Dolls

Sophia's 2nd wedding

Sophia attended her second wedding this weekend. Actually, now that I think about it, it was really the first one she's attended because I believe she and Will showed up really late to Uncle Mike's wedding.

Regardless, she thought the bride was really PRETTY and she loved the flowers. It was an outdoor wedding at a State Park and Will and I were able to wear shorts! Shannan and Tien, our friends from Brooklyn, stayed with us and Sophia now has a new boyfriend. She was absolutely crazy about Tien.

For the past couple of weeks she's been telling us that her BOYFRIEND is JAMES! Um, we do not even know a James, but okay. Will keeps telling her that Daddy is her boyfriend, but now I think she'll probably claim that Tien is her boyfriend.

Tien took this picture of Sophia.

Family Fun Night

On Friday night I took Sophia to Family Fun Night at Addie's church. Haley and her family were also there. Since Addie is familiar with the church and has lots of friends there she was off doing her own thing for most of the night, but Sophia and Haley stuck close together. They gobbled up their very first tastes of cotton candy and sno cones. Sophia was a bit perplexed about how to eat the cotton candy. At first she was too afraid to even put her tongue on it, but once she "accidentally" did there was no stopping her. She had blue and and then she wanted a pink one. (Yes, that's Aubrey crying in the stroller behind Sophia).

Sophia really loved riding on the teeter totter with me. And my legs really enjoyed with workout!

All three girls got ladybugs painted on their faces right before it was time to go home. Sophia has never wanted to have this done in the past, but after Addie and Haley got their ladybugs she simply had to have one too. Check out all the pictures.

Aubrey in Sophia's crib

On Friday morning I put Aubrey in Sophia's crib while I helped Sophia to get dressed. When we finished Sophia climbed up the side of the crib and nicely placed all of her "friends" beside Aubrey. As she put each "friend" down she said HERE YOU GO, AUBREY. She really is great big sister.

WOW with Haley

Today we went to the WOW sprinkler garden with Sophia's friend, Haley, and her mom, Michelle, and 3-month old baby sister, Carlie. The girls had a blast splashing in the water and then finding all the alphabet letters scattered throughout the park. Sophia calls them NUMBERS. She knows the P and she knows the D. Today she found the letter D and then said D FOR DOGGIE. I think she also recognizes the letter S but hasn't labeled it yet.

Sophia "ate" her first apple today. She literally grabbed the apple out of our cooler and, instead of letting me peel and cut it into slices for her, she took it over to the sprinklers and WASHED IT OFF and then proceeded to take a bite! She at the whole thing! It totally floored me.

See all the pictures from our fun day.

Both girls take a bath

I'm trying to get Aubrey (and Sophia) on more of a schedule. I know it's summer and time for crazy days and staying up late, but Aubrey is craving a routine. I've been giving her a bath in the afternoons while Sophia naps, but now I've switched her to evenings too. Both girls took a bath at the same time tonight in Mommy's bathroom. Sophia loved swimming around in my over-sized tub. I gave Aubrey a bath in her tub at my sink and could see Sophia in the mirror the entire time. It was perfect and Aubrey's been sleeping like a log for over 2 hours now. This is probably going to break some sort of record for her.

Aubery the Pooh at 6 weeks

Aubrey - 5 weeks old

This is a picture of Aubrey from last week when she was only 5 weeks old.

She turned 6 weeks today. She's growing quickly just like Sophia did. Will measured her length last night and he got 21 inches. I weighed her on the scale with me and she's somewhere in between 10.5 pounds and 11.5 pounds. I want to look at Sophia's baby book to see how big she was at 6 weeks old. 6 weeks marks the second "growth spurt". The next will be at 2 months....which is technically just 2 weeks away.

She doesn't really like the swing very much as she gets frustrated or perhaps even overstimulated by the motion. She definitely prefers her vibrating seat.

Interesting Aubrey Facts
1. She started smiling real smiles and she's really quite a friendly, little sweetheart. I do not remember Sophia smiling nearly

2. She really likes to take baths and doesn't mind having her hair washed.

3. She's starting to coo and talk to us. She still grunts and groans a bit, but now it's mostly when she's trying to sleep and loses the paci. Will wants to invent something that will keep it in her mouth.

Play date

Last week I had to get the girls out of the house so we attended a pot luck lunch play date with the ladies/kids from the March for Babies. Aubrey slept in her car seat the entire hour and 1/2 and Sophia stuck to me like glue. It's been over 2 months since she's seen any of these kids and really wasn't interested in rekindling the old friendships until about 5 minutes before we left.

