Snowmen and Scooters

In seven days, we went from seven inches of snow to nearly 70 degree temperatures! CRAZY!

After our winter storm, Aaron helped Elsa build her first snow man!

Unfortunately, in two days it was completely melted.

Today, Elsa rode her scooter with dad to the park.

It is supposed to be in the 60s/70s all week! Hopefully I can kick what I think is pneumonia and get out and enjoy the nice weather!

Elsa and the Packers

I blame her love of the Packers on her school--Aaron is definitely not teaching her to say "Go Packers". The kid asks to wear her jersey almost every day. Most of the time we just keep it in the laundry basket and tell her its dirty even when it is not. She gets SO excited for laundry and when she gets to wear her jersey.

Her facial expressions crack me up. Aaron took this series of photos on the way home from school the other day.

Chet 2 months

Happy 2 month birthday Chet!

Chet has gotten to be such a better baby over the past two weeks! He is almost a completely different baby! His pediatrician feels that he may have been allergic to my breast milk! As I stated in the previous post, I had given up all dairy and was on the most bland diet and he was still so fussy/gassy. It seems like everything I ate didn't agree with him. When we introduced formula at night, he started sleeping longer and we noticed he wasn't as gassy. Once I returned to work and wasn't able to pump consistently, my supply dramatically decreased and I eventually stopped breastfeeding all together. We noticed over the three week transition the dramatic improvement in his temperment. His pediatrician felt that even though it is uncommon, that it was most likely due to my milk. He stated most colickiness doesn't improve that quickly. I initially was sad when I thought of him being allergic to "me", but at least now I don't feel so guilty about giving up breast feeding.

I am going to do the same pictures each month that I did with Elsa.

He now weighs 15 lbs 1 oz (97th percentile)

Height: 25" (97th percentile)

Head: 43 cm (97th percentile)

Nicknames: Chet-man. Elsa likes to call him "bug" which I think she thinks we say when we say "bud".

Diapers: size 2

Clothes: 3-6 months

He loves to stare at the celing fan, windows, and TV. He also LOVES looking at his sister. She is still very affectionate with him and doesn't show any signs of jealousy. We are very grateful for this! I can't wait to see their relationship develop!

She loves to read and tries to include him in her reading.

He is much more content just laying on his mat.

He is smiling so much more now! Here is one Aaron took of him after feeding him.

Tummy time is getting better

He LOVES bath time. Elsa likes to help give him a bath. We will pull up a chair so she can help wash his hair and wash him off. Now that he has found his hands, he can't seem to keep them out of his mouth!

For the first two months, he would wake up from his naps and sleep just screaming! It was like he would go from zero to 60 in 2 seconds. Now, he will wake up and usually babble or stir for a while before we have to go in there.

He still prefers to be walking around when being held, which is rather frustrating. You can literally keep him in the same position, but he will cry if you sit down!

I have been back to work now for three weeks and we are developing a very good routine around here. Chet usually sleeps until 4:30am (sometimes even up to 6am!!!). Aaron will usually wake up to give him a bottle and then both of the boys will go back to sleep. I wake up at 5:30 (unless Elsa decides earlier) to get us ready and out the door by 7:15. I take her to school most mornings before work and then Aaron gets her at noon. He usually gives her a small snack and then she takes anywhere from 1 1/2-2 hour nap. I am home most days around 4:30 so I have some time to hang out with the kids before getting dinner ready. Two things that have really helped with efficiency around here is menu planning and packing lunches the night before. I usually plan out an entire week of dinners and make a shopping list. Aaron will do a majority of the grocery shopping (he likes the challenge of couponing and finding the best deals!) for the entire week. Menu planning eliminates so much wasted time trying to decide what to make for dinner and I believe it is a huge money saver! The dinners for the week are written on the dry erase board on the refrigerator. I am going to try to stick to a theme each day to make it even easier to plan menus.

Monday: Soup/Salad or Brinner (breakfast at dinner)

Tuesday: Crockpot

Wednesday: Vegetarian

Thursday: Leftovers

Friday: Pizza

Saturday: Ethnic

Sunday: Comfort food

I find most of my recipes from myrecipes.com and save them to my online recipe file. It makes it so easy!