Isaiah Update

So I update you all on Claire quite often since she's changing so quickly. Isaiah isn't changing as quickly, but is a joy in many different ways!

Chatter Box
Isaiah is constantly talking. He's telling stories, being silly, and asking "why, why why?" The why questions can get to be overbearing, especially in the car, but we try to answer them the best we can. "Why is that car red?" and "Where is that truck going?" tend to be the hardest to answer. Sometimes we just make answers up and other times we turn the question back around to him!

Book Worm
Isaiah loves to read books. We gave him a ton of books for Christmas and we've been reading many of them over and over and over and over and over and over again!! :-) Some of his favorites right now are:
Dinosaur Train by John Steven Gurney
Down By the Station by Jennifer Riggs Vetter
Trains by Keith Newell (Usborne Book)

Toys and Time
Much of Isaiah's play time is spent playing with his trains. He got a signal house and Tidmouth shed for Christmas from Grandma Deb and Grandpa Bob. He also got battery operated trains from Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Leon. If he's not playing with his trains, Isaiah can also be found playing with his racecars and his new car garage. And of course, he's always interested in playing with whatever it is that Claire is playing with. He can often be heard saying, "Claire doesn't want to play with this." as he rips the toy out of her hands! Another thing Isaiah loves to do is build clubhouses and hide in them from the 'monster'. He tries to get Claire and me to hide with him. I try, but it's usually a tight squeeze! Claire, however, loves it! :-)

TV and Movies
Isaiah has a few favorite shows. He still loves Dora and Diego, but has also found a new love, Team Umizoomi. Umizoomi is a math show about counting, shapes and patterns. I kind of enjoy that one sometimes! He also loves to watch Cars, Finding Nemo, and The Lion King.

Being a Big Brother
I would say the 90% of the time Isaiah is great with Claire, helping her, giving her toys, and loving on her. Now 10% of that, however, he is unintentionally being mean by being to rough with her or not watching what he's doing and running her over! The other 10% of the time he intentionally is mean, but it's not too bad!

8 Months

Wow! I know I say this every time, but eight months?! Claire is just thriving these days. She is now crawling, pulling herself up, and getting into everything she's not supposed to! She went really fast from non-mobile, to being and doing everything. Andy and I both think she progressed faster than Isaiah did. Claire loves cords, trains, train track, race cars, and her brother! She got some instruments for Christmas and loves the egg shaker. It's so cute to watch her shake it in her hand back and forth and just grin. She also got a stroller/push toy for Christmas which she is quickly learning to walk behind. She's really starting to have a little personality and is a lot of fun, except that we're always redirecting her away from something she shouldn't be playing with!

6 Months

So, I know I'm totally behind, but here it is anyway!

Claire's six month stats: 14 lbs. 4 oz. and 26 1/4". If you're comparing her to Isaiah (like we do!) you'll note that this is about how big he was at 4 months! While she is quite a peanut for her age...she's kinda chunky right now! :-)

Claire still sleeps through the night, but has also started to do better at napping. Of course, she naps better for Miss Joy than for us, but usually has at least one long nap during the day. She eats both fruits and veggies now and enjoys them at breakfast and supper.

This month she has learned how to sit up by herself, but is really moving all over the place. She rolls all around and is starting to scoot, but only goes backwards! She loves the jumper at Miss Joy's, playing peek-a-boo, her little Husker football from cousin Jennifer and her stacking cups.

Big Red Day!

So, even though the Huskers did not have a good game day, we had a fun family day! We went down to Iron Horse and did some tail gating with Ashli Brehm's family. Isaiah ate a whole hot dog and played with some bean bags. He also enjoyed trying to fly a kite with Tad Eickman and Drew Larimer! We then went to the Husker Pavilion. Isaiah threw some footballs, ran around on the field, got a balloon helmet, threw some baseballs, and shot some baskets! We sent Andy and Uncle Brady off to the game and Isaiah, Claire, and I made our way back to the van. On the way there, we stopped and listened to the marching band for a few minutes. Isaiah really enjoyed it as did I! Isaiah fell asleep on the long walk back to the van and was re-energized for the game, which we watched at home with Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Leon. And of course....Claire was a complete angel the whole day taking a couple naps, riding along in the stroller, and being hauled around. I couldn't have asked for a better day! (okay well...maybe I could've asked for a Husker W!) :-)

