The Dabids

We've had a lot of visitors the last couple of months, and we've loved having them. It's been so nice to catch up.

My brother David came to visit a week before Sarah was born. I forgot to blog about it, but we did snap the picture below. Leah loves David so much she barely speaks when he's around. She just stares, and then as soon as he looks away or leaves the room she starts with, "where's dabid? dabid funny." To this day, the picture below is one of her favorites to look at, because it has Dabid in it.



When my cousin David came to visit last week, I was curious to see how she would react. Unfortunately, we didn't get a picture with him. Not surprisingly, she also loved David Crocodile, that's what we called him growing up. My brother was David Alligator.

Since David Crocodile stayed a little bit longer, she became pretty comfortable with him. The morning of his flight while we were playing upstairs she said to me at least a dozen times, "dadid sleeping...I want dadid up." I said "Okay. Go downstairs and wake him up". She would pause, think, get really close to my face, tilt her head slightly, and say, "Mommy do it??" while nodding her head yes. When I didn't agree, she didn't give up. She would just wait a few minutes and say it again. After listening to us for awhile, David came up to say good morning. Leah stood frozen on the stairs, silent, perhaps worried he had heard her constant inquiries. She wasn't shy at the airport though when she insisted on giving him a kiss goodbye.

Now that both David's are gone, she still asks and talks about them regularly.

A Walk

We picked up a double stroller at a consignment sale a couple of weeks ago. I love buying used things. It makes me feel virtuous when I reuse something instead of spending four times the amount for something new.

Anyway, the weather has been great here so we've resumed our twice a day walking regime. It gets us out of the house, and it helps me pass the time in the afternoon...4 to 6 pm is the slowest part of our day.

Cowboys

Leah's cousin had a cowboy party for his 3rd birthday, and boy did we have fun. He greeted us decked out in his cowboy gear including the wrangler jeans. Isn't he adorable? I wish I would have worn my cowboy boots and hat too.

I loved watching Leah play pin the badge on the Sheriff blindfolded, and Sarah got a cowboy kiss.

One Handed

I'm getting quite good at doing things with one hand...like typing, taking the lid off the lip gloss for Leah (her newest and most favorite discovery), taking pictures.

I'm typing this while Sarah sleeps peacefully on my chest. I'm slumped down on the couch with the computer next to me. There are still dishes in the sink, random toys on the floor, and clothes in the dryer to be folded. I could lay her down and tidy up, but I know she won't be little forever, and I want to enjoy all of it before it's gone. She also seems much more comfortable than me.

I posted this picture to show that Sarah does open her eyes. When she does, Leah squeals with excitement, runs over to her and gets really close to her face and says, "Hi Sarah." Then she looks up at me and says, "huldher." I confirm, "You want to hold her?" She nods and says, "okay." She climbs on the couch, waits patiently, gently holds her for about 10 seconds while smiling at her adoringly, then says "all done."

Life couldn't be any better.

Sweet Sarah

She will be a month old tomorrow, and she is as sweet as ever.

She rarely cries, and is such a happy baby.

She is still sleeping a lot. She takes a couple really long naps during the day, which is nice. At night, she is doing better, but still wakes up every couple of hours.

She loves sleeping on her side. If she is swaddled, her arms have to be loose so she can keep them by her face. She also sleeps with her mouth open.

She is so cuddly and likes being held over your shoulder.

We are so happy she is here and can't image our life without her.

A Little About Leah

Some of our favorite things about Leah:

Instead of saying yes, she says "okay" in various intonataions when you ask her a question, while nodding her head in agreement.

She is extremely helpful. She throws away diapers, after she makes a face and says, "ick." She loves to sing the clean up song and always helps pick up toys.

She is so talkative and has an extensive vocabulary. When she is around new people, however, she is very shy and reserved.

She loves everything girly...earings, necklaces, headbands. When I put on a new shirt or a frilly dress, she'll look down and say, "pretty." She also likes having her finger nails and toe nails painted, yet she is always a little scared about the process. She acts like it hurts when I'm painting them, but as soon as I'm done she is thrilled.

She is so sweet with Sarah and will share her favorite things, like her bunny. She will bring it to Sarah and say, "Share...Nice." She is also very concerned with Sarah cries, and she will run over to her and try to make her happy.

On My Own

Today is the first day I am all by myself with the girls with no help from parents, in-laws or David. My assessment: so far, so good with one minor incident; Leah locked herself in the basement bathroom.

It happened just after I took these pictures on my phone.

Notice the small white thing poking out of Leah's pocket in the last picture? It's nail polish. She's been carrying it around, since she asked me to paint her nails on Saturday.

Just after snapping this photo, Leah excitedly hit me on the head with her nail polish. I told her in a stern voice no hitting, picked her up, and sat her on the floor.

She quickly stomped off to the bathroom and shut the door.

When I went to let her out, it was locked. No crying or screaming. Phew.

I talked to her through the door while I tried to unlock it. I tried using a nail and a paper clip with no luck.

Oh great, now what.

Luckily, I was able to reach my Dad at home who walked me through how to pick the lock with a flat head screwdriver.

After a few minutes Leah was free. I thought she would have been a little scared.

Nope, once the door opened she calmly looked at me and matter-of-factly said, "Dark...Bathroom...Dark" and went back to her toys.