And look how cute it turned out:
Some of the details of the room:
Showing posts with label siblings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label siblings. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
A room fit for the girls
Stas and Lexi share nearly everything and had been spending almost every weekend night sleeping in each others rooms. We finally asked if they wanted to share a room, of course they exclaimed YAY!!! So we took the plunge and decided to create a fun girl room for them to share. I had originally planned to put the room together over a few months and move them in right before summer, but then Tom suggested we get it done in a weekend, so get it done in a weekend we did. Luckily all of the stuff from both of their rooms coordinated so we just repurposed nearly everything.
And look how cute it turned out:
Some of the details of the room:
And look how cute it turned out:
Some of the details of the room:
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
29 Weeks Old
The girls are so insistent on being a part of Tommy's weekly pictures. They get really upset when I ask for JUST ONE SHOT of him. I usually wind up taking a picture or two or twenty of them with him before they move on and let me snap one of just him and his bear. And even in this week's picture you can see Lexi walking in with her baby. Tommy just doesn't care who's in his picture. He loves his sisters so much and lights up when they call his name.
November flew by so fast and even this weekly picture is already a week overdue (he's on his way to 31 weeks old). Right before Thanksgiving someone asked me how old he was and I started to respond "six months" but then caught myself and realized that he was actually already seven months old.
He's also flying through developments - crawling, self-feeding, PULLING UP(!). I'm still waiting for the best development - sleeping through the night. That would be a Christmas miracle. Despite the fact that he likes to wake up once or twice a night, he's a pretty easy baby. He's still such a cuddlebug and is so mellow. Now that he can move he wants to go everywhere. In the mornings the kids usually convene in the playroom while they get ready for the day and Tommy takes advantage of all of the open doors and sneaks into his sisters' rooms. Quiet as a mouse he crawls in and starts exploring without them knowing. Sneaky little boy.
Thursday, September 26, 2013
Monday, August 19, 2013
Friday, August 2, 2013
Attention seekers
The girls have done remarkably well with the addition of another sibling, but recently they've both started acting out a bit for extra attention. Lexi's been the worst.
The other night while I was making dinner and Tom was simultaneously taking care of Tommy and negotiating with someone from Craigslist, Lexi came downstairs hands out saying "Mommy, I all dirty!" I looked down and there she was hands all covered in black with a black goatee on her face. I initially thought "Crap. Marker." Nope. Expensive mascara. I suppose I should have told her not to get into my makeup. Lesson learned. I got her cleaned up and went back to making dinner. Not five minutes later she came back downstairs. "Mommy, I all dirty!" This time I could smell her when she walked in. Nail polish. Mint green nail polish. On her, my bureau, my bedroom carpet. So, I clean that up with acetone and tell her to stay out of my room. Then I shampoo the carpet to get the acetone out of it. As I'm doing that I hear Stasa walk by the hall bathroom and say "Why's it all wet in here?" I poke my head in and catch Lexi elbow deep in the toilet. She had stuffed an entire container of diaper wipes in there and was playing in the water.
Message received, little one: you need more attention.
Tom and I decided to divide and conquer. We had errands to run, so I took Lexi with me and he took Stas and Tommy to Costco with him. I really played it up to Lexi that it was just the two of us and she loved it. We didn't even do anything fantastic - just a quick trip to Target and then the fabric store, but we did make a quick pitstop at the in-store Starbucks for a chocolate milk and "cake lowlypop" for her. She was in heaven.
Later in the week we switched it up and I took Stas and Tommallama and Tom took Lexi. We decided to get our errands done and then take them out to dinner. I had to make a trip to Sephora so we went to the town center. She was so much fun. We went to dinner first - her choice, cheese pizza and while we were waiting for it to be ready she watched them make fresh pasta. Then we went over to Sephora so I could pick up a new eyeshadow. Stasa was amazed at all of the makeup everywhere and got even more excited when she spotted a makeup counter with her name, Anastasia. I told her pick out some stuff and we'd play with the testers. She chose gold glitter eyeliner and sparkly pink lip gloss. The checkout lady gave her a bag just for her and we put some of the tester brushes in it. After that we stopped for some gelato and then headed back home.
