Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Happy Two Months, Lydia!!

(yesterday, but I'm just now posting)

We've had an even better second month with our second daughter! She's a keeper!! :)


Showing off her chunky thighs!

Lydia now weighs nearly 13 1/2 pounds, putting her in the 95 percentile for weight!! I need to measure her length...



Even though the 0-3 month version of this onesie was loose on her last month, this 3-6 month size fits her fine just one month later!



And yes, I have fun playing "dress up" with our content baby girl!


I've told Jake that I can't decide which I love more about Lydia: that she's a chubby baby, or that she sleeps so well through the night! Apart from her first few nights after birth, she has NEVER been awake more than a few minutes after a feeding during the night. Some nights she doesn't really get to sleep until late (11pm or a little later), but then she SLEEPS! She gives me 5-6, or even 6 1/2 hours, before going back to eating every 3-4 hours throughout the early morning and day. The past 5 nights in a row she's only woken once to eat before 8 or 8:30am, which means a 8-9 hour stretch. WOW!!

And then, the very exciting part for me after depressing struggles with my first: SHE GAINS WEIGHT SO WELL!!! Every week when I weight her, I'm amazed at the weight gain, which is usually a pound! At 2 months, she's a whole pound more than I weighed at the same time and not much less than Jake who was always a big baby. I guess the most amazing number is she is a whole FIVE pounds more than Sophia was at 2 months!!

Knowing all of this, I'm really surprised that we haven't had a difficult "growth spurt" time yet where milk production can't keep up. If anything, I feel like she eats normally most of the time, with some days or nights where she's not that interested or only takes one side before being content. With Sophia, the growth spurts were SO hard for both of us! As much as she needed them, I dreaded them. This time, I can actually feel like a good mother who provides well for her baby.

She is becoming more social! Often when she first sees me after a nap, her eyes light up and she gives me a huge grin. I haven't managed to get a good picture yet, with my slow camera. She's starting to coo and gurgle a bit at us, too!

Sharing her beloved shoes with baby sister :)

Sophia is doing better the past few weeks (yeah!!!). She seems to be accepting Lydia, and was very excited to point out the picture of "idia" (with all her siblings) on our fridge last week. I can nurse in front of her without a meltdown, and she's been a lot more gentle with her overall, although in the blink of an eye she can get rough and make Lydia cry, so we have to keep a close eye on them when Lydia is within Sophia's reach.

I often think how great it is that Lydia is so laid-back, and takes good long naps, so that I can give Sophia the attention she demands, particularly when she wakes up cranky from a nap or is hungry but won't eat anything we offer her. (Sophia also bit through her tongue a few weeks ago right before church, the same morning she woke up throwing up. High maintenance, much?!)

Sophia loving on Lydia during a particularly happy mood (silly blogger flipped the pictures):





Sophia reliving her "baby days" in Lydia's crib! The boys and I just had to let her do it for a laugh. :)


She usually goes down for a nap very well. Part of that could be her personality, but I also worked hard on "sleep training" when she turned 2 weeks - falling asleep in her crib without too many "props", or doing certain things (holding, walking, rocking, etc.). Sometimes I'd love to just hold her while she sleeps, but life with so many children doesn't often allow it.

In matching pj's for Daddy's birthday!




Sophia playing baby again, on her former baby play mat that Lydia is starting to use



More pictures from the past month!

Lydia's Bolivian ID card, yeah! And took less than two hours in the ID office.


Catching a snooze while Daddy works

Wearing the same little "bear" jacket Sophia wore! Even though it's size 3 months, she's already outgrown it and only wore it twice, oops!


June 11, meeting Uncle Luke for the first time


June 12, hanging out with Aunt Amy (who has declared her a sweet cuddle-bug, and I agree!)


Sisters on "the rock" at the Cristo (for more pictures click here.)

Sunday, June 14, 2015

"Our" Rock

I've posted on this before, on our history at "our" rock on El Cristo, the statue of Christ overlooking our city, but now I have more pictures! :)




From our first memorable moment there until the most recent:


Proposal evening, October 5, 2012


Wedding day, November 30, 2012


Seven months pregnant the first time, August 25, 2013


 With Sophia! October 31, 2013
 
Sophia 18 days old, October 2013



Sophia

 Baby Lydia today, almost 2 months old!

 Lydia, June 14, 2015


 Sisters!


 The whole family!




Having fun with the Beaty cousins, the reason for our trip today!

Tuesday, June 9, 2015

Baby in a Basket




Here are the long ago promised "same pose" pictures of our two daughters, both at 9 1/2 days old.

The quilt was Jake's when he was little, which makes these pictures super special!


Lydia Ruth, April 25, 2015:









 And these are Sophia Katherine, October 23, 2013: