Sisterly love

Watching Ryland with Natalie always gets me thinking about when I was little. It makes me wonder how my siblings and I interacted and played together. Even though Natalie's only 3 months, it has been so fun to see them become sisters. I know sibling rivalry is in my future (I think), but for now we have nothing but love. There have been hundreds of times I have had to tell Ryland to be softer or more gentle because I'm pretty sure she just wants to squeeze Natalie. I recall a time she hugged her baby sister and said "I just can't get enough love out of her".

What a special bond.

I just came to the realization that second babies grow way faster than the first ones. With Ryland, everything was new and unfamiliar. With Natalie, it seems like the days just fly by. Yesterday I went through the girls' closet and had to take out tons of clothes because they are both growing like weeds. Natalie is wearing 6 month clothes already, and her newborn onesies look so very tiny. Ryland is very excited at the thought that in just a few months Natalie will be sitting up on her own and joining us in a high chair for dinner. It's sad for momma that she's growing so quickly, so I remember to cherish all the little moments.

Favorite Things

A few of Ryland's favorite things at the moment:
1. Garfield (the show, his books, etc)
2. Picking flowers, leaves, grass, and sticks. Oh, and bringing them into the house.
3. Tacos
4. Reading books (last time we went to the library we checked out like 40 books...all for Ryland. We read them in less than a week)
5. Story time at the library.
6. Gymnastics class. She was so proud of herself last week.
7. Pushing on Natalie's nose and saying "boop".
8. Having me or Champ tell her a story. This has been going on for quite sometime. She mostly controls the storyline, characters, etc.
9. Bagels and cream cheese
10. 3 words...ice cold water. This really should be number one. Our fridge broke a couple weeks ago, and we had to buy ice from the store because Ryland could not go on without her "ice cold water".
Natalie's list of favorites:
1. Her owl toy
2. Being held, especially facing outwards.
3. Sucking on her hands, fingers and thumbs. The other day she popped a blood vessel in my hand while trying to chew on it.
4. Ryland, she loves her sister :)
5. Eating and sleeping. She has actually been sleeping some 4-6 hour stretches at night.
6. Sleeping with her feet propped up on the side of the bassinet.
7. Smiling. This girl has got an extremely sweet smile.
8. Sleeping on Champ in the mornings, while I get a chance to sleep in. Oh wait...I think that's actually one of MY favorite things.

Milestones

Natalie is quickly changing. She's no longer the "small" newborn I brought home from the hospital. Her personality is growing by leaps and bounds, and her cuteness is increasing exponentially. She is constantly in search of her thumb, but usually just ends up with her whole hand in her mouth. Every day she gets closer and closer to success.

Another amazing thing has happened in the world of Natalie. She laughed for the very first time today. Turns out that Ryland hula hooping is a pretty funny experience to Natalie. Baby laughs=pure happiness.






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Big Sister

Ryland is proving to be an amazing big sister. Yes, I think it has definitely been an adjustment for her, however, she loves her little "sweet pea" Natalie. Most of the day is spent hugging and kissing on the little one, but yesterday I captured an extremely special moment. Ryland reading to Natalie. She read her two books and showed her each page as she turned it. My heart melted at the sweet sight. I'm so proud of Ryland for being so amazing.

Doctor visits!

Natalie and Ryland both had checkups yesterday. Ryland was excited for her trip to the doctor, and even knew she would be getting vaccines. She really wanted to know how much she weighed and (unknowingly to me) was very excited about the eye exam. As the medical assistant pointed at the pictures on the paper, Ryland looked up at me and said "mom, I've been waiting to do this". She was really proud of herself. Luckily we had really prepared Ryland for her shots. I worked at the clinic, so I knew just how they would be given and prepared her at home. She shed a few tears, but sat very still. I was a proud mom.

Natalie's visit went very well to. She came out to a whopping 12lbs 10 oz and was 24 inches long. She is 88th percentile in weight and 97th in height. We have a growing girl on our hands. Natalie's shots also went well, aside from her screaming her head off and making momma feel horribly sad. She pretty much slept the whole rest of the day. Poor baby girl.

All Smiles

Natalie is now 8 weeks old and smiles all the time! I know Ryland first laughed at 12 weeks, so we will see when this little lady decides to grace us with her beautiful laugh. She sure does have a lot of joy on her face. I'm so happy to have these amazing little girls by my side each day.