In the last month Dad has started to work a bit later, which has proved to be hard on all of us. He works so hard for us, and truly hates to be away from us as much as he has to be. It is harder on him than on me, and yet I am often unkind to him when he walks in the door after 7. He comes in tired, sad, and full of kisses for all three of us, although you hate when we kiss, hug, or hold hands and always yell, "away!" He wishes more than anything that he could have more time with you in the day, and takes full advantage of our bedtime routine with you reading you countless books and your beloved Jesus Storybook Bible. With our family time being minimal during the weeks we have decided to try to make the most of our weekends together. We have decided to do one special outing on the weekends, and once a month try to do an extra special day trip to get to know the beautiful country we live in.
One of those peaks is Mont Blanc, where we plan to go soon!
We live in the mountains, and with mountains come some beautiful spots to explore and see. It is easy to be among such beauty and neglect to take advantage of it, but I refuse to let that happen because our time here is limited (sadly!). Life with you and your brother is so very sweet, and we love our time together as a family of four and pray that we can create memories for you to remember always (for now through pictures obviously!).
A couple weeks ago, we went up to the ski village across the valley the Sept Laux. The same spot we nearly got trampled by the cows this past fall. It is so fun to see it so alive with people from all over coming to ski, snowboard, and sled up in the mountains. You love the snow and were so excited to be there watching all the people coming down the hills. It was pretty last minute, and after naps which didn't give us much time in the snow and we forgot a sled, so it will be a trip that will have to be repeated :) We got lots of looks as we didn't have a hat on you or a scarf around your neck. It is not just a cliche that the French all wear scarves. In fact, I have learned that it is next to unacceptable to NOT have one on your babies. The kids here are always bundled up to the extremes, and we just don't find that necessary with the temps in the high forties and even fifties some days! I guess that is the Chicago in us. Regardless of the short time had up there with no sled in hand, we had a great time and loved watching you shriek and squeal with excitement to be in the snow.
The view of "our mountain" from across the valley.
Last weekend we went in to the city and took the bubbles up to the Bastille. In all my time here so far and past visits, I still had never been up to the Bastille so I was excited to see it up close and personal. You LOVED the bubbles and wanted to go back again and again, but we enjoyed the warmth of the day (in the low 60's...in FEBRUARY!) and walked down instead. It was so fun being up there walking through the mountain, looking over the city, and watching you run free picking up all the rocks you could find. Like always, your brother slept the whole time (three plus hours!) tucked close to me in the carrier. He is such an easy going baby, and we all can't get enough of him! It was a good walk down and fun to go through the parts of the mountain with stairs and windows looking over the city. You loved people watching as there were a LOT of people going down and coming up the mountain. It was a beautiful day.
Me and Marcel with the CHU Hospital where he was born down below!
You ALWAYS seem to find a place to sit. It is the cutest thing :)
I can't wait to see all we get to explore, and I am so thankful we all get to do it together!
Yesterday without any prompting you ran up to me and said, "la loo!" and planted the sweetest kiss on my lips. A little while later you did it again, and it set the mark for a wonderful day to be had. It was an extra long day with just the three of us as Dad had to stay late at work. When he came in the door at 8 o'clock he scooped you up and asked you for a kiss. After hugging and kissing him you gently said, "la loo Papa!" and we both got watery eyes as we looked at one another with complete joy that YOU are OUR little girl. We la loo Zaylee Jean, and our so thankful to be the ones to watch you grow.
Month three has been our month. We found our groove and set a routine that has been working well for all of us. The first two months you spent most of your time in my arms, which I without a doubt loved every minute of, but your sister was growing tired of being told I couldn't do this or that because I was holding you and you were sleeping. My boy, you are the most laid back baby with the kindest smile that melts my heart over and over again. All it takes is a look your way and a simple "hello" and you go a cooing and a smiling with great joy. You love when we talk to you and are anxious to talk back. Content seems to be your way about life, always going with the flow hanging out without complaining. With your older sister needing my attention and help with tasks while you are awake, you are often found sitting on the couch or laying on the floor chewing on your hands and looking around the room. You start squawking when you are ready for a nap, and that is about the only time we hear you voice your opinion. We are so thankful for your calm, kind, sweet demeanor and can't seem to get enough of you!!
