Alex's Accomplishments

Edited 5/5 at 10:44 pm - Alex was 12+ lbs at her 2 month doctor's appointment. She is 24 inches long (longer and lighter than Jake at 2 months). I would know the exact weight if I hadn't been stupid enough to bring two kids to the doctor for a check-up at the same time. Alex had a shot in each thigh, Jake had a shot in each bicep. It was NOT a fun day. :(


I figure it's about time that Alex gets a post all to herself. Allow me to brag on my favorite daughter for just a minute :)

Alex is such a good girl! For fear of jinxing it, I'm a bit nervous to let you know that Alex has been sleeping through the night - every night - since about 3 weeks old. She's amazing. I owe a lot of that to the good people at The Miracle Blanket. On the rare occasions she wakes up early, it's because, for whatever reason, she wasn't swaddled in her Miracle Blanket. This thing is just amazing. Have a newborn? Buy one. Know someone who is pregnant? Buy one. These things are awesome. I wish I was getting paid to tell you how awesome they are. Miracle Blanket People, feel free to pay me in product samples ;)

So our little girl is still usually the serious, mellow girl, but she is also smiling much more often, and not just when conditions are perfect. She is happy and smiley and sweet and content most of the time. We are so blessed. Just last week, she began laughing at things, which was really cute. Also, I didn't see her do it, but my mother-in-law was changing Alex when I was at a photoshoot and Alex rolled from her back to her tummy. Today, at 10 weeks old, Alex rolled from her stomach, onto her side, then onto her back. I remember Jake doing that much later...will have to check on that. We definitely have to keep a very close eye on this little roller!


So I leave you with this funny picture from our not-so-perfect photo session a week ago. For all of the things Alex is doing so well, behaving for her mama's camera is not one of them. But all said and done, I'd rather have a good night sleep than perfect happy pictures that came out just as I planned.

(P.S. - We go to the doctor in the morning for her 2 month checkup - I'll be posting her stats after the appointment.)

Snuggling Siblings

Jake loves to hold Alex. Until he doesn't want to any more. Which is usually anywhere from 10 seconds to a minute. So we are quick to photograph them when they are sitting together :)


Even this early, I can tell Jake and Alex have very different personalities. Alex is very serious much of the time, and only smiles when conditions are perfect such as right after being fed and having her diaper changed. You have to work at her to get a smile. But it's TOTALLY worth it, her smile is so big and adorable :) She has yet to smile for my nice big camera. Once I put that thing between my eyes and hers, she stops smiling. I did capture her smiling on my point-and-shoot camera, because I can maintain eye contact while using it. So much for fancy equipment! (And so much for a clean playroom)


Also unlike her brother, she won't be getting blue eyes. Looking back on Jake's baby pictures, his eyes were much lighter and bluer at this point. I don't think she will have brown eyes either though. From what I've observed, most truly brown-eyed babies have turned brown by now. I think she'll have green eyes (like mine) or maybe hazel (like Ralph's). They are a steel-grey-blue color now. Even at birth, her eyes seemed darker than I remember Jake's ever being. Even his are getting this slight green color at the edges. I'm very curious to see how Alex's eyes go.


Jake is dealing fairly well with not being the center of the universe any longer. But as you can see, he still manages to sneak his way into Alex's spotlight.


And finally, I leave you with a week-old video of Alex swatting at objects in her bouncy seat. She isn't very happy in the video, but it's neat to see how much she has grown up already (Nooooo!!) and you can also see a bit more of our immaculately kept playroom (heh).

Yawning, 8 weeks old

Marriage

Jake looks right into my eyes as I am getting him dressed this morning and says, "Mommy, I want to marry you."

"Awh, thanks sweetie, but you can't marry your Mommy. Besides, I'm already married to Daddy. Who would Daddy be married to if Mommy was married to you?" (I'm very curious to hear what would come out of his mouth next.)

Jake thinks for a few seconds before coming up with a solution. "Daddy can marry Geedah!"

"I don't know," I say laughing, "because Geedah is married to Peepa. Who would Peepa marry?"

He thinks hard for a minute. "Peepa could marry Mema!"

"Hmm...well, Mema is already married to Papa. Who would Papa marry?"

He has run out of grandparents to mis-match at this point, and thinks for a long while and then tells me, "Okay, you can stay married to Daddy."

Oh good :)

Boppy - it's not just for feeding anymore!

I woke up this morning to discover that Ruthie has found a new use for our Boppy feeding pillow.

Easter 2010

We alternate holidays between my family and Ralph's family, and this year the Easter Bunny knew to deliver our baskets to New York. Geedah & Peepa brought an Easter basket for each of the kids when they visited the week before, so that was a nice treat. We dressed Alex in an adorable pink sweater from Geedah and Peepa and a really cute dress (I got a kick out of the fact that the dress Alex wore for her first Easter was given to her by Ralph's boss...who happens to be Jewish ;) and enjoyed an Easter egg hunt and headed to church. Then it was off to Mema Mary and Papa Ralph's for a nice Easter dinner. Jake had another Easter egg hunt and the kids got even more baskets! It was a fun day all around.

Finally, a family picture with all four of us!




I love forsythia - it's such a pretty splash of color at the beginning of Spring!


Ali-girl in her pretty Easter dress!


The closest thing I have gotten so far to a picture of her smiling


With Uncle Chris, blowing bubbles

Back to work...

So it's been seven weeks since Alex was born. I have been savoring the moments of sniffing her unique baby scent, the sweet moments of rubbing my face against her fluffy bunny hair after she has a bath, cuddling her in the early morning hours when we are the only two awake in the house. These moments are fleeting, and few and far between. There are many more moments of chaotic diaper changes, of yelling at Jake while I trip over his damn Matchbox cars, moments of cursing under my breath because the baby is crying and the bottle is leaking, moments where the phone is ringing and I wonder why I still try to keep my business afloat when I barely have time to shower, let alone photograph other people's children.

But today was a good day: Jake is at Mema's, Alex is napping soundly in the living room, and I'm back to work, remembering why I love my job. I took phone calls, changed my voicemail so it no longer says I am on maternity leave, gave quotes to potential clients, put the finishing touches on a great client's wedding album, and really truly remembered that I love photography. I am so blessed to be able to work from home. It was so hard to go back to work when Jake was a baby. It was so hard to leave him with strangers when we were just establishing some sort of routine. So hard to commute back and forth to work on so little sleep. I hoped and prayed for a change in our situation that would allow me to be able to work from home and take care of our kids. When the opportunity came for Ralph to take his current job and for us to move to New York, we jumped in with both feet and haven't looked back.

The days here aren't perfect, my stress levels still rise, and I still manage to complain when I forget that my prayers of four years ago have been answered. I take being a work-from-home mom for granted too often, but there are many days when we are still in our pajamas in the afternoon (cue the neighbor ringing the doorbell for complete embarrassment on my part), I'm doing laundry, Alex is asleep in the swing and Jake is playing with his trains, and our schedule is completely up to me. I do know how lucky we are, and I know these days won't last forever. The busy wedding season is coming up and maternity leave is coming to an end. But today was a good day.