Our sickly home

It's been a rough week in the Davis household. Last week Drew started with a bad cough and then started running fever - turns out it was RSV (a virus in the respiratory system). Of course, little Eliza quickly picked up the virus as well. We were scheduled on Thursday for her 2-month "well" visit, but it turned into a sick visit and she has had a rough go of it. We went back to the doctor yesterday and she now has bronchiolitis and an ear infection as well. Not only that, but she is vomiting just about everything that she takes in - including her medicine. It is so pitiful to see someone that small coughing so forcefully and vomiting. They say that we are at the "peak" of it now, so hopefully she will start feeling better soon. Her 2-month "stats": height 24 and 3/4 inches (97th percentile), weight 11 pounds 7 ounces (75th percentile), head diameter 15 and 1/4 inches (50th percentile). As a comparison, at this age Drew was only a half inch longer than Eliza but 5 pounds heavier!!! And her head is a full 2 inches smaller! When she is not feeling bad, Eliza is becoming very animated. She loves to be talked to, and when you win her smiles it is the best! She is starting to hit those precious high-note baby coos. She is very entertained with her hands right now. She likes to study them and eat them. I think that she will be a thumb-sucker like her big brother if she every can find it - she keeps it tucked in her hand & it makes her so mad!!

In the past couple of weeks, we have enjoyed separate visits from Nana and Aunt Sistah & Uncle Steve:
ZaZa *loves* to look at big brother Drew If anyone knows Eliza, you know of her perch. Her very favorite place to be is draped over one arm, with her head laid back and walking around the room. She always looks so uncomfortable, but she loves it Cheese!
We are looking forward to our trip to the beach this week if we can get everyone well enough. Hopefully we'll get down there in the next day or two!

Funny comparison

I found these pictures of the two of them taken around the same age (around 3 weeks each). Look at the difference of that head!

Ooops

So... who was the dummy that jinxed herself by typing on the blog that the baby sleeps 7-8 hours a night? Oh yeah, that was me. Well, didn't happen tonight but at least I know there is hope. Lesson learned - no more bragging about sleep patterns for a while!!! We'll get there though.

Both of our little ones are growing so much! Eliza is getting very long now, as evidenced by her 3 month outfits being stretched when she pushes her legs out - these were too big for her not too long ago! She started sleeping in her "own bed" this week - in her room in the crib. The last few nights she has averaged 7-8 hours of straight sleep!!! Please keep your fingers crossed that this continues! Drew still insists that Eliza's name is "Baby", though he has now started calling her "Za-Za" some too. He reports on her to me..."Oh no, Mommy. Za-za crying!". Drew's new thing is that he must have a toy with him when he goes to bed. Each night it is different and it is funny to see what he chooses - anything from books, trains, football, etc. Not exactly the most cuddly things in the world, but he insists! We made the mistake of telling Drew he was going to the beach soon - and while this trip is planned for mid-March he wakes up and goes to bed talking about the beach. Lesson learned to keep my mouth shut about future trips!

Peek-a-boo, Za-Za! Daddy has learned to multi-task Drew loves his cake. Here he is enjoying a cupcake at a friends birthday party Drew helped his "Mama's house" blow out her birthday candles Mommy and Eliza engage in deep conversation

Updates and more snow

Eliza had her one-month well visit with the doctor yesterday. No worries about her growing now - she is up to 10 pounds, 5 ounces (75-90th percentile), 23 and one forth inches long (97th percentile) and her head is 14 and three forths inches in diameter (50-75th percentile). It is strange to have a baby that actually is graphable (as Drew is and always was off the graph in every category!). She is now "doing" a little more. She will track more with her eyes - watch her mobile go around or follow someone talking to her or walking by. She is purposefully smiling more and more at you and it is awesome! She loves being talked to and having her chin and nose tickled. She also likes to talk back quite a bit with her little coos. She seems very strong and can already roll herself from her back to her side. We have to already watch her closely because she doesn't just stay still anymore - the other day we were convinced she was about to roll herself over as she was getting quite some momentum swinging her legs around and also she likes to scoot herself up in her bassinet with her legs. She is having a few feeding issues... mostly in that she seems to spit-up quite a bit and get choked at times, and the doctor is having us thicken some of her milk with cereal. Hopefully that will help a little! Everyone asks about her sleeping - she will typically go for 1-1.5 hour stretches during the day and is getting to about 2 different 3-4 hour stretches at night.

It has been quite the week this past week with two (yes TWO!!) winter storms. This translates into Drew only being able to go to school for 2/5 days last week and being snowed in for most of the weekends, too. While it is nice to have the whole family home, I'm sure you can only imagine what it is like being "trapped" inside the house with a 2-year-old and newborn!! I think all of us have a bit of cabin-fever and we have tried to be creative with activities to keep Drew occupied as much as possible, though he would watch "Go go go" (Diego) or "De-De-Door" (Dora) all day long if it were up to him. Where are you spring? I'm aching for some park time or just being able to take them out in a stroller!! All of a sudden, Drew insists on choosing one toy to sleep with (in addition to his softy, taggy and blanket which are givens). The toys he chooses are really not the most cuddly ones, but he insists (they usually just lay beside him). This week he has slept with his football and basketball multiple times, his toy bus and even a plastic carrot once. This is a small thing - but just this past week or two he has started calling me "Mommy" instead of "Mama" and I love it - it sounds so cute!! If you aren't in the room with him, he has started coming to find you and grabbing your hand, pulling you and saying "come on Mommy!". He is super-silly, loves to giggle and a lot of fun most of the time. He has been doing well with his sister lately, though he still wants to crawl in my lap when I am holding or feeding her and he has thought that she was ready to catch a ball a few times also.

