Dinner math by Reagan

I once thought calculus was hard to understand.  That was until I became the parent of a very strong-willed and opinionated (can you say karma?) two year old and tried to figure out what and how to feed her.  


Our nightly routine unfolds in a similar manner each night:

• Arrive home
• Ask for snack (usually Bunnies or Goldfish)
• Tantrum ensues if snack is denied (usually denied based on proximity to dinner)
• Dinner is made (not gourmet!)
• Announcement, "I want to sit in the big chair" (translation: bar stool -- big surprise kiddo, you request this chair every night)
• Eats unspecified amount, regardless of dinner composition; some nights two bites pass through the lips and other nights 3rd and 4th helpings are demanded
• Stop intermittently throughout the dinner to ask for hugs from momma and daddy
• Announcement, "M's???" (M&M's)
• More coercing to eat some more
• Sigh from momma & daddy

Several nights ago, while Steve was traveling for business, I decided to make waffles with strawberries for dinner as a special treat.  After waffling (no pun intended) on whether she wanted pancakes or waffles, we dug out the waffle iron and whipped up the eight waffles that the batch made.  Somewhere during that dinner, I discovered the secret to getting my toddler to eat her dinner...WHIPPED CREAM!  That night, she ate FOUR waffles, dipping each piece in whipped cream before cramming it in her mouth and declaring, "Dis my waffle".  As I watched this event unfold, I cringed a little as the first waffle quickly disappeared lathered in whipped cream, however my cringes dissolved into sheer amazement as the third and fourth waffle disappeared.  I decided that I'd leave the worrying about nutrition to future momma and enjoy the moment while we "cheers-ed" with our waffles and "cream".  


So here's the math equation:
1 large glob of whipped cream + 4 waffles = 1 astonished momma and 1 happy and full kiddo


That's an equation that I can live with, for now...

Graduation Gifts

Recently while traveling to Mobile, Alabama for a wedding, Steve and I had the great idea to begin giving our children college t-shirts from the places we had traveled.  These t-shirts (and onesies in Jack's case) will serve dual purposes -- as souvenirs for the kiddos and as a future high school graduation gift.  We are hoping to put together college t-shirt quilts with all of the tees.  Who knows, perhaps the kids' future college will be amongst the t-shirts that create the quilts.  Don't worry, there will DEFINITELY be some maroon and gold Gopher representation!


Today, both kids were dressed in their Alabama (or "Gamagama" as Reagan calls it...Roll Tide!!) gear.  Reagan took a little coercing, as she announces every morning that she is either wearing Cookie (her Cookie Monster pajamas) or "dots" (her favorite GAP dot leggings) paired with either her "pink" (t-shirt that says "perfect" on it) or "cats" (her favorite pink GAP cat shirt).  For a two year old, she is incredibly persnickety about what she wears.  She's even requesting which type of diaper (Cookie diapers) she wants to wear; it's enough to make me want to potty train her NOW!!!!  I read last night that one parent calls the morning fight "drestling", a combination of dressing and wrestling and found it the perfect description of my morning battle with Reagan.  So far, I'm "winning", as most days she wears an outfit that matches and I've only sent her to school wearing pjs one day (and they were clean pjs that she hadn't slept in).  I'm learning how to negotiate with my dressing diva (and how to hide the dreaded outfits that we seem to wear every day).   


Jack, on the other hand, happily wore his 'Bama onesie...until lunch.  After a quick mid-morning snack, Jack and I headed out to Schaumburg to meet Shelly and the kids for lunch.  Upon arriving at the Cheesecake Restaurant and picking Jack up out of his car seat, I found he had filled his pants and then some, leaving a special surprise on his onesie and in the car seat.  Making a rookie mistake, I was flying fast and loose and traveling sans diaper bag.  Luckily, the momma instinct in me had an emergency stash of diapers and wipes in the car (if you don't have one, I highly recommend it to any parents--it has been a life-saver on more than one occasion).  I headed back out to the car and retrieved my stash, stripped Jack in the ladies room, salvaged the 'Bama onesie loosing only the long-sleeved undershirt.  So, a little less clothed, we returned and enjoyed our lunch.  Now, after a mid-afternoon snack, a bath and a costume change, Jack rests in his crib, getting ready for his trip to Nani and Grandpa's house!


So here was where the cute picture of my kids in their Alabama gear was supposed to go but that will have to wait till another day!

