Thanksgiving!

We had so much fun on Thanksgiving and are so lucky to have wonderful families and friends. The girls seemed to enjoy it too. We are grateful they are generally so content and happy. Maya did bounce off the walls a bit and enjoyed running circles in my aunt and uncle's house. As always they hosted a glorious dinner! Everyone chipped in and the food was delicious. Someday I hope to host it at our house! " Happy girl!

Cuddle bug!

Maya really enjoyed the "jingle bell" as Auntie Jan played "Jingle Bells" over and over again.

"Hmmmm...will anyone notice if I press the water button on the fridge?"

Here is Maya "pretending" to give Savannah a chip. So far she hasn't tried to actually feed her any food.

Maya loves wearing glasses....good thing...she will probably need some someday!


Sack of potatoes!

I tried to get her dancing to Jingle Bells, but she had performance anxiety..this is a sweet video nevertheless!

Chunky Monkey!

Savannah had her two month check-up yesterday and she is doing great. She weighs 12 pounds (23" long, head 40cm)!!!! Despite being a big spitter, she is clearly having no problem in the growing department. All of the other normal milestones for reflexes and such check out great. The doc thought she was very strong and as if that wasn't enough Savannah decided to roll over on the table for the first time. I was still in disbelief when I got home that I had to see it again for myself. Sure enough when I put her on her belly she rolled over in no time. Not to shabby considering she was a bit early! Thankfully her color looked so good that the doctor didn't need us to have another blood test...the last bilirubin number was 7 so she initially wanted to make sure it continued to go down.

Maya is a terrific big sister! She is having another language explosion! It is so fun to hear her sing songs and chat away. My hard just melts when she says, "I love you" or "nice to see you." I couldn't help but laugh when she picked up on me calling her Daddy "Dan" and decided to say "Hi, Dan" when she saw him next! She has also been potty training herself for the past two months ...we are so proud of her...though it can be frustrating when trying to get her to sleep and she needs to get up a couple of times to go again.

Dan and I certainly feel so lucky to have two wonderful girls as the new year approaches. We have a lot to be thankful for!

Two months tomorrow!

Savannah has been smiling and laughing more and more. Caught her in her bouncy c chair doing this tonight while I made dinner!

Gap model?

Okay so I think she is pretty darn cute, but yes I am biased. I couldn't help but snap a dozen pics in her new outfit for her birthday from Uncle Joe and Sam.

Apple picks!

Apple picks! I couldn't help but laugh when Maya told me she was washing her "apple picks" aka armpits in the tub last night.

Also humerous was her shouting, "bracheasaurus" in her sleep that same night!

Savannah Smiles - 11/9/2010

Savannah smiled her first "real" smile today in response to my talking verses those adorable smiles. Now I have to get it on film.

Halloween 2010

Maya loved Halloween! She "got it" more than I imagined she would. She loved being a bumblebee and "flying around." We all went out to the neighborhood and collected treats. Savannah was snug as a bug on me in a carrier while Maya ran from house to house....after we coaxed her out of the yard. For once she was more intersted in playing with her outdoor toys rather than going into the neighbors' houses. She liked getting treats in her pumpkin bag and quickly had at them when we got home. She said, "my treats, my treats" and then tried to eat a lollipop with the wrapping on. She got a few licks for her first candy experience and the rest went in to hiding (aka mommy's belly). I am sure it will be harder next year to keep her candy free.

Sister and Daddy Love

Kids say the cutest things

Maya cracks me up on a daily basis. Kids really do say the cutest things. She imitates so much, but also generalizes to other situations. Some of the latest:

I'm a big sister!
Goodnight, sweet dreams, baby!
I Comfy! I Cozy!
I don't think so!
Daddy/Uncle Mikey stinky!
Daddy/Uncle Mikey juice! (refering to beer)
Baby's try to poop.
Baby Gorgeous!
Baby Savavah!

She is starting to recall past events. Just the other day she said, "I go apple picking" and named some of the people she went with including her cousins Sarah and James. This was something she did while I was in the hospital with Savannah. I couldn't believe that she was making conversation this way. Today she told me that she went to the playground and she had fun with Daddy.

Thank goodness she loves her little sister so far! My biggest worry is that she will squish her while she gives her a "big huggie," so we are really working on "little huggies" and giving space. Not too much terrible twos yet, but definitely a few mini tantrums. I know kids regress a little when a new sibling arrives, but so far we have only seen this in the food department. She who was once quite an independent and fairly neat eater has regressed to let's squish my food, throw it on the floor, and put it in my hair. I am sure this will pass.

Maya is generally a self-motivated kid. We really haven't pushed to potty issue, but offer it to her on occassion. Yesterday she asked to go on the potty three times and went pee! She was so proud of herself and we were, too! We love watching her learn and discover. She is fascinated with zippers and yesterday engaged and zipped a zipper on her vest. Dan and I have showed her a few times, but she was so determined to do it herself. This is such a great age!

Savannah Joy

Savannah Joy Magner was born on September 25th weighing 7 pounds, 5 ounces and measuring 19 3/4 long. Not a bad size considering she decided to make her entrance into the world about 3 weeks early. I was shocked when my water broke around 9:15 in the morning on the 25th - well more like in denial is more like it. My contractions didn't really start until about 1:30, so Maya and I were just hanging out while Dan tied up loose ends at work. They started to intensify around 3:30ish and Savannah came not long after 6:00. I was not too surprised at the speedy arrival because I think it would have been the same had Maya not been in wrong position.

Unfortunately shortly after the birth we transported Savannah to the hospital because her breathing was not quite what you would expect. She had what is called Transient Tachynpnea of the Newborn (TTN). She developed jaundice, which wasn't much of a surprise, and our stay was prolonged to a long 9 days in the NICU. I was able to stay at the hospital with her for that time which tore my heart out being away from Maya, but she was of course with her awesome Daddy who made sure sh had lots of fun and they came to visit often. As hard of a decision as it was to stay overnight, I needed to be there for many reasons. The hard part was that I always felt like I was missing an arm because I was away from Maya and hardly got to hold Savannah.

It was all a surreal experience, but looking around the NICU at all the teeny tiny babies make you count your blessings and I tried to focus on finding the joy in small successes and hurdles past. We are all thrilled to be home together and life seems normal. Well that is the short story...I have started to write the long story which is already 4 pages long! Here are some pictures of the first two weeks.

Maya turns 2!

Wow...where did the past two years go! Maya is two! Maya and I had a relaxing day on her birthday and went to a local park to take some pictures.




We had a small party for her on the next day and she loved her Elmo cake and all her presents. She had so much fun!





Her language and articulation have totally blossomed over the past month or so especially. I laugh at so many things she says....

"I love football" while watching a recent Patriots game... unless Dan has trained her behind my back this was completely unprovoked.

"I don't think so" with the sweetest little melody in her voice in a variety of contexts....example 1: "Daddy toot toot. I don't think so!" or "Elmo fall down. Elmo is okay? I don't think so!" I know where she gets this one....me!

"Hoo hoo haa haa. I a monkey." So funny...out of the blue."

She seems to change everyday....I need to blog more so I can remember all these details. Her brother or sister is soon to arrive. I just loves the way she hugs and kisses my belly and says, "hi baby." She cracks me up when out of the blue she points to my belly and says, "baby move" or "big belly."