Second-Child Syndrome

Callie is officially 3 months old today, and while we love her just as much as Sadie, there just hasn't been enough time to keep a "diary" of her growth like we had with Sadie.  Besides the obvious fact that Sadie consumes A LOT of our time, the rest of our time is spent just "staying afloat" caring for Baby Minn #2...who has surprisingly been more of a challenge to us than Sadie was the first time around as new (rookie) parents.  In just these first few months, Callie has been to almost as many doctor's appointments as Sadie had in the whole first year!  We are nearing the end of the bumpy path and on to smooth sailing....I hope!

At 3 months Callie:
- weighs >15 lbs (not sure on the exact weight, but a few weeks ago she was already 14 lb 12 oz, this is in stark contrast to Sadie who was <14 lbs at FOUR months)
- is on zantac (ranitidine), which is an acid reducer for her GERD.  It took a few weeks to stabilize, but it seems we are on the right track as far as helping to decrease her discomfort.
- likes her soothie pacifier
- has taken daddy's place on mommy's bed
- drinks about 4 oz of milk every 4 hours
- is a very light sleeper....longest stretch yet has been 6 hours one time only, and she only did this because Grammie was carrying her THE WHOLE TIME.  Normal for her is about 3-4 hours, with 1-2 brief awakenings in between.
- loves when you talk to her, she is a big-time talker....she might be part podagee :)
- hates tummy time
- barely fits 6 month clothes
- gets lots of compliments on her bushy, dark eyebrows
- daddy says her name should have been "Carrie (Carry)" instead of "Callie" because she constantly wants to be carried!
- spends a lot of time, even sleeps in her car seat (since it's at an incline, which helps with her reflux)
- can be described as "sensitive, needy, & cuddly" -- I'm predicting this will be my shy girl that cries on her fist day of pre-school, unlike big sister who just jumped right in head first!

Sadie's First Dental Check

Awesome is an understatement....Sadie did spectacular at her first visit to the dentist, which I was a little more than anxious about.  I have to admit though, I cheated....I asked Grammie to come with us :)  At each step in the journey to the dentist, Sadie was a star.  She was ultra cooperative...from the car ride, to the elevator, to the 10 minute wait in the waiting room, to the exam room, and finally to the examination by the dentist.  The nurses were impressed with her cheery personality and her bravery.

Very Merry Christmas

Christmas came and went in a flurry....with parties on the 23rd, 24th, and on the 25th, it was a crazy and fun few days.  On the 23rd, we went to the annual Xmas party at Aunty Alice's house and got to see a real life "Hawaiian Santa."  The whole Santa experience was great, as we watched Sadie wait patiently with excitement in her eyes for her name to be called....at one point, I think she became worried (as she was one of the last to be called)...and she looked back at me with a sad face and said "where's Sadie's one?" :)  So cute. When she finally heard her name, she went up to Santa without hesitation and made everyone laugh when she started lifting up her dress and showing her diaper (sign of nervousness I guess).

Since daddy had to work on Xmas day this year, we decided that Sadie could open a few gifts on Xmas eve with us, take some to the Yamashita's house to open with her "big brother and sister, Chase and Pepe" on Xmas day, and the rest she could open the day AFTER Xmas.  It worked out well, but next year I don't think she'll be too happy about waiting that extra day!

Grammie & Callie

Braden & Callie

Munchkins - ready to open presents

Paisley - into Barbies this year

"I'll help you Chase"

"Uncle...help"

Calling daddy with her Minnie Mouse phone

Princesses! (from Grammie & Gramps)

Pillow racer! Thanks Aunty Diane and Aunty Tricia

Callie - sitting this year out

The Grand Finale....Barbie Dream House!

Yamashitas w/ all their presents...

Sadie thought it was her presents too and insisted on taking a pic as well

Aunty and Callie

26th...opening w/ Daddy

All done...Merry Christmas 2012!

November / December 2012 pics

Sadie - 2 years old "Friendly Bears" class

Insisted on going to see Santa, but as you can see....all she changed her mind when we got up close and personal

Happy as can be 

X-Mas shopping

Big & Little Sister outfits from Aunty Kara 

Aunty Jenn sent this picture with caption "Sorry, couldn't get a nice pic because she was getting mad that I wasn't pushing her!"