Reagan-isms and Jack's new tricks

Before we forget, here's a list of the funny things that Reagan has said/done recently:

• Reagan: "I want to watch Cars". Momma: "I need to go outside to the car to get Cars". Reagan: "Go fast!"
• Momma to Reagan at Target: "I don't want to see you open those Goldfish until we buy them." Reagan: "Momma, close your eyes".
• Momma to Reagan driving with Reagan: "Keep your eyes open for more tunnels" to which she did the following:
• Reagan to Momma, while wiping Momma's face: "Momma, I can't get the chocolate off of your face" (meaning she couldn't scrub the moles off of my face)
• Momma to Reagan: "Jack doesn't want his pa-pa (pacifier) right now". Reagan: "Why?!?!"
• Reagan: "I'm watching Cars in the CAR!"
• Momma: "Do you love Jack?", Reagan: "Yes, I love jackets"

Jack has had a BIG week...

I swore that I would never be the momma who spent time sharing poop stories with people but...

Jack's personal diaper filling schedule took a turn for the worse a couple of weeks ago. He went from typical newborn "poops in every diaper" timing to nothing. First stretch was 4 days, then another 5 day stretch and finally last Monday, it had been a whole week. At first the concern was only mild but as each stretch got longer it grew. After calling our pediatrician, we headed into see what was up. Minds eased knowing that everything was fine and he would take care of business when he needed to, we stopped at Target. As we rounded the corner on the diaper aisle, a fitting event blew through Jack's pants and he looked up at me and smiled his sweetest and most contented smile.

Last week Jack began smile. Not the "I just had gas" or reflex smiling but a true, "I think you are really funny smile". To balance out that smile, he's also found his cry (I think he is trying to compete with Reagan's pipes) to let us know when something is not to his liking. His cries are still few and far between but he's not afraid to use it as necessary.

This week Jack discovered both his hands and his voice on the same day. Much to Reagan's amazement he doesn't seem too interested in his pa-pa's and now spends his waking time loudly sucking on his hands. When not filled with his little hands, he smiles and coo's in the cutest little voice. I know I am biased but I can't think of anything sweeter than my little man's little voice. While Reagan is a set of pipes to be reckoned with, Jack is a quiet chatter.

We're attempting the drive back to MN again next weekend to attend Ashley's first dance recital and Amy's party to celebrate her finishing her MBA. Are we crazy? Possibly...

The Second Child Shaft?

As we drove home from Target today and Reagan hollered at Jack from her throne in the backseat, "Hold on buddy, we're almost home", it occurred to me that we might be witnessing the backlash of the dreaded "second child shaft". The "second child shaft" is inevitable slide from by the book, "perfect" parenting, where every decision and action is meticulously thought-out, planned and analyzed to rear the most well-adjusted, developmentally advanced child.

With Reagan we followed books, listened and sought out advice from anyone who might have an expertise from pediatricians to people who had the misfortune of becoming parents before us and ensured that we were 100% focused on her as long as she was awake. She rarely spent time alone in her crib while awake (a mistake that would cost us many nights of sleep later in life) and we took turns eating meals so that she didn't have to sit in her swing. I cried when I accidentally clipped her little finger while clipping her nails, as she wailed about the injury and baths took at least an hour, as we gently ensure every nook and cranny was sanitized.

With Jack, as evidence by my eldest child's proclamation on the way home from Target, one of my most common phrases directed towards that beautiful little boy is, "Hold on buddy", followed by, "Momma will be there as soon as she finishes [insert whatever task I am attending to at the moment]". I clipped his little finger the other day while clipping Jack's nails and didn't notice until the wound was completely scabbed over -- he never said "boo" about the accidental clip and Jack's baths are a quick 5 minute activity that involves the whole family--Reagan all up in Jack's business washing his legs, Sammie lurking around the baby tub trying to get at the toys and me quickly ensuring that we are scrubbing the grime off my little boy (I think Reagan's contribution of leg washing probably yields the cleanest body parts!).

Thankfully, we have been blessed with the ultimate gift in a baby, a good-natured, easy-going, sweet and patient boy. He quietly and sweetly smiles a serene gummy smile at me from his bouncy chair, as I quickly wisk away a mess made by hurricane Reagan and politely asks to be fed with another smile and some quiet foot kicking. While he certainly loves to cuddle into anyone's arms who is willing to hold him, he will also lie contentedly in his crib watching the Gopher mobile rotate above his head. Will he remain this accommodating as he grows, who knows but for the time being we are enjoying and hopefully not taking advantage of my sweet little man's pleasant disposition, as he quietly takes his place as my shafted second baby.

What is the best way to get two children under 3 to MN?

We tackled this question head on last week as we traveled to Minnesota to visit family and friends. Our last trek back to Minnesota had us arriving in the wee hours of the morning and Reagan not in the least interested in going back to sleep. Two exhausted parents decided we could no long leave after work on a Friday to make the 6 hour drive.

