Connor 3 Months

Connor Man! You are getting so big. All of the sudden you stopped feeling like a newborn. You are so much more sturdy - I can toss you on one hip and hold you with one hand rather than having to cradle you all the time. Your have pretty much complete head control so we rarely have to worry about that.

You are sitting up! Of course you can't sit up by yourself yet but you are getting there. You can sit unaided in the bumbo and we set up your high chair which you are enjoying as well. Meal times are much easier with you at the table because you are usually content to watch your sister. Actually I have noticed you really don't like to be reclined in your baby seats anymore. When we lay you back on us or one of your seats you struggle to sit up, and lately you have succeeded a few times.

You are also becoming such a smiley little dude. I love it. We got your first real open mouthed smile just in time for Valentines Day and you are finally smiling and laughing in response to our interactions. One of your favorites is when I bounce you on my knees and sing The Grand Old Duke of York. Its awesome.

Your eye hand coordination is coming along. At the beginning of the month you would stare at your toys and sometimes hit them but mostly you were still trying to figure out how to get your hands to go where you wanted them. I think we first started giving you toys on your bumbo around 10 weeks and you definitely hadn't mastered how to make contact yet. Now you are starting to actually play with your toy bars and will sometimes hold onto a toy or rattle.

Your sleep is currently all over the place. After you wake up in the morning you are ready for nap almost exactly an hour later but besides that it is anybody's guess. I can never predict how long you will sleep. Nights have also been rough. You generally sleep for about 2 hours at a time (which can be anywhere from 1 hour to 2.5) and that makes for a lot of wake ups. Your first stretch of the night is usually longer than that, but you have also been going to bed earlier and earlier so it doesn't really help me get any more sleep. I'd say you are trending toward a 6-7pm bedtime and then sleep until about 6:30am.

You have definitely found your feet, but you can't touch them yet. You just love to sit and rub them together. I've said it before but you can't sit still!

Your hair is getting so light! It's pretty comical actually because it looks like you had your hair dyed dark and then forgot to keep dying it. It is super dark on the tips and then the roots are growing in very blonde :)

Aurora - Thirty Five Months

Goodness, it has been a long time since I have written an update! We have been super busy.

The biggest change is you are now a big sister! Your little brother was born two months ago and you have adjusted fabulously. I can't say it has been completely incident free, but overall you have done much better than either your father or I expected.

You are completely potty trained! Finally! I thought we were there over the summer but we had a major setback when we moved into our house. I think it had something to do with "the baby" having his own room making everything on that front seemed a lot more tangible. Luckily though we didn't have a repeat when Connor was actually born so in thankful we got it out of the way when we did.

Your Dada has finished your bunny room. One day in the car your dada was discussing with you what to do with your room and you decided you wanted a pink room with bunnies on the wall. Thinking you would forget your dada agreed, but you forget nothing so pink bunnies it is!!

I love when you take care of your baby doll that Connor got you as a big sister present when he was born. And I love it even more that after much deliberation you named her "Baby Mama" ;)

You are holding real conversations now! You are also paying more attention to the conversations of others and frequently interrupt with "what you say?" I know you can't quite follow what people are saying when they speak quickly but you are at least becoming aware and interested in the conversations around you. This does mean, however, we really need to start being careful what we discuss around you now!

You are still a great eater. People are always impressed with what you eat when we go out. I'd say some of your favorites are shellfish of any kind and sushi (especially salmon roe and uni). We almost never order off the kids menu - in fact I think you wouldn't be too thrilled with most of the kids menu offerings!

You have completely given up your nap but are still required to have quiet time for about an hour and a half. You handle this very well and sit with your books, read, sing etc. Bedtime is around 6:30 and you sleep until 6:30-7am. You don't always fall asleep right away but you will stay in your bed and sing to yourself until you do fall asleep.

Funny Quotes --

"Mama, if Tia and Dudu made Baby Brynn and you and Dada made me... Then Nanny & Grumpa made Jojo!"

We had a canvas made of your dada and I kiss attacking you and when you first saw it you asked, "Dada, why are you trying to sneak kisses into my hair?"

Connor - 2 Months

Connor, I can't believe how big you have gotten already! At your two month pediatrician visit you were 11 pounds 12 ounces and 23"! At your two week visit you were 8 pounds 2 ounces and in the 25th percentile for weight; now you are in the 50th.

What are you up to these days?

You are starting to really smile! 