Great-grandpa & Callie

Senioritas - outfits from Mexico from Grandpa Minn

The Minn Girls

Callie's 2 month check up

I reached the end of the rope after last night's crying sessions and sleeplessness for both Callie and I.  I finally decided: this is NOT normal, something is going on with her.  Her calm demeanor started to diminish about 2 weeks ago, when she turned 6 weeks old.  According to the internet, however, this is the age of "peak fussiness" for most babies, so I assumed it was just a stage.  Her symptoms were non-specific, but included: wanting to be carried around the clock, specifically in an upward position (over the shoulder), crying spells lasting hours upon hours (especially around bedtime), drooling, gassiness, hiccups, and just overall fussiness.

After some research on Monday, I diagnosed her as having colic.  I made a trip out to the mall and bought some simethicone gas drops and colic gripe water.  Within minutes....the treatments seemed to work wonders, as her cries turned to coos....and we were thrilled!  This was a one trick pony, however, because the next day the fussiness returned (but not as bad).  

Over the next three days, the symptoms seemed to be escalating again, and I was suspecting she had reflux.  Her cries started to sound like she was actually in pain and one night her voice became hoarse from crying so darn much!  She also started gagging during some feedings and would only drink an ounce or so of milk at a time.  The most worrisome symptom was her coughing herself awake and then gasping for air once she awoke.  After seeing this...I moved up her 2 month check up appointment to today and it literally took less than 1 minute for the doctor to confirm that she has reflux.  (She noted the bubbly saliva, watery eyes, and she could also hear her "swallowing" a lot after each hiccup).  The diagnosis was actually a relief, because I was worried the doctor would tell me "it's just the age, the fussiness is normal."  So she is now going to take Pepcid to reduce the acid and heal the esophagus, which is probably very irritated and raw.

Other than that, (lol), Callie is perfectly fine!  She is tipping the scales at 12 lb 10.9 oz (85%!!) and measured 23 inches long (80%).  {Sadie was 11 lb 2.4 oz, and 24 inches}  Because her growth is so good, the doctor is not worried at all about this acid problem.  The plan is to take it for 2 weeks, then see from there if she needs to continue (until she starts solids).

*On a side note: today was one of the craziest days....while I was talking to the doctor about Callie....my phone was blowing up.  After we were done, I saw Sadie's school and Vail were both calling me.  Apparently, Sadie has green boogers and some blood streaks in her nose, so they wanted us to pick her up.  Obviously, I had my hands full (can't believe the timing....all 3 grandparents are off-island) so Vail left work, picked Sadie up and headed to the doctor as we left the doctor and were headed home.  Sadie ended up being fine, and actually the doctor recommended we take her to the beach to clean out all the junk in her sinuses (since she STILL does not know how to blow her nose).  Right now, I'm enjoying a few moments of peace as both girlies are sleeping (this must be the calm before the storm!)....gonna be a long day and even longer night by myself once they awake!

Gobble gobble...Thanksgiving 2012

Paisley, Chase, and Sadie had a "We are Thankful" luncheon at school.  Luckily, daddy was able to run away from work for awhile to see the performance and enjoy the turkey lunch.  Although Sadie did not really sing the song (but we could hear Paisley loud and clear!), she did stand nicely in line and seemed to enjoy the attention.  She was also very proud of the turkey that she made (using an outline of her hand as the feathers, and her foot as the body).

Sadie's Parent Teacher Conference

It's so strange....to have a parent teacher conference for a two year old preschooler!  It was really neat though, to hear about Sadie's behaviors from an outside perspective.  She had nothing short of rave reviews from her teacher, Miss Mika, who used word such as: confident, comfortable, thorough, playful, happy, energetic, and social.  She showed us a few of Sadie's drawings and paintings and pointed out some details from that demonstrate these characteristics.  For example: the drawings were large, and covered most of the area of paper --> confidence, the crayon impressions were dark --> also confidence, she used 2 sides of the paper --> thorough, detailed.  Miss Mika also told us what we already know about Sadie, which is that "you will know when she wants to do something and when she doesn't want to do something."  Interestingly, however, at school she doesn't throw tantrums or cry like she does at home, instead, she tells Miss Mika she "doesn't want" or "no."  Finally, Miss Mika did come up with 2 areas for Sadie to improve on: 1) Running in the classroom 2) Potty training.