Fast forward to last week...we forgot that we said we couldn't do it again. Leaving shortly after 4pm, we drove to New Berlin to feed the kids dinner and change them into the pjs at Steve's parents' house. Refueled and ready to go, we popped in a "Cars" into the DVD player (thank you Berrys!) and headed out. Jack ate a bottle in his carseat and Reagan watched "Cars" twice before conking out. I dozed in the back seat wedged between two carseats, while Steve played chauffeur in the front. We arrived in Apple Valley after 1am and to our surprise, Reagan AND Jack were not interested in going to sleep and both Steve and I were dead tired.

While our trip began a little rocky, we enjoyed a great week visit. We met Kim and Dave Behrens' new baby, Owen on Saturday. Sitting next to Owen, Jack looked like Baby Huey. Crazy what a difference 6 weeks makes! We spent Saturday afternoon with a couple of Park Tavern Buffalo Chicken Pizzas, a Byerly's sheet cake and some of our besties, The Berrys and Anna Taff & Tony Burton. The kids had a blast and we enjoyed some QT with our friends.

Sunday we spend Easter with my parents and my sister in AV. Reagan hunted for Easter eggs and had "M's" (M&M's) for breakfast. The day was beautiful, allowing for some outdoor play time and steaks on the grill for dinner. Reagan's Easter basket was so full some of the stuff had to sit on the floor in front of it. The favorite item in it was the Cookie Monster pajamas and of course the M's.

Steve flew home Monday morning to work for the week. During the week I saw my favorite hair stylist, Shawn Laske and Uptown Hair District (I know, I should find someone in Chi-town after almost 3 years but I just love Shawn), had lunch with Amy Thie at the Good Day Cafe, met Tara Ann Finn at the 'Bou for coffee and had an awesome playdate at the Gabbey house with the Gabbey boys and Carla, after which Reagan proclaimed, "I like boys". Heaven help us, I'm not sure we are ready for that statement yet! On Friday we headed out to Wayzata to go to the Oh Baby outlet and walk around. Unfortunately my fancy new Phil and Teds stroller was too fancy for me, as I could NOT figure out how to unfold it. Mind you, I folded it up so you'd think I could unfold it but no dice. Then my mom and dad tried. Still no dice. By now Reagan is practically in tears because she REALLY wants to ride in the stroller. Sorry kiddo, you'll have to walk. It took a stop into a bike shop to get the darn stroller open...

On the back end of our trip, we decided to re-strategize the drive. We ate lunch and left shortly after 1pm hoping to get to our house before bedtime. However a 45 minute stop in Tomah, where I flashed a parking lot full of Wal Mart shoppers as Jack had an afternoon snack, caused our ETA into New Berlin to be a lot later than we anticipated. Being the excellent parents that we are, we picked up McDonalds dinners (complete with shamrock shakes) and headed to Steve's parents house. Reagan downed the shake, showed little interest in the chicken nuggets and decided bedtime was OVERRATED. We stayed the night there and headed back to Deerfield after nap on Sunday.

One of these trips we'll figure out the best mode of transportation for a family of four with two little ones below the age of 3. Next up, we're flying to Kansas City with two kiddos, car seats and all of our stuff. Watch out KC, you don't know what's about to hit you!

Inspired

Clearly, despite my degree in English, I struggled with balancing the chores of a working mom and the task of recording the on-goings of our family. Since we've recently expanded our family, I thought that this might be an ideal time to find a little inspiration and bring everyone up to speed.

In the past year, Reagan has done AMAZING things by this parent's standards. She went from

small wobbly steps in December to running (sometimes in a 50-yard dash style across parking lots!!)

this past spring. She moved into the Toddler room at daycare and seems to be ruling the roost.

Lots of "leadership" with the other children, dancing and artwork is a typical day for Miss Reagan.

She's taken an active interest in picking out her own clothes (We hear, "Reagan do it" most of our

mornings) and has a keen interest in shoes. Thankfully, we've stayed one size behind Ashley Berry,

so we are the lucky recipients of adorable hand-me-downs that keep her stylin' every day of the

week. She still loves hotdogs and mac & cheese and has found a new love of ice cream. Last week

we tried chocolate milk, which was a big hit. Interests include football (which applies to all sports

events), the Gophers (which applies to all sports teams), riding bikes, wagon rides, stickers and trains.

Elmo has been bumped from his top dog spot, replaced by Cookie Monster.

