Arya's first day of preschool

Today was Arya's first day of preschool...wow, it is hard to believe she is big enough for that! We went for orientation last Thursday and she got to see her classroom, meet her teacher and some of the other kids in her class.

Today when we got to school, I pulled up toward the door where the teachers come out to the car to pick up the kids and take them in. They had said it was okay if parents took the kids in for the first few days, so I asked Arya what she wanted to do: "Arya, do you want Mommy to take you inside or do you want to go by yourself?" "I'll go by myself, " she replied confidently. Wow, so much for needing mommy!!

Show and tell is on Tuesdays, and this week's show and tell theme was circles. Arya decided to bring her bubble blower (the handheld kind with a little fan to blow lots of bubbles at once). She thought it was neat because the bubble blower had all kinds of circles on it (including the openings that the bubbles blow through), and it made bubbles, which were also circles. I told her she'd have to ask the teacher if she could actually blow the bubbles, and explained that she probably wouldn't be able to blow them inside. On the way home I asked her about show and tell and she excitedly told me that her teacher had blown the bubbles for them two times, and more importantly, "she even blew the bubbles INSIDE THE HOUSE!!!" (in other words, inside the classroom instead of outdoors).

Another highlight from the day included painting (which she loves). I asked her about seeing some of her friends, and she told me disappointedly about how one of the little girls didn't want to share. Arya: "She wasn't even thinking about sharing." Me: "Did you ask her nicely if she would share with you?" Arya: "Yes! I said, 'Share!'" Me: "Well did you share with the other kids?" Arya: "Yes! But I just played with the toys no one else was playing with."

Needless to say, it was a fun filled day for Arya and she was clearly excited to tell me all about what she had spent the afternoon doing.

As we were getting out of the car at home, I asked her one more question, feeling sure that I'd know the answer. "Are you excited to go back to school another day?"

Her answer surprised me. "No, I don't want to go back. I don't want you to leave me. I really missed you." I'm sure she'll change her mind and be completely ready to head back on Thursday, but it is kind of nice to know that she still needs me after all. :)


Above is my sweet Arya just before we left for school...and below is my silly Arya. :)


Here she is "getting her exercise" as she calls it, by trying to climb a tree in the front yard!

Alex eats cereal for the first time!

I wanted to post a couple of videos of the first time Alex tried solid food. He has been so interested in the food that we eat, and has been reaching for it and moving his mouth as he watches us eat. The pediatrician told us to try to wait a bit longer to give him cereal, so we gave him some once he had passed the 5 month mark. Here are 4 videos that show his first experience!! (My camera only takes 30 second videos, so that is why there are four of them!!) He kept crying whenever Rajeev took the spoon away to refill it!! I guess the rice cereal was a hit!! :)

My tongue taste-es yucky!!

Arya has had some trouble at various times with biting her nails. I have to share this story in relation to that because it is so funny!! Maybe 2 months ago (??) Rajeev had put some of that special bitter tasting nail polish on her fingernails and toenails to keep her from biting them. One evening after doing this, we were driving and Arya was sitting in the back seat snacking on some goldfish crackers. Apparently, she started tasting some of the bitter polish on her fingers while eating the goldfish!! She got our attention, saying, "My tongue taste-es* yucky!" (*Taste-es is something she says occasionally, when she adds an "s" to "taste" and makes it two syllables.) She went on to explain, "It taste-es like I licked an animal...like an elephant or giraffe." Oh my gosh!!! What a great description!! Maybe she has a gift for expressing herself through words like her Aunt Liz!! I couldn't have explained it better!!

Alex's 4 month appointment

Alex went for his 4 month appointment on July 30. He is doing great. He weighed 15 lbs., 8 oz. and was 24 3/4" long. His head circumference was 17 1/4".

He knows now that he has a voice, and likes to make different sounds like "ga", "ma", "ning". (I'm totally guessing on how to write that sound, which is kind of like an "ing" sound with a "n" at the beginning!) He says the sound "mama", but more as a need sound (when he wants picked up, etc.) than as a way to refer to me.

He rolls over all of the time, and loves to move! He usually wants to stand up while on people's laps. He also no longer wants to lean back in his swing. Instead he wants to sit up (even with no back support) and play with (i.e. chew) toys on the little tray that goes across the front. He is very good at holding himself up with his arms while lying on his tummy.

The current movement update is this (which is a little later than his 4 month appointment, but since it did happen this month, I'll include it here): Last week Alex started pushing his knees up under his body and he'll even try to move sometimes. He'll usually have his elbows on the floor when he does this, but it makes me realize that crawling won't be that far down the road. Wow! All of this is happening so fast!!

Alex is a very happy baby. He smiles a lot and for many different people. He also will laugh when you make some silly sounds or tickle under his arms.

He is very curious about food. He'll move his mouth while he watches people eat. He also loves to grab for things on the table if you're holding him while eating. The pediatrician recommends waiting a bit longer before giving him food, but I think that when it is time, Alex will be very excited.

As for sleeping, until this week, he's been doing really well. June 5 he slept through the night for the first time. He did this for about 4 out of the next 6 nights, and then it started becoming an almost every night thing. He would go to sleep around 10-11p.m. and sleep until 6-7a.m. He'd then eat and go back to sleep until about 8a.m. Nice!! This week he's been waking up for several nights between 1-3a.m. and wanting to eat, and I'm not sure what to do!! I guess we'll figure it out!

Well, those are a few of the 4 month milestones that I wanted to include! I can't believe how fast the time is flying.

Stitches!!

A little over a week ago, we had to take Alex to the pediatric dermatologist to have her look at his foot. He had a little bump (that has been there since he was born) on his right foot. The doctor removed it on Aug. 13 during our appointment. It wasn't much fun, but fortunately it was over pretty quickly. There were 4 of us (the doctor, 2 nurses, and me) who had to hold Alex still (which he really didn't like) while the doctor gave him a shot to numb his foot. She then removed the little bump and gave him two stitches in its place. :( Poor little guy. They are doing a biopsy to make sure there isn't anything more that needs done, but hopefully this will take care of it.

Siblings

Yesterday as I was tucking Arya in for bed, she looked at me and said, "I love Alex. Isn't he the cutest baby in the whole world?" Oh my goodness...how adorable!!

Arya really is so sweet with Alex. And Alex clearly loves her too. When he sees her, he just lights up and a huge smile appears on his face. It is pretty amazing. I'm so glad that they have each other.

How do I get so far behind?

I had great intentions of keeping this blog more active than the old one, but here I am realizing it has been more than two months since I posted. I was thinking that I could just write new posts and then go back and add in previous entries by changing the time/date stamp on them, allowing me to basically fake the entries and keep everything in order. But somehow, I don't think I can do that from this template. ???

Anyway now the dilemma is whether to not write anything new until I catch up on all of the old stuff in an effort to keep things in order, or whether to just write whatever I can, whenever I can. I think I'm going to have to go with the write whatever I can whenever I can option. Otherwise there's never going to be anything on this blog!!!

Anyway, now you've been warned: this blog and the events and happenings it describes may not (and probably WILL not!) be in order (at least for a while). Maybe if I don't worry about all I've left out, I will just be able to jot things down in an entry here or there and it will be more regular. Well, that is what I'll at least hope for!!