3 months

Ella turned 3 months old on Saturday. She celebrated by smiling, "talking", and sleeping.

We love squeezing our chubby Ella

Ben is a great brother, always wanting to hold her. He also is quick to let us know when she spit up on our shirt, or when she is awake. He also tells Ella "Ok, Ok, Ok, no need to fuss" when she cries in the car.

2 years and 2 months - check ups

2 Year (and 3 months)
Benjamin:
Fun, Energetic, Sensitive, Friendly, Talkative
36.25 inches, 27 lbs
Benjamin clearly had a growth spurt. He was 5th percentile in weight and 25th in height, and is now 75th % in height and 30% in weight... no wonder eats like a starving wolf at each meal!
Ben's new word of the day: Interesting. While out and about, he kept saying " Wow, that's interesting". Last week's phrase: "I see something over there" (he would state and run in that direction to check things out)
Favorite Books:
Thomas the Train "Go, Train, Go"
"Don't Forget the Oatmeal" from my mom's collection of books from my childhood
"Fix It, Please" ( circa 1986)
Any truck book
"You Can Do It, Sam", affectionately known as "Go, Go, Sam" to Benjamin

Current Favorites:
Thomas the Train and friends
Construction Equipment
Books
going fast
__________________________________________________
2 Months
Ella Claire

Height:22.5 inches ( 50th %)
Weight: 12 lbs 13 oz (90th %)
Head Circumference: 15 3/4 inches ( 90 %)


Ella has finally awakened. She is a doll. She loves laying on her back, looking at her totally awesome fish mobile "auntie" Claire brought back from Cambodia, smiling, and cooing. She really likes to "sing" along with me when I sing to her. She also loves her afternoon nap (at least 2 hrs).
Ella's "schedule"... if a 2 mo old has a schedule

• Eat every 2.5 hrs (approx) throughout the day
  
• 7ish am Wake up with lots of smiling
• Nap, eat, wake, smile/play (repeat)
• around 1pm, go down for a long nap
• Nap, eat, wake, play (repeat)
• 7ish pm night time cat nap
• 8-9ish pass out (or get mad b/c we are keeping her up while getting B ready for bed)
  
• Sleep for 3-5 hrs. awaken every 2-5 hrs throughout the night, go right back to sleep after eating (amazing!)

August

This month has flown by. My baby girl is 7 weeks old, and Big Bro Ben is growing up quickly as well.
ELLA

• Ella has finally started opening her eyes.
  


• She is all smiles every morning, and we get to spend a few minutes just Ella, Hubs and I cooing and smiling before B awakens.



• She still likes her sleep, and takes a good nap in the morning and afternoon with a few catnaps thrown in between times. She enjoys being sung to and occasionally "sings" along.



• She prefers to be diaperless (which I found out b/c of a recurring rash she had, so to treat, she go to hang out on the changing table bottomless). It makes me remember my childhood, where Ella Claire's namesake (claire) was known to be caught streaking outside at 2 years of age.



• She likes to eat, nursing every 2-3 hrs during the day, and occasionally going up to 4.5-5 hrs at night.



• She is a great traveller. She ventured "down south" to my sister and grandparent's house weekend before last and slept the entire way there and back, minus one feeding each way. I called her "perfect baby" many times after that amazing trip.



• She is a spitter-upper. Not a day goes by that my shoulder (or both) get christened with Ella spit.



• I am constantly amazed at how easy Ella is to calm down. She rarely fusses just to fuss, she either needs to burp, needs to eat, or needs a new diaper. A welcome relief after "Colicky Baby '09".

Benjamin

• Adorable. Any amount of frustration is easily wiped away when my little boy bats his pretty lashes my direction. God certainly made parents think their own children are adorable. I love to hear B develop his voice, learn to say new words, and run around like a speed demon.


• Sleeper! What, did someone hear me say that? You can look back on any post from June '09 to December '10 and hear some complaint about Benjamin's sleep. However, for the time being, he has settled into a wonderful routine. Bathtime around 8:15, to bed by 8:45pm and up at 7-7:30am. He usually naps for 1.5-3 hrs each afternoon (minus 2 days recently that he told me "Ben not napping today"..and he followed through). Each morning when he sleeps past 6am, my hubs and I are in amazement and still look at each other with wonder, as if this couldn't possibly be happening.

Ella Claire Cady

Baby #2 has arrived!
Ella Claire Cady was born on July 16th, 2011 at 11:10am.
She weighed in at 8 lb 14.75oz and was 20.5 inches long.

She sleeps most of the day and night, I think I saw more of Benjamin's wide awake eyes in the first two days of his life than I have of her first 10 days.
She is only really upset when she wants to eat, or she needs to burp. Other than that, it is like having a little mouse around the house. She loves being held at all times during the day, but will go to sleep in her bassinet at night without much trouble. Hubby and I are certainly blessed.


Big Brother Benjamin is doing exceptionally well with having a new little person in the house. Knock on wood...he seems to have just accepted the fact that she is the new baby in the family and she is here to stay. He loves to talk about Baby Ella and wonders where she is if we aren't holding her. The only thing I get worried about is when he starts talking about her "swinging high" in her swing...but he has yet to give her a big push (sure that will come one of these days).

At her first pediatrician appt, she weighed in at 9lbs 2oz...95-98%. Benjamin has never been bigger than the 25%...has since around 9 mo has been closer to the 10th %, so having a big baby is a new thing for me. She certainly grows out of her cloth diapers and clothes at a faster rate than Benjamin!

Back to the laundry for me.

Daddy's Helper

benjamin is getting good at using "ben's shovel" to help daddy scott move dirt. little boys are so fun!

