BIG Changes...

Last Thursday I got brave and changed two big things in Whitney's life. First I told her she could only have her binky(she calls it her atch) in her bed, and second I moved Brooke into her room.

Since Whitney is now 2, we have decided that the binky has to go. I was planning to do the binky thing in a few weeks after I moved Brooke into her room, but I tried it on Thursday during the day and she was okay with it. In the morning or after her nap she will say "Here go Mommy" and hand me her binky. I am only letting her have it when she sleeps. Now the only problem is, is that we are noticing her sucking on her fingers a lot the last few days :( I hope that her fingers don't become her new atch!

The girls have been together for 5 nights and so far it has worked out great. After I put them both in their beds Whitney says "night night Whitney, night night Brooke(or baby)" Very sweet! Whitney has only woken-up once when Brooke cried at night, and the one time that she did, she laid back down while Brooke was nursing and went back to sleep. Brooke is still waking up twice during the middle of the night to eat, hopefully she grows out of it soon. I'm not able to doze-off while I'm sitting in the rocking chair like I did in bed, so I've been pretty tired the last few days. Both girls wake up between 7-7:30, which is earlier then I would like, but now I can schedule naps at the same time everyday. Brooke takes 3 naps, but her 2nd nap and Whitney's only nap are at the same time. Whitney used to sleep in til 9 the days I didn't go babysit. I watch 3 sweet kids twice a week and Whitney loves going, but I have to get her up by 7 so we can get there on-time. Now that we get up the same time everyday, the girls schedule is easier to follow, and that makes life easier for all of us. The picture below is several pictures put together to show that wall of cribs in the girls room, the wall was too wide to get it all in one picture.

Advice...please

When is a good time to put the girls into the same room together?

I think it would be better sooner then later, but I'm not sure how to handle the transition. Whitney is easy to put to bed now, but it may be different when Brooke is in there with her. I know it will be rough for awhile so I want to make sure to do it right so the transition doesn't last longer then it has to. I'm keeping Whitney in her crib, at least til summertime. I have a pack'n'play for Brooke to sleep in. I'll worry about putting Whitney in a toddler bed later. Any advice from any of you whether you've had to do this or not would be helpful.

Brooke- two months old

Brooke turned two months old a week ago. She is such a little doll. She already goes to sleep on her own, in her own crib(unless I fall asleep nursing her in our bed). She hardly ever cries, and when she does it's because she's sleepy or hungry. I already know her sleep schedule, which is nice so I can kind of plan my day around naps for both girls. Brooke loves to be swaddled really tight to sleep, Whitney hated it. It really hasn't been too hard to transition to having two kids, but I think it's because I am more aware this time around and I can recognize when my baby is sleepy or hungry. Poor Whitney, I hope she's not damaged from being the first kid. Brooke is starting to smile and interact more, when we play with her. Her smiles are so rewarding.

At Brooke's Dr. appointment on Monday she was weighed and measured.

Her head was 15.1 inches around (39th percentile)
She weighed 10.89 lbs(52nd percentile)
Her body measured 23.9 inches long(94th percentile)WOW!

Whitney's 2nd Birthday

Today Whitney turned 2. Time seems to have gone by so fast and she has changed so much over the last year. Whitney is really into Mickey and Minnie Mouse, so that was the theme of her party. I stayed up til 1:30am making her cake on Wednesday night. We had a party with adult friends and family. Whitney really doesn't have any friends other then the kids I babysit and the bullies in her nursery class so there weren't any kids at her party. I don't think she noticed or cared. Hopefully next year she'll have some friends so I can have a kids party for her. We went to Chucky Cheeses thinking that we would let her ride on rides and then we'd all eat some pizza. Whitney rode just about every ride that was there, and then we decided to get take and bake pizza from Papa Murphey's and eat at home. After pizza we had cake and opened presents. I don't know if Whitney really understood that it was her birthday, but I know she had fun!


Here are a few things that Whitney is doing as a big 2 year old:
1. She's talking so much now. We have to watch what we say around her because she'll repeat most of it. We can understand most of what she says and she understands us too.
2. She loves to dance. She will dance stomping her foot, while moving her arms and her head.
3. She plays all day long. She has so much energy, that sometimes it's hard to keep up with her.
4. She is usually very happy and loves to be silly.
5. Whitney is a wonderful big sister. She is so concerned when Brooke cries and always makes sure I don't forget to bring Brooke with us when we go somewhere. She is very protective too.
6. It takes me about three minutes to put her to bed...most nights. A book, a song, and a kiss and she's ready for night, night.

We love you Whitney!!

Snow Angel

This weekend we had quite a bit of snow. It hadn't snowed for awhile so the snow that we did have was gross and not really the kind that you would play in. Friday night we got about 4-6 inches of the fluffy snow that's fun to play in. Whitney insisted on being outside for over an hour on Saturday morning and about half an hour this afternoon. We dressed her in her warmest clothes, which happen to be a little big for her.