Gigi and Pagger Don Visits and More

Two weeks ago, Gigi came to visit and to help out me and the two kids. It was a fun week and I was very glad for the extra help, plus she whipped up some yummy meals and some adorable and tasty cupcakes. Not bad at all. Over the weekend, Pagger Don came too. 

During her visit, Avery turned one month old. Can you believe it? She's growing like a weed. We just had our one month appointment and she was 11 pounds 15 ounces and 23 inches long. She was in the 97th percentile for height and weight. Oh my! I knew she was eating a lot but I didn't realize she was trying to catch up to her brother. 

She's starting to get on a bit of a schedule, but for the most part she is still pretty unpredictable. We have been feeding her for the last time around 7 or 7:30pm and then doing bath time with Connor and then rocking her to sleep around 8:30pm. Some nights she'll sleep until nearly 4am and other nights she'll get up at 1:30am. We'll see, but it seems like she is getting the night time thing pretty well. It's those nights that she stares at me, not crying, just looking around for 2 hours in the middle of the night that is hard. That can be exhausting and rarely do they sleep at the same time in the afternoons. She seems to nap the most in the late morning, from maybe 10:30 to 2:30 or so. It varies of course. She does seem to get overtired if she's been up for more than 2 hours and I'm watching her cues for that. Again, it's all still pretty much up in the air, but we're working on it. In the past two days, she has started indicating that she prefers to lay down flat with her pacifier as opposed to being rocked to sleep. Silly girl, always changing her preferences. :)

During Gigi's week, we also got to celebrate Mother's Day. The boys picked a Brazilian steak house. I was a bit nervous, since it's not really a kid friendly place, but Connor powered through and I pumped a bottle, so Avery ate at the table with us too. We all were stuffed on a variety of meats. Jeff was also kind enough to get me a new, small camera. I had been saying that it would be nice to have a little camera to have in my purse, etc. instead of having just the big one and he delivered. Very cool. Thank you! Of course we were showered with love and mushy cards, which I always appreciate. 

Anyway, enjoy some pics from our week. Up next, Memorial Day in College Station.

Gigi getting to snuggle her granddaughter again after not seeing her for 3 weeks. Look at Avery checking her out.

"I've gotten big haven't I Gigi."

Connor's school had a Mother's Day picnic in the gym. First they sang us some songs. It was adorable.

After singing, Connor came running to me so we could have a picnic lunch together.

Enjoying our picnic.

Mother and son bonding.

Hungry Hippo turned one month old. So sweet.

Gigi was good at soothing Avery to sleep.

She is getting really strong and has good head control. Of course she bobs around some as well, but she is definitely more alert and strong.

Trying out the bumbo seat. She's still a bit floppy, but it's a start. 

 

 

Mother's Day lunch at a Brazilian Steak House.

 

Back to sleep and snuggled up.

Now Pagger Don gets to bond with his granddaughter. "Well hello pretty girl."

She really likes to nap in this sleep and play rocker. It is elevated and her legs can curl up like she likes.

Two sleeping Treadways.

Curled up on Daddy's chest.

Experimenting with different facial expressions. She still has very pretty blue eyes and that adorable puffy hair.

Brother and sister bonding after naps. In the morning, Connor usually asks to see Baby Avery. He really seems to like her.

Tummy time?

Jeff and the kids hanging out.

My brother sure is wild and crazy.

Pretty Avery.

I thought her face here was really funny.

Chillin' with Daddy on a Friday night. We have been in the habit of playing outside every evening after dinner when our backyard has shade.

She looks so big here I think. It's amazing how they start looking like babies and not infants so quickly.

Enjoying a lovely evening outside.

Now it's time for some golf lessons.

Enjoying one of Gigi's cupcakes. Yum. Thanks Gigi for coming and helping.

Grandma Margie's 90th Birthday Party

Last weekend, Jeff bravely ventured off with Connor by himself to Oklahoma for his Grandma Margie's 90th Birthday party. It is about an hour flight and then a 2 hour car ride. Do I have a great husband or what?

While the boys were in Oklahoma, Avery and I went to the spa, got our nails done, and gossiped. Ok, not really, but we did have fun bonding and it was amazing how much more I could accomplish with just one little infant instead of having both kids. 

Connor and Jeff took the camera and as you can see, they had a blast. Enjoy and Happy 90th Great Grandma Margie.

Just a few pictures from last week. Connor is still fascinated by Avery. It's really sweet. 

Eye to eye kisses. Very cute. 

At the airport, in the President's club, Connor waits to board the plane by snacking and watching airport activity. 

They arrived safely in Oklahoma but still had a 2 hour drive to Grandma Margie's. Connor stayed entertained and happy. Oh the digital age.

Striking a cute pose while reading a book in the car.

Playing football on Grandma Margie's farm.

Connor playing with second cousin Lauren. Jeff's cousin Kelly brought both her girls, Camille (9) and Lauren (8). They had a blast and were so good with Connor. He loved them.

Having fun playing football with his second cousins. Doesn't he look happy.

Second cousin Lauren and Connor.

The kiddos at dinner time.

