Blessed

In the spirit of Hannukah miracles - every one of the Habif cousins was able to be at the annual Hannukah party this year. Even more shocking was that we got a picture with everyone in it! I'm truly fortunate to have this crew as family.



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Playtime with Poppy

This is what playtime with Poppy looks like:






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Buttercream

I am slightly unnerved that the buttercream icing I'm eating has neither butter nor cream in it.

You read that right: "the icing that I am eating."


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No-pattern baldness

Lolaisms

Lola says about a million things a day that we think are worth recording - if only we could remember them all.  Or half of them.  Or more than two. 

In response to me saying "you're so funny": she says, "Mommy, I'm hysterical"
Upon seeing a dog in a nearby car: "that puppy is too cute for words" (Dad, this one comes straight from you!)

I'll try to be better about jotting these down. 

Belly Laughs

Laughing out loud. At least until he realizes that he is being filmed.

B&N

I think it's adorable that Lola loves the Barnes & Noble store. I think it's even more adorable that she calls it "the barnses and nobles."


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Mother and Son

Photo credit: Lola

Showing off

Showing off her new haircut. As well as the "boo boo" on her toe.



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Second Child Syndrome

Poor Allen has a bad case of Second Child Syndrome. The blog never gets updated, the baby book is sitting untouched, and there are a total of about 12 actual pictures of him taken with a real camera and not my iPhone. Poor baby. In an effort to begin to remedy what I'm sure will be some difficult facts to explain when he is older . . .here's a brief update. Seriously brief. I'm exhausted and must get to bed.

Allen turned 3 months old 3 days ago. He is absolutely precious and looking more like a mini-Ben every day. He loves to smile and laugh out loud (it's seriously the cutest sound ever) and he is starting to coo more and more - we have very entertaining conversations cooing back and forth at each other. When he smiles, it's a full-face, eye-twinkle sort of smile. Melts your heart. He has started to intentionally grab things with this little hands and especially loves holding on to my shirt, scarf, necklace, or hair. He loves to be held and actually puts his arms around you (unlike Lola who, to this day, gets carried around like a sack-o-potatoes, making really no effort at all to hold on :)

He is on a pretty standard 3 hour schedule during the day, and while we have struggled quite a bit with the nighttime, I think we may finally be turning a corner (more on that later - don't want to jinx things for now.)

He loves getting his bath, taking catnaps in his swing, playing on his playmat, and watching Lola whenever she is in the room. He seems fascinated by her (aren't we all?) Since cutting out dairy, we have resolved most of his stomach issues and he is a much more happy and content baby. It is a night and day difference! And while I do miss the dairy (a lot. I miss it so very much.) it has helped me lose some of the baby weight since it turns out that pretty much everything dairy that I ate was loaded with fat.

We are so very much in love with this little man and we are so very lucky to have him in our lives.

Sick day

Sick as a dog, but pretty as a princess.





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Lola Leibovitz

Found this picture on my phone yesterday morning. She took it of herself in the mirror, along with approximately 3 dozen others of the bathroom counter, sink, and drain.



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Rations

I had a doctor's appointment that was going to last about an hour and a half - start to finish. I packed the diaper bag with four diapers, 2 burp clothes, and a change of clothes. It was not enough. Of anything.


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BDYHHYIARAPTP

BDYHHYIARAPTP, Daddy!
(Translation: Happy Birthday - Lola insisted on putting the letters in herself)


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Worth the wait

Come on. Look at that face.

Excuses excuses

I haven't posted in a while because
I got a new phone and my mobile app for blogging had to be reinstalled. Since I do many of my posts nowadays from a rocker, in the dark, at 3 am .... The app is a necessity. Back up and running and posts to return soon.

Magic

Direct quote: "I'm princess Lola. I make everything magical."
Right you are, sweet girl.




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Correction

Did I say "40"? Because apparently it was closer to 4.

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Window

Allen just got out of the bath and he smells like that perfect blend of baby skin and Johnson & Johnson. And there is only about a 40 minute window until he smells like spit-up again, so I will soak in every second.




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Baby Spice

I love holding Allen right after he's been cuddling with his Daddy and he smells faintly of Old Spice mixed with baby-smell. Delicious.


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Pampering

This will have to do for now.


