Stephen

This past weekend we went to Stephen. We set up the trampoline for Natalia to bounce on. Alexa also really liked to bounce on it. Talia really didn't want her on it. She kept telling Jon and I to "take" Lexa off. Talia does that a lot now. If she doesn't want her sister doing something she either says "take" or "hold".

One of the main reasons we go up there is to see my grandma. She is 100 years old, so I want to get the girls up there as much as possible.

We spent a lot of time out at the farm. The weather was really nice and Talia loved running around. We hadn't been up there since April and one of the summer storms knocked down the silo and a bunch of trees.

Fabric dolls and a busy baby



Natalia is loving these fabric dolls. My order came yesterday, and I spent her naptime ironing them to interfacing and cutting them out. She is the perfect age for them. It keeps her busy without making a mess. It also is better for me to have her changing their outfits rather than her own. I think they are so cute. In that same order I received yarn so soon I will try to get fall hats made for the girls.

Lexa is a busy girl always. She sleeps in a couple of hours longer than Talia, but once she is up she doesn't want to nap. I might get her to take a couple of 15-20 minute naps during the day, but that is about it until she goes to bed. She isn't full-out crawling yet, but she has no problem getting around. Lexa is also using everything she can to pull herself up to stand.

Our week so far

The other day Talia was eating Goldfish while I fed Alexa. I couldn't believe she lined up all the fishes.

Alexa's Baby Elephant Ears came. They are super cute and help support her head when she falls asleep in her carseat.

This is how I used to always find Talia. It was the first time Lexa fell asleep in it. I thought it was cute that she was sucking her thumb through her nuk.

I made the girls skirts durning naptime over the past couple days. Today was the first time that they wore them. It was difficult to get Talia to wear it because she always wants to wear pants, but it was pretty enough for her to put it on.

Doctor

Yesterday morning we left home at about 7 to drop Jon off at the doctor. I drove from there to Maple Grove for Alexa's appointment. We got there early, but there would have only been enough time to drive home to immediately leave again. As we were waiting in the waiting room I got a phone call telling me I could go pick up Jon. His appointment was supposed last about an hour and a half, so I wasn't expecting him to be done so quickly. He had to wait about 2 hours for me to get there.

Alexa's actual appointment didn't take very long. Since it was at 8:20 the doctor wasn't running late yet. She is now 26 inches long, weighs 16 lbs. 8.4 oz, and her head is 16.5" around. Unfortunately they didn't give me any of the percentiles, but I'm sure I could figure it out if I find a chart online. Based on her development her pediatrician said that it wouldn't be surprising if she skips crawling. I don't know if she will or not. Natalia started walking around 9 months, so it is crazy to think that I might have two of them wandering around in 3 months. Also, just because Natalia has a nut allergy it doesn't mean that Alexa will have one. Since she has not consumed any nuts yet, it wouldn't even show up on a blood test. I guess we will just have to wait and see what happens with it. Natalia didn't even develop her allergy until after she was 1 and a half. We don't have any nut products in the house, but it would still be nice to know if Lexa will have the allergy too.

The longest portion of the appointment was waiting for their shots. We waited for like half an hour. I think part of the reason it took so long was because they had to find Talia's chart. Lexa got her 6 month immunizations, and they both got their flu shots. Lexa will have to go back in 30 days to get her second flu shot because during the first year they get it it half doses.

Lexa finally got to try solid foods last night. I guess I'm just a super paranoid mommy so I never start solids until after their 6 month appointment. Lexa seemed undecided about how she liked her rice cereal. She did cry because Talia climbed into her exersaucer and was bouncing when she was trying to eat.



Jon has ulcers in his stomach. The doctor said it looks like he has road rash in his stomach. On a scale of A-D where D is the worst, Jon's ulcers are a B. They prescribed him some Prilosec, but he is supposed to go see a doctor next week to discuss the results and hopefully they will tell him what to do. The ulcers are from taking aspirin and ibuprofen, so I don't know if he stops taking it if they will improve.

We went to Como Zoo after the appointment. I was sad I forgot to bring my camera. Talia enjoyed looking at the animals, and we also went to Como Town which is attached to the zoo. Talia rode the little train and the teacup ride.



Update

I don't know where the time goes. Can you believe it is September next week. Tomorrow Alexa will be six months old. Her well visit is on Friday. Also, Jon is having his esophagogastroduodenoscopy the same day. He is not allowed to drive himself, so I am going to go drop him off 20 minutes early for his 8 am appointment in St. Louis Park and then drive to Maple Grove for Alexa's 8:20 appointment and then drive back to pick him up. When he scheduled his appointment a few weeks ago I thought about rescheduling her appointment, but he said it would be fine. So hopefully everything will go smoothly.

Alexa has been sitting up on her own for a couple weeks. As she can do more things, Talia cannot seem to leave her alone. Ever. Lexa likes to spend most of her time on the floor. Before she could sit she liked her Exersaucer, but now she likes to play sitting up. She can't crawl yet, but she can scoot pretty much anywhere she wants. She likes toys a lot more than Natalia did. Especially balls and babies. Her favorite baby is the one Talia got for her birthday. Of course that is also Talia's favorite baby. Lexa will see it on the floor and scoots over and looks at her face and sucks her feet. Then Talia will spot her and will take the baby away.

Talia is getting to be a big girl. She often refers to herself in the third person: "I love you Talia", "Talia's ball, shirt, pants, ect." She thinks that she is the mommy around Lexa. She thinks she gets to decide what things the baby can have. Lexa used to just take it, but now she gets very upset when something gets taken away from her. Talia's favorite things are her trike, her blanket from her great-grandma, her baby (the one Lexa loves too), and her many pairs of shoes. These are all things that Lexa is very interested in. Talia leaves her stuff all over the place so Lexa has easy access to them, but if she touches one of them Natalia will snatch it away. Talia cannot seem to leave Alexa alone. She likes to "hold" her. This actually consists of her sitting behind Lexa when she is sitting and pulling her backwards until she is laying in her lap. Then she doesn't like having Lexa in her lap so she just pushes her over out of her lap. OR If Lexa is lying on her stomach Natalia will come and sit on her.

Talia loves the park. We have been going to one down the road, not the one near our house. It is a lot bigger than the one near us and has a little kids playground and then one for 5-12 year-olds. Talia loves the big one. She has no fear. She climbs all the way up three levels and then goes down one of the big slides. She doesn't like the other kids. She will run around them quickly, or not go where she wants just to avoid them. Most of them are several years older than her though. These pictures are from about a month ago when we were there. The top pictures is the top third level, and the second picture is of the first level.

We are working on sharing and being gentle with the baby. I am looking forward to when Lexa is big enough to push back or at least get away from her sister. Her first few months are definitely very different than Talia's were.