The Girls - April 2013

Harlie: We have a little ballerina in our house now! Harlie started attending pre-ballet class with her little buddies, Elinor and Emelia and is loving it. Now she sashays all around and asks us to play ballet music on Pandora. Nana bought H a new ballerina skirt and has been able to take her to ballet a couple times which is a special treat.

A growing affection for Tinkerbell and all things fairies has developed. She loves to put her wings on, play with Tink in the tub and search for fairies at the park. Today is her lucky day because we are going with Keri and Maz to a Fairy Hunt at McKinley Park this afternoon and she's so very excited!

The warm weather is making us itch to get outside and darnit I want a pool! At Cole's 5th birthday party last weekend, Harlie swam all around the pool with Cole's water wings on. It was the first time she felt comfortable being in the pool on her own when she couldn't touch the bottom with her toes. She'd jump in on her own and duck under for just a second without caring and it was a joy to watch. She's getting so big and I'm grateful for her adventurous little spirit...I hope it sticks with her.

Big news around her is also a new twin bed for Harlie's room that we picked up second hand from my old high school friend, Suzanne. Facebook wins again! Harlie loves her big comfy bed and was able to pass on her crib to Ashlynne.  What a trip to see a baby in her crib again.

Ashlynne:  We haven't had any problems with the transition from the pack n play to the crib which I'm so grateful for.  What is funny is that most mornings, Ash will end up with her head on the opposite side of the crib. She wiggles in her sleep and completes a 180 turn every night! Funny stuff.  She's still a champion sleeper, going 10 hour stretches most of the time. This is awesome with me being back to work... but I'm knocking on all kinds of wood, because I know it can change at any moment!

Teeth may be coming faster than they did with Harlie because Ashlynne is a drooling machine and has her little knuckles in her mouth all the time!  I don't see any little buds yet, so who knows...but she is definitely my hungry little hippo so I wouldn't be surprised. I'm back to work now and so far, pumping has been going well. I like to come home for lunch most afternoons to get a snuggle and a feed in which allows me to pump just 2-3 times a day.

Ashlynne had her 3 month well baby appt and is still growing slow and steady. Weighing 10 lbs, 2 oz, she's in the 3rd percentile for weight and the 6th percentile for height at 22 inches long.  Her torticollis is doing so much better and the doctor was happy with her improvement. She's doing great at tummy time and can keep her head straight on her own so much better now. This is a huge relief. she shouldn't need any extra intervention while at daycare and we will keep up her exercises in the mornings and evenings once we are both back to work.  Ashylynne also had her shots (FIVE! OUCH!) and slept a lot battling a little fever for about 24 hours. All is well now and she's back to her smiley sweet self.

Smiles ABOUND and we're loving it. Influenced by her big sis, Ashlynne lights up with smiles when Scott sings Firework to her and will even sing along. She loves to mimic the "Ah Ah Ah" parts of the song and it is the cutest. She's actually really interested in mimicking sounds and sticking her tongue out when Mama and Daddy do.  It's super fun for us because the connection just keeps growing and it's awesome.  Gah, babies!

I packed up all of Ashlynne's newborn clothes the other day. She still swims in some of her 0-3 mo clothes, but others fit just right and since I needed the room in her drawers for more warm weather clothes, I had to pack up the itty bitties. I swear the last 3 months have flown by now that I'm not still in the thick of newborn anxiety. It's bitter sweet for sure, but luckily more sweet than bitter.

Just look at how much she's grown: