When Zoe – just shy of 3 months old – went on her first flight, we captured a few moments of it on video. Avery didn’t do a whole lot during her first plane ride (she was, after all, about 7 weeks younger than Zoe was), but we still wanted to document the moment! Here’s the brief video from a week ago.

-M

Zoe’s interest in Avery and having a sister hasn’t waned: she’s still very proud of her “big sister” status and still extremely concerned about what or how Avery is doing. She’s made some pretty cute comments recently – all of which illustrate her affection for the baby – and I thought I’d share a few here.

-to a crying Avery: “It’s okay, sweetie.”
-to Avery, right after I picked her up and said “It’s okay, Mommy’s here:” “And Zoe’s here, too!”
-to a little girl she met in the pool last weekend (who, incidentally, mentioned nothing about siblings): “I have a baby sister!”
-to Avery, following a successful stint in the bathroom: “I went pee-pee and caca in the potty, Baby Sister! Are you proud for me?”

-M

So, I thought I’d share a few thoughts about our recent travels. I hadn’t been that nervous about the trip – it’s a relatively short flight, after all – but I did know that flying with a toddler and newborn would mean extra work and hassle for us. In reality, though, traveling with two isn’t that bad; it was just like having an extra piece of carry-on luggage – albeit one that moves – to hold on to. (It helped that Avery was fairly mellow and mostly just lay there during the flights, as shown below.) Oh, sure, there were a few difficult times – like when Zoe didn’t want to sit in her carseat on the first flight and when Avery had a hunger-induced crying spell on the second – but they didn’t last that long. And dealing with stressful moments is just our reality these days!

On a related note, a big reason for the trip was to escape from, or at least minimize, our daily stressors. (We knew, of course, that we’d still have to care for the kids and deal with the occasional tears during the trip – but those things seem so much easier when done by the pool!) The illness that went through our house not long ago left me physically and emotionally fatigued and even a little depressed (it’s almost as if the events triggered a bit of post-partum depression in me), and Q thought a get-away was just what I needed to shake my dark thoughts. Turns out he was right: just a few days in the sun recharged me, and I’m back home with a new attitude and a sense of calm. And that rejuvenation was really the best birthday gift I could have asked for!

-M

Like the day prior, Sunday was spent lounging in our poolside cabana. (We were, by the way, at the Arizona Biltmore, which we chose for its reputation for being pretty and kid-friendly.) It was extremely hot (upwards of 100 degrees), but Zoe kept cool by munching on Dippin’ Dots ice cream and floating around in the pool. Here are some pics.

-M

So, we’re back from our trip to Phoenix – and a fab time was had by all. Our air-travel went pretty well (more on that in a later post), and both girls took to the warm sun and cool pool. (Okay, okay – so Avery, who spent most of the time snoozing in our cabana, didn’t actually see much of the sun and pool. But it feels like she did!) We have tons of fun pics – mostly of Zoe, of course – and I’ll start by posting some from our first day. The last one is my favorite!

-M

Per tradition, we’re heading to Phoenix for my birthday weekend. (We might be crazy to fly with a toddler and a 5-week-old, but we’ll let you know when we return!) Zoe is all excited about what she’s been calling the “birthday party,” and in order to get Avery in the mood too, we got her a little something for the trip. The glasses fit pretty well, huh? ;)

More pics in a few days!

-M

Avery just had her one month check up and weighed in at 10 lbs 14.5 oz. We thought that was a lot but wanted to see how that compared to Zoe. Turns out at 5 weeks, Zoe was 8.5 oz lighter. But charting from birth, it seems they are on the same track. Looks like we are going to have another big one!

Jon Q

Okay, something is pretty clear 4+ weeks into Avery’s life: we don’t take as many pictures of her as we did of Zoe. We love her little face as much as Zoe’s, of course, but I guess we’re just less compelled the second time around to take the same old pictures. Newborns, after all, don’t do much aside from eat, sleep and cry!

With that said, we do still keep the camera close by to document some of these early moments. Here are a few recent shots.

-M

I recently talked about feeling like we had passed our first real parenting test by caring for a newborn and sick toddler simultaneously. What I didn’t know then was that the real test was still to come! After Zoe got better, I became super ill (let’s just say I spent most of Saturday lying on the floor with a bucket); by Monday, neither Q or Avery were feeling 100%. Through it all, Q and I had to hold it together and continue caring for both girls – whether we felt up to it or not.

