The Receding Hairline & the Chatterbox

I'm going to try to update this website more often now. (We'll see how that really works out. :) )

Vinny is doing great. He's around the 9 pound mark now. We have a nice routine going everyday, which we learned from The Baby Whisperer, a book recommended to us by my cousin Kelly (see Lily's blog in our links section). He eats, has awake time & then sleeps (in that order) over the course of the day and then just eats & sleeps at night. He is a pretty efficient nurser, which helps, too! Ashley would nurse for 45 min to an hour. Vinny gets things done in 15 minutes! It is a huge time saver. :) His little face has changed since he was born, too. He's starting to follow sights & sounds by turning his head & following with his eyes. He'll scrunch his forehead up when he's looking around & taking in the world. It's all very cute. :) He also seems to be losing his hair on the top of his head.

And, Big Sister Ashley is enjoying her older-sister-dom. She has a "small" bossy streak that is especially being drawn out by having Vinny around. "No!" she tells him. "No, Baby!" with a stern look on her face. We finally asked why she would always say that to him whenever she would lean down in his face. Apparently, he was grabbing her hair (since it was hanging in his face!) and she did not like that! So, now she reminds him what not to do. But, here she is in a nice moment, sharing her Elmo:

Ashley's speech has really taken off over the last 2 months. And, her verbal vocabulary grows by lots of words everyday now. I guess we're going to have to watch what we say now! :) Here are some of the Ashley-isms for the moment that I hope I never forget:

"I'm help" which she says as she runs over to the couch & "pats" Vinny on the back whenever I start to burp him.

"No cry. No cry, Baby" whenever Vinny starts to fuss or cry. We haven't figured out if she means -- 'hey, keep it down over there!' or 'don't cry, it's okay!'

Ashley also likes to hold Vinny. She sits very nicely on the couch & I set him on her lap. She'll give him a little kiss on the forehead & a couple of pats. Then, after literally 5 seconds, she lets go, he flops over & then she does the sign for "all finished".

She's having a great time at school, too. They had a Halloween parade, and families were invited. Ashley is dressed up as Thomas the Tank Engine. It was fun to see her in a new environment. But, I'd really like to be a fly on the wall to see what she does when no parents are around. :)

When it's your turn to bring in snack, they send home the "Snack Bucket". We filled it with goldfish crackers & Ashley.

Overall, things are going alright. We try to keep things simple for now as we adjust to our new life with 2!

Updated Family Portrait