Nine weeks ago today, I was in labor...trying to wait patiently to get an epidural "til I really needed it." With Greta, my epidural was so quick and easy and worked beautifully! So beautifully, in fact, that my entire labor lasted just 5 hours and her head came out before the doctor was even in the delivery room. I guess I just assumed all epidurals were the same! Bad assumption, I guess. When the doctor walked in the room, I knew I had drawn a newer resident. Nothing against residents, but I waited until I was having some pretty intense contractions, so someone who knew what they were doing would have been nice...he dug around back there for awhile, with his attending telling him "pull back...do you feel pressure?...ok, take it out....ok, now what angle is it at? 45 degrees? 90 degrees? okay, that's right. pull back again." I was not exactly the happiest camper at that point. They decided to give it 15 minutes but I could tell instantly that it was a failure. They called the staff back, and the resident came with him. I was less than excited, to put it nicely. Scott and the nurse were walking me through each contraction, but I did finally verbally say I wanted the resident to have nothing to do with the second epidural. (There may have been a few expletives mixed in there too!) By the time the staff got the epidural in, they had called the doctor and had prepped the room for birth. So, needless to say, our dear Caroline arrived after only about 20 minutes of pushing, but with a little more drama than her older sis! Caroline has been a little bundle of joy since her arrival. She sleeps pretty well, and I'm feeling relatively rested, so I can't complain about that! She smiles a lot and is just a sweetie. We forgot what it was like to have a baby that completely needed you for everything and hasn't learned that she can get really mad and tell you to go away yet!
The transition from one to two children has been much easier for me than the transition from 0 to 1, though I had about a week there where I wasn't so sure! And Greta has faced her own challenges through this. She had about 7 weeks where she thought it would be nice to test us by hitting her sister. She still has her moments, but fortunately, she's also learned that she can make Coco smile and that Coco "likes her" more when she's not throwing large objects at her head. There are some pretty sweet moments between the two of them, though. A few weeks ago, Greta wrote a song for Coco. She love to make up songs and this one goes, "I hold your hand, I hold your hand, I hold your handy hand...." (she has to be holding Coco's hand, of course) She also loves to get really close to her and speak in the highest voice possible. This also tends to be the loudest voice possible, and sometimes I think Coco's not so sure what to think of it. But, oddly, I think Coco misses the entertainment when Greta is at school or asleep. She always gets really smiley when she sees Greta.
Greta has become quite the 2 year old. She turned 2 in August, (which we did not document so well...) and she is quite the yapper! She loves to tell us about all sorts of things. She is starting to get a handle on how to "use her words" instead of throwing a fit, which makes us happy. Sometimes when she's throwing a fit, though, she'll stop in the middle and say, "and I'm NOT going to use my words!" and then throw herself back on the ground. She's a trip. We've also noticed she picks up a lot of our sayings. She loves to say, "Would you do me a favor?" (much to Scott's dismay, that's my phrase) She also say, "Hi, guys. Whatcha' doin?" and "Oh! Oh! I forgot something!" I wrote this on facebook the other day, but she calls her tears her "feelings" and the other day when she was crying, she asked me later (when she calmed down) if I could help her wipe her feelings off her face.
She is starting to get cause and effect a lot more now. When we drop her off at preschool, she cries sometimes. Especially when I leave her there. Fortunately, Papa comes to drop her off most days. Last week, Papa was out of town so I dropped her off. On the way there, I was telling her how she doesn't have to cry because she likes school and I NEVER forget to come back and get her when it's done. She said, "Mom, I cry because I need you." That was slightly heart-wrenching, but fortunately, she had a really good day at school that day.
Greta pretty much is our entertainment (and our patience-tester), as you can see. Scott and I have been trying to shed some extra pounds with the WiiFit game, and sometimes Greta helps us participate. This morning, she put on her fairy wings and fairy shoes and started jumping up and down like she was working out with us. Then she said, "Mom, I'm fairy-cising." I guess that is a two year old's form of exercise!
We are still in our house, which is bittersweet. Though I love this place and love our location, we have REALLY outgrown it. Four of us in this place is just a TAD crowded! But we're making it work! It's really challenging right now, too, because we gave up cable television and haven't got a digital converter box for our TV so...we have nothing but netflix through the Wii right now. Options can get limited on a day where G and Coco and I don't have much planned!
