Hand Me Downs

Poor Jacob-pants has very few new toys to call his own.  He even uses his sister's chair for his monthly pictures.  Today I took out Riley's old Exersaucer for Jacob to use.  He is all about toys and is wanting to sit up more so I figured it would be perfect.  He wasn't so sure about it but didn't scream, he also had Riley up in his business so I'm not sure that he got to fully enjoy it since Riley kept telling me that "Jacob was not sharing and that Ya-Ya (her doll) needed a turn."  Oy!

She Did It!

We started a new incentive program with Riley.  It was recommended by the directors at her day care to help with her behavior.  Well it took her about a week and a half to get it together but she finally earned herself her "monster truck."  She was so excited, Riley even said "I don't believe it!" when we gave her the car and told her that she earned with her good behavior.  Next up on her desire list: a trip to Chuck E Cheese

Family Fun Time is Back

Last weekend was hot, like close to 90 hot, so hot that I had to go out and buy some shorts since I still haven't lost all of my pregnancy weight hot.  So we bribed Riley into behaving with the promise of some Slip and Slide time if she was good Sunday.  Well actually we had originally tried to bribe her with it Saturday but she earned her sad face very early on in the day so it turned into a Sunday activity.  She got her act together and when she woke up we put on her suit and brought her outback for some good old fashioned Zimmerman family fun time.  Jacob was napping so it was perfect alone time for her with us.  She loved it!

Slip and sliding!

Sun bathing

"I so escited!  This is so much fun!"

Splish splashing!

We Survived

Well, we all survived my first day back at work and I only cried once.  I dropped Riley and Jacob off around 7:00, about 10 minutes behind schedule, I was sweating but I got them there.  Of course I got in my car and realized I needed gas so we had to stop for gas on the way to day care.  When we got there, Riley wanted to help me drop Jacob off so we put his stuff away and then I took Riley to her class.  Drop-off for her was so easy, I told her since I had to go to work I was relying on her to take care of Jacob for me, that she had a very important job now and I was counting on her.  She took her job very seriously.  Shockingly she didn't go visit him yesterday, the Assistant Director brought Jacob to her in the morning but that was it.  Her friends' moms all told me how she told them today was her brother's first day.  I stopped after dropping Riley off for one more set of kisses from Jacob before heading to work.  He was smiling when I left and I lost it the minute I walked out of the door but managed to pull it together by the time I got out of the parking lot.  I got to work a little before 7:30 and thank goodness a co-worker pulled in at the same time because I forgot what floor we were on!  Ha!  I pumped before everyone got there and then got my desk organized.  It was fine being back, everyone was happy to see me and I spent most of the day talking to everyone.  I went to lunch with the ladies from my group, one has a 7 month old daughter, she came back to work as I was going out and the other an 18 month old daughter so we had a nice lunch together.  I managed to hold it together for most of the day, I will say that I got super sad when I pumped after lunch and was on the verge of tears.

I left at 4:30 and got the kids at 5:00, I got Riley first because she wanted to help.  She had a good day, woohoo, and they said Jacob was great, he smiled and laughed virtually all day.  They did say he did get fussy when they weren't holding or talking to him.  Oops that might be my bad as he's always with me when we are home but he fell asleep for naps on his own and was over all a mellow dude.  I just can't get enough of my little guy.  Riley was super good last night too which is a relief and Jacob slept through the night, I actually had to wake him up to get them to day care today.  I was secretly hoping for a mid-night wake up so that I could get some extra snuggle time, especially since I am working from home today and had a little extra time this morning.  But oh well, I will take our sleeping wins where I can. :) 

Key learnings from yesterday, have dinners prepared ahead of time, I had to give Jacob a bottle when we got home and then make dinner and it was pretty late before I got dinner on the table for Riley and I.  That was my plan, to cook dinners Sunday but I got that nasty cough/cold that is going around and was in bed most of the day Sunday (can we say last worst day ever!). 

So we survived!

