Good and Bad Day as a Parent

Today started out great. Piper sleep from 8:30pm until 6:00am only waking up once. I was so excited. I think I might finally start getting more than 2 to 3 hours a sleep at a time.

This afternoon I put Pennington down for his nap knowing that he didn't seem very tired but he need to take a nap. While I was feeding Piper I heard Pennington's bedroom door open. My son figured out how to get out of his crib. Boy are Johnny and I in trouble. I am crossing my fingers he wont do it again. However, I know that is wishful thinking. Are we really going to have to put him in a Toddler bed already? He isn't even 18 months yet.

OMG he just did it again. AHHHHH!!!!

Rice Cereal for Piper

Below is a video of Piper trying Rice Cereal for the first time. She definitely liked it more than Pennington did. Pennington wanted to try what Piper was getting to eat. He gave us the yucky face when he realized it was Rice Cereal.

Pennington Out to Eat

Over the last month the whole family has gone out to eat a few times. To be honest as much as I miss eating out it isn't very relaxing with two young ones. I think it is important to take the kids out to eat every once in a while in order to teach them how to behave in a restaurant. Overall, Pennington is fairly well behaved for a 17 month old. No temper tantrums yet. Below are a few classic photos of Pennington out to eat.

Piper 5 Months Old

I believe we are finally out of the "newborn" stage. While I know a lot of moms love the newborn stage but it is definitely not my favorite. I know it sounds crazy but I really like it when they become mobile. To be honest as much as I hate it when they are getting into everything they are just more fun at that stage. It is so funny the things they get into that you can't help but laugh.

Piper's newborn stage was easier for me than Pennington's but only because I knew what was coming. Overall, Piper was definitely more challenging as a newborn than Pennington. I think a lot of it had to do with the fact that I couldn't give her 100% of my attention so I didn't always know what she wanted. She cried a lot more than Pennington did. I also think that I was so obsessed with getting breastfeeding to work with Piper that it tired both of

us out making the newborn stage exhausting.

Piper still isn't sleeping through the night but she do

es consistently sleep for a 5 hour stretch when I first lay her down for bed. Naptime is still up in the air. Hopefully we will start to get a routine going soon. Johnny and Nonie seem to have a better time getting her to lay down for a nap than I do.

In the next month we are planning on starting solid foods. I also think she is only a month or two away from crawling. Right now she can hold up her entire upper body when she is on her stomach.

Piper loves watching her big brother Pennington. She thinks he is so funny. They take a bath and read bedtime stories together every night.

Below are some recent photos of Piper.

Piper's Four Month Doctor Appointment

Yes I know she is basically five months old now but we just had our four month appointment yesterday. Johnny took her to the appointment on Friday. Dr. Booth thought she looked great and was developing right on track.

One of the questions that I wanted Johnny to ask Dr. Booth was if he thought Piper was ready to start solid foods. He thought that she looked ready for them. With Pennington we waited until he was basically 6 months old (I think he was like one week shy of turning 6 months). I was very admit about waiting with Pennington because I think a lot of people start their children way to early. However, now that I have two children I have a totally different opinion. Some children are just ready earlier than others. I my mind Piper is so ready to start solids. She is sitting up fairly well and she seems so interested in solid foods. She is constantly grabbing at my food and drink when I am holding her. In fact she has spilled my drink twice in the last month. One of the times was when we were out to eat and it got all over me. Pennington just never seemed as interested in my food and drink as Piper is. Stay tune for a video of Piper eating some yummy rice cereal. I think we are going to try it in the few days.

Johnny said that she did fairly well with her shots. I guess she cried for about a minute. I will say that Piper did throw up this morning. At first I was thinking that it related to the stomach flu we all had earlier this week but now I think it was from the shots. She seems fine now so I am not really worried about it.

Below are the stats:

Weight: 13 pounds 1 ounce (50%)

Height: 24 1/2 inches (55%)

Head Circumference: 41 cm (55%)

Once again she is my basically perfectly proportionate child.

