Sibling Love

Ainsley is such a good big sister. She loves to hold Sam. She will ask to hold him multiple times everyday. I will hand him to her and she will hold him for about a minute and then she will inform me that she is done, jump down and be on her way. She also loves to help me with Sam. Whenever he cries, she is the first to notice. She will run over to him and try to put his binky in. She will come tell me when he is hungry or needs to be changed. She loves to stand next to me when I change his diaper and hand me the wipes and new diaper. At naptime, she likes Sam to lay with us on the bed while we listen to music.

For the most part, I think she genuinely loves having a new brother around. But like any three year old, she does have a few jealousy issues. These mostly occur around Sam's feeding times. When I am about to feed him, Ainsley will suddenly need my help with something. Usually it is something that typically she doesn't need help with or doesn't want to do in the first place. For example, the other day as I was beginning to feed him she immediately demanded that she needed help "cleaning her room." Another time it was help "stirring her cereal so they don't stick" or "feeding her the baby carrots on her plate." But most often it is helping her go to the bathroom (which is something she has done by herself for months now). When I can't help her with these things, a meltdown often occurs. So we have to give hugs and let her know she is still loved but Sam needs my attention. Afterwards she will sit with me and cuddle while I feed him. I figure these are typical of first child syndrome and will just be something she will have to learn to deal with. So besides the occasional tantrum, I think she really enjoys being a big sister.

Reading books to Sam

This is what I found when I got out of the shower yesterday-she had put Puppy and the penguin toy she and daddy picked out for Sam when he was born in the crib with him. I thought it was the ultimate display of her love because she let him hold her beloved puppy. Before he was born we used to joke with her that she would have to share Puppy with the new baby, she always said she would share all of her toys with her new sibling, but NOT her puppy!
Helping Sam drink a cup of tea during her tea party

Sam Smiling

Sam, 7 weeks

Sam is seven week old now. He is such a good baby and we love having him in our home. He is growing so much and already has adorable rolls on his thighs. He is a good eater and is eating only every 4-5 hours during the day. He is beginning to sleep longer at night too which is great because I only have to feed him once in the night. He is a happy baby during the day, but kind of fussy in the evenings. He started smiling regularly at about 6 weeks. He smiles all the time now, especially after he has just been fed. He also just started to coo and gurgle this past week. I love it. It is so adorable. He is so observant and he watches you so closely. He is fascinated by Ainsley and watches her whenever she is in the room. He loves to snuggle and be held. A lot of times he will whine until he is picked up and then he is content. He is a loud baby at times. He grunts and snorts in his sleep, right as he is beginning to wake up. It is so loud and it wakes Tom and I up at night. His eyes are still an unknown color. They are dark but they are not brown like mine or Ainsley's. They appear to be a dark gray most of the time but sometimes they appear greenish. It will be interesting to see if they remain hazel or if they will turn green like Tom's or brown like mine. We love our little Sammy. We can't get enough of him! He is so fun to have in our family.

3 weeks

3 weeks

4 weeks

4 weeks-Hanging out on the counter while I bake bread
5 weeks

He still sleeps in the pack-n-play next to our bed

5 weeks

5 weeks

5 weeks
Most of the time during the day he hangs out in this bouncy chair we borrowed from Scott and Tricia. He loves it. 6 weeks old

7 weeks

Smiling

Aunt Susie Comes to Visit

Tom's youngest sister, Susan or "Suey" as Ainsley calls her, came to visit us for a week in the beginning of May. She arrived just in time for Ainsley's birthday. It was so fun to have her here. Ainsley loved the attention and playing with her aunt. We spent the week playing at the park, shopping, eating out, and visiting a museum. It went too fast. We love having company come to visit!

Playing at the park

We took Suey to the Henry Ford Musuem. It is a huge museum with artifacts, machinery, cars, and displays from history. It reminded me of the Smithsonians in DC. There were a lot of historical artifacts such as George Washington's camp bed, the chair Abraham Lincoln was sitting in when he was assassinated, the traitorous letter by Benedict Arnold, a first edition Common Sense, etc. They also a lot of historical vehicles such as the original Weinermobile, the Rosa Parks bus, Presidential limos including the one that Regan was in when he was shot, and the limo Kennedy was riding in when he was assassinated. They also had tons of old planes, trains, and other cars.

Sue and Ainsley dressed up as a hot dog

I thought it was interesting that in the Decades display they had a display case that featured things that were popular in 1999. It totally took me back! I related to everything in the displaycase. It was only one year after Tom graduated high school and while I was in school. We've become so old that the things that we experienced are in a museum:)

Ainsley and I are sitting in the exact seat that Rosa Parks was in when she refused to give it up to a white man.

Sue made Ainsley a souvenir smashed penny which she carries around all the time.
The last morning she was here, Ainsley and Suey played the games and had a tea party before she left. Ainsley was sad to see Sue go. She has asked for her several times since she left.

Goodbye Aunt Suey, thanks so much for coming to visit us!!!

Happy Birthday Ainsley

Last week was Ainsley's third birthday. On Friday, she had her last day of Mom/Tot preschool and we would be celebrating her birthday that day. Tom wanted to be there for her last day. Ainsley loved having Daddy there. She showed him all around the classroom and played with him. One of Ainsley's favorite shows right now is Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, so we made Mickey cupcakes and brought party blowers for all the kids. They loved them! We sang Happy Birthday and then had to say goodbye to all our school friends. We are sad it is over, it has been a fun year. Later that day, we received a package from Aunt Cami. She had gone on a Mexican Riveria cruise for Spring Break. She sent Ainsley an adorable Mexican dress and lots of dress up jewelry including pearls, necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and gloves. Ainsley loved it. Later that night we drove to the airport to pick up Tom's sister Susan, "Suey" as Ainsley calls her, who came to visit. We were so excited to have more company.

Modeling her new Mexican dress

In Tom's family, it is tradition to open up birthday gifts first thing in the morning, so on Saturday morning, Ainsley's birthday, she got up bright and early to open gifts. She was so excited and boy, was she spoiled! She got a new dress and a Prince Charming doll from Grandma Butler. Mommy and Daddy got her a Richard Scary Matching Game, a Snow White Nightlight Doll, some more dress up jewelry including a Princess crown and rings, and two new Disney books. Her friend Ella sent her a doll blanket, bubbles, a Princess Sash, and candy.

After opening presents, we decided to drive to drive up to Grosse Pointe where one of Tom's coworkers live to check out Lake St. Clair. This lake is along the Detroit river which connects Lake Huron and Lake Erie They have a beautiful Metrobeach there. We got Subway sandwiches and had a picnic at the park on the lake. Then we took some time to walk around-there were tennis courts, a huge playground, a splashpad, and beautiful sandy beach. It was too cold to get in the water, but Ainsley enjoyed playing at the playground and in the sand.
After the lake, we picked up some pizza for dinner then headed home for more presents and birthday celebration. We talked to Tom's parents over Skype and they watched Ainsley open her gifts. From Grandpa and Grandma Reese she got two dresses, shirts, and two pairs of jelly shoes. She also got a humminbird feeder. From Aunt Suey she got two games, Candyland and Cootie Bug. From Aunt Annie she got a Belle Princess dress...this is what she was most excited for because it was the only thing she actually asked for. After opening presents, we sang Happy Birthday to her. I had made a small Mickey Mouse cake for her to blow out. But I had also made an icecream cake for us to eat. After singing, we ate some icecream cake. Ainsley spent the rest of the night trying on her new clothes and playing with her toys. She was so excited and she had a wonderful birthday!