My Babies

The last month I've been thinking a lot about each of my kids and how thankful I am that they are in my life.  They all have such distinct personalities and are so fun, each in their own way!

Ava Jane:

• Such a smiley baby!  Well, at least now she is.  She cried for the first few months of her life, but now she smiles with her whole body whenever she finds someone who will play with her!
• Has turned into a pretty good sleeper.  When she goes down for bed at night, she won't wake up at all (expect to eat) even if Mia is screaming.  
• VERY ticklish, something we exploit a lot so we can hear her adorable squeal-laugh!
• Has a birthmark on the back of her head right where her second soft spot is.  The doctor thought it may have been that her spine hadn't closed up all the way (which she would've had to have a surgery to correct), but when I took her to the dermatologist he said it was just a birthmark.  And it's not super pretty so I'm glad it's in a place her hair will cover up.
• Thinks Asher is just the funniest person ever.
• Tends to run hot and cold.  Either super happy or super not!  Usually when she's not happy it's because she's hungry.
• Won't take a bottle.  I did start a little rice cereal yesterday and she seems to like it, so maybe that will inspire her to accept different kinds of food including from bottles!
• Still spits up all the time.
• My chunkiest baby!  I squish her all the time and bury my face in her neck rolls. ;)
• My only child that actually looks like me!  She has my same eye shape (David calls them our disappearing eyes) but David's brown eye color.

Mia Elizabeth:

• Such a chill baby!  Likes to just sit and observe everyone around her.
• Doesn't laugh a lot but does like to smile!  Very pleasant.
• Loves her older brother.  Asher is just about the only person who can regularly get laughs from her.
• Has rolled over (front to back)!  Ava has yet to catch up in that respect, but she has such a chunky body that I think it's a little more difficult.  Mia figured it out pretty fast!
• Taken a little backslide on sleeping. She sleeps for longer stretches at night, but it's harder to get her to fall asleep for naps.  And at bedtime sometimes she'll sleep for 20 minutes and then want to be awake for 2 more hours before she'll go down for the night.
• Still has a milk sensitivity.  The doctor said it might be until she's 6-9 months before that goes away.  So no ice cream for me. :(
• Takes after her dad and brother in looks! She reminds me so much of Asher.  The only thing I think she got from me was her eye color.  Ava has my eye shape and her dad's eye color, but Mia has her dad's eye shape and my eye color (hazel).
• Her dark hair is coming in pretty good!  I think she'll have a pretty thick head of hair.
• Turned into quite a thumb sucker, just like her mama.  It's so adorable!  I know it's probably a bad thing but it helps her calm down and it's just so dang cute that I just let it go.  I'll deal with breaking her of that habit at a later date. ;)

Asher David:

• This boy is so sweet.  He can throw tantrums like none other, but most of the time he is helpful and kind and loving.  I was picking him up from school the other day when his teacher stopped me.  When she said she had something to tell me, I was worried it was about fighting or something, but she told me he said the sweetest thing to her.  He came up to her and very quietly said, "Miss Jaime, I love you..." She said he said it so quiet that she could barely hear, but quickly told him that she loves him too and that he was so nice.  He loves going to school and loves meeting new friends!  This is one aspect of his personality that I love, but makes me sad because I don't want him to ever lose it or have other kids make fun of him for it.  
• Loves to help with the babies!  He loves to tickle them, make them laugh, and even helps with diaper changes.  He will help me take off their clothes, likes to guess if they're poopy or not (he tells me "Mom, I hope she has poopies!"), and will throw away the diapers for me.  He also likes to help me pick out their clothes and decide who wears what.  He really loves having 2 new buddies to live with.
• Still hates to eat.  He is getting better at trying foods and I can usually get him to eat at least one bite of something new, and he has a few foods he'll eat pretty well, but every meal feels like a battle.  All the tips everyone else tells me just don't work for him!  I've been told to give him things to dip his food in to make it fun, but he hates all kinds of dips.  I've been told to help him get excited about food and have him help me make the meal.  He loves to help make food! But he has no interest in eating it after that.  I've talked to about 5 doctors about it and they all say that since he has a steady growth and doesn't act sick at all to just keep doing what I'm doing.  At his last appointment, his doctor said that he was getting enough calories but if I was worried about him getting enough nutrients to give him a multivitamin every day.  So I guess he'll just keep living off of ambient energy and I'll keep trying to get him to eat his tiny portions.
• He loves school!  I was so nervous before he started, but his teachers have been great and his class is so well organized that he has a lot of fun.  He always tells me things he has learned, points out letters he recognizes, and even sings songs he has learned!
• Has started calling people "humans".  He loves Transformers and on the cartoon he watches, that's how they refer to people.  So he will tell me "When the human comes back, then we can play in the dirt!" or "When it's dark then it's time for humans to go to bed."  It cracks me up every time.
• I have really started to admire him.  He gets very nervous about new things, but he tries them (with a lot of encouragement) and ends up embracing it!  He tries so hard to keep those around him happy and is just so full of love.  He loves to help me and goes all out with whatever task I put to him.  I'm so very thankful for this little boy.