july 07

**update on us:
--apart from sleep deprivation, the "recovery" associated with childbirth was pretty much accomplished in about 8 days. (if you don't know that that recovery entails, you probably don't want to...) had my six week checkup yesterday, and all is fine. feeling good and i've started working out again. i have been walking since about the first week, but have now begun running and a little bit of body-weight strength training. and since that body weight is much higher than i really want it to be, i'm getting even more of a workout...so it's somewhat of a good thing, if i choose to look at it that way.
--billy's doing great with a newborn. it's fun to watch him learn. he missed most of it with aidan. he was there for aidan's first three weeks, came back after three months, and then was in and out until we left a year and a half later. this time, he's knee deep, so to speak. he still kinda gets stressed when he can't make her stop crying immediately. i keep trying to tell him that he has to do more than just keep doing whatever he's doing...sometimes you gotta get creative and dance with her or something. but still, he's doing great. he's not so grossed out with the possibility of spit-ups, so that's progress too! :)
**update on aidan:
--aidan is doing great. he loves his sister, and constantly wants to hold her. i have to guard her from him most of the time though, cause he doesn't think about how his jumping around and flailing limbs could easily hit her. he also doesn't understand that she doesn't need a blanket over her face and/or can't catch a ball...but we're working on that. he likes to watch her "drinking" (nursing), he likes to play with her, and show her toys. he also likes to get in her face to make her smile, saying "hey, you!"
--he was almost potty trained the week before she was born. we've backtracked a bit in that department, but i was expecting it. then we either had company or were company out of town for nearly five weeks, breaking our routine, so we've just had to deal with it for a while, and can now jump back on it. hopefully we'll get all the kinks worked out soon and we can have only one baby in diapers.
--as for jealousy or aggression, we haven't had too many instances. he's hit her occasionally, but he hits us, so i don't know if it's related, or if it's just that she's there, or if he wants to see what we'll do. she's only cared/cried once. of course i wasn't there to guard her then...that's how it works, i guess. when i asked him why she was crying, he said "hit baby." i put him in time-out and asked why he hit her. he said, "shoes." (he hit her with his shoe. good answer, huh?) then he said, "crying." we had to have an explanation on why we don't hit people, especially babies.
--he has tons of new phrases...too many to list, but we hear a new all the time, and they get longer and more recognizable every day. He now knows his colors and can count from 3 to 9. he can count from 1 to 3 too, but he always forgets 2. since this is a july update, i can't tell you that he added 2 to his sequence on august 1st... ;) he still doesn't string those two sequences together unless he's prompted with a 4, but still it's pretty cool. on our trip to jersey he just started counting and billy and i smiled and laughed at the first couple numbers, then looked at each other as he just kept going. he amazes us all the time. --he's also grasped the concept of plural and possessive. and he calls himself by name and says "aidan's."
**update on sierra:
--sierra's doing great, aside from being hit with shoes. ;) she's super strong. she's been holding her head up since she was born. she's been able to hold it up longer and longer and now she can keep it up. her legs are really strong too. if she doesn't want her diaper changed, good luck!
--but she's really sweet. she smiles when she's contnet. and she laughs in her sleep. it's pretty funny. she eats really well, and sleeps really well. during the day she's awake about an hour at a time, has to eat every 2.5 to 3 hours. at night she sleeps 3 to 4.5 hours at a time, and only wakes up to eat. really easy, i can't complain. so basically i'm up at 3am to nurse, and that's it.
**comparisons:
--they're very much alike in personality...both really content and easy going. both eat well and sleep well. they have some cute differences though...aside from the obvious (gender and) color differences, she being darker all around, hair and skin. aidan had the hiccups nearly every day while i was pregnant, and has had them maybe twice since he was born. sierra had hiccups once while i was pregnant, and has them every other day now. aidan never spit up, and she does a little. guess she has issues with gas/air bubbles or something.
--she's also pretty vocal, already. she sighs as she nurses, she hums when she's content, she grunts as she wakes up; never has to cry though unless she's left too long. mostly she will just let out a little squeal every so often when she feels she's being ignored. but when she does cry, sometimes she has to cry a bit longer than aidan had to because i have more to deal with than i did with him (meaning him), and i can't just drop it all the time to get to her.
--we think her eyes are changing colors...and they don't look blue so much anymore. personally, i was hoping for another blue-eyed baby, but oh well. today i noticed they were not the slate blue/gray she was born with. they look closer to hazel or green...but then she is wearing a tourquoise dress today. maybe that has something to do with it? they still have time to change some more, so we'll see.
--all in all, everything is wonderful...wonderful baby, wonderful big brother, wonderful having daddy around, and having a wonderful time.