Mitchell Farms

Jonathan and I took the kids to Mitchell Farms Fall Pumpkin Patch in Collins last Saturday. Cecilia had a blast!! They were worn out afterward! Daddy took Ceci on wagon and choo-choo train rides while Mommy and Les chilled.

This is what he thought of the pumpkin patch... big yawwwwn.

Lots of folks!!

Yay for the wagon ride!! 

So many to choose from...!! 

Couldn't quite get it off the ground;) 

Daddy helped.:) 

Miss Priss Pot struttin' her stuff... 

Ceci's First Haircut (& Some Drama)

Ok, so the plan was to drop Les off at Mam-ma's then meet Daddy to get a haircut. We went to Daddy's shop since he was getting a trim that day too. Well...that day the bobcat struck again. Cecilia was petting her little brother's head in an "oh-so-nice" way then STRIKE! Again. She scratched his head/face with all five fingers and one ended up in his eye. POOR baby Les. Mommy got very upset. When he got up from his nap, there was a greenish/yellowy discharge from the corner of that eye. GREAT, Mommy thought. Calls into the doc flood (let's be honest; I called the doc as soon as it happened, but they called after his nap - yay - just when I could describe the discharge). Cecilia saw a specialist when she was a preemie (routine retina check-ups for preemies), so I called them. They told me that they would get the doctor back up to the office who had just left... Of course, for me this was good and bad news. Typically, I overreact and call the doctor for ALL questions and concerns (oops), so I thought his office would say to just watch his eye. Nope. They said let's not wait until Monday; we want to see him. Panic. Mode. Set. In. So Mommy dropped C off with Daddy for the haircut, went back and picked up Les from Mam-ma's, then Mam-ma went to the salon to help Daddy. Again, THANK GOODNESS for superstar grandparents who live minutes away. Ahhhhh! Fortunately, Les' cornea was not scratched, and he was just fine. The doctor was shocked at how good he was for the drops and exam. In fact, he said his eyes looked great! He did prescribe some antibiotic drops for that nasty discharge but said he would be alright. I got a little teary at the good news. I would have been very teary at bad news. I guess the sleep deprivation and panic had my emotions running high. AHHHHHH, now Mommy can have a good weekend.

To expand on this before I post pics of the monster's first haircut, I will say that I was RIGHT there when this all happened. I tell myself - Les is going to get hurt by his sister, and people will say "oh goodness, now why did that Mom leave her infant alone with a toddler..." NO, MAAM. I was less than arm's length away. In fact, these fits of rage typically occur when I'm breastfeeding. Of course, Cecilia is starving for attention, and it is difficult. I feel terrible that she's going through this transition and clearly not handling it well. BUT, we have to get through this, and we have no choice but to deal with --- and to eventually like our little brother. Additional problems arise when the toddler, not even two years old, is smart and manipulative. She picks and chooses her times to strike. At times she's nice and at times she's mean... mostly she "plays nice" to get me to react with "Oh Ceci, you're so sweet, Oh Ceci, thank you for being so sweet to Les..." THEN she scratches him. Now, you say, if she always does this then why can't I stop her. Well, every time she approaches her brother, it is hard to say "Stop. No. Go away. Don't touch him." Obviously that isn't a good route either. AND in those moments she changes from nice to mean, I'd have to be a ninja to stop her. I'm so serious. It is lightening fast. I've had to be very consistent and firm with her every time she shows aggression to him or me (or anyone else in the family). It hasn't seemed to work yet (duh), but my hope is that she will soon realize this isn't acceptable. ((Because p.s. about an hour after she attacked him, she came up behind me and pulled my hair and scratched my back)).

My reason for blogging is to use this as their "baby book," but I do know I have a few Mommy readers who comment.:)... And most have multiples. If you have suggestions, THROW 'em out! I realize the closeness in age is a key element, but if anyone has suggestions on ways to combat this behavior, please share!! I've done some reading and all the tricks have failed.

So now for the pics of her haircut... that I missed.:(:( We would reschedule but are taking some fam pics tomorrow.

