It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Tonight Auntie Theresa & Uncle Gord came over to watch Connor and Camryn so that Derek and I could finish up our Christmas shopping, and go for dinner. It was amazing how much you can accomplish when you don't have to unbuckle car seats and manage children in carts! It was a chilly day to be out, -31C, but despite the deep freeze, I finally got into the Christmas spirit! For some reason, when I am not working, and not around all the decorations, parties, potlucks, etc., that come with being at work, Christmas just seems to sneak up on me, and I never feel into it until it's almost too late! In fact, we haven't even put up our tree yet, but that is our plan for tomorrow, and we may even decorate a gingerbread house!

Camryn: She's been a cranky one of late.  We used to count on her falling asleep around 7-8pm, and sleeping until the wee hours of the morning. She'd do a 6-7 hour stretch no problem. For the last week or so, it's been a struggle to get her down before 10pm and then she's up every 3 hours like clock-work all night long. Maybe it's a growth spurt, but we also think it could be teething! She's drooling like crazy, and always has her hands in her mouth, but it's hard to say. Connor's first tooth was at around 8 months, so this seems so early!




Back on November 30th I got her weighed and measured. Her stats are:
11lbs, 3oz
24in

So, she seems to be gaining at a similar pace as her brother, slow and steady.

Hmm, what else is new? She is getting better at grabbing things, and she's become a HUGE splasher in the bath tub! Most nights I just take her in the tub with me, because giving her a bath in the baby tub gets me, and everything else completely soaked, so I might as well just  have a bath too!

Her hair is hilarious! She's rubbed most of it off around the back and sides, but it's still so long on top it's in to her eyes! She's basically given herself a mohawk!

She babbles like crazy, and is starting to make mmm and baaa sounds, which is totally cute! She's also in love with teddy bears of all kind! It's neat to see the differences between her and Connor, who was not a babbler, and not in to stuffies much at all.

Camryn is growing up so fast! it seems like just a blink of an eye and another week, another month, has gone by!  Mommy and Daddy are looking forward to your first Christmas baby girl!

 Connor: He's turning into a big kid right before my eyes. Yesterday we went to see Santa, and though he was very excited the whole way there, when he saw Santa, he got a little wary about actually having to sit on his lap. So what did he say?  "Camryn first!" That's right - send your baby sister out to test the waters! Once Camryn was safely sitting on one knee, Connor was okay to get on the other, and when asked what he'd like for Christmas, he said the same thing he's been asking for for over a month, "A Diego toy!"

After seeing Santa, we headed to Superstore to pick up some things, and had a huge scare - just as we were self-checking our last few items, Connor says he's going to play hide and seek, and starts backing away. And even as I was saying no, not here, he darts away. I'm sure I see him go around a Christmas display, and I hear his little giggle, but when I look around it, he's gone, just like that. After an agonizing 10 minutes, alerting staff, security, and managers, Derek finally spies him, with a staff member, being asked where his parents were. The scariest part of it all? Connor still just thought we were playing a game. "I was finding you!" he said as we were reunited.

We did our best to explain to him that not all people are nice, and that Mommy and Daddy would be very sad if he ran away in a big store and we couldn't find him. I explained what strangers are, and why it's important to stay with us when we are out. He remembered it today, so I am hoping something stuck with him. It was terrifying to say the least, and my heart aches thinking of how differently it could have ended. My big boy... getting so independent, still so unaware of what's out there. Don't grow up too fast, my little man, I miss the days when you had no desire to be out of arms reach.

She rolled!!

Well, yesterday Camryn turned three months old, and today she just turned!! It was a little scary actually, because I had her on the kitchen table attempting to get enough light to take some pictures, and she just rolled from her tummy to her back! I had thought it may be coming, because the last few times on her tummy, she seemed to want to go on her side, but today she went right over, and quickly! So, I'm going to be giving her some more tummy time tomorrow to see if I can confirm this roll!

Here's a picture, just seconds before the elusive roll was witnessed! :)

Where does the time go?

