Beautiful Girl (beautiful photos)

I am tempted to feel guilty because we already have FAR fewer photos of Rebecca than of Owen...such is life with two under two. BUT...Owen definitely didn't have such beautiful photos for his birth announcement. Our friend Chelsie took these (the photos, and did the announcements...3 options, we chose the 3rd). Aren't they GORGEOUS? (She needs to go into business for herself!)


Rebecca is two months old now (her doctor's appt is tomorrow so I'll have some growth details to share after that). She i such a sweetheart. Her disposition is so sweet and easy. She has started really really paying attention to faces and trying soooo hard to communicate with her face (moving her mouth around, looking like she trying to mimic faces, talk, etc.). She has started cooing some which is sooo sweet to hear. Also, she has started smiling back at faces--actually making eye contact with you and smiling at you. It's awesome. (Incidentally, she smiled at me for the first time about 30 minutes after Owen puked all over me last week when we were all sick...that was a significant improvement in our morning!) Let's see, what else. Oh, she loves getting a bath (a girl thing?)--Owen cried through his baths for what seemed like months! And she is definitely our little snuggler baby. We thought Owen loved to be snuggled up on someone, and he did, but Rebecca seems to like it even more! As far as sleeping goes, she had a rough week last week (we all did) where she was up until 1-2 in the morning, but I think that was an anomoly. She's usually to sleep between 10-12 and wakes up 1-3 times during the night, which is manageable. The crazy thing is that I'm much less "on top of things" when it comes to monitoring her sleeping/eating. With Owen I kept the little log they have you start in the hospital going for 6 months to the day. (Obsessive-compulsive much? Yes!) With Rebecca, I stopped keeping track of it at 6 weeks!!! I'd say that's quite an improvement on my part...thanks darling girl!

1 month stats and the usual

Rebecca is almost 6 weeks old now and starting to really change from the "asleep all the time" newborn to an infant. Her sleeping/eating schedule is still pretty erratic--sometimes she'll go really long stretches at night and other nights she'll be awake and fussy for a good 1-3 hours in the middle of the night. It definitely keeps me on my toes. She (of course) really enjoys sleeping on people (she's laying on my chest right now as I type)! Also, she's been able to take a couple of bottles of breastmilk so I can be gone for more than 1/2 second which is something we never got Owen to do consistently, so we're hopeful!...Overall, she is a really really "easy" baby, very easy to console and seemingly pretty content, all of which is a good thing because Owen (like most toddlers, I think) is pretty high-maintenance!

She had her 1 month check up on the 17th and had the following stats: 21 3/8 in "tall" (50th%), 9 lb 14oz (50-75%). This isn't a bad thing, but there's really not that much to say about her right now. She's just growing and getting more and more alert and awake for longer periods of time. And of course we think she's getting prettier and prettier too! One unique thing about her is that we think she is the squeakiest baby we have ever been around. It takes a lot to get her to cry, but she is constantly squeaking and making sweet little grunting noises (awake and sleep).

Here are the first few (and only) pictures I have taken of her with Owen. When he acknowledges her, he is really sweet to her. He likes to give her kisses, but mostly does it when I ask him if he wants to. He also likes her to join in on his bedtime routine, especially for the prayer, which is really sweet, and is something he decided on his own.




In Owen news, here is a little list I made the other night of stuff he's up to (again, mostly so I have a record of it)...

-He likes to have a towel wrapped around his waste (depending on the length of the towel, this often means his chest) after his bath--he calls it his belt--and he likes to run around the house in it until it falls off, making sure everyone sees him in it (and out of it).

-He likes to lie on his stomach on the floor (preferably w/ Dada) to read books at night night. This is superior to sitting in a chair.

-He likes to put birdseed (with Bee) in the birdfeeder that Bee gave him. The birds, squirrels and other creatures the feeder attracts are great entertainment.

-He's doing lots of "pretend play"--like the other day he put a blanket on his head and told me it was a raincoat. I don't think he's ever even seen (or heard us talk about) a raincoat. And he's always pretending to eat things, like he'll bring me the pepper shaker and pretend to take a drink and say, "umm, good pepper," and then insist that you eat some too.

