Things are going well here. I am taking this opportunity to write since both kids are still asleep! A rare momoent... Alia slept through the night last night. I dont know yet if it was a fluke but she fell asleep at 10pm and other then some wiggling around 2am, slept until 5ish. Jason's alarm went off and woke her up but she went back to sleep until 7:30. Nathan slept until 9 this morning so if all my mornings were like this, I'd be set in the sleep department! :)

Both kids crack me up with their sleep requirements. Ally is doing the same thing Nathan did as a baby in that department. Both want nice cushy surfaces for sleeping if you dont want to carry them around while they nap. The anti SIDS people always say no soft surfaces for sleeping to prevent SIDS but both my crazy kids as babies wont/wouldnt sleep unless there is an extra blanket under them or even in Nathan's case, he took my old memory foam pad. If I want Ally to take her nap on something other then me then Im better off puting her on Nathan's bed with his comforter under her. She passes right out. lol It works fine since I have his video monitor set to look at the bed so I can watch her the whole time.

Alia is still growing like crazy. I have rediscovered my love for the Target clearance rack in the baby area. I got her some really cute little dresses for $2 each. Since she will only wear them for 2 seconds, thats all I want to have to spend on clothes. She is really alert and follows objects with her head and eyes now. Nathan takes the little dangly toys off of her tummy time playmat and she took a liking to one that sounds like a rattle. I have it hanging by her changing table now and she actually looks for it whenever I put her up there. I think that might end up being a keepsake...

Nathan has hit a huge vocab milestone. You wouldnt necessarily notice it except the things he says now are formed into better sentences and he will throw things at you that are very intellegent thoughts. You know he heard you say it but now he knows how to use it. Yesterday we went to McDonalds and while in the drive through the car got very quiet and he said Mommy? I hear the baby farting. :) !! (which she does ALL day) He looked at me in the morning when he was getting out of bed and said 'Biiig Yawn...'

I fell behind on posting pictures and videos in their blog albums so I will try and get that done today. Its been really hot out and the house is oppressive so Ive been avoiding being inside.
But when I do get them posted, there are some very cute ones of Nathan and Ally interacting. He doesnt do it all the time but he seems to know that sometimes I am trying to finish a chore and Ally wants me to hold her (all the time!!) and so he will come over and play with her until Im done. His latest thing is if she cries he will go to her and say 'Whats wrong baby? Do you want to come up?' And then he will try and pick her up. I know he is strong enough to do that but her head is too floppy so we are working on a compromise. Im trying to catch a video of the process... :) But he tickles her feet and rubs her back and helps to burp her. My only concern is he is still a bit rough with her. He does things like when he wants to have her hold his finger and her hands are in a fist, he tries to pry open her fist and she doesnt like it. So slowly we are working on the interaction but Im so happy to see him enjoying being a big bro!

Anyways, I think thats all in our neck of the woods. I forewarn all photo album viewers that since Ally is outgrowing her first sets of clothes (0-6 months at this point) I am starting my horrible habit of taking pictures of her in all the clothing she outgrows. I did this with Nathan too and there were tons of pictures of him laying on his diaper changing pad in different outfits. Kids clothing is too cute. Its kind of fun to look back at the clothes too. Consider yourself forewarned at any rate :-)