Once home we found Tom and Lexi with a McDonald's meal. Apparently after their trip to Babies R Us he took them to like five different restaurants and left each one because all the Lexifer wanted was applesauce and none of the places had any (or the wait was too long). So he brought her home with some Mickey Dees and gave her applesauce only to have her say she didn't want any. LOL
I do think it helped a bit with the girls and it's something we enjoyed. We just need to find time to do this regularly.
The other night while I was making dinner and Tom was simultaneously taking care of Tommy and negotiating with someone from Craigslist, Lexi came downstairs hands out saying "Mommy, I all dirty!" I looked down and there she was hands all covered in black with a black goatee on her face. I initially thought "Crap. Marker." Nope. Expensive mascara. I suppose I should have told her not to get into my makeup. Lesson learned. I got her cleaned up and went back to making dinner. Not five minutes later she came back downstairs. "Mommy, I all dirty!" This time I could smell her when she walked in. Nail polish. Mint green nail polish. On her, my bureau, my bedroom carpet. So, I clean that up with acetone and tell her to stay out of my room. Then I shampoo the carpet to get the acetone out of it. As I'm doing that I hear Stasa walk by the hall bathroom and say "Why's it all wet in here?" I poke my head in and catch Lexi elbow deep in the toilet. She had stuffed an entire container of diaper wipes in there and was playing in the water.
Message received, little one: you need more attention.
Tom and I decided to divide and conquer. We had errands to run, so I took Lexi with me and he took Stas and Tommy to Costco with him. I really played it up to Lexi that it was just the two of us and she loved it. We didn't even do anything fantastic - just a quick trip to Target and then the fabric store, but we did make a quick pitstop at the in-store Starbucks for a chocolate milk and "cake lowlypop" for her. She was in heaven.
Later in the week we switched it up and I took Stas and Tommallama and Tom took Lexi. We decided to get our errands done and then take them out to dinner. I had to make a trip to Sephora so we went to the town center. She was so much fun. We went to dinner first - her choice, cheese pizza and while we were waiting for it to be ready she watched them make fresh pasta. Then we went over to Sephora so I could pick up a new eyeshadow. Stasa was amazed at all of the makeup everywhere and got even more excited when she spotted a makeup counter with her name, Anastasia. I told her pick out some stuff and we'd play with the testers. She chose gold glitter eyeliner and sparkly pink lip gloss. The checkout lady gave her a bag just for her and we put some of the tester brushes in it. After that we stopped for some gelato and then headed back home.
Once home we found Tom and Lexi with a McDonald's meal. Apparently after their trip to Babies R Us he took them to like five different restaurants and left each one because all the Lexifer wanted was applesauce and none of the places had any (or the wait was too long). So he brought her home with some Mickey Dees and gave her applesauce only to have her say she didn't want any. LOL
I do think it helped a bit with the girls and it's something we enjoyed. We just need to find time to do this regularly.
Monday, July 15, 2013
11 Weeks Old
This is my last week at home with the little man. Twelve weeks flies by so fast. I'm going to spend it snuggling with him as much as I can before heading back to work. Yesterday the girls got in on the cuddle action, too.
And one silly one of Tom and Numba One.
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
9 Weeks Old and 2 Month Stats
Well, I'm now down to my last three weeks of leave. And we still haven't really gotten a routine down. Tommy cat naps a lot during the day, but it's hit or miss on the long naps. For instance right now he's snoozing in the swing and has been asleep for about 45 minutes and will probably sleep for another 45. But yesterday he didn't nap until later in the day. Usually at night I feed him around the time we're reading stories to the girls, but instead of putting him in his room we've been bringing him downstairs with us and he sleeps in his Rock-n-Play until we go up to bed. Last night I finally decided to try something new.
