New Jersey Visit

This past weekend we went to visit the Beyers in Great Meadows.  The kids were great on this road trip as well!  We had fun visiting at Pappy's house and at Michael and Courtney's house.  It was the first time that Trafton slept in a bed at Pappy's house as well since he had to relinquish his crib to his baby sister.  They both slept wonderfully.

Road-trippin' bambinos

My adorable little swimmer taking a break from the pool at Michael and Courtney's house





He loves the water!

Playing with Harley and Uncle Michael

Uncle Jonathan

Pappy

Uncle Michael

Jonathan took Trafton and Hassan for a ride on Fire together.

Just woke up - time for some Sunday morning cartoons at Pappy's

Our adventures concluded with a picnic stop at Hot Dog Johnny's on the way back to Bloomsburg.

Maternity/Trafton Turns Two Photo Shoot with Brett

These photographs were taken on June 24th by our friend Brett Simpson ( www.brettsimpsonphotography.com ) .  The goal was to capture Trafton as he had just turned two and the late stage of Baby Owl's pregnancy.  They turned out absolutely amazing - as Brett's pictures always do, of course!  I couldn't be happier - it's hard to choose my favorites!

One Month Photos

Proofs from our Sears studio session a couple of weeks ago:

It's hard tell in this picture, but Quay is wearing a funky owl hat.

Kisses

That's the face Trafton gave when he was told to smile :)

Baby Quay is Growing

On Wednesday of this week I had an appointment with a lactation nurse.  Quay has been exclusively nursing, but she has had some minor difficulties that have required support from this awesome team of nurses.  It seems that when one issue is fixed, another little thing emerges and causes trouble with Quay's latching.  I think we've got all our problems solved for now - hopefully! 

When the nurse weighed Quay, she was 10 pounds, 13 ounces.  She kept remarking that she couldn't believe that Quay was exclusively breastfed, because she was so plump (hmmm . . . is that a good thing?).  She said she would calculate exactly how many ounces per day Quay had gained since her last appointment last month.  She also said that doctors like to see a healthy baby gain between 20 and 30 grams per day.  When her calculations were through, she remarked that Quay had gained an average of 39 grams per day since her last visit.  Yikes, I thought! 

The nurse reassured me that Quay was very healthy and it was okay that she weighed so much.  She also told me that I have an abundance of milk.  I suppose that's good since my little one eats so much!

New Sleeping Arrangements

This past Tuesday night, we decided it was time to put Trafton in his new room in his 'big boy bed.' Our very particular daughter has decided for herself that she is no longer willing to sleep in the bassinet, so she was moved to the crib in the nursery on the same night that Trafton left the crib.

The day before, on Monday, we tried having Trafton nap in his new bed, but this was not successful at all. He cried and cried and tried to escape. Fortunately there are some doorknobs in our old house that are difficult to open and his new doorknob is one of them. Therefore, he was stuck in his new room. Daniel and I took turns going in there and trying to soothe him and put him back to bed. Eventually he calmed down and just decided he would play with his toys rather than nap. He never did go to sleep. This gave us little hope for him ever leaving the crib behind.  We decided to save ourselves another round of stress that night and let him sleep in the crib at bedtime.

Quay has been getting more and more insistent on sleeping in our bed rather than in her bassinet over the last week or two.  Most of the time I don't even have to hold her anymore - she just wants to be in the bed.  It doesn't seem to matter if she is in the bed by herself or with someone.  When we moved her into the crib on Tuesday night, it was the best she (and we) have slept in weeks!  Last night she slept from 8:30 p.m. - 3:00 a.m.  It was amazing since she has been waking up every two-three hours overnight while in her bassinet.  Trafton moved from the bassinet to the crib at ten weeks after he was sleeping all the way through the night.  So far the idea about girls maturing faster than boys is holding true since Quay moved to the crib before she was six weeks old :)

Trafton also went to sleep very successfully on Tuesday night despite refusing to nap the day before.  He also has napped the last couple of days in his new bed very well.  He often plays in his room for about an hour before falling asleep.  Yesterday he amused himself by banging loudly on his door and calling "Mama!" repeatedly and then laughing when I would come in the room.  The day before he brought some of his smaller toys he could reach from his nightstand into the bed with him and played.  Last night and today before nap when we put him in his bed, he very smugly said, "Bye-bye," as if he was such a big boy telling us to leave him alone.  So cute!

Last time in the crib!

First successful twin-sized bed sleep!

Get me outta this thing - can't you see I'm too big?

Ahhh . . . heavenly.

My Morning Jacket Road Trip

Last weekend we decided it was time to take our first road trip with both kids.  We went to Maryland to see my family and also get an exciting night out by ourselves.  Although we were skeptical and kept our expectations low, it was a terrific success.  We wanted to see two bands, My Morning Jacket and the opener, Band of Horses, at Merriweather Post Pavillion on Saturday night.  We didn't buy tickets in advance figuring that if Quay didn't handle being on the road for a long time, we may have to turn around and head back to Bloomsburg (rather than listen to her scream for four hours . . .).   

Everything turned out wonderfully and we enjoyed the show just as we would have in our pre-child days!  I haven't seen MMJ before (Daniel has) and they were amazing!!  I spent many of my teenage nights seeing shows at Merriweather - my first one being Screaming Trees, Soul Asylum, and the Spin Doctors in the summer of 1993 - so it was great to revisit the concert venue.  What a great place!

My parents and Jason stayed with the two bambinos while we were at the show.  Quay again took a bottle - once from Jason! - and Trafton was good as well.  They both slept well and traveled home well, too.  It couldn't have gone any smoother.

Enjoying some Helios in the parking lot

Watching Band of Horses from the lawn as the sun sets

Band of Horses

Ben Bridwell, the lead singer

Our little piece of lawn

My Morning Jacket

Jim James, the lead singer, is incredible . . .

. . . and kind of insane.

Family bed - watching cartoons in the morning at Jason's place

Trafton's new way - refusing to be in group pictures, but never straying too far.

Road trip home - stopping at Sheetz in Duncannon to have a bite to eat and stretch

Stretching himself out at our Sheetz stop