June 16

I promise my mom is here with us, though I don't have a picture yet to prove it. I keep telling her that I want a picture of her with the girls, but she keeps insisting that her hair doesn't look good enough when I want to take the picture. Tomorrow, she promises me, we will get a nice picture of all of them together.

Nana did buy Audrey this watering can tonight while they were out shopping, so Audrey came home and wanted to water the flowers.
And just so Isla doesn't feel left out...here is a picture of her from tonight. We are hoping for a better night with Isla tonight, as she did not want to sleep much last night. She seemed to have a better day today though, with a good rhythm of eating, being awake and sleeping. We'll see what happens tonight...for now, she is asleep...which means it is time for us to go to sleep too!

June 14

I forgot to take a picture today. But we are very excited, because Nana is here! My mom was finally able to make it over to meet little Isla. She had been sick for the past couple of weeks and wasn't able to come until now.

Audrey is very, very excited for Nana to be here. I have a feeling that she is going to completely wear my mom out with her nonstop talking and constant desire for Nana to play with her!

June 13

Most summers, we would be at church camp this week. Our friend Amy is the dean of a 3rd-4th grade week of camp, and Daniel and I usually go and help out during her week. But due to Isla's birth, we were not able to help this year.

We did go out for a visit this afternoon though. Camp is always a fun place, especially for a 2 year old. Audrey was very excited to be there. She went swimming with Daniel, Cael and Amy (and all the campers), while Isla and I hung out and watched and took pictures.

Audrey got to try wearing arm floaties for the first time, and she did so good! She was brave enough to swim back and forth between Daniel and Amy all by herself! She did end up under the water a few times and swallowed some water, both of which were a little upsetting to her. But then she would bounce back with a laugh or a squeal of excitement. We need to find a friend with a swimming pool this summer, so she can keep practicing her new swimming skills!

June 12

Today was Isla's first Sunday at church. So lots of people got to see her and meet her for the first time. And that meant that I was repeatedly asked one of my least favorite questions, "Is she a good baby?"

I'm always tempted to answer: "Of course she's a good baby! Would you really call a baby bad?"

But I know that's not what they are really asking. They are really asking two things: "Does she cry a lot?" and "Does she sleep well at night?"

If I were to answer those questions truthfully, then I guess she is not a good baby. She does cry. And she does not sleep well at night (though she is a champ at sleeping through the day!).

But I don't expect her to sleep through the night (though it would be nice). I expect her to wake up frequently. And I expect her to cry. Because she is a baby. And that is what babies do. It is not a matter of being good or bad..she's just a baby!

Thanks for letting me get that rant out of my system...sorry if you have heard this from me before. I'm pretty sure I wrote a very similar post when Audrey was a newborn! =)

I tried to take a picture of Isla dressed up for church this morning, but she wasn't too happy about being my model today!
Later tonight, she was sleeping in her bouncy seat with her legs curled up and her feet crossed...so sweet!

Audrey and Isla

We were very anxious about how Audrey would react to her new baby sister. At times in the past, she has not been too happy about Mommy or Daddy even touching a baby. I was prepared for the worst...with lots of screaming and tantrums from Audrey as we adjusted to life with a baby at home.

However, so far it seems that our worries have been for nothing. Audrey is doing great with baby Isla. She is such a good big sister! She doesn't fuss or cry when we are taking care of Isla. She really hasn't been any more clingy or needy with me or Daniel. She likes to help sometimes, but sometimes she will just do her own thing too. Audrey loves to pat baby Isla's head and hands. She talks to her and shows her things. Last night, she was watching Mickey Mouse and she said, "Look baby Isla. It's Mickey Mouse. That a good show. Wanna watch?" Audrey's interactions with Isla are very cute and make me so happy.

Here is a video of their first meeting at the hospital, and one of Audrey singing Happy Birthday to her baby sister.




So...I was typing the above while Audrey was napping. Then Audrey woke up from her nap and was extremely grumpy. She was crying and clingy and did not want me to hold baby Isla. Maybe I spoke a little too soon about her being okay with all of this?!

June 10

Isla had her official one week checkup today. She weighed in at 6 lbs, 1 oz (4%). That means she is back to her birth weight, which is a good thing. She gained about 5 oz. since Monday. She was 19 3/4 inches long (33%).

The doctor gave us the okay to stop waking her up to eat every 2 hours at night (though she still has to eat every 3 hours at night and every 2 hours during the day). I'm curious to see what she will do tonight. She is still not eating very much at a time (about 1.5 oz.), so I know she will still wake up to eat frequently. And while we can barely keep her awake during the day, it seems like she is more alert in the middle of the night. I'm hoping that she will sleep at least one 3 hour stretch tonight...because her mommy and daddy are kind of tired!

She was awake for about a half hour this afternoon, so I took advantage and took some pictures of her with her eyes open. Here she is showing you how she is getting "so big." Okay, well she is not really so big yet, but I know that she will be far too soon!
And here she's showing off her skinny legs and huge feet! (Audrey was the same...skinny legs and long feet. I was worried that Audrey would have giant, disproportionate feet as she grew up, but so far her feet have actually been a little on the small side.)

June 9

I meant to post this last night but I was too tired!

Today, the girls and I ventured out on our first outing together. We went to one of Audrey and I's favorite places to visit--Target. I got some popcorn for Audrey and I to share, and we browsed the store, played with a few toys in the toy aisle, and picked up a few things we needed. Then, as we were checking out, one of my former students spotted us. He works at the Target Starbucks and brought us a coconut creme drink sample. Audrey was very excited about getting popcorn first and then getting her own drink with a straw and ice cream in it!

Isla wasn't quite as enthusiastic about our little outing. She spent the entire time asleep in her seat.