X is for Xylophone
I haven't had a lot of time to write these lately. I hope you understand.
Phoebe's 2 month birthday came and went on May 2nd. We took our 2 month pictures. She's really starting to increase her awareness of the world. She smiles back when you smile at her. She giggles a little here and there, and she talks a lot more now. Of course, she screams a lot too, but that's really all babies know how to do at this point. She still doesn't have a lot of limb control. She can thrash them about quite a bit, but there's no apparent purpose for the movements. Phoebe's found her hands and mouth now. They're usually together now.
As far as sleep goes, we're still working on it. She is more predictable in her sleep patterns at night at least. She wakes up once around 2am and again some time between 4 and 5am...Usually the entire time between them. Though she still won't sleep a lot in the bassinet. Sometimes she will, but most of the time, she won't sleep unless she's with us. Luckily, I've been too exhausted to mind the grunts and groans these days. Nap times are still unpredictable. We're working on getting her to sleep on more of a schedule for naps. Not necessarily at certain times, but we if she's been awake for 2 hours, she needs to get ready for a nap.
Phoebe's 2 month Dr. appointment was this month too. She had to get 5, count 'em, 5 vaccination shots. HepB, DTaP, IPC, HIB, and Prevnar. (It's just scary the news that has been coming out about the increased cases of Whooping cough and other ailments that could so easily be eradicated if people would just get their kids vaccinated.) She slept hard that day. Phoebe is a perfect picture of health so far. Nothing to indicate she has any of the ear troubles that her sister had. Anyhoo, here are the current stats on Phoebe:
Weight: 12lbs. 2oz (90%)
Height: 23.25" (75-90%)
Head circ.: 15" (25-50%)
We moved Ellen out of the high chair last week. It wasn't as hard as we thought it might be. We had been sitting her at the table in the high chair without the tray on to train her. She's been doing really well at not putting her feet on the table. Though she still pushes herself back from the table with her feet. All in all, though, she has been doing great. Jada went out and bought her a couple of placemats; one with numbers and one with letters. Ellen seems to like them. They have animals on them.
We used our OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry) membership for the first time (and 2 times since then). What a great place for kids. There is a whole wing for children's things. There's a discovery area that is walled in for little kids with sand play and water play stations. There's also a big Richard Scarey busytown area with grocery market and things. Plus all the cool science things: lego building stations, arch building, water rockets, Bernouli's Principal exhibits. It's fun. Then the other side of the place has all the biology and science exhibits. There's also a new exhibit opening up called Moneyville. Our membership doesn't include the Omnimax, planetarium, or submarine (USS Blueback). The funny thing about the trip was that we saw our former governor (Kitzhaber) there with his son as soon as we walked in. We both looked at each other and then one of the guides said, "yes, it is".
Ellen is learning her letters. She can pick out certain letters on her own: "E, Ellen. M, mommy. D, daddy. X is for xylophone, because X is always for xylophone." She is really making connections between her different books. She was looking through her Christmas board book, and got to the Nativity page. She remembered that she had seen it in another book and found it. Though the angels were missing in that one. So she went to find them in another book she has. As we keep saying, she's brilliant.
Mother's day was OK. It didn't turn out the way we would have liked. Ellen got sick (and then I got sick and Phoebe got sick), so we had to go to plan B. We took Jada to the mall and bought her new jeans that actually fit. Then I made dinner and dessert. (Steak, mashed potatoes, and asparagus with chocolate peanut butter pie for dessert.)
My sabbatical started this past week (May 12). Let's just say that it hasn't been easy. Ellen, Phoebe, and I are all sick. The mornings have been great. Jada is home all morning since she only teaches in the afternoon, so we get to do everything together. I got to go see the roller skating and Mr. Bob. We took Ellen in for her first hair cut on Thursday. (We brought the camera, but it didn't have film in it. Don't worry, I video'd the whole thing, so the grandparents will get to see it). The afternoons are a different story altogether. Phoebe hasn't been keen on taking a bottle. She has been keen on screaming at me a lot. I've tried my best to get her to sleep. Ellen has been fairly good all week. She's had a few melt downs, but we're getting through them. Every day has been a little better...except for Friday when Ellen decided not to sleep either....I don't want to even talk about it. Not good times. Bad times.
Last but not least, Ellen had a great swim class this week. Only 6 kids and their parents came. She blew bubbles, and she went under water for the first time! I asked her if she wanted to try, and if she remembered how to close up her face. She held her breath, and we went under. Not very deep because of her ear plugs, but it was still an accomplishment.
Oh, the deer came back today.
Journal entry: 5/17/03