weekend updates and happy 5 month bday!

Happy 5 month birthday Alessia!! Wow, I can't believe it's been 5 months since I heard the doctor say "it's a girl!" after 32 hours of labor. It has flown by so fast! Look at my big girl!

Since I'm so bad at posting, here are all my updates:
Alessia still has that funky rash, so she's off to the dr. tomorrow. But I have a meeting after school, so daddy will be taking her. Can't wait to see what transpires. It doesn't seem to bother her at all, just looks nasty.

She's still talking up a storm, but now she's even doing it while eating. That's been fun. She makes these crazy grunting sounds then moves on to her cooing and gurgling, with milk sputtering out of her mouth. I guess it can be cute sometimes (it would be cuter with a bottle).

She had a growth spurt over the past week or so and all of a sudden none of her clothes fit. The pants are all too short and her shirts are turning into belly shirts. Mamma has to go shopping!

We've been reading to her forever, and she usually sits and stares at the pages as we read. Her favorites at the moment are Where's Spot? (flip up book) and Good Morning, Good Night (a touch and feel bedtime book). This week she just started getting interested in the flaps in Where's Spot? Thursday she spent about 20 minutes lifting the flaps and turning the pages.
At bedtime, when we read Good Morning, Good Night, we have to stay on the last page for about 10 minutes so she can play with the little fleece blanket that covers the little girl sleeping in her bed. She's too cute!

Friday night we went out to dinner with my parents and sister as a sort of "goodbye" to her before she leaves for New Zealand. Well technically she already left - her flight was supposed to leave around 3:30 today but got delayed, I wonder if she's in the air yet? I'm surprisingly really upset over all this. For those of you who don't know, my sister has decided to go backpacking around New Zealand for the next 7 months. She got a work/holiday visa. It's really really cool, and I'm so proud of her for doing it. She planning on doing some WWOOFing (willingly working on organic farms) and just traveling around working odd jobs to cover her expenses. Then she's off to Thailand to do some volunteer work. She's amazing. But I'm still her big sister and am worried to hell. She just has too much faith in humanity and trusts people too easily - though she does have a good head on her shoulders. I just worry and share my mom's fear that we'll never see her again. I know it's awful, but it's the truth. At least she has started a blog so we can follow her. She just better keep it updated and remember to call home.

Yesterday, after a horrible car ride and detour through Manhattan, we got to visit some family in Queens. Alessia had a blast playing with her cousins. They were all so cute together! Alessia kept grabbing Ava's arm and "petting" her. She didn't even care when Ava grabbed her face and stuck her thumb in her eye. She was just in heaven playing with fellow little people. I'm so excited for Christmas this year because I can already see they're going to have so much fun together. But god help us when the get older!cousins Ava (in grey) and Olivia.

Ava and Alessia

This week I get Tuesday off for the holiday and am so excited to spend the day with Alessia. Big plans: go for a morning walk with Danielle and Eliza, do some shopping, and just hang out with my bebe. Can't wait!