Tandy

If you ever here us talking to Tandy - it's not our imaginary friend.. it's Evan's dog name. He occasionally started pretending he was a dog a few weeks ago. After he did this a few times, we asked him what his dog name was. He thought about it a few seconds and answered, "Tandy!" We have no idea where the name came from - he just made it up and it stuck. Since then, Ainsley has been born and she has been given a dog name, too - it's Speedy.

When Evan is pretending to be Tandy, we can't call him Evan. He either ignores us or tells us that he's not Evan, he's Tandy. If we call him Tandy, whistle, or say things like "Here boy!", he'll do what we say. He also likes to do tricks (giving us his paw, rolling over, etc.) and he gets an imaginary treat after he does them. Sometimes we "run out" of treats and we pretend to take him to Petsmart to buy new ones. Like a dog, he even likes to have us scratch behind his ears and rub his belly, and crawl up onto our laps and snuggle.

6 Weeks

Ainsley was 6 weeks old yesterday - time is going so fast!! At her one month appointment, she was 9lbs, 13ozs and 21.5 in. (The 70% for height, weight, and head size.) She took her first bottle with no problems from Evan. She also not only has dimples on each check, she has the cutest dimple on her forehead. She loves to grab onto things tight - especially my hair. I think she also tries to bat at toys. And - the last two nights - she has slept for 7 hours straight (from 10pm to 5 am)!!

Photo Shoot

We thought it would be a good idea to take a picture of all 3 grandkids for Doug's mom for Mother's Day (Evan, Ainsley, and Mya). The marathon photo shoot lasted about 4 hours, interrupted by baby feedings, diaper changes, 3-year old antics, and lunch. After all of that we ended up with a few decent shots (and plenty of outtakes!).

1 Month Old

I can't believe my little girl is 1 month old. (I still can't believe that I have a little girl!) Here are some things I've discovered about Ainsley this first month:

- She is awake and happy almost every morning for a good 2-3 hours. Its a great time to feed her of course, but to talk with her and really connect. Luckily, we don't have a lot of places to be in the morning, so I've just been enjoying the time with Evan and Ainsley.
- She smiled for the first time over the weekend :) I love her little smile.
- She also like to coo and "talk" and is a very alert and happy baby throughout the day
- She loves to look at her black and white pictures
- Ainsley figured out her nights and days really quickly. I think it's thanks to Evan making sure the days are full of noise and activity :)
- She loves to be swaddled. She quickly broke out of her blanket and now loves the SwaddleMe just like her brother. She's also in the bassinet next to our bed.
- She is almost grown out of her newborn clothes - Ainsley is growing like crazy. She is a great eater! We haven't gone to the doctor yet, but we're guessing she's 9-1/2 to 10 pounds.
- She likes her baths, but doesn't like getting out
- Her little cousin Mya was born 15 days after Ainsley. They don't look that close in age (Mya was only 5 lb 6oz at birth), but we are so excited that she's always going to have a friend so close in age.
- Ainsley loves her pacifier (bub), especially at night. I thought I might try no bub, but there is no way. She loves her bub!!
- She is definitely a second baby - she has already visited the zoo, preschool, Kings Island, gone shopping, and had several (short) babysitters. I hadn't left the house with Evan at this point.
- I have started dressing her up. I think I appreciate the girl clothes even more after having a boy. Doug just laughs - but he's already head-over heals in love.
- Evan loves his little sister very much. He hasn't been jealous at all. He loves to give lots of hugs and kisses and get right in her face. She doesn't mind at all. Every morning, he comes in and helps me wake her up by unwrapping her swaddle blanket. He's the best big brother!!

Some day soon I will get around to updating the format of the blog.. it's now definitely now Life with E & A!!

Ainsley's First Week

Ainsley is 1 week old today. Wow - what an amazing week!!! We spent Easter at the hospital, where Evan and Ainsley got to "bond" for the first time. Evan was pretty excited to meet her, but slightly more excited about his big brother present (craft scissors). He was very sweet and gentle, and we are very happy with how he's doing with the transition.

Ainsley has been such a sweet baby - when she is awake, she is so alert and just loves to look around. She's also been sleeping well (3-4 hour stretches at night) and eating well. We just can't stop holding her, snuggling with her, and just enjoying every second of having a tiny, perfect newborn.

She has also been the subject of several "photo sessions". We are just trying to capture as many sweet moments as we can...

Ainsley Marie is here!

Our little girl, Ainsley Marie, was born today! She came at 4:19 pm and was 7 pounds, 9 ounces and 21.5 inches long. She's got a nice head of dark hair and has dimples like her brother and mom. Everything went well with the delivery and both mom and baby are doing great. Here's a couple of her first photos. More to come soon!

3 & 1/2

Evan is now 3-1/2 years old. I can't believe it!!! (He will actually tell you that he is 3-1/2 now, not just three.) He's turned into such an amazing person. I love to see what each new day will bring. Some things about Evan at 3-1/2:

- He is 38 1/2 inches tall and weighs 32 pounds
- He loves to say "actually"
- He likes us to come snuggle with him as he's going to sleep and we'll often hear a "mommmm-e" "dadddddd-e" from his bed
- He loves to practice writing his name
- His favorite two thing so far this spring are riding his bike and digging for worms and bugs. If he finds a bug, he'll pick them up and talk to them in his "baby" voice. It's too funny
- He's still pretty cautious when it comes to new situations
- He's very into using his imagination
- He loves to hear made up stories and contribute to them
- He's still into art and doing "projects". He also likes to help me cook and "reads" the ingredients from the back of the box

I love my little man so much!!

Easter Egg Hunt

Some really nice neighbors of hours invited us to their house for an Easter egg hunt last Sunday. Evan had a great time. There were a ton of eggs to find, he got to color eggs, and jump in a trampoline. After it was finished, he couldn't wait to get home to see what was inside all of his eggs.

Kite Flying

We attended a birthday party over the weekend with a kite theme. All the kids got to fly kites, which was a lot of fun, especially since it was a beautiful day outside. Evan picked out a Spiderman kite (even though I don't think he actually knows who that is) and did a great job flying it. We're looking forward to more kite-flying this spring and summer!

New Bike

We got Evan his first bicycle. He's already been out on it a couple of times this year and he's been doing great. The first time riding down the sidewalk on it, he said "I love it!" with a big grin on his face. After that he started singing a song while riding - "I love riding on my bicycle. It's a special time...". Then his training wheel hit the grass and he fell over. I caught him though so it wasn't a big deal and he kept on going. Here's a few pictures of him riding this weekend.