So I have been thinking more about firsts. . .and some firsts are pretty great! Like the first time you hear the baby’s heartbeat while in the early stages of pregnancy. That heart beat signals so many things, it is the confirmation of a new life, the assurance that everything is ok and it is the start of all of the hopes you have for that little baby. The first ultrasound, seeing the little baby profile and little baby hands and toes and everything in between. To be honest, every time you hear the baby’s heartbeat and see it move on an ultrasound is pretty amazing.
However the first time you hear your newborn cry and they place it in your arms for the first time is indescribable. You feel a love that people try to explain to you when you are pregnant, but can only understand when you experience it. The first time you hear their little voice say “mama” is another first that can’t be explained with words.
I am realizing with Rylan that there are some “girl” firsts that I am so happy to experience. For example, taking your baby girl to get her ears pieced . . .well the expression on my face says it all! When Rylan was a little over 2 months old we took her to become a little lady or as my grandparents say “a true Italian baby” and got her ears pierced. Jared was very nervous, he literally made us go to every piercing place at the mall to “scope” out the piercers. Like he could tell by looking at them the caliber of their piercing skills. Thankfully a former student’s mother was working, and I knew she was the perfect person to do it. I think I was so excited to get Rylan’s ears pierced because it was the first “girly” thing we got to do together as mother and daughter.
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November brought our 5 year anniversary. It is amazing what the last five years have brought. . .there is the obvious; we went from a family of 2 to a family of 4. But in the last five years my heart has filled with more love than I ever thought possible, even before the kids arrived. I can tell you how I married my best friend, how I fell even more in love with him when I watched him become a father, how he makes me happier today than he did 5 years ago and all that would be true. What I can’t tell you, what I can’t seem to find the words for is how the last 5 years have been so bittersweet. I feel truly lucky to have such a beautiful family, I look at them daily and thank my lucky stars for them. Almost daily I also look at them and think, “my dad would have been the best Papa.” I see some of his mannerisms in Jackson and almost instinctually Jackson will look at old photos of my dad and say “papa” Daily I think about how lucky I am to have such a beautiful family, but I also think daily about my dad and how much joy he would have also found in my beautiful family.
November also brought a fussy Rylan. As I mentioned last month, Jackson was a chow hound. He would eat anytime, anywhere, anything. I had to cut him off from nursing and limit his bottles and then there is Rylan. The girl hates nursing, has the worst latch ever, which leads to her getting a lot of air, which leads to a lot of gas. I need to talk a little bit more about this gas. . .
We have never experienced anything quite like it. In the morning we would open her door and be over come by an oder. Our immediate thought was, aww poor girl pooped in her sleep and has been sitting in it. We would hurry to her crib and find her all nestled into her sleep sack, sleeping like an angel. We would rouse her and change her only to find NOTHING! Our baby girl pretty much spends every night dutch ovening herself. If you aren’t familiar with the term “dutch oven” you will want to google it for a good laugh.
Ok back tot he eating. . .It took most of the month to figure out that my breastmilk and her stomach didn’t mix well. We slowly switched her to gentlese formula and her gas lessened (with the help of baby gas x with EVERY bottle) and she also started to eat more and more. She was averaging about 12-15 oz a day and when we switched to formula she went up to close to 20 which for her is ALOT!!
She finally picked up on how to roll over and would roll from her tummy to her back and her back to her tummy. She doesn’t do it with the finesse nor the ease that Jackson did it with, but she did it and each time her expression was pure shock. . .like did I just really do that?!?!?
Jackson continues to adore his “sissy” he loves being with her. Anytime we do something or go somewhere he will say “sissy too?” and I will ask him if he wants “sissy to come” and his response is always an excited “yeah!” He loves taking baths with her, sitting next to her, brings her toys and feels very strongly that she needs a blanket most of the time. It is so much fun watching his personality grow and having more and more conversations with him.
Jackson slowly fell in love with a jolly old man named Santa. When he first learned about this Santa fellow he was very cautious. We have a dancing santa that he was very cautious around at first. He insisted on holding mommy or daddy’s hand when he first met this dancing santa. After reading a Santa Story several times, hanging out with dancing Santa, and having fun with the snow track with a lot of Santas he joined every other child and developed a love for Santa. The Santa Speedway is a toy from my childhood. It is so much fun to see my own kids enjoying something I loved so much as a kid. I can’t imagine being my mom, watching her grandchild (who looks so much like her children at his age) playing with a toy that she watched us play with.
Sorry for the shakiness of this video, but Jackson is a much better coolie shaker when you are shaking along with him.
Rylan had her first playdate this month. My friend Chassidy had her little girl 4 days after Rylan was born. As we were walking out of the labor and deliver department to bring Rylan home, Chassidy was checking in. She didn’t know if she was having a boy or a girl, but when we found out it was a girl we knew they would be buddies. It was nice to have another momma around, we would go for walks together and swap stories about our little ladies. Rylan and Cambrie hung out many times before this playdate, however, they were always in their strollers and one or both of them were usually asleep. It was fun watching them “play”
Rylan and Cambrie finally play outside of their Strollers!!
November in upstate NY brings warm fall days and snowy cold winter ones. You can see from the photos that it was nice enough for us to go back to the fish hatchery, rake leaves, and play outside. However, you can also see from the photos that it was cold enough for snow to stick to the ground and for Jackson to play in the snow for the first time. It was so much fun to watch him walk on the snowy driveway for the first time. You might remember that “ball” was one of Jackson’s first words, so it would only be fitting that he loves snowballs. . . someday he will have full blown snowball fights I am sure!
Thanksgiving was fun. . . Jackson had so much fun with all of his cousins. Since my family celebrates on Friday, he had two days fun! He loves playing with Gavin and Gavin’s cousin Olivia was in town, so he had two little kids to run around and play with. On Friday he loved running around the cabin with Aiofe and Nolan (my two cousin’s kids) and they also got to play in the snow together. I am sure that he was very confused on Saturday, he probably spent most of the day wondering when he was going to go play with all those fun kids again??!!?? I had a lot of fun getting Rylan a Thanksgiving outfit. . .I mean look at that tutu!!
Enjoy the photos. . .
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