8 weeks as a family of 4!

So here we are - a 3yr old and an 8 week old. Life is good.

Ayla has taken to her big sister role naturally. She LOVES her baby brother! She loves to hold him, kiss him and generally help out with anything he needs.  Except for keeping the noise volume down when he's napping but I guess he'll just have to get used to his sisters boisterous attitude and all that comes with it.

She suddenly seems so grown to us. That beautiful little baby has turned into an even more beautiful little girl. Her personality is so distinct and awesome. I have no worries about Ayla Sydne taking care of herself when she's older, no one will take advantage of her!
At 3 years old she's 30lbs, 3'4" wearing a 4T in clothes and an 8 in shoes. We still put her to bed around 7pm but she doesn't always fall right to sleep but she does entertain herself with books or all of her many bedfellows. She stays in her bed until we get her at 7am. We've never actually told her to stay in her bed at night - it must be some unspoken rule. One that we are thankful for, she has her space and we have our space. Except for Saturday mornings - we bring her to our bed to start the day off on a relaxing family note. Her nap is still at noonish and it can be as short as an hour or as long as 2 1/2 hours.

She is still a great eater. She likes so many things that people tell us isn't usual for young children. Like black beans, meat of any kind, spicy Cajun chicken pasta, cherry tomatoes by the pound, tomato juice and one of her favorite dinners - tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. She still does not like cake and most cookies but she has started liking ice cream again but given the choice between ice cream and strawberries, strawberries wins every time. Milk is still her favorite drink but she has been known to steal a sip of my Starbucks frappuchino :)

Ayla is transitioning into the 3 year room at school. A few friends are going with her plus an older girlfriend  is already in there so I'm sure she will do fine with this change. We are so sad that Ms.Jennifer isn't going to be her teacher anymore though. She really understood how to handle and let such a strong willed child thrive. But we know Ms. Blake will be a great teacher too. And give it a week and we are sure sassy pants will be running the show in the class as usual.

Mr. Ethan - where do I begin? He's such a laid back baby. And we are so. thankful. for. that. I didn't know what we would do if we had 2 high strung children...
He is so cute and is starting to look like his daddy. Smiles and coos are his new abilities along with holding his head up. He's not rolling over yet but that's ok - he doesn't have to do everything as fast as Ayla did.

He is a fairly good sleeper too. Actually really good. We have our bedtime routine like we did with Ayla (to encourage good sleeping habits). We bathe him at 8:15 (he seriously loves his bath), I massage him with lavender lotion and get his jammies and sleep sack on then its time for a 7oz bottle. Off to dream land he goes around 8:30. He will sleep for 7 or 8 hours (sometimes longer but that's the average) then another bottle and back to sleep immediately until 7:30. So he sleeps for 11 hours with one short feeding break. Not too bad for an 8 week old. He's been doing this since he was about 5 weeks old.
When Ayla was that age she slept for 8 hours but was up for the day at that point.


I am just praying for a smooth transition to daycare.

Back to work I go as of June 12th. So. not. ready. On one hand it'll be nice to wear real clothes and shoes again but I'd love to have Ethan all day. With Ayla I was so ready to go back, living in the small condo made staying home boring but it's different this time. I honestly could stay home but its just not in the cards.

Ethan does not like a pacifier at all so we have introduced a lovey blanket like Ayla has. I hope he takes to that as a way to self soothe. I'm  actually glad he doesn't like paci's - one less thing to take away later on. Loveys don't hurt teeth or ears like paci's.

We really enjoyed our visit to the zoo on our 4th anniversary. Ayla had a fantastic time and Ethan was an angel - especially for being one day shy of a month old.

While on maternity leave I have picked Ayla up from school after nap so that I can spend more time with her. Also, we have eaten great as I have been cooking up a storm and the house has been really clean and organized.

We haven't had a date night yet - I'm just not ready to trust his bedtime routine to someone else just yet but when I am ready we have the best baby sitters ever - Robby's parents (Mama and Papa)   Robby's mom just loves to hold Ethan and feed him. Ayla and Ethan give them so much happiness and we're so glad that they are a huge part of their lives.

We had our first family trip to the beach house for Memorial Day, the kids did great. We are looking forward to more weekends at the beach!

We visited the Charleston Birth Place when Ethan was 6 weeks old (about 12lbs too). Almost daily I reflect on his water birth and I feel so grateful to have experienced a birth that peaceful. If I thought I could handle more kids I'd do it that way 100 more times.

Bye for now -  while I enjoy my last few days of maternity leave with my most special little man and awesome Ayla Sydne!