4 Months

How can it be that my little man is already 4 months old!?!  I know I say this every month but seriously, time is going by way to fast with him.  Jacob had his 4 month check-up on Thursday and I am pleased to say that he checked out perfectly.  He was such a trooper, the Dr was running late and he was past due on his nap but he hung tough and konked out after his appointment while we were at Target.  She loved the way he "talked," made eye contact, and his stats were great.  Poor guy, got 3 vaccines that hit him hard yesterday afternoon and I actually had to give him Tylenol for the first time ever last night.  They changed from concentrated drops to a suspension which was a whole new ball game but I actually under dosed him, I later found out, but it definitely helped.  He even slept from 7:30PM-5:45AM!  He also hit a major growth spurt since his 2 month appointment and actually jumped percentiles.  So here are his 4 month stats:

Head circumference: 41.7cm (51st percentile)
Height: 24.3 inches (14th percentile)
Weight...ready for this: 14lbs 2oz!(23rd percentile) and half of what Riley weighs at 3!!!
His weight-for-length ratio was 50th percentile.  He seems huge to us (I guess because we are used to Riley) and people (including Drs) tell us how big he is so I'm not sure how he's only the 14th and 23rd percentile but oh well, I guess boys are bigger!  Here's a link to Riley at 4 months.

And now his growth picture!

I guess beefcake really did skip some percentiles!  It's hard to tell when you see him everyday

One cool (and cute) dude!

He kept wanting to lean forward rather than using the chair for support.  He might or might not have fallen out, that's our little secret! :)

Last Week

Well it's official, I am done with maternity leave, I am so super sad.  I've been sad all week, it's something I've been dreading for weeks now.  I have been working from home for 2 weeks and this week I just could not concentrate, I just wanted to spend my time with my little man.  I tried to take a ton of pictures of him this week so that I have stuff to look at next week.  Poor little guy knows to smile at my phone for pictures but not for my camera, he's so used to an iPhone or Blackberry in his face but that big bulky camera, no clue what that is.  The curse of being the second child!

Leaving Jacob behind at day care is definitely hitting me harder than it did with Riley, I have no idea why.  He spent the afternoon at day care today and as soon as I left the building I started bawling, how could my leave possibly be over!?!  I seriously can't fathom not being with him next week.  He did great at day care, he napped, ate and his teacher said he loved laughing and smiling at everyone.  Two of Riley's friends have younger siblings in his class (though they are about to turn 1 and will be transitioning to the 1s room) so not that he knows any different, but there were two familiar faces in there with him.  They loved havaing Jacob there today (one of Riley's old teachers from the 1s class stopped us as we were doing pick up and told us how much she loved spending time with him today) and so I know he's in good hands but I am so going to miss him incredibly next week. 

As you can see my Jacob-pants now does not mind tummy time at all!

It's the Little Things

Oh to be 3 and get so excited over the little things.  We went food shopping at Whole Foods the other week and there was a fountain outside that Riley begged to see.  Marc caught this video of her.  Sometimes she seems so much older than 3, she's definitely wise beyond her years/precocious but then I see her react to simple things like chasing a bird around a water fountain and I am remind of how young and truly innocent she really is. 

How???

How am I possibly going to leave this face behind and go back to work next week???

Terrible 3s

As I mentioned in my last post, Riley has been quite the handful lately.  I've said it before and I maintain that whoever coined the term "terrible 2s" did not stick around for the 3s because they are 100x worse.  Seriously, last week Riley had a particularly hard week.  She's been a handful for the last few months, defiant, acting out, super loud but it has been fairly manageable but last week it all blew up.  It started Tuesday with me picking her up and having to sign not one but two incident reports, fortunately one was an injury that she gave herself but the other was not good.  She had scratched one of her friends (and he really is a friend because she talks about this little boy all the time) and he had a huge scratch from his eye down his cheek to about his mouth, and then another scratch behind the ear, both bled.  I felt horrible, I emailed his parents to apologize and they completely understood since they know we have a new baby but still that is not a good enough excuse for us.  Riley knows better, she's extremely verbal for her age and she knows she should use her words not her hands.  She said he was helping her during clean up time and she wanted to do it herself so she scratched him.  Not cool.  Wednesday I picked her up and learned that she had a better day but was still bothering her friends.  Thursday I learned that during circle time she took a book and hit a friend who was just sitting there nicely.  She also tried to lie about it, a first, she has always fessed up to her actions but now she's lying about it.  Ugh.  On the way out a little girl in her class turned to her mom and said "That's Riley, mom.  She hurts people."  My heart sank and I was crushed, what had happened to my sweet Riley who had so many friends.???

