Baptism and Goodbye to BFFs

I forgot to post Caro's stats for her 4 month check up! I realize that this has helped keep great record of Xavi's growth...unfortunately I didn't record any stats for him prior to the blog! So I'm making sure I keep this up for both of them now. Caro weighed 15lbs 4oz and measured 25 inches at her 4 month checkup, which was last week.

On Sunday she and her cousin Sofia were baptized - here are some family pictures and pictures of Xavi and Sarai hanging out together before her departure. She and her parents have left and although right now it feels sad and like life won't ever be the same, I'm sure we will meet up soon. Xavi keeps saying that Sarai is not at school because she went on a plane to visit her grandma and grandpa. So sad to say goodbye to our friends.

Checking out the cookies baked by tia Gris. I think they approved.

Kisses all around...?

Changes: some good, some not so good

Caro is 4 months today! Her reflux medicine is working ok and she is on a three times a day schedule. She is still not very fond of the taste and, frankly, she is not symptom free. She is a million times happier than she used to be and seems to have no discomfort but she still throws up a little. Her doc approved rice cereal in her bottle a few weeks ago to help and said once she was on solids it might help her reflux significantly. So we hit the 4 month mark and started rice cereal. The plan had been to start just rice cereal with no pureed fruits or veggies but she wasn't that interested in plain rice cereal (and I was hoping to keep her off a 4x a day Zantac) so I added peas and she grabbed on to that bowl for dear life! I had to practically shovel it in. It could have been because xavi was tugging at her feet and hands almost the entire time but I think the food sits better in her belly (no vomit yet after a meal!)

On a not so happy note, we have been trying to spend as much time as possible with pal Sarai since she will be leaving us soon. Unfortunately for us she has decided to take her parents too.

Xavi has been spending more time with the boys in class recently (and Sarai with the girls) but at their last parent conference we were told that even though they were becoming more independent of each other they still choose each other when partners are required for projects.
He has new friends at school, two he specifically asks about on the weekends, but one has already left the school. The other one will move to the 3-5 yr old classroom when he turns three in July. Chicago's strict rule about turning three by September 1 means he can't start at a real pre-school for another year and he can't move up with his friends either (his daycare receives funding from CPS and must follow those guidelines). We're gearing up for a year without Sarai and applications to 3-4 preschools in the area. Blah. On a happier/funnier note, one of Xavi's favorite friends at school (the one turning three in July) wants to be like xavi so he asked his mom for a "sister like xavi". He asked for money so that he could buy one at Target. And Xavi is so anxious to be like his fellow butterfly classmate that he has decided he will use the toilet after all. We think this is a fair exchange. Plus, "Sarai peepees in the toilet too!" Xavi has peed (sometimes standing up!) or pooped in the toilet more than three times each day this week! His teachers agree that he may have finally gotten over a hurdle!

What a Difference a Weekend Makes! & Happy B-day to Papi

First, the obvious...Happy Birthday to Daniel. We had a cookout for the family on Saturday. It's like everything is new to us now that we have two kids to watch over. So there aren't many pictures because we traded off kid and cooking duty. My sister and her husband were there so that added Sofia to the mix, but Peter went to work on the grill so that saved me!

Then came the cake and candles but who could think of a camera with that gorgeous chocolate cake in front of us...Xavi especially had a hard time focusing on anything other than his plate. It's not like he even eats much of it but for those few minutes nothing else exists.
Here is a picture of my monkey boy. He will climb anything he sees and then try to jump off of it as well. Recently, he walked up to the top of the stairs and yelled down to Daniel that he was going to "jump now". EEEKKK!!! Daniel convinced him to walk back down and jump from the second to last step instead.

Here he is being sweet to his sister. He loves to pose with her and then tells us to take pictures of them...then he says "lemme see"

She looks a little sad in these pictures that were taken earlier in the weekend and it makes me sad to see them now too. She's so good about so many things. Yes, we sleep! I think it's safe to say that since we brought her home she only wakes up once after going to bed. We didn't want to jinx this, since even now Xavi can still wake up once a night! But she goes to bed between 7:30 and 8pm and wakes up once between 1:30 and 3:30am and then doesn't wake up again until 6 or 7am. Some days (like today) she wakes up at 5pm...because of the other problem she has. Meaning she doesn't have a sleep problem but instead she's been battling some serious reflux and we finally came to our senses about putting her on meds (she seemed too young to us...) PLUS, as we like to say over and over again, we have paid the sleep deprivation dues!

SO DRUM ROLL PLEASE!!!! Here is my beautifully happy, zantac-uped, daughter at the end of the weekend. She has never smiled so much. It truly makes me cry with joy to see these pictures. I hope she only gets better. This am wake up call at 5 was due to reflux, I think. She's on a twice a day schedule, will she need to move to three times a day??? We'll see.

She looks like a person

We're noticing that Caro's face is starting to look less like every other infant and more like her own person. She also has better control of her hands these days. The other day she pushed her pacifier out of her mouth and it landed on her chest. She looked at it and deliberately picked it up. I truly thought that I might not be as excited about these milestones with baby number two but that is totally not the case. I am in awe of everything she does. It's great fun to watch her delevop and to watch Xavi develop a friendship with his sister. He is DESPERATE to play with her recently.

She's still a serious girl most of the time. It may be because of her reflux. Poor baby has some good days and not so good days. I think she may have to go on medication for it to relieve her discomfort and to stop the vomiting. She is also a little more than 15 weeks now and we're planning to start cereal soon - maybe that will help with the reflux?

And I can't resist posting some pictures of her cousin, Sofia, who is also looking like a (super cute) person. She has already had her first haircut! Her hair is similal to Xavi's in how long it was at this age. Caro has lost a bit of hair along the sides of her head, but the stuff on top is pretty long now. I call it her Trump comb over.