It's been a few weeks since I've updated, it's amazing how fast the time goes! I've taken a renewed interest in my camera lately so I have quite a few pictures to post, but first let me get to what is new with the kids:

Camryn - We had her follow up appointment with the pediatrician on November 16th, and he also agrees with the milk protein allergy theory. Since I last posted, there has been no blood showing up in her diapers, so that's definitely a step in the right direction. She weighed 10 pounds 12 ounces at her appointment, so she's still gaining weight albeit even more slowly than Connor, who was a half pound lighter at birth, and over 12 pounds at 3 months old. Camryn is three months tomorrow, but I'm fairly certain she hasn't broken the 12 pound mark yet! I'm planning on taking her in to get weighed on Monday.  A few days ago I foolishly thought I should try something  that 'may contain milk' and the next day she barely slept, spit up a ton, and pooped like crazy! So, it'll be a long time before I try that again!

In other news, Camryn is starting to grab at things, loves playing with my fingers, and has let out a few tiny chuckles! She's trying to roll from back to tummy, and if she's sitting fairly upright will attempt to get into a sitting position. She's really turned into a little person - I see more of her personality every day, and I can tell this little angel is going to be a troublemaker!

Connor - Ah, my big boy Connor. He's having a rough go lately. I think he may FINALLY be getting his last set of molars. I thought he was a little sick, like we all were, but he's sticking his fingers in his mouth again, and his cheeks are red. He finally got rid of the soother a few weeks back too, which is a huge relief to me, I hated that thing! It was an accident really, we couldn't find it so he just had to go without! He asked about it for three days I think, and hasn't mentioned it since! Derek actually jokingly tried to stick Camryn's in his mouth and he threw it away, and said, "I'm not a baby!!" He's also not napping any more, though to be honest I think he still needs it because he gets so ornery in the afternoons. Tonight he fell asleep in Derek's lap at about 5 o'clock. It was really sweet, but then he absolutely did not want to be in bed at bedtime, he fought us for almost two hours! So, we won't be letting that happen again!

He really does love being a big brother, he's quite gentle with Camryn for the most part, and loves to give her hugs and kisses. He's going through a very rebellious phase though, and I'm not sure if it's just his age, or if he's upset about having to share the attention. He's started hitting when angry, and kicking, and saying "NO!" quite emphatically to pretty much anything we ask of him. He does things he knows he shouldn't do, and when you tell him to stop, he will say, "I don't want to!" and carry on with even more tenacity.  When he goes to his room for a time out,(he never stayed put in a chair) he will scream, throw toys, and hit the door, but, when he calms down, we ask him what he learned, and he will always say in the sweetest voice, "No hitting, sorry for hitting mommy." And it just melts my heart - until the next time, anyway! I try to do one-on-one things with him as much as possible during the day, but I need to do more. Thankfully Camryn is finally able to amuse herself for short periods of time, so hopefully I can give a little more to my firstborn. He's got a tough role to play, and I want to be there for him, every step of the way.

 

 

 

Where do I start?!?!

Well, it has been a long time since I have posted. I think I need to designate a specific evening for blogging before all other things, so at least I can ensure one update per week! Life has kept us busy the past few weeks.

Camryn seems to be having some health issues. Over the past three weeks she has spit up blood, and had some blood show up in her stools. We've had her to three separate ER's, and the current diagnosis is that she is allergic to the cow's milk protein that is in my breast milk. So, I have been completely dairy free for about 9 days now. The thing is, she seems to be getting worse, nor better, so we aren't sure what to think! The last Dr at the Stollery Hospital has referred us to a pediatrician to investigate things further, but we don't get to see him until the 16th of November, so until then we are supposed to just wait, unless we start seeing new symptoms, which we haven't- it's just that the old symptoms are showing up more often. She's still healthy and happy(aside from when she's cranky!) so we are just biding our time until the appointment.