After dinner I took all three kids upstairs for a group bath, a first for them. I've let each girl bathe with Tommy, but hadn't put all three in the tub together because the girls are water monsters when they're in the bath together and I kind of feared for Tommy's safety. The girls promised not to splash with him in the tub, so I gave it a go.
They were fantastic. They took turns soaping him up and rinsing him with their cups.
After bath, the girls got themselves ready for bed while I dressed Tommy and then we went to the playroom to watch a show and read books. While the girls watched their show I fed Tommy and put him to sleep in his crib, only the second time he's ever slept there. It was nice having him asleep when it was time to get the girls in bed, especially since Tom was out for the night. Over two months in with the new baby and I'm just now thinking to get him on an evening schedule.
We took the Tommallama to the doctor for his two month appointment. The doctor confirmed that he has reflux, but agrees that since he's a happy spitter there's no need to put him on meds. She said he'll grow out of it by 6-9 months old and just to keep him somewhat upright after his feedings. She was impressed with his head and neck control and growth since his last appointment. Tom and I knew he was long, but didn't realize how much he grew. He's longer than Lexi was at two months old and she's been off the charts in height. Here are Tommy's two month stats:
Height: 24.75", 96th percentile
Weight: 12 lbs, 60th percentile
Head size: 16", 68th percentile
He's almost a full inch longer than Lexi was. We're going to have some tall kids on our hands. We're on our way to our own basketball team. Yay!
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Staying busy
We've been staying busy around here, but I suppose when you have three kids that's inevitable, and Memorial Day weekend was no different. Tommalamma and I ran errands all day on Friday, to the bank, setting up a meeting with the financial adviser, getting Sexy Flexy inspected, dropping off stuff with Tom, AND buying the kids new shoes. Nordstrom was having a sale in the children's department and since I had a gift card I decided to check out their shoe selection. They happened to have Keens on sale and Anne's always raving about them and our kids tear through shoes in record time, so I decided to give them a chance. I got both girls a pair to wear now (and hopefully they last through the fall) and got Tommy a pair to wear when he's older and walking. I foolishly bought Stasa's pair in her current size and they were a tad too tight so we went back to the mall that evening to exchange them for a larger size. The girls love going to the Nordstrom kids shoe section because there are free balloons there. Of course once we were at the mall we let the girls have some play time at the play place and watched Stasa and Lexi play their version of hide and seek.
After the mall we decided to eat out and on a whim chose Benihana. Tom wasn't sure it would be kid friendly, but I figured the girls would enjoy watching the "show" and I was right. The chef flipped food around and made an onion volcano and generally just entertained the kids at the table. I was slightly surprised at what the girls ate. Stasa was really adept with her chopsticks and even managed to grasp the tiny slices of scallion in her soup. She ate most of her soup, including the scallions and mushrooms, all of the shrimp appetizer, some of her chicken, and a ton of rice. She tried the veggies, but wasn't a huge fan. Lexi played with her soup - shocker - and ate all of her rice and none of her chicken, but she did eat most of her shrimp appetizer. Both girls enjoyed the rainbow sherbet that was included with their meal.
We spent Saturday at dance class and hanging out at home. It was way too cold for the pool and pretty windy so Tom took the girls out to play and fly their kites. Stasa did a pretty good job getting the kite up on her own and both kids had fun playing outside with Tom and I enjoyed some "quiet" time with Tommalamma and the vacuum.
Sunday was spent running all over the place. I made our meal plan for the week and then a shopping list for Target, Costco, and Safeway. We did the usual Merkel family trip to Costco and the girls had a blast sampling all of the food. I'm always amazed at the variety they're willing to eat when it's served on a toothpick. Before we went to the store I gave Stasa one of our old digital cameras and she was snap happy at Costco. So much so that I had to clear the camera's memory a couple of times during our trip so she could continue to take pictures of boxes and food and strangers.
