Kompare.Us

Hopefully, I will get some pictures up on Facebook and our Picasa website soon of Bea’s Baptism on November 8th. My dad was extremely nervous that she would cry for him while he baptized her, but she ended up being great.

A highlight though was when my dad was introducing Bea to the congregation and mentioned that Bea had a big sister, Colleen. Tom was holding Colleen and Colleen waved to Grandpa (my dad) with a big smile on her face. Everyone loved it.

As is the tradition at our church, the baby is baptized and then the pastor walks up and down the aisle to introduce the baby to the congregation. During that they talk about what the baby’s name means and who he/she is named after, etc. Well, my dad started out by saying, “Beatrix means Peter Rabbit.” :-) That got a big laugh.

Actually, Beatrix means “bringer of joy” and Mariana means “rebellious one.”

We were blessed to be joined by a lot of family, including my maternal grandma, Mary (one of the Mary’s whom Bea’s middle name comes from) and my maternal Aunt Nancy from out of town.

Ok, we are going crazy. While intellectually I knew that having two kids was going to be more work, I honestly was not prepared for how completely chaotic our life is. We are not getting anything done beyond caring for the girls. I know part of it is the difficulties with Bea’s acid reflux and gas which make it hard for her to get comfortable enough to sleep. And I know that we would be having quite a time anyway with Colleen entering her terrible two’s. But, we are overwhelmed. How in the world do people have more than one or two kids???

Anyway, very quick updates…

Beatrix:
1-month appt: 9 lbs 4 oz (yes she gained nearly 3 pounds in her first month!!) and 20 inches long.
2-month appt: 11 lbs. 5 oz (still growing well!) and 22 inches long.
Bea is on Zantac for her acid reflux so at least she isn’t screaming all the time anymore, but she still has major issues with uncomfortable and painful gas. It is so hard to see her squirming and straining so much of the time. She also was just diagnosed with thrush, so now we have her on medication for that as well. That could explain some of her pain when nursing.
We also are dealing with at least one total blowout a day. We are going through clothes like crazy! Something we didn’t have to do with Colleen!
But, Bea is also now smiling a lot and has quite a few periods of quiet alertness where she will start to interact a little with people.

Colleen:
Colleen is definitely pushing the limits and experimenting and being a typical 2-year old who can drive her parents crazy. She is also quite devilish and sometimes it’s really hard to discipline her because she has such a great big grin on her face. She still is very, very shy around other kids and most adults, but Tom did see her talking to another little girl at Sunday School which is a huge!
Colleen now has a Tumbling class on Thursdays that she loves and likes to walk on the balance beam best. She also is good at talking to the teacher, Miss Mary. She still goes to Kindermusik on Saturdays (with Tom) and Play Group at church on Tuesdays. She loves Miss Dena and Miss Christine, two of her Sunday School teachers. And she talks and talks and talks…I am constantly amazed at what she remembers and how well she learns. I get worried that she’s watching a little too much PBS, but she seems to learn from the shows and then uses some of the plots and things she learns for her own pretend play.

Other events that occurred…In October, Anya turned 36 and in November, we celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary.

Hanging out on the couch watching Curious George

Tom always loved when Colleen slept on his chest and it seems Bea is happy to oblige him as well.

On Sept 9th, we headed to the doctor for Colleen’s 24-month appt and Bea’s first doctor’s appt.

COLLEEN:  The doctor impressed that Colleen spoke in complete sentences (something she has started to do more often).  She actually talked a lot to the doctor about a toy that was in the office which she was having fun exploring and also she proceeded to take everything out of mommy’s purse.  She is now 24 lbs and 32 inches tall.  She did get fragile during the actual exam when the doctor was checking out her eyes and ears and throat.  She kept saying “Mommy” and pointing to me with her lip quivering.  The doctor proclaimed her in good shape!  Luckily no shots, but we will have to come back for flu and swine flu in October.

BEA: The doctor says she looks to be in good shape.  She is 19 inches (she shrunk!, the hospital had put her at 20 inches at birth) and weighs 6 lbs. 8 oz.  The fact that she is already gaining weight is good.

Beatrix is a family name on Tom’s side.  Actually there are quite a few Bea’s (either Beatrix or Beatrice) and Joe’s in his family!

Many people who know me thought she might be named after Beatrix Potter (since I am quite the fan!), but that is just a happy coincidence.

Mariana is the Czech form of Mary or Mary Ann.  So, her middle name comes from her Nana Mary (Anya’s maternal grandmother; Bea and Colleen’s great-grandmother) and Tom’s maternal grandmother, who was also Mary (she passed away in 2006).  Tom also would have been a Mary Anne if he had been born a girl!

So, just like Colleen Carol, Beatrix Mariana comes from family names.

Beatrix means “bringer of joy” or “traveler through life”.  Mariana comes from Mary and Ann.  Mary means “sea of bitterness” in Hebrew (ah well!) and Ann is “gracious” in Hebrew.  I guess when you share your name with Mary, the mother of Jesus…sea of bitterness makes some sense.

I love them both so much! Colleen is definitely very emotionally fragile right now, but she’s being a real trooper. It’s so hard for me to not be able to pick her up or lay down next to her when she needs some soothing. I can’t wait for the C-section to heal…it can’t come soon enough!