Watch Liam Grow: Monthiversary Series: 1 Week-3 Months

Dear Liam,
My sweet second child. I swore I would never let it happen. I promised that I would be better and try harder to make sure that you got all the special little firsts like your big sister. I would blog about every life change, every smile, and coo. But then life happened. Now don't get me wrong. Your entire life from birth to three plus months has been documented on Instagram (sorry friends) (which is definitely more than what I did for big sister) but sadly it hasn't been written down. Trying to find time to sit down and type is challenging, an understatement of the century. So with this special little moment where both you and your sister are napping at the same time, I am going to take full advantage and try to catch up, if possible, documenting about you, my growing little boy. So forgive mommy as I may be behind or for the lack of little documented moments because to be honest I surely do love my real moments making memories together and for all the craziness that is life for our family of four. Happy 1 Week-3 Months!

Number of weeks: 3 months
Measurements: Measurements taken at 2 month appointment: Weight 11 lbs 5.5 oz (31%), Height 23 2/12 inches (76%), Head Cir 15 5/8 inches (71%)
Clothing: You wear size 3 month shirts, shorts, pants, and 3-6 month footed jamies. You have long legs and toes which make 3 month long footed jammies too tight on your piggies. You have also worn shoes several times these past few months. You are not exactly a fan, but you may kick a few times and not fight too much after. You are in size 1 diapers.

 

 

Eating: You are starting to eat a little more on a schedule. You still love to eat all the time. You typically eat 4 oz every 2-3 hours unless you take a good nap. Then you may take up to 6. Your first and last bottles are both 6 oz. While you still take a breast milk bottle, we are continuing to supplement formula. Needless to say with either breast milk or formula, you are a happy, healthy baby who is getting what you need. Full belly, full smiles, full sleep.
Sleeping: Overall you are finally doing amazing when it comes to sleep. We typically put you down with your final bottle around 8:00. You are now full time in the pack n play. I have no desire to move you to your room just yet. I know you would be fine, but mommy isn't ready. I still love to hear your little grunts and breathing noises. You sleep with a paci but don't usually like the paci during the daytime. You prefer munching on your precious little fingers. It appears we have a thumb/finger sucker, but you haven't officially found them fully. At night you usually sleep from 8PM-6:30AM. It is magical; however, I do have to put your paci in from about 5AM until 6:30. Sometimes it feels like all night that I'm putting it back in. Sometimes it is only a few times and others it feels like every half hour. I am always trying to determine if another bottle would put you back to sleep but technically you aren't awake. My fear is I would be waking you up to give you the bottle and then it would take forever to lay you back down. This is simply trial and error and this has been our experience in the past, so we shall see what our next steps are. Naps are good. You are our second baby and as usual are dragged along for the ride. If we go somewhere you may sleep for a half hour in the stroller or so or not at all. You usually take a nap around 9AM-10AM, 1PM-3PM, and again before bedtime like 5-6PM. I always hated when people would say "What's your child's schedule?" This is just what we have noticed. I do like that both kids take a nap and have rest time around the same time. It has been giving mommy some quiet time to herself which is usually filled with house hold activities but nice to sit for a bit on days where that works. But while you may be learning to love sleep, your big sister has forgotten how to do so and sometimes even the dog has her share of sleepless nights. So one day we'll get it all under control. 

Personality: At birth, you were our serious little man. We really had to work for those little Liam smiles that we have grown to love so much.

But over time, you have grown into this great little cheeser, an open mouth "smiler" with smirks, and eye brow raises. And seriously could that little side dimple be any cuter? I love your fuzzy, long locks that appear to have a bit of a curl like big sister.

