New Blog

It has become obvious me that it is simply silly for me to be constantly trying to update or keep up two separate blogs: this one and The Heart of God for my girls.

So...

I am combining them. Unfortunately Blogger will not let me do this easily keeping all the previous posts of both blogs.

Hence....

Here is the new blog:

The Domestic Church

See you there...

Advances and Kindness

Felicity is doing well. At 14 weeks, 6 Days she rolled over for the first time and has continued to practice all week. This morning she was less than thrilled to find herself on her tummy - she had to work first thing in the morning just to look around. lol.

Interestingly enough, Cecilia did her first roll over at 7 weeks, 1 day but was also not cooing until later than Felicity. Just goes to show everyone at their own pace. But I do find it evidence that Cecilia was more motor skill advanced and Felicity will be/is more verbal skill advanced.

Cecilia was so cute yesterday: She found a napkin on her little table, unfolded it, and spread it out on top of her head. She got a real kick out of her new "hat." But she didn't stop there. She wanted to share and so tore the napkin in half down the middle and put one half on my head and one half on hers! It was too cute.

Felicity's New Challenge

Felicity is about 3 1/2 months old. But for about two weeks now she has been gumming like crazy on her fingers and fists. She has been increasingly drooling as well. And last night she had one of her big squeegies (as we call them) but this one was green.

Conclusion: My baby is teething already!!!

So in addition to getting her sleeping schedule down and mastering head control and learning how to push herself up off her tummy, she has gums full of frenzy that sometimes wake her up and night and sometimes give her so much pain as for her to just scream with tears pouring down her cheeks. Poor thing. Within her first 6 weeks outside the womb she had two colds. Now, three months out, she is teething. It is a difficult world.

Update

Cecilia: Well, Cecilia is doing well. She had gotten into a bit of a habit of screaming and throwing tantrums but that has been surprisingly easy to tame with assertive "No"s. She learns more words all the time and can say a nice chunk of the alphabet. She has down A B C D E G J M N O P Q R S T U and Z. F H I K L V W X and Y continue to be a bit challenging but she is getting very close on several of them. Potty training has come to a halt but she is very comfortable sitting on the potty, just not doing anything in it. lol. She has mastered drinking from a common cup - no sippies, straws or lids - and does so at meals.

Felicity: Felicity was sleeping very well with her first nighttime stretch being 5 solid hours and then subsequent hours gradually decreasing in length. Then, about a week into February, her sleeping became terrible. For almost 3 weeks she would wake every hour at night and I became a bit of a zombie. Then, two nights ago, her sleep dramatically improved and has continued to. We aren't quite sure what happened: it could have been teething as she began drooling, gumming her hands, etc., it could have been her 3 month growth spurt, or it could have been a combination of things. She continues to be a very smiley baby - even when she would be up half the night (I wish I could be so smiley so easily!). She has almost mastered complete head control and exercises her legs quite a bit. Her arms are not yet strong enough for her do pushups so she is not happy to lay on her tummy long but she loves trying to stand and loves practicing sitting up so she can see more.

Bubbles, Bubbles, Everywhere

This evening, as Felicity slept, Cecilia asked to be put up on the counter where she usually sits to help me with Felicity's bath. I set her there next to the sink and she asked for bubbles.

A little Dawn and a lot of water made for a fun evening. She scooped up bubbles, smashed them, blew them, draped them on the faucet, etc. We got bubbles all over my clean kitchen but it was more than worth it.

Well, Felicity turned 3 months yesterday and she grows more every month. She is now 23.5 inches just missing that 2 feet mark and making her total length growth since birth about 5 inches. She weighs 11 pounds and three ounces so by the time she is 4 month she will have more than doubled her birth weight. It is impressive to think all that growth from simply breastmilk. No wonder I'm tired. lol.

She continues to be a happy baby and smiles a great deal. She loves her baths, with which Cecilia helps.




Cecilia continues to be affectionate towards Felicity but she has been more needy lately demanding more attention, wanting to be held more, throwing more tantrums, and telling me to put Felicity in her bassinet or swing. I've been trying extra hard to get done all the cleaning and laundry early this week so I can spend more time with her this weekend.

Cecilia is now very comfortable sitting on the potty but either doesn't understand what she is supposed to do on it (besides be read to) or doesn't care to do anything on it. Frankly, I'm not inclined to push it. While I'd like her trained sooner rather than later, I'm exhausted enough with things as they are that I think, at this point anyway, I'd rather wait and have her help than try to push her and do it all myself.