Having an illness run through the house is incredibly difficult: it not only means aching bodies, but long nights, frayed nerves and frustrated tears. (And did I mention lots and lots of laundry??) I admit to not holding up as well as I could have and to having more than one breakdown these past few days. How are we going to get through this? I asked more than once, including yesterday morning, after waking up from only four hours of sleep. But Q kept telling me to hang in there – that soon we would all feel better, get more sleep and fall back into our “normal” routine – and so we just pressed on.

Thankfully, Q was right. I don’t want to jinx anything, but I feel like we’re through the worst of things, and we’re all slowly returning to normal. And all I can say now is that this bug better stay away for good. We don’t need anymore “tests,” thank you!

-M

Sweet little story, from a recent ride home from Elena’s.

Me: “I missed you today, Zoe.”
Z: “Oh!”
Me: “Did you miss me?”
Z, nodding and pointing to Avery in the seat next to her: “Yes. And I missed Baby Sister, too!”

-M

Below is a little video of Avery and Lou during last week’s photo session. Avery, like in the last video, isn’t doing terribly much – but it’s kind of fun to watch her wiggle around and coo.

-M

I recently saw a friend’s baby for the first time in about a month. He’s almost four months old, and I was shocked by how much he had changed in just a few weeks. The same can be said about Avery, I guess, because she’s already quite different (and bigger) than she was on June 19!

Though her next doctor’s appointment (and weigh-in) isn’t until next week, I’m going to guess that she’s gained about two pounds and at least an inch. In terms of physical appearance, her eyes are still a deep (almost violet-ish) blue, her face is rounder than it was at birth, and she now has visible eyelashes. (She had no eyelashes at birth, and it was something I was concerned about. When I fretted to Q that perhaps she had some sort of weird disease; he laughed and answered, “What, like the no-eyelash disease?” I guess the little hairs just needed time to grow in.)

Avery is on less of a schedule than her sister was at this point, but she still eats about every 2.5-3 hours. And, like her sister, she is a very good sleeper. She has gone as long as six hours at night without waking up to eat, which we’re very grateful for!

In terms of physical milestones, she basically mirrors Zoe at one month. She can hold up her head on her own, grab things (necklaces and shirt-collars are her faves), and roll over on her side (something she’s been doing since she was about a week).

Avery’s personality isn’t that different from her sister’s at this age, either: she’s also fairly mellow and easy to take care of. She actually cries a bit less than Zoe did, but she’s much louder – constantly grunting, squealing and panting. At times she sounds more like a little animal than a baby (Q has taken to calling her our little mongoose), and we’re more likely to wake in the night to her funny sounds than to cries.

Avery has proven to be a bit of a cuddler: she loves being held and, when upset, is often soothed just by being picked up. I’m happy to report that she also appears to be a Mommy’s girl (she was particularly attached during her first weeks) – but we’ll see how long that lasts…

Happy Birthday, Avery!

-M

Per tradition, we had to take a photo of Avery with Lou Seal – and her four-week birthday yesterday seemed like a good time to do it. Zoe didn’t want to be left out, though, so I made sure she got in at least one of the shots. (And check out how much bigger she is compared to her first photos with Lou!!)

-M

I was recently reading Zoe’s baby book, and I was happy to discover (since I had forgotten) that she started waking up only once to eat at night at around four weeks. The interesting/exciting thing is that Avery, who turned four weeks today, recently started doing the same thing! It could still be a fluke, but for the past three nights she has gotten up only once – and I’ve felt like a new woman because of it! (It’s amazing what a little – or a lot of – sleep can do to a person!) Alas, even with Avery’s good stretch of sleep, last night wasn’t exactly easy: Zoe got really sick and was up with Q for most of the night. We made it through, though, and I kind of feel like we passed our first real parenting test. Now I just hope we won’t have another one of those for awhile…

-M

It wasn’t raining yesterday afternoon, but Zoe brought out from her closet a pair of pink-and-brown-polka-dot rain boots. (Safta got them for her, and they’re adorable!) After she pulled them on, I commented how cute they were – and she answered proudly, “I’m just like Uncle Dan!” Dan’s motorcycle boots (to which she was referring) are definitely not pink and brown, but I thought it was a cute comparison just the same!

-M