Falling asleep

Having two babies in one bedroom is a little tricky sometimes. Most nights, Baby Clare settles down peacefully while Sean quietly chats with his animal friends and drifts off to sleep. But some nights, Sean isn't tired, or he's thirsty, or his chatting with the animals turns into loud arguments. And some nights Baby Clare is just so tired, nothing can help but a good cry. She never cries too long, and it doesn't seems to bother Sean much - he deals with a lot of noisy friends at naptime at daycare.

But the other night Baby Clare was particularly fussy - I think her teeth were bugging her - she now has 6 teeth and 2 more are coming in!  She cried and fussed for a bit while I rocked her and it didn't seem that I could help her, so I put her in her crib to let her soothe herself. After a few more minutes of fussing, she finally fell asleep. It was quiet on the monitor for about 2 minutes when I heard Sean call out, "BABY CLARE, YOU SLEEPIN' NOW?" Apparently she was - and thank you for checking, Sean!

Love this guy

Breaking News!

Baby Clare's bottom teeth are breaking through!

Show us your teethies, Baby Clare!

See them?

There they are!

Odds n' Ends

-Something I forgot to mention in Baby Clare's 5 month post is how grabby and handsy she is.  She reaches for anything that comes into her line of sight and if she gets a hold of an object - a toy, mommy's hair, a nose, whatever - she holds on tight!

-Sean has started saying "please" and "thank-you" unprompted!  Hooray!  He's received many stickers from his teacher for helping to clean up and for good listening.

-Baby Clare should be cutting her first tooth any day, I think.  She's so mouthy and drooly - she goes through at least 8 bibs a day.

-Sean is becoming a whiz at counting in Spanish - he can count from uno to diez - no problemo! Although many times he skips "uno" and just starts with "dos." :-)

-The kids had a great beach day on Sunday!  Aunt-Aunt Alice took the kiddies to the beach while Mommy and Daddy ran the LBI 18-miler in order to gear up for the NYC marathon. What was a nice warm day for the kids was a brutally hot and sunny race for Mommy and Daddy - but we did it!

-Pepper seems to be on the mend.  He's taking his medicines faithfully and without complaint - thank goodness for peanut butter!  Sean is being so nice to Pepper during his recovery - he uses nice hands without even being reminded and even sings "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" each night before we head upstairs to eat dinner (we have to leave Pepper downstairs since he can't use the stairs - Pepper comes back out after the kiddies have their bath and bedtime).

Teething Ring

Sean: "Look Mommy, I Baby Clare!"
Me: "Baby Clare puts her teething ring on her head?"
Sean: "Noooooo... she wear it on her... FACE!"

4-Month Well Visit!

Baby Clare had her four-month well visit yesterday!  She was a such a happy baby- she smiled and giggled her way through the exam until we got to the shots.  Then she was a sad baby, but only for a few minutes - she was asleep in her carseat by the time we hit the waiting room.

The doctor says Baby Clare looks very good - she is healthy and alert and shows a lot of personality.  Clare is ready for solids - we'll try out rice cereal on Saturday morning.  The doctor also noticed that the poor birdy's gums are pretty swollen - definitely teething!  Although the doctor commented on her teething before looking in her mouth, since Baby Clare kept trying to nibble on the doctor's fingers.  :-)

Remember Clare's gunky eye issues?  I don't. I completely forgot about them as soon as they cleared up - I think that was at the end of July. Her right eye cleared up and then her left eye stopped gunking up soon afterwards.  Hooray!

Anyway, onto the fun stuff.  Here are Baby Clare's stats at 4 months:
Weight: 16lbs 10oz
Height: 26.5 in
Head: 17 in

Soooo big!

Blowing raspberries:

Tummy time!

Yummy paper - nom nom nom

15 Months

Seanybear, I didn't forget that you turned 15 months last Thursday! I didn't do a post because we were too busy enjoying our mini-vacation at the beach!

This month has been a busy, germy, whirlwind of summer fun.

-You are looking less like a baby and more like a boy lateley. And you are acting more like a toddler - you have the toddler scream and foot-stamping down cold.

-But you're such a lovebug. You give big hugs and kisses (muuu-ahh) freely and often.

-New words are pouring out of you everyday. Your new favorite is "baah-byyeee" (bye-bye) followed by a hearty wave.

-Your walking is certainly picking up speed and you can almost climb up onto the furniture.

-You love to help mommy and daddy carry things around. At daycare, you love to carry your bag and cup from the car, down the long hallway and into your room.

-Your palette has opened back up again - you at least try everything I put in front of you and sometimes I'm surprised at the foods you gobble down (broccoli) and the foods you reject (peaches). Thankfully you haven't noticed that blueberry season is over because you're totally into green grapes.

-MOLARS! A couple of big, bad molars have broken through your bottom gums and we think there are a couple of ones on top, too - but you won't let us near your mouth to check. I snapped this picture after trying to cut your nails (you hate getting your nails cut, by the way):

More pictures from the tubby!

As I wrote in Sean's 10 month post, bath time is pretty big around here these days. Sean loves to play, splash, sing, talk, and teeth in the tubby.

Cough-cough

Sean's got his second big cold - runny nose, clingy-cuddliness, hacking cough, pink cheeks, and fever - the works. And this time Sean is sharing the wealth - Thom John and I are ailing, too. Since Sean's not welcome back at daycare tomorrow, we'll swing by the pediatrician's and see if something can be done. Poor little babybear - add this to a night of hardcore teething!

Got 'em!

Two New Teeth!

Sean is working on the two front teeth on his top gums - as of this morning, both have broken through and they seem to be causing the babe a bit of distress. I'm trying to capture a picture of these elusive new additions, but Sean will only let chewable objects near his mouth for now.

Firsts

We had a bunch of firsts today. First, Sean is cutting his first tooth! It's one of the bottom front teeth and it's a sharp little bugger. It doesn't seem to bother the boy too much - yet. Next, Sean was in his first race today! We all ran the Great Pumpkin Run 5K - Thom John pushed the BOB stroller. Sean and Thom John finished first of the strollers in the race and I placed third in my age group! Not bad for my first race postpartum! Tonight is Sean's first Halloween party - pictures of that tomorrow.