Beebop-a-Lula

Rosie turned six months old the other day. I had to pinch myself a little bit when I realized that. Time goes by so fast. Not only is she a watermelon of a baby, she is awfully adorable!

6 months

Sure, life has been chaotic since her arrival but I always say it’s controlled chaos (umm…sorta) but the past six months have also been filled with nothing but joy watching her (and her sister) grow.

I love going to get her in the morning and seeing her face light up with a big smile, kicking those little legs like crazy, making the cutest baby noises that a baby ever made.

Jumpy!

She’s been sleeping a lot better at night (HALLELUJAH!), although she is still somewhat of a light sleeper. Even though she still sleeps in our room her sister squawking in the next room can wake her up. Most mornings she wakes up squealing and cooing (rather than immediately screaming for a bottle).

a quiet moment

Milestones: eating solids without a fight, rolling over from back to tummy, almost rolling from tummy to back, loving her jumparoo, starting to bully Lulu (definite jealousy starting), sleeping well. Still the loudest person in the house. Began to notice the cat. He’s in trouble very soon.

I started Rosie on cereal last week. I thought she’d be psyched to be eating “real” food, but if being psyched means clamping her mouth shut and flailing her arms around to knock the spoon out of my hand, then she LOVES it!

Little Miss Rose turned 5 months old! She’s changing so much.

One of my fav recent pics. Taken with the Hipstamatic iPhone app

Her personality is really starting to shape up and shine. She’s a smiley, squealy and giggly little thing and she’s super-fiesty! A weekend with her maternal grandparents earned her the nicked name “Little Spitfire.” It suits her and it’s a much nicer than the nicknames we have for her: Meatloaf and Little Roast Beef. Seriously, she’s a 5 month-old the size of a 9-month baby…but she’s sooooo snuggly!

smirky.

Her first teeth popped through on Easter weekend. They’ve sprouted out pretty quickly and are so cute, except when she bites my finger. She also rolled over for the first time this past weekend. Of course, she did it while we were away and she was with her grandparents…but she’s a total expert now.

beauty shot

When she’s on her tummy those little legs kick like crazy. She’ll be crawling much earlier than her sister did. We can see it starting already as she pulls her knees up and she even got her little butt up in the air by pulling up both knees. We’re in trouble once she’s moving.

And talk about temperamental! She can be giggly one minute and then it’s like someone flipped a switch and she’s yelling and screaming. When she gets mad her little ham fists flail around and she either punches me in the face or yanks a fistful of my hair and it hurts! She’s lucky that she’s adorable.

sweetness

I noticed lately that there’s a lot of mum mum mum mum’s and bruh bruh bruh bruh’s coming out in her sweet little voice. She’s so fun. Even Lulu has been trying to play with her more. She frequently gets right in Rosie’s face and says “Hiiiiii!” and likes to lie down right beside her, giggling as Rose grabs at her (in which I have to intervene so that Rose doesn’t claw Lulu’s eyes out). I can already see a glimpse of my future when Rose gets jealous if I give Lulu more attention...such a drama queen!

How lucky am I? I mean, look at these two...I count my lucky stars every single day.

Every day I try to spend a few moments and appreciate the heavy, snuggly bundle that she is. I can’t help but to bury my face in those pudgy cheeks of hers! I know that she’s going to grow so fast. Before I know it she’ll be talking, dancing and running after Spooky just like Lulu does today.

The girls had a check up at the doctor’s yesterday. Everyone was taking bets as to how big my sweet Rosie got! I would have lost had I placed some cash down…

Lulu 20 months

weight: 24.6 lbs
height: 35 inches

Lucille has grown another 2 inches and gained 3 lbs since her last check-up. She’s in the 97th percentile for height but only 33 percentile for weight. The doctor was pleased with her weight gain, despite the fact that she’s a beanpole. Lulu is still a finicky eater. She won’t touch meat and although she will try a bite of something new, she will almost immediately spit it out.

It feels like every day she picks up another word to say, which means her parents better keep their potty mouths in check around her. She has also become more comfortable in the pool for her swim lessons, which means less whining and more fun swimmy time.

Easter 2010

the first of many cookies that day

Rose 4 months, 3 weeks

weight: 18.8 lbs
height: 28 inches

Rose had an incredible growth spurt since her 2 month check-up! She falls in the 99th percentile for height and weight and weighs five pounds less than her big sister. The doctor stated the obvious in that Rose will probably grow to be larger than Lulu.

She cut her first teeth over the weekend. The past month she’s had her fist firmly planted in her piehole and she bit Forrest’s finger Easter morning and he said he felt them. Sure enough, there they were.