Pennington 17 Months Old

When I think about Pennington over the last month the word that comes to mind is "change". There have been so many changes for him in the last month. The two big ones are that Mom went back to work and he started school. He has also started to cry a lot which isn't like him at all. I think two things are causing this; (1) the fact that he still isn't really talking so he gets really frustrated when he is trying to communicate with us and we don't understand and (2) he is feeling overwhelmed by all the changes in his life. Johnny and I are trying our best to give him as much attention as possible but sometimes we fall short of what he needs. He is also starting to regress and act more like a little baby. He wants us to hold him and feed him milk or food. This is very typical of a toddler that is going through at lot of change.

Other events/developments that I would like to highlight for you that have happened over the last month include the following:

1. We were driving home the other night from dinner and he opened the car door while we were driving down Federal Way. Good thing no other cars were next to us or the door would have hit them. Looks like the childproof locks will need to be activated.

2. He likes to pretend that he is going "Nigh-night" by laying on the floor with his blanket.

3. He goes into the pantry to find himself something to eat.

4. He loves putting on other peoples shoes. See the pictures below.

Stomach Bug

The last few days at our house have been insane. It all started on Saturday evening when Pennington throw up for the first time ever. I was pretty sure he got it from Montessori Home since another mom mentioned her son had it on Tuesday and so she kept him out of school on Wednesday. Pennington started school on Thursday. My guess is that other kids had it as well that were with him at school on Thursday and Friday but they just hadn't gotten sick yet. Then as soon as Pennington started feeling better Piper got it at around 10pm on Sunday night. Good thing she sleeps right next to me so I could get to her quickly. Then at around 6am on Monday I got it. Boy is it interesting to get sick and then have your child get sick at the same time as you. Johnny got sick Monday afternoon so Nonie helped me take care of the kids all while I was still sick myself. Of course by now we should have known how contagious this was and not had Nonie help out but we did. Nonie ended up getting it on Tuesday morning so I had to stay home from work on Tuesday as well. Piper's sickness lasted for two days. She is now holding down her feedings as long as we don't hold her walking around a lot. Movement seems to make her get sick again. Overall, I think our family survived our first whole family sickness. I have to say it is NOT fun at all.

First Day at School

Well Pennington's first day of school didn't start of on the right foot. He woke up at 5:30 that morning and didn't want to go back to bed. As we were heading to school at 7:45 he fell asleep in the car. He seemed fairly excited when we got to school. He wondered around by himself looking at everything. When it was time to say goodbye I asked him to give me a hug. He ran up to me and gave me a big hug. It was super sweet. Then I just headed out the door and his teacher (Denise) and him waved goodbye.

When I went to pick around 4:45. Denise said he did fairly well for his first day but he did cry a lot. Honestly I was shocked to hear he cried a lot. Normally he doesn't ever cry when Johnny or I leave him somewhere. I then asked when he cried. She mentioned it was mid morning so they put him down for a nap. That didn't surprise me at all since he had been up since 5:30.

She said he ate really well and seemed happier in small groups. She also mentioned that he was very independent and would probably be the child that would go off by himself traveling around Europe someday.

Overall, I think it was a good first day. I do have to mention that I really appreciate the fact that he has been able to be at home for the last 17 months with his family. While I think school is going to be really good for him I feel bad leaving him with someone else that can't give him 100% attention. Below is a picture of Pennington on his first day at school.

Thank You Deloitte (Second Time)

Today is the last day of my second maternity leave. I have to say that I am really sad about it. I cried earlier today when I was playing with Piper. Working for Deloitte has been such a blessing to our family. I have been on maternity leave for the last four and a half months at 100% of my pay. Thank you Deloitte for allowing me to take another maternity leave that allowed me to spend lots of quality time at home with both Piper and Pennington during the first four months of Piper's life. Below is a picture of Piper in his Deloitte onesie.