Do you wonder why we call her "sweet cheeks"?
My latest craft! Aren't they cute! 
Now there is some "Sweet Cheeks"!
Alaina first connected with me at 2 wks 6 days old. It was an awesome moment. She stared at me for the longest time and then made many facial motions and kicked and pumped her legs in excitement. She also then began to smile and hasn't stopped since. Now I can always get smiles out of her. She especially gives great smiles when she is on her changing table. I think it is something about a fresh diaper that sends smiles across her face.
Well it is hard keeping up with blogging right now so extra pics will have to make due. These pics represent weeks 2-5 of Alaina's life.
As we speak she is still very easy-going. The biggest issue is getting her to go to sleep consistently. However, once she is asleep she does very well. Kylan has still been an issue at night waking up anywhere from 3-8 times (while Alaina usually wakes up twice), though the last 2 nights he actually slept through. Last night, I was especially proud of him. I went into his room after one of Alaina's midnight feedings and I recovered him with a blanket. Well he woke up and I hit the floor. THANK GOODNESS he didn't see me. He then said to himself "I'm otay!" Turned on his music box and went to sleep. I then army crawled successfully out of the room. --if you are a parent--you know I am not lying. I was not going to deal with him discovering me.
So Alaina's "sweet cheeks" have thinned out a bit since birth--but they are still wonderfully chubby! At her one month appointment she was 10 lb 11 oz, and 22.25" which puts her at the 86% for both height and weight. The doc was impressed by her cooing--which she has been doing for a while now. I also LOVE her laugh. It is hard to explain, but she does the breathe in and out laugh with a squeak at the end.
Kylan continues to do better with his sister. The jealousy is still there and it can be very frustrating. For example, tummy time is now a battle. Trying to give Alaina this valuable tummy time, Ky must jump in and then also be there. (see pic above) He gets in the way and moves her incentives (mirrors, toys). I have to say I find this very frustrating and am probably not dealing with this very well. Perhaps if he didn't keep me up so much at night I would deal better--though honestly I am starting to sleep through him now (Dad takes care of him). I might be going into survival mode or something, since the last few nights I have only awakened to Alaina's cry. I am praying for more patience and also for Ky to get beyond this. It is really making these first few months at home rough.
Pottying is also still an issue. The sticker & rewards were sort of working as incentives, but now it's not. I have got one last idea to try and we will see what happens. It is interesting because when we are in public he will always use the restroom. Also at home he will always make sure to poop on the potty--however peeing at home is usually in his pants or when we make him go on the potty (like before we leave somewhere.) I know this is a control issue--where he knows he has the power and can get the attention for having accidents (which is why he only does it at home), however I am still in denial about putting him back in diapers. He doesn't need them at this point. Let's hope my next idea works.
So pic summary--well the first pic of Kylan pretty much sums up how I feel most days of my life. Gotta love it!
The next couple pics are of Alaina in cloth diapers. We have been starting to transition her over from disposables now that she is growing into the cloth--however they are still pretty big on her. We did try prefolds with wraps--but she kept messing out of those. In her cloth diapers she looks like a sumo wrestler (that is what we were trying to portray in the one pic).
The pics of us with all the trees were taken at the Arboretum in Madison. That is where we spent our Halloween Eve. It was a very nice walk. I took Alaina in the sling (I love that sling!) and Ky walked and rode on Rob's shoulders. It was a beautiful fall day. The temp got up to 70 degrees! How wonderful! The trees were beautiful! Within the arboretum there was also still lush greeness amongst the Autumal trees. You can see that in one of my pics with yellow fall trees in front. It was so cool!
We didn't trick or treat yet--once again at Ky's age we didn't see much point and with Alaina we really didn't want to go through the effort. Perhaps next year. We will see. Ky hasn't asked about it--so we know he wasn't missing out on anything. And we figure we saved him from eating lots of sugary junk--and then Rob and I being tempted to eat some of it as well.
We did however have some obnoxious trick or treaters that stopped at our house shortly after we got home. They must have seen our dining room light on and so they came to our door (even though we did not have our outside porch light on.) They just rang and rang and rang the doorbell. Next year I will have a plan to deal with obnoxious kids like this (they were teens--so please don't' think I am sounding harsh--they know better at this age.) Rob and I already discussed buckets of water and such....Next year could be a really fun year.
BTW--we really aren't this mean--last year we did not get a single trick or treater! I bought this whole bucket of candy to hand out---and nothing. So I just assumed this year would be the same. So we made plans to go to the Arboretum and not buy candy. Oh well---who knows what we will do next year.
Back to the pics...
So what do you think of the shoes I made for Alaina? Aren't they adorable! And so easy to make! I just bought more material to make her another pair. I am very excited. Here is the pattern for those crafty people:
I am seriously thinking about making more of these shoes and trying to sell them. I figure they are somewhat comparable to Robeez. It is the same pattern, just not leather--which actually makes them a bit more fun! They are very customizable when you can use so many different fabrics! And what great gifts they make.
Alright next pics....So Alaina has a very small head. It is in the 50% range--so average, but none of her hats seem to fit her very well. Every time we go somewhere, by the time we get to our destination the hat is covering her eyes. You should have seen the one time I had Liz's beret on her head. I go to get her out of the car and I had a headless child! the beret had covered her whole face! I wish I had had a camera then!
The last of the pics is of us at Schuster's farm. I think it was Oct 18th or so. We had a good time. Ky loved petting the goats and horses. And that OF COURSE was his favorite part. We also did a corn maze and let Ky lead us. He did very well (it was the kiddie maze) . The one pic of Alaina with the corn was our attempt to compare her size to an ear of corn (the ear is on her left side.)
The pic isn't very clear, but it was a neat comparison.
At the farm, Ky got to play in the giant corn box (this year he didn't eat the corn--YEAH!) , and he rode in the "goat" car on the barrel ride--do you think he would have picked a different one? :)
It was a good time and we bought kettle corn on the way out. Okay--now I must go to bed. Alaina and Ky are both asleep--and I must go too---I know I will be awakened shortly. This blog has seemed very hodge podge--which is basically how I feel my life has been lately--a little of this and a little of that. Hopefully soon things will regain a pattern and my blogs will read a bit better. Thanks to everyone for your love and support! The cards have been awesome and we appreciate all your wonderful thoughts and welcome-ings of our little girl. Life may be crazy now, but it is all worth it.
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