The Holbrook Family: March 2013

Whew! We made it through the first month as a family of four. Before I begin, let me just say something to baby Holly...
Holly, one day when you are going through old pictures and blog updates, you might notice that the posts about Charlie as an infant are much more detailed than your baby posts. I'm sorry. It doesn't mean we love you any less. It just means that I am really, really busy now. I had a lot of down time then. Any spare time I have now is spent sleeping. :)

Holly's First Month

EATING
Holly is sometimes an easy baby and sometimes a very high maintenance baby. Her spitting up is insane. There are times when I go through 4-5 bibs in an hour. She is still gaining weight and she still doesn't seem to be in much pain. She eats every 3-4 hours, about 6-7 times a day. I tried adding dairy back in to my diet, but she not only got diarrhea, her spit up got worse and she acted more uncomfortable. Because of that, I have re-committed myself to avoiding dairy for the next few months.
SLEEPING
Her sleeping has improved a lot. We gave up trying to put her down on her back. She now sleeps either in her car seat, her swing, or her Rock 'N Play Sleeper (where she sleeps at night). She is such a loud sleeper that we moved her to her own room after about a week at home. She usually goes down around 10:30, then wakes around 1:00 and 4:00. Charlie gets up about 6:30 and Holly wakes up around 8:00. That's the average, but every night is different. Luckily she has gotten much better about going back to sleep after nursing. At first she had a really hard time, but now she goes right back down. I've noticed that she likes to just be left alone to fall asleep. She won't fall asleep while being rocked. She stays awake and fights sleep until everyone is gone. During the day when I put her in her car seat, I put a blanket over her, let her cry a few minutes, and then she's out.
AWAKE TIME
Every day is different, but in general Holly likes to be in her swing or on the floor looking around and watching her brother. She gets pretty fussy when other people hold her. On Easter she was very fussy all day, but once we left her alone, she was calm and happy. I feel like less is more for her. Which is good since she's a younger sibling.
CHARLIE and HOLLY
Charlie continues to amaze me every day with how well he is adjusting to being a big brother. He has had a few days of jealousy, mostly wanting Mommy to pick him up and getting upset that I can't (due to the c-section.) When I am busy with Holly, he is usually happy to play by himself! Sometimes he gets upset that he can't sit on my lap while I'm nursing, but he is getting used to it. And he is incredibly sweet towards Holly, always wanting to help take care of her. When she cries, he wants to check on her. He will tell me that "Holly tired" or "Holly hungry", whichever he thinks it is. He always wants to know where she is and he loves to "pet Holly". When he is sad about not getting as much attention, he will cry or act sad and ask me for a hug. He doesn't act out in anger or try to get negative attention. Sometimes he does try to push his boundaries, but he usually gives up quickly.
Charlie - 27 Months
In addition to being a great big brother, Charlie is continuing to grow-up in front of our eyes. He is much more assertive in social situations and not nearly as shy around adults and new kids. He enjoys play dates more and gets excited when I tell him a friend is coming over to play. He is talking constantly and listens to EVERYTHING we say! He is a great problem solver and will try several different things before asking Mom or Dad for help. He can count to ten and loves to say one, two, three, go! He is very observant and makes me laugh all the time. A few days ago he was trying to snuggle with me and he couldn't get comfortable on my chest. He tried to push my boobs down and said, "Mommy, down" pointing to my chest. I lifted my shirt up and showed him that I couldn't push them down...they're attached, and yes they are bigger now than they were before because they are holding Holly's milk. He said "don't like!" Then a few days later as I was getting him out of the car, he pointed right at my chest and said, "Mommy big boobies!" He is STILL saying "Mommy home, Charlie home" on a regular basis. He is still a typical picky toddler about food. I don't think he's eaten a vegetable in months. But when we tell him that he can't have any dessert unless he eats his fruit, vegetable, whatever, he just says okay and goes off to play. We're looking forward to playing outside as the weather gets warmer!