He Loves Her

Isaiah truly loves his sister. He shows this in many ways all the time. He can frequently be heard talking to Claire in a high pitched voice and making sure she's okay. He is always offering her toys and trying to help her roll over or move somehow (even though he's told not to!). But on Thursday night Isaiah showed me how much he loves his sister. We were playing outside. Claire was in her exersaucer and I was lounging in a camping chair. Isaiah came over to me and said, "Can I have a rag." I gave him the rag and he runs over to Claire, puts one hand on her head to hold it still, and wipes some spit off her face. It was the sweetest thing I've ever seen!

5 Months

Claire is growing like a weed! I don't know how much she weighs this month, but she seems huge! She is rolling all over the place and is even trying to crawl. She hasn't quite gotten her hands into the crawling action, but her feet know what to do! She loves to play in her exersaucer. She will sit in it for up to 45 minutes sometimes and push all the buttons. Claire has also found out that she has a voice. She can commonly be heard squealing/screaming in glee! And Miss Joy has informed me that Claire has also taught Catie (the other baby at daycare) how to scream also!! And just recently, Claire has begun to sit up by herself. I still like to sit close by, however for the sudden loss of balance! She is just changing so much every day and is really beginning to show her personality!

4 Months

Okay, so Claire was 4 months about 2 weeks ago, but that was when school started and I've been a little busy! At her doctor's appointment she weighed in at 12 pounds 3 ounces and 24 3/4 inches. This is about two pounds and one inch smaller than Isaiah was at the same age. And I thought he was small! Claire has turned into a rolling machine, but only one way! She is a pro at rolling from her back to her tummy but then usually gets made because she can't get back! She's done it on her own a few times, but most of the time has to have assistance, which is Isaiah is more than happy to give! She is fantastic at grabbing things and getting them to her mouth. She also enjoys sitting in her exersaucer for quite a while. The other day she spun herself around on her own! She eats about every 3-31/2 hours and started on rice cereal last weekend. She's still not too sure about it! Claire is a fantastic sleeper at night, usually going to bed around 8 or 8:30 and sleeping until about 7. However, she's not the best napper. There have been days when I picked up from Miss Joy's and she's only slept a total of an hour all day! But I think Miss Joy loves her anyway because she still a very mellow baby. She had her first haircut this last month too! Our hairdresser helped us get rid of her mullet and trimmed up her bangs. She wears ponytails a couple days a week now! She's changing and growing so fast. It's exciting and sad at the same time!

Giant Pee Pee

Okay, so Isaiah will be very mad at me someday for posting this, but it's just too funny not to share! The other day he was going poopy in our bathroom as I was getting ready. We had this conversation:

Isaiah, "I have a pee pee and a bottom"
Mommy, "Yes you do."
Isaiah, "You have a pee pee, but not a bottom"
Mommy, "No, I DON'T have a pee pee, but I DO have a bottom"
Isaiah, "No, you have a pee pee, but no bottom"
Mommy, "No, mommy has a bottom and a vagina"
Isaiah, "OH! You have GIANT pee pee and a bottom!"

3 Months Old!

Wow, how time has flown! Claire is now 3 months old and doing wonderful! She usually sleeps 8-11 hours at night and varies during the day. I think she's been growing recently because she's been taking long afternoon naps. She eats every 2-3 hours and finishes in a maximum of 15 minutes. I'm loving this child! She weighed in at 11 lbs. this month. She's really trying to roll over from her back to her tummy but hasn't figured out how to get her arm out of the way! She found her hands a couple weeks ago and grabs things some. She wants to grab more, but doesn't quite have the coordination yet! Claire 'talks' all the time. She's very happy and loves her big brother, even when he bothers her! She likes to look at herself in the mirror and look at other babies. She gives both very big grins! We had Kate DeCoste take her 3 months photos last week. I'll post some as soon as she gets them to me!

