Leotards, Backpacks, and Zantac

On Monday, Cate turned 7 weeks.  Not much to report on her.  She's smiling a little more.  She's eating well and sleeping well.  We had to switch her bottles because the kind we were using were starting to make her fussy.  Who knows why!  She started Zantac last week for reflux too.  We went to Emma's 3 year check up (For the record, she weighed in at 29 pounds, was 37 1/2 inches tall and got a great report!) While were there I was telling the nurse about Cate's symptoms - lots of spitting up, fussiness during a feeding, frequent hiccups, a little cough without a cold, grunting, arching her back, etc. - and that I supected reflux.  She tried to suggest that perhaps I was feeding her too much which was confusing because 2 weeks ago, the doctor told me that she knows that she needs, feed her when she's hungry, let her take as much as she wants, you can't over feed a baby.  Blah blah blah ... When I explained that I was only feeding her when she was hungry and even sometimes didn't give her more when I suspected what was in her bottle wasn't enough and that Emma had reflux too (This isn't my first rodeo!), she told me to tell the doctor and that she thought he would probably prescribe Zantac.  So he did and she's doing much better!  In spite of her reflux, she's still an easy baby. 

Grandma Helen saw this bathing suit and couldn't resist.  Who could?

We did wear it to a friend's house for a pool day, but Cate did not like it when I dipped her toes in the water.

It's nice to have a healthy easy baby, but at this age, it doesn't allow for a lot of exciting blog posts.  Not that I would trade it for the world!

On Tuesday, I went to Parent Orientation Night at school.  How strange to be a parent instead of the teacher!  Emma's teachers are very sweet and her classroom is adorable.  As soon as I walked in, I saw a sand table (minus the sand) set up with a Smurf scene.  We took Emma to see the Smurfs movie before J left and she loved it! I couldn't wait until she saw the Smurfy cute set up at school!

On Wednesday, Emma started dance and gymnastics.  White ballet shoes, pink leotard, and her friend Teodora.  So cute!  Teodora's parents and I watched the class, laughing the whole time.  Teodora was quite serious, followed every word the teacher said and was in heaven!  Emma was hamming it up, watching her reflection in the mirror more than she was following along.  We were joking that she would be the first 3 year old asked to wear a blind fold in ballet class to keep her from looking at her reflection.  She even kissed the mirror at one point.  Her teachers were very patient, but I wouldn't be surprised if they wished we hadn't walked through their door!

Today was Emma's first day of school!  Oh how excited she was! She wore a pretty new dress, carried her special school bag that her teacher gave her, and could hardly even wait to walk into the classroom.   We even found out that one of the other girls in her ballet class is also in her class at school.  Ballet class might have been Teodora's heaven, but Mrs. Madden's classroom is certainly Emma's! I can't wait to see what this year brings for her at school.

Jeremy has been Diego for about a week now.  He hasn't been able to see much of the island as he is very busy learning the ropes.  Upon his arrival, he pinned on 'Commander' along with the guy who he relieved.  They celebrated with a traditional 'wetting down', but that was about the last bit of fun and relxacation he's had.  He's very busy and says he's a bit overwhelmed, but I'm hoping that once he settles in, he'll be able to enjoy himself a little more.  We miss him tremendously, of course. Emma is starting to realize that Daddy isn't coming back when she thought he might, but she still doesn't quite get it. At least 20 times a day, she tells anyone that will listen that when Daddy comes back he is going to take her to 'Africa'.  To her, Africa is the Animal Kingdom Lodge in Disney World, but we don't have plans to go to either Africa anytime soon.  I'm hoping that as she starts getting busier with school, dance and play dates, she will focus less on missing Dadddy and her travel plans.

So it's been a busy week, but we are all doing well!  Tomorrow we are headed to the Scottish Highland Games in Ligoneer if the weather cooperates.  Hopefully we'll have some great pictures to share.