Sophia sat with me at an all adult table while all the other kids either ate on the floor or ran around the room. Then she drew on the chalkboard by herself. See the rest of the pictures.

I LOVE YOU GUYS

How cute is this?...in the last few days Sophia has started telling us she loves us. Sweet music to my ears. She also likes hugging GETHER (together).

My new sleeping trick....

I KNOW I'm not supposed to put Aubrey to sleep on her belly, but I put her on the bed for a minute to see if she wanted some tummy time while I checked email and she fell fast asleep. We'll see how long it lasts....

Aubrey turns 1 month old

I'm posting a few days late, but I'm happy to say we survived our first month as a family of four (five if you count Sadie).

Sophia's clamoring for attention any way she can. Most Tuesday mornings we go to the library for toddler story time. Sophia loves it. Today she found a Christmas Barney movie to borrow from the library for a week. We got there early so we were able to read lots of books and scope out the scene. After careful inspection of all the kids Sophia decided that she would spend the entire time on my lap instead of huddled together with the group of kids. Oh well... Afterwards we had to stop at the grocery store and we ALMOST made it the whole way through without a melt down. As I was bagging and paying she decided she wanted to get out of the cart and when I told her she would have to wait until we got to the car she decided to alert the entire store of her "bad luck". She was crying and screaming! The cashier gave her a balloon on the way out the door and that made her happy and quiet.

Aubrey seems to be doing a lot better now that she's turned 1 month old. Maybe her little system is finally maturing. I don't think we're out of the woods yet because today she started a brand new symptom...spitting up. Twice today after she ate she spit up as I was burping her. She's really alert for stretches during every day and I swear she gave me a few huge gummy grins earlier that weren't related to any gas bubbles. She's 5 weeks today and all the books I've got say that around 6 weeks is when she will make eye contact and smile at me. Sophia smiled at me for the first time at Grancy's house when she was 5 weeks old.

Auntie Claire meets Aubrey

...and is able to hold her and rock her to sleep. Wow, that's quite a feat. I have to say that Big Daddy and Grancy were also able to calm Aubrey quite a bit too.

Sophia and Sadie stayed at Grancy & Big Daddy's house for the weekend while Will, Aubrey and I went to one of my college friend's wedding in Gettysburg, PA. I gave a reading and am happy to report that Aubrey slept through the entire ceremony. The reception was another story all together, but I'll spare you all the gory details.

We have another wedding to attend on July 12, but it's going to be held outdoors in the afternoon and there won't be loud music keeping Aubrey awake the entire time. I'm sure adding Sophia into the mix will add it's own trials.

Sophia had a blast at Grancy's house. I know because as soon as our car pulled into the driveway last night and Sophia realized her little vacation was over and started crying because GRANCY GONE. I know they had fun at the park riding the horses and the train. She's still talking about it. I think her favorite part was getting into the sandbox on the deck! She played with her sand toys in the rocks today and wanted to build a sand castle. I fear that she was spoiled a little bit too....she certainly was a handful today and wanted everything her way. That's what Grandparents are for, right? :-)

Sisters

Pigtails

Sophia and her crazy hair!

It drives us crazy because none of her barrettes seem to stay in place and she still rips out her pony tails sometimes. This pictures was taken on Saturday. I think her hair looks cute like this, but to me she looks like she could be 4 or 5 years old. My baby is growing up!

Of course, she's the typical kid who doesn't like to have her hair brushed or combed. She also doesn't understand the concept of "Keep your head still" so it's always a challenge to "fix" her hair. Oh well.

Some of her cute saying right now are:

• Mishlows - this is what she calls marshmallows. She absolutely LOVES them.
  
• SLISH SLASH - aka splish splash -- she loves to splash - in her pool, in the bathtub, in the sink when she washes her hands. And she loves to jump in puddles any time we see one!
  
• Earlier this week we were all in the kitchen while I was trying to get dinner ready and Will asked me if he should feed the dog the rest of her can of food for dinner. I replied that I didn't really care. And in turn Sophia said - I CARE, MOMMY, I CARE.

I started writing this post a few days ago....and at the time had a ton of Sophia-isms to post. Sleep deprivation has robbed me of memory and I cannot think of them. So, check back soon....and hopefully I'll have a few more posted.

Did someone swap babies with me?

I really don't want to jinx it, but Aubrey has been good all day. She's still blowing out her diapers, but her belly seems to be feeling much better and she's been able to sleep today without too much discomfort. YAY!!! Have we turned the corner? Only time will tell...

Dress up

Sophia picked out these two trend setting styles:

Aubrey Tales

Zantac works and Aubrey can successfully be left on her back for periods of time now without screaming and grunting in pain. This is absolutely great!!! So, our little girl should be all better. Right?

