Mushy Pears, Big Hugs, and Random Screaming...

It feels like I finally have a brief moment to sit down and lay out all of the little behaviors witnessed, new developments taken, and random thoughts that I have parading through my head as I parent Ali and ECK-o. I always say to myself, "I should blog this...", but when I do get to stop, I invariably forget all that I wanted to write!

Nevertheless, the coffee is kicking in, so here we go:

1. Ethan has been taking bites of Stage 1 baby food (the REALLY puree'd kind,) so that to me is a good sign. As Dr. Nau pointed out, Ethan is showing all of the signs of wanting to eat (when he's able,) so there is hope that one day he will eat normally after his lungs heal.

2. Ali gives big hugs, did I mention that? That's my "parenting paycheck" each day, to get a hug from Ali. Ethan hasn't quite got hugs down, but his giggles and laughter are my paycheck from him.

3. Ali is also getting better at cruising and standing on her own for longer periods of time. She of course still loves to climb the stairs, but will descend them standing up if you hold her hands. A budding bedtime ritual (or whenever we feel she needs to release some energy) is to put her on the floor and just let her travel wherever. We get our exercise as well since she covers the equivalent of a mile and a half through the playroom, kitchen, family room, office, stairs, and straight to the cat box in the guest bedroom(??)

4. Ethan is laughing more! He's a true ham with a prankster side for sure. His big thing is for me to look away from him, pretend I don't notice him at all, and then slowly turn around and count "1"; then, he begins giggling, and when I hit "2", he's laughing and squirming all around. By the time I hit "27" he's sound asleep. Just kidding! When I hit "3" I tickle his nose and he bursts out in wild squeals.

5. Ali will still eat even if she doesn't really like what she's eating. Tuna right now is not high on her list, yet she won't let food go to waste.

6. Speaking of food, we gave her just a little bit of salsa on a chip and she loved it.

Well, I'll close for now, but will try to keep posting as often as I can...thanks for reading!