loulou:: 4 months

Age: 4 months
Weight: 15.5 lbs.
Length: 25.5-26 in. (you were kicking a lot when i measured you.)
Size: 3-6 month clothes… i have put you in outfits/clothing items that suit the season and are sized larger, but, they are baggier on you than they were on charlottes.; size 2 diapers
Eyes: dark/bright blue.
Hair: coming in a little thicker... your eyebrows are so light i think you might be fairer than charlottes.
Teeth: you are definitely working on them, gnawing on anything available
Nicknames: your aunty lealea calls you, "my other 'L'"
Sleeping: doing ok... normally you wake around 2 or 3am for a feed, then sleep until 6am, but, you have fought two colds this month, and need to nurse more in the night
Naps: you are beginning to settle into a routine, with a short morning nap (around an hour?), long nap in the afternoon when charlottes. sleeps, and a little catnap an hour before bed
Eating: milk
Movement: you really want to sit up. you are very intentional about grabbing for things even though you don't have the grip to accommodate your desire quite yet... you want everything in your mouth (quite often, your fingers are a happy choice, though you haven't yet settled on favorites.)... you are also beginning to practice rolling over.
Milestones: you took a bottle! we left you for an evening and had our bebe.sitter, sara, put you to bed. you took your first plane trip to alabama with mommie and charlottes.!
Outings: winter has arrived BC so we weren't doing a lot before we traveled south, but, we did go to the zoo whenever the weather was nice. mommie shot a wedding in kelowna, BC, and you and daddy tagged along for that.
Favorite toys/activities:  you love the crunchy taggy blanket, anything you can chew on, and stuffed animals you can cuddle. you love cuddling, and enjoyed being held by all your alabama relatives, and rocked by aunty lealea.
Words/sounds: you have become increasingly vocal, especially in the late afternoon... you have lots to "say" if you are unhappy, too.
Memorable moments: introducing you to uncle charley/aunty rachelle/brenlie/scarlett, mawmaw, aunt marty/uncle bob, aunt carrie... and aunt beth (a hilarious-yet-pitiful moment, where you frowned and cried upon seeing her, a first for you.)

you are laid-back and happy to be wherever we are… it’s so much fun to see your personality develop.

loulou:: 3 months

Age: 3 months
Weight: 13.5 lbs.
Length: 25.5 in.
Size: 3-6 month clothes, which you fill out quite nicely now; size 2 diapers
Eyes: dark/bright blue.
Hair: cradle cap cleared up throughout the month, you now have a bald spot on the back of your head
Teeth: none, but, you are drooling quite a bit these days
Nicknames: i often call you “little lady”, wee bebe., and loulou-grey or loulou-greys.
Sleeping: at 10.5 weeks, you started sleeping through the night (7pm-6am)! this lasted 2 weeks J. you are awake when i put you in your crib, after i nurse you at night, and you go to sleep.
Naps: we are still unscheduled… you generally settle for a nap while charlottes. has her nap, if i lay down with you. i am hoping to get you used to napping without mommie.
Eating: milk
Movement: you easily hold your head up while on your tummy, looking around. you lay on your back and play with your jungle gym, and will reach for your owl music box in your crib and pull the cord to play music! when i put you in your bouncer, you curl up and try to sit up farther.
Milestones: sleeping through the night was pretty incredible.
Outings: you went to your first canadian rally championship in merritt… we went on a few fun outings while uncle simon/aunty karla/JB were in town, but, haven’t done a lot of outings in the past month due to charlottes.’ potty training at the beginning of the month.
Favorite toys/activities:  you really like your jungle gym right now. you watch charlottes. and follow her every move, smiling at her when she comes close. you enjoy it when i put lotion on you, rubbing your feet and hands, especially
Words/sounds: you laugh more now, but, you don’t laugh a lot. you try to talk to us sometimes… you wait to make eye contact with us and smile so big, then sometimes coo at us
Memorable moments: introducing you to your aunties ruth and rachel, uncle simon and aunty karla, and cousin, jensen!

