Lily Update

It's been awhile since I have posted...things have been a little crazy around here lately! We're settling into being a family of four. Lily has adjusted pretty well to having Amelia around. She is so sweet to her little sister. She looks for Amelia as soon as she walks into a room. When she finds her, she very gently pats her head and says "Hi Mia!" She can't easily say Amelia yet so we hear Mia a lot. As soon as she hears Amelia cry, she'll alert us by by saying "Mia crying!" Seriously, it's the smallest little whimper and it will be like the National Weather Service alerts with "Mia crying! Mia crying!" Then, most of the time, she'll run over to her, pat her gently on the head and say "It's okay Mia." She has gotten into telling me that she should "eat more" to get her to stop crying. If I'm feeding her, she loves to bring blankets over for her because she likes for things to be "cozy." She loves getting a clean diaper out for Amelia too; this is probably because they have little Sesame Street babies on them which she likes to see, but hey, it helps! It's really so sweet to watch her with Amelia. I hope this will lead to a lifetime of a close friendship for them.

I was very concerned how Amelia's middle-of-the-night waking would affect Lily. Unfortunately, for the first couple of weeks, Lily was getting out of bed in the middle of the night which was so frustrating. However, once we went back to turning on her humidifier (we sneak into her room after she falls asleep because she was getting up to turn it off), she has gone back to sleeping through the night. She has still been getting up in the 6:00 hour which we hate. We are not early-risers! Ever since she was about 10 months old, Lily has been sleeping until at least 8:00 in the mornings so this is big change. We are trying to get her to stay in bed until 7; we think that's reasonable for a two-year-old who goes to bed at 8PM. We are trying something new to help with this. We have put an instrumental CD in as her alarm clock and we are trying to get her to stay in bed until she hears the music. The last two days she has gotten up before it went off, but Ryan took her straight back to bed where she fell asleep. It even seems like the music helps her sleep longer as she was there until 8:15 this morning! I'll let you know how this strategy goes.

Even though it's frustrating to us when Lily gets up before we want her to, it's still really sweet. We let her get in bed with us after 7, so she can watch Disney cartoons or, as she calls them, "car-ta-toons." She likes to get under the covers with us (and the baby doll she brings from her bed) which I like because it can give us some snuggle time. Also, while she watches and we continue to sleep, she will just lean over and give me a kiss on the cheek or pat my head. It's the sweetest thing in the world!

Overall, I think Lily is beginning to settle into her role as big sister. She is such a sweet little girl, and she seems to be totally in love with Amelia. She has her moments of jealousy, but she is really doing great. I think we are very fortunate to have two wonderful little girls!