She’s also very close to rolling over. She gets about halfway over but can’t quite seal the deal without a little help. Oh, and there’s giggling! Lots of sweet little giggles (and sometimes squeals) when she finds something funny!

Rose's 1st Easter

don't you want to pinch her cheeks?

I’ve been getting the girls to interact more and more since Rose is getting bigger. I will have Lulu lie down next to Rose so they face each other. Rose will squeal and reach for Lulu. Lulu will touch Rosie’s hair and ears, honk her little nose and then try to poke her in the eye (it’s a work in progress). Sometimes I will have Rose lay on top of Lulu, which makes the older one giggle as she hugs her “baby.”

It’s all just too cute.

So sweet, my teeth ache!

I just realized that she’s wearing the same shirt in three of these photos, but I swear I took these pictures all on different days…

smiley

I call this piece: "Sourpuss in Bat Hat"

dramatic in B & W

I'm gansta, mumma.

Rose has entered into the land of Giggletown! While still a rare occurrence it is an occasional, adorable treat.

Rose is a a great stage right now that she’s just about three months old. She is finally sleeping through the night a solid 7-8 hours. Her smiles are frequent and beginning to get drooly-dribbly (and I think I even got her to laugh yesterday)! Lately she’s been trying to sit up on her own, which results in her tipping over to one side. And she is doing pretty good holding up that giant head of hers, although it’s still pretty wobbly. Oh, and she belches like a frat boy after a game of Beer Pong (she must get this from her father).

These days I can put her down for a nap while she’s awake and she’ll chat to herself until she falls asleep. And when she wakes up it isn’t the needy, ear piercing wail of a newborn. Most of the time she wakes up cooing softly to herself. Or sucking madly on her fist (smack, slurp, smack!).

I love when I go to fetch her from a nap. Her reaction is hilarious. She looks at me like I’m a long lost friend that she hasn’t seen in ages and you can see the recognition register on her face. Then she gets super excited. Her eyes light up, her little arms flail and the legs start kicking wildly.

Oh...hello Mumma.

How have you been?

I'M SO HAPPY TO SEE YOU AGAIN!!!

I feel really lucky to get to look at this sweet little face every day! Being greeted by that huge, toothless smile makes me giggle. And then you know I have to scoop her up and NOM NOM NOM those fat cheekies and blow raspberries in her neck!

weight: 12.3 lbs
height: 23 1/2″

Rose’s appointment revealed that she is in the 97th percentile for height and weight! The doctor was impressed by the growth spurt she had. She is a BIG, healthy girl!

While she still isn’t quite sleeping through the night she is getting there, going for 4-5 hour stretches at a time. I think one reason Lulu turned out to be such a great sleeper from the start is because she’s a summer baby and we had her out and about all of the time in the fresh air and sunshine, where poor Rose is housebound since it’s cold and snowy outside right now.

While she’s awake, she is a bit of a curmudgeon. She rarely seems content and is often fussy. A lot of it I contribute to tummy troubles, she is always doubling over with gas problems and may even be a touch colicky. Gas drops are our friend!  The doctor did say that this will get better as she gets older. She’s so sweet. We hate to see her so uncomfortable.

And in the past week or so she has started to lose her hair, although not as severe as when Lulu lost hers! I predict Rosie is going to have dark hair, like her mother. It’ll be fun to find out!

Rosie is a month old today!

She is getting very plump and has the cutest, chubby pink cheeks! She has been an eating machine for the past 2 weeks (she’s a growing girl, after all) but has finally slowed down this week. She’s drinking 4 ounces every 3-4 hours and is very demanding when it’s time to eat, giving very little warning before she starts screaming for her bottle.

lil cutie

She’s starting to focus on things and smiles at us when she’s awake. When she lays on her belly she pushes her head up pretty high, before it plops down again. It’s great to see her get stronger by the day.

We all think she’s the most adorable thing and the sweetest little package to hold. We can’t get enough of her!

Lulu still gets giddy around Rose. All she wants to do is kiss and hug her when she’s awake. We try to encourage her to spend time with the baby so that she doesn’t harbor any kind of resentment (although I’m sure that will change someday).

As good as she is around the baby, we do have to keep an eye on Lulu. She tends to peek in (and when I say “peek in” I really mean “shake vigorously”) the crib when Rose is sleeping and likes to leave things in tribute. The other day I found the cardboard tube from a roll of paper towels hanging out at Rose’s feet. Needless to say, I knew how it got there!

The girls definitely have been keeping us busy. It’s been kind of a whirlwind, especially trying to prepare for Christmas (on top of a lack of sleep). While my ambitions were much higher than I can deliver this year, I’ll just be happy spending the time with friends and family and to introduce them to Rosebud.

blankie made by Chrissy!