Cecilia has also become very good at using the computer...



She is proficient in the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse websites, Disney websites, Veggietales Pirates Movie Site and is learning the Sesame Street Site.

Cecilia's Sleep Mystery

We have made a discovery but don't ask me what the hell it means.

Cecilia had been sleeping great. She would go to sleep around 9 and sleep until 7:30. Then take a 1 1/2 hour nap starting at 2pm.

I wanted to increase her nap to 2 hours so I started trying to give her a nap starting at 1:30 or even 1. She napped less time, was grouchier at bedtime and was even getting up by 6:30am.

So, after a few days of this, figured to try to move the nap back to 2pm and see what happened. I let her sleep yesterday from 2:10pm until 3:55pm and was already surprised I had to wake her as she didn't wake up after only an hour and 15 minutes.

She went to bed last night without crying or upsetment.

She is still asleep this morning!

I don't get it but I learned my lesson.

One down. Now if I could only solve Felicity's recent decline in nighttime sleep. One at a time I guess. :)

New Photos

Here are some new photos...

One of Felicity:


It took me 3 months but here is one finally of the two sisters together:


And all three of the girls:

Two Years in Pictures

Cecilia at 2 weeks

Cecilia at 3 Months

Cecilia at 6 Months

Cecilia at 1 Year

Cecilia at 18 Months

Cecilia at 2 Years

A Warm Ash Wednesday

Lent began today with a rather warm surprise. It got into the low 70s today for a high and Cecilia wanted to enjoy it. So we went out on the deck for a little while with her tricycle, coloring book and crayons, and a couple of balls (and I brought my Quo Vadis)




On another note - sad but so sweet - I was putting away laundry in Cecilia's room and lay Felicity on Cecilia's bed. Cecilia climbed on the bed, picked up her yellow and white blanket that she sleeps with every nap and night, and tried to spread it across Felicity. It was so cute and so sweet. Unfortunately while trying to spread it over her, Cecilia's knee fell on Felicity's foot so sweet little Cecilia was repaid for her sweetness with Felicity's wailing. Such a sweet moment ruined by a little accident but happily Cecilia didn't take it personally.

Cecilia's 2 year Check Up

Cecilia had her two year check up today and her doctor said she is doing great. She weighed in at 24 lbs., 8 oz. and measured 33.25 inches tall. She was upset to be probed and looked at but was relieved to escape any needles. Even Felicity behaved very well during the appointment.

The doctor asked her how old she was and while she was too nervous to answer, when he asked, "Are you two?" she said quite clearly, "twooooooo." She was very good and patient during her check up. She was even better than I expected her to be considering her two previous appointments were to treat a UTI and the one before that for an ear infection.

Here's celebrating a healthy 2 year old and hoping for a very healthy year!

Congratulations Felicity!

On Saturday, February 2nd, Felicity Catherine was Baptized and joyfully received into the Roman Catholic Church.




Left to right: Godmother Kristen, James, Felicity, Cecilia, Me, Fr. Nick, and Godfather Andy

HAPPY 2ND BIRTHDAY CECILIA!!!

Cecilia turned 2 years old today! It is amazing how quickly children grow. She had a fun day today. We began with letting her pick a movie to watch. She chose The Jungle Book and ate waffle while she opened her birthday card and presents. We got her a new night stand that matches her bed, 5 Dr. Seuss board books, 3 Veggietales books, 4 Wallace and Grommit books, a coloring book and a Disney Princess Tea Set. Then we took her to the Party City store where she picked out two mylar balloons - one about two feet tall that is a big Mickey Mouse head and the other a Winnie the Pooh with Happy Birthday on it. Then we went to her favorite restaurant for lunch - Red Robin. She had mozzarella sticks, mac and cheese, cantaloupe, fries, and a vanilla ice cream sundae with chocolate fudge and whipped cream. Of course she didn't eat everything of all those, but she had fun eating some of all of it. She has been playing with her tea set and balloons ever since we got back. She is napping now but even wanted to take her balloons with her to bed - so cute! I said no, they would be there when she woke up and she already takes a few stuffed animals to bed anyway.

