4 Months

 

Yep, Mom, I'm 4 months today! Now, can you please take this thing off my head?!

 

Hey, this is MY photo shoot!...You are captivating though.

Angelic - My sweet girl is just that, a sweetie. She has perfect dimples and a perfect smile. She's just a happy girl, and that makes me happy too.

Vivacious - Ava is full of life. She loves to watch her brother, play in the excersaucer, roll over (back to tummy), and hang out in the Moby to observe what Mama is doing. Her eyes sparkle and light up when you talk to her, and she loves to talk back.

Accommodating - like the definition says, Ava is "easy to deal with, eager to help or please, obliging." She sleeps pretty consistently everyday, and although we still wake up a few times a night to eat, I rarely notice because she gets down to business and then goes back to sleep. And so do I! I think she's going to be my little helper.

End of an Era

My baby is no longer a baby. In the past two months, Kameen has reached two milestones that make him an official big boy. Can you guess what they are?  (hint: those are underwear in the bottom picture)

It's a little sad, but also a lot of fun. It just means I have to keep having babies until I no longer need one. :)

Summer, summer, summertime

Ah summer. My least favorite season. Give me a cool, crisp fall breeze any day over a sultry, humid, hot Texas summer. BUT, kids love summer, and I can see why. We have been trying to get out and enjoy the sunshine and stay cool in the pool...er, sprinkler park. So far, it's been a great summer. Here's a run-down of the things we've been doing.

Pool Time...

Family Time...

We've also celebrated two birthdays, Cousin Aiden and Daddy. And, we've enjoyed lots of homemade desserts using the fruits of summer (one thing I do like about the season). I can't wait to see what the rest of the summer will hold.

Three Months

Ava is three months old, and I can't imagine what it was like before she came. Here's a few things she has been working on in recent days.

Expanding her playtime activities, including rolling over!

Talking

Staying awake (Mommy doesn't seem to like this one)

Being a Texas girl

Hands! Toys! Dresses! Oh my!

Ava has reached some new milestones recently. It's all going by so fast, and makes my heart happy and sad all at the same time. If anyone could have told me how much I'd love having two (despite the utter angst and stress I feel many days) I wouldn't have believed them. But, I truly am enjoying my kiddos even more now that there's two.

First, Ava has found her hands, and realizes how fascinating they are. She loves sucking and chewing on the them, and especially both hands at one time!

Secondly, she has discovered toys and how to hold them, talk to them, and hit at them! I am so proud of her!

Thirdly, I have discovered how much fun it is to have a little girl! DRESSES!!!

About a boy...and his socks

Kameen is obsessed with socks, and especially likes to mix and match them. A side effect of this is that I now find lots of random socks, none of which match or have a partner, lying around the house. I just pick them up and throw them in the laundry. Eventually, they come together with their match.

Memorial Weekend

We finally took Ava on her first visit to East Texas on Memorial Weekend. We took Kameen at 5 weeks, but hubby (not me, because I didn't want to take him at 5 weeks) was a bit smarter this time around in knowing to wait a few more weeks. Ava is not a big fan of the car or car seat. She is not easily lulled to sleep in the car, but typically cries and cries whether the car is moving or not. So, I took some preventive measures to help ease the trip, which thankfully, is only about 5 hours (4 when we didn't have children). Ava has been sleeping well when swaddled. At first, I was swaddling her in my thin, cotton bathrobe. But, for the trip I knew I needed a travel swaddle blanket that would fit around the car seat straps. The blanket worked well. She did not (like Kameen, surprisingly) sleep the whole way, but the blanket helped keep her calm, and so did I, who ended up in the backseat squished between both kids. For the most part, she did great!

Ava was a much better visitor than her brother was at this age. She let her Grandmama, Grandpa, Great Granny, and Aunties hold her, for the most part. She was sociable and talked to them quite a bit, once she got her good nap in for the day. She even let Grandmama bounce her to sleep on her shoulder! We scrambled to take some pics of her while she was happy. I stayed away so that the sound of my voice didn't upset her.

Kameen had a great time of course! He was determined to stay with his Grandmama, and told me and Chris to go home and he was staying there. We are highly considering sending him to stay very, very soon! He played hard from the time he arrived, and really wore himself out, which was great because he slept in a queen size bed for the first time. He's had practice at his Meemaw's house here in Austin, but it's a half bed and it has a tent on it, which makes it feel like a crib. He did fine. I laid with him the first two nights until he was asleep. He also got to make some cookies with his Grandmama, which he thought was pretty great, and I did too.

Finally, he got to ride with Grandpa on a tractor! He was quite impressed. If I ever learn how to upload video, I'll show some footage of the event. Until then, here's a picture.