Observations

Sometimes I like to sit back and observe my little family and take time to reflect on how blessed I am to have them in my life. Alli is a joy and is so sweet and thoughtful. She is a wonderful big sister and helps me tremendously with Ethan. She loves her little brother and will come and randomly hug him.

I think he already has a great fondness for her as well. It makes me wonder what their relationship was like in Heaven before they joined our lives. Today I was sitting outside with Ethan while Alli was jumping on her trampoline. Alli hopped out and wanted to sit in my lap as well. I moved Ethan to my left leg and Alli sat on my right. She then reached over and grabbed both of Ethan's hands and just held them. Then they both just looked at each other for the next few minutes. Ethan just starred at her and smiled at her over and over again. It was the sweetest moment to observe. I love my children and truly hope they become each others best friends. Family means so much to me and I'm thankful to see how much Alli loves all her aunts and uncles. I hope my children always value their immediate and extended family.

On a very different note...I thought we were in for a rough night tonight. I walked into Alli's room tonight while she was playing with Ben before bed. She was running around the room with her pacifier in her mouth. Our rule is no pacifier unless it is bedtime. So I told her to take it out. (This thing was only on by half of the plastic. She's been chewing on it and we've told her once it breaks...that's it). So she refused to take it out. Ben reached out to pull it from her mouth but she clenched her jaw and refused. Well...that was the end of her pacifier...it bit the dust tonight. Alli immediately began crying as we explained to her that her pacifier was broken and we don't have another one. Ben ripped off the broke end and she was left with just a small nub. He told her she could have it and try to put it in her mouth and bite it with her teeth. This gave her the satisfaction of feeling like it wasn't being taken away but after it fell out of her mouth about 15 times, she gave up on the pacifier. By the time we tucked her into bed it was no where to be found. I thought for sure as we left the room that she would be asking for her pacifier. But here I sit at 10pm at night and she is sleeping wonderfully without the sucking sounds of her and her pacifier....Yes!! One thing accomplished before age 3. Now if only she would have interest in potty training.

Update on Ethan:
Some of the family has asked if Ethan is sleeping any better and how the crying fits are going. This made me realized that I hadn't updated the blog on this issue. He is doing so much better. I think he's had numerous growth spurts and during these times he tends to wake every 2 hours for a feeding. So he's typically up an hour and down an hour (which can be very tiring and you don't get much accomplished). So during these crying fits at night I believe now he wasn't being fed enough due to a growth spurt. So now we are feeding him 4 oz a feeding and he's much happier. He still isn't on a consistent schedule like Alli was. I wish I could get him on one but at the same time each child is different and I don't expect him to be just like Alli. He is closer to sleeping through the night. If he wasn't, then I would make his schedule more of a priority. As of right now he takes his last feeding between 7 and 8pm. Then he is down for the night until somewhere between 2 and 6am. The last two nights he has slept from 8pm-5:45am. So he is practically sleeping through the night and we're excited. He is 9 weeks old and this was the same time Alli began sleeping through the night so he's right where I'd like him to be. Thank you for the concerns and well wishes on his behalf. He's wonderful.