Sunday, April 29, 2012

 Another week flew by!

Here's a glimpse at Danika's week...

Counting her stickers! She's been (occasionally) using the big girl potty,  letting us change her diaper (most of the time), following directions and doing her jobs, so she's very proud of her accomplishments:)

Daren continues to be busy planting corn- looking forward to when we get to see him for more than about an hour a day! We were lucky enough to have daddy home before bedtime a few nights this week, so he is the best at reading books at bedtime and saying our prayers! 

I think Danika was reading and singing to Daren to put him to sleep!

We got outside (at least 1 day this week!) and Danika enjoyed painting the deck...amazing how entertaining water and a paintbrush can be:) 


A big milestone for Danika this week was her 1st haircut!  She's had some 'stranger danger' fears the last few months so I prepped her all day long for the cut and told her about how Georgia cuts my hair too and I get to sit in a big chair and look in the mirror, and that she would get a sucker too- but I was still nervous when we got there...She was really SO good; very quiet and calm as she was taking it all in, but she enjoyed it, especially when we pulled the sucker out! 




"CHEESE" enjoying my sucker and my new haircut...No one except Daren and I will even notice her hair cut- It was just getting a little wild and she was starting to get a mullet so we just took a little bit of length off the back and trimmed the front- no hair cut will help her unruly frizzy curls though:) 


We ventured out to the library this week to get some new books and play. Every since we got a "How do Dinosaurs..." book, Danika has been very curious about them, so she spent most of her time playing in the Dinosaur dollhouse! 




And a glimpse at Haddie's week...

She had quite the shift in personalities this week- not just day to day, but hour to hour. She is getting more interested in looking and listening and is happy a lot of the time:



I even kind of was able to snap her smile on camera as she was cooing at me!  



But she has also fully developed her 'fussy time' as they call it. People always throw around the world 'Colic' and I doubt that is truly the problem, but she definitely is fussier than Danika- usually every night from about 5pm to 9pm you can find her like this...

I always feel horrible when there is nothing I can do to comfort her, but I know eventually it will pass. I also know that the tough times during the day are a thousand times worth it for the happy times we have and the blessing and gift of this beautiful little girl:)


Lots of Love!
Daren, Jamie, Danika & Haddie

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

To reward or not?!?! That IS the question!

I always have good intentions of posting on Sunday's...then Mondays...well, this week it's a Tuesday:) Keeps the surprise element of when you'll see a new post right?!?!
Anyway, we have a lack of pictures to share this week, but certainly not a lack of activities...we continue to keep busy around here!

Danika continues to test mom and dad, but adores her baby sister. At least she doesn't hate all of us! Her new favorite thing (this week anyway) is to read books to Haddie...we read her books SO many times throughout the days and nights that she has just about all of them memorized- I hope to get this on Video one of these days soon and post it for you to hear her reading to Haddie, or even to herself (I'm not sure I can trust leaving them alone together while I video tape though!)



The rest of the photos for the week were taken on my phone so they aren't the best quality, but they are a glimpse at the week.
A little background before I share Danika's activities...
As a teacher I am always reading and being reminded about the notion that rewards do not work, do not last, and do not intrinsically motivate children to do good on their own will. So because of this, rewards are not typically a way I run my classroom management. Well with parenting, I've had to throw that idea out, at least for the time being. I'm no longer looking at it through my 'professional educator' lens, but rather my 'desperate mother' role.
So last week we decided to start a sticker chart with Danika for good behavior. The little things that she's been having a tantrum about (getting her diaper changed, getting dressed, picking up toys, brushing her teeth, basically anything mom asks her to do!) she gets to put a sticker on her chart if she does them without much fuss. We talked about her 'rewards' if she earned so many stickers.
On Tuesday, if she earned 5 stickers she got a date with mommy at the library that evening for 'Storytime with Dora'.
Of course I don't want to set her up to fail, so she had a great day and LOVED her special Dora time.

Making a Dora door hanger... 

Taking a (blurry)picture with Swiper
She kept saying "No swiping Swiper!!!" during the middle of story time. If you aren't familiar with Dora, they say that phrase in every Dora book or movie because he's always trying to steal things... it was hysterical to hear her get so into it! 