February marked Reagan's 2nd birthday. We had family and friends out to our home in Deerfield

to celebrate at her Hungry Caterpillar party. We ate our way through the contents of the

Caterpillar's meals and finished off with cupcakes and cake from Sweet Mandy B's. To mark her

big girl status, we moved her into her big girl room and and big girl bed. She loves her room

and her newfound freedom to get out of bed whenever she wants. We started having to take

away her babies to encourage her to stay in bed. A few weeks into this, we went upstairs to

put her back in bed to see her door fly open and all of her babies fly out of her room, so she

could, in her words, "Take away so Reagan get out of bed". It's amazing how the mind of a two

year old works.

In March, we welcomed Jackson (Jack) Henry Chappell into the world and Reagan took her

place as big sister. Jack has proven to be an extremely easy, laid-back baby. We're still working

on correcting Day-Night confusion but other than that, we have been blessed with a good-natured

second child. He quickly overcame jaundice and eats like a line backer. At two weeks, he'd gained

over one pound, topping out at just over nine pounds. We're quickly approaching 6 month sized

clothes and retired the newborn clothes almost immediately.

.

Last weekend the Berry Family came down for a visit. The kids enjoyed hours of playing together

and skipping naps. We had a great time catching up with Scott and Megan and began talking

about Adult Spring Break 2012. I think Jake is ready for Jack to get big so that he has someone

to play with too! Wings, crowns and high heels dominated the afternoon and everyone enjoyed

dancing with Mickey Mouse.

A gentle nudge to post something new...

New year, new blog post...

Reagan is quickly approaching her first birthday and does an incredible amount of amazing things...or things that are amazing to momma and daddy!

Reagan:

• Walked the first week in December at 10 months
• Eats food like a champ--LOVES hotdogs
• Hugs Elmo on command
• Signs "all done" to signify that she does not want anymore of what we are feeding her
• Has the CUTEST pigtails in the world
• Fully embraces bubble baths (see picture below)
• Does her "cute" face when asked
• Survived her first bout of stomach flu
• Has 3 teeth; 1 snaggle tooth on the top and 2 on the bottom
• Had her first Christmas in Minnesota
• SLEEPS through the night (most nights)

We are gearing up for her birthday party in February and can't wait to see her eat cake!

Here are a couple of pictures of our little diva:

We're back! And Reagan is almost 9 months!!!!

After several months, we're back! It's been a busy fall, traveling back to MN for Gopher football at "The Vault" (aka TCF Stadium), fall visitors and a long weekend in Cancun. Reagan is growing by leaps and bounds and is now topping out at almost 20 lbs. She is eating lots of different foods and we are anticipating adding finger foods to her diet. She is standing and pulling herself up and is busy cruising around all of the furniture. Much to the dismay of Sammie, Reagan is a speed demon in crawling mode. Sammie's favorite time of day is when Reagan goes to bed...just like the old days...

In October, Robin, mom and I took a long weekend trip to Cancun to relax in the sun, drink fruity cocktail drinks and enjoyed some relaxing, RESTFUL night's sleep. The weather was great, the food plentiful and the drinks perfect. While Reagan was missed, I believe the phrase is "Absence makes the heart grow fonder"...

During one of our trips to MN, Reagan went to the Minnesota Zoo with Nani and Aunt Robin. Though the animals were some what interesting to her, she did enjoy her time with Nani and Robin. The trip tuckered her out though!

Finally, Reagan enjoyed her first Halloween, dressing as a Sock Monkey. We breathed a sigh of relief when we put her into her costume, as we were a little fearful that she might not fit into it at the rate that she was growing. Though a little wary at first, she soon found it easy to cruise around waving her tail around.

6 month birthday & first Door County trip

The past few weeks have been very busy for our little Reagan Roo. Two weeks ago we headed up to Door County for our annual Chappell-Samuels family vacation. This year, in addition to both sets of Grandparents and the aunts, Great Grandma Phyllis and Kate's boyfriend, Eric rounded out the crew. We headed up a day early so that we could stay at a hotel with a swimming pool and took Reagan swimming for the first time. Though a little apprehensive at first, she decided that it was a great time (just as long as mommy or daddy was there to cling to). It's amazing to see her learning cause and effect first hand, as she splashes in the water and then giggles in delight.

This year we stayed in Fish Creek at the Whistling Swan Hotel. It is a darling little bed and breakfast that has truly amazing food. We'd highly recommend it to anyone...who doesn't have a 6 month old child. I believe that the word that describes their action as we hauled in our own refrigerator is "cringe". We've already started scouting out houses to rent next year and continue to dream about purchasing a vacation home up there. Perhaps by the time we get to retirement! Reagan loved Door County but had a hard time getting her necessary naps in, as she was continually worried that she was missing something great. That lead to one very tired baby, who seems to fall asleep whenever she was still as seen by the evidence below...