Run for Justin

For the third time I ran in the Run for Justin this morning. It's a 5K (3.2 miles) run in memory of Justin Nealon who was killed while running several years ago. He had a passion for running and supporting Team in Training (TNT), which is a fundraiser for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. The money from the entry fee for the Run for Justin goes to TNT to help with research and patient services. I first ran in this event three years ago when I was training with TNT to run a half marathon. I thought then it was a great event and have continued to support it since. This was my first race run since having Claire and it felt great! I've been training with my friend Jill since the beginning of June by joining a running club called, Beginner's Luck. It got me in great shape to do this 5K. Andy, Claire, and I drove to Omaha early this morning for the event. We sent Isaiah to Grandma and Grandpa's so he didn't have to get up early! Andy and Claire cheered me on as I ran. I finished in 33:30, which put me at a 10:47 minute mile. I'm very satisfied with that! Now I just need to learn to keep that pace when running longer distances!

Claire and I before the race!

Happy Birthday America!

We had a fun filled 4th of July this year. On Saturday my parents had their annual 4th of July party at their house. We got out there around 4:30 and Isaiah played inside for a while. When the food was ready everyone went outside to eat. Halfway through eating it started to rain so we all had to head for cover indoors! Thankfully the rain stopped and everyone was able to go back outside and enjoy the cool weather. Isaiah and Andy set off some fireworks. Isaiah had a puppy dog, a firetruck, and a train that he helped Andy light. We aren't sure if it's kosher to have a 2 year old actually lighting fireworks, but we did anyway! Isaiah would help Andy light the firework and then run away and stand with Uncle Mark to watch it go off. He had a blast! We, of course, had also bought some parachutes. While only one landed in the yard (the rest went in the trees) Isaiah was able to grab it and was excited to carry it around. He also had fun playing with his cousin Jordan with the soccer balls and tennis balls. When it got dark we let Isaiah do sparklers. He liked them, but they weren't the best since they were from last year. Andy and I decided to buy new ones every year from now on! Finally, when it got dark we got out all the camping chairs and watched the "big" fireworks. It was a small group this year for the party, so there were only 3 men setting them off. They did a great job, though! Claire was a wonderful baby, or course the whole day. She didn't get to experience the night time fireworks, however, because I put her to bed around 8:30 and she slept right through them! We left for home a little before 11 and figured Isaiah would konk out immediatly. Instead, he talked and watched for fireworks out the window almost the entire way home! He finally fell asleep about 5 minutes from home and went right to sleep once we got him in the house.

On Sunday, the 4th, we had planned to go to Seward with Jon and Stacey Yost and family. However, with the rain we decided to keep the kiddos indoors for most of the day. Isaiah and Kaci had a wonderful time playing together. They got to eat lunch at the 'kiddy table' as we brought Isaiah's card table and chairs up in the kitchen for them to eat at. In the afternoon, they started to get crabby and whinny, so we had them lay down together on Isaiah little couch and watch Wall-E. They watched a good chunk of the movie laying there together, too!

Finally, in the evening when it got nice out, we headed over to Donna Yost's house for supper and more fireworks. Isaiah set off fireworks again with Andy, but Kaci wasn't such a fan! She did like the parachutes though. Most of them went on the roof, but the kids were all able to get at least one or two! Claire, again, did not partake in any festivities and slept through most of the excitement! Donna provided wonderful food and dessert for everyone. As the evening wore on and it was closer to dark, Kaci and her cousin Ava took a bath. Isaiah wanted to take one too, but not with the girls! So Donna graciously cleaned out her whirlpool tub and let Isaiah get clean in there. It was a fun change for him! We then headed for home amid explosives and fog. Isaiah had a great time, but was VERY tired. He slept in on Monday morning until 10:45! We all tried to rest up on Monday and look forward to the holiday again next year!

P.S. You can click on the collages to see them larger! :-)

2 Months Old!

Two months! Andy and I decided that the first two months went way faster this time. Not really sure if it's because Claire is easier, we know what we're doing, we're busy chasing Isaiah, or a combo of all of them! At her doctor's appointment Claire weighed 10 lbs 1 oz and was 23 1/4 inches long. She got her two month shots and really screamed. It really bothered me because I've never heard her cry like that! She slept a lot that day and was very crabby when she was awake.

