Better

Assorted pictures from the last few weeks:

We find Inara and Alba like this a lot. They are most likely hatching some devious plan against their poor parents.

After her bath. Check out the hair!

Things have improved significantly in the Nitz-Barney household since I last wrote. Inara is much happier and tantrums are now at an acceptable level. She still loves her little sister and still takes her frustrations out on her parents when needed. 

There are so many things to write about, but not enough time. 

Alba has started smiling, is above the curve both for weight and length (she's wearing 3-month clothes now) and is generally a pretty happy baby. 

Inara says the funniest things nowadays and we especially enjoy her long, nonsensical stories that are part real and part fantasy (mostly the latter). She started being afraid of the dark about a month ago and now has to have the light on when she sleeps or she wakes up and has terrible night-terrors. She's especially concerned with monsters after watching a very mild cartoon about a monster (I feel kinda bad about that one, but in my defense that show has never been scary before). She also started dance classes and absolutely loves it. She's by far the wildest, but has a great time. Unfortunately, she has went from being a fish in the water to hating the pool, so no more swimming lessons for now. She knows how to recite the numbers up to 15 and sometimes 20, can count to about 5 and recognizes a couple of numbers and letters. She is very interested in knowing what things say and asks us to read signs and labels to her. She is also very excited about the trip to the U.S. and talks a lot about going on an airplane and seeing everybody over there.

That's all I have time to write for now, so Happy Halloween! 

Cow

Inara wanted to be a cow for her preschool's Halloween masquerade, so I threw an outfit together. She loved it and was so excited to go show it off this morning.

Catching Up

Alba is rushing to catch up with her big sister. She's already wearing clothes Inara wore at two or three months and she's doing pretty well holding her head up. She had already been looking around for a little while when Andrew got  the camera going, so her neck was getting tired, but here she is:

You Best Not Be Looking At My Sister

I apologize for the lack of updates lately. Things have been kinda rough since Andrew went back to work last week. And I just want to say, to those of you out there who have just the one kid, but are thinking of having another and are perhaps saying to yourselves: "We already have one, so another one shouldn't add that much more work" - think again. It adds a ton of work. At least if you have a two-year old who is going through a very angry, needy and contrary phase.

I realize that her behavior right now is normal considering all the changes going on in her life, but it doesn't make her tantrums any easier to deal with. Especially not while trying to take care of a three-week old baby. I'm really thankful to be able to leave her at preschool (to save my sanity) for a few hours, but also feel guilty about doing so.

In the meantime, Alba is just as good of a baby as Inara was. She sleeps well at night and rarely cries. At least we are very fortunate in that regard. Unfortunately, poor Inara feels that she needs to get up with me to feed Alba in the night and alternates between sobbing by my side at the crib, snuggling next to me silently and screaming on top of her lungs. Makes for some long nights.

Inara still likes her little sister a lot and is very protective of her. So much in fact, that no one is allowed to even look at her (except her best friend at preschool). Yesterday at preschool, she wanted Alba to come inside, but completely broke down when one of the teachers wanted to look at her. I guess she continued being furious for about an hour after 

I know that things will get better and that they will really enjoy having each other as they get older, it's just a matter of making it through the day right now. So, I hope you understand if we're not super good about updates and staying in touch.

Also, isn't it funny how you can be so fed up with your kid after a day of fighting and all it takes for you to think they are the sweetest ever is one kiss or a hug at the end of the night? Weird how that works.

 

Big Girl

My big little girl.

Looking Around

A few days ago:

Two Weeks

Alba says that if Inara isn't going to eat her dinner, she will:

 

Enjoying the sun:

Happy, but staying home with a cold:

 

All she needs is a beard and she'll look just like her dad: