3 months

happy 3 months to Alice! it's been so satisfying to see her growing so well after a while of slow-going. she seems to be generally happier now, with less times of fussiness, and she's settled into a routine of eating every 3 hours.

this past week she's lost pretty much all of her original hair as can be seen in the pictures below. hopefully she'll grow more in soon.

these 3 months have been a blur -- time does fly faster with the 2nd baby. the past couple nights mama has had meetings, so Alice and I have enjoyed the evenings together, talking and laughing and smiling and snuggling together. while I think I enjoy the toddler stage more than the tiny baby stage, there's nothing like these times together.

we're all so thankful for our little girl.

rejoice!

Alice slept from 10:30pm to 7am last night. hooray!!! hopefully this is the start of a trend. thanks to all who have been praying for us.

and another little milestone in the morning: when laid in her crib to admire her mobile, and then somewhat forgotten as other morning duties were tended to, she fell asleep on her own. I know this is completely normal for lots of kids, but our kids have never fallen asleep on their own like that.

and now the bad news: mama is still hurting and quite exhausted, despite the fact that the baby slept like a baby (an ironic, if not cruel, phrase, by the way). so I'm working from home today, and everyone is asleep at the moment.

on the bottle

despite our hopes and efforts, baby Alice is now on formula fulltime, and we're confident that this is what is best for everyone. thanks to all for your prayers and concern for all of our health.

just as it was with Caleb, the double-whammy of no weight gain and the thrush made us decide to stop nursing. of course this was a very hard decision for mama especially, who really loved feeding her and could tell that Alice was a big fan too. but we're wondering if she wasnt gaining b/c of mama's health issues, as she was always willing to eat well, unlike Caleb who wasnt interested. add to that the almost constant pain that mama was in, and the fact that the thrush was returning in Alice too (despite lots of meds and other remedies we've tried), and it make a hard decision not-so-hard any more.

so we're a little sad, but I'm sure it will turn out for the best. after all, Caleb was on the bottle after having similar issues, and now he's the smartest and cutest boy around ;-) thankfully, Alice eats rather well from the bottle (also unlike her brother), and has taken quite a bit this past week, so we're pretty sure she'll be growing fast soon. and hooray for Sam's brand formula, which is the same stuff as the name brand but DANG cheap. of course one advantage of the bottle is that I get to help feed her, and she seems to be sleeping longer at night too, which is good for everyone.

Alice's baptism

yesterday Alice was baptised by Grandpa Thomas. Grandpa was recently ordained in our denomination (PCA), so we were very excited for him to be able to baptise our daughter. it was also special that Alice was wearing a gown made from Grandma Thomas's wedding dress. more pictures here (some of them arent so great but I havent had time to find the best ones yet).

it was all a bit of a whirlwind, as it was a little stressful getting everyone successfully out of the house. Caleb is almost never in the church service with us (something we'll probably start sometime this year), so he was a little bit antsy. and to top it off, Alice filled her diaper and spit up right before we went up to the front. mama successfully kept her from crying too much while we were up front, but she wailed a bit once she was handed over for the actual baptism.

but of course it was a very good thing to receive God's promises and take vows to Him and Alice. since it was a little crazy while it was going on, I'm putting a copy of the vows here for the record, and for our reference.

1. Do you believe in one God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and do you confess Jesus Christ, God’s Son as Lord and Savior?

2. Do you acknowledge that although our children are conceived and born sinners, and therefore subject to the miseries of the fall, yet Christ calls them holy because of their relation to you as members of His church?

3. Do you believe God’s covenant promise to be your God and the God of your children and thus present your child for holy baptism as the sign and seal of his/her reception into the covenant family of God?

4. Do you promise, with the help of God, to bring up your child in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, to pray for him/her and with him/her and to make every effort so to order your own lives that you will not cause this little one to stumble?

5. Have you so kept the vow you made before God with your previous child that you can take this vow with a sincere and clear conscience?

6. Do you promise to encourage him/her as soon as he/she is able to comprehend its significance, to confess his/her own faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and become an active member of Christ’s Church, serving faithfully in her fellowship?

7. (To the congregation, from Pastor Cal) – Do you receive Alice as an infant member of this church; do you promise to surround him/her with Christian love and to pray for him/her; do you promise to set before him/her such an example of Christian love and virtue that he/she will early in life know the reality of personal salvation and rich fellowship in the Kingdom of God? If you can so answer from your hearts please answer “amen”.

