2 months old!

My sweet girl turned 2 months old this week! She is smiling and talking more and more every day. And yes, that crazy hair just keeps on growing.



Kendall sleeps thru the night (8 or 10 PM to 5 AM) periodically - she will do it 2 or 3 nights in a row and then off for 2 or 3 nights. Kevin and I are definitely ready for her to sleep every night. Last night, though, she had her best night yet. She went down around 9, I think, and slept until 8 this morning. I'm guessing that the shots she had at the doctor yesterday afternoon contributed to her sleeping. She was not herself yesterday, and she fell asleep in her swing, in her kick and play, and in Kevin's lap - this isn't really like her.

Kendall often goes 4 hours between meals thruout most of the day, rather than the 2 1/2 to 3 hour spans that were typical not long ago. In the late afternoon and evening, her meals are still a little closer together. We still haven't settled into a regular bed time, but we're working on it.

As an infant, Haley went 4 hours between meals from the time she was less than a week old. She started sleeping thru the night about 3 nights before she turned 6 weeks old, and kept this up until she was 8 weeks old. Then, for about 10 days, she got up once during the night before returning to all night sleep.

Kendall is definitely a cuddler. She likes to be held up high on your shoulder so she can be close and still see what's going on around her. She also likes to be held in the middle of your chest - she will burrow in by rubbing her little face on your chest. She also, more and more, likes to be held in a sitting up position where she can see what's going on around her.

Kendall seems to recognize Haley. When she is awake and alert, she is very interested in what Haley is doing and saying. Haley often gets very close to Kendall and speaks or sings to her. Kendall turns her head to Haley and opens her mouth to show her interest. Haley says things like 'Hi, sweetie!' or 'Hi, sister!' When Kendall gets fussy, Haley may say 'It's ok, sister. Just take a little rest.' It's very cute. Haley still loves to hold Kendall.

Kendall rarely takes a pap (unlike baby Haley), and she doesn't spit up often (also unlike Haley). She naps plenty during the day. This is also unlike Haley, who didn't nap well during the day but who slept like a champ at night.

Kendall weighed in at 12 lb 8 oz at her 2 month checkup- this is just 5 oz less than Haley weighed at 4 months ;) Kendall's weight put her in the 97th percentile for two month olds. Kendall's height was 22 7/8 inches (about 75th percentile), and her head circumference was 15 (25th percentile). At 2 months old, Haley weighed 10 lb 15.5 oz and was 22 1/2 inches long.

Kendall got 1 immunization by mouth (roto virus) and 4 shots - DTAP, Hib, hepatitis B, and Pneumococcal Conjugate. I wonder how different the vaccination schedules will be when my girls have babies.

Play time with Jackson, Jake, and Marie

The girls and I had a fun morning earlier this week with Stacey, Jackson, Helen, Jake, and Marie. Haley, Jackson, and Jake were so much fun to watch. They did a great job playing together.

Jackson is doing a great job with the bouncing - he climbed in and out of some of the equipment on his own.



Click here to see Jackson play

Jake is a great big brother!



The kids enjoyed their pizza lunch - Haley, of course, ate more pizza than anyone else (including the grown ups).



Baby Ri has her 4 month checkup next week - Kendall will have her 2 month checkup. It will be interesting to see what each of them weighs - I think Kendall may weigh as much, if not more, than Miss Marie!



Check out video below of all the kids.

Happy July 4!

We had a fun July 4 weekend. The weekend started with a visit with Mara and family. We got to meet Mara and Kevin's son, David, and Mara and Kevin got to meet Kendall. David is such a cutie, and he had a fun time playing with the vintage toys at Marynell's house.



Here are the Maases with baby K.



The Starnes and the Maases.



Before we headed to my grandmother's house for a July 4 celebration, we tried another bottle with Kendall. Up to this point, she wasn't all that crazy about her bottles. We switched her to a higher flow nipple, and she did much better. I love this picture of Kendall looking at Kevin while he feeds her.



Friday evening we had dinner at the Wooten's. Haley had a blast picking blueberries - but she had even more fun eating them!



She had no trouble sharing her blue berries with others, including her great grandmama Jenkins, who joined the Wootens for dinner.



My aunt Cathy gave Haley the job of putting American flag stickers on all of the cups. Haley quickly took ownership of this duty, and she took great pride in telling everyone about the cups and making sure everyone got one - she was a great little hostess. Haley also got to help Lisa blow out her birthday candles.

My dad says we use Haley and Kendall as an excuse to take his picture ;)



We headed to the lake on Saturday to spend time with the Starnes. Luckily, Kendall slept through the night Friday and Saturday night - Thursday night she did not cooperate very well.

The kids love riding on the golf cart. They love it so much, they even ate lunch on it on Saturday.



Aunt Tami spent some quality time with me and Kendall while the family was on the boat on Saturday - she even found Kendall's tickle spot and got lots of smiles out of her! I haven't been able to do this myself.



The whole family (minus me and Kendall) enjoyed the fire works Saturday night. On Sunday, I got to go for a boat ride with Haley, Kevin, Sandra, Hank, and Wyatt. Haley got to ride on the tube with her dad - video is below. Note how well Haley plays along when I ask her questions on video.