She's quite happy with herself and her photo taking abilities. As soon as I find the cord for that camera I'll share her many artistic shots.
The pool was actually open on Monday, but it was still too cold and I knew the girls wouldn't get in the water so we hung out at home and thoroughly cleaned the kitchen and both of our pantries. The girls were pretty patient and entertained themselves for the most part. After their nap we took them out to the playground and let them run around for a bit before dinner. Lexi is still apprehensive of the swings and prefers to just sit on the big kid swings and avoids the kiddie swings. Well, of course there was a long wait to use the big kid swings as is usual on a nice day so we tried to convince Lexi to use the kiddie swings since she wanted to swing and we didn't have all day to wait. Stasa, being the good big sister that she is, hopped off of her big kid swing and ran over to the kiddie swings to get Lexi to join her. With Stasa by her side Lexi actually enjoyed the swings and even cracked a smile.
I love watching the girls at the playground. They have so much energy, especially Stasa, and it's nice to watch them run all over the place and climb and swing and slide. It's even better to watch them start to run out of steam because that means they'll sleep soundly and get a good night's rest.
All the busyness makes for one tired mama during the week. Well, that and the little man who insists on waking up for every possible feeding available to him, which means I'm up about every 2-3 hours at night and then listening to him grunt from 5:00 am until our alarms go off. So Tommy spends nearly every morning and afternoon napping and then takes cat naps on me the rest of the day. He's the first of our kids to really nap in the bouncer and I'm so grateful because it allows me to have two hands so I can make dinner and eat my lunch and shower. And he's just so adorable when he's sleeping.
When he's not sleeping or eating or pooping, and believe me those three things fill up the majority of our days - when he's not doing any of those things he's hanging around staring at me. And I kinda love when he does that because he's got beautiful eyes, eyes that I'm pretty sure will be blue like Tom's. And when he smiles his gas smiles he has the most adorable dimple forming on his left cheek.
After the mall we decided to eat out and on a whim chose Benihana. Tom wasn't sure it would be kid friendly, but I figured the girls would enjoy watching the "show" and I was right. The chef flipped food around and made an onion volcano and generally just entertained the kids at the table. I was slightly surprised at what the girls ate. Stasa was really adept with her chopsticks and even managed to grasp the tiny slices of scallion in her soup. She ate most of her soup, including the scallions and mushrooms, all of the shrimp appetizer, some of her chicken, and a ton of rice. She tried the veggies, but wasn't a huge fan. Lexi played with her soup - shocker - and ate all of her rice and none of her chicken, but she did eat most of her shrimp appetizer. Both girls enjoyed the rainbow sherbet that was included with their meal.
We spent Saturday at dance class and hanging out at home. It was way too cold for the pool and pretty windy so Tom took the girls out to play and fly their kites. Stasa did a pretty good job getting the kite up on her own and both kids had fun playing outside with Tom and I enjoyed some "quiet" time with Tommalamma and the vacuum.
Sunday was spent running all over the place. I made our meal plan for the week and then a shopping list for Target, Costco, and Safeway. We did the usual Merkel family trip to Costco and the girls had a blast sampling all of the food. I'm always amazed at the variety they're willing to eat when it's served on a toothpick. Before we went to the store I gave Stasa one of our old digital cameras and she was snap happy at Costco. So much so that I had to clear the camera's memory a couple of times during our trip so she could continue to take pictures of boxes and food and strangers.
She's quite happy with herself and her photo taking abilities. As soon as I find the cord for that camera I'll share her many artistic shots.
The pool was actually open on Monday, but it was still too cold and I knew the girls wouldn't get in the water so we hung out at home and thoroughly cleaned the kitchen and both of our pantries. The girls were pretty patient and entertained themselves for the most part. After their nap we took them out to the playground and let them run around for a bit before dinner. Lexi is still apprehensive of the swings and prefers to just sit on the big kid swings and avoids the kiddie swings. Well, of course there was a long wait to use the big kid swings as is usual on a nice day so we tried to convince Lexi to use the kiddie swings since she wanted to swing and we didn't have all day to wait. Stasa, being the good big sister that she is, hopped off of her big kid swing and ran over to the kiddie swings to get Lexi to join her. With Stasa by her side Lexi actually enjoyed the swings and even cracked a smile.
