two months | stretching after errands | first milkshake | at the park | Granny Nell visits | after dinner rest
Sam at the park, swinging and sliding
big girl outfit | swaddled | snuggly ladybug | playing in gym | little sister
playing Teach Your Monster to Read | gym time with Sam | on Mommy's bed | morning smiles
first time in gym | on blue quilt | chillin' | waiting at Dr. Guetersloh's office
We haven't done any writing practice in a while, mostly because he doesn't like to do these kinds of things for me anymore. Gram and I joke that would be the *worst* homeschool student, for sure! But I did convince him on this particular day to do a few words with me. To make it a little more fun, I made a sheet with names of his favorite cartoon characters to trace and then copy - words like "Oswald" and "Huckle", "Joe" and "Blue". It helped a little. I know his teachers at school are working with him on holding his pencil correctly; he showed me how they do it. But, of course, he refuses to hold it that way at home, and instead prefers the grip you see above. Stubborn!
Evie played in Gram and Pops' workout gym yesterday. She kicked and cooed and worked pretty hard. We have one of these at home but haven't set it up for her yet, so this was her first time playing with all these toys and sounds around her. We're pretty sure she figured out how to whack the fish on the left and she stared at her reflection in the mirror for quite a while, too.
She ate at 10:00 last night, went straight to bed, and then I had to wake her at 6:30 this morning to eat again. That's 8 1/2 hours - whoa! I think she played so hard she wore herself out. More gym time for Evelyn, for sure!
This sweet iPhone photo couldn't wait for the next January phone dump, it needed to be blogged right away! Sam asked me earlier this week if he could hold Evelyn. This was the first time he'd ever asked and probably only the third time he'd ever held her. He's always been good to her and enjoyed being around her and talking to her, but was very insistent (up until now) that he had no desire to hold her. So when he asked on this particular morning, I jumped at the chance and grabbed my phone for some photos and video. And no, despite what Sam says in the video, there are no plans to have yet another baby...
Just a few photos of Evie, taken after her two month chair photoshoot. Despite the fact we'd just finished a long round of photos, she gave me some big smiles before falling fast asleep. Having your picture taken is hard work!
The Straka men went to Donuts for Dad at preschool yesterday. This was their third year to go and this time his teachers did something a little extra for the dads. On a previous school day they had the kids answer some questions about their daddies. The teachers then read them to the dads at the breakfast, asking them to guess which one was theirs. Ms. Heather read one or two, and the dads tried to guess if they thought the answers had been given by their child. When she got to the next sheet in the pile she put it to the side and said she'd do that one later because it was too easy to guess who it was. Brian said he had a feeling that was going to be his. He said other kids' answers were things like "My daddy's name is Daddy". "My daddy is (ie:) five years old" and "two feet tall". They went on to read a few more, then came back to the sheet they had passed over earlier. The answers this time? "My daddy's name is Brian. He is thirty-five years old. He is kind of tall like God, but a little shorter." Sounds just like Sam - great attention to detail and very wordy answers to questions. We laughed about the last one, too, because we had just gotten on to him the night before about not listening. Ms. Heather asked the dads if this questionnaire belonged to anyone. Brian raised his hand and said, "Well,
my
name's Brian, but he doesn't listen!" A fun time (and many donuts) was had by both boys and it was a memorable day for sure.
Evelyn Mae, you are two months today! You are getting more and more beautiful everyday. Everyone we meet comments on your sweet, juicy cheeks and your big beautiful eyes! I can't believe how much you smile. You smile when I talk to you, you smile when I pick you up out of bed in the morning, and you even smile when I take your picture with my camera or my phone!
You're also starting to "talk" to us even more. You like to say "coo" and "gah" and you gurgle a lot. You're great at tracking us with your eyes and you're starting to turn toward our voices. You are in love with your pack-n-play bear mobile. Those bears make you smile (and almost laugh) every time you see them and you love to watch them go around and around!
Dr. G was happy with how you were doing at your two-month check-up. He wrote on your take-home sheet that you are a big girl, healthy, strong and have great smiles. He was impressed with your neck strength and how much you were looking around. You cooed at him quite a bit during your exam and he liked that, too. He commented on your length again and said you were going to be taller than Mommy someday!