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No time for tea time

Yesterday morning I made myself a nice cup of hot tea. At lunch I found the mug on the counter, untouched. I had been wrapped up in kiddo-things all morning and had completely forgotten about it. But a cup of tea still sounded nice, so I stuck it in the microwave to reheat it (I know, gross, but who had time to boil fresh water?)

After dinner I found my mug again, about 2 sips less full than last time. Back into the microwave. Ben commented that I should just make a fresh cup, but why bother? This was a perfectly good cup, already sweetened to my liking, and nearly full to the brim.

This morning I go to pop my oatmeal in the microwave and what do I find inside, taunting me? Damn cup of tea.

Here it is, right before I admitted defeat and poured it down the drain:


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Marry Me

Today while we were blowing bubbles outside in the backyard, Lola picked a dandelion, gave it to me, and asked to marry her.  Needless to say, I said "yes".

Allen Shay - 7 week update

Some updates about Allen -
He's huge.  He was born 9 lb. 9 oz. and continues to gain weight like a champ.  He was over 13 lbs. at his 4 week check up!  Everyone said that big babies sleep longer stretches at night.  That's a bunch of horse sh*t. 

He has been going 2.5 - 3 hours between feedings during the day, but at night he likes to strictly stick to a schedule of waking every 2.5 hours.  Between diaper changes, feeding, and soothing back to sleep - I am sleeping in approximately 90 minute intervals.  Mommy is NOT happy.  He clearly doesn't NEED to eat this frequently, but I just don't have the energy in the middle of the night to soothe him back to bed without food at the 2.5 hours mark, only to have to feed him an hour later.  Tonight I've committed to break the cycle and I'm going to try to get him back to sleep without feeding him if he hasn't gone 3 hours or doesn't seem to be actually hungry.  Hopefully it will be a few sleepless nights and then we can actually start doing a longer nighttime stretch.

He's still a screamer.  There is no slow acceleration in his fussing - he goes from zero to all-out-rage in 2 seconds.  No in between.  The good news is that the amount of screaming has definitely decreased in the past week.  They say that 6 weeks is the peak of fussiness and I have found that to be true with both kids.  Once we hit the 6 week mark, things really started to turn around. 

His gas and reflux are improving.  He still spits up A LOT.  More than you can imagine.  And frequently.  And unpredictably (sometimes right after eating, sometimes an hour later).  I can handle the spitting up now that it seems we've gotten the pain under control with the baby Zantac. 

Lola is the BEST big sister.  She helps (in her own special way) with diaper changes, baths, and getting out the door.  I seriously couldn't not have asked for a better transition for her.  She calls him "Baby Allen" and gets pretty upset/defensive if anyone tries to comment that he is big.  She loves to give him sweet kisses and tickle his toes. 

He likes baths, eating, his swing, the bumbo seat (we just introduced that today), car rides, and being held.
He dislikes wet or dirty diapers, gas, waiting more than 6 seconds for food, and political ads. 

I'll try to be better about updating with actual data - it has really been a whirlwind around here for the past 7 weeks and I find that my spare time is spent doing massive amounts of laundry (thanks to the spit up), cleaning up toys (thanks to hanging around the house more frequently), and tending to someone elses' needs. 

More to come soon. 

Love

Real men wear pink

Finally putting all those Orthopaedic journals to good use.  As well as Lola's bumbo seat (and, in full disclosure, one of her old pacifiers). 

 
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Fine dining

She's eating calamari. With chopsticks. That's normal, right?



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And so it begins

The life of a younger sibling



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Mommy in training

She's "feeding her baby"



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One of my favorite things

A butterfly or a member of the VonTrapp family - it's a multi-faceted costume.


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Treat or Treat

Don't get me wrong.  I am extraordinarily grateful that Ben took the grocery list and went shopping this morning.  Although I think he misread "Halloween Candy" as "Boatload of Halloween Candy."

  

We live in a fairly small neighborhood.  I typically buy 2 bags of candy and in four years of Halloweens I have never. run. out.

Overheard

I'm at Barnes and Noble. I had to use the bathroom. The first stall I went into had pee all over the seat. I mean ALL OVER the seat. I opted to switch stalls.

As I'm peeing next door, another woman comes in and enters the aforementioned pee-covered stall. She lets out a quite audible sigh and huff and then laments aloud, "I hate people."