WAIT, you're cutting MY MULLET? No, I lovvvve my uneven hair!!

 Sweet stylist Mrs. Chris Gaston.

Jonathan has gone to her for years. She tried everything to make Ceci happy. 

Want to hold the comb? Nope. I want my mullet!! 

 Yep. Still not happy. Kind of glad I missed the appointment. HA!

 Even being hand-fed goldfish, Ceci was still skeptical. So glad Mam-ma got there to help!! 

Ok, we have a little bit of a smile after it was all over...

MY GOODNESS... WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO WITH THAT GIRL!!!? 

What?! 2 month check-up already??

Les had his two month check-up last Thursday. Where does the time go, seriously....?! How sad! I can't believe how quickly the time passes. He was a champ, even with his shots. Don't get me wrong, the little man belted out a cry I hadn't heard since the delivery room, but it ended shortly thereafter.:) He has doubled in birth weight and is hovering in the 70th percentile in weight and height. (Cecilia didn't weigh 13 lbs until she was 5 months old!! Now, of course, our sweet girl came into the world at 3 lbs, 5 oz.). Les started out at 6 lbs 7 oz, so I see him climbing the percentile(s) at next visit given he's growing at a quick pace. He's already in 6 month clothes, and we are in size 2 diapers! 

Again, where DOES the time go?! Wow.

Thanks for coming to my appt, Daddy!!

My first pair of shoes!!;) 

And thanks to Maurie Hartel for this super cute outfit...

And Mommy looking... not-so-cute, I'm afraid. What's even worse - this is how I look every.single.day. Poor, Daddy!! Ha!

Our big man!!

Jonathan, Jonathan & Jonathan.

My guys with our wonderful pediatrician, Dr. Jonathan Shook. He's amazing, and we love him and his wife, Susannah.

Couldn't leave without getting a quick pic of his hat with the outfit.:) Of course in South MS, we woke up and it was 46, and by the time we left the clinic it was topping 80 degrees.

Our Growing Man

Les has been "growing to beat the band" as my Mom and late Mama Rosie say. He is 7 weeks today and is close to doubling in birth weight. He is so precious and is really starting to develop a little personality. He will definitely be a strong one, as his sister is still poking, hitting, pulling and scratching. She poked his eye with her thumb yesterday, and I about died. I was right next to her too! She is quite manipulative in combat situations --- she will be sweet for about 5 seconds until I start saying "Oh, Ceci, you are so sweet to Baby Les. Oh Ceci, that's soooo sweet...." then strike goes the snake and in this instance, almost poking his eye out. She is seriously a piece of work. I can't keep up!! Won't be long until he can defend himself.;) Then I'll be in for some real fun. Woe is me!!

As with Cecilia, we have another Duhon family-looking bambino. C's pics looked identical to Jonathan's baby pics... Now, we have another close one. Actually, I feel like he looks more like Jonathan's Dad's baby pics!! Throw me a bone, I tell ya!! I do think Cecilia is starting to look more like me though --- finally.:) Whoohoo!!! Ha.

A few shots from last week...

Me hungry!!!

Sweet smile... He always does this when he sleeps. Dreaming about a candy bar perhaps??

Les -- OR -- Daddy....

Love that Mrs. Roxie found Jonathan's baby outfit for us to try on.:)

So, I think Les looks more like his Papa than his Daddy...???!

Our Queen Cecilia

Well, let's face it - the Queen has been dethroned. Poor thing!! The day we introduced her little brother into the world was the day Cecilia lost her coveted title of "one and only grandchild." And ohhhhh how she still is not liking it. When it comes to Mommy, she is hit and miss --- one minute kissing and patting and the next scratching and pulling. I literally don't leave her for a millisecond alone around Les. Can't!! We want him to survive after all. However, she will NOT, NOT, NOT allow our Moms to hold Les. Lately, we have tried to let Mam-ma (Jonathan's Mom) hold Les 20+ times (probably more), and C throws a complete fit. The crocodile tears flowing... In fact, she points to his Dad and says "Papa, papa," so that Mam-ma will hand over the intruder. Oh, that girl!!

