Happy Halloween!

Giggles!

Here is a little video clip Evan and I took of Sophia yesterday. She just loves to play on her changing mat in front of the mirror in her room. She is making lots of little sounds these days - cooing and making a sound that almost sounds like she is saying "hi"! She has also started to giggle, and seems to be quite ticklish on her back. If you stick your tongue out at her she will do the same back to you - it's so cute! It seems much too early, but I have a hunch that Sophia might be in the early stages of teething. She has had her fists in her mouth constantly the last couple of days.....I looked back in Evan's baby book and he sprouted his first two teeth at 4.5 months, and had 13 teeth by his 1st birthday! Perhaps Sophia is following in her big brother's footsteps and teething early. It wouldn't surprise me - they have been such similar babies so far. It's hard to believe she'll be 3 months old in just a few days!!!

Evan Turns 4!!!!

A week or so late, but better late than never! Evan turned 4 on October 18th - hard to believe! He had a wonderful birthday celebration. Friends and Family joined us for a little soiree at our house the day before his actual birthday. The big surprise that day was the new jungle gym/dome climber that his parents and all his grandparents gave him. He was so excited to find it in his backyard after he woke up from his nap. We actually thought he might sleep under it that night - the kids didn't even want to come inside and actually ate their pizza under it (and it was quite a chilly evening). Ev seemed to really enjoy his party (aside from the actual singing Happy Birthday part in which he blocked his ears and shut his eyes the whole time!) Evan's theme of choice for the 3rd year in a row was what else.....THOMAS! He wanted a "Henry" cake this year so Jeff designed the "Island of Sodor" complete with snow capped mountains, railroad tracks, and suspension bridges. Henry was proudly placed on top. Evan was thrilled to wake up Saturday morning to see Jeff's creation. More excitement followed on Evan's actual birthday. Mother Nature gave Evan the best gift of all this year - our FIRST SNOWSTORM of the season. Evan couldn't have been more excited! He and Jeff were outside catching snowflakes on their tongues and later on ventured back out with Pepere to build a snowman - complete with a party hat and noisemaker! I bet Evan will NEVER have a snowstorm again on his birthday - it was probably a once in a lifetime event, but one that certainly was fun and so exciting for Ev!!! (maybe not so much for Grandma & Pepere who came from 90 degree Florida weather!!) Mommy & Daddy gave Evan rollerskates for his birthday and he is already roller skating out on the street with his neighborhood friends. He is growing up much too fast! Here are a few pictures of Evan's birthday weekend.....
The cake.....

Our little monkey and his cake....

Evan and his new jungle gym.....

Two Monkeys.....

Sophia's all dressed up and excited for her big brother's party.....

Family photo.....

Catching snowflakes.....

Birthday snowman.....

Roller Skates!!!

Sophia's 2 months old and Evan's behind bars!!!

Sophia turned 2 months old this past weekend - where has the time gone? She had her 2 month well-visit today and Dr. Lee says she is doing great! She weighed in at 11 lbs. 10 oz. (75th percentile) and was 23 1/2 inches long (90th percentile). She's quite the chunky little monkey, drinking six 6 ounce bottles per day! Her gassiness/fussiness has definitely improved since we started her on the soy formula about a month ago. She's smiling lots these days and just LOVES her changing mats, both the one in her bedroom and the one in the dining room. They are definitely her favorite places to play and she loves to lie there looking at her rings, "Mrs. Snail" (her favorite hanging toy) and her Black and White book that Auntie Meggie gave her. She also loves her swing and smiles at the fishies as they circle above her. Recently she has really taken to her mobile as well. It is so fun to watch her during her alert time these days. She is cooing lots and also shrieking - it's so cute! It is so funny to me how similar Sophia is to how Evan was as a baby. Not only did they look SO much alike at birth, but they have both been overly gassy babies (they must get that from Jeff!) and have both ended up on soy formula. As babies they both have/had very dry skin/eczema, and also make this wheezing sound (Ev doesn't anymore, just as an infant) and they are both great eaters and great sleepers. The only major difference so far is Sophia's cry - or should I say her wail. She wails louder than any baby I have ever heard! She has quite the temper and I have started to call her "my little Diva" - when she wants her bottle, she wants it immediately and she wails until that bottle is in her mouth as if the world is ending. I don't remember Evan being quite so demanding. She also does not like to take a pacifier, whereas Evan did. I would say Sophia will take a pacifier or as we call it a "fuff" 1 out of every 20 times we try it - in fact, it just seems to set her off even more when she is crying and we try to give it to her. On a positive note, I think I have been blessed with two babies who have the "Rayla Relax". Sophia is a great sleeper so far. For a newborn, she actually does QUITE well at night. We have been able to put her down usually by 9:00-9:30pm and she has been sleeping until about 2am or 3am. She feeds for an hour and then goes back down usually without a fuss, until 6:30am or 7am. Not bad for 9 weeks old! Her fussy time is in the evenings between 6 and 9pm - some nights are worse than others. Some nights she cries inconsolably and no amount of rocking, singing, running through the house, bottle, or pacifier will calm her down. Like last night for instance - after a couple hours of crying (she even denied a bottle) she finally quieted down when I turned on the hair dryer as a last resort. Amazingly, it worked! So there I stood in my room, holding Sophia in one arm and the blairing hairdryer in the other! The things we do for our kids....
Well, that is the 2 month low-down on Sophia. As for that Evan - he is trouble these days! We even had to have him hauled off in a police car the other day. Just kidding of course! That picture was taken at the Rail Trail Family Day in West Boylston last weekend. Ev got to sit in a police car, and also pretend he was driving a trash truck. We had a nice fall walk as a family and Sophia slept in her Baby Bjorn front carrier the whole time. We look forward to many more family hikes outdoors this fall and winter. I will try to post a couple more pictures from Family Day and some videos of Sophia "cooing" in the next few days but I am signing off now to catch some sleep while I can!

