Taylor Grace - 11 weeks old

This baby girl is quite a treasure! She's really starting to show her personality and her desire to socialize with those she knows is growing. Taylor "talks" to people she is familiar with and studies those she's not. She's incredibly laid back and quite easily goes with the flow. All she asks is that you change her poopy diapers promptly, keep a snuggly blankey near her face or over her face when she's tired, only offer her a paci when she's tired, feed her at least every 4 hours during the day, snuggle her close in new places.
This week she had a few firsts! Taylor loves to sit in the bumbo seat while we eat meals! She's just the right height to interact with us and can sit up to see everything. We don't often put her in it other than meals but for that specific time it's a huge blessing! Taylor also started riding front facing in the moby and bjorn from time to time... especially around the house.
She's holding her head up so well when on her tummy! She'll stay on her tummy for long stretches and occasionally she will roll over. Totally unrelated but funny... she smiles so big until I get the camera out and then she just studies it. It's so funny to try and coax big grins out of her when the camera is nearby!
Taylor has learned to bat at things in her view. She's growing more and more accurate with her aim. It's so sweet to see her reach out to "touch" our faces when we're close to her.
This baby girl LOVES her brother and she lights up when he's nearby. Thankfully, the feeling is mutual!
She's begun to enjoy (well, that might be a bit of a stretch) her carseat a bit more. She's happy in it as long as she's not tired. If she's tired then she wants the car moving! Needless to say, sometimes I plan the route of my trip (highway vs thru town) based on if she's tired or not!
We love you Taylor Gracie - Nathan's new name for her!

Wordless Wednesday

Fun in the snow

We love our neighbors and our culdesac is a pretty tight knit community. Of course when it snowed 7 inches, typical of this area of the south, the whole city basically shut down, and everyone came together to play. Here are the pictures of some of our snow adventures... snowboarding, tubing, sledding, pile ups, wind, sledding down a HUGE hill right off the highway, igloos, so much fun!!

Nathan will do just about anything that Mitchell and Savannah will do... thankfully they are awesome kiddos and great examples for him to look up to. Sledding with this crew, Nathan's fearless attitude was in high gear. He was sledding like a pro all day. Chad and I were shocked he did the BIG hill by himself, and that he was able to walk back up the big hill. He did it so many times! This kiddo loves an adrenaline rush!

We woke up this morning to 7+ inches of snow. It started falling on Christmas around 10 am and finally stopped today around 4pm. It's beautiful!

Taylor Grace 10 weeks old

  Bring on the cuteness!!!!  Little Taylor Grace, you are absolutely adorable, amazingly laid back, and super snuggly.  You love to be held too!  You’ve learned how to giggle a bit this week and you are talking to us more and more.  You’re “oooooo”  and “hiiiiiiiii” are such sweet music to our ears.  You light up when Nathan walks into the room and he always gets a smile from you!  You’ve moved up into 0-3 month clothes too!!!  They are still swimmingly big, but so much easier to get on!  You’ve also moved up to a size small cloth diaper!  The one size diapers are still huge on you.  You weigh 10 pounds and 1 ounce!  You study things intently and you study people as well. If you don’t know someone, you are not likely to smile at them.  You have really taken a liking to MAM pacis and I’m so thankful!  You’ll only suck on one when you are really tired though.  When you’re tired, you want a soft minky blankie to snuggle with.  We lay it beside your face and you turn your head as far as you can into the blankie.  If it were up to you, it’d be covering your whole face.  You love to hold a blankie too.  So precious!  Whenever you get the chance, you try to put your thumb or fingers in your month, especially when you are tired or hungry.  You are a soooooo laid back and easily go with the flow.  You rarely cry and when you do, you’re easily consoled.  You sleep from 830pm until 730/830 am every night.  We do a “dream feeding” at 11ish, but the rest of the night you’re sleeping peacefully.  You sleep well in your Moses basket and in your crib but you have to be swaddled with a soft blankie by your face and another thick blanket over you.  Taylor you are such a joy and we are so blessed that you are a part of our family!

 

Wordless Wednesday

2 months looks good on you girl!

Big Brother

Nathan is proving to be an awesome big brother!!!  He loves to talk to Taylor Grace and share toys with her.  He’s even dropped a few goldfish into her carseat while riding down the road.  The other morning, we were running behind and I needed some help so Nathan fed Taylor her bottle.  Doesn’t he just look so proud?   Another day, I left Nathan and Taylor inside so I could warm up the car.  When I turned around, I saw him carrying/dragging her out to the van in her carseat.  Thankfully she was strapped in!  We talked about “Taylor safety” after that, but the thought was so sweet.  I love the way he loves on her, how gentle he is, how tender when he talks to her.  His compassion when she cries is so deep.  He’s also able to tune out her cry amazingly well when needed.  :)  HeeHee! I love these two kiddos and I’m so proud of the amazing big brother Nathan is becoming!

Name this photo!

You know you have an awesome dad when…

he builds you the coolest race track ever and actually suggests that you send cars flying down the stairs, off a ramp, and he cheers each time one goes flying through the air and lands in the bucket at the bottom of the steps.

