A day in the life of the Steffen Sisters!: September 2016

Playing catch up on this blog - you know been a bit busy. Between guests and trying to get use to new baby and little sleep, the blog was destined to be delayed. This is dedicated to a month full of firsts....and lots of pictures! Here we go!

Sis is letting me start the party...you see I just completed my first month of life! A whole month. I like to sleep - a LOT - talk (ok, grunt admit it sis, you make animal sounds like a horse, goat, etc.), eat, and poop. Mom has been happy with me the last few nights because I slept 5+ hours. I sometimes then follow that with a 2 1/2 hour 'nap', so the fondness may have faded quickly. And all was lost when I pooped all over the white ottoman this morning. I also successfully passed my 1 month check up at the doc. Weighing in a 7 lbs 9 oz (7% - not typically the weight they would expect me to gain, but good from when I actually made it back to birth weight after coming home). I am also 20.5 inches, pretty average I think.

Here is just a sample of some of Lena's grunting.

the going home picture!!

I am awake sometimes...I even rock tummy time already.

To back up, Lena made it home after 12 - wait 13 - days in the NICU. You see, she successfully pulled out her feeding tube again and mom talked the nurses into leaving it out because she was pretty sure that Lena was just taking the easy way out when it came to eating. After a lot of tears from both of them and a couple long nights in the hospital...they finally got to come home. We were so happy to have mom back home and really get to spend time getting to know our baby sister and start being a real family of five.

I have mastered being a first time big sister. And pretty good if I do say so myself. I love holding baby Lena - especially in the mornings. I sing to her and even read to her and sometimes give her stickers. She definitely loves me! But I talk to her all the time and she always wants to hold my hand. Ok, ok....she loves us both.

Let's get to my firsts. As promised in the last blog, I am backing up a bit. I had my first day of Kindergarten. I mean that is a BIG thing. It may have got a bit lost in the mix with baby Lena making her appearance, but it happened...and it was great. While mom was at hospital, I still had Elmo there to get me ready and dad came back and forth so that he could take and pick me up on my first day. I was a little nervous, but just a tiny bit. Really the biggest thing for me to get past is the no napping thing. I like quiet time. I usually use it to draw pictures or do math. I love going to the library to get new books...actually it is all pretty fun. I sometimes get a little bored, but oh well.

The next day I had my first day riding the bus. That scared me a bit more, but now a few weeks in - I have it mastered. I just hope that we never miss it. I decided on my 2nd day of school to make a new best friend. Which I have made a couple of.

Then as if I didn't have enough firsts....a few weeks in I had my first (ok 6th) birthday celebration. Yep, it was my golden birthday (6 on the 6th). I had school, but mom took in some Lamars donuts to share with the class...so that was pretty sweet. I also only had a 3 day week of school (which I hear I get a lot of days off in this new school). Anyway, Grandma Janice came back down for that and we celebrated as a family with my favorite meal (mac n'cheese and pizza) and some yummy cupcakes. And of course presents!

I got on crown vision at the K for the first time with this cool sign. I made a sign too....I drew all the players. Some people looked at me confused, but I know they liked it. I made dad go super early (like 3 hours before game time) because I wanted a Salvy bobblehead. Which I successfully got. But then dad told me that the things were going for a lot of $ on e-bay, so I got to thinking...I could get a trampoline....so I made the sacrifice. And wahoo....after my 20% to charity/savings, I am now well on my way.

Oh...and I lost my first tooth! And that means the tooth fairy came for the first time. It was lose for like a month. I finally decided to pull it myself during nap time one day (this was while I was still in Pre-school). Elmo made me a super cute pillow that I hang on my door because I really didn't want the tooth fairy, no matter how big she may be, to come into my room. She didn't, but she did give me a dollar and 2 pieces of gum. Sweet!

I also had my first photo shoot. We have yet to see the results, which may not be a good sign....but mom decided she was going to try and take some pictures herself. Yeah, she forgot to do our hair on actual picture day (mom for the win), so thought she would take some of her own. As you can see, you may not count this endeavor a success either. Enjoy all the pics!

Amelia, Heidi, & Lena - OUT!