8. What name has been given this child? (Alice Florence Wiegers)

9. Alice Florence Wiegers, child of the covenant, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

tall and skinny

we had the kids' 2 month and 18 month checkups today. Caleb did great, although he cried about getting a shot whenever anyone would make a move. of course he's done with his shots for a while, but he obviously thought there was one coming. poor kid. he's still solidly in the 50th percentile for weight and off the chart for height, just like his daddy.

Alice got her share of shots, much to her displeasure. and despite our best guess, she really hasnt gained any weight or length in the last month (just 1 oz), which we thought was more than a little concerning. but hooray for Dr. Jack, who is the nicest and most laid-back doctor we've ever known. she wasnt too concerned about her not gaining, since she shot up relatively fast her first month. and based on all the usual questions they ask, she's doing just fine developmentally (she smiles and coos and waves her arms and recognizes our faces, etc). so we'll stay the course and continue fighting off the thrush (yes, it's back in mama, but baby seems ok this time around). mama's having a bit of a hard time with thrush and back struggles, but she's determined to keep at it. we're all very thankful and proud of her.

as I keep reminding myself these days: I guess we make skinny babies. that's ok, because they are darn cute that way, if I do say so myself.

animated

here are some of Alice's many cute faces. click for a little low-tech animation.

seven weeks

happy seven weeks birthday to Alice. it seems like she's been around a lot longer, but sleep-deprivation tends to mess with my sense of perspective. she's actually a pretty good sleeper for her age. she'll go 5 or 6 hours between feedings at night, so that usually means we're up only once in the middle of the night. if Michelle's back isnt doing well (which is more often than not these days), I'll sometimes change her diaper at these times, although often it's quite grudingly.

it's amazing how my moods are dictated by my expectations. if she sleeps well for a few nights in a row, I'll get all bitter that she's up twice the next night, or that she's super bright-eyed wide awake at 4am. but the night after that happens, I'm much more patient because I assume it's coming. and I think a lot of my moodiness has to do with not spending good time with Michelle, and not taking much time to pray and such lately. we look forward to the day she'll sleep longer, but we know these days of her being tiny and snuggly are going by fast.

overall she's doing well, although the thrush seems to come and go. it was almost all the way gone recently, but now seems to be returning. we've tried everything we can think of, so hopefully it will subside again. she'll often have fussy/gassy times in the late evening, but pumping and running her legs helps her get that out. we think she's a bit more fiesty than Caleb, as she'll loudly let us know her opinion when mama stops her latest meal. thankfully she doesnt spit up much unless she's had a lot more than usual to eat.

we have a baby swing that we call the "seat of power" and "the magic seat" and "the best $10 I've spent on baby junk." if Caleb is down and mama needs a nap but Alice isnt willing, she'll go right to sleep in the swing. a very powerful tool indeed, and sometimes TOO powerful, as she can sleep too much there and not enough later (see above).

the latest thing these days is that Caleb has a cold. nothing too severe, but he's got a nasty cough and lots of snot, and TONS of fussiness. ALL. DAY. LONG. of course this is wearing down Michelle rather quickly, so please pray that he'll be well soon, and of course that Alice wont get sick (she seems fine so far). I've found that, for me at least, when everyone is doing fine, we can do pretty well together. but when you throw in sickness or some other stress, we start to come undone much faster than we used to. it does seem to drive us to our knees, which isnt a bad thing.

Alice will be baptised at SEPC on Feb 5th [date TBA] Feb 5th (2nd service). she'll be baptised by Michelle's dad, wearing a dress that was made from Michelle's mom's wedding gown (and also worn by our niece Casey), so we're really looking forward to it. with 2 babies in the house, we definitely need to be reminded of God's faithfulness to our family.

sweets

"sweets" is my nickname for Alice, which I suppose is from shortening "sweetie." just recently she's been smiling a little, which is such a reward after weeks of relatively blank stares. well she's been good at focusing on faces, but hasnt otherwise interacted yet, so it's a lot of fun to see her smile. I like to watch her "evening excercises" as she flails her arms and checks things out. today mama caught lots of her cute expressions while she looked out the window and around her crib, and some are indeed hilarious (I think she was trying to look at the camera on a few). here's a bunch more cuteness.

it seems that the thrush is getting better. we're still hitting it with lots of meds and such, so hopefully it will be all gone soon. we had a setback yesterday as Michelle twisted her ankle, but it's not as bad as we feared, and she's been able to get around relatively OK. many thanks to Sarah (who is in town this week -- yay!) and Leah for helping out with the kids while she kept her feet up.