More smiles at 7 weeks!

Sophia's 6 weeks old!

A tiny smile....

Bathtime....

Dressed for a fall walk on Lowell Ave....

A couple cute recent videos...

Sophia & Emilia

Grammy Dot with Ev & Sophia

Sophia is 5 weeks old today!

Here is a picture of "Sleeping Beauty" at 5 weeks old! She has changed so much - especially in this last week, it seems. Today I took Sophia to UMASS to have her hip ultrasound - all looked great, no problems, thank goodness! This was a routine ultrasound for breach babies. Evan had to have it done too. I feel so lucky to have two healthy, beautiful children. I cried in the ultrasound room today, because it brought back memories of all of the ultrasounds Jeff and I had during my pregnancy with Sophia - we had so many scared moments, wondering what each ultrasound outcome would be. I still have to pinch myself sometimes when I look at Sophia. I am so thankful that she is here in the world with us - healthy and beautiful. We are so lucky! I will try to remind myself of this at 3:00 a.m. tonight!!! :)

Ev & Emilia

Evan LOVES his new cousin Emilia and the feeling seems to be mutual! It has been so fun watching Evan play with her. He seems to really enjoy not being the only "kid" in the family anymore - Soon enough, Sophia will be interacting and laughing with him too!

Fun at the Playground!

We headed off to the Mayo Elementary School playground the other day - which is where Evan will be going to Kindergarten in two years. Evan really enjoyed himself and told me that he was excited to go to this school someday. Sadly (for me anyways!), that day will be here before we know it! For now we will just enjoy visiting the playground every now and then!

Grammy Dot meets Emilia

Grammy Dot came over for dinner last week and met her newest great-grandaughter, Emilia. We always have fun when Grammy Dot comes for dinner and were lucky to get some nice pictures of her with her granddaughters and great-grandkids that night (the babies were a bit tired and fussy though by the time we got around to pictures, hence the crying faces!!)

The Brits Arrive!

Auntie Meg, Uncle Jamie and Cousin Emilia arrived safely from England. It was so wonderful to see everyone and especially to meet sweet, beautiful Emilia. She is such a good little baby and so very pretty. We have been enjoying our time with them immensely! Here are a few pictures from our first day together.

A few pictures of Sophia at 1 month

Snuggle time!

Mommy's favorite pookies!!

A new addition to Storytime!

Sophia Meets Grammy Dot!

I am a bit delayed in posting these pictures...(thanks for the reminder Grammy Dot!)Two weeks ago today, Sophia met her great grandmother, Grammy Dot. She was dressed in her best party dress and was very well-behaved - she even stayed awake for a good part of our visit! Here are a few pictures from her first visit to Alpha Road.

Saturday Morning Playtime!