Click here to see video of Haley's tube ride

Happy July 4!!!!!!!

Haley's 1st trip to the dentist

Haley had her first dentist's check up last week. I was SO pleasantly surprised - she did a fabulous job! She cooperated fully while they cleaned and flossed her teeth, treated them with flouride, and examined them. As my mom points out, kids are better for others than they are for their parents - Haley used to protest pretty regularaly while I tried to brush her teeth. She's doing better, though. We've done a pretty good job this summer of brushing twice a day, and we've kept up with that. We need to be flossing, too, and we haven't started that yet. Hopefully, I can start that routine before I go back to work.

The dentist told us that kids don't need juice at all - not even when it's watered down. We've pretty much eliminated juice since then - Haley was drinking plain water before, and she's getting more and more used to it now. Kevin still insists on giving her juice, but she only gets water with me.

We were also told that it's a good idea for kids (and grown ups) to drink a little water after each meal if they're not planning on brushing right away.

Here is a video of Haley's teeth cleaning.



Below is a video of Haley checking out her fabulous prizes.

Sleeping thru the night!

Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday nights, Kendall slept thru the entire night! The first two nights she went down sometime after 9 and slept until after 5. The 3rd night she slept until around 6:30ish. Last night, she woke up around 3:30 and I ended up feeding her. But we're excited that she seems to be on track for sleeping thru the night consistently.

Kendall had a great day on Wednesday. She spent alot of time awake and did some great talking for us.



On Tuesday, we went to an indoor amusement park with Jackson and Stacey. I don't have any pictures, but I do have a video of Haley and Jackson on a mini ferris wheel - video is below.

Kendall spent her first night in her crib Friday night. I was a little sad not to have her next to me in the cradle, but I think we both slept much better in separate rooms. She ate around 8 or 9 AM, again at 12:30, and again at 4:30 AM. She slept until 8ish Saturday morning.

Kendall had a GREAT day on Saturday. She was very happy, very alert, and she spent alot of time awake.

I bathed Kendall in the shower with me Saturday morning. After I bathed her, I wrapped her in a towel and put her in her little bath tub while I started getting dressed. She was so happy, she sat there for awhile by herself and even smiled at me. Here's the first smile I've been able to capture on camera!





Saturday night, I left bottles with Kevin and went to my mom's house to get a good night's sleep. I slept around 7 hours, and I was surprised that I felt really sluggish this morning. I guess it will take awhile to catch up.

Wouldn't you know that the night I decide to spend away, Kendall sleeps better than ever! I fed her around 8 PM Saturday night, she went to sleep around 10 PM, and she didn't eat again until 4:30! Kevin says he woke up around 4 from a hard sleep and was startled to see what time it was. He went in her room to make sure she was still breathing (I can't believe HE actually did this). At 4:30 or so, she cried, and he got up to make her a bottle. She actually fell back asleep while he was heating it up, and she only took about 2 ounces. We both agree that she might not have needed to eat at all. Kendall woke up this morning around 7:30.

Haley had a big day Saturday, too. We took her, Bianka, and Jess skating on Saturday. She only skated for awhile before asking to take her skates off, but she still had a good time.



Saturday night, Haley went to a birthday party for her friends Jasmyn and Tre. Haley was so excited to give Jasmyn her present - a Cinderella dress ;) Haley and Jasmyn (ESPECIALLY Haley) had so much fun together, and they acted very silly. Here are the silly girls and all the kids at the party.





Click here to see video of Jas and Tre's surprise!

Busy Week

The girls and I have had a pretty busy week or so. I've been trying to find things to keep Haley as busy as possible - we've gone to the movies, to a bounce play house (one of Haley's favorite places), and to visit both of Haley and Kendall's great grandmothers. One morning this week and last week, Marynell stayed with Kendall so that Haley and I could do something fun just the two of us. The first morning we saw a movie (Doogal). The second morning together we also tried to see a movie, but it didn't work out, so we went to bounce. There was no one there except us when we first arrived, so the staff allowed me to bounce on the equipment with Haley. She seemed to really enjoy this, and I did, too!

Kendall joined us on one trip to the bounce play house this week - she slept through it. Part 1 of her nap took place in her car seat; part 2 took place in the Baby Bjorn.



Here are the girls with their great grandmother Jenkins.



Haley still loves to hold her sister.



Haley attended her first Pony Pals session at the zoo with Marynell last week. Mom has been trying to get her into this class for awhile. Haley and her friend Anna got to work together to groom Blondie, and then they both got to ride. Haley and Kevin with to a family reunion at the beach over the weekend, where Haley had a blast playing with her cousins and family members. Kendall and I had a nice quiet weekend here at home.

Kendall attended her first 'Girls Night' last night. My girl friends from high school (and middle school, and elementary...and in one case, even kindergarten!) came over for an appetizer night. Kendall refused to be left out - she did not want to sleep in her crib or cradle, so she spent much of the night sleeping in Leila's arms. Kendall also got to meet Braeden last night, a potential future boyfriend;)