Emory's 2nd Birthday

 Emory is officially a 2 year old! These 2 years have flown by. It seems like we just celebrated her first birthday, and here I am writing about her 2nd one.

We had her birthday party at the Monkey's Treehouse. It is an indoor play area with a playground, train tables, an art station, and lots of pretend play areas such as a grocery store, post office and baby dolls. We decided to have it here instead of having it at the house this year. I was nervous that the weather would be bad, and I would be stuck inside with 20 crazy kids! Well we made the right decision, because the kids had a blast!

The party was from 9:15-11:00am, which ended up being a great time since the kids had lots of energy. We didn't have the entire place to ourselves, but we did have the party room. The place was open to anyone to come in and play, but it really didn't start getting too crowded until the end of her party. I wanted to have a private party, but all of the times were booked. The only option was the semi-private party. Honestly, the kids didn't know the difference, and it saved us money!

Since the party was early in the morning we ordered some chicken minis from Chick-fil-a, some pastries, some juice, and of course cake! The theme of the party was Curious George, since Emory has been obsessed with George lately. We ordered the cake from Publix, and it turned out so cute!

We had quite the turn out! 11 kids, and all 4 grandparents. Molly, Hudson, Lane, Ruby Kate, Zellie, Morgan, Emma, Pepper, Ezra, David, and Elsie all came out to celebrate and play! We made little gift bags from the kids that had stickers, playdough, and a stuffed monkey.

Emory opened her presents at home after the party. She got way too much stuff, but she was so excited to open it all. We were going to give her an easel for her birthday, but she had so many presents we just decided to save it for Christmas. It actually worked out that we were able to get her a nice swingset for the backyard on her birthday! Our neighbor was moving and sold us her swingset. My dad, Scott, and Martin moved it into our yard after the party. Emory got to see it when she woke up from her nap and was super excited! She kept pointing to it saying "Emory playhouse".

Her actual birthday was on Monday. We gave her a piece of cake and sang happy birthday. Martin was off work on Tuesday so we kept Emory home from daycare and took her to the science center to celebrate. She had a blast! I would say her birthday was a huge success. She had fun, spent time with friends and family, and ate lots of cake. We are so so thankful for these past 2 years. She has truly brought so much joy, laughter, and love into our lives.

Miles: 3 Months

I'm 3 Months Old!!

 Weight and Length

Miles will be weighed and measured at his 4 month appointment. I do know that he is still huge!

 Clothing Size

 He has officially outgrown his 3 month clothes and is wearing 6 month clothes. He is just so long!

 Sleep

Sleep has actually been worse this month. For some reason he is waking up every 3 hours or so at night. It is starting to get exhausting! Just when I thought we were making progress, things have gone downhill.
One issue we had this month was the swaddle. We have been using the Halo brand swaddle sacks. Well recently he has been breaking out of them. He tires to chew on his hands, and he is so strong that he can pull his hands out of the blanket. This wouldn't be a huge deal except for the fact that the blanket ends up over his face sometimes, which can cause him to suffocate. So obviously we had to make a change. I bought a few Woombie brand sleep sacks. They zip him up in a cocoon looking sack. The only thing sticking out is his head. We thought this would be better since he could move his hands a little more, while still keeping them restricted so they wouldn't fly all over the place. Once again, I was wrong. He hated this! The other problem was that he would try to roll over on his belly, and if that happened while he was in this sack he would get stuck on his tummy and not be able to breathe. So we decided to put him in the crib totally unswaddled. DISASTER! He kicked his legs and threw his arms around like a total spaz. Finally we went back to the Halo swaddle blanket. It actually allows you to still wrap them in the blanket, but leave their arms out. This has worked much better! He is safer now, and his legs and belly are still wrapped up so he has some security. The first few nights were a little rough, but he seems to be adjusting now. I am just hoping that he starts sleeping in longer stretches soon!

His naps are about the same. He takes about 4 naps a day, and they vary from 30 minutes to 2 hours. He actually took a 3 hours nap the day before Thanksgiving, which was great because I was able to clean the house! He naps just about anywhere, especially in the car seat, which is great since he is out and about with Emory a lot. The good thing is that he's a happy little boy, which is really what matters.

Eating

Eating is about the same. He is eating every 3 hours or so. I have been pumping and giving him a bottle more, and he really likes the bottle.

Favorite Activities/Milestones

1. He still loves the tv! He would watch it all day if we would let him! 

2. He rolled over this month! He rolled over from his belly to back during tummy time.

3. He is SO close to laughing. He will make squealing noises that sound like a laugh, and once I was tickling him and he made a few chuckles. He smiles all the time...the biggest smiles ever!

4. He is starting to make more noises. They are precious.

5. He is a little more active on his play mat, and will hit and grab some of the toys.

6. He is very close to rolling over from back to belly. He will roll onto his side and just lie there for a while trying to roll over.

7. He is holding his head up MUCH better! He will hold it all the way up during tummy time and look around the room with a huge smile on his face.

8. He loves bath time. He kicks his legs like a maniac, and smiles the entire time.

 Month 2

He is still the happiest baby ever! He only cries when he is hungry or sleepy, and even then its more of a moan then a cry. He is always smiling and happy.

This month was filled with some outings and visits from friends and family. We celebrated Emory's 2nd birthday this month. We decided to keep Miles home to keep him away from all the germy kids. Lindsay, Emory's old teacher at school, came and watched Miles while we went to the party. My parents came in for a nice long weekend to come to Emory's party, and they enjoyed spending lots of time with Miles. Even though we kept him home from Emory's party, he did get to go to Molly's birthday party! I kept him in the car seat and he slept the entire time.  Miles also went to the mall with us to see Santa. They had a "welcome Santa" party at the mall. Emory loved it, and Miles slept the entire time.  We hosted Thanksgiving at our place this year, and Miles got lots of love from his Nana! The weekend of Thanksgiving we took the kids to Cheekwood to see Santa. We took a family picture with Santa, saw live reindeer, decorated cookies, and Miles slept through most of it! He is so easy to take places. He either sleeps the entire time or just smiles.

Overall it has been a great month! Miles is so chill and happy, which has made our lives so much easier! The only bad thing about this month is that it means its almost time for me to go back to work...I am NOT ready for that!