Kind of a broad generalization, if you ask me, but I got a kick out of it nonetheless.


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Lessons on dining

Dear Baby,
I don't mean to tell you how to eat. But I'm fairly confident that if you spit up a little less of your meal after each feeding, you wouldn't be hungry quite so often (not to mention the money we'd save on the water bill and laundry detergent!) Merely a suggestion.

It's worth noting that you seem to have no problem dictating how I take my meals - fast, typically standing up, often with one foot shaking the stroller or bouncy seat, and most recently - dairy free. Thanks for that one, by the way. (We'll cover "detecting sarcasm" on another day.)

Love you,
Mommy


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Holiday Bargains

We were watching TV and a commercial came on for a large doll house with moving parts and electricity.

Lola: Can I have that?
Me: Maybe we can buy it for you for Hannukah.
Lola: Or maybe we can buy it for me for Halloween.
Me: Halloween isn't really a gift-giving holiday. We go trick-or-treating instead.
Lola: Well maybe I can get it instead of candy.

Interesting proposal. Although I'm not sure what led her to believe that these particular holiday traditions were up for debate.


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Confused

Just saw a commercial for "Words With Friends" the board game. What?? Isn't that called "Scrabble"? And hasn't it been around for about 80 years?

I feel like this is the equivalent of selling paper and pencil and calling it "Texting - the board game". Am I missing something?

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Sleeping Beauty

Allen doesn't love sleeping at night.  This is most likely because he LOVES sleeping during the day.  You say - "keep him up for longer stretches during the day and he'll sleep better at night".
I say - "Great plan.  Here's how it's going so far:"


Here I am bouncing him (almost violently) on my legs to keep him awake. 


I had to stop to take the picture . . . but here I am rubbing his hands, fists, face, and sternum to keep him wide eyed and alert.


Trying several techniques at once here - taking him outside into bright light, fresh air, and tickling/poking him. 


Laying him at awkward and seemingly uncomfortable angles.  Some say this one works like a charm. 


The baby book says sitting him upright will cause his eyes to just "pop open" like a baby doll.  Riiiight. 

Busy

2 kids are a lot of work. Not much time left for blog updates. Enjoy this in the meantime:



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Nothing weird about this

Just a girl. Sitting in an infant carrier. Playing the ukulele. And needing some privacy.



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Abracadabra

Not sure what to make of this.  It starts off very sweet and loving.  It shifts into some questionable magic.  It ends with parental intervention to minimize potential head injury.  

I'm just pickin out a boob

From a little while back . . . but I temporarily lost the video in internet-space. 

She had her back to me and was fiddling with these little puff balls for enough time to raise suspicion (and sense that whatever she was up to, it would be camera-worthy). I could have sworn that when I asked her what she was doing she said "I'm just pickin' out a boob," but I thought certainly that couldn't be right. . . until she got close enough and I realized her shirt was "stuffed." Oh dear.



My dad thinks this blog will be such a wonderful gift for Lola to look back on her childhood through my eyes. I think more likely I will have a libel suit on my hands.

Little big man

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Ratios

Our current stroller to child ratio - 2:1
Allen's ratio of leaked diapers to contained diapers - 2:1
Allen's ratio of outfits worn to days alive (mostly due to the leaky diapers) - 4:1



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Well Hello, Blue Eyes

Peace

He is a sweet, cuddly, sleepy baby and he has seriously gotten cuter every day. 

Pinkies Up!

Hope nobody else was planning on drinking from the kiddish cup . . . it's the only time we give her non-watered-down juice and she chugs the whole thing. 

At the request of my father

My dad thinks the milk drink picture doesn't do Allen justice. So here's another:



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Proud Sister

Taking her baby brother on a walk.


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Milkdrunk

This is what it looks like.


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Welcome to the World

Allen Shay Barden
Born September 15 at 5:57 pm
A whopping 9 lbs 9 oz and 22 inches. We are in love.



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Dinosaurs

Lola: I'm scared of big dinosaurs
Me: You don't have to be scared of big dinosaurs because there are no more big dinosaurs on the planet. They are all gone. That is called "extinct". There are no more dinosaurs anywhere because they are extinct.