-He repeats everything we say. EVERYTHING. When we sing him songs before he goes to bed, he repeats the last words of song lines even if he doesn't know the song. And he corrects us when we say things wrong. For instance, if I ask him to bring me his bag, he'll say, "no, a backpack". You get the idea. Oh, back to songs. He definitely has his favorite songs out of our (limited) bedtime repetoire, and one of them is a song we affectionately call "the Bottom Song" becuase I made it up one afternoon when he was very upset because of diaper rash and he wanted me to sing to him so I rambled a bunch of stuff about a booboo on his bottom and medicine to make it all better, all to a non-disctipt toon I made up on the spot. It's pretty horrible as far as songs go, and now he requests it almost daily.

I think that's about it for now...

Chipmonkey and Other Stories

Lots of little tidbits to update "you" on...The pictures are all out of order thanks to blogger and my thoughts are just about as organized so this is guaranteed to be a rambling mess...enjoy!

Owen had his first day of "school" this past Tuesday--something I've been looking forward to a lot, especially after the Open House and meeting his teacher, etc. In short, he did great. He was so engrossed in his room (new toys, new friends--what's not to love?) that he would hardly say goodbye to me (and Kyle and Bee and Rebecca--dropping him off was a family outing). There are 5 other kiddos in his class (2 boys and 3 girls) that we're really excited about getting to know better. I am the "helping parent" for class this coming Tuesday so it will be a real treat to get to observe him (and then) in their new environment. Here are a few photos his wonderful teacher took that day.
Owen says "shool day!" and talks non-stop about one little friend in his class (that I hardly think he has played with, but he likes to talk about by name when asked about his day).
Today was his cousin Bailey's birthday party along with her friend Abby (who shares the birthday). The park was rained out so we were at Luke/Mel's house where the Sesame Street theme was in full force, including some expertly decorated character cupcakes...Owen thoroughly enjoyed eating Grover (isn't that the green one?).
Here is Rebecca sleeping at the party. She is sporting an adorable little outfit that is on loan from cousin Bailey--so sweet!

Here is Owen playing in the yard w/ the hose (again, I know--you'll think it's all we do here). Kyle had the cooler outside to rinse it and Owen decided it was fun to fill up the little cup holders and drink out of them. "Water, cold, ummmm--dood!"
Here is Dada with sleeping (how else?) Rebecca. We have pictures almost identical to these with Owen. They're (O & R) starting to look more alike to me...what do you think?

Here is Owen just chilling in Rebecca's carseat. He really has adjusted well to having her around. He likes to list her among the things he likes...It goes like this: he lists as quickly as he can spit it out the things he likes--"I like buses, I like cars, I like Bee, I like baby, I like milk, I like swim..." it can go on for minutes and often ends with him just naming things around the room. Owen also likes to play "baby game" where I ask him where her fill in the body part is and he points to it and says "right here/there"!
Here's Owen w/Kyle sitting on one of the iconic Arboretum cows...an Austin must-see attraction. He actually wasn't such a big fan at first, saying "Up too high. Ont down now." He didn't mind the Amy's ice cream that followed the cows as part of our little outing.
Another Austin classic--town lake. Bee and I took Owen and Rebecca on their first big-time walk in the double Bob. We even packed a little lunch for Owen (to help him get used to eating out of his very own lunch box like they do at school--at 10:45!). We saw boats, ducks, and lots of bikes and dogs. We'll try to make a habit out of this, but will avoid going at 11:00 on yet another 100 degree day.
This is the "garden" that Owen built with Bee in our backyard. Looks like he shares her green thumb.
Here is Owen's "after" shot from his most recent haircut (actually, more like during)...she took a lot off in preparation for his first day of school. I was a little taken-aback by the loss of the curls, but a week later they're already coming back, whew.
Here is his "before" shot...yowza!
We have it as almost a daily goal to take pictures of Rebecca (and especially of them together--challenge!) but we're pretty much failing on that end. She's such a sweet, content baby and the squeaky wheel (aka Owen) get the grease, as they say...so.