growing

whenever I pick up or change Alice, she seems SO tiny. I was even starting to worry that she wasnt gaining enough weight, even though it's pretty obvious that she's a good eater. she's not chubby in the least, but perhaps we just dont make chubby kids? I'm sure Caleb's eating problems last year feuled my fears.

so today was her 1 month weigh-in, and she's doing great. she's up to 8 pounds and 22 inches. of course that IS tiny compared to Caleb, who is quite a solid kid, but she's well on her way.

in other news, the thrush is back, and it's quite evil. it actually never went away fully. it's not causing major problems yet, but we're not waiting for it to get bad. the latest tactic is an enzyme powder that is supposed to eat the yeast on contact. while this is "alternative medicine," we have some friends who've had great success with it, so hopefully this stuff will work.

kids latests

the kids are growing up fast.

at 4 weeks, Alice is really starting to look around, and makes steady eye-contact for a while. she's trying her hardest to hold her head up too, and sometimes succeeding. I think it's because she's got a REALLY strong sucking reflex, so when she's perched on my shoulder to cuddle or burp, she's always bobbing her head to try to find food from my neck. she's eating even better these days too.

at 16 months, Caleb's little vocabulary is starting to burst open. he still loves to do animal sounds and has added a few recently. my favorite is his duck quack, although it seems that to him every bird is a duck, or at least every bird quacks. his sheep "baa" is super cute too. he's picked up some more words too(although at this hour I'm having a hard time remembering them). he calls my dad pop-pop, and gives a good attempt at grandma. since he couldnt say "Aunt Lori" she taught him to say "Tia" instead (spanish for Aunt), which he picked up quickly. most of his words are baby talk (besides "apple" which is quite clear), but it's not too hard to figure out what he's saying. he still does his most useful signs too (milk, help, more/again, please).

he loves his various blocks and can do his board puzzles all by himself, and he'll sit for books for a good while. one habit lately is approaching the computer and saying "more," which means he wants a video. and if he doesnt get it right away, he'll start pouting and crying. fortunately he's not too hard to distract with books or toys, but we're working on that whole you-cant-always-get-what-you-want thing. he still loves his baby sister, and is very interested in her. he likes to give her hugs and point out her nose and ears and hat (and he's finally stopped trying to take the hats). grandma is leaving soon, so hopefully he'll adjust well to the new life with a baby but without extra family around.

health update

Alice's thrush rash is getting better. we've tried all kinds of stuff, but what seems to be working is the athlete's foot cream. go figure. thanks to Sara for suggesting it. Mama is on meds for it too, so hopefully they'll both be cleared up. we're so encouraged that she's improving, as Caleb never did until he stopped nursing. thanks to all who prayed and offered advice and such, and please pray for a complete recovery.

Alice is now 3 oz above her birth weight! we're so thankful that she's doing so well with eating, especially considering the problems her big brother had. she's able to follow things with her eyes now, as she was enjoying her mobile last night. she's still doing OK with sleeping, wanting to eat every 3 or 4 hours at night, and usually going back down pretty well after she's full. sometimes she'll be wide awake at 5am, so I'll take her out to the couch and snuggle so mama can sleep better.

Caleb's rough day last week was thankfully followed by some really good days. but mama is a little nervous about looking after 2 babies on her own once all the help is gone back home. aunt Liz goes home today and my parents are coming soon for Christmas week. can you believe it's almost Christmas already?! we're looking forward to lots of mellow good times as a family.

oh and support terrablogs.

sugar plum

Alice is our little sugar plum these days. the stuff we're using to treat the thrush (as of now) is deep purple and it stays that way for a while, so it looks like she's got very bright lipstick on. so appropriately enough aunt Liz dressed her in all purple today. so she's the purple people eater, the little grape, and the little sugar plum. hopefully this stuff will work soon, as her diaper rash is getting worse. thanks to all for your prayers and support. please keep it up, as the stress of having a sick baby is weighing on us.

in other news we had early Christmas with aunt Liz, and Caleb LOVES the giant blocks that she and Em and Steve got for him. many thanks to them, and yes, we lifted our toy ban for such coolness. here he is finishing off our tower.

and mama got Auntie Prudence to make me a cool stocking too! it's really great, as you can see here.

and finally, support terrablogs. they provide a great service here, and if you enjoy my little corner of the terrablog community, please consider donating a few dollars to help keep things going.

