Strawberries, parades, and parks

A recap of the last 2 weekends:

June 22-- We went to Strawberry Festival in Cedarburg.  This is always one of my favorite events of summer. The day we went, sadly, was pretty cool and cloudy.  Therefore, we didn't stay as long as I think we might have in nice weather, but we still ate some delicious food, drank the most wonderful strawberry slushes known to man, and enjoyed the general ambiance.

Miri shows off her unique strawberry slush drinking form. 

She did not leave a drop!

Emmett did not get a strawberry slush this year.  Sorry buddy!  Next year!

June 23-- We decided to take the kids to the "Action in Jackson" parade in Jackson, a nearby community. The UW Marching Band marched in the parade.  They also played a "5th Quarter" after the parade, but it was lunch/nap time, so we decided to be responsible parents and take the kids home.  I would have really loved to take Miri to it, but I am certain I will have opportunities in the future.  But the parade alone was SO MUCH FUN!  We were able to get prime seats right along the curb, in shade.  It was not super crowded like the Cedarburg 4th of July parade always is, and that meant lots of candy-collecting opportunities for Miriam!  Oh boy, did she get a haul!  Emmett got a tiny bit startled by the muskets being fired by the Revolutionary War Fife and Drum Corps, but he didn't even cry and was such a good baby throughout.

Yes, she collected ALL THAT CANDY! (Plus 3  flavor ice freeze pops)

June 29-- Emmett had his first "solid" food-- rice cereal.  He did great and seemed to really enjoy it!  He ate a full teaspoon that day and has finished 2 teaspoons the 2 nights since.  

Miri is such a good big sister!  She wants to be in on all of "her" baby's firsts.

June 30-- We spent the morning at Hart Park in Wauwatosa.  We had been there once last summer (with all the grandparents, when Gramma and G-pa were in town), but it was like a whole new experience.  Miri is just so much more skilled and brave with playgrounds this summer.  Erin and Madeline Kaiser met up with us too.  Later, after naps, we went over to my parents' house for dinner.  Aunt Mary is in town for the week, and Emmett finally got to meet his very special great-aunt.  Miriam had a blast playing with Aunt Mary too, and we look forward to seeing her again on July 4th.

Miri and the now-very-mobile Maddie!

Miti and Maddie watching the trains go by

Emmett meets Aunt Mary!

July 1-- Our little man is 6 months already!  Time is flying by so quickly.  Happy half-birthday, little man!  You have brought such immense joy into your parents' and big sister's life, and into the lives of all who know and love you.  You are such an incredible gift, Emmett, and we love you to pieces.  We so look forward into seeing you grow and develop more and more into your own little person.  XOXOXO

 

The start of summer

It finally feels like summer has arrived here in Wisconsin.  Yay!  We Bashaws are looking forward to lots of fun this summer... so hopefully I will do a better job with this blog so you can all see what we're up to!  I am going to really really try to at least post a few pics every other week.

Little Emmett has finally outgrown his colic, has been successfully weaned off his reflux meds, and is sleeping better.  He's typically only up 1x/night to nurse and goes right back to bed.  I'm hoping that maybe once he's doing solids that he will sleep through the entire night, but I can definitely handle only one waking.  He is such a sweet and easygoing boy, and his smiles are incredibly contagious.  For the last 5 days or so, he's been pushing himself up onto all fours.  I am wondering how long it will be until he can crawl... I hope I still have a little time before he's mobile.  Yikes!  He's still working on being able to sit unsupported.  He is becoming more and more vocal... laughter, squeals, grunts, cooing.  He is putting his thumb into his mouth to self-soothe more and more often; thumb-sucking is probably the one thing I wish he wouldn't copy from his big sister, but there's not much I can do to stop it.  I can't believe how close the little man is to 6 months.  This first year is going so much faster with him even than it did with Miriam.  I love that he is becoming his own little person now, and I know now the second time around just how much more fun is in store as he gets older and older, but at the same time, sometimes I just want things to slow down... my baby needs to stay a baby for awhile!

Miriam is growing up so much.  Jason and I were just watching home videos lately from last summer.  At the time, we thought she was SO grown up and talked SO well... and now, she just looks and sounds like such a baby in those videos!  There seems to be nothing now she can't say... and she is usually talking a blue streak.  Sometimes my ears are tired at the end of the day!  Miri is a huge hit in the neighborhood.  There are  quite a few neighbor girls in the 8 to 11 years old range who just fawn over her and come over to play on a regular basis.  We should have no shortage of babysitters in a few years!  She loves being outside and sometimes it can be hard to get her inside without tears.  Miri just moved up to a new room in daycare; she's now in the "Big Twos."  She has 2 new teachers, Ms. Alexis and Ms. Lee, and she also has Ms. Ginger again, who was Miri's teacher back in the first half of 2012 when she was in the "Toddler 1" room.  Miriam continues to love school and her friends there, and she seems to be having a great time in her first week in her new classroom.  Somehow, this girl just gets more and more fun as she grows.

