30

This weekend, Brandon took me out to celebrate my 30th birthday (which is this Thursday... still 29 for a few more days!). He wouldn't tell me where we were going, but he instructed me to buy a new dress and pair of heels. (Go shopping? Oh, darn.) As we walked outside to go, there was a limo out front! Then we stopped at our friends Doug & Monica's house to pick them up, popped some champagne, and we were off to Mastro's Ocean Club in Newport Beach. The food was incredible and we left with tons of leftovers... except for the butter cake, which was consumed entirely at the restaurant! After dinner we went back to Doug & Monica's for a midnight swim. Aside from moving a bit slowly yesterday, it was a great 30th birthday celebration and Brandon did a wonderful job planning and keeping it a secret!

Happy Girl : 20 weeks

London is at such a cute age, because her personality is beginning to show. For the most part, she is a very happy, easy-going girl... as long as she is fed. And the girl can eat. We've been doing solids for about 2 weeks, and she's had rice cereal, green beans, squash & carrots. She has liked everything and has eaten as much as 4 oz in one sitting, which I think is a lot? I never thought my girl would be bigger (and a bigger eater) than Hudson was, especially since she started out 2 pounds smaller!

London rolled over (back to tummy) for the first time on Friday. She has been so close for several weeks, but she finally made it over. I'm so glad she waited until a Friday so I could be home to see it for the first time! Now she needs to figure out how to go the other way.

Hudson is such a good big brother. He really is so sweet with her. He'll talk to her in a cute little voice and say things like, "London, I love you SO much!" or "London, you are so cute!" And London loves her brother as well. She always has a smile on her face when he is talking to her. I am so blessed to have 2 great kids. As chaotic as life can be at times (like Saturday night when Hudson woke up at 2am, puking for the next 6 hours), I am very lucky.

Cereal

We have ventured into the world of solid foods, starting with rice cereal.  It's been about a week and London is doing pretty well! Some of it actually stays in her mouth, contrary to what these photos show! Once she gets the hang of this, we will start with veggies.

Last weekend, London was super fussy. She was drooling like crazy, sucking on her hands (or anything she could find) and just not her usual, easy-going self. Sounds like teething to me... and this is around the time that Hudson started too. Luckily that only lasted a few days, and she was back to normal toward the middle of the week. Still no sign of teeth, but maybe they move in spurts? Anyway, she's still been sleeping through the night, and the last 2 nights I dropped the dreamfeed and she's slept over 12 hours each night!!

4 months

Hudson & Mommy Date

A little park time + frozen yogurt with my boy.

Operation Round Head

Since she was born, London has favored her left side. When she sleeps, she almost always turns her head to her left, and now she's sucking her left thumb. While her preferences are all fine and dandy, we've noticed she's getting a flat spot on her head. I've heard if you don't correct it soon enough, your baby has to have physical therapy or wear a helmet. A helmet isn't the kind of accessory I'd like for London... so Operation Round Head is in full effect.

Last night I swaddled London with her left arm inside and her right arm out. She wasn't very happy that her newfound left thumb was unavailable, but my plan worked, and after a few minutes her head was turned to the right and she was going after her right thumb. I checked on her a few more times before I went to bed, and her head was still turned right. VICTORY!!

...and then London woke up 3 times throughout the night. 2 of the 3 times she was able to go back to sleep on her own, but she definitely made it known that she was not thrilled with my new plan. But, I'm sticking with it. She will thank me one day when she has a perfectly round head.

Daddy's Girl

That's better...

This weekend went much smoother than last. London got a new jumper, which she loves. She likes to be upright, so she is enjoying her new toy. She's also slept through the night for the last 2 nights. Hudson & I had fun during London's naps: picnic lunch in the front yard, scooter-riding and painting. On Saturday night, Brandon & I had a date night. We ate dinner at Opah. The food was delicious: tuna tartare, prosciutto-wrapped shrimp, salmon + butternut risotto for me and a double-cut pork chop + sweet potato fries for B. Oh, and a couple pear martinis for me (on the rocks... I think I'm the only girl who doesn't like those fancy glasses!) After dinner we got a coffee and browsed the bookstore. It was really nice. Yesterday we had some friends over for a BBQ. All in all, a great weekend!

Parenting is hard.

Life with 2 kids is definitely harder than with 1. Or maybe I should say life with a 3-year-old is tough! Hudson is really smart, and he has such a strong will... which I guess is a good thing, but it is difficult. Yesterday was a pretty tough day, and by early afternoon, Brandon and I were totally frustrated and exhausted. Brandon called his mom and said, "Today's the day. We need your help. We need to get out of this house!" Luckily she didn't have any plans and was willing to come over on the fly and rescue us! We went out to eat at BJ's, had a beer, and of course... talked about the kids (namely, Hudson). Just being able to sit there in peace and have an uninterrupted conversation really helped. (I'm sure the beer helped too. And the pizookie.)

It's funny how things change with the second child. After Hudson was born, we didn't feel the NEED to get out for date nights. We would just open a bottle of wine after he went to bed, eat dinner together, maybe watch a movie... and it felt like good, quality time together. Now we absolutely need to GET OUT OF THE HOUSE. An overnight date may be in our near future...

Broken Camera

14 weeks old, wearing her brother's hand-me-down shirt (not for long, it's so tight!)

got his face painted like a puppy at tyson's birthday party

being silly at school

My camera was dropped a couple weeks ago, which means there are fewer pictures being taken around here. :( London is going to wonder why her 4th month wasn't very well documented! I even got my old camera out as a back-up, and after a day that stopped working too. So while my camera is being repaired, I have to rely on my camera phone to capture the moments.

The last 2 Sundays we have gone to the OC Fair. It was our first time going as a family and we had so much fun! I could hardly get Brandon to leave! They had farm animals, rides, games and of course, LOTS of food! One of our favorites was the Texas-sized smoked turkey leg... that thing was enormous! I had to try one of the deep-fried treats, so I got the twinkie, which was pretty good.

London has been sleeping through the night off and on. A few days ago, I attempted to wean her off the swaddle, so I left her arms out. She woke up twice one of the nights, so I have decided to postpone that plan. Now that I'm back at work, I need my sleep a little more!