7 and 8 months

These last 2 months have just flown by.... Here are some snapshots and milestones for my records.

 Starting to sit up more and really enjoying it.

 Got to be a little helper at Chloe's valentine party at preschool

 LOVES eating, LOVES puffs and self-feeding. Still no teeth.

 Strong sitter, not motivated to crawl. Babbles and says da-da and ba-ba (when she is hungry)

 SO big. Really a trooper when Chloe wants to play princess.

 These two love each other. I am always a little nervous about how rough Chloe is, but I suppose it is part of being a younger sibling. 

Chloe finished her first ballet class, it was a park and rec class and REALLY basic. I think she enjoyed it and is ready to start swimming lessons later this spring.

Christmas and 6 months

We had a great Christmas this year! We didn't travel at all and enjoyed spending time with both sides of the family. I think the whole season is more fun as the girls get older. Chloe enjoyed reading and re-telling the Christmas story time after time. Chloe wanted 3 things for Christmas: A little mermaid bath set, Ballet things, and a trampoline. She was a happy girl because my parents got her an indoor trampoline (which is 5ft wide and amazing) and the other things were in her stocking. Phoebe got a teething toy (Sofie the giraffe) in her stocking and seems to really love it:). The next week we had Brent's family in for the day and the cousin's had a blast together. We definitely need to see them more. 

PHOEBE IS 6 MONTHS

She has the 'linebacker' pose down here:) Oh, those dimples!

 This is a typical interaction with these two.

 Chloe is so sweet, growing and changing with so much going on in that mind of hers.

 So much drool, no teeth yet.

This month has been really wonderful. Phoebe is starting to sit with support, rolling both ways, and pushing up. Now is sleeping in her crib all night (she was in a bassinet/chair previously). Brent took the lead to sleep train her last week and in 3 days she was happily snoozing away. He did an AMAZING job. He is SO good with babies. Phoebe is definitely laid back and just content to go with the flow. She is following suit with her sister and isn't the best napper, but sleeps great at night and is only getting up once really early in the morning to eat and then goes back to sleep. She seems more interested in food but adjusting to the consistency and half of it never gets in her mouth. She is a joy and I can't wait to see her stats at the doctor on Monday. She is edging out of her 6 and 9 month clothes, so I am guessing she is doing REAL good!

5 months

Phoebe at 5 months is exploring her world. Lots of rolling and pushing up. She is so content and happy most of the time. She weights around 18 lbs and my back is feeling it! Phoebe sleeps great, naps are a bit if a fight, but not terrible. She and Chloe are interacting Mir and more. Now a bunch of highly adorable photos.

A quick 4

Before Phoebe turns 5 months in a 2 weeks, I figured I should post her 4 month pictures and info. Phoebe did great at her 4 month check up weighing 15.5 lbs and measuring 25.5 inches. 91% folks. Her eating reflects this. She enjoys milk a lot. I am thankful my milk supply has kept steady and somehow I keep pumping away (never though I would make it this long). We tried rice cereal once and it was a no go. No rush for this one who seems to be thriving on breast milk;). Rolling back to front is a favorite activity, then there is some frustration because she can't get back over. Phoebe is very laid back, content to watch Chloe play and still super smiley. Chloe can make her laugh the hardest, which I love. I expect p will be sitting up soon, which in someways will be nice. Chloe is slooooowly adjusting. She loves her sister though. We sure love our girls!

3 months

Phoebe is 3 months old....well 3 months and about 2 weeks. She continues to be a sweet baby and loves to smile and is getting stronger all the time. She is a big eater and sleeps like a champ. We are still working toward getting her to sleep in her crib. It will happen soon enough I am sure. We had lots of nicknames for Chloe and for Phoebe too. They are very different though. We call her, Phoebs, googie, sweetie, sugar, sugie, and a few others. She is about as sweet as you can get and though she is spitting up a lot she seems to be happy and growing. We will see at her 4 month appointment what her actual stats are.

