2 Months

Well, WE DID IT! We survived the first two months of Eve's life. In my opinion, that is the hardest time because you sleep very little and have the whole emotional and physical adjustment to get through. Eve has settled down a lot at night and seems to be happier. Kelly and I have recently debated whether or not she has colic. I say no, and he says yes. He bases his opinion on the definition of crying for at least 3 hours per day, 3 days per week for at least 3 weeks. I feel she may have done the first of those, but did not cry that much for 3 weeks. In fact, she is able to take a brief nap in the evening now, which gets her happier to bed time and therefore allows her to go to sleep right after I nurse her around 10, instead of crying her head off for another hour or two. She has stretched out her nights a little and always goes back to sleep now, YES! She did sleep almost all night last night to celebrate her 2 months, which is exactly what Daphne did, but as Daphne did, she will probably go back to a much shorter interval. I am OK with that. I do not expect my preemies to sleep through the night this early. At this point, I am very content with them going back to sleep each time they eat. I am so grateful for the book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" because I would be lost without it.

Some things about Eve:

• She has a winner smile. That girl will smile so huge with her whole mouth open and melt your heart!
• She has her appointment tomorrow and will probably weigh around 10-11 lbs. She has grown MUCH faster than Daphne did. 
• She is a great eater and only spits up a little bit. 
• She likes to kick her legs when she smiles and even lets out a little squeal. 
• She has started doing some baby talk which is just adorable
• She still hates her tummy and since she gets mad pretty easily, I admit I have just started putting her on it everyday
• But somehow she is able to lift her head, but I think rolling over will be much later than Daphne 
• She LOVES to hold onto something, like my hair. We just got Daphne to stop pulling hair and now she is. Its cute when Eve does it though. 
• I have to be careful about her getting to sleep when tired or else I will pay for it. It is almost comical how she can smile that huge grin one minute and scream her head off the next.
• She takes the pacifier pretty well, which Daphne didn't, so I am happy about that
• She takes a bottle like a champ, which I do once and a while with the help of my breast pump
• I appreciate the baby stage more this time since I have a toddler to keep me busy

Speaking of our sweet toddler-she really is sweet. She has nailed down her potty training. So much so that she shuts the door on me when she goes to the bathroom and doesn't allow me to help. She's even figured out a way to climb the cabinets to get the soap for herself. If I try to help, she says "NO, my do it!" She is very independent. I raised her to be so, but she her personality has added to that. She is currently obsessed with Sandra Boynton's books. One in particular is "Blue Hat, Green Hat." So, for Halloween she will be the Turkey from the book who can't seem to get his clothes on right and she will probably wear a sign that says "oops." My other idea was Thomas the Train since she loves him and trains too, but I couldn't get Kelly to be Sir Topham Hat! Daphne loves preschool but I feel guilt about her being there, even if its only twice per week. She LOVES it so much though. The teacher has taught her to say "yes, Ma'am" and I was completely shocked when she said it to me a few weeks ago. She also taught her to say "yes" and not "yeah." Kelly and I are kind of annoyed she did that, but otherwise we have no complaints about the school, just mother guilt as I seriously consider pulling her out in January when Eve is sleeping regularly during the day. 

She also has learned to chew and not swallow gum. Well, she chews it for a long time and then swallows it. She stole grandma's gum a lot and I have successfully taught her to now ask for gum...I hope it sticks. When I tell Daphne she needs to ask, all she says is "ask." I'm hoping we will get that concept down soon. She is pretty helpful too and I can get her to help with some small tasks. We have a tired household lately, and the picture below of Kelly asleep on the couch after work is an example. She wanted to help Daddy sleep so she brought him some blankets. She also likes to "help" Eve which means touching her all over her face. She hasn't hit Eve in a while, so I think she is getting more used to her sister. 

I have posted some pictures below of happenings in the last 2 months. We recently said goodbye to Janelle who was here helping for a week. She was amazing with the girls and Kelly and I even got out for a night. She also made some wonderful food and it was just so nice to have the companionship during the day since I have felt a little stuck at home. We also ate out a lot since that's what you do when you have guests! It is so fun!

And a note about my husband. He is so awesome. He helps so much. I cannot believe what I'd do if he were deployed right now. It seems so much easier with him around. Bless those single moms and moms with Dads who are gone a lot. My favorite "treat" for a while was getting a long nap in the guest room with the box fan up high on the weekends. I feel we are very in sync with our parenting techniques for the baby this time around, which is wonderful. He is also pretty handsome. 

A nice couple in our ward offered free family photos to anyone interested. Daphne cracks me up in this photo. She was so stoic. 

I think they are pretty cute.

The wife took the kids and said, go enjoy your husband. We couldn't believe it. I had forgotten what it was like to just hug Kelly without worrying about the kids. We are laughing here because he is saying, "act in love, remember you just made 2 babies together!" 

Monkey Joe's!

The Boarding House-family style Southern food. It is pretty good.

One of the ways we can get Eve to stop crying is by turning on water or a youtube video of running water. Here is she is finally passed out next to the sound. It's pretty funny.

Grandma's gum!