Pics are below...I just wanted to write first to let everyone know how things are going here! I found out that I get to keep my job come January, which was a great surprise. It presents a bit of a daycare issue for Coco, but we'll figure something out, I'm sure!
Greta meeting her little sister in the hospital. As soon as she sat down on dad's lap, she started singing a lullaby she'd practiced for Coco.
Five days after Coco was born, Uncle Bruce and Aunt Pam got married. Greta was a flower girl and did great! Mom was a little frazzled with the hormone adjustment post-delivery, but we all made it through and it was such a great time! Here are Greta and Rowan outside. Greta was throwing leaves in the air, screaming, "CELEBRATE!!!!"
Here she is right before she walked down the aisle. She looks somber, I know, but she took the job really seriously and even stood at the end of the aisle until her entire basket was emptied!
Getting ready to party with all the kids at the wedding!
Greta looking down at Caroline. We're now able to get a BIT further away, but we still hover pretty closely most days, just in case. We're not so worried about intentional injuries anymore, as much as we're worried about a 2 year old throwing her entire body weight on top of a 12 lb-er!
Greta riding in her carseat and looking under the cover to "check on Coco", who is riding next to her. I don't know if you can see too well there, but G's hair is crazy curly. I love it so much, and every time I see her running around the house with a hairbrush, I just cringe. Lately, she's discovered that when her hair is not curly, it's actually long-ish. The bad part: We can't get it completely straight, so when we leave it like it is after she wakes up in the morning or after she wears a hat, it really does look like our child is channeling Don King. Or maybe Einstein. She always tells me, "Don't make my hair wet. I want it long, so I can be a BEE-YOO-TEE-FUL princess!" (She's really into being a princess with her tiara and high heels)
A sleeping Coco. She really is a pretty kid, huh? I know, I know. I'm biased!
Greta on Halloween at "Boo at the Zoo"...she was a purple unicorn this time, but on Halloween night, she was actually a purple dragon. Everyone asked me "Oh, is she Barney? How cute!" I think the purple dragon might be going into retirement before Coco! I'm not a huge fan of Barney!
Wandering around, collecting her treats. Halloween was such a blast this year. I love how much kids help us enjoy holidays!
Here we are before we headed out to "Yo Gabba Gabba Live!" It was such a fun show and I'm so glad I took her. She was having a lot of trouble adjusting to Coco needing me so much at this point, so it was nice to have some one-on-one time with Greta. She was amazed at the show. I didn't take my camera, because my dear husband gave me some bad info and told me cameras were not allowed. Okay, that may have been the technical rule, but...everyone and their mom had cameras there! I was the lame mom taking pics with her cell. And everyone who has been around me knows I have the worlds oldest and largest smart phone. So, the pics were lame. But I'll never forget the look on G's face when she realized the REAL DJ Lance was right in front of her.
Little Chubby Cheeks
Greta's Aunt Jolie and Aunt Shon have been taking her out on the town once a week, which has been a great chance for her to get out more and for us to bond with Caroline. One night a few weeks ago, Shon and Greta walked in the door with matching PJ's. Greta loves her outings with them!
She's really into bows. Here she is modeling one.
Coco grinning....
Sweet Coco sleeping...
Last Saturday, we went to see Santa (her second time already for the season!)...here she is waiting in line with her cousin, Tessa.
Tessa, Greta, Santa, Rowan, and Tatum. Caroline was sleeping and wanted no part of this Santa nonsense!
Rowan telling Santa what she wants...you can tell when G gets nervous...she puts her fingers in her mouth!
This year on G's Christmas list: Stinky markers and paper. She's in love with Sharpies, and always tells me "Mom, Dad hid the stinky markers." She's not getting Sharpies, but I'm sure Santa will find some other stinky markers for her that are a bit more washable.
Dad forces Caroline to watch "Battlestar Galactica" with him. Doesn't Caroline look bored? She's resisting his attempts to make her watch nerd-TV.
Let's hope Greta gets over this phase before she turns double-digits. She does a belly trick where she moves her belly in and out and she thinks it is so hilarious! And yes, we have our tiny Charlie Brown Christmas tree up again! We're keeping it while the kids are little while we can get away with a lame tree! Need I repeat: 900 sq foot house!??!
Possibly the most accurate depiction of our two girls we've ever captured with a photo. Greta is so funny and full of energy. And Caroline is all smiles all the time! We're so blessed with our sweet girls! Happy Holidays to everyone!
