Quick Pics

Here are a few photos from the past few weeks.

Okay, so these pants were hand-me-downs, so I can't take full credit, but they just go to show why it's fun to be a girl!  Sparkles!

Finley wanted to carry his baby doll around in the Baby Bjorn, as I have been spending quite a bit of time with Elise in it recently.  This week has been rough, and this has been the only way to stop the crying at times.

Elise is 2 Months Old!

Wow, Elise is already 2 months old!  She went in Monday for her check-up and vaccinations and was officially proclaimed a colicky baby.  (Evenings are killer, but I'm hoping we'll see some improvement in the coming weeks.  Either that, or I'm going to end up with tennis elbow from carrying her around, walking, and bouncing so much.)  Here are some 2 month stats for our little cutie:

• 22.5 inches long
• 11 lbs
• Mostly wearing size 3 Months in clothes, though some are slightly too small and others are still too big
• Has already rolled over once!
• Starting to smile and coo more everyday
• Won't take a pacifier and isn't so great with a bottle either, but we're working on it for Mommy's sake!
• Still has all her honey brown hair
• Eyes are still dark blue, though they're a bit lighter than when she was born
• Definitely a wiggler
• Likes to look at the fan in our bedroom
• Gassiest baby ever
• We're still calling her Elise for now and will use Elle some when she gets older 
• Wants to sleep on Mommy or Daddy, despite our attempts at the crib
• Loves to be in the Baby Bjorn or Ergo
• Doesn't like the baby swing, but likes the bouncy seat if she's in a good mood
• Can pick her head up 90 degrees, but her neck is still wobbly 

Here's a little 2 month video.  About halfway through you can see her smile and talk a bit!

Finley's New Favorite Song

Elise Catch Up

It's been a bit difficult to find the time to blog all those little details about what's going with Elise as she grows and changes.  Guess that's what happens when you're the second child.  But I'm going to make as much of an effort as possible, so here's a little Elise Catch Up.  First the photos, which are all 7-week-old photos.

Elise has plenty of awake time now, and she's usually happiest in the mornings.

Biggest, cutest yawn ever.

This photo is blurry, and she's crying, but it just shows how strong Elise is getting.

I can't remember if I put on the blog before that Elise has reflux and needed to be put on antacid a few weeks ago, but she's otherwise healthy.  Of course, I totally don't want my newborn on meds, but we have certainly seen improvement since she started taking them.  She seems to be in less pain, less spitting up, better nursing,  less throat clearing, etc.  That said, Elise is definitely in that super fussy newborn phase right now, and we usually see the worst of it between 5-9pm.  As you may imagine, that is a crazy time in our household since it is also Finley's most difficult time of day.  Getting both children fed, bathed, and put to bed is a very long and exhausting process.

Elise still wakes up multiple times to eat at night, which is fine because she's actually a quick eater.  The problem is that she won't go back to sleep!  We often spend an hour trying to get her back to sleep in the middle of the night.  Yikes.

Elise likes to look at the fan in our bedroom (so did Finley!), and she likes to be on her stomach and upright.  She also seems to like being held near the window.  Elise will almost never take a pacifier.  She tries to get her fists sometimes, but isn't very successful with that yet.  Elise is growing like a weed and is due another doctor visit in a week for her 2 month check-up and vaccinations.  We're curious to see how big she'll be when she gets weighed and measured!  Elise's eyes are still blue and her hair is still a light honey brown.  She's pretty stinkin' cute if you ask us!

We are so attached to Elise already, and we feel so happy to have her in our family!

Okay, to bed for me.  Elise is finally down and I'm falling asleep as I type this.  Zzzzz....

The Raisin

I have a quick moment to blog before running out the door to go to the consulate and apply for Elise's passport, so here goes!

Our excitement over the weekend was Finley stuffing a raisin up his nose.  (Yes, that's said raisin in the photo above.)  We discovered this when we had already gotten everyone dressed for church, out the door, and made the 30 minute car ride there, at which point Finley announces (with his finger up his nose) that there was a raisin in his nose.  So we checked and fortunately or unfortunately, he was telling the truth.  This is the great thing about 2.5-year-olds: they tell you when they're doing something naughty because they want to be caught.

Anyway, it was up there quite far.  We tried having him blow it out and all that, but it wasn't coming, so we ended up going home to try other methods, such as sucking it out with the vacuum.  Fortunately, by the time we got home and kept trying the nose blowing, I guess his nose got runny enough that he was finally able to blow it out.  Ah, the fun of toddlers.

And here are a couple of photos of what happens when we try to let Elise play on the floor gym.  Finley loves it so much he always joins in!  The floor gym was one of his all time favorites as a baby.  I wonder if he remembers it at all.

Newborn Photo Shoot

Finally posting some of the photos from Elise's newborn photo shoot when she was only 8 days old.  So glad we did it!  These kiddos are so cute I just want to eat them up!

Halloween 2012

First a few non-Halloween photos...

Finley is loving puzzles these days, especially this one because he's a big fan of fire trucks.

When Elise was born, her eyes were kind of a muddled navy blue.  Finley's had been pure navy blue before turning blue, so we thought maybe Elise would have brown.  But in the past few weeks, as the jaundice is slowly going away, Elise's eyes are looking more of a pure navy like Finley's.  So now we don't have any guesses!  Only time will tell.

 Look at all that hair!  

Getting in some "tummy time" and practicing lifting her head.

The beginning stage of trying to roll over.  

Pumpkin carving time for Finley!  He wasn't too sure about putting his hand inside...

The final product.

For Halloween, we had a potluck on the playground at the school with lots of other faculty and their kids.  Afterwards, the kids went trick-or-treating at the apartments above the school.

Our own little Peter Pan.

With his friend Jake/Superman.

The whole gang.

Kind of difficult to get a photo of this many excited little trick-or-treaters.

This was Finley's first year trick-or-treating, so we taught him how to knock on the door, say "trick-or-treat", take one piece of candy, and then say "thank you".  He loved it.

Mommy & Daddy's first time trick-or-treating at a high-rise.  Advantage: you burn calories walking up and down all the stairs so you can eat more candy!

Candy at Auntie Vero's house.

Winner of the best costume (at least in our opinion): adorable 1-year-old Joshua and his ice cream stand, made out of his push toy.  Yeah, I didn't have the time or brain power to be this creative!

The great thing about trick-or-treating with a toddler is that Finley completely forgot about his candy stash by the next day, so guess who's enjoying it now...  :)