I wouldn't say Ava is an easy baby. I hear often that your second child will most likely be easier than your first. That's not really the case here. Erin and Ava are so different and I wouldn't say either of them were/are easy. Both have given me challenges in different ways, but both were also pretty mellow in their own way.

Stats
Height: 22 inches - 48 %
Weight: 11 lbs 9 oz  - 64 % (almost double her birth weight!)

Sleep
Ava has been sleeping decently at night, with the exception of a few nights of constant feedings. She wakes up 2 times on average, once between 1-2:00 am and once around 4:00 am. Her bedtime is pretty late though. I start putting her down around 7:30 pm, but it takes a few tries before she actually knocks out for the night and that's usually around 8:30-9:00 pm. With her sleeping later, she has a somewhat late morning wake up time. She'll be up around 7-7:30 am and most mornings she'll go down for another short nap after I nurse her.

Her naps are another story. They've been the most challenging for me thus far. They haven't been consistent these last few weeks. She takes her naps at a handful of locations (anywhere but her crib). She'll usually have one nice long nap in the morning and a couple shorter ones throughout the day. She likes to sleep in my arms so it can get physically tiring. Some days I'm just holding her all day and she ain't a tiny infant no more. She also prefers sleeping on her side or tummy.

Eating
She seems to be eating well. Almost doubled her birth weight! I nurse her every 3 hours during the day. Sometimes she can go 4 hours before a feeding. We introduced the bottle after she turned 1 month. She doesn't seem to be having issues with it so far. This was a problem we had with Erin. Erin refused the bottle and that made things quite challenging, i.e. when I wanted to go out for long periods of time without her. We're glad Ava is taking the bottle well. One thing I noticed about Ava is that she spits up quite often. Believe it or not, Erin rarely spit it. Maybe only a handful of times the first year. Ava is quite the opposite. I need to keep her up right for a little while after each feeding otherwise I'm left with a mess. Sometimes she overeats and just spits everything back out and just looks at me with a big smile. Silly kid.


Misc.

• Ava had some bad acne around 5 weeks and its finally almost all gone. She also had a mild case of cradle cap. I just put some coconut oil on her daily for a few weeks. 
• She has outgrown her 0-3 size clothing and has moved on to size 3-6. 
• She's a very noisy child! I think a lot of her grunting has to do with gas (she is such a gassy child). Some nights I can hear her grunting and squirming around for hours (poor thing). 
• Ava has maybe 1 poopoo diaper a day, which is so weird to me because at this age Erin was pooping at least 3-4 times a day. Sometimes Ava will go a day or two without pooping. Weird.
• She is smiling so much and is "talking" often. She has the cutest voice! 
• She definitely loves having human interaction and having someone near her..like always. Hah. 
• She likes it when I sing to her (believe it or not it puts her to sleep) and surprisingly saying "shh shhh" over and over puts her to sleep.
• She makes intense eye contact these days. Intense.
• She also makes the best sad face..quivering lips and everything. And her "sad" cries are just so precious. 
• She enjoys bath time, dislikes being cold, enjoys getting kisses and loves watching her sister. 

Ava's getting so big! I'm excited for when she's big enough to play with Erin! I'm sure Erin can't wait either!

My Favorite Nursing Tops

Finding nursing wear I liked was a challenge when I had Erin. Honestly, nursing wear isn't all that appealing/attractive and I didn't want to spend a lot of money on it either. But, when you're exclusively breastfeeding (which can mean anywhere between 8-12 feedings in a day), it really helps to wear attire that accommodates properly.

1. The Naked Nursing Tank. I only discovered this recently (wish I knew about it before). It's pretty genius. When I had Erin, I only wore non-nursing attire so I'd always be flashing my midriff every time I was out breastfeeding. The nursing covers aren't too big so it doesn't cover everything, i.e., your back. I never liked regular nursing tanks because I didn't feel it had enough support. This naked tank top fixed all of that for me. I don't have to spend tons of money on different nursing tops but instead am able to wear all my regular non-nursing attire with my fav/comfy nursing bras. I also don't have the problem of exposing any of my body parts. Seriously, my favorite purchase.

