a 40 inch minimum requirement.  (It reminded me of when I was little and my mom shoved empty cups into the heels of my tennis shoes to make me tall enough to go on a ride at Magic Mountain.  I learned so many useful parenting tips from my mother!)  Due to her new found height, Bailey was even able to go on Soaring Over California.  She loved it!  She said that she was flying like a bird and wasn't scared one bit.  Bailey is a fearless kid.  So now when we go to Disneyland (which will be more often since I bought us passes)we'll always pack the rainboots whether or not it's raining.
 

Posing peacefully on the giant Ferris wheel, before...

the fun part!  She's such a big girl that she didn't want me to hold on to her, but I was afraid she would fall out of her seat if I didn't.

My sistas!

This was the first ride wearing the rainboots.

This is the height requirement sign outside of Soaring Over California.  Her head just barely skimmed the bottom of the 40 inch post.  She was so excited that she could ride it with us.  It was fun to watch her on the ride; she wasn't scared at all.

There is a commercial on TV for Hershey's chocolate that has been making me want s'mores. Every time I see it, I instantly crave s'mores. I finally gave into my cravings and bought s'mores supplies last week. On Saturday, we brought the outdoors in and made s'mores on our stove. Bailey was really excited about all the delicious ingredients--graham crackers, chocolate, and marshmellows. Those three things are definitely in her list of top ten foods, but s'mores probably won't make the cut. She took a baby bite and then the messiness of it all scared her away. She ended up eating just a plain, old, roasted marshmellow. It was a fun family activity. And you better believe that I'll be having more s'mores later this week!

 

Bailey's first bite of s'mores

She loved her plain marshmellow the most.  I kept asking her all night, "Do you like Flock of Seagulls?"  Her day old hairdo reminded me of the movie The Wedding Singer and that guy with the crazy hair.

Happy Muda's Day!

Me and my girls

Happy Mother's Day!!  In the title I spelled it "muda" because that's how Bailey says it.  All of her "th" sounds come out sounding more like a "d" when they're in the middle of a word.  It's so adorable when she says it, so I had her saying it all day. 

It was a wonderful Mother's Day weekend.  Toni came down on Saturday so we (me, Toni, and Tera)took our mom to get pedicures.  We love a good pedicure!  Then we met the rest of the family for a lovely lunch at BJ's.  The grand finale to the day was that me, Toni, mom, and dad, went to the movies!!  We saw Water for Elephants.  I really liked it; plus, I haven't seen a movie in a while so it was fun.  The only downside was that we were still so full from lunch, that we didn't get popcorn.  The big bonus of the movie was that Brian stayed home with Bailey and Brooklynn!  Since Brooklynn eats formula, she can stay home with dad for a while.  That's the beauty of a baby to takes a bottle!

On Sunday Brian and Bailey made me a yummy breakfast in bed.  It was waffles, strawberries, bacon, and OJ--all of my favorites.  I was able to sleep in as much as Brooklynn slept in, which, sadly, wasn't much at all.  Bailey made me a beautiful card and Brian got me a cute, new diaper backpack.  I have been wanting a back pack because it's easier to hold with two kiddos.  We then all got dressed and went to church.  After church we headed to the beach for a lunch with Roxann.  Despite the fact that it was freezing cold, we had a fun picnic at the beach.  From the beach we went to my parents' house for a Mother's Day dinner.  My dad and Brian cooked a wonderful feast for all of the ladies in the house.

It was a wonderful weekend!  I'm so thankful for the moms in my life.  My mom is such a great friend and example to me of what a mother should be.  I'm also thankful that I can be a mother to my two little girls!  Being a mom is hard work, but so much fun!!  Happy Mother's Day to all moms!

Direct Quotes

Bailey as the Pink Ninja

Three year olds say awesome things!  I have to write some of them down before I forget.  Bailey and I have been having some really fun/funny conversations lately; they often remind me that being 3 is not the worst thing on the planet.

Kids:
The other day we were stopped at a stoplight and there was a lady walking in the cross walk.
Bailey asked,"Mom, why doesn't she have a kid?"
I said, "Not everybody has kids."
"Why?" she asked in utter amazement.
"Well, not everybody has kids with them all the time," was my plain response.
"Why not mom?  Kids are so much fun!" she exclaimed.
I thought, you're right Bailey--especially when she has such great insight on the world.

She was the Pink Ninja and I was the yellow one.  I had to teach her a few ninja moves so she could fight off the bad guys.

Clothes:
One of the fun things, for me at least, about having girls is dressing them up in adorable outfits.  If you know me, you know that Bailey has more clothes than any one little girl needs.  I've always picked out her clothes, but lately she's been wanting to pick out her own.  She usually wants to wear a "pretty dress" or an "adorable skirt."  Last week I was trying to get Bailey ready in time to go to Brooklynn's doctor's appointment.  Bailey wanted to wear a nice church dress, but I persuaded her to wear a different play dress.  I can usually convince her to wear something more suitable, as long as I give her a few options.  This process is not the quickest thing, but at least she feels like she got some input in the decision. 

When she was finally dressed and marching down the stairs, she was chanting, "I'm gonna wear everything that I wanna wear!"  It was not a defiant chant, but one of pure happiness in her outfit for the day--a purple, flowered play dress and her pink polka dot Hello Kitty rainboots.  She had to make sure that she had a coordinating purple headband to match--of course!  I would have taken a picture of her ensemble, but I didn't want to be late for Brooklynn's appointment.

Other Favorites:
"Brooklynn's following asleep"  instead of falling asleep.

"Do you want to see my big surprise?" she'll ask anyone while holding anything behind her back.  The big surprise could be a sticker, her shoes, a piece of paper, or even a piece of trash.  Everything is exciting as long as it's described as a big surprise.

"This is the best ______(day, food, present, show, etc.) in my life ever!"  I love this one because she is so sincere and does feel at that moment that whatever it is is the greatest thing she's experienced in her life.

She also loves "big kid games" (any game that's in a box), movies (she's truly obsessed), anything described as "special," and her baby sister. 

Family Fun:
Last Sunday we ate dinner at the beach with my family.  We had a family favorite--tin foil dinners.  I didn't put a bathing suit on Bailey, but as you can see she went in anyway.  She was in heaven!  She was finally able to fly her ladybug kite and loved it.

Check out that air!!

 

Here's when she stopped trying to stay dry and just went for it.

Bailey's favorite play date any time and any place--Toni!