Wrong.

She's just as miserable now! We had an awful weekend with her. She literally didn't sleep at all on Saturday - day or night. Will stayed home today so I could keep a hair appointment and honestly I don't think I would have had the energy to survive the day alone. (But as of 4:00 today I'm a blond again and I have new eye cream that I'm looking forward to trying out tonight ~ hopefully it'll turn out to be a miracle cream in a jar.)

Oops...Back to Aubrey. She was constipated for 3 whole days and she was in some serious pain. And now she has diarrhea and horrible gas. This poor girl. She also hates to have a dirty diaper - and the dirtier it is the harder she cries.

Yesterday I began eliminating certain foods from my diet. I didn't have to worry about anything I ate with Sophia so this is all new for me. Some of the spices/foods I can't eat are: cinnamon, chili, pepper, garlic, onion, chocolate!!!, potatoes, corn, milk & all dairy products, citrus fruits. We'll see if that helps.

Guess the baby

Is this Sophia or Aubrey??



How about this one??

Summer is here!

Today is the first day of summer so we decided to go to the playground after a morning of running errands. We went to a pizza place for lunch and Sophia ate an entire slice of cheese pizza (minus the crust). She still prefers to have all of her food cut up into little Sophia bites and she also prefers when I put them on the fork for her.

When we finally got to the playground I realized we didn't have any sunscreen, but I did manage to find a hat for her. The hat didn't last long and, to be honest, neither did we. We were done in 30 minutes, but we had a blast while we were there. Aubrey slept in her car seat the entire time. (Thank you!)

Sophia found a few things that weren't too hot to play/ride on. I put one of Aubrey's blankets on the seat of the swing and she was able to ride in the swing for a while, but we spent most of our time sitting at a table under the trees having a PICNIC and taking pictures of each other. Sophia has recently become obsessed with the camera, but still won't stop to SLILE for the camera when asked! We were sitting across from each other at the picnic table and she was able to simply point the camera at me and press the magic button. She took a few good ones. Brace yourself, there's a lot.

Bare your belly.

Today while I was feeding Aubrey, Sophia told me that Lamby was hungry and she proceeded to climb onto the couch, lift up one side of her shirt and put Lamby's face into her belly. She sat there for a while just holding him like that.

Sophia got a Big Sister present in the mail today from Great Aunt Carole and part of it was a "Awesome Big Sister" award sticker. She immediately lifted up her shirt and pasted it right onto her belly! She wore it proudly around the house for about 5 minutes then she peeled it off and gave it to Aubrey, then to Lamby, then to me.

How tall will your child be quiz.

I just took an online quiz to predict how tall Sophia will be. I had to provide the following criteria:
1) Sophia's age (min age = 2)
2) Sophia's height in ft and inches
3) Sophia's weight
4) My height in ft and inches
5) Will's height in ft and inches

AND...DRUM ROLL....This is what it said:

Your girl will likely be 6 ft. 1 in. at age 18.

Holy smokes!

Week 3

Aubrey is 3 weeks old today.

I had my first play date out of the house this morning with both girls and it wasn't too bad. We met two other Mommys at the mall and played for a while and then had lunch. Sophia isn't feeling so hot because she's finally getting that last tooth and she was pretty clingy. Aubrey slept in her car seat like an angel, but you would too if you got up at 3:00 AM and didn't go back to sleep until 9:30. She did wake up to have a little snack after we had lunch, but her timing was ideal so I can't complain.

For the past several days Aubrey has been waking up at 3AM and by them time 6AM rolls around I can't take the fussiness anymore so I put her in the stroller and take Sadie and her for a walk. She usually falls asleep as soon as the hot, humid air hits her and if that doesn't work then the movement of the stroller usually works, but not today. She fussed through the entire 2 miles and was still awake when we got home. It's been pretty nice to get out of the house before the world around us starts to stir. When I got back this morning Sophia was awake and that really threw me for a loop!

Sophia gets even cuter

She really says some amazingly adorable things these days.

She's finally learned how to audibly say I LOVE YOU. She was practicing this week while I was changing her diaper in her room and she said: I LOVE YOU, MOMMY. I LOVE YOU, DADDY. I LOVE YOU, LAMBY. I LOVE YOU, PACI. Who knew she would love her paci almost as much as Lamby!

While I was at the doctor with Aubrey this morning Will and Sophia had a birthday party for Lamby. He turned 2 today. She made a Playdoh cake complete with 2 cake candles and fed me bites of it all afternoon. She literally played BIRTHDAY PARTY LAMBY all day long. Even when we went outside to work in the yard today she brought her cake, her play set fork and plate, LAMBY, her drink and both candles. She never joined me in singing Happy Birthday to Lamby, but she was mouthing the words along to some of it on her own.

