Life in "Raadt Time": February 2013

Our little Macey Joy turned 1 month over a week ago. Time has flown by, which makes me sad. I am enjoying our days together, and even though I'm only halfway through my maternity leave, I'm already dreading my return to work in a little over 6 weeks.

The Superficial: Macey has certainly grown over the past month. At what was supposed to be a 2 week MD appointment, but was more like 3 week, Macey topped the scales at 8 lbs, 11 oz, and was over 21 inches long. We fortunately didn't have to buy much newborn clothing. My friend and coworker, Beth, who has a baby 3 weeks older than Macey borrowed us her daughter's, which was much appreciated. Macey otherwise would have been sporting a lot of blue! Nonetheless, we have packed up and returned the newborn clothing, as she essentially is wearing 0-3 month clothing. Macey is also in size 1 diapers. She unfortunately has developed a bad case of baby acne over the past few weeks, but is still so beautiful. Her eyes continue to be blue, and I'm thinking they will stay that way. Her hair continues to be a light brown, and it's too early to tell if she's going to have her big brother's adorable curls.

Eating: I like to refer to our little lady as a "grazer". Unlike big brother, Micah, who could put down a bottle in no time, only to be looking for his next meal, Macey is a slow eater as she likes to fall asleep while eating, yet before her little belly gets full. Therefore, some feedings can take up to an hour! She's getting both breast milk and formula. I do not have a full milk supply - I didn't with Micah either - but I'm producing more this time around. I am determined to provide her as much of my milk as possible, which between nursing, pumping, and keeping up with a regimen of herbal supplements has occupied a lot of my time. It's difficult to say, but it seems like I'm able to meet 50% of her needs.

Sleeping: I feel like I may be jinking myself by saying that Macey is a descent sleeper. She generally goes to sleep around 11:00 pm and will wake up around 6:00 am. Some nights she wakes up for a feeding around 3:00, whereas other nights she will sleep a straight 6-7 hours. Right now, she sleeps in a "rock and play" in our bedroom. I don't anticipate that she'll transition into her crib at least for a few more weeks. Initially, she did not like being swaddled, but she's gotten used to it and calms down relatively quickly once in her swaddle sack. I don't have her daytime schedule down. She seems to sleep whenever she's tired. Sometimes I will put her in her crib, while other times she is perfectly content in my arms.

Personality: Miss Macey definitely is letting her likes and dislikes apparent. She loves being held in loving adult arms and isn't completely happy when she has to sit in her vibrating chair for any prolonged period of time. I'm contemplating buying a swing. She also cries when she has an empty belly or she's tired. Just this week, she's flashed me a few smiles, and has been cooing when being talked to. I LOVE those first few baby coos!

Development: Macey has descent head control. I can't say that I've been consistent about doing everything that I learned from Dr. Dorsi's Pediatric PT class, as Macey has only spent a few minutes on her tummy. But when being held or laying on my chest, she's great at lifting her head. She turns her head to track voices or faces.

Health: Macey fortunately has survived her first cold. We've all been sick in some capacity over the past month and she was bound to get it. She's well on the mend now, but it was definitely hard to see an uncomfortable, sick little girl. At her last MD appointment, she was tested for RSV, which was negative. She's also been dealing with a clogged tear duct, but is responding well to antibiotics.

I couldn't help myself from putting this last picture up. After 2 pictures, she was done!

We officially have a 2 year old in the Raadt family. Last Saturday, Micah made the transition into his 2nd year. For him, this means that he can now drink out of a cup without a lid at daycare during lunchtime. For us, it provided time to reflect back on the past 2 years of our lives. We have laughed more, imagined more, encouraged more, and yes cried and have thrown our arms up in frustration more throughout the past 2 years than we have throughout our past 30 years. But, we wouldn't want it to be any other way. We are thankful for everything that Micah James has brought us over the past 2 years.

We chose not to throw Micah a big birthday party this year for a number of reasons. Our house is nowhere in the state of hosting a party. Plus, we've all been sick for the past 3 weeks with varying degrees of colds, sinus infections, croup, etc. Instead, we had a family day in Rochester. My parents watched Macey during the afternoon so that Kyle and I could take Micah to Bounce World. Micah loved it!! I had taken him there in May, but spent the afternoon physically carrying him in the inflatable houses. I think I got more of a work out than Micah did at that time! This was not the case on Saturday. Kyle and I spent a few hours watching him bounce, go up and down slides, throw basketballs, laugh, and smile a lot. That evening, Micah had a pizza party at Mr. Pizza South with both sets of grandparents, Uncle Augie, and the Shaw's coincidentally happened to be back in Stewartville that weekend.

