Upstate New York Trip

Well, we had quite an adventure this week! We took the girls on their first long car ride and had mixed results...The ride to Binghamton went pretty well, though we got there to find Belle had severe stranger danger and anxiety over new surroundings, screaming and throwing a fit unless we held her tight. The trip on to Sodus Point didn't go too much better, with both girls fussy the whole way, but once they settled in they seemed to enjoy themselves at Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa Sina's house. We had a great time at Tim and Tonya's wedding and enjoyed catching up with family - everyone loved meeting Claire for the first time too. Belle fell in love again with "Gaga," clinging to him throughout the wedding - it gave Mommy and Daddy a break but made it a bit tough at times for Gaga who was the wedding photographer.

The drive back was pretty tough too but we're learned some good lessons like Claire can't eat in the car (she gets gas bubbles and screams!), Belle can't have too much milk and Goldfish (she pukes!) and Mommy and Daddy need a little more patience! :-) Food for thought for the Sina Family Picnic in August. Here are a few pictures from our weekend...

Happy Father's Day!

Today we celebrated our first Father's Day with Baby Claire. Belle and Claire made Daddy's a stepping stone with their footprints and all of the kids, including Reilly, gave him cute cards. Mommy was going to make breakfast but since she can't cook bacon or an omelet, Daddy said the gift would be if he cooked and the girls stayed quiet ;-) Belle's real present to Daddy, though, is that she's now addicted to Family Guy or "ee guy" as she calls it. She wants to watch it all the time and has started to sing the theme song in her own way - I think that makes us bad parents but at least she doesn't understand yet...

Belle and Claire love to play together and Annabelle's figured out she can push Claire in her rocker around the house. Claire doesn't mind - too much anyway!

This week also saw Belle using a big-girl booster seat - no more high chair! She's even eating a little better now that she can sit at the table.

The excitement of the week was Mommy taking Claire to the doctor because she was bright red, screaming and had tears streaming down her face - turns out that our 12 pound 13 ounce munchkin is just going through a growth spurt and is really hungry. Mommy felt silly but was relieved to know that her baby is doing just fine!

Playdate and other fun

On Wednesday, Mommy's friend, Bluma, came with Baby Sadie, who's three weeks younger than Claire (they were hoping they'd be born at the same time so the Moms could hang out at Newton-Wellesley!). Annabelle loved playing with Sadie, wanting her to sit next to her just like Claire does. The babies held hands, cooed at each other and made faces as the adults sang funny songs to them.

It was a relatively quiet week because it was so rainy outside but the girls made the best of it and patiently put up with lots of picture taking - can you blame us though? They are way too cute and get cuter by the hour!!! We're truly enjoying our little girls and are amazed at their interactions. Belle's running around the house, scaring her sister in her excitement but Claire's secretly practicing her coordination and once she figures out how her arms and legs work, she'll quickly crawl after her sister - watch out, Reilly!

In other news, Belle's doing much better with sleeping, though her bedtime is still later than we'd like. Claire is sleeping in 6-hour stretches and we think she'd be able to make it through the night if only she'd stop rolling herself over. Despite the sleep-deprivation, it is so sweet to hear her talking and laughing to herself at 2:00 a.m. - at least until I have to get up to feed her and put her back to sleep...

Back to Work

This week marked my return to freelance work and we all did really well. Belle and Claire loved spending time with Audrey and Kacey, and I enjoyed using my brain again, which I've learned isn't completely baby mush! I'm loving the balance of both worlds, which is allowing me to appreciate all dimensions of my life that much more. Patrick and I also went on our first date since Claire's arrival, something we desperately needed! Night at the Museum 2, followed by an early dinner at the Cheesecake Factory made for a memorable time.

In terms of milestones, Belle discovered just how funny Curious George is, standing on the floor or sitting on the couch, following the show and laughing at the most hilarious parts - it was adorable to see the progression. Claire, for her part, discovered her toes, her tongue and spit bubbles this week. She's also now using bumpers in her crib because she's so strong that she moves from the bottom to the top of the crib and often bumps her head. She's still waking up in the middle of the night, but most days it's because she's rolled onto her back and thinks it's just the funniest thing she's ever encountered.



Both are discovering how much fun having a sister can be. Belle loves sitting next to Claire, holding her or trying to help Mommy feed her bottles. Claire, who turned three months old on Thursday, thinks her sister is a little loud and overwhelming sometimes and definitely didn't enjoy her bath with Belle this week, but she's adjusting.

It's also funny how different the girls are. While Belle takes after Mommy, very serious, studious and cautious, Claire is the life of the party. She's always laughing, smiling, giggling and watching the world with great blue eyes. This was most obvious during a trip to the Cracker Barrel with Paul, Jess and Tyler, where Belle fell asleep on Daddy and missed her breakfast while Claire sat in Mommy's lap and watched all the movement in the restaurant. You could just see her trying to process all the sights and sounds. Now we're having fun!

This week, Claire also got her very own chair, an infant-to-toddler rocker that plays music, vibrates like a car and has lots of bright colors. She enjoys it so much that she often falls asleep in it, a feat to behold since she didn't take to the swing or the baby papasan chair...