You also are honestly a very good baby and as of late have been pretty easy to read. You are either hungry, happy, playful, or sleepy. This of course has also recently changed as you have begun the dreaded teething process. This may take another three months before we even see a little pearly white, but boy the drool, the munching on your hand, and a bit of fussiness will of course keep me on my toes. Thank you baby orajel. When you were first born, you had colic pretty bad, a first for mommy and daddy. You honestly didn't sleep during the day (minus a few little cat naps that I caught some of the most adorable little snuggle pictures of) or at night. Oh how your little personality has changed since you have been free from colic and have learned to love sleep. I mean I couldn't blame you sweet heart. One of mommy's favorite things is that you surely do have eyes for me. I get the biggest and best little open mouth smiles. You are such a talker (you get it from your mama). You love chatting it up with your daddy and big sister. I do have to apologize as big sister loves to play with your ears while she's hugging on you and occasionally puts her entire head of hair in your face while she whispers into your ear. She calls you hers and while we do see some moments where she will ask to put you in the swing or stroller so that she may have her usual attention, I know that she adores you. I am tso thankful for this sweet little relationship and am excited to continue to watch it grow.

Activities: coos and lots of talking, finding your left foot, munching on your fingers and fist- signs of teething, attending the nursery at church- The ladies love telling us that you either are a big sleeper or a bigger talker, summer activities, first July 4th celebration 

 

and parade. Firsts: movie going experience to see Finding Dory, finding your left foot and pulling on your toes, first baby giggles, attempting to roll over but definitely not there, smiling at the dog, "swimming" in the pool

Likes: taggie blanket, toys, dinosaur blanket, putting things in your mouth, big smiles from mommy and daddy, music, eyes follow Disney movies,

Dislikes: lotion, loud noises, car carrier, not being fed right away, diaper changes (this is so much better), not being held when you want

Liam, I am so thankful God gave you to us. I have loved watching you grow and change these last 3 months. You are a perfect addition to our family and to this great adventure as a fam of four. It hasn't always been easy, you surely make it all worth it.

Meeting our Mini: Liam's 1st Trip to Sugar Land

We truly made some pretty amazing memories with our Zellner family this past trip to Sugar Land. Oh how we love our Papa Z, Grammy, Aunt Rachel, Aunt Becky, & Uncle Todd time. While our time is always too short, we definitely do our best soaking up all the cuddles, upside down tickles, and special catch up time with our family. This trip would be extra special as it was their first time to meet our mini.

While our 7 plus hour trip was long and our Prius was packed to the brim, our littles did surprisingly well. With hwy 45 closed down to one lane, a longer lunch stop with extra potty times, and this extra feeding stop, we were still all smiles as we made our way down to Sugar Land. (again, our car was stopped in this picture to feed our mini) Upon our arrival, we were met by a very excited Grammy and Papa Z. They both smiled from ear to ear as they couldn't wait to get their hands on both our littles. I mean who could blame them. It was so special to watch them together.

{Grammy & the kiddos}

While our little lady transformed into a beautiful little princess and dog trainer with the two pups, little man was getting lots of attention and squeezes from the family.

Liam surely loved all of his lap time and cuddles.

{Uncle Todd  was a natural with little Liam}

 {Auntie Love}

 {Aunt Becky Loving on her Littles}

 {Excited to welcome and love on sweet baby H}

On Saturday, we enjoyed a sunny, summer day and some pool and play time outside.

Aubrey loved filling plastic cups, playing with toys, splashing and spraying water on daddy, while little man had his toes dipped in the pool.

He was a little harder to read about the water, but overall I have to say he was such a chill baby.

I adore my boys!

We love our Aunt Rachel and Aunt Becky.

{3 generations of handsome
Papa Z, Ray, & Liam}

 {My big girl beauty blowing bubbles}

That night we had the whole family over for dinner including Nana, Aunt Sally, Ray's cousins, Will and Stephen, sisters, sister's fiance, mom, and dad. We celebrated Nana and her birthday as well as Owen's upcoming birthday. With a delicious dinner, dessert birthday cake, and great conversation, our time together was super special. 

{Auby helped Nana blow out her candles}

{Aunt Sally & Liam}

 

I'm so thankful for these sweet moments with family.

