Quick 5

After all the Easter Hoopla, this was a relatively quiet and quick week.  I'll try to come up with five things.

1.  I've started to make plans for Alaina's birthday, which is in a mere five weeks.  So I've been asking her questions to get a feel for what I should do.  Here are some of our conversations:

Me: "Alaina, what do you want for your birthday?"
Alaina: "Cake!"

Me:  "What is your favorite drink?"
Alaina:  "Lemonade!"

Me:  "What is your favorite breakfast?"
Alaina:  "Oatmeal and yogurt!"

Me:  "What is your favorite lunch?"
Alaina: "Peanut butter and jelly!"

Me:  "What is your favorite dinner?"
Alaina:  "Dessert!"

I guess I have my meal plan for June 2nd.

2.  Tuesday after MOPS we went through the drive-thru at Wendy's to pick up some lunch.  Wendy's apparently does not have apple juice for kids, so I ordered Alaina a milk to go with her chicken nuggets.  Alaina started yelling from the backseat, and obviously not to me, but to the disembodied voice that was taking our order, "No!  Not milk!  Apple juice, please!"  She would call it out every time there was a pause between me and the order taker.  I couldn't finish our order without laughing.  Soon I'm going to let Alaina order.  I think she'll do a great job.

3.  Cute, sweet little Joya is pretty high maintenance right now.  I used to be able to lay her on her back on a blanket on the floor with toys around her, and she would lie there and play for long periods of time.  Now she flips onto her stomach within two minutes.  And if she stops there for any length of time, then she loses the ability to flip back over.  So she cries and fusses.  She can and does roll sometimes, but it has to be a continuous motion.  And she can't sit up on her own to play.  And she can't sit in the Bumbo for very long, because she twists around and gets herself stuck in awkward positions.  6 months must be such a hard age.  She is active and wants to play, but doesn't know how.  It must be very frustrating for her.

4.  In other Joya news, she is finally 100% weaned from the swaddler.  I'm hoping the weaning process is why she has been a terrible sleeper this month, and that each night will get better.  But here is a pictorial essay of that process:

How Joya slept until about a month ago

The one-armed swaddle.  It took her 12 naps to get used to this.  Those 12 naps were full of crying and very little sleep.

Free indeed.  She now gets very upset if you try to pin her arms down.

My conclusion?  Avoid those fancy swaddlers at all cost.  They are like crack to babies.  Withdrawal isn't pretty.

5.  As a reward for doing Hard Core Business in the potty yesterday, I gave Alaina a mini Reese's peanut butter cup.  She called it a "muffin candy."  Because it comes in a paper cup like a muffin.  So cute.

Goodbye April!  We're looking forward to all the May flowers.