Big Sister

Last weekend we headed up to Grandma and Grandpa's for a BBQ with the McCracken clan. Grandma Charleen asked Sylvia if she had held Violet yet... the answer was, and has been, "when she gets bigger". I guess Grandma felt that time was now! It looks like Sylvia enjoyed the role of big sister - not sure what Violet was thinking however...

Of course we need to feed the chickens when we are at G&G's place

"Elvis - you need to eat the strawberries!"

Violet's Latest Weigh-in

The little monster continues to grow. Last Friday we took her in for her weekly weigh-in and she is now tipping the scales at 8# 8oz!

I will try to upload the growth chart she is on, but it remains on the same slope since we have left the NICU. By 1 year of age, she will weigh 29 pounds!

3M Family Picnic

A couple weeks ago, we had our annual 3M Office Supplies Division picnic. It was similar to last year - hot weather, cold beer, and tons of things for kids to do.

Sylvia enjoyed a ride on Hersey

Violet trying to stay cool

Violet enjoying her first bouncy castle

The Willards were there and we enjoyed our dinner (and ice-cream!) with them

Even the tattoo lady returned for another year

A new "toy" this year was the climbing wall. We weren't sure how Sylvia would do, but she seemed to like it.

Until the event next year - thank you 3M!

Happy Wednesday

Life is good!

41 week (11 week) update

Since Sylvia was born at 41 weeks, we thought this would be a nice comparison.

Violet went in for her weekly weigh-in and, drum roll please....

8# 0.5oz!!!

As a comparison, Sylvia was 6# 11oz at birth (41 weeks)

Things continue to progress. Still on the force feeding schedule, but at least that is becoming a normal routine that we are living with.

McLeod County Fair tomorrow!

Thanks for the great picture Missy!

Planking

For those that are unaware, people in today's world have way too much time on their hands, and because of great things like MTV, Facebook, and the Internet, they have an avenue to share their "talents".

"Airplane Plank"

"News Plank"

Planking is one of these talents that Sylvia has been working on mastering.

Sylvia's "Couch Plank"

OK - got that out of the way... I hope we didn't make you any dumber by reading this post!

Happy Due Date

Today was Violet's due date - but since things didn't work as planned, we celebrated her 10th week with a quick visit to the clinic for a weight check (7# 4oz!) and a photo session with Auntie Missy instead.

As she continues to grow, she also continues to gain more of a personality. When I say personality, I mean she now cries when she is hungry, she makes noises (grunts) when she is full, and likes to stay awake from 7PM - 11PM which is our core "family time", so I guess she doesn't want to be left out.

August 12th seemed like it would never come back in May, but I am not sure where June and July went. It's hard to believe she is already 10 weeks old. We are thankful for Violets health and for everyone's support.

Como Zoo Field Trip

Last week Sylvia's school took a field trip to Como Zoo. Jamie went as a chaperon, mainly to keep an eye on Sylvia.

It was mostly pure craziness the entire trip. A full sized school bus was full of kids, teachers, and parents. Luckily the weather wasn't too hot.

One of Sylvia's teachers, Ms. Christie, stopped at the ice cream stand and purchased bomb pops for all the kids. These were not your 50 cent bomb pops... we are talking full sized BOMB POPS! Of all the kids, only one finished the entire treat, and they ALL had red lips and tongues.
The end of the trip was sack lunch time. All of the children sat in a row and dug into their lunch. Sylvia is sitting next to her best friends... The girls are both 5 years old and just love Sylvia.
One of her friends must have taught her how to eat Oreos, because she didn't learn that from mom or dad.

It was a great (hectic) trip and the kids all had a fun time.

Meow-it's tummy time

What a slacker-she is sleeping through tummy time. Chop chop monkey girl it's time to learn your animals.

Happy Sunday

What a beautiful weekend!

The Castle

Last Wednesday night, Sylvia had Date Night with Grandma and Grandpa, while Adam, Jamie, and Violet had a Date Night as well.

A bit of history behind The Castle. When Jamie was admitted to the hospital on May 23rd, we knew that hopefully this was a long term stay. When Sylvia came to visit mom, we wanted to remember fun stuff and not hospital stuff. As it turns out, Sylvia was one step ahead of us. As we were driving to the hospital back on May 25th, Sylvia yells out "The Castle" as we drove by the St. Paul Cathedral. Ever since that trip, when we drive by, we discuss who is in the castle today. It is usually Fiona (from Shrek), Belle (Beauty and the Beast), or Cinderella. We always meant to go check out the castle close up, but that never happened... Well not until last week that is.

They played outside on the grounds as well as taking a stroll through the church. Pictures are not allowed inside, which is too bad, because Sylvia had found a small door that they keep all of the crowns in. (I am sure the real crowns are hidden somewhere else, but let the kid imagine)

There was even time to relax and smell the flowers.

Time to go home...

Thanks to Charleen and Michael for spending this special night with Sylvia. Mom and Dad enjoyed our appetizers and Happy Hour!

A Tale of Two Cities

South Minneapolis - July 2008 (Sylvia ~1 wk old)

Woodbury July 2011 (Violet ~2 months old)

Same hat, same shirt, same size diaper. Violet is just a couple ounces bigger at this point (and had a healed belly button!)

Violet Update

Violet had her weekly Doctor visit and we were pleased to hear that she is up to 6# 14oz! The little milk monster is growing over an ounce a day. Great job little one!

Now a couple pics of her hanging out in the swing.

3 Year Wellness Visit

Sylvia had her 3 year wellness visit and all things are good... well after the kicking and screaming and 20 minutes of not cooperating, but that is what 3 year olds do, right?

Purple Kitty

The Stats:
Height - 36" (25th percentile)
Weight - 29# (5th percentile)
BMI - 15.2 (45th percentile)

The BMI number threw us for a loop since she is in the lower part of the height and weight, but I guess they know what they are telling us...

Sorry for the delay in the post Sylvia - we are trying not to ignore you!