Sweet Summer Time, Splash Pad, Fun Sheets, & Library Love

Our sweet summer time began at the Splash Pad with the family. It was a perfect Saturday filled with a quick shopping trip to Target for a few water play essentials including the dollar bin sunglasses and hat for Auby and new bathing suit. While our morning was pretty warm, the water sure did keep us cool.

After time in the hot, hot sun, we decided to make our way over to the ice cream truck for a sweet treat before heading home for family rest time. It was a Zellner family first and Auby LOVED it!

We did have several cold options to chose from. Aubrey chose a Hello Kitty, daddy a batman pop, and mommy's was a questionable tweety bird. They were delicious and a perfect ending to a fantastic early afternoon at the splash pad.

While I know our days will only get hotter, our sweet summer time will be filled with cool, wet and wild days outside with family and friends.

That next week on Monday I was able to meet a few friends back at the pad for a great morning of water play. While we surely love our Fantlet friends, I don't think little miss was too impressed by the water on this very morning. We did; however, enjoy eating lots of delicious snacks, and hanging out with our good friends. I always love seeing these adorable cuties together.

Our Fantlet-Zellner kiddo collection is now serving a party of 5. I cannot believe how quickly these kiddos have grown. We are so excited to enjoy another sweet summer with such great friends.

We also enjoyed seeing the Cooks and Goodings from church at the Splash Pad as well. What a great outing even if we were more about the food than water. A little fun in the sun  and play time with sweet friends was a great start to our summer bucket list of 2016.

Tuesday would be our full lazy day at home. I decided to make a Tuesday To Do Fun Sheet for Aubrey. This way she would have different activities to chose from so that she would not want to sit and attempt to watch tv all day. My girl sure loves her movies. This was such a fun chart and super successful. She loved "making our mark" on the activities we completed. The perfect part was... by strategically giving these choices, I was able to pump, join in on the fun, love on my littlest munchkin, and complete necessary house to dos. We were all smiles for sure!

 Aubrey and her Good Dinosaur, Arlo, showing us her Fun Sheet

 Reading Bible Stories in her tent

 Tummy Time Talking with Liam (as he takes a quick rest) 

{From Left to Right and Top to Bottom: Aubrey reading bible stories, pretty in pink princess polish, smiles from Liam, tummy time talking, Princess Aubrey, sticker toes, bowling fun, story time with baby brother}

 {Bowling Fun}

 Dr. Seuss Sticker Toes

 My beautiful princess

On Wednesday, a second fun sheet was created. Activities included breakfast with the family, a walk, shopping trip, splash pad play date with mommy, crafts, bible reads, and a special movie with popcorn at home. I'm really loving our busy to dos and lazy days at home.

The Good Dinosaur has been our movie of choice as of late. Her good little Arlo has been keeping her company this summer and joining in on all the play time fun while we are at home.

Splash Pad with Mommy & Liam

This was my first attempt at the Splash Pad with just the kids and myself. From having an upset and fussy little mister, a potty training 2 year old, and a little lady that didn't want to get wet, it surely made for an interesting morning.

On Thursday after the kiddos and I dropped off daddy at work (still a one car family), we made our way to Target where we found some pretty exciting characters. Aubrey of course loved hugging all over her sweet friend, Minnie.

 After a small play time we were on our way back to the library for some Music and Movement.

Here's to our two year old tantrum at Music and Movement today at the library. I am so thankful that we quickly (after a bit of convincing) found our happiness in the last song which included bubbles, two bunny stamps, and her shouting (almost the entire time) "Yay! I all done! I happy mommy!" It's all about the little things!

And this is absolutely true. It's all about the little things. I've learned that raising two little humans is tough work. And while our days are filled with both smiles and toddler tantrums, I'm thankful for the memories made, the moments spent together, and for a good glass of wine when all has gone south for the day.

 Happy Summer time friends!