As far as presents, we didn't have to buy anything. Micah received so many presents at Christmas that Kyle and I saved a lot of the presents we intended to give him for his birthday. He also received some Sesame Street clothing and a DVD from Grandma Carol, Papa, and Augie, and a Vikings sweatshirt from Grandpa Larry and Grandma Dawn.

This will be my final monthly update on Micah, and will start going to a bi-monthly schedule.

1) Stats - weighs 32# 1 oz (90%), height 37" (97%), head circumference 20" (97%). Fortunate for Micah, he does not have to return to the doctor until he's 3 years old. This kiddo does not like going to the MD, despite having a great, personable pediatrician.

2) Wearing 2T clothes, and already starting to transition into some 3T and yes, even 4T depending on the brand. Shoe size is 8-9.

3) Vocabulary continues to progress. He talks in full sentences now. A few days ago, I was thinking out load when I asked myself "what did I do with Macey's bottle". He responded "Mom, it's on the counter."

4) His memory is going to be like his Grandpa Jim's. He can remember who he received every big brother gift from. When playing with his garbage truck, he'll tell me "this is from Jackie". Almost a week after going to the MD, Micah still talks about going to see Dr. Sarah. He also told me that he read a Big Bird book, which was correct.

5) "Let's go shoot some hoops, Daddy" is an expression that comes out of his mouth daily. He loves his basketball hoop in our basement.

6) He has formed a strong bond with Kyle which is awesome to see. He loves playing with Daddy whether it would be basketball, cars, reading books, etc.

7) Imagination is in full gear. A few days ago, I picked him up at daycare and asked the same question "what did you do today". Usually he responds "I play cars with Kyle and Logan". Instead, he told me that he went to go see the chickens. (There's a house close to the daycare that raises chickens). Knowing that it was well below zero windchill, I knew that they did not walk to see the chickens that day. Micah went on to tell me that he also foxes, lions, tigers, and bears at the house with the chickens.

8) Sesame Street remains a favorite.

9) Becoming more picky with his eating. This is most notable during supper. He'll still eat an adult sized breakfast...cereal (sometimes 2 bowls), 2 pieces of toast, fruit.

10) Peanut butter M&M's will get him to do about anything.

11) Better about taking coat and shoes off when asked.

12) Likes to pick out his clothes in the morning and his PJ's at night. Becomes angry if you try to put a different outfit on him than the one that he's picked out.

13) Loves music! Currently involved in a toddler music class in Rochester on Monday mornings. Will ask to listen to toddler radio on Pandora.

14) Sleeping has been hit or miss lately. He goes down great, but will wake up 1-2 times per night usually. I am so sleep deprived that I usually don't hear him in the middle of the night, as he goes to Kyle's side of the bed. Will take an afternoon nap still. If he's sleep deprived, he will ask to take a nap.

15) Daycare drop offs have been great. Pick ups on the other hand haven't been as marvelous. He is a dwaddeler, which isn't always a good combination with a hungry sister and an inpatient momma.

16) Knows the President, Vice President and now the Secretary of State ("Don Kerry")

17) Loves to run, jump, play on the playground. I wish the weather was more conducive to being outside with both kiddos.

18) Starting to independently play...at least for 15 minutes at a time. As I type this, he's putting a puzzle together. We are very thankful that this milestone is beginning to evolve.

19) Still is hitting Kyle and I, especially after he's been told "no" about something. Time outs seems to work best for punishment, and we've also started taking toys away too. He doesn't love it, but seems to better grasp the concept of time out these days

20) At this age, he becomes easily frustrated if something doesn't go his way. We're working on trying to teach him to be patient, and I know that this will come with time.

21) Loves to look at pictures of himself on the camera, our phones, the computer, etc. My goal during the last half of my maternity leave is to make him some Shutterfly books.

22) We still read a lot of books, and I'm amazed at how many books he has memorized. It's great to see!

23) Favorite toys include cars, balls, play-doh, his shopping carts, my pots and pans, and anything Sesame Street.

24) Is a great big brother. A few days ago, I heard him tell Macey "I love you" out of the blue. It brought a huge smile to my face knowing that he's beginning to understand those emotions. He loves assisting with her diaper changes and baths.