Meet the Cousin

Sure

 everyone loves babies, but there are few people who love babies as much as my Aunt Linda.  To celebrate the birth of each new baby (which is quite a few these days) Aunt Linda hosts the "meet the cousin" party.  Even though we didn't find out whether we were having a boy or a girl, Aunt Linda maintained her perfect record by predicting it would be a girl.  To solidify her prediction "Guess Who" purchased a dress & pink shoes for the baby shower.  Well, her record is still perfect & the dress fits Isla perfectly. 

The cousins also thought that they would have a contest to see who weighs the most.  Brooke won the contest

 as she gloated about being "so big."  At least she's teaching Isla the moves.

Firsts

I know my blog has been plagued with a lot of "firsts" lately.  Hopefully its not too annoying because I don't see it stopping anytime soon.  

Isla is fortunate enough to live in THE Dorm.  Its a complicated but unique living situation in which one single Chaldean (let's call him Uncle Greg) asked his best friend who married his favorite cousin (let's call the couple Dave & Christina) to move into his house.  Dave and Christina brought along their dog, Henna, and Christina's sister (let's call her Wuzzle) to make things even more exciting.  Add several flat panel TV's, multiple gaming systems and a basketball hoop in the living room and you have "THE Dorm."  

We have several traditions here at THE Dorm.  Among them are Saturday morning breakfasts, Sunday night popcorn, and Costco.  About 70% of the items in THE Dorm have been purchased from Costco.  Isla took her first trip there last Sunday morning in lieu of going to church (because we were running about an hour late).  Uncle Greg really enjoyed pushing Isla in her stroller.  It was tougher to clarify to people that this was his "niece" not his daughter, but they both gained positive attention.   

Also this week, Isla took her first trip to Bebe & Poppy's.  Everyone else had Chinese food while she enjoyed the best milk money can't buy.  Poppy took her on the boat and she enjoyed lots of fresh air.  I hoped that the fresh air would help her sleep well that night, but no such luck.

Henna turned 12 on May 22.  For those of you who are better at math than I am, that means she is 84 years old in dog years.  Henna's only birthday wish was to live long enough to be a big sister (which she accomplished) and to gain better control of her bowels so that she would not be evicted from THE Dorm (also a success).  So Happy Birthday Henna!  You have brought us much joy for many years.  The Lord knew you were the perfect dog for us and we count precious each day you are with us.

Splish Splash

Isla had her first bath.  She didn't cry the whole time, which gives me hope that she may enjoy baths in the future.  She did start crying pretty furiously at the end.  Fortunately, super Dad wrapped her up quickly in her towel and calmed her down... and then she started sucking her thumb.  

Sleep Deprived

...that is for us anyway, Isla is all set.  Our little coconut has decided that night time sleep is really not for her.  Isla feels that the middle of the night is an extra special time to spend with us as she has our full attention.  Trying to get her into a "routine" is a bit of a challenge, but hopefully she will fall into some sort of a routine soon.  As far as sleeping during the day is concerned, she is awesome at it.  Everyone keeps telling me to "nap when the baby naps," but does anyone really do that?  

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