Fun & Random: Music!

Today, as we were playing together with a rainmaker toy that we have, LittleBear and I got to talking about different sounds, particularly the sound of the rain falling.

Somehow from there we got to talking about how we can make fun sounds with our voices and hands.  In an attempt to help, I showed him this video that Jeff found a while back that shows a pretty impressive acapella performance.  I think we all enjoyed it (LadyBear in particular)!

Guess Who's One Month Old Today? LadyBear!!!

WOW. We can't believe it's already been a month since LadyBear arrived and came to live with us "on the outside."  It really doesn't feel like it has been that long. She truly is a joy and a pleasure to have in the family. Earlier today, LittleBear came up to me unprompted, totally on his own, and said, "Mommy, I like my little sister." Oh, may that still be true in four years and beyond!!

According to our bathroom scale (which cannot possibly be right), LadyBear now weighs 11 pounds (?!) and is 21 inches long. She was 7 pounds, 5 ounces, and 21 inches long when last checked two and a half weeks ago.  She's out of newborn clothes (with the exception of two pairs of pants) and into 0-3 months, which thankfully we have a good supply of (thank you everyone!).  She eats like a champ and sleeps pretty well at night.  We've been swaddling her at night (which she doesn't seem to mind), just to differentiate between days and nights, and we think that helps, though we haven't been brave enough to try and let her sleep at night without the swaddle (she does nap without it).

She loves to hear her big brother's voice and will try to find him whenever she hears him.  He takes excellent care of her and is an amazing big brother.  She likes to eat, snuggle and spend time on her playmat.  In true girly fashion, she also seems to enjoy baths.  All in all, she is a pretty contented baby and really only fusses when she is hungry, needs her diaper changed or her tummy is not feeling well...all understandable.

Here is a recent video of her in action (sporting her favorite lei onesie for her Auntie and Uncle in Hawaii):

Tummy Time for LadyBear

One thing we learned early on about LadyBear is that she is physically a strong little girl.  The nurses at the hospital even remarked about this immediately after she was born as they were trying to get her footprint.  She's holding her head up like a pro and looking around with very little wobbliness.  Way to go, LadyBear!  Here she is in action!

Welcome, LadyBear!

It's taken us three weeks to get this blog up. [Chalk that up to taking care of two little ones now!]

LadyBear made her arrival much more quickly, joining Bethany, me (Jeff) and LittleBear three weeks ago today, on Sept. 7. Here's how that day went:

• 1:30 a.m. Bethany woke up with contractions.
• 2:30 a.m. Bethany woke me up and said I might want to get up and start getting ready.
• 3:45 a.m. We left to drop LittleBear off with some friends (thanks again, Maynards!) and head to the hospital.
• 4:15 a.m. We got checked in at the hospital.
• 4:52 a.m. LadyBear entered the world!

My mom got to Waco about 10 a.m.; Bethany's parents arrived from Miami about 2:30 p.m. After my mom came to the hospital and saw us, she and I headed to pick up LittleBear and some lunch and bring both back to the hospital, so Big Brother met his Little Sister (he still calls her that more often than "Olivia") about noon the day she was born.

By noon the next day, we were home, dismissed from the hospital with no problems. (Thank you, Lord!) So now we've been home for almost three weeks, very well taken care of for most of that time by our parents (thank you, parents!). (Thanks also to all of you who have provided meals over the past couple weeks!)

LittleBear clearly loves his little sister; he is very gentle around her, speaks very lovingly of her,  often brings her toys or her blanket, and just tries to be as helpful as possible. He's also already very protective, which has been interesting to see. He's a great big brother!

LadyBear has done great since we got home. She eats well, and she sleeps as well as can be expected from a three-week-old. We are very blessed!

(A dear friend of Bethany's, Heather Sullivan, came and spent many hours taking photos of LadyBear and our family; those are her shots in this post. Click here to see more.)