Kyle and I have stopped asking "where did he learn that?" or "did you teach him that" because Owen picks things up from everywhere seemingly all the time...He is our little parrot (repeats everything). He's added a lot more verbs to his vocabulary--I ride, hide, find, swim, chase, eat, drink, want, etc. He's also saying things like "too heavy" and "go real fast". He's also started using a lot of "my" and "yur"--sometimes in a nasty toddler not sharing way, and other times in a cute way, like when he says "my Bee" or "my Nana" when telling them to "no go bye bye"--talk about melting the grandmothers' hearts. It's also handy for taking turns which is proving an effective way to encourage sharing!

Owen has a few new favorite games: hide and seek (several versions)--1) he "hides" in plain sight like in the corner of the room or behind a tree and covers his eyes and laughs hysterically when you find him, 2) he tells Dada to "sit right here," Kyle covers his eyes and Owen tackles him. Not sure why version 2 is called hide and seek, but it is. There is a variation of the latter called "Eat Dada" where Owen "pins" Kyle to the floor and pretends to eat him.

Okay, I think that's about it. Oh..the title of the post: This morning Owen was watching "Wonder Pets" (a top choice on Noggin, behind favorites Diego with his "jawaaaar" and Dora and Boots!) and he told us that the baby animal being saved with a "chipmonkey" (chipmonk). Love it.

Mas Photos

Rebecca is two weeks and two days today...and we probably have 1/100th the # of photos of her than we did of Owen. We're trying, but it's hard! Even worse, I don't think we have a single photo of the two of them together yet...some videos, but those are easier because Owen doesn't have to be still and near her at the same time! Anyways, here are some photos from earlier today.

Time with the hose is always a treat. Especially when (because of the heat and our almost dead grass) the water makes such fun mud puddles to play in!

When life doesn't give you a pool...make one out of a bucket! Ingenious actually--it's not a new thing for him to fill this tub up with water, but today was the first day he decided to climb in and pretend it was a pool. He kept saying "I'm swimming I'm swimming!"

While Owen played with the hose, Rebecca dozed in the shade. So sweet.

Hopefully I'll post again soon with some details about what these two are up to (mostly so I don't forget!) and some videos...but they're both sleeping so that's my cue.

Meet Rebecca Salem

Here SHE is! Meet Rebecca Salem Mezger, born Monday, August 17th at 3:34pm. We think she's pretty perfect. (Note, these pictures are all out of order, thanks Blogger.) She's a real sweetheart and is sleeping and eating like a champ (so far). Bee bought her a rosebud outfit to go home in because Alison was brought home from the hospital in a rosebud dress.

Thanks for the balloons and signs Luke, Mel and Bailey. (There was a huge stork but it flew away.)

Rebecca Salem and her namesake Rebecca Sue (Bee).

Here she is under the blue lights at the hospital--her billirubin was high (jaundice) so they had her sunbathing for the last 24 hours or so.

We're really glad to be home now. Owen likes his baby sister (sitzer) whom he calls "Betza" but he's pretty distracted by being a toddler. He's definitely adjusting (and of course its manifesting itself in bad sleeping habits, etc.) but it's to be expected and we'll get through it.

We've got some really sweet videos we'll post when we get a chance to edit/shorten them. More to come...

SHE's here!

Kyle, Alison & Owen are beyond pleased to announce the arrival of the newest addition to our family--a little GIRL! Her name is Rebecca Salem Mezger and she was born yesterday at about 3:30. Everyone is healthy and happy! She weighed 7 lbs 13 oz, has dark hair, and at this point doesn't look much like Owen did at her age...so we'll see! We'll be home from the hospital sometime tomorrow so we'll get pictures up asap.

"Wake Up!"

One of Owen's favorite games (which he totally made up on his own) is called "Night night". He throws off the big cushions on the couch, lays in the crack and demands that you put all the pillows on top of him while he says "night night". Then you're supposed to say "where is Owen? I guess he went night night" and the he pops up and the whole thing starts over again. This game has been going on for a while. One variation is that he sometimes says that Momma or Dadda have to go night night. We were playing version two the other morning and Owen (to my surprise) yelled, "Wake up!" which I didn't know he could say. But then this afternoon, we realized "wake up" also means (or only means?) "pay attention to me!" because Kyle was sitting on the floor w/ Owen playing with something but he was talking to me and Kyle got in his face and said "Dadda wake up!!!"