Bun-Bun and The Extend (formerly known as Tent)

These two have a taste for nicknames. Last year, Simon changed his name to Tent for a couple of months, and was very serious about it. Insisted that everyone call him by his new name, including at preschool, and signed all his homework papers and projects Tent. A couple of months ago, Aida decided she wants to be called Bun-Bun, and gets upset if you call her Aida. He is sleeping on the floor of her room these days, and I overheard him trying to explain to her that her animatronic stuffed dog calls her Aida because it doesn't know that she changed her name to Bun-Bun.

Meanwhile, Simon has chosen a new name, but he says it's a private name and not for other people to call him: The Extend.

Sleep Karate

We finally started sleep training at the end of May, after only one night Aida has been sleeping great. She likes to fold herself in half, grab her toes, then roll over to the right and sleep with her feet touching the side of the crib.

Now that she's almost 8 months, we're working on getting her moved into Simon's room. The problem is his bedtime routine, he's a song and dance man. She goes to sleep in there fine, he's out in the living room belting out tunes, then if he can go in there quietly when he's ready to sleep, we'll be golden. The first night it worked great, the second night not so much. He doesn't like it when she's crying in there, but doesn't seem to recognize his role in the process.

4 years old

Happy Birthday, little dude! Since Simon is so good with his balance bike, we thought we'd take him to the bike store to pick out a big boy 2-wheeler with pedals. He chose a tricycle instead.

As requested, chocolate cake with chocolate sauce!

We brought treats to daycare for his birthday. His friends sang Happy Birthday in English and Spanish and made him a pretend cake in the backyard.

Sleep problems - redux

Unfortunately, Passover kicked off a really bad sleep pattern for Aida, she has been waking up all night. For the last few months she had settled into a pattern of waking up twice a night to nurse, which was not great, but was survivable. We're working hard on adjusting her sleep, I'm limiting her feedings and rocking her at other wakings. She's still in a swaddle, though, and we're going to need to get her out of it, probably in a few weeks when she is 6 months old. She still hasn't rolled from front to back, so it's not a problem yet, but we'll have to get her out of it eventually. We've already tried twice to wean her off it, for 3-7 days at a time, with no luck (and no sleep on those nights).

Passover and Easter

So many special occasions lately, and so much enjoying the springtime! We celebrated Passover in Northbrook with Auntie Babs as usual, and then went to Madison to visit Uncle Michael, Aunt Dianna and cousin Yasmine for Easter. The kids had SO much fun running around, coloring eggs, and hunting for eggs and prizes.

Spring at last

Well, it's been a very punishing winter, which finally seems to be over. The news reports that it was the third coldest winter in Chicago since they began keeping track. We were stuck inside most of the time, and we made the best of it, but we are so happy to be getting outside again.

The best thing to come out of this long winter was Simon and Aida's new cousin Oskar, born in February. Here are all the cousins together:

Aida is still growing and passing one milestone after another. It all goes by so fast. She's enjoying being more upright, in her Bumbo seat and her exersaucer, and she has rolled over a few times from front to back. Rolling is still a big effort, and only an occasional thing, but it's a start. She spits up A LOT, especially when she's sitting up, so we try to carry a spit cloth at all times. It's not very effective though, since she spits in all directions and various distances with no warning, so we just do a lot of cleanup. Simon is always on the alert for new messes.

Winter Baby

I had a feeling that some things would be different with a winter baby. This winter has been much colder and snowier than usual, and we have been severely homebound. We have managed to get sick a bunch, even so. With a 3-year-old going to daycare 3 days a week, it's inevitable. Aida now has her first cold. She's pretty cheerful in spite of it, just sleeping a bit more than usual, and waking up at night with a nasty cough. It's made me realize how little she usually fusses or cries. Poor baby.

Here she is bundled up to take Simon to daycare: