Side by Side

These days everyone who knew Arielle as a baby is joyfully reminded of her by her sister Evalie. They usually say "oh I see Arie"..in her. So I decided to try to find images to compare to two and really see if they look that similar. Coincidentally, we took some pictures of Evalie the other night during a bath knowing we had some of Arielle as well, so here it is, the side by side of both girls at 3 months old. ( Evalie will be 3 months in a few days). I think they actually look nothing alike but I love them both beyond words!

Happy 4th Birthday

My sweet girl,

Happy birthday! four years ago I became a mother and you've been my wonderful, thoughtful little girl ever since. I have loved watching you grow, learn new things and become the sweet little girl I always knew you would be. I still remember the moment I first held you in my arms, its never been the same. As much I want to you to slow down and stay a baby, I look forward with much excitement to see the young lady you are becoming each day. I love you.

mummy.

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?