Saturday, February 27, 2010

Bath Time!

Is it bad that Jake is two months old and he'd not had a "real" bath until last Wednesday night?

As Jason pointed out, it took a long time for everything to fall off.

We washed him in the sink because the baby bathtub is still in the building, and he didn't fit in the sink as well as Abby did when she was that age. I think it's because he's got a good 4lbs on his sister. Which you can tell by that pudgy belly he has!

The other woman


I was informed earlier this week that Jason has a girlfriend. Any other time this would have been devastating news, but I think I can make an exception when his girlfriend is this sweet angel.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Two months already?


Jake went yesterday for his two month checkup. It's hard for me to believe that it has actually been two months. I'm sure reality will set in even more when I have to go back to school next week - we'll not discuss that here though.

Here are his measurements (for those of you who are interested):

Weight - 8lbs 2oz (2-5 percentile)
Length - 21 in. (2-5 percentile)

The doctor was very impressed with his strength and head control, and he said that if he were a term baby, he would be right in the middle of the growth chart.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

My paci story


This isn't the Suzie mentioned below, but you get the idea.

Since I asked all of you to post your paci stories, I thought I would post mine.

My mom tells me that when I was Abby's age I was extremely attached to my paci. My parents, much like Jason and me, knew that something had to be done because a kid can't go to a job interview with a pacifier in her mouth, so they decided to get rid of it once and for all.

Now, most families have a dog or a cat for a pet, but at my house, we had a goat named Suzie. Suzie was your average goat; there wasn't anything particularly special about her. She stayed tethered at the back of our yard and kept the kudzu from taking over everything. I think that may be the only reason my dad got her.

Most of you will probably stop at this point and chuckle at what a back-woods, hick childhood I had, but it was perfectly normal to us. As a matter of fact, I still don't think that having had a goat for a pet is anything out of the ordinary.

What does this have to do with my paci, you're wondering. Well, when I was three (maybe closer to four because I remember this vividly), my parents made me feed my paci to Suzie. I remember standing at the back fence of our yard and throwing the paci to her. I'm not sure how my parents convinced me that this was the right thing to do, but I did it anyway.

I also remember that night after the deed was done, crying and crying and crying. I must have been that night that I started to suck my thumb - a habit that is far worse than having a paci. It might have been the trauma having to throw away my paci that caused me to suck my thumb for so, so long (until I was in high school). I've heard it said that thumb-suckers are great self-soothers and that they tend to be better adjusted, but I think that it just an excuse to make us feel better about ourselves.

All in all, I'm glad that we don't have a Suzie and that Abby hasn't started sucking her thumb.

Do you remember something like this from your childhood?

It's that time again...

In the Looper house, we live for the semi-annual Weecycle sale. If you're from Pickens, you probably know about, consign at, work during the Weecycle sale, but if you're from somewhere else, you may know it as Switch-a-roos, Weewear or some other cutsie name.

Around here, this is how Abby and Jake are clothed! It's an awesome sale where anybody can consign her children's clothes, and I can buy them at GREAT prices! Now, I'm not the kind of mom who has to dress her kids in name-brand stuff, but when I shop like this, I can by name-brand for cheaper-than-Walmart prices. It's almost too good to resist. We're talking shirts for $1, dresses for $4, and everything else baby and killer prices.

This is the first year that I've volunteered (and Jason got snookered into volunteering too) and consigned. I swear, I probably spent more than I'll make, but I'm kind of hoping to just break even.

My mom and I bought all of this for roughly $180.00.



If you can't tell, that's 12 pairs of pants/shorts, 13 shirts, 5 short/shirt outfits, 10 dresses, 1 pair of shoes and 2 pajamas, and that's just for Abby! I did buy a few things for Jake, but they were already in the wash by the time I took this picture. You'll also notice a Boppy (which I intend to donate to our church for all us nursing mothers to use) and a hiking backpack.

This dress I bought for Abby to wear at Easter, but when I got it home and showed it to her, she said, "I not wear that." I'm hoping to convince her by the time Easter rolls around. She's a very picky dresser.


And as if the hiking backpack weren't enough for Dad, I bought these overalls for Abby and Jake. Jason promptly said, "Game day!" when he saw them.

If you're in the area and have young kids, the sale runs until this Sunday, February 21. You can check out the website here.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Paci Detox Update


It's a good thing that I waited until just now to write this post because if I had written it any earlier, I would have told you that we were completely over the paci and that it was a thing of the past forever. I would have spoken too soon because just now as I got ready to lay the princess down for her nap, you got it, she started yelling for the paci. I'm sure two things have played into the sudden regression: 1. she spotted Jake's green, NICU paci on the bookshelf (he has two, and the one not in use, she assumed to be hers) and 2. we're having a little stomach problem/sinus junk and she just doesn't feel well.

Overall though, I've been very pleased with how we've progressed. Saturday was not the happiest day in the Looper house because in short, I'm an oldest child and Jason's a youngest. What does that have to do with taking away Abby's paci you may ask. Well, I like to plan things, and Jason prefers things to be spontaneous. The paci decision was a spontaneous thing, and I wasn't ready to let go of my baby girl having the paci. It was really all about me and not about Abby at all.

Saturday was also rough because Abby REALLY WANTED her paci. She cried for it all day and at naptime. Interestingly enough, she started to ask for it at bedtime but changed her mind and slept all night without it.

On Sunday she didn't ask for it at all and took a nice long nap. At bedtime however she decided that she had to have it and cried off and on all night.

Yesterday she never mentioned wanting it and even bragged that she was a big girl and didn't need the paci.