After laying awake for two nights in tears about what I have done wrong with her and why she was behaving this way I decided to meet with the Directors at her day care.  Surely this can not be normal 3 year old behavior and I wanted to know if they felt I needed to get the Dr involved and perhaps get her into a behaviorist to modify her behavior.  I can deal with defiance and tantrums but hurting other people is not acceptable.  So Friday I took her to day care (which took me 2 hours to get out of the house with 2 kids) and met with them.  Riley also did not want to sit at circle time because she was afraid that she would hurt someone so I told her to sit on her hands.  When I dropped her off she sat down in circle time and sat on her hands and turned to the little girl next to her (the same one who told her mom that she hurts people) and said "I'm sitting on my hands so I don't hit anyone."  In spite of the situation it made me smile.  The directors made me feel so much better.  I asked if there was something going on with her and they both looked at me and said "Um yeah, her little brother."  I asked how come now after 4 months we're seeing this behavior.  Apparently it is super normal for children to act out several months after the sibling has arrived because the thrill of the baby and being a big sister has worn off and now they are just trying to get attention, so negative attention is better than no attention.  They gave me some great tips on how to motivate her.  We've been doing a star chart and they told me stars don't always resonate with 3 year olds like smiley and sad faces do so we've modified our behavior chart to be smiley and sad faces.  They also recommended finding a toy she really wants and printing a picture and putting it up so she can continually see the prize.  We ordered her a remote control car after she loved Jacob's so much so we've put it on a shelf in the kitchen and that's the prize, her own (pink) "monster truck."  She knows that she has to earn it.  Additionally they recommended us each taking her out on errands by herself.  So Saturday Marc took her to Safeway and then I took her to Target and she thrived off of the one on one time with us.  She told us it was "so much fun and that she was so happy."  They told me this could last 3-4 more months.  My face dropped and I was nearly ready to cry, there was no way I can deal with this for another 3 months!   They also said that any other outbursts she has she will be sent to the office for a talking to, this should scare her enough that she should shape up fairly quickly.

Riley also got close to another little boy in the class and he left last week so they think that could have been causing some of her outbursts.  Plus it was raining all week so they were stuck inside with all of this pent up energy which they said could have contributed to some outbursts.  They also said Jacob starting next week at day care may help because she will know he's there and not home with me. 

So I'm encouraged but still hoping that this is a phase and a fast one at that.  I want my sweet Riley back.  I take Jacob on Thursday to his 4 month well baby check so I am going to bring it up with the pediatrician and see what she thinks, both Directors didn't think Dr intervention was necessary with her at this point but I want to make sure this doesn't escalate any more.

Princess Mania

Well like I said, Monday we left my parents and headed up to Anaheim for a few days at Disney.  We stopped in Irvine for lunch to see my friend Dayna who had just had a baby which was super fun, even though Jacob is only like 2 1/2 months older than baby Adam it was seriously a shock to see how small he was, you forget so easily how small newborns really are, not to mention that Jacob is a beast (but an utterly cute one at that).  After lunch we hit up Carter's (love that place and I have Marc addicted with their super functional, cute clothes and killer deals) and then we did our Target run before heading over to our hotel, or as Riley calls it "hotowel."  We decided to stay this trip at the Embassy Suites, a suite is necessary these days and they offered an extra large one for a reasonable price so we figured with Riley and a crib that would do us justice.  Well the first night it was 9:00PM and Marc and I hadn't eaten and Riley was still awake, our plan was to have Riley sleep on the pull out couch out in the living room and us in the bedroom with Jacob in the crib.  Unfortunately the microwave, refrigerator and bathroom were all out in the living room so at 9:00PM we moved Riley into the bedroom on the king size bed and Marc and I landed ourselves on the full-size pull out couch with the crib next to us. 

