Amelia loves second grade. I still can't believe how fast she's growing up. She's always been phenomenal at math, but over the summer she also became obsessed with reading and now goes through a chapter book a day. We really need to visit the library more. I can't buy books as fast as she reads them. It's crazy. I love it though. There's something so wonderful about seeing your child become lost in another world through reading.
She's also doing great at Irish dancing. She's been dancing 1&1/2 years now and I think she's done really well. She has had a few competitions over the past couple of months and did an excellent job at each of them. What I really love about that girl is that she is such a great sport. I see girls crying when they don't win, or even crying when they win but someone gets a higher place than them. That's not Amelia. She's always so happy for her friends when they do well and she's very humble when she walks away with trophies. I like that she's competitive without showing it. I am so proud of her.
Cecilia turned 8 months old on the 7th of this month. Man this little one is already keeping me on my toes (and I LOVE IT). She started crawling at 7 months, pulls herself up on things, waves, gives kisses, is a total mommy's girl and is just happy all of the time. Really, I'm not just saying that because I'm her mommy. It is rare that she is crying... well, she does cry when someone unfamiliar tries to hold her. Amelia was that way too. She clung to the people who were around frequently and the people who put time and effort into forming a relationship with her. Cecilia is already becoming that way. I'm fine with that though. I never had to worry about Amelia running off away from me.
She loves her big sister. I mean, really loves her. She bounces and kicks when she sees her walk out of her classroom at the end of the day. She smiles and waves at Amelia non-stop, and she's always watching every move she makes. All of those fears about adding another child to our family, the ones where I thought Amelia would feel left out or I wouldn't have time for both, yeah... those fears were not necessary. Life with those two is perfect. Amelia fills the role of big sister in amazing fashion. She's always picking up her sister and snuggling her like crazy. She reads stories to her and gets in her play yard and spends hours being silly and making Cecilia smile.
I know a month back I said I was going to write about Cecilia's time in the hospital this summer, but then I got bronchitis and pink eye and before I knew it time had slipped away. I do look forward to sharing that with you. Failure to Thrive is a very stressful diagnosis, but after last week's appointment I am happy to say that our tiny 12lb 8oz eight month old is doing great! Her dietician gave her the go ahead to take 3 months off from appointments. What a relief. This whole experience has been a rollercoaster of emotions for me and at this point I feel really great about what we've done and how we've handled the situation to make sure our little one is healthy.
Mark started school last month. It'll be two years of chaos for us. He is already so busy with work and school and together we're trying to fit in family time. I feel bad that things are so crazy, but also blessed that I am able to stay home with the girls to keep it from becoming so stressful for them. I honestly don't know of anyone who works as hard as he does. He takes such great care of his family. The girls and I are definitely blessed with him.
Well, that's about all I can get in tonight. I'm off to pump... because that's my life. Feed baby, pump, take care of the girls, pump... and repeat. This motherhood gig is pretty awesome!!!