I love watching the girls at the playground. They have so much energy, especially Stasa, and it's nice to watch them run all over the place and climb and swing and slide. It's even better to watch them start to run out of steam because that means they'll sleep soundly and get a good night's rest.
All the busyness makes for one tired mama during the week. Well, that and the little man who insists on waking up for every possible feeding available to him, which means I'm up about every 2-3 hours at night and then listening to him grunt from 5:00 am until our alarms go off. So Tommy spends nearly every morning and afternoon napping and then takes cat naps on me the rest of the day. He's the first of our kids to really nap in the bouncer and I'm so grateful because it allows me to have two hands so I can make dinner and eat my lunch and shower. And he's just so adorable when he's sleeping.
When he's not sleeping or eating or pooping, and believe me those three things fill up the majority of our days - when he's not doing any of those things he's hanging around staring at me. And I kinda love when he does that because he's got beautiful eyes, eyes that I'm pretty sure will be blue like Tom's. And when he smiles his gas smiles he has the most adorable dimple forming on his left cheek.
Monday, May 20, 2013
3 Weeks Old
How did three weeks already fly by? Was it really just three weeks ago that we went to the hospital to meet our little man? Tommy is still such a relaxed baby and we're so grateful for that. We went to an engagement party on Saturday and he was passed around like candy and just slept in everyone's arms. Then Sunday he and I went to a friend's baby shower and he was nice and quiet the whole day AND he didn't spit up all over his adorable Ralph Lauren polo onesie.
He's still sleeping pretty well, but wakes up every hour and a half to two hours to eat, although Saturday night he gave me two three hour stretches of sleep which felt amazing. He's also so much more alert now and will spend a lot of time just gazing around and will happily lay on the floor of the playroom listening to the girls chatter and play.
The girls really love being around him and often argue over whose brother he is. It's just another version of their "that's MY mommy" argument. Always a fun one to listen to. I suppose that's better than the alternative. I remember my mom telling the story of when she brought my brother home from the hospital and I looked at him and told her to send him back because I didn't want a baby brother. These girls don't care at all about the sex of their baby sibling, they just love having a real live baby to play with.
And they'll give anyone holding him the evil eye. At the engagement party Lexi would walk by someone holding Tommy, give them the side eye and proclaim "that's MY brother Tommy." Just in case they weren't aware. Stasa loves getting down on the floor with him and gets so excited when he looks at her or grabs her finger or touches her face. She's fascinated with how small he is and loves caressing his head and kissing his hands.
Tommy is a lucky little boy to have such loving big sisters. Now he may not be as lucky when they realize they can dress him up and make him be one of their royal subjects.
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Happy Mother's Day to me!
Is it wrong to wish yourself a happy Mother's Day? Maybe, but I don't even care. I feel absolutely blessed to have the three sweetest babies call me mommy. They all woke up happy this morning and are miraculously all napping at the same time for the first time ever (KNOCKING ON ALL SORTS OF WOOD). These kids bring a smile to my face every day. It makes my heart swell to see them love on each other.
Saturday, May 4, 2013
Tommy's other mommies
Back when I was pregnant with Lexi people would ask me "what does Stasa think about having a new baby?" and I would always answer that she really didn't "get" it. We would talk about it with her and explain that there was a baby in my belly, but she just figured that everyone, including her, had a baby in their belly. It wasn't until we brought Lexi home that she realized this thing was here to stay. And even then she wasn't all that involved in caring for Lexi. She would hold Lexi, but lost interest after a few seconds and really just wanted to play. It wasn't until Lexi was old enough to play with her that she really became interested in having a little sister. And now the two of them are thick as thieves. They play together all of the time and for the most part they get along. Stasa is the typical big sister and bosses Lexi around when they play and Lexi usually just goes along with whatever Stasa says. Of course they also fight like any siblings, but we've been letting them resolve their issues on their own.