Camryn had her two month shots on Tuesday, and she screamed like crazy during them! Connor came along and was not impressed with the nurse for hurting his little sister! She was also weighed and measured, and her stats are:

Weight: 10lbs 5oz
Height: 22.25oz

She's in the 50th percentile for both height and weight, but despite being half a pound heavier than Connor at birth, she weighs a few ounces less than he did at two months. I'm not sure if she is just going to be a very slow gainer, as Connor is, or if this is something related to her health issues.  Once again, we'll just have to wait and see!

In other news, this was Connor's first year of Trick Or Treating for Halloween, and he had a blast! We went with his cousins Courtney and Jacob in Fort Saskatchewan, and then popped in at Oma and Opa's house for a special treat at the end of the night. After every house Connor would say, "Now what house are we going to?" And he actually tried to walk in to a few houses if they had a pet! He didn't nap that day so by the end of the night he was having trouble even walking down the steps of people's houses! He still asks if we can go again! Thankfully  he doesn't know how long a year is, because he seems okay when we tell him we will go again next year!

Today I attempted raking the leaves with Cami in the Snugli, and Connor helping.  It was +17 today so we just couldn't stay inside!! Connor took off into the back yard and drove his quad, but Camryn fell asleep, so I managed to get half the fron done while raking with one hand! I made a decent pile just as Derek came home from work, so he snapped a few photos!

Snow already.

When we were out shopping yesterday, I picked Connor up a new pair of winter boots. He  picked them out, actually, and was very excited to wear them, but I told him he didn't need to wear them yet, as there was no snow. Well, wasn't he excited this morning to find a layer of snow on the ground when he woke up! He ran over to the deck and said, "Snow?? It's winter time, I need my boots!!!!" And it was all I could do to get some breakfast in him before he had to head outside. It was quite windy though, so he came in pretty quickly!!

Thankfully, most of the snow has melted, but the forecast is much the same for the next two weeks, so I am sure Connor will have many more chances to get out in the snow!

Another weigh in.

Yesterday was a good day! Despite the fact that Camryn threw up what seemed to be twice her body weight first thing yesterday morning, she was much happier than the day before, and actually slept pretty much all morning, so I decided to be brave and head out with both kids by myself for the first time! It was a quick trip to Superstore to get some fall clothes for the kids. (Superstore is one of the few places where the pants have adjustable waistbands, which is a necessity if I am to get pants that fit Connor in both length and width). I put Camryn in my sling, and Connor in the cart, and it went really well! Both kids stayed happy and well behaved the whole time! (Of course, Camryn was asleep, and I promised Connor a toy!) We picked out some clothes, got Connor some moon sand, and then headed home!

Back in Gibbons I thought I should stop and get Camryn weighed again, as it had been just over two weeks. Since my wee ones are slow gainers, I get a bit obsessive of their weight gain at first. Camryn weighed in at 9 pounds 9.5 ounces, which is up 10 ounces from her last weigh in, 16 days ago. Most kids will gain an ounce a day or more at this age, so it seems like she will be just like her brother - in the weight gain department at least!

All in all, it was a good day!  And here's a couple of Camryn's latest pictures, in one of her new sleepers:

Not all babies are the same...

I am constantly amazed at how much Camryn cries. Today she literally cried more than she slept, and it just breaks my heart that I can't fix her. Sometimes I think she just has a hard time falling asleep, because she always cries when she is tired. She will go from smiling and happy, to crying in almost an instant, and I know she's tired because in the moments she is calm her eyes will droop closed. I wonder if I just need to try getting her to sleep sooner, but, she doesn't give much warning before the crying to let me know she is tired. Her back arches and her legs flail around too, and, she farts like a champion, so maybe it is colic like the Dr. said, though the gas drops don't seem to do anything. Connor wasn't nearly this bad as a newborn, so this is a whole new ball game to me.

And speaking of Connor, I feel bad for him too because he never gets any attention during the day, I am always holding Camryn, or feeding Camryn. It's no wonder he's starting to act out. I get so frustrated with him, and then I just feel terrible because I know he'd be a million times happier if I could just give him more one-on-one time. I hope that Camryn gets through this stage soon so that our household can find it's balance again.