Tumbling success

A monumental occasion is upon us!  Erin is in a very gruelling tumbling class this year with a great coach from the U.  By gruelling, I mean gru-ell-ing.  She first started taking tumbling last year at her dance studio but it was just an introductory class taught by the dance director and she came out of it with a super mean cartwheel but nothing more advanced.  Tumbling wasn't offered this year at our studio (yes, that 'our' is me living vicariously through my daughter - so what?!) so we found an affordable but reputable class at a different dance studio.  Luckily Brynlee is in the class with her because several times when it was hard - and especially the one week that Brynlee was sick and not there - tears have been involved.  They have been working on back-bends and back walk-overs among other things and Erin has struggled but kept working.  Saturday her hard work and struggle to push herself in a class even I wasn't convinced was right for her paid off when she did her very own - all by herself - on the grass - with no mat - and no spotter - back walkover!!  It was only about a week ago that I finally talked her into trying a back-bend without being on the bed or with a pillow behind her to cushion her head and when she got that down it was like a light switch went off in her head.  She is so excited and I couldn't be more proud!  (And happy that the money we've spent is finally showing results!)  Great job, Erin - we love you!!!  (Sorry, no photos... my phone on the camera doesn't do so well with 'action' shots!)  Now the claim that she'll be doing back handsprings by the end of the year doesn't seem like such a pipe dream after all...

Erica Tayen

Erica is two months old already!  At this rate, if I wait to capture the moments of life before I get caught up from my months of slacker-dom, she'll be a teenager and I'll forever be playing catch up. 

 One day old

Erica Tayen was born on January 30th at 6:41pm weighing 6lbs 14ozs and was 21 inches long.  She is an amazing bundle of joy who is as opinionated and feisty outside the womb as she ever was inside.  She started off as docile and mellow as we both remembered Erin being which was fitting since she is a spitting image of Erin when she was born.  However, that all changed after a couple of weeks.  She inherited her Daddy's appetite and was eating double what the doctor thought was typical a week after we brought her home.  At her two week appointment with the pediatrician she had gained a pound and weighed 7lbs 5ozs.  She had about a week of being very fussy and crying all night long on top of not eating well.  We struggled with dealing with it amidst the added complication of my needing surgery to remove my gall bladder.  Luckily, the fussiness passed ... kind of... and she got her appetite back.  I think she had a little bug and wasn't feeling good.  Clint thinks she is just stubborn and didn't feel like doing what we wanted.  Who knows, it could be a combination of both!

3 days old

She is so different than Erin was at this stage.  Erin slept 6 hours or more through the night at a month old and Erica still wakes up every 3 to 4 hours to eat - even though they were both bottle fed babies from day one and Erica's eating the same formula out of the same bottles as Erin.  She has already outgrown her newborn clothes - many of which she only got to wear once or twice.  I estimate she weighs about 10 lbs now and has the most incredible chubby cheeks that I can't keep my lips off of.  She can hold her head up incredibly well and likes to stand up on our laps.  She smiles at all of us - including her big sister - when we talk to her. 

Erin loves her baby sister and is such a big help - bringing me things that I inevitably forget I need when I start feeding her and taking diapers out to the trash on a regular basis.  She's even fed her a couple of times when there were things going on I was in the middle of and Erica was screaming to be fed.  (Ah, the joys of bottle feeding that it is possible for others to have a turn!)  She's an especially good help when we are in the car with both kids in the backseat.  Erin is a pro at settling Erica down in her car seat!  The first few days we had Erica home with us, Erin would wake up and rush into our room to check on her in the bassinet to make sure she was okay.  I hope she stays as protective of her baby sister as they both grow older.

It is a wonder to me every day that we waited so long to decide we needed another child.  It feels like we've always had Erica as part of our family even while we adjust to life with a new infant.  Even Sasha loves her - sniffing her head and giving gentle little kisses with her puppy tongue whenever she's around.