loulou:: 2 months

Age: 2 months
Weight: 12 lbs.
Length: 24.5 in.
Size: 3-6 month clothes; size 2 diapers
Eyes: Blue, growing bigger and brighter by the day.
Hair: growing nicely… you had cradle cap for a couple of weeks but it seems to be going away now. i put olive oil on it each night, and comb it throughout the day.
Teeth: none
Nicknames: i call you “loulou bear” sometimes. i’ve been calling you ‘’piggy’’ this week, since now that you are no longer lacking in good, hearty chub, we can’t call you a mouse.
Sleeping: you slept a 7 hour stretch two nights ago! you seem to be establishing a bedtime for yourself around 7:30-8pm every night., have a couple of early morning feeds, and wake around 6am.
Naps: after morning breakfast[s], you usually settle for a longer stretch of sleep, then have lots of periods of wakefulness throughout the afternoon/evening until you fall asleep for the night. nothing is scheduled during the day yet.
Eating: breastmilk, and loving it still!
Movement: you are much stronger in a month’s time. you can hold up your head really well. i can carry you around without your head falling down [i still support your little neck.]. when in your bouncy chair you will bat at the little toys hanging in front of you. you snuggle with me and seem to make intentional movements of affection toward me when nursing or just being held [kissing, stroking, etc.].
Milestones: you smiled a couple of days before you were 5 weeks, at grandy, mostly! you are very smiley, now. you laughed out loud at 8 weeks to the day, at me.
Outings: you definitely went out much more this month! it is becoming easier to take you places… while mimi and grandy were here, we went to the fort in ft. langley, then again last week with aunty sarah and uncle jeremy and your cousins. we also drove to the top of mt. baker as a family, a tradition started when charlottes. was your same age. i had two appointments this month  to which you accompanied me; today’s was the dentist and two women on staff held you while I got my teeth cleaned.
Favorite toys/activities:  you love people in your face, talking to you. you like your bouncy chair with little lamb and owl. you enjoy doing sit-ups, with mommie holding on to your hands and pulling you up. you prefer sitting up to laying down when you are awake.
Words/sounds: laughed a few days ago… you want to interact so much! you hold up your head sometime to look at me and coo. you sometime rub your face on my chest while i hold you, making a happy, high pitched, hum/squeal sound.
Memorable moments: introducing you to your gran and grandad, aunty sarah and uncle Jeremy and cousins, watching charlottes. really hold you for the first time. witnessing your milestones. we went for our first sushi outing with you a couple of weeks ago and introduced you to the sushi chef at the mission sushi restaurant we frequent. he met you excitedly and pronounced your name “rourou”.

loulou::1 month

this is not an original idea. thanks to pinterest, i discovered a photographer mom with a brilliant method for keeping up with her son's development. i thought this would simplify some to the record-keeping i want to do as a mom... i haven't been as good to do this for charlottes., but, i'm going to start documenting more of what she is saying and doing in a similar fashion.

Age: 1 month
Weight: 9lbs. (gained 19.5oz in 14 days!)
Length: don’t have a current measurement… 20.5in at birth
Size: 0-3 month clothes; started wearing size 1 diapers today
Eyes: Blue, and a little crossed since they don’t focus well yet. So cute.
Hair: You were born with angelic, shiny blonde hair, about a ½ inch long… it has grown some this month.
Teeth: none

Nicknames: LouLou, Louisa-Greys., the loulounator, loulou lime, and louritto [when swaddled and resembling a burrito.]
Sleeping: knows nighttime from daytime… sleeps well with noise around… has a long stretch in the morning, shorter naps throughout the afternoon/evening, and a longlong stretch at night. I am still pretty sleep deprived because we have an hour nursing stretch around 3am then our morning starts around 5am, nursing, then getting up with charlottes… you prefer to sleep on your tummy, but, unless you are closely monitored, i put you on your side.