I haven't really posted about how funny she is lately. I mean, how unbelievably cute are these kiddos once they begin talking and actually communicating better?! She's hilarious. A few things that I want to remember:

**She still loves to dance. LOVES. "Oh Mister Sun" being one of her faves. Her dancing and arm motions are priceless, along with her singing.

**She can count to ten surprisingly clearly (but leaves out #4):).

**She tries her hardest to sing the ABC's. We can make out a few consecutive letters here and there.;) 

**She says "whoa dude," "aww man," "all gone" and "oh no!!!" all the time. Most times when I hear "OH NOOO," I really don't want to look... Most of the time she uses this phrase in the correct context!!;)

**She walks around all day saying "Daddy work." Sounds more like "Daddy wok" but so cute nonetheless. Poor thing waits by the door for him to get home. I guess the fact that they go shopping every weekend, do Saturday morning breakfast then last weekend went to the Zoo and Chuck-E-Cheese all the same day has nothing to do with it. Boring ole Mommy, fun ole Daddy. She tells him "shopping." How they start so early!!

**She has finally starting drinking her milk better. At first it was water, a little juice and little to no milk.:( Once Mam-ma starting calling her chocolate milk "coffee," she starting chugging. She saw her Papa drinking his coffee and now she has her own. Whoohoo. She's a "coffee" drinking machine. Of course, I'm a terrible Mom for adding chocolate syrup but sometimes you just gotta' do what you gotta' do!!

**She is getting into everything. One morning I'm fixing my coffee and look over in what I felt was a baby-proofed play room to her standing on top of her mini-table. Not the chair... the table. Fun, fun. Then we move the party to the living room at some point; I look up from breastfeeding, and she's behind the safety gate by the fireplace. So much for that being effective! Next I am pumping late afternoon, and she grabs the plastic parts, pulls up her shirt and starts trying it herself!! OH MY. What am I going to do with this rascal!?! 

Mommy - nothing is coming out??

Catch me if you can... 

**Jonathan's Dad, Papa, thinks C is very mechanical. She is constantly observing and trying to figure out how things work. She focuses well for a child her age. An future engineer on our hands?? I love it because his Dad is a PhD and his Mom taught for years (now retired), so they can not only teach the kids a TON but can assess development for me!! His Mom has her Masters in education, national board certified, awarded Master Teacher... and the list goes on. I'm one lucky Mama to have these in-laws around the corner!! If I had known what I know now, I wouldn't have gotten a Masters in Accounting!! I would have done teaching or nursing. Jeez!! At least those would give me some insight --- debits and credits do me no good!! 

There are SO many other things I can say about Cecilia and how precious she is right now. Below are some fun bath time pics from last night... She loves her "bubbles!!!" Sounds more like "booobles..." 

And they grow up...

When I see little sayings like the one below, I appreciate being a stay-at-home Mom. As much as I feel like going into the office is much more "me," being with my babies is priceless. Yes, I yelled at Cecilia recently for spitting her medicine out (mean Mommy:( ), yes, I get irritated when I walk on a sticky floor or I have to stop in the middle of breastfeeding to prevent my toddler from harming Les (can we say - let's scratch the new baby!!?) ... yes, yes, yes... I have my days. But when I hold my babies, I am thankful. I am happy. I am content. Thanks be to God for these healthy, precious babies. 

Wipe Out!!

Well, Cecilia had her first fall on the playground at Mother's Day Out. Her teacher said she tripped and fell on the concrete, scraping her chinny chin chin.:( Poor baby!! Her teacher said it was made ALL better by popsicles (more than one). This was the morning after, as shown here by her extreme case of bed head. 

And a huge thanks to Mam-ma (Jonathan's Mom) for dropping off and picking up Cecilia for MDO since Les arrived. In fact, she keeps her those afternoons too!! Yay!! It is suuuuper nice for Mommy!! Thanks, Mam-ma!!