12 Weeks Old

This week Evalie seems to be really be making the transition from newborn to infant. She has a personality and can express herself pretty well now. She kicks and wiggles wildly when she's upset and laughs when she's happy. She's still working on getting her fingers in her mouth but still resorts to the entire fist which leads to a lot of drool and lots of drool means what we now call "wet neck"! Well, because of her lovely little lumps, its hard to reveal the underneath of her chin..where her neck should be and that's where all the extra milk and drool mingle. Its rather gross actually so I won't go any further..needless to say, I'm more careful about changing her out of her wet clothes and keeping her neck area dry and powdered.

Best Friends

Let me tell you 'bout my best friend...(singing)..

Its rather amazing to me to see how much these two love each other, one is almost 4 while the other is almost 5 1/2 yet they are like two peas in a pod. They have always gotten along and played together well but it seems like this summer, they have really bonded in a different way. When I had a baby my daughter stayed with my sister for almost a week and then they were over here helping with the baby almost everyday for weeks after I got home. These little girls demand to see each other as much as possible, so we've been doing a lot more together, now we are at the point where they cry inconsolably when they have to leave each other even after an entire day of playing together.

So last weekend, in an attempt to get them to stop crying, we convinced them to stop crying if we  agreed on another play date so they have something to look forward to...this is what they produced and they held us to it because its now Monday, and we spent Friday night an all of Saturday together..they will also now be in the same gymnastics class for the rest of the year.

Play date contract for Saturday

This makes me really wonder about my thoughts of moving across the country, it seems to me that living so close to my family gives Arielle a opportunity to really have built-in companions and I think she is happiest when she is with her cousins so if we were to move away, she would not be able to see them every weekend or anytime and although she may eventually get over it it will be detrimental I think. I remember growing up away from all of my extended family as a child. It wasn't so bad but now I see how much fun it would have been to be able to see my cousins more often. When is a good time for change in a child's life..earlier or later..how do you handle change? whether big or small?

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11 Weeks Old

Dear Evalie,

Its the second day of Fall, Arielle is back at school and you and I all of a sudden have time alone. Even though you still sleep quite a bit, we do have some quiet time together in the morning and we exchange smiles, I catch you in a gaze and we see each other clearly, we laugh and we talk. You are a very content little bundle and are very generous with your smiles. I don't know if this feeling will ever leave ( I hope it doesn't), I am still amazed by you. You have made it pretty easy to become a mother again, a mother of two little girls. You are a patient baby, you barely cry but rather express your feeling with little sounds. You already personify a lot of what you feel, for example, I can see when you look at your sister how much you admire her, I believe you will be best friends, she loves you, she protects you. She will not let you cry for one moment, once she hears you awake she warns me of this and urges me to pick you up and put her next to you. Every morning on the way to school (and any other time we are in the car) she holds your hand to make sure you aren't scared. 

You have two new tricks, they are sounds and sitting; you have started to attempt to sit up rather than recline when someones holding you. You also spend quite a bit more time in the bouncy chair and make the most wonderful and deliberate sounds, usually at the objects hanging in front of you but sometime at daddy if he's sitting next to you. You also are trying very hard to get you fingers in your mouth but this skill continues to elude you. Like your aunty said on Saturday, you are so loved. I love you more than I ever believed my heart could. 

Love Mummy.