Grandma Margie reading Connor his bedtime stories.

Connor's bedtime setup. He got to sleep with Daddy in a big boy bed.

It's always a fun time to ride in the old red pick up truck.

Connor thought it was really neat to ride in the bed of the truck.

The kiddos at the 90th birthday party. Happy Birthday Great Grandma Margie.

The BBQ place where the party was held was a big hall with old west stuff to look at and play around with. It was great for the kids.

Look at all the guests. There were over 100. Margie is one popular lady. She deserves all the attention.

Playing with bubbles in the backyard. Pagger Don, Gigi and Cousin Cinde are checking it out.

Cousins at sunset. What a trio.

Hanging out on the back porch with Grandma Margie's barn cat.

http://youtu.be/avwcfWRCD38
Singing Happy Birthday to Grandma Margie.

http://youtu.be/gy9vlXe_Ptk
Playing on a see saw at the park with his second cousin Lauren.

Tummy Time and First Bottle

Avery is still growing like a weed. Just today, I did an unofficial weigh-in by adding her weight to mine on our bathroom scale and it showed she weighed 11 pounds 4 ounces. That's pretty impressive since she was born at 8 pounds 1 ounce. She will be a month very soon and I can't believe how fast time has been flying by. I think having an active toddler around helps make everything go by in a flash.

Speaking of the big brother, Connor continues to impress me by how loving and attentive he is to Avery. If she is sleeping somewhere, he'll ask where she is. Also, I put a photo of her in Connor's room and he was so excited. He told me, Jeff, and my Mom about it. It was adorable. He also will occasionally say, "Watch this Avery," while he's playing. One very cute example happened in the car on Thursday. I realized I hadn't eaten lunch and was starving, so I went to a drive through at Potbelly sandwiches and there was a pretty long line. Avery started crying a bit and Connor turns to her and says, "It's OK Avery, we'll be going soon." I practically melted. I had hoped he would be a good big brother, but he has surpassed my expectations. Now let's see how he does once she is big enough to steal his toys...ha!

Avery is still a very sporadic sleeper. She'll sleep for three hours at a time during the day and then be awake for 3 or 4 hours. Babies at this age typically are awake for about an hour and a half at a time before they are sleepy again. Luckily though, she still seems to have a sixth sense when we are out and about and when she needs to be "good" because she continues to amaze me in her flexibility with her big brother's outings and schedule. She is a trooper.

It seems like her fussiest time is soon after Connor goes to bed from about 9pm until 12am. She likes to be awake then, which isn't the easiest schedule for her Mommy who just had a long day taking care of her big brother, but we're all adjusting. After finally settling down to sleep at midnight, she wakes up around 3am and then again at 6:30am lately. Sometimes at the 3am feeding she goes right back to sleep and other times, (like last night...ugh), she doesn't want to go back down and decides it's time to hang out with Mommy. She'll sometimes be up until nearly 5am and then she's still back up at 6:30. I can usually put her back down at 6:30, which helps when I'm getting Connor up in the morning, but this isn't a given.

Overall, she is still a very sweet girl who it seems her biggest complaint in life is that she can't eat all day long. I call her my hungry hippo because sometimes she'll want to eat every hour, but then she'll also go three hours with no meals. She's pretty unpredictable at this point, but we're working on it.

She had a few firsts last week. We put her on a blanket for some tummy time. This helps her strengthen her neck and back muscles so she can sit up on her own. Unlike her very fussy older brother, she didn't seem too distressed by tummy time. I think she was more confused. "Why are you people laying me on my face?" She can lift her head for a few seconds at a time but then it plops back down. It is very hard work you know. :)

Avery was also given her first bottle last week. This is not only a milestone for Avery, but also for me. I am having a hard time finding time to pump, because it seems like sometimes when I feed her, she wants to eat again so soon, and if I pump my milk she won't have it to drink. Once we get on a more regular schedule I'll be able to pump more, but for now, extra breast milk is like gold. Anyway, Avery drank the bottle like a champ. I figured she would, but it's always nice to see, since if she doesn't take a bottle, I'm pretty much stuck by her side for everything.

Since we had a bottle or two ready, on her last night with us (weep, weep), my Mom was kind enough to let us go see the Hunger Games movie. Jeff and I both read the books, so we wanted to see the movie. I was a little nervous to leave the kids, but of course they both did fine. Avery slept while my Mom bathed and put Connor to bed, so that made things a ton easier and then Avery woke up, took her bottle and was calm the rest of the evening until she fell asleep again shortly before we arrived home. What little angels.

Enjoy our pics from last week.

I'm not so sure about this Tummy Time business Mom and Dad.

I'm trying to lift my head, but I think I'd prefer to just chew on my hand.

Looking cute in her blue romper on her 3 week birthday.

Connor looks on intently as Avery gets her first bottle.

She chowed down...surprise, surprise.

I get to enjoy some wine while Avery eats from a bottle. We are both happy.

Avery showing off a bow in her hair. Since she actually has hair, everyone tells me I need to use bows. Well here you go. She does look pretty cute. I'll give you that.