If a tree falls in the woods and no one is there ....

I was able to take a break yesterday from working on Job Market stuff, so Christine and I did what we usually do....we went for a walk and looked for birds. We went to one of our normal jaunts, Nine Springs E-way and found that there was a Madison Audubon Society event going on. It was nice to see other birders out and about. Most of them commented on us going birding with two little ones...little do they know. Talking with them is a reminder that you do not have to see rare birds for it to be a success, but seeing something does make it better. We did get many photo opportunities, but I did get a very up close look at a Marsh Wren and a American Woodcock. It was the first Marsh Wren that I could positively identify in the field, so in that sense it was a great walk.

Now to the title....while we were walking we happened to be in the right spot at the right time to witness a squirrel falling 20 feet out of a tree. A squirrel was chasing another, but must have missed a branch on the leap between trees. Christine and I were both completely shocked and questioned what we just saw. The little guy was a bit slower getting back into the tree to look at us afterwards. Hmm, I guess everyone makes mistakes even if it is at something you are good at.

Anyways, on to the kids’ updates since I know that is what everyone is really hoping for. Danielle's head control is improving quickly. While it is still a bit shaky, she will pick up her head to look at you while on her belly. We may are enabling another kid to have sleeping problems, Danielle will grunt and groan until Christine brings her from the bassinet into bed with us. Christine's smell is enough to put Danielle back to sleep.

Michaela is still struggling with words, but is trying to repeat things back to us. Out for a walk she took to Catbird, and repeatedly tried to tell us it was one whenever she heard any bird in the bush. While Michaela still enjoys watching birds fly (luckily there were large flocks of redwing blackbirds, geese, and sandhill cranes), she is more intrigued by airplanes flying overhead.

One Month!

Danielle is 1 month old today...it is amazing how fast the time has went and how much she is changing and well, our lives as well. I was thinking today when we were out as to how blessed we are to have TWO beautiful healthy daughters; I am such a lucky mom.

Danielle is getting bigger, she won't have her next appointment until next month but I know she is doing well. She is getting so much more head control and I am shocked at how often she smiles, though not as a reaction to us, she just seems to smile alot....maybe it just means she is happy :) Danielle is still as talkative as always, a few days ago Malcolm carried both Danielle and Michaela in slings while I got to take pictures and Danielle 'grunted' and 'squeaked' the whole walk which was over an hour.

The thing I do miss though with having two kids though is the time to just hang out on the floor and cuddle and take pictures. We still do it during Michaela's naptime or after she goes to bed, but it is not the same as with Michaela. I sometimes feel like she is getting 'jipped' and is just carried along everywhere and is sometimes left to cry longer or whatever. It is just so different with two kids...I know you mothers out there are saying I've got it easy with only a newborn and one toddler, but it is still new to me and feel bad about it sometimes.

Anyhow, we are blessed and so happy to have our daughters I thought I would get a new post marking Danielle's one month old day and post a picture from today.

Michaela Day!

From Blogger Pictures

I have been enjoying Michaela very much the past few days and I thought I would share a couple of her smiles. Yesterday we all went to a local apple orchard where we also picked some raspberries and Michaela had a blast picking raspberries and eating them and she also stole a couple from the basket when dad wasn't looking :)

From Blogger Pictures

Today was also great because she woke up happy and we just hung out the 3 of us girls, went to the park and enjoyed being together. I am so lucky to be a mom and it is days like today when you choose to look at the good rather than the bad and you are so much happier because of it. If only I could do it everyday.

From Blogger Pictures

Hope you enjoy these few pictures that really made me smile and to let you see Michaela the way I think of her. (I am sure I will soon have a Danielle day as well!)

From Blogger Pictures

3 weeks old!!

Wow, I found myself telling someone that Danielle was 2 weeks old (that is what I had been saying for the last few days) and I realized, hey she is 3 weeks old now! The time has flown by, as it usually does when you are counting weeks instead of months :)

Danielle is sleeping okay but Michaela is testing her limits with her new found freedom of the toddler bed; but she is still on my good side as after she came home from Grandma's and Grandpa's she began for the first time calling me anything other than 'Dada' which Dad is as well. I now have my very own name 'Vava' ... I guess she can't make the 'm' sound yet, but it sounds awesome to me anyhow!!

