All about Ms. H

Guess who's 2 months old?!?!

This week Haddie gets to steal the blog spotlight!

Where did the last 2 months go? Last Wednesday Haddie turned 2 months old already! She is such a little person and I can't get enough of her smiles and coos! She loves to look and listen to mommy and Danika, and is starting to get more familiar with dad's voice too now that he's able to spend more time wtih her!

At her 2 month well-baby check today she got an A+... she's healthy as can be and growing like a weed!

She is in the 83rd percentile for both her weight and length. She is now 12 pounds 7 oz. and is 23 1/2 inches long. Compared to Danika she is about the same weight at this age, but she is much longer, so maybe she'll be taller than her big sister?

The downside of the check up was she started her rounds of shots:( 3 shots in her little legs... she was not so happy about it...she slept most of the morning and now this afternoon she has been less than happy- not her usual self. Lots of shrieking and shrill cries, which completely breaks my heart! Hopefully tomorrow she's feeling better and not so sore.

Other than the shots, she is such a calm, happy baby girl:) We love our little Ms. H and feel SO blessed every day to have our healthy, happy girls!

She LOVES that thumb! 

Here's some frequently asked questions we've had the last two months:

"Is Haddie a lot like Danika was as a baby?" Yes and no. She has a lot of the same routine things, such as being a good napper and sleeper for the most part, but she already has a different personality. Danika never liked to be held and snuggled from the beginning and Haddie seems to enjoy being rocked to sleep and snuggling:)

"Do Danika and Haddie look alike?"  Not really at all! She has the same little nose and upper lip, but otherwise her eye and face shape are completely different. Plus, she has so much more hair than Danika did at this age! They did both inherate their father's toenails though- sounds wierd and you may be asking how do you know? but trust me, I know! They don't grow out like normal, they grow UP! Yep, up! Poor girls probably aren't going to have much to paint when we have mommy/daughter pedicures when they grow up!

"Do you have to go back to work?" Not for this school year, but yes, I will go back midAugust for the new school year. So I get 5 full months at home with this little bundle and her big sis! Can't believe 2 of those months are already gone! We're going to make the most of the next 3 months, that's for sure. We really debated and talked about me possibly working part time and job sharing in the future, but it just wouldn't have been worth it, and I do love my job and can't imagine not teaching, so we will enjoy our summer's together and be thankful for my teacher's schedule to have as much time at home as I do.

"Does Danika's daycare provider have room for Haddie too?" Yes! Luckily, both girls will be able to go to Amy's house and we love Amy so we are very happy! Danika has a friend named Allie that is only a few weeks younger and it's been so great to watch them grow up there together these last few years...One of my friend/co-workers babies will also be going there in the Fall so Haddie will have a partner in crime too- Good luck Amy!

Daddy and his girls!

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

You didn't really think I'd leave her out this week did you?!?!

She's her usual spunky self! LOVING the warm weather so she can play with her water table and be outside as often as possible.

She decided to empty the entire pantry practically and pack it in the cooler for a picnic:)

Catching bubbles! 

Mom and my girls 

Daddy's big girl helper who can do it all by herself:)

That's all for now....

Love,

The Dummer Crew

Mama's Day!

This week Danika spent most of her time with mom!

 We went to the cities and spent the night at granny's for the 1st time since Haddie was born. The 3 of us shared a bedroom so I was nervous how Danika would sleep- luckily, she didn't wake up in the middle of the night when Haddie did...that is, until the 4am wakening- Haddie would not go back to sleep easily, so Danika woke up and neither of us went back to bed!

She wants to be a helper with EVERYTHING, which is good most of the time! She has been saying "I do it myself" a lot, but ever since big cousin Madeline's birthday party, now she's added the "I a big girl" part of it...so everytime I try to get her dressed, open/close a door, get something out of the fridge, put things away, pretty much ANYTHING I do, she says "I do it myself, I a big girl now!"

So...here's the big girl helping me make lasagna for supper!

This independence came in handy when it was time to make Granny and Grandma Lynn's mother's day gifts... We paintined and decorated tin cans as flower pots for them. Danika picked the paint, ribbon, and button colors. With a little guidance, she did them pretty much all by herself! 

Daddy helping put the flowers in the cans... (yes, we're still in our jammies:)

One of the finished products! 

After church we went to a park in Redwing, MN with my family for a picnic. Danika LOVED it. There was a huge playground to play on, various games, and many cousins to play with:) She played so hard, she left with a scratch on her face, a red mark on her arm, and a skinned up knee! One tough kiddo! 

Waving to the boats that went by on the river! 

Swinging with Daddy...SO glad he was able to come! He's just about done planting at work so no more weekends and late nights! (At least until July when pollinating begins!) 

Enjoying dessert with my cousin Collin! 

And of course we can't forget about Ms. Haddie! She's not quite as loud and active as her sister (yet!) so she doesn't get much of the blog spotlight. She is doing terrific. She really is a very mild mannered baby. She is growing SO fast...hard to believe that she'll be 2 months old this week! She really is doing lots of cooing and smiling, and she's even starting to make some giggles at mom and dad:)

Enjoy the HOT weather this week!

Love,

The Dummer's

Party Time!

We took advantage of the warmer weather last week and dodged the rain showers and got some play time outside! We went to the park, went for stroller and wagon rides, and Danika did some bike riding, drawing with chalk, and her favorite activity of the week was getting out her water table!

Our 'not so baby' baby girl, Ms. Haddie just hanging out:)

When we were forced indoors because of the rain, we did some projects, including the messy, but much loved shaving cream painting!

Ready and waiting patiently to paint... 

Danika, loved getting down and dirty with the shaving cream... 

And of course she had to take a bath to get it all off...it was some pretty green, gross water when all was said and done! 

All week long Danika was anxiously waiting for "Mada's birday party" Every morning she'd wake up and ask if it was the day- Saturday finally came and we headed to the farm to celebrate cousin Madeline's 3rd Birthday!

Cousins (minus Haddie) waiting to help open presents! 

The birthday girl ready to eat her pink butterfly cake, and a cupcake too! 

Grandma Lynn rocking with the sisters:) 

These two hams had a blast together...most of the time! As with any kids the same age trying to play together, they had a very love/hate relationship...mostly love though:) It's so fun to watch them grow up together- they are 9 months apart in age.  

And this was were Danika and Madeline spent a good portion of the afternoon- On the couch downing an entire bag of potato chips- just the two of them! Uncle MIke and Aunt Lori had a few handfuls, but I'd say the girls had a majority of the bag! 

Auntie Lori with Connor and Haddie:) 

We had a great week, and hope for a rain-free week ahead so Daren can get done with planting and we can look forward to him getting to spend time with his girls:)

Love,

The Dummers

Daren, Jamie, Danika and Haddie

 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

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