The following week, Reagan went to her first week of daycare. So far she is the only infant in the room and eating up the one on one attention. I hope she does well when she has to start sharing attention. I guess it is a good trial run to see if another sibling (aka competition) will take! :) She has been swimming in the little pool, reads lots of books and played with playdough today.

This past weekend, we traveled up to Franklin, WI for a family picnic with Steve's extended family. Steve's cousin Mark and his family were back from school year in Australia and his other cousin Brian was off to an Engineering conference in Barcelona. We got to visit with all of the family and introduce Reagan to everyone. Again, little miss Reagan decided she was so over naps until we hit the car for the ride home.

Sunday we headed downtown to the Loop to meet an old co-worker of Steve's at Gage for brunch. We had a simply delicious meal and enjoyed catching up with Laura. Afterwards, we strolled down by the lake and played in the water feature at Grant Park. Reagan cooled her feet in the water with mommy.

Here are a couple more pictures from our Door County trip:

Aunt Robin and a happy Reagan

Reagan and Nani (making her walk)

Reagan and her Nani

One of Reagan's favorite activities...flying

Reagan's first airplane ride

We've just arrived back from a whirlwind trip to Minnesota for the baptism of Reagan's godparents' second child, Jacob and a psuedo-surprise 30th birthday party for Chris Chapp.  The trip was Reagan's first plane ride and she was a champ on the plane.  The flight there was the most turbulent flight either Steve or myself had ever flown but Reagan didn't even bat an eye, as she slept through take-off and most of the flight.  She showed her true colors when she awoke though, as she would chatter and wave her arms and then look at the poor man sitting beside me trying to work, to see if he was looking at her.  When he continued to work and not look at her, she would raise the volume of her chatter and look at him again.  By the end of the flight she was not only shouting at him but also reaching out and touching his arm to get his attention.  

MSP was a nightmare coming home this morning though, with thousands of children sprawled all over the ticketing/check in areas in town for an international youth soccer tournament.  We barely made it through security and were amongst the last people on the plane after waiting behind the 10 year old boys checking their 3 foot tall Sponge Bob Square Pants toy.  After the crazy weekend of events, Reagan slept the whole flight and it now currently asleep in her very own crib.  

Super Nanny

We're a week and a half into Robin's summer stint as Super Nanny! She's putting Reagan through the development ringer, with the newest activity called "side sitting". It looks kind of like she is leaning to one side and is apparently the precursor to crawling. Reagan is getting close to rolling over and is enjoying sitting time in her bumbo chair. She has the most infectious laugh and continues to beam from ear to ear. She loves to "fly over her Daddy's head" and still thinks Mommy and her ponytail are pretty hilarious.

Reagan sitting in her Bumbo...look at that smile!

We took her to her 4 month check up on Monday and she weighs in at 15 pounds (75th percentile) and 24.5" long. I believe that they also measured her head but I can't recall the details on that one! She made it through another round of immunizations, though she spit back most of the medicine that they tried to give orally. Though shots were definitely no fun, she was a trooper. The biggest news that we got at the check up was the green light for solid food. I had to giggle to myself when the Dr. mentioned that if Reagan didn't take to the rice cereal that we could try a different kind. In my head I was thinking, "Not take to rice? Not a problem, it's in her genetic make up to love the rice!". Tomorrow is the big day, as Steve was traveling all week in Louisville.

Reagan flying with Daddy

New Digs...and new creatures...

We're settling into our new home and have officially moved the last box from the Condo in Logan Square to the 'Burbs in Deerfield.  My dad spent a  good portion of a week working out in the yard (ask him about his 'Day Laborer' tee shirt) providing some TLC to our much neglected yard and meeting all of the neighbors.  I think when he comes back in a couple of weeks I'll have him introduce us!  

We're slowly getting the rooms in a livable state, in order of importance...Reagan's room and our room were first, followed by the kitchen and bathrooms.  All of the other ones will have to wait. We received an ENORMOUS family sofa from Crate and Barrel and are enjoying watching TV from it. Much to Steve's delight, the extra large sofa dwarfs the current TV so next on our shopping list is a TV to rival the seating.  

We've had some visitors for Cubs games; Lynch flew out for the Cubs v. Dodgers and Micah, Jason and Ken came out for a rooftop Twins v. Cubs.  

Reagan is getting to be SUCH a big girl!  She's cracking up all of the time and she thinks her mommy is SO funny.  Robin is one day into the summer nanny job and is already working her hard--sitting in her bumbo chair, playing in the exer-saucer and rolling over many times.  I think she's done with her growth spurt and trying to hold her bottle all by herself.  With the amount of drool coming out of her and the way she enthusiastically attacks the teethers, it seems imminent that teeth are in our near future.    She's turned out to be quite the chatterbox, yakking it up with anyone and everyone who will listen, including her Gophers hanging above her crib.  She taken to yelling when she's finished eating.

