My little bear
Ellie had pajama day at preschool and wore her Elmo jammies!
I imagine Ellie thinking "you're still here?" in this picture
Winnie the watch dog!
General
Juliet is a really good baby. She went through a period for the first 2 months when she "witched" between 4:30 pm until about 7:30 pm each night but it looks like that is over now. She still definitely prefers to be held (either in our arms or in the carrier) and she has started to prefer facing out so she can see the world. Her hair is slowly starting to grow back in but I think she will be bald for a while like her sister was. Her eyes are still newborn grey/blue color. She is a much chubbier baby at this point than Ellie was. She has been giving out some awesome smiles lately and the best ones seem to come first thing in the morning.
Feeding/Sleeping
Her bedtime is creeping earlier gradually. I try to put her down at 8:30 pm but this doesn't always happen as her bedroom is the living room and sometimes my mom watches tv until 9 pm so sometimes she goes to bed then. Lately she has been waking up around 6 am. (like I said she is a really good baby). If she wakes up before then I put her back to sleep but if she wakes up at 6/6:30 am I don't. I can't believe how great she is doing at sleeping for her age. Unfortunately Ellie has been having some trouble sleeping lately so we are still up at random times most nights. I think the transition to going to preschool 2 days a week is a little tough for her and she is having some separation anxiety that is creeping into nights.
Juliet is awake a lot more during the day, but still takes some pretty decent sized naps. No set nap times yet, but she usually takes a decent one in the morning. The best naps I get are when she is in her car seat and I can tote her around. She occasionally sleeps well in the swing or rock n play but she ends up startling and waking up in those.
Breastfeeding is still in full swing. I started back at work last week so I am back in my pumping room. I hate pumping as much as anybody else, but I consider myself extremely lucky that my work makes it so easy for me. The pumping room is literally 50 ft from my office and it has a mini fridge, sink and chair. I got a second pump with this pregnancy so now I can leave one at work which I LOVE because I don't have to drag it back and forth each day. I am currently trying to figure out how often to pump at work - depending on whether I get to feed Juliet right before I go to work it looks like 2-3 pumps while i am gone since I pump one side right when I wake up in the morning. I have only worked 2 days so far but it looks like Juliet is eating between 11-13 oz of milk while I am gone. Hopefully I can pump enough while I am at work to keep up, but luckily I have a nice frozen stash so I don't feel super concerned. There is some level of awkwardness when I am ducking into the pumping room several times a day because I know everyone who sits near there, but what are you gonna do? My baby needs to eat!
Back to Work
I am back at work and that kind of stinks. I was sort of excited to get back into the world of adults but I am not terribly excited to have to juggle 2 hats again. As tough as it is to be home with 2 young kids, at least I only had to worry about 1 aspect of life. Now it is back to trying to be a good mother and a good worker and that is tough.
2 Under 2
Ellie is having a bit of a rough time right now. I am not sure if it is related to starting preschool, but she has become very attached to me (more so than normal) and I think it is because she is nervous I am going to drop her off somewhere (she started preschool 2 days a week). When she is having a tough time she will tell me to put Juliet down and pick her up (which I often can't do because Juliet doesn't really like to be put down when she is awake). This is one of the tough parts of Ellie being so young - she can't quite comprehend why I can't just pick her up all the time. But I think preschool is going to be a good thing for her in the long run - she needs a bit of time where she is away from me or my mom since she has always been with a family member since she was born.
Body/Recovery
I am about 3 lbs under my pre-pregnancy weight. The skin on my tummy is still a bit out of whack - squishier than it was before, but hopefully with time it will tighten up a bit. Same thing happened after I had Ellie where I didn't get a linea negra while pregnant, but it showed up after and then eventually faded. I have been able to get out to the gym a few times a week which is nice and I really like Zumba class. This past week I haven't been able to because Brian has been going over to the house early to paint, etc.
House Update
We should be moving in right before Christmas! As long as the electrician's finish putting the recessed lights/fixtures in we should be good. This has been such a long time coming that I can hardly believe we actually get to live there. I might do a separate post about the house. It has taken up so much of Brian's time and I know how much he wants this project over so he can spend more time with the girls and me.