Measurements - (at 2 months, 3 days)
weight - 13 lb, 3 oz -- 86%
length - 23.3 in
-- 81%
head - 16.0 in
-- 97%
Clothes - You have been wearing your 0-3 months outfits and they fit really well. Some of them are even a bit snug. You've worn a couple of your "big girl outfits" (clothes that aren't a onesie or a sleep-n-play) and you looked very stylish.
Diapers - You are still in a size 1, but you're just about ready to bust out. We'll finish our last package, then start you on size 2.
Feedings - You're feeding a lot less now, sometimes only six or seven times a day, but I would still say you're a good eater. You're definitely a fast eater, which Mommy appreciates, especially in the middle of the night. We've got the whole burping thing down now. I do the same thing for you that I did your brother - prop you up on my shoulder with your tummy almost up by my collar bone and I rub your back instead of pat it. It takes just a second for me to hear "BWAP!" and you're done!
Sleeping - I hope I'm not jinxing myself here, but you're a really good sleeper right now. For most nights over the last couple of weeks I've slept five, six, even seven hours at a time, thanks to you! Sometimes you wake every three hours or so, but even that doesn't make for too bad a night. Daddy and I put you in your pack-n-play or on the couch with us after Brother goes to bed where you stay until about 11 or 12. Then I feed you one last time and put us both to bed! Once you're up for good in the morning, I sometimes put you in bed with me and we cuddle and chat for a while. Let's keep this good sleeping thing up, what do you say?
Here are some photos of you in your chair and a couple that Brother asked me to take of the two of you. It was so much easier taking your photos this month. You didn't fall over at all and it wasn't as hard to get you to look in the right direction. You've really changed in the last four weeks!
your official two month chair photo
before I changed you out of your monthly onesie I thought I'd grab a shot of you on your changing table,
since I know you won't lay this still for much longer...
We woke up to a surprise dusting of snow last week. It was a surprise to those of us in this house, at least. If it was forecasted, we somehow missed the warning. Sam immediately asked to go out and play, so I bundled him up, sent him out the door, and hurried myself back inside the warm house! I stood at our living room window for some photos, but did brave the elements later with the camcorder for some video. Sam had a blast in the backyard snow. He was disappointed when I made him come inside. He'd been out there a while and like most Texas children, does not have proper snow clothes! His little mittens from the Target dollar bin just weren't cutting it. The really bad news came about an hour later - school had been cancelled; too much ice on the roads. Sam cried; he loves school so much. Mommy cried a little, too, on the inside, because oh, how I love school, too. :)
Granny came over for a visit last week. We had lunch and she played with the kids. Before she left we decided to get a photo of her with Sam. I took several shots, waiting for a normal smile from Sam. Granny Nell looked exactly the same in all the shots. She just smiled and froze, waiting patiently, looking great. This was the best I got from Sam; a little goofy, but that pretty much sums him up on this particular day. Thanks for a fun visit, Granny.
Not much to report here, just thought I'd put up some photos of "Little Sister". I had just propped her up on her Boppy to help with the reflux that bothers her from time to time. She gave me lots of big smiles, then nodded off to sleep. Such a sweet baby...
on our way to get Mommy's haircut | changing table | sweetie | morning snooze | Shabby-Chic Camoflauge | evening snuggles
making funny faces!
playing on Gma T's blankie | getting dressed | New Year's Day nap on Pops | Christmas Eve bath | first trip to the library | infamous polka-dot sleeper | getting ready for a car ride
waiting for Daddy to get home | watching the bears | morning sleepies | waiting for Uncle Randy to come over | "watching" football with Pops | scrubbing potatoes with Gram | more Disappearing Evelyn
It's amazing to me how far cameras have come, especially when it comes to the cameras on our phones. When Sam was born I didn't have an iPhone, which was probably good because I could spend all my free time learning my DSLR. I upgraded to one when he was around two and as much as I loved it, it was a used 3GS and didn't take the best pictures, although part of that was user-error, I'm sure. Upgrading again a few months ago, this time to the 4S, was pretty exciting and I'm enjoying taking pictures and learning "iPhonogaphy" as it's come to be known. People poke fun at iPhone photography (have you seen the filthy yet hilarious Instagram parody on YouTube?), but it's also insanely popular and definitely not going anywhere. While I am trying to learn how to take better pictures with it, I love how using my iPhone allows me to worry less about the technical stuff I have to pay attention to when shooting with my big camera and just have fun capturing the moment. I can worry about just light and composition (or neither of those and just snap for fun, as is often the case) and not have to be fiddling with a bunch of settings to get the perfect shot. I can add a funky filter and not obsess about too much grain. It's a nice thing to have when "Mark" and I need a break.