We are also extremely lucky in that our kids really really love each other.  No sibling rivalry... yet.

I will try to be more regular in updating this blog, especially with all our fun summer plans!  Someone keep me accountable!

Long overdue update

Oops... I have not written a blog post in a loooong time.  Can you tell we are a bit busy here in the Bashaw household these days?  Going from 1 to 2 kids doesn't make things twice as busy.  It makes things about 10 times as hectic!  At any rate, I will attempt to do a little bit of catch-up here and share some pictures at least.

EMMETT:  Emmett is 3 and a half months old!  I can't believe it.   At his 2 month appt on 3/1, Emmett was measured at 24.75 inches (98th percentile!) and 12 lbs 8 oz (60th percentile).  At his gastroenterology appointment on 3/21, he weighed 13 lbs 7 oz.  Which is more than Miri weighed at 6 months!  Needless to say, he is growing well!

Emmett continues to be plagued with nighttime colic, but we are hoping we're starting to see the tail end of it.  Nights are still not easy, but we do feel like things are S-L-O-W-L-Y but surely getting better.  He still has multiple fussy periods between about 9 PM and 7AM, but whereas they used to be full-out inconsolable crying which often escalated to absolute SCREAMING, now he is at least consolable much of the time with a pacifier and firm pressure on his chest.   Things definitely appear to be getting incrementally better, although it seems like we'll go two tiny steps forward and then a medium-sized step backwards.  We have also been dealing with swaddle weaning the past week, as Emmett can easily roll to his side now and it may not be long til he can get to his tummy, so obviously being swaddled arm-less is now somewhat of a danger, although it still helps him fall and stay asleep better.  But even with that being thrown in, it does seem the colic is decreasing. The pediatric gastroenterologist feels he should improve greatly or age out of it entirely between 4 and 5 months.  I hope this is all a distant memory soon.  He's such a happy boy by nature; it breaks our hearts to see him miserable at night and really not be able to do much of anything about it.

I am so incredibly smitten with this boy.  He has the BEST smile in the world!  It makes me so happy to see that gorgeous gummy grin, his dimple, and the way those baby blues light up.  I am obviously biased, but I think he is an exceptionally beautiful baby boy.  He coos and giggles now, both of which are just delightful.   He does quite well with his tummy time and can hold his chest and head up for long periods of time.  He LOVES lying on his back and grabbing at the dangling animals above his play mat.  He also gets a huge kick out of looking at himself in the mirror.  He has also enjoyed some babywearing with Daddy in the Baby Bjorn for walks on the few days it was decent enough to get out for some fresh air.

MIRIAM:  Miri is officially 2.5 now and getting closer to 3 every day!  Despite being in the midst of the so-called "terrible twos," her terrible moments are pretty few and far between.  She is pretty much a constant ray of sunshine.  She is sunny and funny and sweet as pie.  I am still in awe of the enormous privilege of being her mom.  If ever I questioned that God has a plan for me, Miriam is proof.  The two years of disappointment and heartbreak while waiting for her are now just a drop in the pail compared to the tremendous amount of joy she's given us in the past two years.

Miriam continues to love going to school, and she continues to be loved right back by her teachers.  She tells us her favorite part of school is "circle time," and she loves to be the teacher and play circle time at home.  Which means she tells me or Jason to "sit criss-cross applesauce, zip your mouth, and click your ears."  And then we have to sit silently while she "reads" us a book while holding it up in such a way that we can see the pictures.  It is so incredibly cute!  She talks about her teachers and friends from school all the time.  Her best friend continues to be a little girl named Adelyn, whom she has been best friends with since the ripe old age of about 14 months.  Adelyn is always there before Miriam in the morning, and when Jason brings Miri in, Adelyn comes up to her and the two give each other big hugs.  So sweet!

Miriam is warming back up to me again.  I'm getting lots more hugs and kisses and smiles and invitations to play.  The scowls and rejections have dropped way way down, and we are really enjoying lots of fun Mommy/Miri playtime again these days while Emmett naps.  I am so glad to be back in her good graces!  As mentioned, she has really turned into a Daddy's girl now too though. She is so sad when Jason "goes to work" (i.e., the basement) and so incredibly happy when he "comes home."  And she is the most amazing big sister.  She loves Emmett to pieces and gives him lots of hugs and kisses.  She likes to show him toys and help him with his tummy time and even asks to be walked down to the infant room at daycare on occasion to visit him.  We are so proud of her.

