9 Weeks

Baby Sister is 9 weeks today and it seems almost unbelievable that she has been on the outside for that long. She is such a joy and we can always count on getting several grins from her just after she has eaten and is happy with a full tummy. And oh those dimples, how they melt my heart. We have her Papa Mo to thank for those!

As for the Girl, eventhough the newness has worn off, she is still quite taken with "her" Baby Sister. Whenever Baby Sister starts crying I can always count on the Girl to rush to her side and try to quiet her with the binky.

Tub Time

Tonight the Girls took a bath together, sort of...the Girl wanted Baby Sister's baby tub in the big tub with her. J snapped a cute shot of them getting clean together, however, my hand wasn't strategically placed on Baby Sister which may have proven to be a source of embarassment for her in the teenage years and so I have not posted it here. Then, after Baby Sister was finished, the Girl wanted to revisit the baby tub. Amazingly enough she could still fit.

My what big eyes you have!

Move over Big Bad Wolf!

Lil' Insomniac

This little Baby was a fussy insomniac last night. She (and when I say 'she' I am including myself and J in that category) slept a grand total of 3 hours...from 5:12am to 8:09am. It was rough going. Of course, she has been sleeping most of today while the rest of us have been going about our everyday business.

Cousins

This is my cutie patootie niece and the Girl and Baby Sister's cousin, Miss C. She is 16 months and just as cute as can be. She lives in California and tonight was the first time we've seen her since last Christmas when she was just five months old. The Girl was so excited to see her, it has been all that she could talk about for days. It was fun to watch them playing together, although the Girl's big sister mode was in overdrive and at times she was smothering poor C. Seeing them all together made me wish that Miss C and her family didn't live quite so far away. However, we won't have to wait another 11 months to see her as they will be back in town for Christmas.

Autumn Leaves

For the past couple of weeks, the Girl has been wanting to jump in a pile of leaves. The only problem being, that we've been so busy on the weekends lately that her Daddy has not had time to rake the leaves. So this morning, I decided that I would rake her a pile of leaves. The weather has been unseasonably warm and nice the past few days and today was no exception, there was even a warm breeze. So, I put Baby Sister in the sling and outside we went. Unfortunately, all we have is a metal rake and it was slow going considering that more often than not I was pulling up more grass than anything else. Luckily the Girl was happy enough with a very small pile and the closest she ever got to "jumping" was stepping into the pile with both feet.

A Walk in the Park

This afternoon we met up with some friends at the park. It was the first time that Baby Sister has been to the park and the first time that we've been back to this particular park since two days before the Girl's birthday. That was the day that there were a ton of kids at the park and the Girl was pushed, inadvertantly or otherwise, fell, split her chin open and ended up with two stitches. When she heard that we were going to this park she immediately said, "I don't want to go to that park." I assured her that her Daddy would not let her get pushed and that there probably wouldn't be very many kids at the park being that it was Sunday and no longer summer. As soon as we pulled into the parking lot she dramatically exclaimed, "The park sure is busy today." There were definitely more kids than I thought there would be but it was by no means "busy."

After some initial weariness, the Girl overcame her fear of being pushed and began to enjoy herself. As for Baby Sister
she slept the entire time, all snug and warm in the sling.


As a related side note:

On the drive to the park one of the Girl's favorite songs came on the radio. What song is that? I don't know the name of the song but I'm sure that you are all familiar with it and it's artist...Amy Winehouse. It goes a little something like this..."They tried to make me go to rehab but I said, No, No, No." Obviously, not a song that we sing around the house or before bedtime but when it comes on the radio and the Girl starts belting out, "No, no, no!" I can't help but grin. Now that I think about it, the Girl does have her diva moments, in fact, a lot of them recently and "No!" happens to be one of the most frequently used words in her repertoire right now.

Cookie Pilferer

Today we made cookies. The Girl has figured out that when I am feeding Baby Sister is an opportune time for her to get into mischief. You can probably guess where this story is going...


So this afternoon I am sitting on the couch nursing Baby Sister when I realize that it has become oddly silent in the house and I have no idea where the Girl is. I call for her and her muffled voice comes from the kitchen. I ask her to "come here" and in moments she is standing in front of me with a close-mouthed grin stretching from ear to ear and accentuating very puffy cheeks. I don't even have to ask, I know what she has been up to. I'm only wondering about quantity.


