They Match

Summer and Pepper match thanks to Kohl's having almost matching outfits in their sizes.  Size 6 and 12 months, yep my girls wear a bit bigger than normal :o) but I expect them to stop growing at some point.  I really think Pepper is larger than Summer at her age, or at least her cheeks, because I constantly have random strangers making comments, mostly like how starved she looks.  I don't mind - I think it is cute but I do wonder how fat she really looks to other people because maybe I just don't see it or realize it.  We have her 6 month doctor appointment in about 10 days so I guess I will find out where she fits on the height/weight charts then.  Look at their blue outfits, I think that colors looks good on the girls, both of the shirts have a white dog on it and the capri pants are the exact same, and come to think of it I think they have the same color hair!  Pepper normally smiles all the time, but usually when Pepper is smiling Summer is looking at Pepper or trying to make her smile so it is so hard to get pictures where both girls are smiling and looking at the camera.  What can you do ...

Pepper Again

Pepper had her face painted at a birthday party yesterday :o)

Pepper is teething and constantly has her fingers in her mouth.

In fact, Pepper got her second tooth, bottom right.

Pepper has really cool eyes, the color is so unique, I guess they are blue but maybe turning hazel?

I just love this little girl to pieces!

How could I not?

We have a tooth!

Yes, finally, all that biting has paid off, on Monday I felt her first little tooth!  At first I wasn't sure, in fact when I went to see it I realized that I need to make an eye appointment.  After crying because I am old and falling apart I borrowed Papa's reading glasses and held her face up to the window so I could see in the better light and that is when I saw it - her first tooth!  Bottom left at 5 months and 20 days old.  Summer was 5 months and 9 days and it was her bottom right tooth, not that I am comparing or anything, well actually I am, and I can, because I wrote down when every single one of Summer's teeth came in (except her very last molar), and if Pepper is anything like Summer, which she seems to be in the teeth department, Pepper might have another tooth in about 6 days, so you can bet I will be all over that mouth!

I don't think she has been any crankier than usual either ... and we haven't been wearing the amber teething necklace, well just for looks, not because I really think it helps.  Can you see her tooth, its so little and white and pokey.  HEY I guess I need to start brushing her teeth!!!

Baby Food

Pepper devouring her first pear

We have started the chubbs on baby food - sorta, I mean we have, but we are doing things so different this time. I know it is a little early, she is only 5 1/2 months but I really thought that she was ready, plus 6 months is just a guide, and I know that babies get all the nutrients they need from yhe bottle until they are a year, so we are just playing around. We started with avocado and have probably offered it 3 times but I really don't think she likes it. She does like banana. She likes pears, and she loves apples. She is not a big fan of sweet potato yet but we only tried it once. I am doing a little baby led weaning (where you don't feed the baby - you let the baby feed themselves whole food) and a little bit of mashed stuff. It is honestly kind of scary, today I gave Pepper pears with the peel on so she could hold it and not get it all mushy. She did great with it, never choked, and ate quite a bit. The purpose is not really to see how much they can eat anyway, it is more about experiencing all of the food, textures, taste, smells, but I think she likes to eat. I also take real bananas, scrape them with a spoon and feed it to her that way - so much more natural that jared food right? Here is a video I took that shows how I fed banana to Pepper yesterday morning. I guess I should start giving the whole banana to her, with some of the peel? I need to find a video showing how that works. I also made my own applesauce, I just boiled apples and mashed them with a fork. No mush, it even had a bunch of chunks but she seems to have no problem eating them, in fact she devours the apple, that is probably her favorite. I am kinda glad I didn't go and buy a magic bullet now! Carrots will be on the menu soon, boiling and mashing with a fork, followed by anything else we eat for dinner (veggies and fruits of course). I don't want to do the baby led weaning exclusively because it is so messy but I don't mind mixing the two together, and I like the idea of offering fresh veggies and fruits - with some chunks - as opposed to pureed jared stuff. It is definitely a journey for us all.

Depressed

I always thought since I am prone to panic and anxiety attacks that I would never get depression. I have really never been depressed except once, and it wasn't an uncontrollable depression, I had good reasons to be depressed. After having Pepper I quickly learned that breast feeding was not as easy as I had hoped. The pain I experienced over the first 4 weeks was insane. On top of being in pain every time we fed, she wanted to eat all the time, and never seemed satisfied. This resulted in a very annoying baby - one who cried all the time and could never be put down, and one who wanted to constantly eat, which caused me pain. It didn't help that I wasn't getting great sleep, and no one could really help me because she would just cry if someone else held her. I was depressed for about 2 months. I wondered what I had done, why wasn't this baby like my last baby - happy? 4 days before she turned 2 months I decided I was done breast feeding and we switched to formula and the depression started to lift. Cranky annoying baby because mostly happy baby and I now could get help with feedings. It was emotional at first, I had failed, again, I could not say my baby was exclusively breast fed, but at least I was emotionally happy and my baby was doing so much better on formula and the bottle. Sometimes I think back and I wish I had stuck with it longer but there is no guarantee it would have gotten any better, I could still be depressed and my baby might still be annoying and cranky. I guess it worked out for the best, I learned a lot about myself and the horrible sides of breast feeding. More than likely the pain from breast feeding was due to an improper latch, one I could not correct over the two month period, and trust me, we tried! I saw a lactation consultant 2 or 3 times and she would also put Pepper on correctly but once I got home it would just not work. The improper latch probably also caused Pepper to be hungry, maybe because she wasn't getting enough? I don't know exactly, Pepper is also on a sensitive formula so maybe the crying had to do with a food sensitivity. Today I can say that she is thriving on formula, she is happy, I am happy, life is much better. Just yesterday Pepper decided that she would start rolling. She has rolled a few times before but yesterday was a marathon, I lost count at how many times she went from back to tummy, and today she even went from tummy back to back. I guess we will be jumping into the next stage pretty soon - crawling! Speaking of jumping, here are a few pictures of a very happy Summer jumping into the bulls eye!