Pipsqueak in her bed

Tuesday we headed to the parks!  Riley was "so escited!"  She kept saying it over and over, it was so cute and made the exhaustion worth it.  My brother, Lauren and Cousin D met us there, they actually got there before us despite driving up from San Diego, one of the pitfalls of trying to get out of the hotel room with 2 kids especially when one of them doesn't sleep through the night, not that I'm naming names, Jacob!  Our first stop was the Dumbo ride which happened to be the longest we would wait in lines, 40 minutes.  It was perfect, when we were there last Christmas, lines were 2-3 hours long, with a toddler, yeah that didn't happen but this trip the lines were generally 5-15 minutes for the rides that Riley and D were interested in.  We also found that Jacob could go on a lot of rides in the Bjorn so we were both able to take Riley.  I didn't go on Buzz Lightyear because I was feeding Jacob so the entire trip she begged me to go back on with her because it was "so awesome!"  We finally made it on the last day, which I deemed junk food day and we had a blast.  She was so excited for the one on one time with me and loved showing me how the ride worked since she had already been on it.  So Tuesday we spent at Disneyland followed by a late lunch at ESPN Zone in Downtown Disney and then we headed back to the hotel for a nap and then returned to downtown Disney and then to California Adventure where we ran into some friends that we know from back home.  So random and such a nice surprise!

Wednesday we spent the morning with my brother, Lauren and D and then headed over to California Adventure where we had lunch at the winery restaurant.  Thursday we did the same, all in all it was a fun vacation.  Disney really thinks of everything, we found that they have a Baby Center where you can go and nurse but they also have pumping rooms so I was able to bring my pump and pump throughout the day.  Seriously, they think of everything.  Riley and I also checked out the new Ariel ride which she loved.  Unfortunately Riley did not nap for 2 days and then did not nap the entire drive home.  Not fun times but more on the Riley subject at a later date.  Here are some pictures!  Riley was on a princess hunt while we were there, we couldn't find enough princesses fast enough for her.

Heading into Disneyland, woot, woot!!!

First ride, Dumbo!

Ariel loved Riley's blue nails with flowers painted on them

Posing with Ariel

Jacob pants' first ride.  It's a Small World.  His next ride was Pirates of the Caribbean where he fell asleep.  I can't blame the guy, it was cool and dark, I almost fell asleep too. 

Sleeping Beauty was next, Riley showed her that she had a picture of her on the light up shoes. :)

Me and my girl waiting for Goofy

Ooooo, Prince Aladdin!

Chilling in Mickey's house

Last stop of the trip, a picture with Mickey

As of today...

A break from our vacation summary to report that as of today we have a roller.  Yep, 8 days before he turns 4 months Jacob starting rolling.  I thought maybe it was a fluke but I flipped him right back over to his tummy a few times and he rolled right back over, he rolled a total of 4 times!  I guess that's what happens when you actually sleep at night, yup, this mommy got 6 hours straight of sleep as Jacob slept from 7:30PM - 4:00AM last night.  Here's hoping it wasn't a fluke and we've hit a turning point with this guy!

Vacay

So we've been back a week but I'm finally getting around to blogging our vacation.  It's clear after being gone for 10 days that Jacob absolutely NEEDS a routine or else he's a hot mess who doesn't sleep so we've been catching up on sleep, or trying to and getting him on a routine in the hopes that he starts sleeping through the night.  Riley was definitely sleeping through the night at this point at a much smaller body weight so beefcake needs to get with the program! :)

We headed out nearly 2 weeks ago to San Diego and then headed to Disneyland.  I have to pump in 15 minutes and then run and get Ri so we're going to start with our San Diego segment of the trip.  We left at 4:45AM, yes folks, that's AM, Marc and I really never went back to sleep after Jacob's feeding, one of the perks to a having a child who insists on eating around the clock and we hit the road.  We packed the car up the night before so we really just had to pack some last minute stuff and scoop the kids up and go.  They did great on the way down.  We stopped for breakfast just before the grapevine and then again in Irvine for a coffee and a potty break for Riley, we put her in a pull-up but she refused to potty in it.  Anyway, we arrived at my parents around 1:00 and unpacked and got settled.  That night we went over to my brother's to meet my new nephew, D.  They adopted him in January after years of waiting, they started the process right after Riley was born.  Riley and D hit it off!  It was awesome, D was 2 in November and is just as cute and sweet as can be!  It was so fun watching them together.  No pictures of him yet as that is against protocol as they move through the adoption process but we got plenty and Riley loves her cousin D!