Today, we've not had any problems until now. Wouldn't you know that when we're in the middle of all of this, she would get sick. I was certain that the runny nose, headache and stomach problems would all cause her to want it, but it really hasn't. I'm hoping that a nice nap will help her too.

This is the box that has been hiding the paci since Saturday. She's not seen them and to be honest, I don't know that we'll show them to her.

So for all you parents who are contemplating taking away the paci from your little one, I say - I have no idea. We've done it cold turkey, but who knows, maybe there's a better way.

What's your paci story?

Saturday, February 13, 2010

A Shout-Out


A dear, dear friend came over last week and took these pictures for us.

If you have a newborn or if you just want family pictures, please, please give her a call.

Her website is Creative Take.

She does absolutely beautiful work.

She'll do the pictures in your home or at the location of your choosing. Check her out here.

I'm an ironing machine

This is what happens when I get behind in ironing Jason's work shirts.



I end up spending the afternoon ironing his shirts instead of napping.

Paci Detox



Today's the day that we decided to take the paci from Abby. Isn't it pitiful?

Somehow I got hoodwinked into taking it from her. I was going to wait until she turned 3, but after spending the night with her Aunt Debbie, Daddy decided it was time.

At naptime it only took us 30 minutes for her to calm down and go to sleep. We'll see how bedtime is.

Friday, February 12, 2010

I love this picture


It looks like Daddy and Jake are making the same face. No doubt, Jake's is because he is hungry. The child never stops eating, so for those of you who prayed that he would catch on, you can stop now because he's definitely got it.

Thanks!

Mommy's new routine


Since Jake refuses to sleep at night (and seems to be sleeping very well during the day), I've taken to getting Abby up in the morning, putting her in my bed, turn on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and then I crawl in bed beside her and sleep for another hour. She loves it because she gets to watch her favorite show, and I love it because I get a few more minutes of sleep. Please understand that this all hinges on whether or not Jake will actually sleep for this hour. Most of the time he does, but sometimes we're not so fortunate and Abby simply gets to watch TV while Mommy feeds, changes and cuddles with baby Jake.
Doesn't she look like the princess of the Looper house?

This gift...

I have kept alive for over a month. See, Katie, she's not dead yet!

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Not to be overlooked


Okay, this is my last post for the day.

I couldn't leave the baby girl out.

On Saturday, it snowed/sleeted (a real mess for sure) and we got some pictures of Abby looking at the wintry mix.

Jason and I went to see Wicked on Saturday. I was pretty upset on Friday when the storm started moving in because I was certain that we wouldn't make it to Greenville for the show, but Saturday we decided to try it, and man was it worth it! Even though our seats were on the very last row, I thought it was fantastic! When we got home, it had just started to snow again, and we took Abby outside to see it.



And here are a few of Abby just being silly.

There's something to be said for pajamas, a Sit'n'Spin and Daddy's Clemson hat. What a girl!

Typical Preemie

I've been meaning to post this blog for a while, but I'm just now getting to it.

One of the most interesting things about having a preemie is that they have their own quirks and mannerisms. I've been told - I wouldn't know from experience - that this is different from a full-term newborn. Jake's NICU nurse (and my cousin) told me these were the signals to watch for.

Here's a list of some of the things that both Abby and Jake did/do that is completely preemie:

1. Grunting/Squeaking - This may be a newborn thing, but preemies have a tendency to grunt/squeak A LOT! I don't know if it is their way of letting us know that they're here even though they're little or what.

2. Talk to the Hand - You'll see this in the picture below. When Jake is overwhelmed with everything going on around him or if we're messing with him too much, he'll put his hand up in a stop motion. This is his way of saying BACK OFF! I've taught Abby that if she sees this that means she needs to leave Jake alone.


3. Hiccups - Again, if he's over-stimulated, Jake will start to hiccup, another sign that he needs a break.

4. The Head Rub - This may not be a preemie thing, but it sure is interesting. Those of you who have newborns can try this the next time you feed your little one and let me know if it works for you too. If we're having a difficult time getting Jake to burp after a feeding, we rub his head and inevitably, this will cause him to burp. I've asked my sister the scientist to explain this to me, and she can't. It's strange but true. If you walk down the hall of the NICU at feeding time, you'll see the nurse using this technique. If it works for them...

If you have a preemie and have any other things you'd like to add to the list, feel free.

Growing!


What does Mommy do when Nana offers to let Abby come spend the day at her house? She sleeps, watches Oprah and blogs.

Seriously though, something's up with Jake's schedule, and he simply refuses to sleep well at night. Last night we were up every hour and a half. I know he has some issues with gas, and Mylicon has become our new BFF, but seriously, this is getting ridiculous. Abby starting sleeping through the night around 6 weeks old, and I'm praying that her baby brother takes after her.

The biggest problem with his not sleeping is that Abby is sleeping great. Why's that a problem you might ask. Well, she wakes up refreshed and ready to play and I'm exhausted. You can pray about that!

Anyway, her's the skinny - or maybe I should say the fat - about Jake. We went to the doctor yesterday for a weight recheck. We went last Tuesday and he weighed 5lbs 14oz. Yesterday (his due date oddly enough) he weighed 6lbs 8oz. For those of you who are bad at math like I am, that's a full 10oz in 7 days. The doctor walked in and said, "I guess I'm just wasting your time and mine having you come back in to check his weight since he's growing so well." The doctors are only looking for him to gain a half ounce to an ounce a day, and as you can see, 10oz is more than that. We are thrilled with his progress. He'll go back to the doctor on the 23rd for his 2month checkup. Isn't that amazing! He's 6 weeks old already. Time flies!