Taylor Grace – 9 weeks old

At 9 weeks, Taylor is doing awesome!  She’s 9 pounds 15 ounces!  She eats and sleeps like a champ too!  She’s started to have a more predictable bed time and started sleeping in her bed a bit more (otherwise she sleeps in the Moses Basket).  She’s fighting the paci hard core and is desperate to suck her hands/fingers/thumbs but we keep trying the paci… you’ve gotta pick your battles, and this is one I hope to win!   She smiles at people she knows but intently studies those she doesn’t.  She’s growing more and more laid back too.  Despite a week of thrush, she’s still got the sweetest disposition!  Taylor is still wearing mostly newborn sized clothes and newborn diapers. She certainly fills out the newborn clothes much more these days!  The pics on the left side were taken when she was almost 2 weeks old.  The ones on the right side are at 9 weeks.

    

We love you little one!

Sneaky Sneaky

The other evening, Chad was getting his pjs on and I was changing Taylor’s diaper.  Neither of us realized the other wasn’t with Nathan, but that’s normally not an issue.  He does awesome not getting into mischief at home most of the time… This particular evening, Nathan felt hungry (so he later told us) and helped himself to a little snack while Chad and I were not looking.  Practicing independence at it’s finest!

Thankfully, we’ve discovered in the last month that he doesn’t seem to have an allergy to chocolate anymore!  We’ve been letting him have it more and more and now he LOVES it, as if you can’t tell!

Wordless Wednesday

MINE!!!

Happy Birthday Aunt Emily!

Taylor – 2 months old!

  This little girl is super smiley, super sensitive, super snuggly, and super stunning!  She’s got a great disposition and is very easy going and laid back most of the time.  When she’s hungry, wet/poopy, tired, cold, or gassy she’s very vocal about those things; but in general, she’s a go with the flow kind of gal!  She loves to look at what’s going on and she doesn’t miss much.  She’s able to track a person as they walk around the room (even past midline for those developmental folks).  She can clasp her hands, bat at objects semi intentionally, smile, coo, hold her head and neck up for ever and doesn’t seem to mind tummy time at all.  She can roll from her belly to her back – she even did it at the doctors office at her well visit.  Taylor can mimic a few faces we make and will stick her tongue out when you stick yours out.  Her hands are open more often these days and if she’s tired or hungry and you don’t plug her with a paci or milk, she’ll suck her hand, fist, wrist, fingers, or thumb.  She has blue eyes and the sweetest voice!  If you put her feet on the ground, she’ll straighten out her legs and support her weight pretty well.  She LOVES the bath and wiggles and kicks and coos in the tub.

Sweet Taylor Grace has gained 2 pounds in the last month!!!!!  She’s 9 pounds 9 ounces (25th %)and 20.5 (<5% )inches long.  So many people mistake her for a newborn when she’s in her car seat or if I’m holding her.  She’s a petite little thing but man is she growing fast!  Last week, she grew out of 3 outfits!  Most of her NB sizes still fit her and her 0-3 month clothes just swallow her!  She still wears NB sized diapers, both in cloth and disposable.

 

Taylor likes to be moving in the car.   She doesn’t like to be buckled in her carseat.  She hates wet or poopy diapers.  She’s great at holding her head neck and shoulders upright while on her tummy.  She loves to have her little butt patted.  She has a great smile although she’s choosy about who she shares it with.  She sleeps swaddled at night, and sleeps all night long without a peep (unless I fall asleep before her 11pm feeding and forget to wake and feed her – in which case she wakes around 4 or 5am starving since she’s not eaten since 730 or 8pm).  She has long eyelashes, loves any shhhhhhh kind of sound, doesn’t like shirts put over her head, and loves soft blankies near her face.

It’s so interesting to see the differences in Taylor and Nathan’s personalities, needs, preferences, and what soothes them.  While Nathan was still drinking breast milk at 8 weeks, he was doing so via bottle at all feedings.  Taylor on the other hand, nurses for all but her very first and very last feedings.  She is a bit harder for others to comfort but is quickly comforted by me holding her or talking to her.  If she sees me walk past, her eyes lock on me like a missile on it’s target.  Chad and I have both commented on her being more of a mama’s girl at this age than Nathan was.  Now Nathan and I had/have a strong bond, no doubt, but I can tell a difference in Taylor and I bet a little of it is because I’m able to nurse her.  Now, this certainly doesn’t mean she won’t be daddy’s little girl… in fact I hope and fully expect she will be!  I’m sure we’ll have our fair share of mommy/daughter drama, but for today, she’s a mama’s girl… or at least a mama’s boob girl!  Was that inappropriate?  :)  Hee Hee!  We love you little peanut!

Taylor- 8 weeks old and loving life!

This has been a great week for Taylor!  She’s sleeping and eating well, her diaper rash is better, and she’s super happy and chill!  She’s nursing well as always and is taking 4-5 ounces per feeding when fed by bottle.  She has a voracious appetite!  She’s still wearing NB diapers and clothes although a few of the one piece outfits are getting short.  She comes no where close to filling them out though!  She’s getting some rolls and I love it!!!  She’s very conversational already and loves to talk with us and smile at us.  She’s a very content baby too!  This little one continues to sleep all night long!  She usually falls asleep around 930 and we wake her to eat at 11 (“wake” meaning she sleeps through it but we feed her anyway).  She wakes up around 730 in the morning hungry as a horse!  We are so blessed with her love of sleep.  She takes an awesome afternoon nap too, usually sleeping longer than Nathan.  She’s gonna be a tummy sleeper I think… see?

 

Taylor 1 week and 8 weeks (comparison with the remote… she’s getting bigger every day!)

Bailey’s thoughts on a little sister?