So I say nothing and instead allow the laughter to escape. The Girl, following my lead, begins to giggle too.

The inevitable

It was bound to happen. Today was the day. The Girl deliberately tried "roughing up" her Baby Sister, right in plain view no doubt waiting to see what reaction it would illicit from me. She started by gently tugging on Baby Sister's ears and progressed to roughly rubbing her head, followed by pulling her hair. Of course I told her to stop and when I questioned her as to why she would want to hurt her sister she replied with, "I wasn't pulling her hair, I was just trying to make her look like Boots (For those of you who may not know, she was referring to Dora's purple monkey friend, who just so happens to have a tuft of hair that sticks up.). Baby Sister was relatively unharmed in the process and it was made very clear to the Girl that her behavior was unacceptable. I'd have to say that making it 6 1/2 weeks without any previous episodes of this nature is pretty darn good - especially for a three year-old who was the sole center of our universe and knew it, prior to her sister's birth. We'll just have to make more of an effort to let her know that there is more than enough room for two in the center of our universe.

This is what happens...

...when you have two kids. While 'J' and I were on the sofa making faces and speaking in ridiculously high-pitched voices in an attempt to coax a smile from Baby Sister, the Girl was busy "painting" her finger nails at the kitchen table. Hooray Crayola for making kid-friendly washable markers!

Seriously...

...how cute is this dog?!! I've never been a fan of little dogs but this is Oscar and he is seriously cute. Our friends came over to visit today and brought Oscar with them. The Girl and her friend 'O' begrudgingly took turns carrying him none to gently around the house. Poor little fella.

Sweet Girls

My Sweet Girls have now been sick for a handful of days with a nasty cold. The Girl came down with it last Wednesday and despite my best hand-washing efforts I was unable to keep Baby Sister from getting it. The Girl is on the tail end of it but Baby Sister is still sniffling and coughing. This afternoon I put a sleeping Baby Sister upstairs on the bed in our room with hopes that she would remain asleep long enough for me to get lunch made for the Girl. No such luck. I barely made it down the staircase before I heard her stirring and within minutes she was crying. I figured that I would let her cry for a few moments while I got some rice started. The Girl had been happily playing in the front room but then I noticed that I could no longer hear or see her. On a hunch I tiptoed upstairs and found her sitting on the bed next to Baby Sister trying to get Baby Sister to take a pacifier and asking her, "What's wrong, why are you crying? It's ok Big Sister is here." So incredibly sweet! It absolutely melts my heart to see the two of them together and to see the Girl treat her Baby Sister with such tender affection.

Cabin Fever

The Girl and Baby Sister have both been battling colds over the past couple of days and after staying at home all day yesterday it was apparent that the Girl needed to get out so we made a trip to the library. She loves to go to the library, check out books and play on the "puter." We haven't been to the library since before Baby Sister was born so the Girl was especially excited. Here she is playing on the "puter." She looks so darn cute in those headphones.

Imbalance

Here it is week five since Baby Sister has been born and we are still trying to figure out how to balance life with two kids. It became very clear this evening that we are far from finding that balance. The Girl received a lot of negative attention from us today, first from 'J' who yelled at her after she nearly tipped the baby swing over with a sleeping Baby Sister in the swing and then from me immediately after that when she came up to the office while I was trying to get some work done. She started pulling books off of the shelves and frustrated, I told her that the office was off limits to her. So she headed back downstairs plopped herself down on the bottom step and proclaimed, "Everyone is being mean to me." Sad, sad, sad! In an attempt to right my wrongs, the Girl and I played a competitive game of Go Fish tonight before bed.

Happy Halloween!

Here are the Girls ready for trick-or-treating. They only made it to 4 houses before the Girl spotted an older boy dressed as a skeleton, at which point she started to cry and wanted to come home. Upon arriving back at the house she told me that she didn't like skeletons and that the skeleton "tried to rip my costume." A claim which was of course totally false.

Put Her in a Pumpkin Shell

For her 1st Halloween we just had to put the Girl in a Jack-O-Lantern simply because she fit. So why should this year be any different...Baby Sister's turn. As you can see Baby Sister didn't seem to enjoy it as much, poor girl. As for the spewing pumpkin, 'J' thought it was fitting as Baby Sister is frequently spitting up.