All about the Girls

Updates:
Sofia - 26 months (tomorrow)
She's been sleeping much better these past few weeks - for a while there she was waking up every night! She did get 3 of her 4 eye teeth. And also with all of the changes I'm sure some of it was mental. We still have to keep the door open. And most nights she fights going to sleep, she will make any excuse not to get in her crib (potty, water, want to say goodnight Daddy/Gabby) Many nights she still fusses and cries for a bit and some nights we shut the door because she is hollering, which makes her madder, so after a couple of minutes she will usually settle down if we go back in and re-open the door.
She amazes me every day with how much she knows. Some of my favorite things she does/says are:
- Every morning when I take her to school she insists on playing in her playroom while I put Gabby in the car. She says "Gabby first!"
- She is interested in traffic lights now and will say "Mama Red" and "Green Means Go"
- She is the "sun Nazi" and always tells me "Gabby sun in face" even if it's not and wants me to pull down the carseat shade to protect Gabby.
- She has a new obsession with dental floss and asks me to floss her teeth by pointing at the floss and saying "mama, aaaaah" (opening mouth wide)
- Whenever Nelson or I go to the bathroom she says "Mama Candy!" or "Daddy candy!" and she is so excited we earned a reward for going on the potty. She's more excited when she goes and runs to where we keep the candy (sometimes pants around the ankles) and says "nummy" when she eats it.
- She loves the monkey iPad app (Mama I want monkey) and Itsy Bitsy Spider app (Mama I want spider) and applauds herself when she gets something right or calls out the things she likes that she sees in the apps.
- If she hears me say I am going to go somewhere she says "Mama I wanna come" - especially the "store". The other day we drove by Target and she said "Mama - store! Mama you like the store (pointing at it)" Yes, I sure do!
She is doing pretty well with potty training, Lena doesn't give her candy anymore when she goes at daycare, it's just part of their routine. I still give her candy when she goes a lot, trying to figure out how to phase that out :) Still no #2 regularly in the potty. Almost out of diapers, then it's pull-ups full time.
She is obsessed with frozen yogurt, the places where you serve yourself and add the toppings. She always gets the vanilla with fresh strawberries and loves it! But if we don't go when she wants to, she gets mad!
She (sadly) knows McDonald's and In N Out by sight and when we drive by she says "French Fries" about McD's and "hamburger" about In N Out. The girl definitely loves to eat! We try to make sure she eats at least one fruit or veggie with every meal.
She is definitely a mama's girl right now - follows me around and wants to help me feed Gabby or pump (she plugs in my breast pump for me).
We have a pretty good night time routine now. It's Potty (and sometimes a candy), teeth brushed, Pajamas, a couple of books and songs. We do Itsy Bitsy Spider (she does the movements with me), Pat-a-Cake (I say mark it with a B, put it in the oven for Baby and me and she says "No Sofia!" So I have to do it again and mark it with an S for Sofia), Trot Trot to London (she calls it "horsey") and lastly RockaBye Baby.
Lately she has been calling me "Mom" or "Mommy" and Nelson "Dad" sometimes instead of Mama/Daddy which we have always been. Which is cute!
She likes to pick out her own clothes in the morning, but it can take a while so sometimes I have to give her 2 options and make her pick one.
She likes it when I bring Gabby in her room in the morning, I lay Gabby in her crib on her pillow and Sofi lies next to her. Then Gabby hangs out in there while I change Sofia and get her dresses. Sofi gets a kick out of someone else "sleeping" in her bed.
Besides Finding Nemo we have also watched part of The Little Mermaid. She doesn't really have the attention span for full movies yet but she likes Disney characters and seems to recognize some of them even if we haven't seen the movies.

Gabby - 4 months (next week)
We dropped the dreamfeed at 14 weeks, she woke up about an hour early the first couple of days and now she is back to sleeping from 8:30am to around 7:30am. It's great! Nelson gives her a bottle at 7:30 which has worked out well because we can tell how much she's eating and make sure sh gets enough to last her all night. We are going to switch her to a 4-hour schedule starting next week. (4 feedings/3 naps a day) So the amounts at each feeding will increase.
We still swaddle her for naps and nighttime sleep. I've attempted a few naps without one and she just can't seem to fall asleep. Partly because she accidentally knocks the pacifier out with her hands when they are free. And I think there must be some comfort to being swaddled securely.
She is such a little talker, if I coo at her she will coo right back, it's like she thinks we are having a real conversation. Sometimes I talk to her but she likes to mimic the sounds when I coo at her. I think this one may talk early. She also loves music. Whenever I sing to her, she stops and really pays attention and smiles. She may be musical!
She is really trying to sit up whenever I set her down. She doesn't like tummy time still and doesn't really push up from her tummy (which is a precursor to rolling). So who knows, maybe she will sit up before she rolls over!
She is such a sweet baby, the only times she really gets upset is when she is overstimulated particularly during mealtimes, or gassy. I guess she likes to focus on her food and not having a screaming sister or TV noise or crowds around when she is enjoying her meals!
We are not planning to introduce solids until 6 months. Gabby in general is less interested in and "into" eating like Sofia was, but she still appears to be gaining weight and following Sofia's growth pattern. So maybe she is just a more efficient eater.
Her 4 month doctor's appointment and shots is June 14th - so we'll see what the doc says about how she is progressing then, I think she will be impressed at what a good sleeper she is and everything else seems to be on track as well.

Nelson starts his paternity leave next Monday, and Monday/Tuesday I will be home as well to show him the routine with Gabby. He will take Sofia to school in the morning while I feed Gabby and get ready for work, then I will go to work when he gets back. He will pick up Sofia with Gabby at the end of the day and they will all be home when I get home from work. If the 4 hour schedule works out well, he will be giving her 2 bottles while I'm gone.
I managed to pump and freeze 200 bags of breastmilk while I was off!! With Sofia I had about 50 and I thought that would last forever, but pumping at work wasn't very successful last time, so the supply only lasted us until she was 7 months old. I am going to try to be more vigilant this time about keeping my pumping schedule, and I hope to make it to at least 9 months of breastmilk only, then we may supplement a bit with formula (keeping the morning/evening feedings until around 1 year like I did with Sofia)

Our girls are growing, and keeping us on our toes. They are awesome!!