Eliza and Meema, deep in conversation. This has become our 6am to 7:15 ritual and how Brad finds us each morning. It feels soooo good! Eliza enjoying her mobile - now starting to maintain attention to and track moving objects.

Yep, another winter storm - time to wrap Drew's feet up in grocery bags again!!

Eliza's newborn photo shoot - 3 weeks old

We went to have Eliza's pictures taken for her announcement and to capture all her little features as she is already growing so much. There were a lot of great pictures, but here are some of my favorites:

That's it! I'm done!

First official bath

Since ELiza's cord finally fell off, she was able to have her first official bath in her bath tub! Oh - did she scream at first, but she quickly seemed to get used to it and appeared to even like it. You can tell she is a Mommy's girl, as she continues to love her massage afterwards - and for quite a while after her bath/massage she was just so still and peaceful... it really seemed to make her calm.
Getting dry "I am clean & beautiful!!!" This one may be a little tasteless for her blog, but I couldn't help myself. Brad, Drew and Eliza unfortunately all seem a little stopped up/congested so I am just hoping nothing serious will come with all of this. Drew overall seems to be doing a bit better with the whole adjustment phase, though his naps appear to be suffering a little bit. He absolutely amazes me these days with the amount of words he is learing and how he is stringing them together. He loves learning new words and catches on so fast - I'll say it one time and he'll remember it and use it correctly. He always wants for you to repeat him - I guess as a way to verify that you understood what he was saying, and he often smiles and seems so proud that he was able to communicate something and you understood it. He had a good weekend this weekend going to a Wake Forest basketball game. As long as he has his "corn" he is golden. He likes to clap with the crowd and the music, dance, say "Go Deacs!" - he even will say "Aw man!" if something happens and the crowd acts negatively. So cute!

First trip

Eliza went on her first official trip with Mommy & Meema this week to Charleston. We only went for a couple of days, but she was a great traveler. Eliza enjoyed being held by all of her great-aunts and great-uncles pretty much the whole time she wasn't in a car seat, as you will see in the pictures. Hopefully they didn't make her too rotten (or is it already too late for that?!?!)

Aunt Lynda Uncle Denny Meema Uncle Paul
Aunt Weegie
On the way home, we made a stop at the home of one of my friends (going back to the first grade!) in Columbia to see her and her beautiful boys. It was a short but nice stop and I was happy for her to meet Eliza, us to meet Joshua for the first time, us to see how big and cute Daniel has become and to be able to talk a bit about the challenges & fun of raising 2 little ones.

Eliza, Mommy, Daniel, Sarah and Joshua.
In other news, the last of Eliza's cord fell off today - one less thing to "mess" with now! Woohoo!

Week 2 with 2 kids

After numerous weight checks at the doctor, Eliza finally is back up (and past) birth weight, so now we actually get 2 weeks off from going to the doctor's office with her (had become an every other day thing). She is doing well - you can tell that she is growing & getting stronger - starting to outgrow some newborn outfits and trying to lift her head a lot more. She has the sweetest little newborn smiles - you know the ones when everything is just right in their worlds... clean diaper, full belly and about to drift off to sleep and then rewards you with the most precious smiles! She appears to have a bit of a prissy side to her - she already knows how to poke out her bottom lip and she often purses her lips, she loves to be very warm with soft blankets, and she loves her Daddy's arms (and, believe it or not, singing!!).

We are trying to spend some alone time with Drew each day and get him as involved as he'll let us let him. I don't know if it counts to say that he saw his first movie ever at the theater - does it count as your first if you don't make it through the end? We made the attempt to see The Princess and the Frog today but due to his running commentary throughout the film and desire to walk the aisles of the theater, we left midway through and left wondering just which princess the frog will decide to marry. Maybe we will give him another 6 months or so before trying that one again! We also celebrated Daddy's birthday last week, which was a big hit with Drew. He said "Happy Birthday Daddy" a few times, which I think made Brad's birthday, and attempted to sing the birthday song. He especially enjoyed Daddy's birthday cake, as you'll see in the pictures below.

We actually caught a little smile on the camera So cozy & sweet in Mommy's arms Feed me! All bright-eyed and ready to head to the doctor's office Woooohooo! Birthday cake!!! We were finally able to go outside and enjoy some milder weather this week. Drew LOVES the park!

They are warming up to each other...

After a trying couple of days, I think Drew is coming around to this idea of a baby invading his territory. He has been fine towards her, but just a little off kilter. Drew went back to school today after winter break, and I think that helped make things seem more "normal" to him. He now wants to hold Eliza a lot and says "Drew's baby" so hopefully this will all be fine!

Eliza is doing well. Still sleeping a lot (not that I am complaining because I know that will quickly change!), but each day she has more and more alert time. We go back to the doctor tomorrow to check in on her weight, but I have a feeling she has put on some good ounces as she is becoming quite the eater! She has the cutest little squeals and grunts in the world - such a tiny little voice from a tiny little being. She really likes bouncing and being sung/talked to. She becomes very alert when big brother is holding her and seems to enjoy looking at him. What a good big brother - these have to melt your heart!! Here are some pictures where you can finally see those pretty eyes