Naps: throughout the day [see above]. nothing scheduled as of yet.
Eating: breastmilk, and loving it.
Movement: you are a mover… like to be put on tummy; you try to kick and hold head up. When being held, you hold up your head and look around some, bobbing lots.
Milestones: being born! nursing.
Outings: first outing with just mommie and charlottes. was to mail some things at otter coop; you slept the whole time… first outing as a family of four was to Krause berry farm w/ aunty karla and JB… first time out just the four of us was to get ice cream in ft. langley one evening; you had to nurse while we were at both of those places.
Favorite toys/activities:  eating and sleeping, being swaddled, being talked to and kissed!
Words/sounds: we call you “snorts” sometimes because it tends to be something you do a lot. You get hiccups a few times a day. You coo and grunt… your cry is louder and more intense than charlottes. was; i wonder if you are particularly passionate.
Memorable moments: one moment, memorable for being scary, was your first night home. You choked on mucus and didn’t breathe for about 15 seconds. Daddy and I were starting to get very concerned ‘til you coughed out the flem and proceeded to burp a bunch… sort of heart-stopping for a few moments. There’s so much in your first month to remember!! The first time we saw your face, found out that we had another girl (just what we wanted!), when charlottes. met you in the hospital, introducing you to many friends and loved ones. Mimi and Grandy and LeaLea have been here a week and it has been wonderful to watch them enjoy holding you.

personal:: may goal recap

May:: 

may was a long, hard month... i'm sure the fact that charlottes. was sick the first week of the month, then waking up multiple times in the night for nearly the entire month, made it that much more difficult. it was sort of an arduous finale to her second year with us; celebrating her birthday was that much more wonderful, as was the discovery of three new molars on her second birthday, which helped explain the lack of good sleep!

we got tons of gardening done this month. i worked outside quite a bit while the weather was nice [this week is rainy again!], weeding as much as a nearly-eight-month-pregnant girl can... there's still tons to do, but, it's been fun doing outdoor projects together, tending the flower beds, mulching, etc... marks. built charlottes. a sandbox, which was the hit of her 2nd birthday party [the theme was "breakfast with charlotte!"... it was hilarious to have 10 little ones playing in the sandbox together in their pajamas.]... we built a fire pit, too, and look forward to enjoying that together through the summer...

in addition to what got done below, i finally got around to taking the little fox to the vet, and got his city dog tag updated since our move last july!

also, marks. got me an iphone, which has been a fun companion during all of the may happenings and daily live stuffs... i look forward to sharing some favorite instagram images soon!

here's a rundown of my list::

Personal::

run/walk 4x week
drink 8-10 glasses of water daily
have a sweet treat once a week [and no other time] (don't think i stuck to this as well as i could.)
run the run for water 5k on the 27^th (this didn't happen because i missed packet pickup the day before. i really needed that nap after charlottes.' birthday party... but, the registration money went toward a good cause, and i am still going 5k when i exercise, so, there you go.)
plan/execute/host charlottes.’ 2^nd birthday party
spray paint bed and do bedding for charlottes.’ “big girl bed”
repaint chest of drawers in dining room
host one art night at my house
take charlottes.’ “smimmin” 1x week (we went swimming OR to the zoo at least once a week, so, i am counting both as fulfilling this goal.)
find/buy a used pack ‘n play
find/buy a used little tikes slide
find/buy little dresser for play kitchen (we decided not to make one and borrowed one instead!)

 find/buy dresser for bebe.03 or tv stand
sew pillow covers for living room
keep potted plants alive
post april pics to facebook
write thankyou notes for my birthday (which was in march!)

read "shepherding a child's heart"

grow bebe.03 [that way, if nothing gets marked off above, at least i have something to account for it!]

picture((me))foto::

edit all outstanding photoshoots
shoot 3 sessions, minimum
update main slideshow on website w/ recent work
register business name (got started on this. long overdue.)

i'm probably not going to bother with sharing june goals. there is a lot going on right now and a lot being accomplished. i'm wrapping up work and will not be scheduling sessions in july. however, i will try to blog some more when i can...

just going to finish this off with a shot from charlotttes.' 2nd birthday party... i'm so incredibly blessed to be her mommie.