One Month...

Hannah is one month old today!  I am pretty sure I have gotten my first smile to celebrate the occasion.  The month has flown by and I am having so much fun staying home with my girls.  I am not even halfway through my maternity leave but I am already dreading going back to work.  I will never get these days back and will never have another opportunity to be with them all day every day.  I am going to enjoy it while it lasts and be thankful that when I do go back to work that I only work 2 days a week.  Hannah is starting to really be awake for longer periods of time and actually engaging us when we talk to her and she is beginning to bat at her toys and really stare at things...trying to figure out this world!  She has already gained 1 lb since birth and is quickly getting close to outgrowing her newborn size clothes and diapers. 

Haylea is becoming such a big girl too.  We have started talking about potty training.  She voluntarily went potty for the first time last week and it totally shocked me!  She isn't quite ready to go full commando just yet because she doesn't always know when it is coming and can't really tell us.  We will work on it...on her time of course.  In other big girl news, we have put Haylea in her big girl bed!  She loves it and sleeps all night in it with no problems.  Right now one of Haylea's obsessions is books.  No matter how many times I pick them up and stack them away, she pulls them all out again.  She can sit and flip through them for hours or will constantly bring them to us to read to her.  We have started going to the library so that we don't get sick of reading the same books a million times!  Haylea is also an amazing big sister.  She will go try to comfort Hannah when she is crying and loves to hug and kiss her.  She has even been seen putting her pacifier in Hannah's mouth for her!  Such a sweet, caring nature.  We have also been continuing her physical therapy and she is about a 50% walker now!  She is getting steadier and more confident in walking.  She has improved so much in the past few weeks and I am encouraged that she will be caught up to where she should be by this fall/winter.  Her verbal communication is beginning to take off as well.  She isn't really gaining words (at least any that we understand!) but she is much more expressive and tries to tell us what she wants/needs.  We decided to discontinue the developmental therapy because it wasn't really appropriate for Haylea.  If anything we might begin speech therapy but have to discuss it with our first steps coordinator first. 

One month old...with big sister Haylea.

 Big girl in her bumbo!  4 weeks.

 I love my sissy!

 Tummy time...4 weeks old.

 Big girl bed...reading with daddy.

 Potty time!

Got mommy's keys and credit card!  Let's go shopping!

 On their way to their first daddy-daughter dance!

Lovestruck...

I finally have a quiet moment to reflect on the last week and a half of my life since Hannah is napping and Brian took Haylea out for a day at the zoo.  I should be napping as well but I don't want to miss an opportunity to document how I feel at this very moment.  It has been a whirlwind already.  Hannah is already changing so much.  I see a lot more of me in Hannah, however, she still looks like Haylea who looks nothing like me! Genetics are a funny but amazing thing. 

Haylea has changed so much in the last week as well and I don't know if it is because now I am comparing her to Hannah or if she has just taken off in development in the last week.  I think it is a little of both.  She started taking steps on her own over the weekend and not just a few...once she figured out she could do it she has really taken off.  She isn't a full-time walker yet but she is certainly getting the hang of it.  I think it is helping that mommy and daddy are both home full time right now to give her full time attention and interaction.  She is just amazing me every day.  I can't wait to spend all summer with my two girls watching them grow and learn.  I know it is going to go by incredibly fast though which makes me a little sad. 

Right now I just want to soak in every moment and be able to appreciate my two little blessings.