I am uploading a couple pictures of Danielle that I took tonight to mark her 3 week age. Hope you enjoy!

Aargh!!!

So .........we only thought Michaela was doing well transitioning to her toddler bed. Yesterday she spent over an hour crying and getting out of her bed, instead talking and playing at her nap time. Then last night, she took longer than normal to fall asleep (which is not that big of a deal at just over half an hour), but then she woke up around midnight. It was the first time that she asked for Me when she woke up rather than crying, which should have been a clue.

After trying everything I could think of to get Michaela back to sleep, I gave in and grabbed a pillow to sleep on the floor with her. That worked for about half an hour, then she decided to play and crawl over me. I tried what usually works again and sang way too many verses of American Pie with my hand next to her in bed. My body was shot and was shutting down, I gave up and Christine took over around 4:45. Christine was victorious in getting Michaela to sleep, but only after going in 4 times and putting her back in bed. This was Michaela's worse night since the night before Danielle was born.

Change

During Danielle's first two weeks we were either without Michaela or had family visiting to help with Michaela. The past two days Christine has taken care of both kids alone. She has done extremely well with them, amidst all her worries and concerns. She has already found out there will times that both of them are crying, and has tried to keep Michaela's curiousity satisfied by being busy and doing stuff during the day.

The other major change this past week has been Michaela's transition to a toddler bed, which has gone better than expected. Just like she did with the crib Michaela has started to cry while going to sleep. Having no side has been different for her also, but she has only fallen out a couple of times. She has slept through the night more often then not this past week. This of course is very nice for me, as I get Michaela duty during the night with Christine taking care of Danielle. We think that Michaela has taken to the bed more than the crib, as now she has a choice to get out if she wants to. (Realistically we don't know why though.)

Getting Bigger

Danielle had her 2 week well-baby check yesterday and it went very well. She put on almost 1 lb in 9 days...YEAH, Danielle! She is now 7 lbs 7 1/2 oz.

Last night was the worst yet for Danielle, she spent the whole night uncomfortable and making her grunting noises as usual so not much sleep for mom or dad. Thankfully we got to sleep in as this was the last night without Michaela...she is coming home today!! I am so excited and have been missing her terribly.

We took down Michaela's crib last night and put in a toddler bed for her to try when she comes home. I think we are in for quite a few sleepless nights ahead of us and I am quite worried about it but am hopeful this will help her sleep better in the future. Our little baby is becoming a toddler :}

Nightime Noises

Christine and I enjoyed a movie last night with the sound turned up for the first time since Michaela was born. Usually we are doing something during the day and only watch movies at night, which leads us to have the sound down and subtitles on. Last night though we put the audio through the receiver and speakers and watched "21". Danielle slept through most of it, but heck she sleeps through most everything.

Danielle also loves to talk already. She is constantly cooing and grunting. The first week we had almost none of this and it made for nice quiet nights. With Danielle in a bassinet in our bedroom, her sounds are making it harder to sleep soundly through the night.

Today on the way to school I got into my first accident while riding bike into campus. Another biker was listening to music with headphones and staring down rather than looking ahead and did not hear my warning call to him. He was riding down the wrong side of the sidewalk, and never looked until he could see my wheels while staring straight down. His face was in total shock to say the least, and swerved at the last minute avoiding a head on collision. If I would have thought this could have happened I would have slowed down, but instead I was still riding about as fast as my slow legs take me. I avoided the head on with him, but took the grass, hit a rock and took a spill. Not really much worse for the wear after getting the chain unlocked, a few grass stains and scratches and a couple extra minutes on the commute in this morning. To make things worse (well not really, just different) today is the first day of class at UW Madison. This semester I will actually be taking a class (Medical Ethics) as it is a requirement for the traineeship I am now on. Campus is busier, there are more bikers around, and the huge masses of students walking around between class are back.