This time people would ask Stasa and Lexi if they wanted a baby brother or a baby sister and Stasa would always say that she only wanted sisters. No matter how often we explained that the baby could be a brother or sister, she insisted that she could only have sisters, no brothers. Lexi never really seemed to care, but both girls were really into feeling the baby kick. And every night they would give my belly a kiss goodnight and would talk to the baby. Stasa was also full of questions during this pregnancy and was really interested in how the baby was going to get out of my belly. I explained how the baby would be born and every few days after that she would remind me how the baby would come out.
The day I packed my hospital bag she saw it in my room and had tons of questions about it and what it was for. When I explained that we would take it with us when we went to the hospital, she wanted to pack a bag for herself, too. It took quite a bit of explaining to get her to understand that she wouldn't be going to the hospital with us. Once she knew that Mimi was coming to stay with her, she was fine.
I worried a bit about when I would go into labor and if it would happen while they were at school, home and awake, or in the middle of the night. We talked to Stasa a lot about what would happen when it was time for the baby to come so she would be prepared if she woke up and we weren't at home. Turns out that's exactly what happened and apparently she woke up around 5:00 am looking for us.
After Tommy was born the girls were the first visitors we had - I really wanted them to meet their new brother before anyone else came around. They ran into the room, happy to see us and chomping at the bit to meet their new baby. We told them it was a baby brother and his name was Tommy and I kind of braced myself for the frowns about it being a boy, only to be met with huge smiles. They were beyond thrilled to have a brother and both immediately wanted to hold him and love on him. Stasa was interested in him and happy to hold him, but she was also happy to let Lexi and others take a turn holding him. Lexi, on the other hand, did not want to give him up once she started holding him. I think this picture explains exactly how she felt when she wasn't holding him.
I wasn't expecting Lexi to be all that interested in her new brother and thought she'd behave the way Stasa did when Lexi was born. I couldn't have been more wrong. Lexi is the most caring and attentive big sister this kid could have. Don't get me wrong, Stasa also loves Tommy and always gives him kisses goodnight and goodbye in the morning, but she's also happy to leave him be if he's sleeping or just hanging out. And she occasionally asks to hold him, but if I say no she's okay with that, too. Lexi insists on either holding Tommy or sitting next to him all of the time. When she wakes up in the morning, she runs out of her room and asks "where's Tommy?" and then beelines for our room to see him. No more snuggles with Mommy for her in the morning. She also likes to pick out his clothes every morning and likes to cover him with blankets and gives him the pacifier whether he's crying or not.
Both girls are getting into a new routine when they come home from school every day. They come in, take off their jackets and shoes and run to wash their hands (they're often reminded to do that) so they can love on Tommy. Stasa is fascinated by the way he looks around and how he grips her finger. She's content to sit next to him and look at his eyes. The other night I spent some extra time with her after stories and let her hold him for a bit. She just stared into his eyes and told me that Tommy has dark blue eyes and she and daddy have light blue eyes. She's mostly helpful and hasn't really lashed out like she did when Lexi was born. I think part of that is us working as hard as we can to keep both girls to the routine and schedule they're used to. Both girls have to be reminded more than once to do something, but if we add in that they can hold Tommy if they do X, Y, or Z they sprint to get it done. A little bribery never hurt anyone, did it? ; )
The girls have both surprised me with how loving and caring and gentle they are with Tommy. And both have been so generous with their favorite blankets and will cover him and place their own babies next to him. They're also very interested in how he eats and the other night both came down with their babies and said they needed to feed their babies "booby milk" and asked me to help them. I wanted to make them mini Boppys before the baby was born and never got around to it, but now that I know they're so interested in caring for their babies I think I'll make them sometime in the next week. Tommy is very blessed to have two loving big sisters and I feel more than blessed to have three beautiful and healthy kids.