(Long pause. Regretfully realizing to myself that I sometimes give her a little more information than she bargained for. Not sure how I will continue this little lesson on the apocalyptic death of an entire species. Hmm.)

Lola: They need to take a bath.

Extinct = stink. That will work for now.



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Update: Wet naps

Yeah.  We're back in nap-time pull-ups.  Mommy has enough laundry as it is - doing sheets every afternoon was not agreeing with me. 

Cupcakes

We are very busy around here finding activities that are both:
A) fun and engaging for a 2 and a half year old
B) require minimal movement from uber-pregnant mommy






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Dance class

We did a trial dance class last week (she's been asking to take dance classes for several weeks). It was nearly the most precious thing I've ever seen in my life. She is on the far left. She's not short - just the youngest in this particular class by far. I think we'll end up in a different class (more her age), but she absolutely loved it. Hopefully I'll be able to catch more pictures next time.


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Wet naps

Alternate titles:
-Perpetual laundry
-Mommy is a glutton for punishment
-Mommy makes poor decisions
-If it ain't broke, put it in some big girl panties and hope for the best

Today is Day 2 of attempting naps without a Pull-up on. Lola has been potty trained for 2 months now but still sleeps in a pull-up. For some reason I decided yesterday was a good day to kick the pull-up habit during nap time. Mostly because it felt like 12 days before the baby was due was a good time to make a big (and potentially disruptive) change in Lola's routine. And also - I love washing sheets and making beds that are particularly low to the ground when 38 weeks pregnant. Yesterday did not go as planned. We will hope for the best today.


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Weekend fun

She said she wanted to build a rocketship. Fortunately she has the best daddy in the world.


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Sugar coating

Scene: Daddy and Lola playing in Lola's room on Sunday morning right after waking up. 
Mommy enters. 

Lola: (in her most whiny/fussy voice) NO Mommy - don't come in here!
Daddy: Lola, we don't talk to Mommy that way.  It hurts her feelings. 
Lola: (in her sweetest, most loving voice) Mommy, please don't come in here. 

I guess manners or no manners - I simply wasn't invited. 

We are there already??

Where did my daughter learn the phrase, "are we there yet?" And more disturbingly, where did she learn to ask it incessantly when we enter no less than a 10 mile radius of our destination?


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Ode to Carly Simon

We could easily shave 10 minutes off of Lola's morning and evening routines if we covered up the mirror in the bathroom.


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An open letter to Locks of Love

Dear Locks of Love,
Great news. I once heard an old wives' tale that heartburn during pregnancy is directly proportional to the amount of hair that the baby is born with. Judging by the constant fire blazing through my esophagus for the past several months, I think it's safe to assume we will be making a donation of the required 10 inches of hair soon after the birth.

Very sincerely.


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Peas in a pod

These two are inseparable.


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Memories

Remember when I had ankles? I do. Those were fun times. Now all I'm left with is a dark splotchy pattern of veins to remind me where my ankles are supposed to be. I actually took a picture of this horrid sight, but decided that the visual was probably too much for some.

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Lounging

Self portrait by Mommy and Lola.


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Carpool

First day of school today and first time dropping Lola off in "carpool". As her teacher lifted her out of the car, I heard her say "carpool is only for big girls."

She is growing up so fast! Tear.


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Stall

Amongst the litany of stall tactics that Lola now employs at bedtime:
"I'm a little bit thirsty"
"I need to wash my hands"
"My teeth hurt"
"I need medicine"
"Have to go tee tee" (although she usually does - so we can't call her out on that one).


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Pop Six Squish ....

Reminded of the Cell Block Tango scene from the musical Chicago.


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Feelings

Conversation in the car today:
Lola: My head hurts
Me: (worried that something could be legitimately wrong - I try to get to the bottom of this).  I'm so sorry sweetie.  What kind of hurt is it?  Is it like a headache or does it feel like a boo boo?
Lola: It's my feelings
Me: What?
Lola: My feelings are hurt
Me: (Now my heart is breaking.  Her feelings are hurt?!? How did this happen? And who am I going to have to hunt down for hurting my sweet baby's feelings?!?) Oh no.  How did your feelings get hurt?
Lola: I fell down.

The New Feminism

Dr. Lola performing a check-up on her baby tiger while wearing her high heels. So progressive!



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