She loves to sing - she already knows tons of Barney songs, go figure. She loves to sing Old MacDonald with me on stroller walks instead of reading books now. I think it's because she picks the animal in each verse and sometimes she picks silly things like grass and trees. Another favorite song is Row Row Row Your Boat.

Poor Baby

After a horrible night of Aubrey sleeping for only 20 minute stretches I took her to the doctor this morning. The doc said it sounds like she definitely has acid reflux and put her on Zantac (for heartburn).

Her symptoms which have worsened since our Tuesday doctor appointment: always grunting/groaning, arching her back, extremely gassy, screams when on her back, and constant need to be held in an upright position. Luckily she's not spitting up like most other babies with acid reflux! The doc said that she'll probably be off of it within 4-6 months as her esophageal sphincter matures and doesn't allow stomach acid up into her esophagus. We've given her 2 doses so far and we both think she acting a bit more relaxed in her own skin.

She's really gaining weight and weighed in at 9 lbs 2.5 oz this morning.

Here's hoping we all get some sleep tonight. Sophia said she even heard Aubrey crying last night.

Q & A with Sadie

Q: Um, Sadie, can you please tell me when it became acceptable for YOU to sleep on the spare bed?

A: Arf, when you brought somebody else home for me to protect. Bark... Now if you'll excuse me, I'd like to get back to my job!

It's true....

Everyone said that the second child is always different from the first and can, in fact, be quite the opposite. I have found this to be completely true!

Sophia was my perfect little dream baby - she could sleep anywhere if she had her paci. Aubrey, on the other hand, is really giving me a run for my money.

She This girl DOES NOT like to be flat on her back or even on her side. She sleeps in her inclined vibrating chair next to our bed at night and during the day she naps either in the car seat, swing or inclined chair...OR....she has to be held. I don't mind holding her at all, but it requires some interesting manuevers for me to play with Sophia on the floor or help her to wash her hands, etc... She also has a fussy perios each night from about 9PM - midnight. During this time she must be held and jiggled or rocked. It doesn't matter what time of day it is if she's eaten a meal I absolutely cannot put her down unless she is in a complete comatose sleep. Otherwise she's up and at 'em again!

The doctor told me that Aubrey might have a little bit of an acid reflux issue that makes it uncomfortable to be flat on her back. When she cries, I can't help but imagine that her little stomach is "burning" and hurting. Who knows..... The doc said she would probably grow out of it if that's what it really is.

Aubrey is also super vocal, but she prefers grunts and groans to crying. She grunts all the time! Yes, she used to make some really cute cooing sounds, but has quickly learned that grunting gets her more attention. And Sophia has learned that asking to be held gets her some attention. Her cute little way of asking is: HOLD YOU?

Some of my favorite pics

Too bad this one is a little blurry. It's my favorite.

It came off...

The whole belly button cord falling off business has really been grossing me out for some reason with Aubrey. I don't remember having a problem with Sophia.

Aubrey's fell off this morning - actually it was stuck to her side this morning and I didn't discover it until Will was at work so I had to pick it off by myself and clean the newly revealed belly button.

2 weeks old

Aubrey turned 2 weeks old today. Honestly it feels like she's been a part of our family forever. Sophia has adjusted quite nicely to having a sister. She's a "little mother" herself.

Aubrey got a great review at her doctor appointment today. The doc said that she looked bigger. She really does. Her limbs are more stretched out now and she's alert for periods of time throughout the day. It almost seems like she's not a newborn anymore, but now an infant. Of course, she still is considered a newborn, but also growing so fast already - just like Sophia did. She weighs 8 lbs 10.5 ounces. We're moving up to size 1 diapers.

Our backyard pool

A cool front is supposed to move through the area tonight and drop us back into the 80s by tomorrow morning. It's been over 100 since the weekend.

Since we've been stuck in the house for a fewdays Sophia goes for a dip in her backyard pool in the evenings before bed. She likes to soak in the water, but she loves being in control of the hose and filling up the pool. Once she's in the pool she continues to squirt everything - including her Barney doll, Sadie, Will and even me. I'm not sure who hates it the most - Sadie or me.

I took tons of pictures trying to capture the "perfect" one. Click here to see all of them. I got a few good ones.