As is the case with my big camera, too, I need to make a conscious effort to get those photos off the camera(phone) and onto the blog. Before sitting down to make some collage templates on Photoshop this week (which I'm not very good at), I decided to do a quick search for some ready-made templates. I was surprised and super excited to find
on Etsy for only $2.50. What a steal! I'd like to do a "phone dump", as they're called, at least once a month if not more often, but with a preschooler and an infant I can't make any promises! I decided to start with some of our best from December and then post regularly from here on out.
So, let's get these pictures off my phone, shall we? Here is a gratuitous amount of iPhone photos of my children, which according to the Instagram parody, I take because I'm a thirty-something! :)
Enjoy our December collage!
Christmas shopping with Evie | making this year's gingerbread house | Chrismas morning | antlers from Ms. Heather | baby burrito | Christmas morning | cake from Joyce and Don | sleeping through our icy drive home
Evie's Christmas loot | just finished a parking lot-meal | another baby burrito | full tummy | making headbands
naptime profile | tummy time | editing on the bed with Mommy | Sam took our picture!
stretchy | making Spritz cookies | watching TV | carseat | snoozing with Daddy on the couch
He chose this book all on his own. Thousands of books in the library and he chooses one that we have at home, a children's Bible. And we have this exact Bible, too. He was very interested in a particular page - the story where "a man had mud on his eyes". He finished reading and said to me "I love the Bible". What a sweet boy...
Sam called me in the other day to see his "band". He had both guitars out and had made a drum set out of blankets and books, using wooden chopsticks as his drumsticks. He was rockin' out to The Fresh Beat Band soundtrack. I didn't catch any photos of him at his homemade drum set, but I did get this one of him strumming his guitar. Such a serious musician...
Right before Evie was born I purchased a breakout session from Clickin Moms called "Shooting Through the Shadows" about photography in low-light situations. I had thumbed through it a couple times, but being super-pregnant I didn't have enough energy to attempt anything from it.
At dinner tonight we told Sam that Uncle Randy was in town and staying at Granny Nell's, and that we would go out to visit him tomorrow. He hasn't seen Randy since right before his first birthday and asked Brian who Randy looks like. I told him I would show him some photos on the blog of Randy holding him during his last visit.
I decided this was a good time to try the "alternative light sources" technique from my breakout materials, my alternative source being the light coming from my laptop. I set it up on our bed, asked Sam to lay on his tummy and look at the pictures of Randy, and then turned out all the lights.
It was fun shooting this way and much easier than I thought it was going to be. I'd like to say that Sam found this new type of photo shoot exciting, too, but alas, he did not. But that's okay.
I
can't wait to try out some of the other suggestions in the breakout. Winter's a great season to practice low-light, no-light photography!
Sam hasn't napped regularly in almost two years. He's a good nighttime sleeper, he just dropped his nap pretty early on. As soon as I found out I was pregnant with Evie, we reinstated naptime, but renamed it "rest time". I had the typical first trimester (and third trimester) fatigue and needed some time to lay down and take a nap, and it's still a part of our daily routine. The only rest time rule is Sam has to stay in his room. Every day I remind him he can play, read, or sleep, and every day he informs me, "I will not sleep during rest time". And he doesn't.
But yesterday was different. He told me he was going to lay down on his bed and he did. He pulled the covers over his head and fell asleep. I got nervous with him being asleep under a heavy duvet, so I went in and pulled the covers back. He was drenched in sweat. He looked at me, then closed his eyes and went back to sleep. It was awesome.
While he slept, I laid Evie on our bed and organized my drawers and closet (woo-hoo! exciting!). The light was pretty enough at one point that I decided to stop cleaning for a little photo shoot with my baby girl. Not long after we started I got up from the window seat to change lenses and caught this view of her in my dresser mirror. I decided, for some reason, that this was the image of her I wanted. I think I just liked how tiny she looked in our room and on our bed. It was kind of fun trying to capture an image within a reflection. So much for that whole "sleep when the kids sleep" idea - I was busy during naptime!
As for Sam's nap - he woke up two hours later refreshed and in a great mood, but I paid for all that peace and quiet later, as his head didn't hit the pillow again until 10:00 that night. Arghh.
