Cool Baby Clothes: New Year, New Life

As we enter 2013, we also enter our new life as a family of four. It is certainly a busy life, but a wonderful one too.

Collier is now 6 weeks old and he is doing great. As far as I remember, he is not very different from Isabelle as an infant. He sleeps better at night than she did at this age (yay!), but that also means that he's awake (and crying!) more during the day. He weighed just over 10 lbs at his 4 week checkup, the same exact weight of Izzy at 4 weeks. It's a significant weight gain in such a short period of time, which, according to the pediatrician, could mean that either Collier is overeating, I am overfeeding, or maybe that my milk is as caloric as the ice cream I enjoy almost every night!

Collier is loving the bath, and he has a very helpful big sis who loves it too!

Here is Isabelle in the bath at about the same age!

I know it's terrible, but it's so hard not comparing your babies! I cannot tell who either of them look like, but I must admit that I think they are each so beautiful! Here is Collier on the changing table at 10 days old.

And here is Isabelle on the day we brought her home from the hospital.

Collier sleeping on the bear.

And Isabelle.

It's very different having a newborn in the Winter. With Isabelle born in July, we used to step outside when she fussed and immediately she became calm. (I guess 95 degree heat will do that to you!) Doesn't work so well in January. We did have one recent balmy weekend and Collier enjoyed some nice moments with his daddy outside.

I have probably taken one third of the amount of photos that I took of Isabelle as a newborn. But we still have frequent photo sessions.

My littlest chef.

When Collier gave us his first smiles a week ago, it was great timing. After a few rough colicky days, a baby's first smile will melt your heart and remind you that it really does just keep getting better and better. He will do more than eat, sleep, poop, cry! He will have a personality! He will start to recognize me! He will turn me to mush, over and over.

Collier is starting to get more predictable. I can count on some crying in the evenings, but that usually means he'll give me a 5 hour stretch at night. Isabelle, on the other hand, is our little wild card! Nothing like having a second child to remind you how easy newborns are (ha). A 2 year old is the real handful!

Isabelle has been such a loving big sister and she couldn't be sweeter to Collier. She wants to hug and kiss him constantly. She talks to him, tells him "I wuv you", attends most diaper changes, re-pacifies him, gives him arm tickles (her personal favorite), and is so proud to be his big sister. When you say something like, "you're such a big girl!" or "you're a sweet angel," she'll respond, "no, I'm a big sister!" There is nothing that makes a mama more proud.

But 2 1/2 is a funny age, and Isabelle is a girl of extremes. We have the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. She is mostly playful and very happy, loves to sing, dance, run around and laugh. Most of the time my husband and I give each other looks that say, "can you believe how freakin' cute she is?!" She makes me belly laugh so hard and the things she says (and the way she says them) just make me want to bottle it all up so the cuteness lasts forever.

But then there are the meltdowns. The screams and cries that almost come out of nowhere. One second she's on top of the world and the next one, she's on the floor crying at the top of her lungs. It's usually over something like snaps on her coat. (I should know better than to snap them for her!) Getting dressed each morning is painful. And the glares she gives me are enough to make me think she's 2, going on 14.

But, amazingly, her bubbly personality and her extreme (I mean, extreme!) cuteness outweighs it all!

Some things I want to remember forever about Isabelle at age two and a half:

- She's a great sleeper, takes a 2-3 hour nap and rarely awake in the night...but I know the pacis are a big reason why she loves to go to bed - she is super obsessed with the pacis!!!

- She has the cutest little voice I've ever heard. I kinda don't want her to lose the adorable speech impediment, especially the way she says "f". I ask her to say "Fancy Nancy" all the time...shes says "shanshy snanschy" (or somthing like that).

- She is such a girly girl. Loves her dolls, loves princesses, loves pushing her stroller, shopping, and "running errands" with the shopping cart. She carries several purses at a time, is always on the phone, calling her aunts, uncles and cousins...and very often looking for her lost phone or her keys (sounds familiar).

- Most of all she LOVES to dress up. Usually it's a princess fairy costume, some sort of hat and her sunglasses. Unfortunately that doesn't mean she likes to get dressed in her regular clothes. Getting her out of PJs always involves a temper tantrum and is something I dread most!

Collier: Who is this crazy kid, anyway?

-She's OBSESSED with The Wizard of Oz! My dad got her into it several months ago since it's one of his all-time favorites. Nothing about the movie scares her. She knows all the songs, does a great Cowardly Lion imitation, and she pretends to be Glinda, the good witch. She asks me to sing her the "dorothy song" (Somewhere Over the Rainbow) and the "scarecrow song" every night (along with an arm tickle).

-Isabelle has a popstar idol! She is in love with Taylor Swift! I seriously wasn't even a big fan until Izzy got into her. It started when she saw her perform one morning on GMA. Since that day whenever her songs play on the radio, Izzy calls them out. Here she is watching Taylor Swift sing her favorite song (usually Izzy sings along..."We are neber, eber, eber, getting back together now.")

-Isabelle is working on manners...she's getting great at please, thank you, you're welcome, and excuse me. Since "I want" is one of her most uttered phrases, we are teaching "May I please?" which she hasn't quite mastered. It usually comes out as "May I please want ____?" But it's so cute, I hate to correct her.

-She knows so many songs and nursery rhymes and sings all the time. Her favorites are still ABCs and Wheels on the Bus. She can really carry a tune and I fully expect her to play leading role in all school musicals;)

-Luckily Isabelle almost always wakes up in the morning in a great mood. She is so happy to see us, and even if we are in for a meltdown about 5 mintues after she's up, it is a delight to come greet her. She usually says "I have a good nap" and sometimes shares bizarre dream stories. Every now and then she gets to snuggle with Collier in her bed and it is so sweet!

Both kids "playing" in the playroom. Thank goodness for the kitchen...cooking never gets old.

I cannot believe just over 2 years ago Isabelle was an itty little baby that fit in this bed. Seeing this just reminds me how fast the next 2 years will fly by and it scares me! I am trying to savor these early months with Collier as best as I can..this is probably the last time I'll have a newborn to nurse, and to let fall asleep in my arms. I want to appreciate every moment of it.

Snuggle time after a nap.

Isabelle recently started taking ballet classes, and of course she loves it!

See what I mean about 2, going on 14!?

My favorite thing of all about this age is the imaginative play. Izzy comes up with these awesome pretend scenarios...here she is hosting surprise (shhhh!) birthday parties for her dolls and stuffed animals. She passed around cupcakes, drinks, and sang Happy Birthday to each of them. This went on for at least an hour...love, love, LOVE!

Isabelle's buddy, John Daniel, recently got a sibling too. They were just a couple days apart, and now their siblings are just 4 weeks apart! Of course we had to introduce Collier to Helen and get them to snuggle up together for pics. Helen was 2 weeks early and apparently still thinks she's in the womb, so I never got to see her eyes open. Collier was alert as usual, but seemed to quite like snuggle time with his first girlfriend!