Vivi: Forty-Nine and Fifty Weeks

Vivi had her first bad cold this week.  She spent Tuesday sleeping on my chest all day long.  She was pretty sad.

We brought her into bed with us that night.  She nuzzled right up under my chin and twirled my hair as she slept.  It was really sweet.  I almost didn't mind the six inches of space that she left me to sleep in.

Luckily, two days later she was back to her normal rascally self.  

She's been kinda terrible to Madeline recently.  Every time I give big sister attention, she gets jealous.  If Maddie's sitting on my lap, she crawls over, whines, and tries to push her body between us.  If that doesn't work, she bangs her hand on Maddie's head.  

Yesterday, I was reading them both a story.  I had the girls on either side of me, but Vivi still found it necessary to crawl over to Madeline's side and push her out of the way.  

You better get used to it Miss Vivienne because I'm not going to stop cuddling my Maddie Bear any time soon.  

On the other hand, Vivi and Madeline are playing together more, and it's the cutest.  Yesterday they played hide and seek (Vivi "hid" behind a curtain) then they chased one another around the living room for half an hour.  The house was filled with squeals and giggles.  

Vivi makes a noise that we think is her attempt at saying Madeline.  It sounds like Ma-ine-ine-ine.  She repeats it a lot especially at lunch or dinner when she's sitting next to her sister.  Or maybe she's just saying she's hungry...

This morning this happened when Madeline woke up:

Awwww

A few weeks ago I was convinced that Vivi's eyes were just about brown.  Now they're bright blue again.  Can that happen?  

She's curious about everything.  She points to things around the room and asks, "Dah?"  And I list the names of everything until she's satisfied.  She likes to point to her head most of all.  She thinks that's funny.  I don't know why.   Babies...

She's still not walking, just thinking about it.  Madeline learned to walk about a week after her first birthday, and I feel that Vivi's working on the same timeline.  

She had some more poop episodes over the past two weeks.  They were the first in months.  I have no idea what happened.  It seems like her body just doesn't want to digest anything too solid.  

I keep a log of everything she eats along with rashes and BMs, etc.  When we see the allergist and nutritionist in a few weeks, I figure it might be useful.  

Anyhow, things are operating as they should be now.  I'm learning not to be too stressed over it.  For whatever reason, this is how her body works.  

In the meantime, our local bakery that made vegan treats went out of buisiness.  If anyone has a good recipe for dairy and egg free cupcakes, I'd be grateful.  This girl needs to have a birthday cupcake!

Under the Christmas Tree

December gets busy fast.  Last Saturday night, Eric and I realized we didn't have another free weekend until after the New Year.

"When are we going to get a tree???" I moaned.

So we spent Sunday finding a tree and decorating it.  Good man.  We'll see what happens if I bring up the lights...

Madeline was really excited about decorating the tree this year.  As we set up the stand then swept up the needles then unraveled the lights, she bounced giddily around the room.  

"Is it ready now?  Is it ready?"

She loved taking the ornaments out one by one.  She started hanging them on the tree by herself but got tired of that quickly.  Too much work.  Instead, she'd demand I hang it then rush back to the boxes to dig out the next treasure.  

Vivi was mildly confused by the whole process.  She pointed at the tree a few times, but mostly spent the time quietly observing from Eric's lap.

We were really worried that Vivi would find nightmarish ways of destroying the tree and herself in the process.  This is the child that is obsessed with our blinds and all electrical sockets after all. Yet, there was no need to worry.  She could care less about the tree.  She barely even glances at it.  

Madeline on the other hand?  I have to remind her not to tug on the tree or paw at the ornaments on an hourly basis.  She hasn't broken any yet, but I did catch her banging two together yesterday.  I'm sure it will happen eventually.  

And here's the people I love most (I even grew two of them myself!) under the tree:

Eric's always so fancy wearing his bow tie around the house.

Madeline posing with the ever faithful Olaf and our dog Bird.

Can you spy the Vivienne?

She's just diving into her box of diapers...

To make a mess of her wipes.  

P.S. Our house looks instantly 200 times better when there's holiday decorations up.  I might leave them till Valentine's Day.  

Thanksgiving Weekend

At Thanksgiving last year, I ate too much pumpkin cheesecake.  The next day, I had a non-stress test, and Vivi was climbing my uterine walls from all that second-hand sugar.  

This, year she did not get any cheesecake (darn dairy allergy), but that didn't stop her from crawling all over my parents' house.  Round and round in circles she went...under the table...down the hallway.  She slept very well that night.  

We had our first snow storm of the season on Thanksgiving eve.  Madeline was so excited.  She kept saying, "Elsa came!"  Thanks, Frozen.  

On Thanksgiving morning, the girls watched Eric shoveling from the front windows.  

As I was snapping pictures, Maddie leaned over, hugged her sister, and said, "I'm thankful for Vivi."  

Oh my goodness...heart explosion.  

Around 8 am, Maddie decided she was ready for turkey, and she went upstairs and got herself dressed.  

Maddie had a bad cold the rest of the weekend, so we were housebound.  I lost count of how many Christmas-themed cartoons we watched on Netflix. Has anyone else been subjected to The Swan Princess Christmas?  It's terrible.  Awful.  But Maddie Bear is obsessed.  

Meanwhile, Eric and I finally painted the dining room.  I wasn't sure about the color, even as it was going up.  But now?  I love it!  It's exactly what I wanted.  

On Saturday night, Eric and I realized that this would be our last weekend without plans till after the New Year. Yikes!  So we hustled on Sunday to get our tree set up.  