2. Nursing T-shirts. I wanted to invest in nursing specific t-shirts for night time/pajama purposes. I wanted something light, loose and comfortable, but also with easy access. These old navy tops were perfect. They weren't too pricey and they're super comfortable as well.

3. Button down shirts. I have a ton of button down shirts: chambray, plaid, checkered..and so on. It's a staple in my wardrobe and it works out perfectly for nursing purposes. These shirts make nursing easy because you just need to unbutton a few buttons and you're ready to go. No exposing your midriff/back or anything.

Ava and I have our share of difficulties breastfeeding, but we are finally starting to get in a nice rhythm. The difficulties/challenges are different from what I experienced with Erin. Erin had a better latch but was a slow eater and comfort nurser. Sometimes I'd be nursing for hours straight. Ava is much faster, but she takes forever to latch on and things get quite messy. She's still little and my overactive letdown is not any fun for her so she gets quite squirmy while eating. I'm hoping things get easier as she gets bigger. I'm glad I'm getting the opportunity to breastfeed again even though it gets tiring and difficult. Ava is so dependent on me for food, but I love that I get to spend lots of bonding time with my little babe. Oh, and all the constant feedings have brought me back to my pre-pregnancy weight. Score! Here's to another year of wearing a bra 24/7! =)

Erin likes to nurse her bunny too. 

Currently - Transition to 2 kids

It's been a month now since we brought Ava home and became a family of four. I remember the first month with Erin was the hardest for me. This time around was no different, but knowing what to expect made things a little easier. However, adding a toddler in the mix did make things a little challenging. Breastfeeding was just as challenging this second time around, with all the engorgement, clogged milk ducts and whatnot. My milk came in faster this time around though which was helpful. No jaundice for Ava because she was getting plenty of breast milk from the get-go.

Erin seems to be adjusting well to her new role as big sister. Phew! She's always asking to see Ava, but unfortunately, Ava does a lot of sleeping right now so she's not much fun. Erin always wants to be involved in all the things we do for/with Ava (she'll get quite possessive/demanding sometimes as well). She'll stand there while I change Ava's diaper and while I nurse. She's always giving Ava kisses/hugs and comments on how little her body parts are. Erin has been a great big sister thus far! She seems to understand that Ava needs to be with mom a lot right now so she's been spending lots of good quality time with daddy. The only down side to all this is that Erin seems to be just a tad bit more sensitive. She'll cry more easily now when she doesn't get what she wants. There is a lot more "No" from her as well. Not sure if its because of the new addition to the family, terrible twos, or both, but hey, no complaints here. I just hope her positive sisterly behavior continues and won't start to head down hill in the coming months. Crossing my fingers.

My mornings are a little more hectic because I have two kids to myself now. Some days both kids are crying and I'm running around like a crazy person trying to get everyone ready and out the door on time (it'll probably get more chaotic once I start work). We're still sending Erin to daycare while I'm on maternity leave. Once I drop Erin off in the morning, it's just me and Ava so things get more manageable. Ava eats and sleeps better than Erin did at this age. Ava was already sleeping in 3-4 hour increments just a few days after being born. I think her long naps have helped with the transition to two kids. I'm not feeling so overwhelmed because I'm getting lots of long breaks throughout the day.

The lack of sleep at night during the first few weeks were quite challenging, but my tiredness is starting to feel normal now so I'm feeling more energetic as each day passes. At night, Ava is sleeping in a bassinet in our room. But most nights I actually put her in Erin's room and Erin ends up in our room. I forget how noisy newborns are and I actually don't get any sleep when Ava is in the room with us. I wake up to every little sound so I actually prefer having her in another room.

