A Breath of Fresh Air

So after two weeks of post-flood clean up and trying to figure out where to put everything that was down in my basement, I feel like I am finally getting things back together and I can turn my attention back to my girls again. There are so many little things that I am enjoying about them right now. We were getting out of the car for church Sunday morning, and Maddie noticed there was a hole in her kitty cat (and of course in the world of a two year old, it was a really big deal!). Trying to hurry her out of the car, I said yeah there is, we will have to take it inside later and I'll sew it up. And she turned to me and said mom you're the greatest. Talking about making my day! Maddie has such a sweet little heart. We have had several trying weeks with her since Emalyn has been born, but I am started to see her sweet, obedient spirit shine back through. But there is are still funny little things that she is doing  that remind me she is struggling with sharing her world with a little sister.  When I introduce her to someone new now, she pretends to be a dog. I mean tongue out panting, and her hands go up beside her face like paws. I continually remind myself of the advice that another nurse gave me when I worked at Scottish Rite, that everything is a phase and they will grow out of it. My brother of course thinks it is hilarious, and eggs her on to do it more. So it may be a while before we out grow that one!

Emalyn is still doing well and is as easy as ever. She had one little stint when she was waking up in the middle of the night, but we went ahead and started her on rice cereal (pictures to come I promise) and that solved that problem. We "followed" (as much as I can follow something) the Babywise schedule with her, and it is amazing the difference it has made. She is like clockwork. She eats, plays for about 45 mins to an hour and then gets a little fussy. I zip her up in her sleep sak, set her in the bed, and she drifts off to sleep. If she is fussy and doesn't go to sleep, that means she has another burp. I go back in her room, burp her, and then she goes right to sleep. It is amazing; we were no where close to that with Maddie. It was at least 5-6 months before she go on a routine, and when she did it was 15-20 minutes naps here and there. We went on Monday for Emalyn's 4 month check up: she weighed 13 lbs and 11 oz (48%) and was 24 and 3/4 inches long (66%). So she has definitely slowed down a lot, but she is still really long. She is fitting into Maddie summer clothes that she wore when she was 10 months old. Emalyn is in a really fun stage right now: giggling and cooing all the time. She loves getting her diaper & her clothes changed. She starts laughing as soon as you put her on the changing table, who knows it could be because it is one of the very few times when she gets attention without her sister being in her face. But she really does love Maddie. Maddie is still a little rough with her and still has a hard time understanding why she can't flip her over and pick her up just like I do, but it is neat to see the bond that is already forming between the two of them. Maddie has had a fever today, and at one point they were both crying, Emalyn b/c I had to stop feeding her to go get Maddie when she woke up from her nap, and then Maddie b/c I had had to set her down on the sofa to pick Emalyn up while I searched for the phone to call my mom for back-up. But in that moment, Emalyn started cooing at Maddie and smiling. And Maddie immediately stop crying and smiled back at Emalyn and said "just the cutest girlie I've ever heard". My mom tells Maddie she is the cutest girl she has ever seen, and Maddie translate that to cutest girlie I've ever heard when she is talking to Emalyn. :) Okay, well I am off to feed Emalyn for the last feeding of the night.