We're ready for Christmas!  We even got an Elf on the Shelf.  Who am I?

Forty-Eight Weeks

We saw Vivi's GI dude this week, and he's very happy with how she's doing.  She weighs 16 lbs 8 oz, which puts her in the same percentile as last time.  She's growing as she should be.  

We're taking her off the acid blockers.  This is not only good news for her tummy, but also for our wallet!  Hoo-ray!  

Speaking of chubby babies, Vivi is great at getting food in her own mouth.  I feel like Maddie didn't have that skill mastered until the age of three, but Vivi shovels it in by the fistful, forkful, or cupful.  

Those chubby cheeks are not just for kissing and squeezing though.  She hides  food in them.  When there's no more room, she spits all the mushed up food back out.  Gross.  Sometimes she spits the food out half an hour after she's eaten.  It's like she's preparing for winter.  

We tried avocado again this week without incident.  Last week's rash must have been from her clothing.  Hoo-Ray!

She now loves avocado, beans, grapes, and applesauce the best.  We had spicy chili for dinner one night this week, and she loved it!  Maddie likes spicy foods too.  It always surprises me.  

Vivi is a champion pointer.  She points at pictures on the wall, people walking by, toys she wants.  Pretty much everything. When Eric gets home from work, she crawls up to him and gives him the double point.  "You.  Hey, you.  I know you, man."  

We have a red headed witch decoration that we hung on our door for Halloween. Today, Vivi pointed at the witch, then pointed at me, then back to the witch.  She repeated this gesture several times.  I guess I look like a witch.  

She's getting braver about standing solo.  I think she'd be able to walk if she were just a little more confident about letting go.  We'll see.

She's also been a bit better around other people.  Not the doctors...who touch her, but people who stay a comfortable distance away seem okay.  

She's entering such a fun age.  We can see the wheels turning.  We can watch her facial expressions as she processes the world.  Communication is growing.  Her personality is fully emerging.  

I can't believe we'll be celebrating her first birthday next month.  Life is passing so quickly...too quickly.  Sob.  My baby!  

Parenting, Currently

I broke my rule of no Christmas until after Thanksgiving tonight.  I know, right?  Who AM I?  

Dinner is hot on the stove, the house smells like cornbread, the lights are dim, and we're waiting for Eric to get home from work.

Madeline is wearing her Anna costume and twirling around the living room to the Christmas music.  Vivi and I are her audience, though the baby is more concerned with chewing on a toy than her sister's dance moves.  

Life is good.  Bring on the holiday season!

Vivi: Forty-Seven Weeks

Vivi tried avocado for the first time yesterday.  I didn't have high hopes since her sister gags every time she tastes the stuff, but Vivi loved it!  She also loves black beans.  Perhaps it's all the burritos she was fed in utero.  I was fist pumping all afternoon until Vivi broke out in a really nasty rash a few hours later.  

Her skin has been clear the last few days, (the new skin care routine is working well) so it was a pretty obvious eruption.  Maybe it was the avocado.  Drat!  This baby needs some fats!  

On the other hand, she also wore a new sweatsuit yesterday. The rash was mainly on her legs and forearms where the onesie she was wearing underneath the sweatsuit wasn't covering her skin. Hmm.

Sigh...Vivi's life is one giant, rashy experiment.  

In other news, though she may be rashy, she's also the cutest baby on the planet.  Her smile kills me.  It's a slow, sweet, shy grin.  I die a million deaths from too much cute every day all day.  

She's invented a new game out of grabbing Eric's toes.  He wiggles them just as she touches his foot, and it startles her.  She lets out a little gasp, a giggle, and shuffles away.  As soon as it appears that Eric is no longer paying attention, she sneaks up on his toes again.  It's so funny watching her trying to be sly.  

She loves looking out the window.  She perches on the back of the sofa in the sun like a cat watching the world go by.  Sometimes she catches a glimpse of her own reflection and waves happily at herself.  

She's started reaching for me when she wants to be picked up.  It gets me every time.  This morning she did it to Madeline.  

Vivi and Madeline crack eacother up in the backseat of the car.  I don't know what they're laughing at, but whatever it is, they think it's very funny.  

They also hold hands from their car seats. It's the sweetest thing ever.  

She had a few rough nights earlier in the week that kept us up all night.  Her lone tooth is bigger, so maybe it was a teething issue.  Her poops are back on track, so it wasn't that.  

We've all been sharing germs, so it's been a quiet week.  Vivi spends most of her time trying to escape to whatever area of the house we are not in.  

Munchkin.  This baby is a munchkin.  

Through Maddie's Eyes

Madeline loves taking pictures.  Often I'll turn on my phone to find fifty blurry photos of the floor, or a random toy, or a boot.  Among these blurs, however, I get a glimpse of the world from Madeline's point of view.

Sometimes I'm sitting beside her when she's taking the pictures, but most of the time, I'm not.  It's a fun surprise looking through my phone after the girls have gone to bed.  What did Madeline find interesting today?  Beautiful?  Worth remembering?

Her afternoon snack:

Evil witch in a bowl of rocks:

A Starbucks gift card:

Mumma and Vivi lounging in the sun:

A princess lunch box:  

A bow from her birthday present:  

Her noble steed, Maximus:

Vivi at a restaurant:

Cinderella wearing a Maddie Bear original vegetable dress:  

Vivi's diapers:

Anna doll:  (I love this one.  Makes me laugh.)  

Her dollhouse:

A play cupcake wrapper on her princess table:  

Mumma loading the dishwasher: 

And, a portrait of the artist...