At 1 month Ava is still doing a lot of eating, sleeping, pooping and hiccuping. She's a squirmy little babe, but she's pretty mellow. She's on somewhat of a schedule now (minus growth spurt days). Here's what a typical day for Ava looks like right now:

6:30 am - Wake up and Eat

7:30 am - Take Erin to Daycare

8:00-8:30 am - Eat
8:30-10:30 am - Sleep

10:30-12:00 pm - Eat and play

12:00-2:30 pm - Sleep

2:30-4:00 pm - Eat and play

4:00-6:30 pm - Sleep

7:30-9:00 pm - Eat and Play

9:00-12:00 am - Sleep

12:00-12:30 am - Eat

12:30-4:00 am - Sleep

4:00-4:30 am - Eat

4:30-6:30 am - Sleep

We've survived the first month, hooray!

My Birth Story - Ava Riley Kim

I was hoping I'd go into labor naturally, but just like with my first pregnancy, fluid levels were decreasing faster than what my doctor wanted, so an induction was insisted. My EDD for Ava was January 23, 2016. My induction was scheduled for January 17, 2016.

We checked into the hospital around 10:00 pm on Sunday, January 17. It took a good 1.5 hours to get all the paperwork done and me hooked up and ready. Around 11:30 pm, the nurse checked to see if I was having contractions at all and apparently I was. They were only about 7 minutes apart so my doctor said to give me pitocin anyway. By midnight, I was getting my pitocin and I was trying to get some rest. My contractions were gradually getting more painful, but it was tolerable. By 4:00 am, the pain was increasing, but I resisted any drugs. By 5:30 am, I insisted they check how far along I was and the nurse told me I was already at 8 cm. I was relieved because I was almost there! She told me then that I had to decide if I wanted the epidural. It was now or never. I said no. The pain was awful. All of this was new to me because I got the epidural with my first pregnancy. It seriously felt like I had to poop real bad and my insides were being torn apart. By 6:30 am, my doctor had arrived and broke my water. Once that happened, I was ready to push. There are really no words to truly describe the pain I felt when it came down to the pushing. I see now that the epidural is actually beneficial for the pushing portion of labor. The contractions were manageable/bearable, but the pushing was terribly painful. I'm not a very loud person, but lets just say I got unnaturally loud during this part and it definitely surprised Ken. Lots of burning and tearing and just lots of unpleasantness. So with all that pain, I knew I wanted the baby out asap. Ava was out in 3 pushes and entered the world at 7:00 am on January 18, 2016.

I did tear, but not as badly as I did with Erin. I'd say the recovery this time around was easier than my recovery after having Erin. I'm sure not having the epidural had something to do with it. I was less swollen and less achy and was up walking around right away. This was definitely an experience I will always remember. Props to all the mamas who have un-medicated births continuously! I'm not sure I'll be doing that again if I were to have a third. Hah. I'd say I got lucky Ava was a tiny baby.

Ava Riley Kim

6 pounds 2 ounces

18.5 inches

Pregnancy Bucket List (wall crawl)

There was one thing I wanted to do while I was pregnant. I wanted to get pictures of pregnant me with walls around the LA county area. I didn't realize how many cool walls there were. I also wanted to use this "wall crawl" as a way to document my growing belly with the added bonus of having a colorful background. I didn't get to visit all the walls I wanted, but here are the results:

20 Weeks

22 Weeks

25 Weeks

29 Weeks

32 Weeks

39 weeks

This will be my last post for a little while. I'm about 39 weeks now and Baby Ava could come any day. It's going to be so different once I become a mother of two, once we become a family of four! I think Erin is exciting about the arrival of her little sister, but we'll see what she thinks once Ava is actually here..for good.

To end this post, I wanted to jot down a list of things that I wanted to do this new year.

1. I got a KitchenAid stand mixer for Christmas. I want to master making macarons and donuts by the end of this year. Should be fun.
2. Potty train Erin. 
3. Be more patient. I thought I was a pretty patient person before having kids. Hah. Kids really do test your patience and I'm going to need a lot more of it with 2 kids this year.
4. Travel more. Even if its short trips somewhere close by, just getting out and seeing new things will be fun (with or without kids). Doesn't have to be anything expensive or extravagant.
5. Save more. I realized a lot of my shopping this past year was for Erin and with another baby coming, I don't want to go too crazy with buying all sorts of baby stuff. It's going to be tough (baby things are just so darn cute), but got to focus on saving a little more.