I think your first real smiles were around 6 weeks, but you reserved those only for Dada. For a long time I couldn't tell if you were really smiling at him or if you Dad was saying you were just to torture me because every time I came to see you would stop and look all serious. I guess at 6 weeks you already knew who the fun one was in our house.

And now just recently we are starting to see the smiles more frequently. I wouldn't say we can really make you smile yet, but you are definitely seeing things that make you happy. Oddly one of the times I am almost guaranteed to see a smile is on the changing table, which cracks me up because for a long time you screamed when you got your diaper changed.

You also are liking to be in a sitting position more and more now that you are becoming aware of your surroundings. You love to sit in the Baby Bjorn Bouncer just like your sister did and you are even starting to play with the toys on the toy bar.

You also like your activity mat and sometimes when we put you on it you will coo and talk to the toys that hang down -- especially your moose!

You are an extremely efficient nurser. Your sister used to take about 45 minutes for a feeding, you are finished in about 10 minutes tops. You also only like to eat on one side per feeding. I was really curious to know how you were gaining weight because I had no idea if you were eating enough -- turns out I had no reason to worry!

We are just starting to do tummy time with you.  For a long time you would spit up when we placed you on your tummy and since this is really the only time you spit up I decided to wait. Your head control has always been pretty good so I'm not worried. We will see how it goes because right now you hate being on your tummy. The only thing that I have found to engage your interest is a black and white contrast book, but even that doesn't keep you happy for very long.

We haven't even tried to get you on a schedule yet. It just seems easier at this point to let you sleep when you want to sleep and eat when you want to eat. You are napping infinitely better than your sister  ever did, so relatively this plan seems to be working. Right now napping in the swing with rain sounds seems to keep you happy. You have always liked being in constant motion -- even in my belly! Since about 6 weeks you generally sleep in 2-3 hour chunks at night with the occasional 4 hour section at the beginning but that is balanced out by nights when you are on the one hour plan…  Before 6 weeks you would sleep for 1-2 hours before waking up. We are very lucky though because we haven't had very many nights where you wanted to be awake for any length of time. You usually eat pretty quickly and go right back to sleep.

Aurora - Thirty Four Months

Aurora - Thirty Three Months

Connor's Birth Story

Connor Howard McCord was born Wednesday morning at 9:17am, just in time for Thanksgiving! He is 7 pounds 4 ounces and 19 inches long.

Nanny and Grumpa arrived Tuesday evening to celebrate Thanksgiving with us and to watch Aurora in case "the baby" decided to come over the holiday. We stayed up chatting for a while and then went to bed. I had very irregular contractions from about 3am until Matt and I decided to get up and shower around 6:30. I got in the shower and the intensity diminished but so did the amount of time in between. I think I went from having 45-60 second contractions to having 20-30 second contractions but all of the sudden I was only getting a 3 minute break in-between. Matt called the midwives and after listening to me through a contraction told us we should head their way. I was surprised to hear this since I still felt very much in control and the contractions were not as strong as they had been when we went to the birth center with Aurora.

Matt had taken Aurora down to Nanny and Grumpa when she woke up so I assumed everyone knew what was going on. However, when I went downstairs to get in the car Nanny looked up from the couch and said, "Oh, where are you off to?" Hah! Apparently Matt hadn't told them anything.

The drive to the midwives was more uncomfortable than I remember during my labor with Aurora. When we arrived at the midwives I was about 8.5cm dilated and quickly got in the tub. The contractions were coming super fast at this point and were really gaining in intensity. I think the only way to characterize this birth is fast and furious! I never got to the point of "I can't do this" with Aurora, but I definitely did this time.

Right before the birth there was a last minute gender vote. Matt and all the midwives said girl, but I knew better :) I had thought boy through most of the pregnancy, but was unsure towards the end. I carried the same as with Aurora so I started to think maybe girl. But as soon as I went into labor I was absolutely sure Connor was a boy! 

I didn't have to push very long, I would guess maybe 10 or 15 minutes. Then Connor was here! I think your Matt was a little shocked but so happy to have a son. He squeaked a little bit but settled right down with us to rest and try to nurse. After about an hour Matt cut Connor's cord and he was weighed and measured. I ate a little and got a bath. Then we were on our way home! Everything happened so fast that we almost beat Nanny, Grumpa and Aurora home from breakfast. By about 2:30 we were back home with Connor and I tucked in bed upstairs.