First Day of School

Emma and Mia are still smiling after their first full day at daycare.

Emma to Mia: "So, when's lunch?"

Mia:  "I don't know, but I hope we don't have to have milk again."

We all survived Emma & Mia's first day of school today! Well, daycare, but it might as well be school as far as we're concerned.  

The morning ran very smoothly, especially for our first attempt.  Matt had taken care of the girls' bottles and our lunches last night.  I got the girls dressed and packed up their stuff and we were off!

All four of us left together, and the girls and I dropped off Matt at work.  I took the girls (and their stuff) into the day care via stroller, as they're getting too heavy for me to carry both of them in car seats. It took me a while to get everyone and everything unloaded and signed in, but I'll get faster as I get used to it. The girls' teachers were great and made me feel okay about leaving them.  I checked on them a couple times throughout the day, which was fun. 

 

A welcome sign from their teachers. 

Mia and Emma check the place out from their boppies. 

When I signed them out at the end of the day, I got their daily reports from the teacher:

"Emma had a good day. She was so happy to be around her new friends. :-)" 

"Mia had a rough day but she napped really well."

That was pretty much what I witnessed.  Emma seemed pretty happy playing until she became too hungry or tired.  (Unlike Mia, Emma did not nap well, and only had a few 1/2 hour naps.)  Mia was sleeping both times I went in, and when she woke up toward the end of the day she was not happy.  But she had a total of 3 hours worth of naps, which was impressive for her first day. Mia tends to be a little more anxious in groups of larger people so I think we could have expected this.  But she'll warm up and be just fine.  The teachers seemed to give them plenty of attention so that was comforting.  

If all else fails, Mia has her hands to comfort her. 

Emma practices sitting up.

The girls seemed happy to get into their car seats to go home this afternoon. I didn't think I'd have to worry about loading the girls in the car in the rain for a while, but I should've know better in Seattle.  Rain in August?  Why not? 

When we got home the girls were very happy to be here, and played in the living room before downing several bottles.  (They didn't eat much today at daycare. Too many distractions, I'm sure.)  They went to sleep for the night fairly easily - no doubt exhausted from their big day. 

I'm sure some days will be harder than others, but we've got the first one under our belt. Now it's off to bed so we can do it all again tomorrow. 

5-Month Old Fun

Em & M's pajama party

Mia pushes up and practices rolling over.

Emma's turn!

It's a lot of fun being 5 months old.  We sure are busy!  Here's what we've been up to...

• Grammy came to visit from San Diego!
• Mom went back to her other job during the daytime, so we played with Grammy and our friend, Carla.
• Grammy bought us a Jumperoo!  It's so much fun to play in.  We love standing upright and jumping around.  Mom and Dad got us an exersaucer too so we both have something to play in.
  Emma and Mia love their new toys.  They have a much better view of the TV from them!
   (That's what Mia is looking at.)
  
  
  
  Emma pushes buttons to hear animal noises. 
  

Mia focuses on spinning the toy.

• We've been watching the Olympics.  They're pretty fun to watch, especially swimming and gymnastics.  We've been known to turn around 180 degrees in our seats to see the TV. We can't miss a second!
  
• Bob came to visit and we got to meet his daughter (and Mom's friend) Carrie. 
  
• We went to a BBQ with Mom and Dad's friends (ours too).  There were 5 other little girls for us to play with. 
• We got our first colds and shared them with Mom and Grammy.  Colds are no fun.
• We checked out our new day care, and met some nice ladies and played with some new toys. The babies were nice but we will have to get used to the big, older boys who play a little rougher than we're used to. 
• Nanny Janny (aka Great Aunt Janis) came to visit and help Grammy take care of us. We got to play outside in the yard with her and had a great time. 
  Emma & Janis
  

• We met our cousins Debbie, Jake and Dave. They came to visit and brought us a whole library of books we get to read.  The boys were funny and made us laugh. 
  Janis, Dave, Debbie, Jake pose with the girls
  

• It's been really hot so we've taken some walks outside, and then cooled off downstairs in our basement.

Dad, Emma and Mia cool off in the basement on a hot day.

I'm sure we'll have more adventures to tell you about soon, so stay tuned!

Emma & Mia

Time's Up!

My last day of leave was nwarm and sunny, so the girls and I took a nice walk around Ballard.  We sat in the sun (well, I did at least) at the Ballard Commons park nearby.  The water fountains that spring out of the ground would spray us every once in a while when the wind blew in our direction.  The girls seemed to like the refreshment. Emma giggled every time she felt the water.

