Swimming

Naomi loves the water. She has always loved going to the pool and beach. Now she can verbalize this love. She's simply obsessed. She asks to go swimming all the time. Unfortunately when you live in NJ where it's freezing cold ALL THE TIME, well at least for a long long time, there really isn't much of an opportunity. I'm not bitter. I don't miss the pool that we had in our apartment complex growing up, I don't miss all the tropical beaches that were within driving distance from my apartment, or the amazing white sand beaches which we could get to via a short plane ride...no no, I love Jersey. Anyway, we're going to Florida this weekend, and Naomi cannot stop talking about the beach. I finally decided it was time for her to try her new bathing suit on, and go "swimming" in our jacuzzi tub. It was the perfect size pool for her, and she couldn't stop screaming from excitement.

33 Months

Naomi turned 33 months on the 19th. 2 and 3/4. How did that happen? She is our chatterbox. When she's awake, our house is not quiet. Her mouth literally runs all day. Unless of course she's around new people, then the chatterbox is suddenly quiet. At least she's slowly getting over her "shy mean" phase. We've been working on what it means to be nice and how she should greet people when we run into them. She used to just yell "NO" and bury her head into Austin or I. Now she's slowly learning to say "Hi", granted you have to have to strain to hear since she whispers it.

She is completely embracing her role as a big sister. She loves to help soothe Mikaela when Mikaela is crying. If she hears her crying, she'll quickly yell out, "Uh Oh!! I have to check on Mei Mei" and run over to Mikaela and stroke her cheek or hand to try and soothe her. She'll kiss her and lovingly say, "oooh it's ok baby, I'm right here". I've even seen her give Mikaela her Mimi (lambie) and Izzy doll...her two comfort items which she usually won't share with anyone else. She'll sing Mikaela lullabies, or sometimes Justin Bieber's "Baby", all in an effort to get Mikaela to smile. It's too cute.

Naomi is fully showing us what it means to have a toddler going through her terrible twos though. She is so opinionated and quick to get frustrated. Austin and I are finding our selves having to discipline her more and more, but it seems to be working as she definitely is better at listening to us, and her tantrums seem to be shorter in nature. We've used a combo of discipline and a reward system, which seem to work well with.

We do have to be extremely careful with everything we say and do now. She is quite the sponge. She'll copy everything we say, echoing us throughout the day and mimicking our actions as well. She'll even come home telling us things that her teachers at daycare have said throughout the day. (some of which I'm sure they don't want me to know).

She loves all things Dora, Ni Hao Kai Lan and Yo Gabba Gabba. She's incredibly good at the computer, and plays games on her Mac (Austin's old computer) all by herself, and could probably play all day long if we let her. She is getting better at recognizing letters, particularly ones that have an N, A, O, M or I in it, since she loves spelling her name. She can type her name out on the keyboard and iphone as well. Be careful if you leave your iPhone's lying around our house cause she might send out random text messages with her name in it. I've learned that lesson the hard way. She still loves arts and crafts and is getting really good at drawing. She started drawing actual objects, or attempting to at least, as opposed to simple scribbles. She says she's a good drawer, just like her daddy.

I'm still in denial that she's growing up so fast. The other day at dinner we were talking about how when we get back from our trip to Florida, she'd be graduating from Toddlers to Preschool at her daycare center. I sadly mentioned to her that going to Pre-School meant she was growing up, and that I didn't want her to grow up. To which she responded, "Like what Taylor Swift says? Never grow up? Just keep it simple?" Too cute.

Never Grow Up (Taylor Swift)

Your little hands wrapped around my finger
And it's so quiet in the world tonight
Your little eyelids flutter 'cause you're dreaming
So I tuck you in, turn on your favorite night light

To you, everything's funny
You got nothing to regret
I'd give all I have, honey
If you could stay like that

Oh, darling, don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up
Just stay this little
Oh, darling, don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up
It could stay this simple

I won't let nobody hurt you
Won't let no one break your heart
No, no one will desert you
Just try to never grow up, never grow up

You're in the car on the way to the movies
And you're mortified your mom's dropping you off
At 14, there's just so much you can't do
And you can't wait to move out someday and call your own shots

But don't make her drop you off around the block
Remember that she's getting older, too
And don't lose the way that you dance around
In your PJs getting ready for school

Oh, darling, don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up
Just stay this little
Oh, darling, don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up
(From: http://www.elyrics.net/read/t/taylor-swift-lyrics/never-grow-up-lyrics.html)
It could stay this simple