This past week was a week of adjustments and "firsts" for all of us. Grandma & Pepere left at the beginning of the week to return home to Florida after being here for 2 weeks. They were a tremendous help to us while they were here - Evan was especially sad to see them go, as they spent lots of time playing together during Mommy's hospital stay and the week after while we adjusted to having our newborn home with us. Needless to say, Evan was a bit shell-shocked after they left, as the reality of having to share Mommy's time and affection set in! (Jeff also returned to work this week, so his playmates went from 4 to 1 (if you can really count me as 1!!). All in all, he has done great and although he gets a bit jealous at times, he really does seem to love having Sophia around and is always planting a kiss on her head when he has the chance! Sophia is doing great - She gained 11 oz. in a week and Dr. Lee was thrilled with her growth - she surpassed her birth weight and weighed in at 8.4 lbs. on Wednesday. She is a piglet like her brother was - drinking anywhere from 2.5oz. to 4oz. every 3-4 hours. She is alert and awake a lot more these days and we love seeing her beautiful blue eyes open! Per her doctor's recommendation, we switched her formula to the Gentle-Ease that we had tried with Evan - she seemed to be overly gassy and fussy after feedings, crying as if in pain. After a couple days of adjusting to the new formula, she is doing fantastic! She seems much happier over all - we went through this same thing with Evan, although we didn't end up switching his formula until he was 2.5 MONTHS old, not weeks! Hindsight is a beautiful thing! Mommy had a few firsts this week too - I was cleared to drive by my doctor, so I drove Sophia to her doctor's appointment alone, and also dropped off and picked up Evan from school with Sophia - and survived!!! And last, but not least - I have to acknowledge that Daddy played in a golf tournament with Mark (Grampy) and they came in FIRST PLACE!!!!! (Coming in first place in a golf tournament was a first for Jeff, not for Grampy - not that really needed clarification!!) His name was in the paper and everything, which we have proudly displayed on the fridge next to all of Evan's artwork! Way to go Daddy! All in all, it was a good week and we are happy to be adjusting to life as a foursome. Here are a few pictures and video clips taken this morning during Saturday morning playtime!

Eyes Open!! Sophia's 9 Days Old

Our first week with Sophia

It's hard to believe a whole week has gone by since Sophia entered the world! We came home from the hospital on Friday and have had a great couple of days at home. Mommy is healing up nicely from her surgery - moving around well, weaning herself off the pain meds, and starting to feel somewhat "normal" again. Grandma & Pepere are here from Florida and have been a tremendous help to us - helping out with the household chores, and especially paying lots of special attention to big brother Evan, while also bonding with their newest grandchild and one and only granddaughter! Nana spent the day with Mommy & Sophia on Monday while the rest of the gang enjoyed a hot summer day swimming at the camp, and she is coming to prepare dinner for us all tonight. We feel so very lucky to have such wonderful help as we make this transition from being a threesome to a foursome! Sophia had her first doctor's appointment today and all went well - Dr. Lee couldn't believe how much she is eating already. She is taking anywhere from 2.5 to 3.5 ounces of formula every 3-4 hours and he said most babies her age are drinking more like 1-2 ounces! She seems to be following in her big brother's footsteps in the eating department - I think Ev was drinking 4 oz. at each feeding the day after he was home from the hospital! In no time at all, she will be eating that piece of steak with us just like Evan was! She is sleeping most of the time, and really only cries if she is hungry. She had her longest period of awake/alert time this morning - 45 minutes or so. She is so pretty with her eyes open. I need to get some more pictures of her with her eyes open. I have had limited computer time over the last week and it seems like every time I sit down to put together a picture album or to update the blog, our computer freezes up and my moment has passed. I am going to try to be diligent about my posts, as I know we have lots of family and friends who are looking for updates! Here are a few pictures for now, and we hope to write and post more in the days to come! Thanks for all the e-mails and phone calls - I haven't had the chance to respond to most of them personally, but we appreciate the love and support we have received from all of our family and friends during this wonderful time - we feel very lucky and blessed.

Welcome Sophia!

It was a big week for the Pelletier Family! Sophia Catherine Pelletier was born on Tuesday, August 4, 2009 at 1:05pm. She weighed 8.02 lbs and was 20.5 inches long! She is very healthy and seems to be a happy and content little baby so far. We are working on sorting through all the pictures and videos that we have taken during her first 4 days of life. Here are a couple for now and we hope to upload more as the weekend goes on! As this picture below shows, Evan is a VERY proud and happy big brother. He loves his new sister and has been so good with her!