This past month we have started the sleep training process with you. As much as I loved holding your warm, sleeping body close to my chest I knew it was just not going to be a way of life for us any longer as you are ever growing and your sister was needing me more and more. We started with naps, and you took to the training like a champ. I figured out that you start getting tired at the 1 1/2 hour mark after waking, and by 2 hours you need to be asleep. This was so helpful in my plan to have a routine, and made my job so much easier. Our mornings usually begin between 7:30-8:30 allowing us to see Daddy off to work each day. Zaylee is very particular about me putting you down in the living room before getting her out of bed, and you gladly hang out cooing while we eat our oatmeal for breakfast. By 10 at the latest you are down for your first nap which normally lasts anywhere been 2 and 2 1/2 hours. When I put you down for naps, it takes about five minutes of snuggle time before you give in to your tired body before I can lay you down. I'm so thankful for those snuggles! It is hit or miss with how long you take to fall a sleep, but it has never been more than 15 minutes. One time you will not make a sound as you soothe yourself, while the next you will cry for five minutes before I come in and pat your back before you fall into a deep sleep. I don't have the will power to let you cry longer than that, and am thankful it doesn't take much more than that to soothe yourself. You eat lunch around 12, and hang out with us for a while before we all settle down for our afternoon rests while either watching a short show with Zaylee or reading books together on the couch. Your afternoon nap is equally as long as the morning nap, and I am still shocked by your good napping skills as your sister was never a long napper at this age. In the evening you take just a short 40 minute to an hour nap to hold you off until bedtime which is between 8 and 8:30.
Bedtime is a smooth sleep transition, but night time has digressed a bit in the last week which has me frazzled. I do my best not to measure your night time sleep habits up to Zaylee's high bar that was set, but some nights I have a hard time not being flustered through my exhaustion. I really have no room to complain, because even though you may be harder than you sister was, we are still blessed with the ease you have given us compared to so many babies I know. Bless their Momma's hearts!!! Most nights you wake to eat between 2 and 3, and by wake I mean you make enough noise to wake me up and be struck with fear that your sister will wake so I scoop you up and feed you. Some nights you will only eat on one side, and others you will have a whole meal before falling into a deep sleep yet again. You are a boy that needs to get out your gas after eating, and often times you are too asleep to burp after feeding which results in you struggling to get it out a few hours later. At that point I usually take you out and rock you for a few minutes, let it work itself out allowing you to sleep until morning. Like I said, I can't complain seeing that I only truly feed you once in the night and you are never truly awake allowing us to be fast asleep with in thirty minutes from start to finish. In your three months of life, there have been three exceptions, last night being one of them in which you were awake and struggled falling back to sleep for nearly two hours. Again we can't complain since there is rarely any crying involved, just fighting against our snuggles as we try to coax you back to sleep :)
You are still a great eater, and are growing with leaps and bounds. You eat every four hours during the day, and go anywhere between 6-7 hours with an occasional long stretch of at most up to 9 1/2 hours at night. The doctors seem to be happy with this, and are always smitten with your smiley self. I held off on vaccines for you until your next appointment at four months, and the docs have been really kind about it. I am refusing a couple vaccines and requested separating a few of them, and all of my wishes were granted with no guilt laid upon me. I am so happy with the care we have been given here in France, and am so thankful for our great experiences.
Our lives are so much richer with you in them, and we love being your parents. Zaylee is completely smitten with you, and has become very protective of you. If anyone is holding you or showing great interest in you Zaylee quickly runs to your side and makes sure all is well. She is constantly wanting you to "play" with her and sharing her toys, playing on the floor with you, and even lending you her beloved bunny. There are still moments she decides to throw a little shove or kick in your direction, but for the most part its all love from her. I am constantly bombarded with overwhelming emotions when I look at the two of you. I feel so undeserving for the many blessings I have been given, and don't take this wonderful, tiring, rewarding, sometimes hard, joy filled, emotional journey for granted. Not even for a second. It is my greatest joy and most desired achievement in life to be your Mom.
A Few Facts:
Weight: 6.3 kg/13.8 lb
Height: 63 cm/ 24.5 in
Favorite things: Holding your hands together over your chest.
Eating/sucking on your hands.
Taking walks in the carrier close to me.
Sitting on the couch watching the world around you.
Hearing us say "Hi" "Hello" or "What"
Trying your hardest to laugh :)
Snuggling!