No one's ever burned you
Nothing's ever left you scarred
And even though you want to
Just try to never grow up

Take pictures in your mind of your childhood room
Memorize what it sounded like when your dad gets home
Remember the footsteps, remember the words said
And all your little brother's favorite songs

I just realized everything I have
Is someday gonna be gone

So here I am in my new apartment
In a big city, they just dropped me off
It's so much colder than I thought it would be
So I tuck myself in and turn my night light on

Wish I'd never grown up
I wish I'd never grown up

Oh, I don't wanna grow up, wish I'd never grown up
Could still be little
Oh, I don't wanna grow up, wish I'd never grown up
It could still be simple

Oh, darling, don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up
Just stay this little
Oh, darling, don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up
It could stay this simple

Won't let nobody hurt you
Won't let no one break your heart
And even through to you want to
Please try to never grow up

Don't you ever grow up
(Never grow up)
Just never grow up

Two Months

Mikaela turned 2 months on the 14th. She grows cuter every day. Life is slowly starting to calm down as we figure out how to manage taking care of two girls. For the past couple of days, Mikaela has slept for longer stretches, ranging from 5-7 hours. Yesterday I actually had to wake her up on the 7th hour because she was making us late for church, which happened to be her baptism service.

She is coo'ing more and more each day, and seems to be an incredibly happy, laid back baby. She'll smile at you when you talk to her, or when she hears music. She especially loves when Naomi talks to her and will immediately stop crying and sometimes even start smiling and laughing when Naomi sings and dances to try to calm her down.

She's happy during the day and doesn't need to be held as much which is a huge relief on my arms and back. But she definitely still likes to snuggle, and there are definitely times, mainly when I'm trying to get things done, that she'll scream in protest if she's not being carried.

She's spending more of her hours awake during the day, although she still likes to stay up way later than she should. Every night I try to get her into bed for a longer stretch by 8pm. Every night she'll refuse to be put her in her crib til right around midnight. Then she'll sleep for a huge long stretch. I guess it's really not that bad of a situation since it means that once I finally do get her down in the crib, we both can sleep til morning time.

She's also decided that she will no longer drink from a bottle. She was fine with bottles from day 1 (she was jaundiced so we supplemented with formula), and even as late as 6 wks, when Austin and I went out for dinner. But last week she decided she no longer wants a bottle and only wants to nurse. Ugh. Naomi went through the same thing and when I went back to work actually went on a feeding strike for about 3 days. She'd refuse to eat during the day, and then nurse and nurse when I got home. Not fun. I was hoping that since we started the bottle early with Mikaela we could avoid that problem. Oh well.

At her 2 month doctor's appt, she got 3 shots and had another oral vaccine. She handled them all like a champ and only cried for a few seconds after she was picked up. She's growing nicely too. Here are her stats:

Weight: 10 lbs (20th percentile)

Height: 21.5 inches (12th percentile)

Head: 38.7 cm (60th percentile)

So just like her big sister, she's not exactly a giant...but has a big ol head to fit her big ol brain =) We looked up Naomi's stats in her baby book ( I apparently didn't blog about them at this point yet) and she was 10 lbs 12 oz.

Happy St. Paddy's Day

Tummy Time

At least someone is getting use of my new yoga mat.

Posing

We had some spring-like weather this weekend, so we tried to take advantage of the warmth with some time outside. On Saturday morning we took a walk around the neighborhood. It was nice just to get outside. Naomi definitely enjoyed it:

Baby Shoes

If you know me I have a slight obsession with baby shoes. Ok. Who am I kidding. I have an obsession with shoes in general. Naomi has a plethora of shoes just like her momma.
In fact, two days ago, I had a pair of shoes come in the mail. When I opened the box, Naomi yelled out, "SHOES!!!! Lets try them on". And she proceeded to wear and walk (attempt to at least) around in them.
I bought Mikaela's first pair of shoes before she was born. As soon as her feet grow a little bigger, she has a lovely pair of black maryjanes from one of my favorite kiddie shoe companies - See Kai Run.

While I love See Kai Run, Naomi has gone through several pairs, I think I may have found another brand that may be giving them a run for their money...at least in terms of baby booties.

How cute are these:

and these:

and these:

They're from Bobka Baby on Etsy.

The only problem (other than which one to buy) is the fact that Mikaela's feet, much like her big sister's, are so small that by the time she can fit into the smallest size, she'll probably need walkers instead of baby booties.