Children

Why do people want children and what is the reason for wanting more? When I was pregnant with Summer I knew that I would only want one child, and I would only end up with one. Well I thought I would but after having her and enjoying her so much I decided I really wanted another one. I had hoped that the horrible pregnancy would be unique to Summer, it wasn't, but Pepper was still worth it. Now that I have two girls I am pretty sure, like 99.5% sure, that I am done having children. There are several reasons to stop here - I am older (I turned 36 a few days ago), and I have horrible pregnancies, and ... well those are two pretty good reasons to be done. Yet part of me still wants more kids, or at least one more. And no, I don't necessarily want a boy either, I would actually prefer another girl. I can't think of one good reason to have another, and I am surprised I would even consider it, even if the consideration is only .05%, because Pepper was not an easy baby. Nothing about her has been easy. She started crying all the time when she turned 2 days old, and not to mention how horrible my breast feeding experience was (a topic for another discussion), so why in the world would I even think about it? AND let's not forget two very unique emergency c-sections. I don't know - what is with women? If I was even going to seriously consider it I would want to wait until Pepper was at least 3 and by then I will be way older than 36! I just think babies are kinda addictive, there is something about them that makes you feel a sense of greater purpose, each baby brings a new person to love and a new person to mold. Luckily I have such a great husband, he didn't want children but let me have one, then he fell in love with her and was on board for #2, and he doesn't really care if I want to have a #3. You think he would, I am miserable pregnant, and I get fat, and I get moody, and he has to help a lot more, but he will do whatever I want, well whatever we want, but for now I don't want another one, at least today, and probably tomorrow. I still need time to figure this #2 child out, find out what she is going to be like, make sure she isn't a difficult toddler. I need to grow into her like I grew into Summer. Maybe in 2 more years, if I find myself to be a healthy 38 year old, who still wants to have another child, well I would be crazy, but hey, crazy people are happy people sometimes :o)

Speaking of crazy people, Summer wanted to go swimming, or play in the sprinklers earlier this week. It was about 85 degrees but it was a bit breezy. Why not, it's not like she would be out there long anyway. Not only did she play in the splash pad, that the Easter bunny brought for Pepper, but Pepper wanted to join her. How in the world do children handle such cold water? Pepper never acted like the water was cold - painfully cold. Summer actually cried because she was so cold, while sitting in the cold water, crying, yet wanting to stay in it lol. I hate cold water, I hate swimming because the water is cold. Sure it doesn't feel as cold after you get in, but the getting in part sucks, I hate it. Maybe you warm up when you move around but you have to stop sometimes and I always get cold! I just don't get it but I also get cold very easily and I don't like being cold one bit! I guess the point is both girls had a good time, they were happy and they didn't end up sick. Crazy I tell ya!

Easter :o)

This year my birthday fell on Easter, it happens sometimes, and it ended up being a great Easter/Birthday weekend. We were extremely busy; dance classes, shopping, eating out, hunting Easter eggs, and I think we were all glad when the weekend finally ended so we could rest - but we did have a nice time.

Easter Eve ...

Easter Morn ...

Easter Afternoon ...

Wow what a weekend!

Purple Princess

We got another outfit in the mail, and I had to model it right away!!! I love it, so purple, so fluffy, so so so ... me! Well so Pepper I guess. And I think she liked it too ;o)

Can't wait to see what comes next - something for Summer too so watch for it.

Happiness

This ... is happiness! At least this week :o) I can't wait to see what kind of happiness we can find next week.

Thanks I Heart Faces for the photo challenge this week.

So Grown Up

4 1/2 Years old and looking so grown up - how did that happen?

Such a girly girl too.

Can't say napkin (nakkin) or sandwich (sannich) correctly yet.

Loves fettucini alfredo / hates spaghetti sauce - what child hates spaghetti sauce? oh ya, mine!

Loves pink & purple things, and her sister Pepper - she such a wonderful big sister.

Still puts her shoes on the wrong feet.

Loves playing pretend, and telling us what to say while she plays (kinda annoying).

Just got her very own iPad (lucky huh?)

Has two small pet turtles that I think she feeds daily.

Doesn't do a great job brushing her teeth, prefers to bite and chew on the toothbrush.

Loves drinking water, and going for walks around the block. And she can skip too.

Makes friends easily, is not shy at all.

Loves to wear skirts and dresses. Doesn't mind me picking out her clothes.

Hates having her hair brushed. Always wakes up with tangles. Hates washing her hair too.

Likes our dog, tolerates our cat - most of the time.

Eats okra, brussel sprouts, asparagus, green beans, peas, cucumber, cauliflower, but not squash. Or mushrooms.

Doesn't clean her room - or anything else, yet.

Loves to dance. Likes to sing.

Likes her hair pushed behind her ears. Her big ears.

Likes coffee ice cream like her dad - yuck.

Loves books, reads some words.

Ready to turn 5, can't wait to have a birthday party :o)

Here she is a few days ago - spring photos!