Night Night time, A Family Affair

"Seed Cake"

A few weeks ago when we could actually GO to the park in the morning before breaking a sweat, Ava found a big seed. I'm not sure what kind, but she was so proud of it. She decided that she wanted to use it to make "seed cake". She collected a few other pieces from nature, flowers, grass, bark, etc and we headed home to make this cake. I was curious how it was going to pan out.

She told me what her ingredients were: flour, opameal, water, sugar, and of course, her seeds and things.

She mixed it all together and put it in a pan. We baked it and out came "seed cake". I made cookies alongside of her, with most of the same ingredients (minus the seeds) so we could actually eat something. Although I told her it was her seed cake she was eating. Shhhh....

A Girl and her Dollhouse

I had to be sneaky to photograph her playing because she didn't want any pictures. So while I was snapping, she was hearing "Smile Griffin" "Good one, Griff", etc., as if I was taking pictures of him.

I just wanted to capture her intensity and love for pretend play. She loves her dollhouse and plays with it almost everyday. I love to hear her whispering conversations among the mommy, daddy, and kids. And she'll set up different scenes on the floor, mostly.

THREE....What a fun (albeit challenging) age!

Wordless Wednesday: Discovering Hands

Happy TWO months Griffin!

My little, er BIG, man is 2 months old. Another month down. So bittersweet, again.

Ava and I made your monthsie. She insisted on decorating it with a pink marker.











Some details of being 2 months:

STATS:
12 lbs. 13 oz. He is a BIG boy!

No vaccinations yet, waiting until 4 months.

SLEEP (the number one question people ask):

Sleep is so much better. Just this past week he has been sleeping 4-6 hour stretches. This beats the 3 hour stretches he gave us for the first 7 weeks.

Griffin is starting to need a routine, which is really neat. He is needing to be in bed by about 7:00 or 7:30. Then he sleeps until about 1:00ish. Then he is up again to eat about 5:00ish. Goes back down until about 7:30ish.

Napping is also getting pretty routine. He takes a 30 minute cat-nap about an hour after he gets up, so about 8:30ish. Then he naps again while we are out and about doing our thing.

His afternoon nap is AWESOME. He goes down about 1:30ish and will sleep for about 3 hours. He is napping in his crib in his own room. Then he takes another 20-30 minutes cat-nap in the swing, usually while we eat, around 5:30ish. Then night-night at about 7:30, same time as Ava.

Griff is still sleeping in the bassinet in our room. We decided to try and not use any crutches that could create bad sleeping habits, i.e. the swing, the bassinet vibrator, etc. and he can already be put down groggy but awake and self-soothe on his own to go to sleep. He is a paci LOVER. He really has the need to suck and is starting to try his hands. I keep trying to force the paci.

So that is all falling into place.

EATING:

Griffin is also pretty regulated in this department too. Aside from growth spurts, he eats about every 3 hours. Although in the past week it is turning into every 4 hours. And within the past few days, he is obviously in a growth spurt, it has been every 2-4 hours.

He nurses very efficiently. I really like this because with another child, not mentioning any names, feedings could last 45-60 minutes...not kidding. He is not a lazy eater and can nurse in about 15 minutes, that's both sides.

I am still exclusively breastfeeding and have pumped a few times and he took the bottle like a champ. His first bottle was around 6 weeks. He took another when Gigi and Poppy stayed with the kids while daddy and I went to an engagement party.

DIAPERS:

Griff's poopy diapers have slowed down, going from one at nearly every diaper change, to about 2-4 a day. He is almost always wet when I change him, it's no wonder b/c he eats a lot, obviously.

He is already wearing size 2 diapers. I like that they are a little big b/c we don't do a lot diaper changes at night, unless there are poopies.

CLOTHES:

Griffin is mostly in 3-6 month clothing right now. His 0-3 month GAP jammies still fit, but others are not fitting. All his onesies are 3-6 month.

OTHER:

His eyes are definitely going to be blue.

He loves to snuggle and lay facing in on our chests. The opposite of his sister who liked to face out from the get-go.

He is a tummy sleeper. After many failed attemps of swaddling and/or putting on his back, we finally figured out what worked for him. It makes sense when you think about how he likes to be held. We made sure we felt comfortable with his ability to move his head from side-to-side and he has a strong neck. It just worked for him.

Griff could smile for days at his sister, his daddy, and myself. He loves to babble and talk to us also.

He took his first bath with his sister, he in his tub, she in the big tub, tonight. What joy!

Farmer's Market

We love going to the Farmers Market on Saturday mornings. It's great fun to listen to the little band, buy DELICIOUS fruits and veggies, eat popcorn, and see what local items there are to purchase. On this day, Ava picked zucchini, squash, strawberries, and canteloupe. Mommy picked orange tomatoes--the best sweet tomatoes I've ever had!!-- and onions.

Ava loves to get her face painted, so when we saw this, she HAD to have, what else, a princess face.

Oh, and Daddy was a trooper and gave blood.

We love Farmers Market Saturdays!!

Our Mall Playdate

The mall seems to be our safe place these days. I say safe place because as I'm still adjusting to having outings with two in tow, the mall is accomodating to our every need while helping me feel comfortable (and confident) enough to get out and about. There is tons to do; be it the bookstore, the carousel, the ice skating rink, the toy store, the Disney store, the indoor play area and let's not forget the cookie place!

Recently we met up with some friends of ours and played for hours. Ava and L got along so well and had a great time!

Here is Ava making silly faces while we take a minute to feed Griffin in the nursing lounge. She loves to be my helper in here.

Staycation to the Arbuckle "mountains"

This past weekend we took an impromptu 'staycation' up north about 100 miles to what Oklahoma deems the Arbuckle "Mountains", which cracks me up. However, it was a nice getaway and an exciting one for Ava. We started out by going to Arbuckle Wilderness, a drive-thru safari adventure. We saw emus, deer, buffalo, lions, wolves, giraffes, zebras, antelope, just tons and tons of animals. Ava was even brave enough to hand-feed a few, including camels.

After our safari, we headed over to Turner Falls, a natural spring and waterfall park. It was actually a great day for the hot and humid July summer. Overcast and a little bit of rain to cool us off. Ava and Daddy waded in the springs while Griff and I watched. We visited the 77 ft. waterfall and even did a little exploring. We decided to take a nature walk and check out a real cave! Ava thought the cave was the neatest thing. She and daddy crawled to get in and hung out in there for a good 15 minutes. Griffin and I were trying to find a tree to hide under to avoid getting (more) soaked. He was such a trooper. As long as he is in his baby carrier right next to mama, all is good in his world.

We headed home and stopped in Grapevine to finish out our safari at the Rainforest Cafe. What a treat! Ava insisted all the animals in there were real and again, had a blast.

Once we arrived home, we had an exhausted family of four. Griffin actually slept his first 6 hour stretch, which hasn't happened since.

We took lots of pictures of our exciting road trip. Enjoy!