It was a nice way to end my time off.  We've come a long way in 5 months.  We when first came home with the girls for good, I couldn't fathom leaving the house with them on my own. And even though it's not easy to pack them up and take them places, or to recover once we get home and they're both hungry and tired, we know it's possible.

I will miss spending each day with the girls - especially mornings which are my favorite. But I'm also excited to get back to normal, or adapt to the new normal of being a working mom.  And I think the girls will have some great opportunities to develop and learn in day care.  And we'll always have our weekends together. 

Weigh In

The girls had a 5-month doctor appointment today to check their growth.  No doubt they're growing nicely!

Emma is 14 lbs, 4.5 oz and 24" long.

Mia is 13 lbs, 12.5 oz and 23.5" long.

They are both up about 1 1/2 pounds since last month and have more then tripled their birth weight. The length measurement isn't too technical and usually depends on how much the girls are wiggling around, but we have noticed they look longer. 

The girls showed off their strong legs and back by showing their doctor how they can stand up and push up on their tummies. 

August Means Back to School & Work for the Lunds

The beginning of August brings on another time of transition for the Lund Family.  Matt returns to UW part-time to work toward his MPA degree (Master's of Public Administration), Megan returns to Starbucks, and the girls begin day care.

Matt has put his studies on hold since last fall so he could care for the girls and me. He's taking one summer class this month, and then he'll take one class in fall quarter. I'm not so sure it's a just a coincidence that his classes are during "fussy time" at home, though. :-) Just kidding, of course...Matt has been very helpful to me and knows it makes for a long day caring for the girls well into the evening. We are his top priority, so if he needs to come home early, so be it. 

My first day back at work is Monday.  I'm excited to return, and actually think it will be a much-needed mental break for me.  My team has been very supportive of me phasing back in slowly.  This month I'll work 3 days a week, then 4 days/week in September and back to full-time in October.  The girls will be in great hands with my mom (Grammy) for the first couple of weeks, so that will ease my transition as well. 

Then, on August 18, Emma and Mia will go to day care full-time. We were fortunate that the Bright Horizons in my building had two spots open for the girls.  Matt and I visited the "classroom" and met the "teachers."  (Sounds pretty much like school to me!) We feel it will be a great environment for the girls.  They'll get to do fun activities like finger painting and baby yoga, and go on walks outside.  And the best part is I'll be able to see them whenever I want, as they're just downstairs.  The week prior to starting full-time, we'll be able to bring the girls in for short periods of time to introduce them to the room and the people. This will also allow us to get used to them being away from us too!  I think it's going to be harder on us than them. 

So stay tuned for stories as we make these changes.  If we go days or weeks without a post, it probably means were working on our new schedule and routine, so think good thought for us.  

Social Butterflies

We spent the whole week with Mom and got to see lots of our friends.  On Tuesday, Teagan - our NICU friend - and her mom Brigette came over to play. She fit right in with us.  We're all about the same size, and we even sound the same when we talk.  

The next day Jack and his mom Melissa came over.  It seems like whenever we see Jack, we're either asleep or fussy.  This time we were fussy.  Sorry, Jack.  We just can't help it.  We'll get better with age. When we can sit up and move around like you can, we'll feel better. 

Today Mom took us to University Village to meet her friend Cecile, and her daughter, Ava.  We had fun being outside and walking around the mall.  The Starbucks was loud but we handled it pretty well, as long as Mom was holding or feeding us.  Ava helped us by putting our pacifiers in our mouths too.  

Thank goodness it's Friday because we're exhausted! 

Em & M

Teagan, Mia and Emma at 5 months

Mia, it's not polite to eat our guest's hand!

Just the girls. 

Emma & Mia at 5 Months

Em and M's 5 month old birthday photo.

Today Emma and Mia turned 5 months old!  It's amazing to see how far they've come in such a short amount of time.  When we look back at pictures when they were first born, they are so tiny. Now they are three times that size and register on the growth charts with other babies their age.  

We are so grateful for all the help and support we've had along the way to get us to this point.  Although we've been without night nursing care for a few weeks now, last Thursday was the first night the four of us spent alone in our house.  We needed the help we had a long the way, but it is nice now having just the four of us, and getting along with life as a new family.

This is my last week at home with the girls before I return to work. As much as they exhaust me by the end of the day, I know it's going to be hard to be away from them.  So we're going to enjoy our time together this week! 

Mia and Emma are tummy time champs.