Thursday we headed to Sea World because Riley wanted to see the dolphins, of course the dolphin enclosure is being remodeled so we weren't able to pet and feed them, she was really looking forward to that.  Luckily, they were running a promotion that for the price of a 1 day pass you could buy a year long pass so we bought those so now we'll definitely be getting down to San Diego quite often this year.  We did go to the dolphin show which happened to be about a princess and of course stared dolphins, it was pretty much heaven for Riley, I think if we could have gotten Dora in there somewhere she would literally be in heaven.  But we had a great time and that night Jacob happened to sleep through the night.  Don't get excited because it was a fluke, he hasn't since then.

Friday we just kind of hung out, I took the kids to see my dad at work and for lunch at this awesome burger place.  My mom came and brother met us and then I treated them to some books at this amazing bookstore.  Riley and D got to play for dinner that night, it's seriously awesome how well they get along.  And D totally stands up to Riley.

Saturday we headed downtown with the kids in tow to spend time with Marc's aunt and uncle who just bought a place down there.  His cousin and his wife, Gabby joined us as well.  We found out late February that Gabby was diagnosed on her 30th birthday with stage 4 non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.  Marc and I are so upset about this diagnosis.  Gabby is awesome and it really makes you wonder about why crappy stuff happens to awesome people.  But Gabby is doing great and is responding to treatment fantastically and is pretty close to remission.  On top of it all she has an amazing attitude and is truly amazing.  I am in such admiration of her positive attitude.  The kids loved her and had a great time with her.  We all went to dinner in Little Italy and both of my kids behaved socially acceptable for public, it was a freaking miracle to be quite honest!  Jacob slept and Riley completely behaved herself.

Sunday my mom threw an open house so that her friends could come over and meet Jacob and D.  It was a lot of fun! 

Monday, we packed back up and headed up to Anaheim for some fun at Disneyland.

Phew, that was the abridged version of our trip to San Diego.  So now for some pictures, I know that's what you're waiting for anyway. 

With Gruncle at Sea World

Not so sure about this splash zone thing

Getting a lift from Gruncle Michael

Jacob cuddling with cousin Gabby

Riley loved the Gruncles view of the bay

Daddy an his mini-me

The boys!

All smiles for the ladies

Riley and Graunt Sandy

Family dinner

Mmmm, salted caramel chocolate mousse.  This was by far the best dessert that I have ever had, Riley and literally fought over who's spoon made it in the bowl first.  It was amazing!

Gabby, you so silly!

Jacob-pants with Nana

Le Sigh

That's all I have to say about Riley's latest clubfoot check-up.  We took her to Dr H today, or as she told all of her friends at school when I picked her up "Dr. Bossyman" and her feet are tightening up and her left foot is turning in, particularly when she runs and definitely more so when she's tired.  Again, I have the eyes of an orthopedic surgeon.  Not sure if that's good or bad.  Also not sure if it's good or bad that he agrees with everything I see, one of these days I just want him to tell me I'm being neurotic and to chill out, but no such luck today.  It's not entirely bad, we don't have to wear the brace again, which is good because we are currently putting a steroid cream on Riley's chest and back due to an allergic reaction plus ear drops due to excess "smashed totatoes" in her ears to avoid surgery so adding a brace to the crazy bedtime mix would just be ridiculous.  And he's not talking surgery yet, so that's a good thing.  We actually decided to start stretches on both feet because she's pretty tight on both sides (I can't even blame the left foot) so we're now doing that for a minute on each foot two times a day.  And he was happy she's in gymnastics still so hopefully that will help as well.  I'm trying to be optimistic since we don't go back for 3 months and surgery hasn't been mentioned but I'm still pretty bummed that her feet are tightening up and her left foot is definitely turning in.

Le sigh, I just want to be done with clubfeet.  I'm over it!