Sweetest sound!

Ava turned three month's old on Monday. Time is passing very quickly and I am already feeling sad that the newborn phase is behind us. She is such a sweet, easy-going baby. Her only need is to be where the action is and she's happy. She is very energetic (constantly moving/kicking her arms and legs) and very interactive. She loves watching her big brother! I think it is safe to say that everyone in the family has fallen in the love with her, we all sit around and stare at her and try to make her smile (which she does often!). She has started to become ticklish and tonight for the first time I made her laugh several times. It was the sweetest sound! She has Mommy wrapped around her finger already!

Highlights of Summer

We've had a great summer so far, attending three outdoor children's concerts, soccer classes every Saturday, Seafair, a wallaby ranch, an animal farm and several trips to the Kristoferson Farm.

Ava is doing great, smiling constantly and growing like a weed. At her two-month check-up she had gained almost 4 pounds since birth. So far this week she has slept in one five to six hour stretch each night which I am immensely grateful for! Prior to this week no one seemed to be getting any sleep in our house. Evan was getting up repeatedly each night and the only way I could get Ava to sleep at all was to sleep with her on my chest while I elevated myself on pillows. Up until two weeks ago Aaron slept in our guest room on a twin bed (or on an air mattress during the five weeks we had guests here) so he was sleeping terribly as well!

Evan turning three has brought with it new adventures for us. He has entered a phase that is both incredibly fun at times and incredibly frustrating. His personality is adorable, he says the funniest things and can be very polite and sweet when you least expect it. He recently told me I was beautiful and today he said I was the best Mom. He loves music and we are constantly singing together. I have tried desperately to get him to like some of my music so I am not listening to Caspar Babypants all the time. For some reason he likes the Bangles and now we sing 'Walk Like an Egyptian' and 'Manic Monday' all day! He has given up his nap which causes him to be extremely hyper by the late afternoon...not fun I can assure you! He also has started to 'talk back' to us which took me by surprise when it first started happening. Everyone talks about the 'terrible two's' and I was really looking forward to getting past that stage. Now we've entered an equally challenging stage at age three that I was not prepared for. Tantrums have reemerged as well as some seriously annoying whining! Preschool starts in two weeks and he is technically supposed to be potty trained so we've been aggressively making attempts to get him there in the last month. Unfortunately it is not going so well despite all of my attempts at bribery (sticker charts, M&M's, toys).

New phase

Now 7 weeks old Ava spends more time awake and alert each day. She is still struggling with her reflux and feedings can be very painful for her at times. It is really sad to witness it and not be able to do anything to help her. She is on medication which has helped a lot, the strange (and sometimes scary) noises she made in the first month are almost gone entirely. She is able to lay on her back now for 10 minute stretches which she could not do previously. She's also sleeping more soundly and for longer periods of time, I've even had one three-hour stretch of sleep! I've actually had more than that early in the evening when I've pumped and Aaron has fed her (the only thing keeping from me from completely losing my sanity from lack of sleep). I do feel like we are definitely turning a corner however. The one challenge that remains in the evening is at around 4 am each day she gets extremely uncomfortable and sleeps very fitfully or not at all for several hours until it's time for Evan to get up.

In the last couple of weeks she has been focusing on our faces and in the last week in particular she has been staring very intently at us. She's also started smiling! She first smiled at me on the day that I was alone with both her and Evan for the first time. It could not have made me any happier and each time she has done it since my heart feels like it is going to burst.

The honeymoon phase is definitely over for Evan! I left the room for a minute the other day and returned to find Evan hiding and Ava crying. He proudly told me he had hit her. I felt terrible that I left him alone with her, he had been doing well with her and I let my guard down and I should not have. I am on high alert now and I am diligent about taking her with me everywhere in the house.

Richard's Meadow

Last weekend we headed to Kristoferson Farm to dedicate a meadow in my brother Richard'smemory. We had a great meal out in the field and then headed to the barn for several hours of Karaoke fun. Aaron and the boys (Evan, Jared and Harrison) all camped out afterward but it did not go exactly as planned. Evan kept Aaron awake most of the night by repeatedly crawling onto Aaron's pillow laying on top of his head! Apparently the ground was too hard for him! Both Jared and Harrison abandoned their camping endeavors early going inside before they fell asleep because it was too cold. The picture of Evan on the road is from a very early morning hike that he and Aaron took after Evan's first night camping.

Birthdays!

Aaron, my nephew Jared and Evan all celebrated birthdays in the last few weeks. Ava's first trip out in public was to celebrate Jared and Aaron's birthdays. I was so nervous about how she was going to do and she was an angel, she slept the entire time. Evan celebrated his big 3rd birthday at Kristoferson Farm (more low-key than his first birthday given the timing). Fortunately everyone in the family pitched in to make his birthday celebration happen since I was not sure we could pull it off originally. He had a blast running free and hunting snakes with his cousins. He received his first real musical instrument from his Papa and Momo - a violin. He loves it!

Update

Ava is 5 weeks old as of yesterday and she is growing like a weed. At her one month appointment she weighed 8 pounds 5 ounces and was 21.5 inches long (up from 6 pounds 10 ounces and 18 inches). She is still having a hard time with reflux and colic but we are still working hard to figure out a way to make her more comfortable.

My c-section recovery was not what I expected and I am still not functioning at 100% but fortunately I coordinated a lot of help in advance. At the hospital my step-mother and my cousin each spent the night with us until the wee hours of the morning so Aaron and I could get some sleep. We've had meals brought to us by numerous friends, Evan has been entertained by the Vargas' family several times, and we've had family rotating in and out (my mother-in-law, my mother and my grandmother) for the last five weeks. I am so extremely grateful for all of the help! We are so fortunate to have the friends and family that we have!

I am on day two of being alone with both kids for the first time. I am managing okay so far, the Baby Bjorn (infant front carrier) has been a godsend. Ava had a rough day today crying constantly making it very difficult to do anything for Evan. As soon as I put her in the Bjorn she was quiet! My back is killing me but at least she's content and I can play with Evan. Evan is doing much better this week adjusting. He asks me to put Ava down a lot but he is not being as aggressive which is great. He's realizing that I can hold him and her at the same time and I am doing my best to spend quality time with him. We built a very cool Duplo Lego fire station together yesterday! He's getting quite spoiled from all of the big brother and birthday gifts and he's acting a bit entitled which is understandable. Every package that comes in the mail he asks excitedly "Is it for me?". My nephews are in town from Georgia giving him something to look forward to. He has a had blast playing with them, he absolutely adores both of them.

"Why did I want a baby sister?"

We are almost 4 weeks in into our lives as a family of four and we are definitely still working out the kinks. Evan was behaving great until the last week, now each day is a huge challenge with him. He's acting very wild, hitting everyone in the house (including Ava), and waking up repeatedly in the night. I think it's finally settling in that his life is very different now. A few days ago he asked "why did I want a baby sister?"

Ava has been experiencing reflux since we came home from the hospital which causes her extreme discomfort and very difficult nights for me! We are trying everything we can to try to improve her condition from custom-made sleeping wedges, to medication, to me eliminating dairy from my diet.