Baby dolls and bike rides, tractors and tickles

Life has been good.
Baby Cady #2 is due in 4 weeks. I had an ultrasound today and everything looked great. Baby is in the perfect position, has plenty of fluid (which indicates functioning stomach and kidneys), is just the right size (slightly smaller than "normal", which is perfect since I'm going for a "traditional" birth or VBAC vaginal birth after cesarean).
We had Benjamin's 2nd birthday party last weekend (a few weeks early). It was a great time with friends and family. Benjamin's eyes light up when everyone sang "Happy Birthday", and he thoroughly enjoyed blowing out candles....so we let him do it twice. He loved his cake that can decorated (not by me) with chocolate "rocks".



Benjamin is such a delightful child.

• He loves hugging and playing with his "baby"...he even tries to let the baby help him pick things up.
• He loves riding his new bike that we got him for his birthday. I will have to get a picture. it has no pedals and he just pushes his legs and glides along.
• We moved him to an upstairs bedroom and he immediately started sleeping much better!
• He takes long (2.5-3hr) naps most afternoons
• By far, his favorite play items are his tractors, diggers, dump trucks, etc. All of them are "Nonnie's" which, in Benjamin talk, means "Donnie's"..our contractor, who did have one backhoe and one Bobcat skidder.
• He loves to help his mama and Grandma cook. He is quite good at insisting that my mom use her mixer to make something tasty...and Grandma, aka Wa-Wa, is not good telling him no.
• He is also infatuated with Elmo. He generally talks about "elmo's world" when he wakes up. I confess, he watches 1 hr of TV per day...Sesame Street. And the occasional Elmo clip on the computer. My current favorite episode features will.i.am.

I know things will be drastically different when we become a two child household, but for now, I'm loving my sweet little guy.

Growing Baby #2

11 weeks until due date. (sorry, i haven't done any close up pictures)

Mary in San Antonio at the Alamo
....fingers and ankles swollen as big as ever due to the heat, another reason for no close up!

We are again waiting to find out the sex of baby #2 until his/her birthday.
I did have a funny dream while on vacation last week that I went home over lunch (12 wks early), had a baby girl, nursed baby, left baby with my mom and went back to work as if nothing happened....but when I got to work, I remembered that I needed my pump.
Baby #2 is healthy and growing well, and has a heartbeat consistently around 140. Boys theoretically have lower heartbeats (150 or less)... but I guess we will see in a few months.

I have a lot to do to get prepared for baby #2....but certainly not as much as getting ready for Benjamin. Thankfully I have almost everything I need (even all the diapers), I just need to get a bed for baby #2 (going to get from friend) and do lots of unpacking.

hopefully in a few weeks I'll have prepared a little more for baby #2. I'll keep you posted!

First professional haircut

Benjamin has had a million and one "daddy haircuts".... but the older B gets, the more ticklish he gets when we cut his hair, which has resulted in some less than stellar haircuts lately. So, last week, while I was in KC for an OB appt (all is well by the way), we stopped by Shear Madness for Benjamin's first real haircut. He did great, but how could he not...he had an awesome jeep to sit in, and Elmo to watch on TV.

Before: scraggly hair

very serious and focused on Elmo

Tada.. one handsome little boy.

Winter time fun (warning, lots of pictures)

We have had a great winter. Snowy, cold, generally unbearable outside...but when the weather outside is frightful, the fire is so delightful. And watching Benjamin grow these last few months has also been delightful.
Benjamin's vocabulary expands daily. A list of some of his new words: Geese, birds, Big Bird, balloons, knees, eyes, ears, stairs, down, blueberries, cheese, boots, "Pop" (as in the action of popping a bubble) and bounce.
Benjamin also loves books. I found some sesame street books at Target for $1, which he is a big fan of, along with a book with kitchen items in it, Fool Moon Rising, Llama Llama Red Pajama, You Can Do It, Sam, Bats at the Beach (when not too tired), a Big Picture book, I am a Bunny, Ricard Scarry's Goldbug book (something about cars and trucks), Dr Seuss's Hands, Fingers, Thumb, etc When he sees a book he really want to read he starts jabbering incessantly and runs and grabs the book and either sits down right by you, or nods his head at you until you sit down. I'm more than happy to oblige an eager reader.
He loves running, fast. around rooms, down the hall, across the yard, etc. And stairs, oh how he loves stairs. Benjamin can now walk up and down the stairs without assistance....and if I try to help, he says "Move".
He also loves all things construction. Everything is either "Daddy's" or "Donnie's" (the contractor who built our house)...unfortunately, the words are so similar I can't really tell who he is talking about. Hubby has been working hard in the basement to get up another set of basement shelves done as well as a "little helper tower" (see later pictures) for Benjamin, so B has been able to watch lots of drilling, hammering, etc. He is quite good with the level and measuring tape and has learned some great "man" behavior...bending down, looking at something closely and saying "Hmm".
Last but not least, he loves helping. He knows where his silverware, plates and cups belong, so he will put things away for me. He also can grab items for me: apron, cookie sheet, cutting board. He likes to help clean, so I can spray a dirty spot on the floor and he will wipe it up (he is not a fan of messes), and he likes to practice sweeping. B also loves cooking with Grandma Mooherd and me. My mom swears that he convinces her to find a way to use her mixer most days of the week. He can turn it on, and loves measuring, pouring, rolling and mixing things.

And now for pictures:

Benjamin "cutting" on his play fruit and veggies

He's been caught digging into the cereal box.
Oat bran flakes, yum

Benjamin's favorite food: Blueberries.
by far the messiest food as well.

My snow bunny

The Cady house covered with snow

Enjoying the sun
And yes, I lost his mittens so he got a pair from my mom circa 1975

Front door snow drift

Elmer Fudd

Chef Benjamin