Two Year Check

Lilah had her two year well-check this morning. Jonas couldn't make it to the appointment due to morning meetings, so we had to go it alone. We did very well at the visit! Lilah allowed the doctor to check her out fully with minimal fuss (with the promise of M&Ms to follow). She weighs 29 pounds 2 ounces (80%), and is 35.5 inches tall (90%). Almost three feet! She got two shots and cried for only about 15 seconds. What a big girl!

As for baby sister, a friend let us borrow her baby scale for a little while, and I put Emma on it last night for the first time. Exactly three weeks ago, Emma weighed 6 lbs 11 oz. Last night, Emma weighed 10 lbs 1 oz! What an incredible difference!

New Addition

Things have been a little busy in the Johnson household over the last several weeks. My parents came into town on Sept 25. Dad and Jonas worked on the fireplace the week that Daddy was here (we decided to have a gas fireplace installed the week before they came and Dad and Jonas worked on building up the hearth and area surrounding the FP to get ready for the stone to go over the top). The new baby's due date came and went on Sept 28, and we went to the hospital at 5am on Sept 29 to be induced. They sent us home, of course, because I didn't call ahead of time to find out there weren't enough nurses and they had admitted too many people during the night. Another nurse came on staff at 9am though, so they told us to come back.
We got checked in and the pitocin was started about 10:30. The contractions were uncomfortable enough by about one o'clock that I had an epidural started, and the doctor broke my water at 2pm. I am not sure if it was the best epidural, because I was having a lot of pain with my contractions, especially towards the end, but I could not move or feel my legs. I progressed from 5cm to 10cm in about an hour and a half, and baby was born after two minutes of pushing. (And it only took that long because I had to wait for another contraction to come). Emma Louise arrived at 6:57 pm on Wednesday, Sept 29. She was 20.5 inches long and weighed 7 lbs 7 oz. Just as Lilah looked exactly like her momma at birth, little Emma looked just like her daddy's hospital picture! She has the cutest little dimple in her left cheek. Lilah came with Nana and Papa to the hospital to meet her little sister and like the rest of us, was instantly in love. I'll try to post the video of them meeting, it's really cute. We came home on Thursday at lunch time and had our first doctor's appointment on Friday. Emma was a little jaundiced on Friday (new weight was 6 lbs 9 oz) so we had her bilirubin levels drawn on Saturday since her jaundice was getting worse. A home nurse came out to the house Saturday night and got her started on phototherapy to help her get rid of her excess bilirubin. Emma stayed on the light bed day and night until Tuesday, when she was cleared by the doctor. Since then, she has been gaining weight and eating well while we are all adjusting to our new lifestyle.

Emma is a very vocal baby, but doesn't cry very often. She loves to stretch and squeek and grunt. She is an excellent sleeper, and has been since the beginning. When she was so jaundiced, I had to set an alarm to wake her up in the night, but since I was able to stop doing that, she has slept 5-7 hour stretches at night. She is now (at three weeks) having more wakeful stretches during the day and is much better at holding her head up. She is getting so chubby and her skinny little chicken legs are turning from having wrinkles into having fat rolls. So cute!

Lilah has been a great and loving big sister. I'd like to say there has been no aggressive behavior towards her little sister, but I now have a funny story to tell. My sweet little sleeping baby was in the bouncy seat in the den next to Lilah who was eating her dinner standing at the coffee table. I was in the kitchen, just one room over, when Emma burst into tears. I came in the room and asked Lilah what happened. "Baby crying," she responded. What happened Lilah? "Poke baby, " she said. When I asked where, she said, "nose." Apparently, she had taken her nice little sharp tined dinner fork and poked our little baby in the nose. Emma calmed down quickly, and the fork never left a mark. First injury down, many more to go, I am sure.

Lilah celebrated her second birthday this past week. I know everyone says this, but it is unbelievable how fast time has passed. It is especially neat to have a newborn in hand to compare where Lilah was just two years ago. It is incredible how much she has grown and learned over the last two years. We had a fun celebration with our friends and Mimi last weekend. Lilah loved opening all her presents and is still talking about opening more. She blew out her two little candles on the first try - I was very impressed!

Her two year check up is tomorrow morning, so I'll have numbers coming soon.

Not a very flattering picture, but you can really see how big her cheeks are getting!