Aria and the Harmonica

Aria has taken up a new instrument... the harmonica ;-) So move over, Blues Brothers, here comes Aria!

Grampa is a...

Can you believe how big she has gotten?? She looks like she is almost too big for the baby swing here. She's going to be 2 next month. Unbelievable to me!

I have a couple of funny Aria stories (or I think so, anyway ;-)

Aria was sitting on the potty and so she got to play with stickers with while she sat there. She stuck the stickers all down her leg. After she "tried" to go potty, it was naptime. She didn't want me to take the stickers off her leg, so she went to bed with them on. After her nap, she was thrilled to see they were all still there... until she bent her knee. She cried out and asked me to take all the stickers off, so she could bend her knee. I went to take one off, and realized that over the 2.5 hrs she napped, the stickers had really stuck to her skin... oh no! I was afraid to take one off bc it would hurt. I pulled it off really fast - like a bandaide, and Aria laughed HARD. Each sticker I ripped off, she laughed harder and harder. It had to have hurt at least a little each time - but she thought it was hysterical... funny girl!

Today, we were talking about boys and girls. I asked her "is Aria a boy or girl?" she said "girl". I asked her if Chanson was a boy or girl, and she said boy. Is Zig a girl or boy? Boy. Good job Aria! Is Mama a boy or girl.... she says boy. Nope, Mamas are always girls, and Dads are always boys. Is Daddy a boy or girl? Boy. Is Mina a girl or boy?... she says boy. Nope, she is a girl. You get the point ;-) we went through SEVeral people. So next, I went through everyone again, but, I phrased it like this; "Mama is a .... (pause)" and let Aria fill in the blank and say "girl". "Daddy is a ....?" Aria says boy. "Mina is a....?" Aria says girl. Next I said "Grampa is a...." and Aria said...

PENGUIN!

Haha - apparently Grampa is neither a boy or girl, but a penguin.

Sweet Chanson

Don't I look like my Great Grampa H? I'll post a pic of G-Gpa H in case you don't know who he is. I am very proud to look like one of the most amazing people in all the world!

The older he gets, the more he looks like GGpa H.

Chanson is doing so well! He is just such a sweet baby. Aria even calls him that "awww sweet baby!" ;-) She still loves her brother all the time. She's never once shown a bit of jealousy or been anything but sweet to him (maybe a little rough, but still sweet ;-). I just love that! I hope they are best buds always

He is sleeping really well. He went through a get up every 3 hr phase, but for the last week (or more?) has slept until 6 am every day. He will get up within 5 mins of 6 am every day. How does he know it's 6?? He's like an alarm clock. I started giving him a paci when he'd wake up every 3 hrs, and if he took it without fussing, I knew he was not hungry. Sure enough, he took it, and within 3 days didn't get up anymore (just the the baby whisperer promised ;-) did I tell you how much I love her??) He doesn't use a paci at all to go to sleep at night, and now, not even during the night. He does use it to go to sleep during the day, though.

He is getting big - fast! The scale at our house says a little over 12 lbs, but we'll see what the baby scale says at his 2 month appt next week. We measured him yesterday, and he is 23 inches. I put him in an outfit today that I thought looked huge... and it fits very nicely!

He is smiling AND laughing. He started laughing on 5/16/09. He smiles and laughs at foreheads. It is really interesting, but true. He so far has only smiled and laughed while looking at our foreheads (and a few times while looking at himself in a mirror... probably looking at his own forehead ;-)Uncle Chris says he would like his large forehead. I disagree, Uncle Chris, you don't have a big forehead... but anyway... he did smile a lot for Uncle Chris yesterday. Uncle Chris is a big fav around here!

He also loves ceiling fans. Is there a baby out there that doesn't like ceiling fans? Aria was mesmerized with them, as well. Another love is the TV... so I never let him sit in front of it - ever. I don't need him addicted to TV at 8 weeks old ;-)

I know I told you his hair is red, but, it is fire engine red! I need to get a pic that shows that. It's only red around the back of his head, and is growing in light blonde on top. I think he will end up blonde. His eyes have light green coming from the pupils outward. I am hoping he has green eyes like mine ;-) Aria has the beautiful brown eyes I prayed for, and now I hope Chanson gets green. I'll settle for a brown eyed boy, though - brown eyes ARE my fav! But, can my children have ONE thing that looks like me??? ;-)

OK I can't resist telling you one cute Aria-ism ;-) She called Zig (our dog), Pup-Dude. :-)

A few fun things

Daddy has Aria trained right! ;-)
Fun family time

Daddy & Son

Tuckered out!