Minnesota visit (belated!) and a new home for Reagan

After a short hiatus from blogging due to an unfortunate lapse in memory (a.k.a. leaving our computer at my parents' house in Apple Valley), we're back!

We made a week long visit to Minnesota to accomplish many things:

1. Instill in Reagan a love for all things Minnesotan; between the mobile and the trip, I think it's working (here she is staring at her Gopher mobile)
   
   
2. Celebrate Steve's birthday with about 75 of his closest friends
3. Introduce Reagan to all of the other Alpha Chi Legacies (pictured below; Me & Reagan, Steph & her Reagan, Heather & Lizzie and Emily & Tyler)
4. Let Reagan meet her Godparents, Megan and Scott Berry
5. Spend some QT with my Goddaughter, Ashley Berry (Ashley Berry hamming it up for the camera)
6. Have Reagan baptized at the church we were married in

Thank you to all of the people who stopped by Steve's birthday party to visit and meet our little one!  We had an awesome time and miss you all very much!

It seems like ages ago, so I'll just post some pictures and move onto the MOVE...

On Wednesday we packed the entire contents of our condo in the city and made the big move to the 'Burbs to our new home in Deerfield.  We filled a moving truck to capacity (they literally had to leave the back doors ajar and tape our stuff in to make it fit!) and headed out the house.  With the new place just minutes from my office, I am thoroughly looking forward to gaining nearly 3 hours of my life back each day due to a MUCH shorter commute!  

Steve's parents were amazing and made several 1.5 hour+ trips to Deerfield to pick up and/or watch Reagan while we worked on getting our home in a livable state.  Reagan's room was first, followed by our room.  Everything else will have to happen later!  My dad also came out to add some much needed TLC to our yard, as it was in definite need of help after many months of neglect.  Already it looks like a completely different yard.  The neighborhood is extremely friendly and everyone has stopped by to welcome up and wish us luck.

We'll post pictures, as soon as we can locate a camera!

Aunt Robin comes for spring break

For Robin's spring break, she decided to forgo the bikini and tequila poppers and come to Chicago to visit her favorite niece (ok, her only niece).  It's been so nice having a trained professional here to show us all sorts of new games to play with Reagan, as she was getting tired playing "Who is that baby in the mirror".  Robin is thoroughly working Reagan through tummy time and got all of the new toys out to show her.  In addition, Robin helped Reagan discover her feet, which was quite exciting!  Our favorite game so far has been putting the little stacking plush flowers on her wrists, Edward Forty-Hands style (and by our, I mean Robin and I, getting a good laugh at it!).

This week Reagan has also become quite the little talker, trading her little baby grunts for coos and gurgles.  She now spends most of her awake time vocalizing how exciting her world is through her new sounds.

It's been a busy week--since Robin is here, we've ventured out quite a bit more than usual. We've been quite amused watching people trying to determine which one of us is the mommy as we push Reagan around.  Today the weather turned warmer and mild so we walked around Old Orchard Mall, an outdoor mall near us and Reagan was the best little shopper.  I think she must take after her mommy!

My Life As a Teenager Boy

Reagan sporting a Baby GAP outfit and an unfortunate case of baby acne

What does Reagan and a teenage boy have in common?

• Days consist of eating and sleeping
• An unfortunate case of acne all over the face--is she too young for Proactiv?
• Dreams of boobs, eating and sleeping (in that order)
• Propensity to do exactly the opposite of what mom and dad want her to (ex. staying up all night!)

On Sunday we awoke to a strange silence in our apartment.  After rolling over to check the time, we realized that our baby was still sleeping (rare that we wake up before her) and the power was out. After a stormy and windy night, snow had settled into the Windy City, freezing the rain on power lines from the previous day and knocking out power in Logan Square.  Facing a whole day with no power (and no way to heat up bottles) we packed up Reagan and all of her stuff and headed out on her first official roadtrip to visit Grandma and Grandpa Chappell.  Like most babies, she loves the motion of a moving car and proceeded to immediately fall asleep, sleeping soundly for the entire 2 hour drive to Steve's parents' house in New Berlin.  So far she's a car riding champ.  Having taken off the carseat Bundle Me when the warm weather landed in Chicago, Reagan decided to wear her winter coat. The first time we put her in it, we could barely see her little face, as she was literally drowning in the massive amounts of fabric.  This time, the fit was much better!

