Princess and Chicken Noodle

Well, we survived month one! Owen will be one month tomorrow and Olivia is now 16 months old! It has been quite an adventure.
First about Owen: He is gaining weight and starting to look more like a baby than an infant. He is a sweet cuddly little boy that loves to be held (especially in the evenings when he is a bit colicky). He has some stomach issues around week two, but after eliminating dairy out of my diet he seems to be doing much better. He loves to eat and even took some pumped bottles this week when life required me to be away quite a bit. He is a belly sleeper like his sister and even when he is awake prefers to be on his belly if he isn't being held. This makes the swing and the bouncy seat kinda useless, but occasionally for a few minutes he will swing and listen to the bird sounds it makes. He is sleeping for four hour usually the first span during the night, then he is up about every two hours after that. I can't complain, at least he sleeps!!! He takes a pacifier occasionally, but so far isn't a huge fan of it. He also HATES the car seat, which makes going anywhere interesting. I use the moby wrap with him whenever I can. My favorite term of endearment for him right now is "chicken noodle."
Olivia: Olivia is getting so big so fast!! She is starting to have some verbal words along with still signing a lot. Some of her verbal words are "mama" "dada" "daddy" "hi daddy" "hi mama" "juice" "shoes" "all done" "cheese" and "Owa" (aka Owen). She also has complete conversations with herself in jibber jabber nonsense. It is so funny and cute. Speaking of Owen.. well Oilvia has been a challenge with Owen around. The honeymoon period has definitely worn off. I'm kinda at a loss as to what to do with her. She hits him, throws things at him and sometimes she wants kiss him and pick him up. I don't think it is out of hate or anything I just think A. he takes a lot of my attention especially at night when he won't be put down. B. he is loud C. he won't play with her. So far she gets A LOT of time outs. My biggest fear is someone getting hurt either because A. I'm not paying close enough attention to her or can't jump up fast enough when she is doing something dangerous or B. She hurts him. Anyways, we are learning as we go I guess. Otherwise Olivia is doing great. She amazes me everyday how smart she is. She figures things out and remembers things that just amaze me. She is also quite a climber. I have found her in Owen's bed (no clue how she got in there), on the second shelf of our entertainment center and in other various (and potentially danger situations). I think when she is 18 months I will sign her up for tumble tots or something active and structured like that. She really loves books, the water, playing outside, pancakes, and music. She does not like clowns, some bugs, a lot of meats or mixed foods, being all done when it isn't on her terms. She is starting to use silverware (with varying accuarcy), pretend play with her babydolls and follow commands such as cleaning up her toys. She also is really starting to interact and play with other kids her age. This is one of my favorite things to watch. It is when I really get to see some of her wonderful personality. She is a wonderful blessing to this house and is challenging me to find a ways to guide her into the wonderful young lady I know she will be. My term of endearment of choice for her right now is Princess. :)
As for having two kids in the house. It has been wonderful, hard, happy, sad.. the whole spectrum of emotions. The first time I saw Olivia after Owen was born it was like she was a totally different kid. She just looked so BIG to me! I missed my baby but rejoiced about my wonderful daughter and kid she was turning into. It has been hard and a blessing that she is much less dependent on me and has developed a stronger bond with her dad over the past month. I love that they are closer, but when she hurt herself one day and want her dad not me, I'm not going to lie... It broke my heart. I know this is a good thing though because so much of my time is taken by feeding and caring for Owen who needs me more right now.
In light of this week in which I lost a good friend who had a nine month old daughter I realize how important this blog may be someday. If something should ever happen to me someday one of my blog followers please print this blog out for my kids to have. (I don't think my husband would remembers I do this).