3 months after her world has been rocked by not being an only child big sister is doing a bit better. Tantrums are fewer, thanks to a sticker reward system we started. She is becoming more helpful and less attention oriented. Chloe is such a joy and exploring things with her still inspires me and is so much fun this season. We went on a nature walk today and just enjoyed collecting leaves and acorns together. Her heart is sooo tender and this month while she was watching a Clifford the big movie she started to SOB when Emily Elizabeth and Clifford were seperated for a time. She asked me the next day if she could watch it I said "no" because it made her cry so much. She told me she liked the way crying like that made her feel. Oh dear. I sure do love these girls and feel so much better than I EVER thought I would 3 months out from having a baby. Thank you Jesus!

Nit-picking

Sadly, this is what has been going on at our house. Yes, head lice entered our home a few weeks ago and are finally gone. At least we think so, they are REALLY hard to get rid of. I mostly wanted to share a few things about our experience with these pesky things. I noticed Chloe scratching her head and as I looked closer I saw some little bugs in the wisps of her hair. I wasn't sure at first if it was lice or not, Brent knew right off. We started by buying the typical lice removal kit at the pharmacy and tried to wrangle a VERY active 3 yr old to comb out live lice and nits. It was challenging and didn't seem to work very well. Brent did most of this as I just couldn't see all the little nits. A few days later I discovered some lice in my head (oh no!). My hair is SO thick I thought I might have to shave my head. Also, since I am feeding Phoebe breast milk, I couldn't use prescription strength lice remover b/c it can be absorbed through the skin. I had to come up with alternate remedies for myself, which ended up being better for all of us. Here is what we found to work and it is all natural.

The Robi Comb (tiny bug zapper)

This little thing works, it really does detect and kill the lice. It buzzes really loud and when it makes contact with a live lice it stops you keep combing it out and then you see the little dead lice on the comb. Very satisfying to see them dying. Brent really liked this product. It was easy to use. 

Cetaphil lice removal (Nuvo treatment)

This method seems strange, but worked awesome for us! You can read more about it by following the link. The short version is you put Cetaphil (we used generic walgreens brand) on dry hair, down to the scalp. A lot of it, enough to make you hair dripping. You let it sit 2 min, comb excess out and them blow dry your hair. It took me an hour to blow dry my hair. It smothers the lice. You let it be in your hair 8-12 hrs before washing with normal shampoo. Gentle on the scalp and no harsh chemicals. Those lice get smothered!

The real bummer about head lice is the nits. Nothing kills them, they stick to hair, and they hide in thick hair. We used plastic combs, metal combs, but bottom line is that you just have to nit pick. It was HARD with Chloe. She watched a lot of T.V.. In the end, we cut her hair. She has a cute bob, that makes her look so grown up. I also got a hair cut, though most of mine were taken care of with the cetaphil. 

We hate lice around here. We also washed stuff like crazy and thankfully Chloe doesn't sleep with but one stuffed toy. Thank God we are finished with lice around here, it was an exhausting 2 weeks! Brent was the main nit picker and did an AMAZING job, thanks honey.

Phoebe at 2 months

Seriously, one of the sweetest babies I have encountered. God knew that our spit-fire 3 yr old would be in a needy place when this one arrived. Phoebe is such a blessing. She is 13.1 lbs and 23 1/2 inches. That is up there in percentiles (though I am not sure why those matter). I think you might be our introverted baby b/c you can easily play by yourself already, content to look at toys without without much help. Can I get an AMEN! I love my introverted mom, husband and Lord willing my Phoebe. She is a champ of an eater and let's us know when she is hungry, she eats about 4.5oz of pumped breast milk 7 ish times a day. I will tell you more about my decision to exclusively pump later. She is sleeping 3 to 6 hr stretches at night so combined we are feeling a bit more rested. Having Brent help with night feeding is a huge help. She is very smiley and loves to follow things with her eyes. She is a delight and we love having her in our family.