Oh Brother!

Ella is becoming more and more aware of her surroundings everyday. She is discovering new objects to stare at and responds to familiar voices. She gets very excited when she hears Charlie's voice. Surprisingly, she can sleep through the incredible amount of noise that is produced by her big brother.

Charlie wakes up every morning and the first thing he does is find his "El" and says "Good morning El." He gives her a kiss on the head then turns his attention to a busy day of playing.

Now that Ella is more alert and is beginning to identify faces and voices, she must be thinking "Here comes that boy again." Between the constant train sounds and elephant noises, a person can go mad pretty quickly.

Just take a look at this picture. Charlie is belting out one of his train whistle sounds. Ella appears to be saying "Oh Brother."

These two kiddos already have an incredible bond. I hope that it continues. Hopefully Ella does not go insane from the noise and craziness that a two year old boy produces.

Catching Our Breath

Wednesday will mark Ella's fourth week of life. It has been a crazy, wonderful and trying four weeks. The first two weeks after Ella's birth were filled with illness and complications. Ella has been perfectly healthy, but Jamie and Charlie experienced a few rough days.

Jamie had a c-section on Wednesday, stomach virus on Saturday and developed mastitis the following weekend. Charlie experienced a few days of virus like symptoms. I was doing my best to play nurse, Daddy and taking on motherly task. Administering medicine to Jamie, playing with Charlie, loving on Ella and keeping up with the house was challenging. Breast feeding was rough, but I got the hang of it after a few tries.

Charlie has been great however, he had a few meltdowns. It is a big deal when you bring a new baby home. The attention now has to be split and two year olds do not quite understand what is going on. Everything has settled down now and Charlie is an excellent big brother. Watching him interact with Ella is the sweetest thing ever. Ella loves Charlie just as much as he loves her. She lights up when she hears his voice. Charlie runs to the rescue when he hears Ella cry.

Charlie is talking and talking and talking. The boy talks all day long about everything. He knows the alphabet, he can count to 16 and he still loves trains. Watching him observe everything around him reminds me of my childhood. I wanted to know how everything worked and why. I am waiting for that word to start popping up on a regular basis. Why this and why that? 

Ella is growing however, she is still an itty, bitty lady bug. The poor girl looks just like her daddy. I think that her hair is going to be the color of her Mommy's. Maybe one day she will break seven pounds.

Adjusting to two children has been pretty easy. We have settled into a routine and we can actually load up and get out of the door relatively quickly. It is amazing how your heart has enough room to love two human beings so much. I think that I am ready to add a third.