On Thursday, if she had filled her chart up to 10 stickers we got to have playtime at the sports center. She was successful so off we went to play!
She LOVED it! She jumped, and jumped, and jumped, and ran and jumped, and rode bike, and kicked balls, and jumped some more! 




So far, it seems to be successful, at least for now. When she does earn a sticker, she wants to put about 5 on her chart,which then makes her a little angry if she doesn't get too, so maybe that part of it is above her head at this point, but I think she's at least getting the main idea! Some days it works, other days she could care less about her stickers, but this mama is willing to give it a try for now!

We also went to a wedding and Danika was a dancing machine- of course we did not have a camera or phones with any reception, so we did not get her mad moves caught on tape, but she was fun to watch:) She also came to support and watch me run my 1st 5K in over 9 months! It felt great to run again and the best part of the whole race was seeing her smiling face down the home stretch clapping and yelling "yeah mommy!"

Haddie is doing great! She continues to fill out and gain weight so we know she is a healthy eater:) She is having more awake time and is really starting to coo and smile, which is so fun to finally get to interact with her a little bit.

That's all for now...Have a great rest of your week and we'll try to be on time with next week's update:)

Love, The Dummers
Jamie, Daren, Danika & Haddie


Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Where Did The Month Go?!?!

Here's a peek at a typical day at our house...

Danika can usually be found doing some kind of 'activity'. She loves to play with playdough, color, create, and paint!

 
Although Haddie has had much more awake time lately, she still likes her naps, and can usually be found snoozing either in my arms or in her swing. 


And even Sophie enjoys having us home- can't you tell?!?!
She love her naps too:) 


Danika continues to want to be a helper with Haddie (sometimes too much) but we'll take that over being mean to her! She loves to help me give Haddie a bath...she pulls up a chair and waits patiently for her turn!


Of course she's still Daddy's helper too...every night when Daren gets home she asks (after watering the tree:) if they can feed the birds, so that's their usual routine. We've been getting some beautiful birds by our window feeder and Danika gets so excited when she see's them! 


On Sunday evening Grandma and Papa Dummer and great grandma came over and brought us supper. Of course Danika enjoyed the chocolate pudding and chips the best!


We officially have a 1 month old!
In some ways the last month has felt like 6 months, as we try to adjust to our new normal, but overall it has flown by and Haddie has already grown and changed! She is her own little person and we are so in love with her:)
I've been telling you about all the weight she lost and howI wa so happy when she finally got back up to her birth weight...well don't feel too bad for the little peanut- at her 1 month checkup yesterday she weight 9 lbs 15 oz, just 1 oz shy of 10 pounds!!! I knew she has gained, but I was a bit surprised! That's great news to know that she is finally getting enough to eat though. For her height and weight she is in the 75th percentile, meaning that 25% of kids her age are taller and weigh more, and the rest are shorter and weigh less. She is about the same as Danika was with her weight, but she's taller than Danika was at 1 month.
Everything else went great at her checkup...no shots until next month!

Here's a few 1 month pictures of Ms. Haddie- of course Danika had to get in on a few too! She's laying on her quilt that Grandma Lynn made!




(So crazy to see how big Danika is compared to Haddie-
Amazing how fast they grow and change in 2 years!) 



Here is Danika at 1 month old...

And Haddie at 1 month old...
(They definitely are different kids!)




And to end the blog...a glimpse at our week via instagram photos:)

Danika LOVES her new wagon (thanks to the Percy's!) we have gone up and down the sidewalk SO many times! It will get lots of use this spring and summer... 





Have a great Week!
Love,
The Dummers

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Surprise...another post!

I forgot I had a few pictures on my phone I wanted to share from the week as well:) I have a new app. called Instagram and I'm addicted to it! It lets you edit your photos with different types of lighting...the only problem is I have an OLD original version of the iphone so my photo quality isn't the greatest, but these were too cute to pass up sharing:) Enjoy!

"I said CHEESE mom!"


The best photo of the week...sisters:) 


Dad and Danika enjoy what else, but beef sticks and cheese:) Not in the picture because it's being shoved in Danika's mouth at the moment the picture was taken! 


Visiting with Grams and listening to her read Danika story after story... they could have sat there all day long and read stories together I think! 


(Daren won't be too happy about the less than flattering pictures of him I'm posting, but the moments were too cute to pass up!)