This time people would ask Stasa and Lexi if they wanted a baby brother or a baby sister and Stasa would always say that she only wanted sisters. No matter how often we explained that the baby could be a brother or sister, she insisted that she could only have sisters, no brothers. Lexi never really seemed to care, but both girls were really into feeling the baby kick. And every night they would give my belly a kiss goodnight and would talk to the baby. Stasa was also full of questions during this pregnancy and was really interested in how the baby was going to get out of my belly. I explained how the baby would be born and every few days after that she would remind me how the baby would come out.
The day I packed my hospital bag she saw it in my room and had tons of questions about it and what it was for. When I explained that we would take it with us when we went to the hospital, she wanted to pack a bag for herself, too. It took quite a bit of explaining to get her to understand that she wouldn't be going to the hospital with us. Once she knew that Mimi was coming to stay with her, she was fine.
I worried a bit about when I would go into labor and if it would happen while they were at school, home and awake, or in the middle of the night. We talked to Stasa a lot about what would happen when it was time for the baby to come so she would be prepared if she woke up and we weren't at home. Turns out that's exactly what happened and apparently she woke up around 5:00 am looking for us.
After Tommy was born the girls were the first visitors we had - I really wanted them to meet their new brother before anyone else came around. They ran into the room, happy to see us and chomping at the bit to meet their new baby. We told them it was a baby brother and his name was Tommy and I kind of braced myself for the frowns about it being a boy, only to be met with huge smiles. They were beyond thrilled to have a brother and both immediately wanted to hold him and love on him. Stasa was interested in him and happy to hold him, but she was also happy to let Lexi and others take a turn holding him. Lexi, on the other hand, did not want to give him up once she started holding him. I think this picture explains exactly how she felt when she wasn't holding him.
I wasn't expecting Lexi to be all that interested in her new brother and thought she'd behave the way Stasa did when Lexi was born. I couldn't have been more wrong. Lexi is the most caring and attentive big sister this kid could have. Don't get me wrong, Stasa also loves Tommy and always gives him kisses goodnight and goodbye in the morning, but she's also happy to leave him be if he's sleeping or just hanging out. And she occasionally asks to hold him, but if I say no she's okay with that, too. Lexi insists on either holding Tommy or sitting next to him all of the time. When she wakes up in the morning, she runs out of her room and asks "where's Tommy?" and then beelines for our room to see him. No more snuggles with Mommy for her in the morning. She also likes to pick out his clothes every morning and likes to cover him with blankets and gives him the pacifier whether he's crying or not.
Both girls are getting into a new routine when they come home from school every day. They come in, take off their jackets and shoes and run to wash their hands (they're often reminded to do that) so they can love on Tommy. Stasa is fascinated by the way he looks around and how he grips her finger. She's content to sit next to him and look at his eyes. The other night I spent some extra time with her after stories and let her hold him for a bit. She just stared into his eyes and told me that Tommy has dark blue eyes and she and daddy have light blue eyes. She's mostly helpful and hasn't really lashed out like she did when Lexi was born. I think part of that is us working as hard as we can to keep both girls to the routine and schedule they're used to. Both girls have to be reminded more than once to do something, but if we add in that they can hold Tommy if they do X, Y, or Z they sprint to get it done. A little bribery never hurt anyone, did it? ; )
The girls have both surprised me with how loving and caring and gentle they are with Tommy. And both have been so generous with their favorite blankets and will cover him and place their own babies next to him. They're also very interested in how he eats and the other night both came down with their babies and said they needed to feed their babies "booby milk" and asked me to help them. I wanted to make them mini Boppys before the baby was born and never got around to it, but now that I know they're so interested in caring for their babies I think I'll make them sometime in the next week. Tommy is very blessed to have two loving big sisters and I feel more than blessed to have three beautiful and healthy kids.
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