We've finalized the details of our house close and look forward to getting into the house next month, the last week of April.  With 4 bedrooms, there will be a guest room for anyone who wants to visit (though over the summer Robin will be occupying the room as our live-in summer nanny). We're taking reservations, so make sure to contact us if you have a trip planned to Chi-Town!

As a reminder, we'll be in Minnesota April 11th- April 19th.  Steve's birthday party is open to any and all who'd like to stop by my parents' house in Apple Valley.  Call either Steve or myself if you need directions!

Minnesota's Big Dance

Reagan & I are home alone while Steve is out on the road.  We're currently watching the 10 seed Gophers take on 7 seed Texas on the computer, as Comcast sucks and we aren't getting the MN game on tv.  Reagan is sporting some Gopher gear and hoping for a Gopher victory.  

Yesterday we put an offer on a house in Deerfield and found out that our offer was accepted.  We close at the end of April and will begin to move our stuff into our new home in Deerfield.  The whole process was quite the whirlwind, as we hadn't intended on purchasing a house until June but we felt the house was too good to pass up and there were a couple of other bidders who we were competing with.

Here are a few pictures of our new home, contingent upon inspection...  

It's Big Ten Tourney Time

GO GOPHERS!!!!!!

Today we're planning on watching the Gophers take on the Wildcats in Round one of the Big Ten Tourney.  We had to laugh, as we has actually contemplated road-tripping down to Indianapolis for the tournament pre-baby.  The thought process; She's a baby.  She eats, she sleeps, she poops, how hard could it be?  In hindsight, we really were new parents as we had no idea how utterly ridiculous the idea was until we met her!  Maybe next year...

Despite not attending the tournament in person, we've got a big night of beer and pizza (and breastmilk for Reagan) and college basketball.  Hopefully we'll be able to stay awake to watch the games, as we're in the throes of many sleepless nights.

Reagan is getting so big and has officially outgrown her first clothes.  I began to pack up some of the NB sized clothes to make room for all of the cute big girl clothes!  She's still sporting a lot of pink, good thing she looks so cute in it!  

Reagan hanging out before her bath

Here's a couple of other pictures that we especially like...

Please save the date...we'll be back in Minnesota for Steve's birthday and Reagan's baptism. Reagan and I will be in Minnesota April 11th-19th, drop us a line if you want to meet for lunch/dinner/coffee, etc!

• Steve's birthday party will be April 18th at 1pm in Apple Valley at my parents' house.  I've sent out an evite but if I missed you, shoot me an email and I'll add you to the evite.  Food, beverages and Byerly's sheet cake will be provided.  
  
• Reagan's baptism will be April 19th at 10am at Calvary Lutheran Church (the church we were married at).  We'll have brunch afterwards either at my parents' house or at a restaurant nearby.

Whose kid is this?

Hilarious, truly hilarious...the night's events unfolded like this...

Cat Chu offered to bring us over dinner last night and who are we to turn down home-cooked goodness?  In return, we decided to bathe Reagan and put her in new pj's for Cat's visit.  We filled up the baby tub, scrubbed her down and lubed her up with a nice coating of baby lotion.  There she was smelling as sweet as she looked.  Cat's visit was fairly uneventful, with the right amount of alert and sleeping times and a feeding in the middle.  

Steve and I also had a date to Skype with the Berrys.  While Steve and Scott were working out some of the technical difficulties, I was holding Reagan and she performed one of the "miracles" of infancy; a dirty diaper effort that would make any truck driver proud, complete with great sound effects from both ends and an "incredible" smell.  Since she is a notorious multiple pooper, I held her a little while longer to see if she had any more to deal with.  Unbeknownst to me, Reagan had achieved a huge feat in her diaper, managing to poop not only out of the back of her diaper but also out of the front of her diaper.  I looked down to see a dijon mustard type substance oozing out of the front of her diaper, all over her clean pj's and Reagan staring up at me with the most content look on her face.  Needless to say, in addition to us fumbling through the Skype issues, we also were up to our elbows in Reagan's mess.  I think she might be Fabick's baby, based on the events of the night...

Just thought I'd be one of those parents who talk about pooping...yep, we've embraced parenthood to its fullest!

Back to work for Daddy

Steve is back on the road, traveling in Michigan this week and my parents are staying with Reagan and me.  It's been a blessing to have a couple extra pairs of hands around to help while Steve is gone.  We've settled into quite the routine, eating about every 2.5 to 3 hours and waking once a night to eat.  She's still an early riser, waking up at 6am-ish to demand food; glad that Reagan and Sammie can coordinate their food demand times to coincide!  

