Poor, forgotten second child

After a very lengthy hiatus, I am ready to try my hand at this blogging thing again. I have found myself so much lately looking back at blogs I posted about Drew... comparing Alli's development and milestones to what he was doing when he was her age. I love that I am able to look back at so many moments of his, especially things that I had forgotten.  I decided it's high time that Alli get a little blog love, too. She's already 5 months old and her little life seems to be zipping by.

Poor, forgotten second child... I guess there is no time to start, but the present!

How could you forget a face like this?!

Bear with me as I try to find balance in chronicling the events in both kiddies lives (and trying to find time to do said chronicling!)   :)

Life has been a whirlwind since Alli joined our family. I know it sounds "corny", but she completes us. She is the happiest baby I have ever seen. She just goes with the flow and is so mellow. She loves to observe and watches her big brother intently to see what he is doing. So loves to try to mimic sounds we are making and is very aware if we are not in her line of sight (at which time she will start to fuss or cry).

I love Alli's birth story, because it is the exact opposite of Andrew's. Everything about her birth was so non-stressful. She was born in the middle of the night, in a quiet hospital room with just Bill, the doctor and nurse present. I remember feeling such peace as the nurse placed her in my arms, and just reveling in how quiet the hospital was at 2:30am. After being pregnant and dealing with a very strong-willed toddler, the hospital stay with Alli seemed like a vacation! I felt so much more comfortable the second time around, there was no panic about what to do with a fragile newborn.

Drew was indifferent to Alli for a long time after we brought her home. Being a "momma's boy", it was difficult for him to adjust to the fact that mommy had to share her attention with this little newcomer. I tried to balance those early weeks/months out with special outings with just Andrew and I (trips with GPa to see fire trucks and ambulances, visits to McDonald's to play in the playscape, and outings to the mall to play and run off some energy). Little by little, Drew took to his sister, finally telling his friends at daycare "That's MY sister!" when I brought Alli in to pick him up toward the end of my maternity leave. Now, he loves helping out with Alli. He brings her toys to play with if she is fussy, saying, "Don't cry, Alli!" Sometimes he will request to "hold" her, declaring that she is his baby. When I feed Alli, he will often get his favorite stuffed puppy and pretend to feed it and burp it, too. He's shaping up to be a pretty good big brother.

Andrew, after asking to hold Alli: "I all done, mama!"

I'm hoping to be able to blog more often now that we're not in "survival" mode anymore. Alli has transitioned to her crib from her bassinet, and it's nice to not have to "tiptoe" around the house anymore while she sleeps. She's sleeping an average of 10-12 hours each night, which is a far cry from those early days where she would only sleep ON us. That seems like so long ago, now! Bill and I would walk around like zombies, because there is no napping when you have a 2.5 year old to entertain in addition to a newborn to nurture!

1-31-14  Sleeping in the crib for the first time

I'm ambitious and hoping to document a lot of these cute (and not-so-cute!) moments that are happening around here, so that hopefully one day both Drew and Alli can look back and laugh (or be embarrassed) at all the moments that made them who they are.

Alli loves bath time!

2-15-14 Happy girl in the Bumbo

Movie night with my boy