My Little Helper

Mason

Emma and Libby have a new cousin! Welcome to the world, Mason Waverly Bull. Born June 25 at 8:44am. 8 lbs, 4 oz. Congratulations to big sister Maggie and parents Amy and Kevin. And thanks for having him in Williamsburg where we got to eat at Outback Steakhouse after our visit!

Two More Ticks

We picked two more ticks off of Emma yesterday at bath time. We put "boo-boo-cream" on the bites and flushed the ticks down the toilet. Then at lunchtime we ate grilled cheese. Emma walked away from the table and I saw something black on the back of her leg. I told her "come here, there's something on your leg." She sighed and said, "it's a tick." It was just a burnt crumb from her sandwich but I confess, I thought it might be a tick, too.

I really can smile

Hey mom! I love to smile at you and daddy and Emma. And I love to smile at the ceiling fan and the umbrella over our deck table. But I just won't smile for your camera yet! I know it drives you crazy so here's my nah-nah-nah-a-boo-boo face.

Sisters

Hangin' out


A kiss from Emma to Libby. Awwww.


Happy girl





I took this picture trying to show how excited Libby is to see Emma. She can turn her head like an owl trying to keep up with wherever Emma is. On a normal day, I would not let Emma kick the ball in the same room if Libby was on the floor like this. But . . . Emma has been having a hard week, spending every breath whining, asking me to put Libby down and otherwise expressing her jealousy. So, I told her to kick it easy and away from the baby. I should have followed my own rules. Can you guess what happened next? Yup, Libby experienced her first rubber-ball-to-the-head. Only it wasn't kicked at her, it was dropped on her from above. No more balls for the whole day. A cruel and unusual punishment for Emma, who did (surprisingly) immediatly begin apologizing. Geesh. Sisters!

It's Not a Tick

Emma: Oh no! A tick! Get it mommy! Oh! Oh! Get it!
Mommy: It's a spider! Open the potty! I'll get him and flush him away!
Emma: I'll shut the door, he might come in here and get me!
Mommy: No, open that bathroom door - I'm going to grab him and flush him real quick!
Emma: Bye-bye spider! . . . Pause . . . Mommy, was that a spider or a bumble bee?
Mommy: A spider.
Emma: A spider that lives in webs.
Mommy: Yes, that's right!
Emma: But he was in our house! How did he get in here?
Mommy: Maybe he got in when we left the door open for a while this morning.
Emma: Yeah. Maybe. Spiders live outside, you know.
Every bug Emma sees is now a tick because one bit her in her ear and I had to pull it out. It was not pleasant.

2:45am

Thoughts going through my mind as I feed Libby at 2:45a.m:

Will I ever get around to reading that stack of magazines?
What in the world is Tivo recording at this hour? (turns out it was the sitcom How I Met Your Mother)
I hope the tick bite in Emma's ear is okay.
I need to reorganize these baskets full of toys.
Will this baby ever burp?
Should I take a bouncy seat to day care tomorrow for Libby's first day . . . how should I send the bottles, pre-mixed or not?
I really need to get Libby's picture taken.
Why is this new Burt's Bees lotion full of little sparkles? Now I'm covered in sparkles and leave a trail of them wherever I go.
Will Libby's hiccups ever go away?
I really like this new couch.
I sure do hope the cleaning lady comes tomorrow.
Will I be able to get out of the house by 7:30 a.m. with two kids?
I hope the kindermusik classes have enough participation that they don't get cancelled.
Will this baby ever burp?

The Original Dad

Happy Father's Day to my dad. First he was known as Fred, then dad, now it's PopPop. Here's Chas and Emma helping PopPop open his gifts. Even though he has children in their 30s and 20s and little grandchildren, he is still involved with all of us just like we were his only one.

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to a man who always said little babies scared him and who talks to others like he doesn't know how to handle them. The truth: a man who handles babies as good as any mother.
Chucky - I'm so glad I'm not doing this alone and even more glad I'm doing this with you. You make every situation fun. Even wacko nurses, wide awake babies, not-so-great-dinners, and a house full of misbehaving animals provide material for jokes. Thanks.

Here's Chucky in the hospital with each of his babies:
Daddy and Emma

Daddy and Libby

8 weeks old

What is Libby doing at 8 weeks?

Smiling, cooing, turning her head all around following Emma, pushing with her feet, drinking 4 ounces, sleeping 5 hours at night, crying, spitting up and pooping lovely dark green colors.

Libby loves to: watch her mobile over her crib, look at faces, sit or lay in anything that vibrates, listen to and watch Emma, be swaddled up tight at night.

Libby does not like to: be strapped into her car seat, have her nails cut, have her neck washed in the bathtub, be in the bright sun, burp.

More of the girls

Here's Libby at 7 weeks:

She looks scared of the camera!


Here's Emma playing on my computer (making me very nervous). She knows how to turn on the caps lock and how to backspace and erase the letters she types. She can type her name and always wants it to be capital.

Sunday, cont'd

Late Sunday night (earllllly monday):

A few things to note before reading this: Emma NEVER gets up in the middle of the night and Libby NEVER puts herself to sleep

2:00am - I am awoken from a deep sleep by a little hand tapping on my arm. After turning over quickly to see what it is, Emma is up on the bed beside me and about 3 inches from my face. It scared me.

2:30am - settle Emma down, get back in my bed

2:31am - hear Emma coming out of her room again, tuck her in again quickly and tell her I will check on her soon when I am up feeding Libby - this leads to a long conversation about why Libby can have milk during the night but I won't get Emma any right now and mommy, why do babies wake up and cry and need to be fed during the night - I DON'T KNOW, God just made them that way

2:59am - I am almost asleep in my bed and Libby wakes up crying.

3:15am - sitting on the couch feeding Libby, Emma comes downstairs crying again. She says she can't sleep in her room because she gets scared. She wants to lay with us or have one of us lay with her in her bed. Her voice is shaky and she tries so hard not to cry and it is really pitiful but I am determined not to put her in our bed or get in her bed - it can only create a bad habit. I take Libby and Emma upstairs, get Emma back in the bed, change Libby and cross my fingers.

4:45am - lay Libby down wide awake, cooing and smiling at the ceiling fan, get back in my bed and lay there listening for my nocturnal girls for awhile and finally fall asleep.

Sunday

SUNDAY:
12:30pm - in White Stone on the way to Pizza Hut, Emma pees in her pants

12:45 - back home to change Emma's clothes and grab a spare outfit in case it happens again (why didn't we pack a spare outfit the first time?)

1:15 arrive at Pizza Hut, Emma has fallen asleep in her carseat and peed in her pants again - take her inside and change into the last clean outfit

3:00 home, Emma pees in her pants and some in the potty, too

3:01 - Emma is threatened with a spanking if she has another accident before bedtime today

3:30 - Emma successfully pees in the potty

This child has been potty trained for 5 months or more. Crazy. Thank you Libby for sleeping through it all.

Saturday in Hartfield

We were outside early to beat the heat, Emma in the pool and Libby in her seat, and me with a camera. Here's Libby outside in her new outfit from her Indiana cousins:



And here's Emma at 10am - not yet 80 degrees and in the freezing water fresh from the hose. And no bathing suit because I was feeding Libby! If she's happy, I'm happy.



And here's our other baby, Shelby. She's been banished from our new couch, so has found the next most comfortable spot:

Sweet Sleep

The two redheads during daddy's lunch break.