Shade Bathing Beauty and The Fish

Yesterday we tried to beat the record breaking heat and went to the pool. "Hampton Roads" hit 101 degrees yesterday and beat the old record for the day by 3 degrees. Aubrey, the shade bathing beauty, and I stayed in the shade while Dad and Sophia, the fish, played in the big pool AND the kiddie pool. Boy was I jealous. I ended up putting my chair in sun, but somehow it felt a bit wrong to be at the pool without a bathing suit on! I don't have one that fits right now.

Sophia had a great time splashing Dad! SPLASHY is what she calls it. She stayed mostly on the steps of the big pool and splashed around. When they went into the kiddie pool she realized she could walk the length of the pool on her own and definitely took advantage of her freedom. I saw her take a few face first spills, but luckily Will was there to scoop her up. See all the pictures.

When we got home she was too excited to take a nap and ended up finding some stickers which became a full hour of splendid fun!

Aubrey's growing....we can see it.

It's amazing that's she's grown so much already. It's very subtle because she's still so tiny, but she's getting bigger.

Here's her weight path so far:

Birth (Tues)= 8 lbs 6 oz
1st Day Home (Thurs) = 8 lbs
1st Doc Appt (Sat) = 7 lbs 12 oz
Weight Check Up (Mon) = 8 lbs

We go for her 2 week appointment on Tuesday and I'm thinking she'll be closer to 9 pounds. :-) This girl can eat!

She loves to curl up into a little bowling ball and sleep on our chests. She literally tucks her legs up underneath her body whenever she can and lets her head fall to her chest.

And, she smiles all the time!

A rough start...

There haven't been many posts because we've had a sick toddler in the house. Sophia spiked a 103.7 degree fever on Friday afternoon and it lingered through Sunday afternoon. She was existing mainly on a diet of Popsicles. After the fever went away she immediately began a phase of chronic sleeping with zero appetite. This lasted through Wednesday evening. We took her to the doctor on Monday and she got tested for strep thraot - Negative. She also had a body rash and wasn't interested in doing anything at all. The doc said to keep her away from Aubrey until she felt better. UMMMMMM......That was almost next to impossible! When Sophia doesn't feel good she only wants Mommy and she's been getting quite upset when Mom nurses the baby.

As of yesterday her appetite came back and she's almost back to her normal sleep schedule. All of her "Sophia energy" came back in full force! To celebrate we took her to Chuck E. Cheese's for lunch and she had a blast. She loves going to CHEESE'S. Of course there are a ton of Barney photos because that's her favorite ride.

Presents for Sophia and Aubrey

A box arrived yesterday from Grancy and Big Daddy addressed to Sophia and Aubrey Alexander. Inside we found a LION for Aubrey - just like Lamby. Sophia was delighted for Aubrey to have the lion. Sophia really enjoyed her "first purse" complete with a compact makeup mirror, ringing cell phone and a wallet. Will gave her two dollars and took her shopping in the play room.
She picked out a toy truck and gave Dad a dollar. Then she gave the other dollar to me. She really doesn't have any concept what money is because I literally use my ATM card instead of carrying cash for everything! She knows how to swipe a card and sign for it perfecty. Each time she's riding in the cart and it's time to pay she tries to sign the signature pad for me.

See all the pictures from yesterday.

Two Aubrey Vidoes

Aubery is less than 24 hours old in this video. It was Wednesday afternoon at the hospital.


This is one of the two Little Lambs that Sophia likes Aubrey to have while she's sleeping. Listen to all of her squeaky noises -- must have been a good dream.

Her first smile

OK - so it was just a little gas bubble smile, but isn't this picture just the cutest thing ever?

Grancy meets Aubrey

Grancy drove down yesterday morning for a quick visit to meet Aubrey. She watched Sophia while Will and I took Aubrey to her first pediatrician check-up. Aubrey weighed 7 pounds 12 ounces - only 4 ounces less than when she left the hospital. We have to take her in on Monday afternoon for another weight check.

Sophia had tons of fun playing with Grancy yesterday - just like she always does. I heard Sophia call Cynthia Grandama, Grancy and Nana. Lately she's been calling any woman over age 45 Grandma. Of course she also calls Will Mommy a few times each day too.

We'll be taking Sophia with us on Monday, but considering that she's been running a fever since Friday evening I think we'll be making an appointment for her too. We think she may have strep throat again. She's been acting fine for the most part, but this morning she had a crying spell that lasted for the better part of an hour and she refused anything except to cuddle with Mommy. DILEMMA: Aubrey was hungry and needed to eat! It was difficult to explain to sobbing Sophia that the baby needed Mommy too. She calmed right down when Will cuddled her, but she was shooting me some pretty mean looks. As soon as Aubrey was finished eating we switched kids and things were A-OK again.

One big happy family !