Taken at about 2am...After I feed Haddie, I usually go pump etc... and Daren's job is to swaddle her up and either put her in the bassinet or sit up with her if she needs to burp. On this particular night he decided to leave her right next to him and their heads just kind of melted into each other as they both zonked out! 


What an "egg"citing weekend!

We have all been busy bees around the Dummer house the last few weeks!
Daren has been swamped at work getting ready to plant the corn, as well as prepping and priming his lawn for the season:) Of course, he has a little helper attached to his hip! Every night when he gets home Danika asks him "Water tree Daddy?" So they go out together and water our newest tree.


Danika has been busy adjusting to life as both a big sister and a 2 year old. She has gotten a little bit better for us (that, or we are just getting more used to her new attitude!) Not quite as many tantrums anyway! She is obsessed with her babies though....and they have to do everything that Haddie does, which is cute, but also something I have to watch closely. She wants to take all Haddie's blankets and burp clothes out of her room 20 times a day and give them to her babies. She also wants her baby to sit on the potty chair. Somehow the thing hasn't fallen in the toilet yet, but Danika did manage to unroll over half the toilet paper roll before I caught her because 'baby need wipe mommy!' And of course Danika has to nurse her baby as well. I nearly fell over in shock and laughter when Danika came and sat next to me when I was feeding Haddie and she lifted up her shirt and stuck her baby right on her bare chest to feed her! 


Haddie and I have been busy getting the hang of each other! She really has been a great baby, but we've had some major issues nursing this time around...It was one problem after another for us so my supply went down and she wasn't getting enough milk and lost 10 oz...poor girl:/ So over the last two weeks we've met with a lactation consultant 4 different times for some support and help and we even had to supplement with formula for a few feedings while I was getting my supply back up:/ As of now, it's going much better- still not ideal, but  I'm confident we'll get there! There were a few days when I wasn't sure if nursing was going to work so well for Ms. Haddie, but I'm glad we're on the upswing!
Friday we went back in for another weight check and she is gaining the recommended daily amount, so she has finally gotten back up to her birth weight again, actually a few ounces above:)

Enjoying her bath time!

When she is well fed and content, this is where you can find her most days:) She loves to be swaddled tight and close to me- I find myself sleeping upright half the night holding her because as soon as I lay her down, she wakes back up! So when I need to get things done around the house, I wrap her up and she's happy, and I've got 2 free hands!


This week we also dyed Easter eggs together. Danika loved dropping them (literally!) into the cups of color and was amazed when they came out a different color! She wanted to put each egg in all the colors:) When it was time to eat one, she tried to take a bit right into the shell...dad had to show her that 1st, the beautiful shell she had just colored has to come off the egg to eat the boring white and yellow parts:) 



To make sure there is never a dull moment around here, we kept busy on Saturday by taking Danika to see some baby farm animals. She loved to look at them, but wasn't sure what to do when she got to hold the baby lamb...she just kept her arms limp by her sides while they set it on her lap:)



Her absolute favorite part of the day was riding on a miniature horse. She LOVED it! She wasn't scared at all, and as they led the horse around the yard she wanted to do it by herself and didn't want anyone holding onto her (but I still send Granny with her and she just kept her hand behind her) She said she was going to ask Papa to get a horse on his farm! No matter how cute she is, not sure Papa will fall for that one;) 


We kept the day exciting Saturday by having our Easter extravaganza at the Dummer farm. We had a wonderful meal and an Easter egg hunt outside with all the cousins.

Great Grandma and Grandpa Spielman got to meet Haddie for the 1st time too! 



All 5 cousins ready to go on an egg hunt!

Daddy helped a little bit, but I found lots all by myself! 

Some eggs were easy to find and I could see them quickly... 


While other eggs they really made me work for to find them! 




Of course, the fun continued when we got to take our baskets inside and open them up! Lots of candy goodies and money for their piggy banks:) 


Today we had a nice Easter by going to church and having lunch with my mom, sister and nephews. Of course, we were too busy to take pictures:/ I'm a little disapointed we didn't get a family picture in our Easter best, but that's the new reality with 2 little kiddos! Not always going to work like we want it to:) We hope you had a wonderful Easter with your families!

Love, The Dummers