Category Archives: baby

Hey, Brother

While I know from experience that having a younger sibling can be difficult at times when you’re a child (I wanted a puppy, but instead got a brother), I can tell that Enzo doesn’t mind Phoebe all that much. Sure, he may still be having those moments where he gets frustrated that the baby always gets to be carried around and sleeps in our room, but he’s also insistent that he get to tell her good-night and see her first thing in the morning.

For a while he kept saying that Bee-bee was crying whenever she’d make noise and look concerned, but now he realizes there’s a difference between actual crying and when Bee-bee is talkin’.

I think most of all, Enzo is waiting for the day that Phoebe will be a good playmate. He tries to play with her, but is still just a tad too rough and tumble at times. He also wanted me to put her in the tub with him last night so he could share his bubbles with her, but so far we haven’t mastered bathing them together because they’re both so active and squirmy and she isn’t sitting up unassisted yet.

Still, they make do and Phoebe is more than happy to just sit and watch him and be as involved as she can be, even if that means becoming his canvas.

I know they’ll probably squabble as they get older, but hopefully they’ll find a common ground sooner, rather than later and enjoy being brother and sister in their teens as I was able to do with my younger brother. In the long run, it’s probably better that he wasn’t a puppy. 😉

And, as a bonus, I’ve been hooked on this song lately… and it fits.

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The cat.

While the cats still tend to stick to their own territory rather than spend a great deal of time with the kids, Uzi has his moments where he likes to get snuggly with Miss Phoebe.

Enzo is still a little too loud for him, and unfortunately has gotten into the habit of saying, “No, kitty!” a lot, but only because we’ve had to also say that quite frequently as Uzi won’t stay off the kitchen table or counters. Now, we just have to teach Enzo when kitty is actually being naughty and when he isn’t.

There are also those moments when Enzo doesn’t want kitty pushing him over (even if it is out of love), and in that case, Phoebe can’t really do anything about it so Uzi is free to give her as many head-butts as he wants to.

I don’t remember Uzi being quite so lovey with Enzo when he was a baby, so we’ll see how things change as our Toots gets older. For now, though, it’s kind of sweet when Uzi curls up in bed between Phoebe and I, and gently puts a paw on her arm.

I think she enjoys it, even if she seems a little confused as to just what the strange furry creature is doing, and why it won’t stop so she can chew on it like her other soft toys. 😉

5 Months

Where to begin? I don’t want to sound nauseatingly mushy, but our little Phoebe is beyond sweet and I just want to squish her constantly.

At 5 months old, she is a rolling champ; however she is not always a fan of being on her tummy.

She loves her mobile and will happily smile and kick away in her crib when you turn it on, which is helpful in the morning when she and her brother get up early and we’re rushing around trying to get everyone ready for the day.

She has an infectious laugh when you’re lucky enough to hear it, otherwise her gummy grins are just as enjoyable.

We’ve been working on sitting, but she’d much rather stand and skip that process all together. She has also been trying to work out the mechanics of crawling, but has some work to do.

Bath time is one of her favorites and she’s even squirmier than her brother was. We discovered the best way to bathe her is to fill the tub about an inch or so with water and lay her down on a bath mat so she can kick and splash to her little heart’s content.

Uzi approves of her, however, I think her herbal lotion might have something to do with that. Either way, it’s kind of cute watching him head-butt her and at night he’ll curl up between us and often have a paw on her arm.

She’s a happy and mild tempered girl with wide eyes that see everything and take it all in.

My little, Phoebe, you truly are a bright and shining light.

What’s In A Name

While you might think that keeping your new baby alive is one of a parent’s biggest responsibilities and pressures, I think that choosing your child’s name is actually one of the most stressful parts of parenting. Thankfully, once you make the decision it’s done and over, but making that choice is such a big deal because the last thing you want to do is to burden your child with a name they end up hating. While we looked up name meanings after they were chosen, we didn’t really put much thought into it, and ultimately didn’t affect our choices. I thought it would be fun to look up meanings now, though, and see if either of our kids seem to truly fit their name choices.

I went with SheKnows.com because they seemed to have the most information for names, including so-called personality traits, which was a fun bonus. So, here’s the rundown (I did both first and middle names):

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Splitting Time

I think our little lady might finally be getting into a new nighttime schedule. The past two nights she hasn’t woken up until around 5:00am, which has been a very pleasant change considering she usually wakes up at 1:00am. Granted, she’s a lot more hungry and vocal when she sleeps longer, so the trick is trying to keep her quiet so she doesn’t wake up her brother.

Overall Phoebe seems to be a quiet observer, taking in everything around her. I’d love to know what she’s thinking, but half the time the look on her face tells me she thinks we’re all insane. She may be right. Thankfully she finds our insanity amusing for the most part.

All too soon these baby days will be over, and I try not to dwell on that too often. It’s so different the second time around, though. Not only does it fly be even faster, but it’s both easier and more difficult at the same time. Mostly I feel torn between how much time I spend with both of my munchkins on a daily basis. I feel bad if I don’t spend a lot of one-on-one time with Phoebe because Enzo got so much since he was born first, but then I feel bad if I don’t spend enough time with Enzo because I’ve been snuggling Toots. I never had guilt going back to work when it was just Enzo, but now I definitely feel it simply because I feel like I’m never giving them enough of my time and when I do I’m often tired in the evening and short on patience when it comes to toddler tantrums.

This really just tells me I need to reprioritize and maybe come up with a schedule that allows me to make time for each kiddo, myself, my husband, and to make sure I’m taking care of myself mentally and physically so that way I’m not as tired or cranky when I’m at home. Thankfully with the weather getting better and better I’m more motivated to exercise again, and while we often make dinners, I think I need to start making a lunch the night before I’m less likely to just grab something frozen or fast on my way out the door. I’m so focused on making sure Enzo eats well that I sometimes forget about Josh and I. 😉

Dino and Bunnies

Every day adventures