Claire eats on average every 2 1/2 hours during the day. At night she generally sleeps 8-10 hours, which we are gladly enjoying! She usually takes a binky to fall asleep, but spits it out as soon as she's out. She's awake a lot more during the day and likes to lay on the floor under her floor gym and look at the singing lion. Claire also enjoys her bouncy seat and swing. She smiles and coos all the time and loves her big brother!

Isaiah loves her also! He likes to talk to her (and get in her face!), and can often be heard saying, "Hi little baby!" and "I like her!". He tries to give her her binky whenever she cries and 'make her feel better'. One day I put her in the swing and went to go to the bathroom quick. Claire was fussing, and then all of a sudden quit. I thought, what did Isaiah do?! I quickly rushed back out to the livingroom and Isaiah had put her binky in her mouth and was rocking her in the swing. My heart melted!

1 Month Old!

Well, one month has already passed us by and we're all doing great! Claire is a wonderful baby. She nurses every 2-3 hours, takes lots of naps, and only gets up once a night to eat! Last night she went 8 hours!!! We went to her well-check dr appointment yesterday and the dr said she's doing great! She does have a rash around her neck and on her face. The dr says it's a normal baby rash, but it will get worse before it gets better. It doesn't really bother Claire, just mommy! She said the heat will aggrivate the rash and to keep her out of the heat. However, that is hard for us to do with all the softball games and such an active little 2 year old! Claire was 8lbs 9 oz, which puts her in the 5th percentile and 22 1/4 inches long, which is the 90th percentile! She does very well with tummy time and is better holding her head up. She also is starting to track objects with her eyes. We're loving every minute of her and Isaiah still does too! I'm excited to see her grow and change, but know all to well that she will grow too fast. We're trying to cherish every minute!

Breastfeeding Bliss

When Isaiah was an infant, he nursed every hour and half to two hours. What I didn't understand was that that time frame is from beginning to beginning, which means I only had about an hour between 'sessions'. It was very consuming. I felt like I was tied to my glider in the living room, always waiting for the next time he was hungry! He continued like this for a few months. Breastfeeding felt like more of a burden to me in the beginning than a blessing. Now don't get me wrong, I'm glad and proud that I was able to nurse Isaiah for a year, but was more than ready to be done at a year! This time, with Claire, nursing is MUCH different. She generally eats every two to three hours and sometimes I have to wake her up to feed her! At night she'll even go five hours sometimes. This time it is much less of a burden and more of a bliss!!

Namesake

I realized that in my last post about Claire, I didn't mention her namesake. Her first name is just a name Andy and I agreed on! Now her middle was originally going to be Noel, named after my dad, Leon. However, the day Claire decided to arrive ended up being the same day as my Aunt Diane who passed away before I was born. And as many of you know, Diane is also my middle name. So after she arrived, Andy and I decided to change her middle name to Diane!

Welcome Claire Diane!

She has finally arrived! Beautiful Claire was born on April 21st, 2010 @ 6:41am. She was 7 lbs and 19 1/2 inches. I had had a doctors appointment on Tuesday afternoon. Dr. Martin said my cervix was ready, but wanted to schedule an induction before I was past 41 weeks. The induction was set for Thursday at 6am. However, little miss Claire decided to come before that, which thrilled me because I didn't want to be induced! I started having contractions about 1:15am. By 4 they were about 5-10 minutes apart so I woke Andy up and called Mark to come over. We left the house around 4:30 and arrived on Labor and Delivery about 5am. When they got me all checked in they checked my cervix and I was about 5cm dilated. By 6am labor was in full swing and they called the doctor. Dr. Martin wasn't working so they called Dr. Friesen, whom I'd never met. At that point, however, I didn't care. I just wanted to get her out! By the time Dr. Friesen got there I was ready to push. One contraction later and she was out!!

My parents brought Isaiah up in the evening and he was very excited to meet his sister. He gave her quite a few kisses and held her on his lap for a while. He's very glad to have her at home now, as are Andy and I. I'm not used to a child who just eats and sleeps and can't wait to watch her grow and learn!

Halloween at the Zoo

Okay, so I know it's not Halloween, and the zoo's note even open yet, but right now that is Isaiah favorite book! It's a pop-up book he got for Halloween last year that we've been reading a lot lately. Well last night, he read it to me! It was the cutest thing! I helped him turn the pages and he 'read' each page! Although when he got to the last page he tried to pull the sliding tab and broke it, so now last page say 'I broke it', instead of what it really says!