we're all very excited

life with a new daughter and sister is great! (especially when she eats and sleeps as well as she is)

first dr appt

Alice met Dr. Jack this morning, who gave a good report. her weight is down to 6-14, which is only 5 ounces less than her birth weight. this was great news for us, since Caleb's weight was such a big stress last year. apparently 10% loss is normal, but she's lost less than that, so we're very thankful. and the doctor said she looks so good that she doesnt need to come back in next week unless we want her weighed. hooray!

and just like her brother did at only one week, she did her best to charm Dr. Jack. here's a his and hers comparison. we love how bright-eyed she is, just like her brother was and is. I'm sure that very soon those deep grey/blues will be dark brown.

the first week is going well so far. she's let us sleep 3 hours between feedings a few times, and hasnt yet been up crying in the night except to eat and then go back down. she's still eating well, and mama is doing well too, although she's still recovering a bit of course. Caleb is Mr. Fussypants, most likely due to missing his mama, but he's had good times with his grandparents, and the next wave of grandparents will be arriving shortly. hopefully he'll adjust to things soon, and hopefully soon mama will have more energy to spend with him.

our love for Alice grows more each day. right now she's snoozing on my chest as I type, and there isnt anything more precious. we pray that she'll grow healthy and strong, that mama's back will strengthen and heal, that Caleb will settle down, and that we'll faithfully serve Jesus as a little family. thanks again to all for your prayers, as God is answering them daily.

a grand day out

Alice had her first outing today, going with us to the chiropractor. mama hurt her back a bit during labor, and the chiro did help, but it's still not great. so please pray that she'll be feeling better soon.

Caleb still loves his little sister, but he's been getting more and more whiney and fussy. hopefully he'll get used to the new normal soon. so here he is checking her out in the cool basket from Amber. and I think she may be getting tired of all the picture-taking.

Alice's stocking

last year we got a cool surprise from Auntie Sarah's mom. she knit a really great stocking for Caleb, just as she's done for her own kids and now grandkids over the years. we love it so much, and we hoped to have one for Alice too, and she graciously made another for us. she was the only one who knew Alice's name beforehand, and the stocking arrived the day before she was born. so here's Alice trying on her new stocking, which of course has now been hung by the chimney with care. many thanks, great-auntie Prudence!

details, answered prayers

where to begin? firstly, her name: Alice is named after two of her great-grandmothers. her first name is from Michelle's paternal grandmother, and her middle name (Florence) is from my paternal grandmother. both are honored and thrilled to have our little girl carry their names, and we hope God's faithfulness in and through them will also be found in her.

the labor and delivery went much like Caleb's did last year (although thankfully we werent kept up for 4 days with early contractions this time). the labor this time was about 12 hours and rather draining, so we opted for an epidural at around 11 hours. soon after this, Alice was ready to come out, and after only a few pushes she breathed her first air. she actually had the cord around her neck, but the midwife quickly clamped it and even let me cut it (to my surprise considering the situation). once her head was out and cleared, I got to catch the rest of her little body, and put her up on mama's tummy. this of course was an amazing experience for all of us. she was a little pale at first, so they quickly got her revived and suctioned and she let out her first cries soon afterward. we may put down some more labor details in the future, because we had many hopes and fears, and God amazingly answered just about all of our prayers in the affirmative.

of biggest prayer was that Alice would be a good eater, and that breastfeeding would go well. Caleb was a sleepy eater, and there were various complications (see the August 2004 archives for details), so we had to stop after only 3 weeks with him. so we prayed that Alice would do well, and she really is doing great so far. she loves to eat, and is eating well, epecially for being less than 2 days old. we're praying that this will continue to go well.

Caleb is so sweet with his little sister, as he's very interested in her and wants to cuddle and give her hugs. no signs of jealousy so far, but he's had gramma and grampa taking good care of him. we're so happy to see him do so well.

here are some pictures from day 2 and day 1 is here. and here is a video clip of her (~10 MB). much more video to come once I can process it.

thanks to all for the well-wishes and prayers. we can feel your love and are so thankful for it. praise God with us for the gift of our beautiful little girl, and please pray for our adjustments as a new family.

Alice Florence Wiegers

our little girl Alice was born this morning at 5:48am, weighing 7 lb, 3 oz, measuring 20". everyone is doing quite well, as God answered all of our prayers. more details later. more pictures here, and many more to come.