Like Riding a Bike

Maddex is one month old today!  Now that the kids are older I don't remember what it was like when they were babies.  But surprisingly, it's kind of been like riding a bike.  It's all coming back to me now. I had forgotten...
-how tiny the diapers are
-how soft the bottom of a baby's foot is
-that funny thing they do with their toes when you push on their feet
-babies are slippery when wet
-crusty eyes, flakey skin and baby acne
-how explosive the poop sounds only to leave you wondering if the clothes made it or not
-being pleasantly surprised they did make it and it wasn't as much as it sounded
-changing the poop only to find out they're not done and you are the one who's not gonna make it
-getting spit up on and deciding what the limit is before changing shirts
-the types of spit up:  projectile, curdled milk, semi-curled and milk drool
-trying to wake them up and they sleep through anything
-trying to get them to sleep and the smallest thing will wake them up...a cruel irony
-how night feedings last a lot longer than during the day due to the fact that I'm falling asleep
-waking up during the night feeding and looking at the clock to see that I've had my head hanging down for the past 18 minutes
-the crick in my neck that follows
-being whacked in the cheekbone by their bobble head
-their eyes start to cross when focusing
-their eyes roll back and flutter when they sleep
-smiling and laughing in their sleep
-trying so hard to make them smile and just getting a blank stare in return
-getting excited that they smiled at me only to get let down when there's a poop or spit up to follow, it was just another gassy fluke
-rocking them in the rocking chair and putting myself to sleep instead
-how hard it is to get their little arms through long sleeves
-having to plan 20 minutes ahead before going anywhere to get a good feeding in
-secretly hoping that while I'm out they'll sleep the whole time
-nap when they are napping, otherwise they will make you pay for it later...which I will since I'm using the kids' nap time for my computer time

So here's to next month when I will hopefully get a REAL smile.

  

All Grown Up

The past 3 weeks have flown by and I've realized something...my babies are all growing up!  Am I blubbering about this?  No.  In fact, I couldn't be happier.

After waiting and waiting, Ella has FINALLY  lost her first tooth.  She's been anticipating this for over a year now and over the weekend, she was lucky enough to lose two (and by lose I mean Brian yanked them out).

With her 'shark teeth' growing in behind it was just time for those bottom teeth to go.  It's kind of funny not having a gap there since the others are pretty much fully grown in behind.

I asked her what she thought about the tooth fairy.  She said she believed.  I said "Really? Why?"  Her response was, "I just do."  I wasn't really wanting to do the tooth fairy thing.  But she said that she didn't want the tooth fairy to take her teeth and she wanted to keep them.  So the tooth fairy can pocket the money, Ella's not interested.  Works for me.

Meet Mr. Mom.  He's my no. #1 babysitter helper.  If Maddex needs tending to, he's right there.  Brian got the shun a few days ago.  Maddex was crying and Aiden whips in the room and dismissed Brian saying "I'll handle this."

 
Riley got a double whammy this week too.  Last week she got her ears pierced!  We decided that we would wait until the girls asked for it.  Ella was 4 when she wanted hers, but Riley's been asking for months.  I was going to wait until her 3rd birthday, but Christmas works too!  Riley also started booty camp (potty training) today.  I was waiting until Maddex was here to start, but now I've finally run out of reasons to put it off.  Maybe she'll make this easy for me.  So far so good!  

Maddex is weighing in at almost 11 pounds.  She's holding her head up and actually staying awake for about 4 hours a day!  I'd like to see her walking and talking by next week, but then Riley would have to find a new baby doll to play with.