Happy Easter!

We enjoyed Easter this year a couple different times. We celebrated as a family by dying eggs together. Isaiah really wanted to stick his hands in the cups of dye, but we kept him from getting too messy! He 'helped' daddy dye a couple eggs more than one color by holding onto daddy's arm while daddy held the egg in the dye. It was cute! He was very proud of his eggs.

We also celebrated with my family on Saturday. We went out to mom and dad's in the afternoon and Isaiah had his first Easter egg hunt. It was VERY windy out that day, so we didn't stay outside too long, even though Isaiah really wanted to swing and watch papa drive the tractor around in circles!

Lastly, on Sunday the Easter bunny came and brought Isaiah new sand toys and a lawn mower. It blows bubbles, but we haven't shown him that yet!:-) Andy's family also came over and went to church with us. After naptime Isaiah had another Easter egg hunt. It was a much nicer day this time! And the eggs he found had quarters in them. He quickly put each one in his pocket...all 12 of them! We then had to find him a piggy bank to put them in...and take them out...and put them in ...and take them out...

3 Weeks and Counting

On Saturday I will be 37 weeks, which means I'll be full term! The baby's room is almost ready. Emily came this week and helped me paint the border in her room and I've been arranging and organizing since! She's a very active baby, moves a lot, so I'm hoping she decides to come a little early! Here are a few pictures of the nursery and some maternity pictures my friend Kate DeCoste took about a month ago.

2 Years Old!!

I can't believe Isaiah is 2! It has been a wonderful two years! For his birthday we bought him some Dora balloons and took him to Applebee's. He was a little scared when they sang him happy birthday and then didn't want his cake and ice cream, but enjoyed his chicken strips! On Saturday we had his birthday party. I made a Thomas the Train cake and we decorated in the same theme. The party went well and Isaiah had a blast playing with his best friend, Kaci. Here's the two year update on our little man:

His language has exploded in the last few weeks. He repeats EVERYTHING...so we have to be very careful what we say! He is great at saying please and thank you and asking for help. It's great that we can start reasoning with him and find out what he wants or needs.

Favorite Books: Llama Llama Red Pajama, 5 Ugly Monsters Jumping on the Bed, Dora and the Super Babies

Favorite Toys: Choo Choo Trains, blocks, cars

Favorite TV Shows: Dora and Diego

Favorite Songs: ABC's, Baa Baa Black Sheep, Rock-a-Bye Baby, Jesus Loves Me

Favorite Foods: Grapes, applesauce, corn, pickles

Froggy Weather

On Tuesday morning as we left the house, Isaiah ran out in the garage as the door was opening. It was very foggy that morning and I stated, "Oh, look at how foggy it is!" As I was putting him into his carseat he starts saying "ribbit, ribbit" and then stated that "I want to see it!" I had to clarify that it wasn't FRoggy, it was foggy!:-)

Snow Time!

After getting home last week, Isaiah and I went to get the mail. On the way back from the mailbox, Isaiah wanted to walk through the snow. When I convinced him to cross the street to our yard, we went inside and got his gloves and went back outside to play in the snow! This was the first time he really has played in the snow and he had a blast!

I'm a Big Kid Now!

We decided it was time to get Isaiah out of the crib and into his big boy bed so he would have time to adjust before the baby came. We had gotten a bunk bed from Jan and John and finally went and bought some bedding and mattresses yesterday. After Isaiah's long nap Andy took down the crib and put together the new bed. Isaiah thought it was really fun and had his kitties and puppies helping! When it was actually time to go to bed, we got ready as usual. Put jammies on, read stories, rocked, and then I laid him down in his bed. I laid down beside him for a few minutes. Then he said, " I done bed". I thought it was cute! I told him this was his new bed and he had to stay in it and not to get out. He cried for a few minutes and then fell asleep. He woke up around 2am and I went in and found his binky and he went right back to sleep. He woke up again about 6:45 and Andy went in, but this time he was up. He didn't get out of bed, though, until Andy told him could, so that was good!

Isaiah learned really fast, however, that he can't stand on his bed or he'll hit his head!!