I've been meaning to update you all on the kiddos, but I have been really tired... Chanson has decided not to sleep like the lil angel that he is. I am not sure why, but, it happened with Aria, too. At about 6 weeks (exactly 6 weeks with Aria) they start getting up every 3 hrs maximum. Why oh why?? Baby whisperer says it's bc they need more calories during the day, so I'm trying to feed him more all day. Baby whisperer also says that if you don't feed them more during the day, and they continue to get up every 3 hrs to eat, they will just get used to that, and keep it up (Aria did...) I'll let you know how the more calories during the day thing works out...

Chanson is doing really well, otherwise. He is smiling now, on purpose. The 1st real smile that I saw was on May 13th, which is my Gramma's birthday, so that made me really happy. He smiled at Aria a few times today, and even she exclaimed each time "oh Chason smiled!"

I gave him a bottle on May 2nd, and he took it really well. I was happy about that for sure! Actually, I may have already mentioned that (baby brain...) I have been trying to give him a bottle a day so he continues to take it well.

A few cute Aria stories...

Today she was watching a cartoon that was about how not to get a cold. I think it was Sid the Science kid? Anyway, the kid's mom had a cold. Aria came up to me with a concerned look on her face and felt one cheek, then the other, and said "mama cold?" and then blew on my face. Not sure why the blowing on my face (maybe she thinks you blow on something to cool it off as well as to make it warmer?) I love how she makes me look at things through a child's eyes. Of course to her, when she hears mommy has a cold, she thinks mama is cold, literally.

Aria is really using her imagination a LOT these days. She pretends to pick something up off the ground and hands whatever it is to me. Then I ask what it is, and it will be anything from cookies, to a bird, to a puppy, to a birthday cake, to "more toys". She will bring me a bag, and say "surprise!" and I ask what is inside, and she will tell me. Today, she handed me a big candle, and said "happy birthday, mama!" and wanted me to blow out the candles on the "cake". She looks at the clouds and tells me what she sees. She makes up stories about the birds in the back yard about where they are flying to.

One of her favorite imagination games is one I've mentioned - going on a trip. Recently as she was playing "going on a trip" she went to find her purse (can't leave home without it! ;-) she always grabs a bag of some sort when she goes on her trips) and came back and told me she was going on a trip to see Uncle Chris. Then she said "Love Uncle Chris". She loves her Uncle Chris!

Speaking of loving... when she REALLY likes something, and I ask her if she likes it, she will respond with I LOVE it. I asked if she liked cake, and she said I LOVE cake. Tonight at dinner, I asked if she liked fish, and she said she LOVED fish (which she did! New favorite food - tilapia!)

She also loves her brother. A LOT! She just cannot get enough of him. She hugs him and says "love him" or calls him her friend. I love that ;-) I also love when she calls me her friend as she hugs me. That really warms my heart each time.

The other day, Aria woke up yelling "somebody! Cake! Pizza! Somebody!.... MiaJenn!" I thought that was funny, and shows that she is my daughter. Cake, to me, is a perfect breakfast!

Aria loves airplanes and motorcycle bikes. Whenever she hears or sees either one, she brightens up and says "airplane!" or "motorcycle bike!" and points at whichever it is (or asks to go outside to see it if she just hears it).

We started working on forward and backward walk overs with Aria ;-) On the big work out ball, she bends backwards on it, and we roll it as she puts her hands on the floor, and then we help her over. She thinks this is a lot of fun!

Ring around the rosy is the MOST fun though. That is her favorite game, I think!

Oh, and she calls gingerbread cookies "spiderman oakies". This cracks me up!

Getting bigger

I'll write an update on my babies later, but wanted to share a cute bath pic with you for now ;-)

Here is a video of Chanson doing his thing... ;-)

BFF

Click here to view these pictures larger

I have a hard time picking which pictures to upload... so I just upload them all ;-) Mia wanted to sit on Aria's lap (or was it the other way around?) These 2 are sooooo cute together!

Ahna & Papa

We had SUCH a fun week with Ahna and Papa! Chanson got to meet them for the 1st time, and Aria couldn't get enough of them. They were all playing within minutes of them walking into the door. Aria woke up the 1st morning they were there, calling "Ahna! Ahna!". Matthew and I wondered if she was saying Ahna or Mama? Then we heard her over the monitor, again, clearly saying "Ahna! Papa!"

Aria loved playing puzzles and computer games with Papa. She loved reading books and hula dancing with Ahna. She got a full week of just playing and being silly. What a lucky girl! Chanson got as much cuddling time as any baby could wish for. He loved all the loving and snuggling. And... Mama not only had fun hanging out and spending time with them, but enjoying lots of help. Who knew how much one could enjoy a shower with no kiddos in the room or making breakfast with BOTH hands! I think I changed half the number of diapers, too. Mama Mia is having withdrawal this week!

Aria was very sad at the end of the week (Mommy and Daddy and Chanson were, too ;-( ) to say goodbye. We keep wondering how the week went by soooo fast. Aria keeps asking where they are.

Here is a video of Ahna & Aria playing.

Here is a video with a message for Ahna & Papa