29 Months Old (2 years 5 months)

Mena is 29 months old. We've been able to go a few weeks now without any Miralax. We've made a new rule that Mena has to finish what's in her glass when we eat a meal. With this new rule we've been able to work her up to 1/2 cup of milk at breakfast, lunch, and supper and a 1/2 cup of water with snack. Inbetween meals she can have her sippy cup of juice diluted with water so we've been able to decrease her juice down to 1 cup a day with 1 1/2 cups water. Since we've been able to increase her fluids she's been regular on her own so that the Miralax hasn't been necessary. We're very excited that she seems to be outgrowing all the food sensitivities that were affecting her as a baby and fluids seem the last thing we have to worry about with her eating habits.

Mena is still wearing size 3T tops, 2T pants, and size 7 shoes. No new teeth for Mena yet and she still weighs 31 pounds.

Mena's been very happy with my progress in healing. I've been able to give her some of her baths, rather than daddy which was a fun change up for her. She also enjoys reclining in the chair since mommy's not using it so much.

Rocking with Mommy

Maggie likes sitting up so she can look around.

Super Bowl Sunday

Grandma and Grandpa Frye came to watch the Super Bowl with us. Mena was excited to see her grandparents. Then Mena realized we were going to eat our food in the living room downstairs and she was beside herself with excitement. The best part of the evening was when Daddy's Packers won the game!

Getting the Binkie in her Mouth

Maggie has gotten stronger and can sit in the Bumbo for short periods of time. Mena's gotten better about getting the binkie in Maggie's mouth when she's crying. I don't think I've blogged about the first time Mena put the binkie in Maggie's mouth when we came home from the hospital. Maggie was crying and moving her head around a lot so Mena couldn't get the binkie into her mouth. Mena then placed her hand on top of Maggie's head to hold it still so she could get the binkie in her mouth. I could see that Mena's hand wasn't pressing on a soft spot so I let her keep trying. At this point I couldn't decide if I was a good mommy for letting Mena help or a bad mommy for letting Maggie cry while Mena tried. Mena got the binkie into Maggie's mouth but it was stuck between the lip and the gums rather than in Maggie's mouth. Mena couldn't figure out why it wasn't going in so she just kept pressing harder which made Maggie more upset. At this point I was about to bust up laughing at the two of them. I decided I better intervene and help get the binkie into her mouth so they both would calm down. Mena's gotten much better over the last 3 months at getting the binkie into Maggie's mouth.

Playing and Reading

While I was preparing supper, Mena took her step stool over to the Pack 'n Play so she could share her book with Maggie. Maggie really likes watching the star that plays music and lights when she kicks or hits the toy dangler (it's motion activated).

Just So Cute

Maggie doesn't really like tummy time but at this particular moment in time she was ok with it. In the last picture she is trying really hard to get that binky back in her mouth!

Mena's First Hair Cut

I asked Peggy to bring her scissors to cut Mena's hair at our house. I told Mena the night before that Peggy was coming after nap time to cut her hair. She watched Peggy cut my hair a couple of weeks ago so she knew what I was talking about. First thing that morning, Mena was asking for Peggy. I reminded her that first Ruth, EHS, was coming and then after nap time Peggy would cut her hair. Ruth was barely out the door and Mena was asking "Cut? Peggy?" I reminded her again that Peggy would come after nap time. I then proceded to get lunch ready. I went to get Mena when I was done and found her in bed with her binkies. I got her out of bed and to the table. During lunch Mena asked again "Cut? Peggy?" "Yes, Peggy will cut your hair after nap." This was responded to with vigorous nodding and lots of "ya, ya, ya." Mena is very proud of her new hair cut.

Bowling

Mena is starting to get the hang of the game of bowling. She prefers to hold the ball while knocking down the pins!

Going to Bed

I was going to bed early and Mena decided to join me. She was talkative and giggly, but not going to sleep with me!

Indoor Activities

Mena has learned to squeeze a glue bottle. I cut pictures off the fronts of our Christmas cards and she glued them to her paper. On another day we brought snow into the house for her to play with. She was less than thrilled with this idea of mine, but she was really excited when I said we could make snow ice cream after nap. At the end of nap she was laying on her bed not wanting to get up. I whispered, "Do you want to make snow ice cream?" and her eyes flew open and she got out of bed really fast. Our ice cream was yummy.

2 Months Old

Maggie is 2 months old. Her height is 23 1/2 inches (85%); she weighs 13 pounds 6 ounces (89%); and her head measures 16 inches (95-98%). The doctor was happy with her growth. Only unusual thing to come up in the visit is that Maggie has a strawberry on her left hip. Dr. Bernhardson said it would get bigger before it gets smaller, but it should be gone by the time she is 7 years old. He said it's genetic; I didn't have one but my sister Peggy had one on her neck that went away by the time she entered school.

Maggie is eating about 22-25 ounces of formula each day. She takes about 5 naps a day anywhere between 30 minutes and 3 hours. She's beginning to settle into a routine with a predictable morning nap of 1 1/2 to 2 hours and an afternoon nap that coincides with Mena's nap for 2-3 hours. Both of those naps Maggie is sleeping in her crib (top picture), but at night we can only get her to sleep in the vibrating chair. With the vibrating chair we're getting 6-7 hours of sleep which makes us very happy! I've been staying up with her until 10 pm and then Gene gets up with her at 5 am so that way we can each get 8 hours of sleep each night.

With all that eating and growing, Maggie has moved up to size 3-6 month clothes.  She's lost a lot of the newborn look.  Mostly she looks like Gene but her eyes are looking more like my eyes with the shape and eye lashes. Maggie's and my eyelashes are brown for 3/4 of the length and the tips are blond.

Grandkids

We drove up to Cedar Bluffs on January 15th for my cousin Shannon's wedding. Here are my parents with all of their biological grandkids. From left Tyler, Peyton, Mena, Maggie, and Jake.