Letters to Lyla and Lottie

Beautiful Charlotte, You have been with us for a month now. I'm not quite sure how we got along before you. Although I was pretty worried about being a good mom to you and your sister, I've known from the beginning that you were meant to join our family. You defied all the odds to come to us so seamlessly. You were so kind to mama while you were in my tummy. Your existence became know at just the right time so that mom would refuse taking dangerous seizure medication. You came to fill that silly void mom fills as Lyla grows up. You came to show us how unknowingly miraculous this life can be. You are such a peaceful tiny human. You love your sleep so much so that I have learned to just let you sleep. You let me know when you've been woken up prematurely. This time around is harder to soak up every moment of heaven with you, but it makes the moments I do get all the more special. I relish moments where you rest your little head on my chest and pull your hands up by your face. You would sleep that way for days if it weren’t for mom needing to get up. I’ve been lucky to have Dad, Aunt Jenny and the Grandma’s help play with Lyla so that I can selfishly soak up every precious moment I can get with you. They go away far to quickly. Time is such cruel crook. I want you to know, that since you’ve been here, I’ve had a strong conviction of the delicately planned life we live in and that things really are meant to be. Oh your smell. and the way you snuggle on my chest. Your little legs that cinch up. Your everything. What a precious gift you are. Love you baby.

-As I mentioned, you eat so well. You breastfeed about every 2 hours and it only takes you about 10 minutes to get full. You usually have one long stint during the day where you go 4 hours without eating.

-You are so strong already. You can hold your head up for almost 10 seconds already

-You have good fine motor skills as well. You can grab onto mom's hair like nobody's business!

-You smiled at exactly 4 weeks old. Cutest little half smile I've ever seen!

-You are a grunter. I'm not sure if it's gas or what but you are almost always grunting when you're awake

-You're already a smart breast feeder. You'll yank back when the milk is slowing and latch on vigorously when you're hungry. How do you already know these things?!

-You love the "froggy" position to sleep which is when you lay on my chest and scrunch your legs up. I can hold you up in the air and you'll stay in that position

-After a nice long slumber, you struggle to wake up. You yank your head back, pull your fists up by your face, and do the motorcycle revving that Lyla used to do. I love it.

-You're still getting the hang or day versus night but sleep about 2 to 3 hours at a time.

-At 13 days old your cord fell off. It was somewhat traumatic. I presume it got hooked on your clothing and when Aunt Callie when to reposition you, it got ripped off. You let out a painful cry and then didn't fuss again. It oozed and bled for another 2 weeks but seems to be fine now.

-You are already so interactive. You watch people and make eye contact.

-You have the longest and skinniest toes and fingers.

-You have a really cute little newborn cry!

-You still have lots of dark hair, it's thickest around your neck

05/01/11 (2 week old stats)

Weight:8lbs 4oz….40%

Height: 21 inches….70%

Head: 14 1/4…. 49%

Dear Lyla, you are 19 months my lovable girl. This month has probably brought about the most change in your little life. The hardest thing about having 2 babies has been the moments when I can't meet your needs right away, or when you cry because you want to be held alone and I just can't quite do that for you. I do see how it's been such a good learning experience for you. I've also been relieved to see that you don't hate me, or blame me. You and dad have become such good little buddies. I feel like you’ve adjusted to all these new changes quite well. You’ve started to play more on your own and have shown some big-sister qualities. You’ll give Lottie kisses and say “bebe” with excitement. Unfortunately, you’ve also shown some big sister qualities that aren’t so good. Like, you kinda hate Lottie. hahaha. When Lottie was just a few days old, you waited until my back was turned and ran over to the couch and pushed Lottie and her car seat off onto the floor. Of course she wasn’t buckled in but luckily she landed safely and without harm. You try to hit Lottie any chance you get. The bouncer and swing are pretty much rendered useless as you try to tip her out of them or try to hit her. You’ve also hat two successful attempts at biting Lottie. I’ve only stated doing timeout for these behaviors and they seem to be working. Every day you are a little less interested in hurting her. At first, I just felt so bad for all the changes that I let too much slide. Now I’m teaching you. You’ve also got much better now that we have an established routine. The first week of Lottie’s life you would go to Jenny’s or Grandma’s enough that your routine was out of wack. Dad also started putting you to bed and down for naps which we’d never really done previously. Luckily, my mother’s intuition kicked in and I realized you needed life to resemble how it did before. Once we got back to me giving you baths at the regular times, meals, etc. you pretty much went back to your old self. You are seriously the happiest little child. I say it all the time but really, you have such a zeal for life. It’s contagious. You also happen to be the most adorable little toddler on the planet. Oh that silvery hair and bright blue eyes! I’m so glad the changes haven’t taken any of your happiness away. I know in no time you will have such a fun little confidant and be just thrilled to call yourself a big sister. Please never forget you are so special to us. We love you to the moon and back.

You done a fair amount of regressing type behaviors. You find binkies and suck on them. Suddenly you also suck on your thumb. How come you never did these things as a baby!? The killer was when you tried to breastfeed again! It was killer. You tried twice and haven’t since. Phew.

-You love to dance and start shaking your booty as soon as music starts. You especially love dancing to Katy Perry, Firework!

-You have the curse of your mama’s skin. It might look good but it is sensitive! You have eczema that we have special cream for. Every night you hold out one finger and I put a little dab on it for you to apply by yourself.

-You got your first freckle! Right on your tummy

-You also got your first pony tail this month!!! A monumental occasion. No one’s counting but yes you’re a little behind in the hair department

-You have rediscovered the joy of squealing and screaming and screeching! You do it out of excitement

-You have all the classic symptoms of teething. Poor girl, you suffer. This month you got the most horrible bum rash I’ve ever seen. Your poop was like acid and no matter how much bum cream I used, it would burn your bum. You would poop like 10 times a day (yes, horrible timing with a newborn) and I would have to change you right as you started to poop. I also just used paper towels so the alcohol from wipes wouldn’t burn. It was so sad. You would cry bloody murder and your bum would bleed. Luckily, we got what’s called a liquid band aid to coat your bum and that helped the healing. Curse those teeth!

-You had your first experience in a bouncy house! It was our second mommy and me outing since Lottie was born. I had only given birth like 2 weeks prior but somehow you conned me into jumping with you. You probably jumped for 3 hours straight an cried when I made you get out. You’d hold your own against some big old kids. Scared me to death!

-You wear size 4 shoes and size 18 months clothing

-You have such a great growl that basically is the sound every animal makes these days

-You added the words bananas and cheese to your vocab (along with plenty others)

-You learned the sign for fish and bird

-You are well versed in the nighttime routine now. When I walk in your room, you walk to the humidifier and wait for me to turn in on. Then, you walk to the lamp and point and say “On!”. You then grab some books and run to the bed. It’s adorable.

-You say “cheese!” whenever you see a camera

-You say “kay” to just about every question I ask you.

-You bring me the binky now when Lottie cries

-After you got over your need to breastfeed (no, I never let you try) you became the best little supervisor. You on one side of my lap while I feed Lottie

-You do the sign for baby and say “bebe” or “awe!” when you see Lottie

-You say “uh oh” and cover your mouth when Lottie cries

-You put your arms out straight back behind you when you run. Sort of like superman or something. It’s adorable.