2 already!

In preparation for my baby girl turning 2, I have decided to include a look at her growing up these last 2 years.  I am busy prepping for her party tomorrow, so I figured I would get this done now so I don't run out of time tomorrow.  Kalea is more of a kid now then a toddler, with the "terrible 2's" in effect some of the time.  we are lucky that she hasn't been too grouchy yet.  

She is already a wonderful big sister, and she has only been one for 3 months now.  Her vocabulary continues to expand, now including commands like "do it myself" ( miss independent), and "Step up".  She recently started saying "yeah" in a very soft sweet voice.  She loves to dance, hum/sing, and hide under blankets and in closets.  Reading continues to be her favorite past-time, and her "Sully" ( Monster's Inc) stuffed animal is her constant bed time companion.  

For the most part, she is very well behaved whenever we go out shopping ("shopping!") or to dinner.  She is a great eater most of the time.  She loves other kids and babies, so hopefully that will work out for her as she starts daycare in January.  We have been very blessed to not have to have her out of our care these first two years.  I know that is priceless as she continues to grow at a too-fast rate.  

Pat and I are so proud of our daughter.  We love her and have enjoyed every second since we knew she was a speck on the ultrasound.  

Happy Birthday to the best little girl any parents could ever hope for!

Please enjoy a picture journey of her these last 24 months, one from each month plus her birth.

Landon at 3 months

Landon is now 3 months old, which means I am getting close to the end of my maternity leave.  I am trying to spend as much time as I can relaxing with him and Kalea since I know life will get very busy once I get back to work.  

He is smiling really big smiles now, especially after he finishes eating.  I sometimes get smiles in the middle of a feeding, which I love because those are smiles that I usually only get to see.  He is definitely a momma's boy right now.  Pat's shoulder continues to be his prime spit-up spot of choice.  Without fail he gets him every time, especially if Pat just put on a clean shirt.

He is still a bit wobbly with holding up his head, but he gets better and better at doing it for longer periods of time.  He loves to watch his big sister play which I know is going to encourage him to move sooner then I will like.  Lights fascinate him, so all of our Christmas decorations are keeping him occupied during his play times.

Landon definitely lets us know when he is hungry.  He will cry hysterically almost instantly after waking up from a long nap.  He is our little snuggle bug, preferring a shoulder to sleep on over anything else.  He really loves to sleep in my ring-sling baby carrier, which is good since I will be able to use that with him once I am back at work.  

His weight has lagged a bit this last month.  He is now 10 pounds, 5 ounces.  This has dropped him closer to the 35% on the premie scale.  I have been working hard to get him exclusively breast feeding, and it has been a struggle.  This last month I have not supplemented at all (or just an ounce here or there).  I have been given the ok to keep going forward with it, so hopefully these next couple of weeks will be enough time for us both to figure it all out.  I don't want to share the details since I know most people won't want to read about it, but if you are interested, I would be happy to share what I have gone through.  I know that I feel better knowing how tough it is to breastfeed,  a lot of the times you only see or hear about people having success.

Here are some pictures I wanted to share:

2 month stats and pics

We have passed the 2 month mark by a couple of weeks.  He is now 10 weeks old and doing great.  Landon actually rolled over for the first time on November 22nd.  He had done it once before almost a week before that, but I wanted to make sure it wasn't a fluke.  He has also started smiling real smiles about a week ago, but I have not been able to get a good shot of it yet.

At Landon's 2 month check-up he was given an A+!  He weighs 9 pounds 9 ounces and is 21.5" tall.  For the premie comparison, he is right at the 50th % in all categories, including head size.  When compared to a full-term 2 month old, he is right above the 10th%.  He is growing so fast already!

Here are a few shots from his 2 month pictures.

Meet Landon Baby Shower

Pat and I have enjoyed the adjustment of raising two children.  It takes quite a bit to get used to the demands of two children under two.  I think we are starting to get the hang of things.    Before I share some pictures from the Baby Shower for Landon, I wanted to get down a few things about Kalea.

There are many wonderful moments we wish we could record to remember forever, but they will only have to be memories that Pat and I share.   Kalea is such a fun little girl.  She makes every single day a wonderful experience.  She loves her little brother so much.  Luckily, she isn't taking any of her toddler frustrations out on him, especially the times when she wants the attention of whomever is taking care of Landon.  She is always so excited to see her brother, or she asks "Why you crying Landon?"  

Kalea's vocabulary is increasing every day.  She loves to say "Mommy look!"  and then she will say what ever new thing she has learned or seen.  With Christmas fast approaching, she is getting very excited every time she sees anything Christmas-y.  She says "Look, Christmas!".

She has also started to count things up to 13.  She is getting pretty good at associating each item to a number, although she is still counting things more then once.  She even tries to count beyond thirteen and says "ah-teen" for the numbers following 13.

Kalea also loves to dance.  If she hears any kind of music, she usually likes to start dancing in a circle.  She will even sometimes hum along to the song.  Another favorite activity is reading.  If she had her way, we would read books to her all day long.  Sometimes she will take a book and flip through  the pages and "read" it her self.  She is now starting to turn the jabber into words, as every once in awhile she will say a word or two that is associated with what is happening on the page.

One last thing, Kalea is starting to do a lot more imaginative play.  She loves to play with different blocks and depending on the day, each one represents a different item.  For example, her triangle shaped block is usually either a house or sailboat.  She loves to instruct her Daddy on where each blocks need to be stacked and she knows exactly which block she wants out of the bag.  She has started digging to the bottom of a big bag of blocks trying to get out just the right one.  She won't take out the blocks in her way, instead she will spend quite a long time digging with her arm all the way down in the bag.  We also hear her say "I'll be right back" to her toys when she goes to get something and she has made her new "Izzy" doll fly.  (From Jake and the Never Land Pirates)

Here is Daddy reading to Kalea while watching Landon.  I like to call him "Super Dad" when he is handling both kids at the same time.

I love this look, I had to get a shot in while Pat was reading to the kids.

Another Super Dad moment.

Now on to the "Meet the baby shower".  I wanted a more casual get-together.  There were so many people expecting babies this fall, so I thought it would be fun for everyone to get together once Landon was already here.  I know one special person was happy to hold him.  Here is my Great Aunt Sheila (my Grandma Sylvia's sister).  She has always been like another Grandma for me, so she is basically a Great Grandma for my kiddos.  Technically she would be a Great-Great Aunt.  I am so appreciative that she wants to help represent my Grandma since I know how much my Grandma would have loved to experience all of these new babies.  I am glad some one so close to Grandma is able to be here for these wonderful memories.

My mom and sister did an amazing job (as usual) on the party.  The decorations turned out so cute and the food was great.  I am so happy to have such wonderful family.  I can't wait to return the favor for my sister when she has kids =)

I didn't take many pictures, I spent most of the time talking with everyone.  Here are a few shots I did get of people.  My best friend, her mom, and another Girl Scout buddy trying to figure out the guessing game.

Aunt Kristin sharing some coloring time with Kalea.

It was only after the shower was completely over that I realized I never got a shot of myself with my mom and sister.  I wish I had, but it is way too late for that now.  

I just wanted to throw this next picture in.  She is wearing a fabric basket from a play food set and she decided that for that day it would act as her hat.