2 Months, 2 years, 2 Beautiful girls

Well, Felicity rang in the end of her second month at 9 lbs., 10 oz., and 22 1/2 in. long. She is getting so big! She is doing very well though. She has pretty good head control and is very observant. Her nights got worse the last week as she became dependent on nursing in order to fall asleep - translation: she was waking about every hour to nurse in order to get back to sleep. I've started working with her to undo this dependency and she is making progress. Last night her first stretch went about 4 hours. I can certainly work with that. Unfortunately the rest of her night wasn't that good and I lost about 1 1/2 hours of sleep. But we'll keep up the work. The trick is my staying awake to get her back to sleep without nursing even at 3am and I am usually barely conscious.

Cecilia is doing very well with Felicity. She loves to give her kisses before bed and if Felicity is in her swing and her blanket falls off Cecilia will pick it up and put it back on her. She is concerned every single time Felicity cries, sneezes or even hiccups. She helps me change her diaper by bringing me the diaper and even helps wipe Felicity.

Cecilia seems to get bigger every day. She has taken quite a liking to praying. We have always prayed with her before bed. But now she insists we pray with her before her naps and will make us say grace as many as four times during a single meal. I think she especially likes doing the Sign of the Cross but she also likes pointing at the pictures of Jesus and St. Peter's Basilica on the wall. She has become a very big Goofy fan but also a fan of Mickey and Goofy's nemesis Peg-Leg Pete. Maybe it is just because she can say his name, but she likes Pete quite a bit. She has also mastered using a computer mouse. I have the playhouse Disney website bookmarked and all I have to do is get her too it and she uses my mouse to play games and navigate the various Disney websites. It is pretty impressive. Maybe I should look into getting her some educational video games. ... Do they make those for 2 year olds? lol. Probably.

On Tuesday Cecilia will turn 2 years old! Can anyone believe time has flown so fast? We are going to take her to her favorite restaurant for lunch - Red Robin: she gets cheese sticks, mac and cheese, cantaloupe AND a balloon - doesn't get much better, huh? - and then to the Party store where she can pick out a mylar balloon. Need I mention she loves balloons? While we will be celebrating her birthday the Saturday after with family, we will probably let her open the presents from us on her birthday. She has to have something to open on her birthday right?

Cecilia's Favorites and Newbies

Favorite Movies: Meet the Robinsons and A Goofy Movie (she is a big Goofy fan)
New Words: Stuck, Owl, Ampa (Grampa), Night, Duck, Blue, Pete (of Disney's Peg-leg Pete)
Favorite New Word: Stuck
Luvie: A stuffed sheep she found in my night stand that she simply refers to as Baaa
Favorite Books: Peek-a-Who?, The Wheels on the Bus, Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?, any Biscuit book, Where's Spot?, The Big Red Barn
Favorite Songs: Jingle Bells, Mousekadoer (From Mickey Mouse Clubhouse)(she dances to both those songs)
New Things Learned: How to use a computer mouse, how to move a folding chair and stand on it to reach much higher and try to get things Mommy tried to put out of reach

7 Weeks on the 7th

Felicity turned 7 weeks on the 7th of January, 2008. She measured 21 1/2 inches long and weighed in at 9 pounds 2 ounces. She is growing so fast. She got 4 vaccinations yesterday - DTaP (Diphtheria, Tetanus and Pertussis aka Whooping Cough), HIB (Meningitis), PCV (Pneumonia and Meningitis) and IPV (Polio) - two needles in each thigh. We refused the Hepititas B - because no one we know has the disease and it is transmitted primarily through sexual acts and sharing needles so we did not feel it necessary and hence not worth the risks - and Rotavirus - because it is too new for me to feel comfortable with it, it is not a life-threatening disease and Felicity's digestive system is still developing so we didn't think it wise or necessary and hence not worth the risk. Needless to say she wasn't feeling quite as well as usual. She either slept or wailed her head off. She was back to her usual smiling self today though.

Speaking of which, I must say she is most aptly named. She showers smiles all the time.

She sleeps well. She generally falls asleep between 9:30 and 10 and sleeps for 4-4 1/2 hours, nurses, sleeps for another 3-3 1/2 hours, nurses, sleeps until we get up around 6:30. So, at night, generally, she gets around 8 hours of sleep and I get about 7 hours. Her periods of sleep have been gradually expanding.

It has become common for Cecilia to give Felicity a sweet kiss on the lips before going to bed. So Sweet. She has been giving more kisses lately. She gives Grandpa one before bed and gives us ones when we read to her.