VISIT FROM GRAMMA AND G-PA:
Right before I went back to work, Gramma and G-pa came from SC for a visit!  It was G-pa's first time meeting Emmett, since he had the flu and was unable to come with Gramma in January.  We had a very lovely visit; it is always so great to be able to be together.  It is tough living so far away, but it sure makes the time together all the more special.  Both kids were super happy for lots of playtime, stories, snuggles, and more with their grandparents.  Since it was the weekend before Easter, Gramma and G-pa got to be here for Miri's first Easter egg dyeing.  She was a big fan of that!  Art + eggs (one of her favorite foods) = happiness for Miriam!

Miri and Emmett even got to have ALL of their grandparents over at the same time!  There was no shortage of attention for either kid with 4 doting grandparents!

EASTER:
We had a lovely Easter weekend.  On Saturday, we enjoyed a visit with Adam, Rochelle, Kaden, and Charlotte.  We hadn't seem them since Christmastime, so it was obviously really great to get to spend time together and, of course, to introduce them to Emmett!  It is going to be really fun for Emmett and Charlotte to grow up as buddies, since they are only 12 days apart.  And Miri is absolutely enamored with her big cousin Kaden.  When we had to say goodbye, Miri was yelling "Kaden, I love you!  I love you, Kaden!" for several minutes in the direction that she'd seen them leave.  Can't wait for our next visit with the Rymer family!  Also congrats to them on their new home, which they closed on and moved into last week!  I'm hoping we will be able to figure out a weekend to visit them in MN this summer and see their new crib (complete with swimming pool!).

Easter Sunday was a ton of fun, although a quiet one spent just with the 4 of us (oh wait, 5 of us... we were dogsitting Izzy while my parents were in Key West, lucky ducks).  Miri had been so excited for WEEKS for the Easter Bunny, and the Easter Bunny did not disappoint!  The Bunny was good to us again this year, even Jason and me.  That Easter Bunny even carefully selected dairy-free treats for me, as I am currently on a total dairy elimination diet in an attempt to help lessen Emmett's reflux and colic.  What a thoughtful Easter Bunny!  Miriam sooo enjoyed hunting for her eggs and checking to see what the treat/ surprise in each one was.  She showed great perseverance and found all 24 eggs!  Jason and I then managed to get all 4 of us dressed up and to the church on time for Easter mass, and both kids did a great job behaving themselves at church.  That felt like an enormous success!  Ever since then, Miri has decided that the hymn "Jesus Christ is Risen Today" is a great lullaby and frequently asks for it as her lullaby.  :)  It was a very blessed and wonderful day.

One month!

Quick post from Mama Bashaw here...

Our little Emmett is now over 1 month old!  Although "little" may not be the correct choice of words... at his 4 week weight check, mommy's little piggy weighed in at a WHOPPING 10 lbs 9 oz!  He gained 33 oz in 23 days.  Our pediatrician said he'd normally expect a breastfed baby to have gained 17 to 18 oz in that amount of time.  Dr. Esser thinks Emmett is trying to match his weight to his long length.  So funny how two kids from the same parents can be so different.  Emmett weighed more at 4 weeks than Miri did at 2 months!  At any rate, I doubt Emmett is genetically destined to end up as a linebacker, but it's always reassuring as a breastfeeding mom to see your kid growing so well. 

On a less fun note, he was also diagnosed with reflux this week.  We started seeing the all night grunting, squeaking, stridorous noises almost 2 weeks ago, and then he started becoming inconsolaby fussy ALL.THE.TIME. My best mommy bounce, ninja swaddling skills, and paci-pushing couldn't settle down this poor guy.  He just seemed in horrendous pain all the time.  It is so hard to see your baby so miserable.  It was eerily similar to our experience with Miriam.  At any rate, our pediatrician has been proactive with us, and Emmett has now been on Zantac for 3 days.  It appears to be working.  He is much happier now, except for his "predictable" fussy times of 5-8 AM (ugh, not fun) and 5-8 PM, and it's becoming much easier to soothe him to sleep for naps and over night.  The awful nighttime grunting has also been much improved the last 2 nights. 

Miriam has been adjusting beautifully to big sisterhood.  She absolutely adores Emmett.  She's been nothing but loving and gentle to him.  We haven't really seen any jealousy or sibling rivalry directed towards Emmett yet, although I am getting the cold shoulder a bit, which I'm guessing is her reaction to me having to spend so much time feeding, soothing, etc with Emmett.  Overall though, Miri has totally taken this in stride, and we can't believe how well she's doing with such a huge change.  Just more proof about what an awesome kid she is!  Poor Emmett has big shoes to fill... good thing he's got big feet, ha ha!