Reagan had her first water bath on Monday night and did not make a peep as she was washed and dried, though she did shiver quite a bit when the water was not being sprayed directly on her.  During her bath, we noticed that in addition to her hair seeming to lighten with each day, that she has the slightest bit of curl to her hair.  We're not sure that either development will be permanent but we're enjoying documenting all of the changes.

Both of my parents are amazed at how much Reagan has changed in just the few weeks since she was born.  My dad gets the biggest kick out of her "smiles".  I secretly think Reagan is laughing at him, as he seems to be having a slight identity crisis and can't decide what he wants to be called.  He goes back and forth between Grandpa and Papa; it's a good thing that Reagan won't be able to call him anything for a little while or who knows what she'd call him!  My mom jumps at any chance to hold her little granddaughter and has been a huge help as I'm still a little slower than my pre-pregnancy self.

We've finalized Reagan's baptism for April 19th so we'll be back to Minnesota the week before.  We'll likely come up for Easter weekend and I'll stay for the week with my parents.  In addition to Reagan's baptism, Steve is finally having a birthday party after 8 years together!  So mark your calendars for Saturday, April 18th for a birthday party celebrating Steve's last year as a twenty-something.  My parents have been gracious enough to agree to host, so get out your GPS and get ready to trek to da 'hood (aka Apple Valley) for some rockin' afternoon birthday partying...come meet Reagan, wish Steve 'happy birthday' and eat Byerly's sheet cake (yeah, you can't get that in Chicago!).

And baby makes three...

After a significant hiatus from my attempts to blog, I'm back and hope to keep up more diligently to record Reagan's first months in Chicagoland.  

Reagan is officially two weeks old as of yesterday at 4:19 pm.  It's hard to believe how much she has changed in just two short weeks.  Steve and I can both agree, parenthood is the most difficult, but rewarding experience we have ever undertaken.  While I will be out on maternity leave through Memorial Day weekend, Steve had to return to work last week, teetering on the verge of exhaustion and euphoria.  Having a baby is the busiest down-time in the world, as we are working to get Reagan on a schedule and acclimated to the idea of day=wake and night=sleep.

There are have been lots of surprises along the way.  In order to not forgot the surprises from these early days, here's our biggest learnings/joys so far:

• I didn't think that we could get sick of pink, as it is one of my favorite colors, however after two weeks, we've taken to dressing Reagan in boy sleep and plays, just to escape the color.  She's currently wearing a little green one that says "Later Gator" and has tossed printed alligators all over it.
• We were skeptical that the 0-3 month clothing would fit her when she was born, fearing that she would be too big for those outfits.  When she arrived, we had to laugh as she was drowning in the her in the 0-3 month clothes.  Both Steve and I have made subsequent trips to Target to clean them out of all of the NB sized clothes that they stocked.
• Despite all of the literature that says babies don't smile at this age, we have been getting a kick out of her ability to roll through multiple facial expressions.  It is as if she is trying out all of her expressions, one after another.  Our favorite is her smile, followed by her surprised face.
• For being the product of two high strung parents, Steve and I are blessed with an incredibly laid back baby.  She eats, sleeps and messes diapers and spends a very small amount of time crying.  It could be that she's still getting used to this big outside world, but we are keeping our fingers crossed that she stays this sweet.
• The sheer amazement that she recognizes both Steve and my voices this early in her life.  She'll turn towards us when we speak or sing.  I just hope she doesn't recall all of my yelling during the crazy Chicago commutes home from Deerfield over the past few months.
• She can sleep through almost anything; she slept through the neighbors' wine and cheese kegger, she can sleep through the dishwasher, washing machine and microwave all at one time...she really is her mommy's daughter!  
• Babies make an incredible amount of laundry.  We do laundry every day!
• Steve passed on cutting the umbilical cord after watching the "miracle" of birth but did get to experience it falling off whilst changing her diaper.
• For a man who had never changed a diaper before, Steve is an expert diaper changer...he also does a fantastic job changing clothes and swaddles like a pro! 
• We've got a little water baby.  There's rarely a cry during the sponge baths (she gets her first water bath today!) and it is almost as if she is smiling when we spray off her head to rinse the shampoo.  
• Her hair is still thick and dark, though it appears that it may be getting lighter as she gets older.  
• She has inherited her mommy's dry skin so we spend a fair amount of time lubing her up with vaseline to counteract the flakiness.  She has already embraced her inner girliness, as she puckers up when I put the Aquaphor on her lips.

We are truly amazed by just how much and how quickly we fell in love with her.  We're hoping to make it back to Minnesota in April to have her baptized at the church that Steve and I got married at and to celebrate Steve's last year in his twenties.  Stayed tuned for more details but I anticipate that we'll be back mid-April.