It has been lovely getting to spend so much time with these two new sisters. They are already good at being sisters. We are very fortunate that Aurelia loves Vivianna. She asks to hold her and kiss her many times a day. It melts my heart every single time. I am in love with my family.
Aurelia loves to hold Vivianna and now she asks for a burp cloth. So cute!
Hanging out in Aunt Whitney's favorite outfit
A walk at the lake with cousin Marvel
Pajama time!
Peeking into the stroller
Story time
Date night!
Pure joy
(Don't worry. Dada was right behind her.)
Little sister, passed out while Reli played on the playground
Dada reading to his girls
Mutual admiration
Smiles
Very happy momma-daughter time
These girls love to "dance". I think Reli may have had a bit too much juice just prior to shooting this video. She's obviously a little wound up. What fun to watch her spin.
We are still reveling in the novelty of this new life that has joined Team Kaplan. She is breathtakingly sweet and soft. She can melt your heart from across the room. Look out world.
We welcomed our newest addition to Team Kaplan on Thursday,October 6, 2011 at 3:05 pm. She came into this world weighing 8 lbs, 1 oz and measuring 20.5 inches long. Her birth was relatively quick and just about the best experience we could have hoped for. She is a dream come true.
We came home yesterday to introduce Vivianna to Aurelia and are enjoying settling into our new life as a family of four. What wonderful moments these are.
I am about to be 33 weeks pregnant with our second daughter. It is hard to truly understand all that comes along with being the mother of two girls. The day we found out that our next child would be a girl, it hit me like a ton of bricks that I would be the role model for two women. They would look to me as their example for so many things for the rest of their lives. That is an immense amount of pressure and an amazing opportunity at the same time.
I have had the wonderful fortune of being one of three sisters and of having an incredible mother who raised us all to be kind, generous, loving, forgiving and happy women. Aurelia has not known a single day of life without the influence of one or more of us. I am so grateful that she gets to see me live my life with my sisters, and hopefully one day she will understand what an amazing gift it is to have women in your life, so close, so real, so honest.
I hope that we can all provide these little girls with the strength and confidence they will need to face this world. I have to believe that we can inoculate them somewhat from the fears that stand ready to erode their self-esteem, the pressures that will build and chip away at their will power. Surely every day we spend loving them and teaching them is insurance against that world of uncertainty I know they will face one day soon. I know for certain that a sister is one of the most amazing gifts a girl can get and one of the best resources when those uncertain times hit. These girls are going to go far in life. I just hope they realize that they can go farther together than they could ever get on their own. I owe so much of who I am today, and what I am able to do today, to my sisters who I rely on every single day.
Thank you, Whitney, for your constant daily efforts with Aurelia. Without your willingness to be here for Aurelia every day, I could not enjoy the career that I have worked so hard for. I do not worry because I know that Aurelia is in the hands of an amazing, caring woman, who loves her dearly. You cannot comprehend what that means to me or what an impact it will have on my daughters' lives. Thank you.
Thank you, Jeri Lynn, for always sharing the beauty and wisdom of your experiences. You have been the first to experience so many of life's big challenges and I have always had the benefit of your experience. Sharing pregnancy with you has been such a comfort. Watching you birth and then raise Koruna showed the way for me with Reli. There have been countless days since we returned to Austin that I didn't think I would get through until I talked to you. You will always be my touchstone. Thank you.
SIGH.
Now, for some comic relief.
A video of Aurelia at the dinner table tonight. All afternoon she would say rhyming phrases and then say "Koruna says that". It made my heart laugh. This video made my eyes water.
The other night Reli took her first bubble bath. I can still remember what bubbles feel like on my face and what it feels like to try to blow them away.
Aurelia's growth is astonishing. Her evolution is constant and her capacity to understand is boundless. Just three weeks ago she said her first two-word phrase. Now she consistently strings together several words that are almost sentences. It is hard to wrap my head around such persistent forward progress.
Momma book read . . . please
Big girl milk please - she prefers her milk out of some short juice glasses we bought for her
Relia room book, read it
Dirty diaper . . . poo . . . change it - she has started telling us when she has a poopy diaper
Highchair yogurt sprinkles - her breakfast (which follows at least 2 "snacks" of fruit and/or toast) usually starts with yogurt sprinkled with flax seeds, cereal, cinnamon or all of the above.
Momma open it please
Momma water ice please. Hold it, table. - she wants my water glass and she'd like to take it to her table thank you very much
Messy face, wipe it, paper towel
Some of our favorite Reli "words" have disappeared as she has learned the correct pronunciation. Peas has become pwease. Hih-muhn has become Cih-mon (cinnamon). Die has become Kai (the little monster she sleeps with). Hide has become EyeTside (outside). Hu has become shoe. One mispronunciation she is hanging onto is Mee-duh for music. I love it. It has a hand motion that goes along with it - sort of a conducting motion with her right arm above her head. Her own little chant request that we turn on some music. More has acquired two syllables, southern style - Mow-er.
Two weeks ago she started adding the word "it" to her other words. "Off it", "read it", "hold it", "move it", "eat it", "drink it", "push it", "clean it", "wipe it", "open it", "kiss it". Listening to her, I cannot believe she is only 18 months old.
Aurelia is not much for nicknames. Up until this week she always referred to herself as Relia. If you say "that's Reli's chair" she would say "Relia." While we all call Koruna, Runa, Aurelia calls her Kah-una. I am sure next week it will be the full Koruna.
A very familiar and lovely sight, the girls eating together.
A happy girl after running at the lake with Momma and Dada.
Reli playing dress-up in her Honey's bathroom.
Admiring herself in Honey's mirror.
A rare family photo from many moons ago.
Aurelia, loving on Momma and the baby.
The mommas and the soon to be new additions.
(This picture was from about 6 weeks ago,
we are marginally, um, more round of belly now).
Two little girls working on cutting their molars. They look so much like sisters.
Berry with Reli and Runa.
Here are a few photos from the Kaplans' last minute grand adventure to Club Med in Florida in June.
Some days Reli asks that we put many bows in her hair.
This was one of those days:
Dancing in the kitchen before work.
Reli Eating Beets:
Our big girl starts school at the end of August at Mariposa Montessori. We are really hoping that she likes it. She will have a few weeks to adjust before her new baby sister arrives. Wow, life is changing quickly around here. We are all growing by leaps and bounds.
