Precious Potato

Sierra is such a dream baby. I couldn't hope for a better. I feel so blessed because I got just what I wanted and prayed for - a May baby, another girl baby, and a baby that smiles. Boy does she!

I am so not bragging here - because I had nothing to do with it - she was just born smiley. I think Heavenly Father knew we needed her in our family. She makes us smile even when we're really not feeling like it. You can't help it - she's such a love!

When we brought her home Mike started calling Sierra 'little bag of chips' because she felt so light when he picked her up. (Funny, because I remember when Lily was born him complaining about how heavy she was, and Lily was even lighter! We have since grown stronger. Kids do that to you.)

Well, when Sierra got to be about 10 lbs I said: now she was more like a sack of potatoes. So he started calling her 'little sack of potatoes'. I would often call her 'precious' because she is so precious (and probably because it stuck in my head from the recent Chipmunk movie's reference to Gollum - Lily loved that line.)

Anyhow, one day as Lily cooed over her baby sister she called her 'my precious potato.' Awesome! That is how great terms of endearment are born! We don't really go around calling Sierra 'precious potato', but I often think of it when I look at her and it makes me smile.

Lily and Sierra (early August)

I thought I should do an entire post dedicated to my littlest one, because she hasn't had that spotlight opportunity yet. But she doesn't have a lot of favorites or funny phrases yet being only 3 months old. So I guess this will be somewhat brief. And chock full of cute pictures, of course.

Sierra, 3 months old

Sierra is actually almost 4 months old now - it's taken me awhile to have time to sit down and think long enough to finish this post. I've had to come back to it several times and stare at it in a tired Mommy daze, and sometimes I've just had to turn right back away from it and go to bed instead.

Sierra's a great baby. But even with a great baby you just get worn out! She's been sleeping really well, she seemed to be setting her own schedule from the get-go so we just went with it. She only wakes once in the early morning so we can't complain about sleep - though we don't always go to bed early enough to benefit from it. (This late night blogging for instance) Sierra is so quiet most of the time - which I must admit is rather nice when you have a very talkative 4 year old. She is the smiliest baby I've ever known. Which makes it more pleasant to take care of her even when you are bone tired for sure. She has this way of smiling and turning her head to the side in the cutest way that's like a silent laugh. It makes me think of my Dad's semi silent/wheezy one. You just have to hear it - hard to describe, but I find it endearing :)

But Sierra's been testing out her voice more and more, even laughing out loud to all of our delight. I'll post a little sample I caught the other day. She's been noticing things around her more and more - wanting to smile up at me if I sing to her while she's nursing more than drink. She pretty much only cries when she's really hungry or tired. Though I think we may be getting ready for teething season pretty soon... She's already been to parks including Belmont Park, beaches, the San Diego Zoos, the Del Mar Fair, and the Legoland Aquarium. We've definitely gotten 'out with baby' more this time around.

First trip to the Zoo (Safari Park) (almost 2 months old)

First toes in the sand (1 and a half months)

First time down to the water (a little over 3 months)

Mike said this is Sierra's first rave - but really we just stopped by Killer Pizza from Mars and the black light was making her burp cloth glow. ( a little over one month old)

First time to the big Zoo, riding the Skyfari (last week)

Chillin' at Belmont Park (earlier this week)

Sierra is not a big fan of tummy time, but she's getting better and better at it.

Tummy Time (mid July)

She used to just turn her head to the side and lay there

Tummy Time (mid August)

Rocking the one armed push-up!

Today she actually rolled over for the first time! She rolled from her back to her tummy when we just sitting there - I almost missed it. Once she found out she could do it she did it like 4 more times. Now she rocks and she rolls ;) (Yes, I am cheesy - I know)

Sierra sits up really well with help, but always spits up if you try her in the bumbo. - So we don't do that too much yet.

She has been drooling a ton lately and spitting up her fair share too. She spits out binkies, but she loves to chew on her bibs. She can go through quite a few bibs and burp cloths. I must say I am looking forward to that stage passing, but other than that we are really enjoying having a baby in our family again!

Lily has had some trouble adjusting. She's given me dirty looks when I sing a special morning song (my mom used to sing to me, and her mom to her) to Sierra too. She told me specifically to just sing it to her, not Sierra. She wants to be in our laps whenever Sierra is there, and has talked about wanting to be little again several times as if she's not still little! :) There's a bit of jealousy there for sure, but I know she loves her little sister - she is always sweet and gentle with her. It's hard to know how to balance the attention between the two, but I know it's good for Lily to learn to share the spotlight. She gives us some hard times, but she is such a good little kid. I can't wait until Sierra is big enough to really play with her!

Sierra laughing at her very entertaining big sister!


We are so glad to have this little cutie in our family. Her smiles make our days!