The forgotten child

As I suppose is only natural, most parents aren't able to lavish as much attention on their second child as they did their first. I also assume that most parents feel very guilty about this. I know I do. With Afton, I'd come home from work and spend the whole evening with her. We'd walk around the backyard, I'd give her a bath each night, and we'd spend most of Saturday and Sunday together. With Ainsley, I haven't been able to give her that same undivided attention and I feel bad about that. The lack of attention is due, in large part, to simple arithmetic: Ainsley was born with a pre-existing sibling whereas Afton was born without one. Ainsley was therefore destined to not receive as much attention as Afton did. But some of it has to do with the fact that I'm now gone on Tuesday night, Wednesday night, some Thursday nights, and virtually all of Sunday. Needless to say, I haven't been able to spend as much time with Ainsley as I would like.

So here are a few pictures of Ainsley. She is a beautiful baby with chubby cheeks, light hair, and, incredibly, almost blue eyes.

I love you Ainsley!

Afton's ride

As Heather mentioned in an earlier post, Afton adores all things bicycle related. Last week she announced to Heather that she needed to talk to her Dad about getting one. On Saturday morning Afton told me that she "needed" her own bike. Being a push-over, we immediately went to Target and found the tricycle I had previously researched online. Afton could hardly contain her excitement to get home and ride it. I could hardly contain my trepidation at having to assemble the thing since I have zero mechanical ability whatsoever.

Only one of us in this picture actually understood the instructions. Here's a hint, it wasn't me.

I was apparently taking too long so Afton decided to start reading the instructions on her own.

Are you done yet?

Ainsley was very patient throughout the whole thing.
Almost done...
Riding her bike the next morning.

Even though Afton has loved her tricycle, I am afraid her crush may be short lived. Tonight when I got home, Heather informed me that when Afton saw an open top jeep today, her jaw dropped, her eyes widened, and she told Heather, "Afton need a jeep!" She then told Heather she would talk to "Dad" about it tomorrow. Anyone know how to assemble a jeep?

Please excuse my mother's lame photography

but I would like to share with you my smile...

and remind you that my parents really do have two children. At the moment, I am the more mellow of the two.

Biker Babe

Afton is turning out to be a little girl who likes her fingernails pink and her motorcycles loud.

A couple months ago, I pointed out a motorcycle to Afton that happened to be driving by our house. She immediately said, "A-nun aunt o-o-di-cle" -- Afton wants a motorcycle.

A few weeks after that, Afton saw a motorcyclist cruising by with a bandana on his head. She turned to me and asked, "Dere A-nun at?" -- Where's Afton's hat? We rummaged through my dresser until we produced a red bandana, and Afton promptly went to the back patio to drive her "motorcycle" around.

But she is no moron. She knows her scooter is not the real thing. A few days ago, over the course of an hour and a half of running errands, she continually pestered me with, "Dere A-nun o-o-di-cle?" At the grocery store checkout she was (almost) in tears over this lack of a personal motorcycle. We're talking some serious moaning.

Tonight she was cruising around the sidewalk on her scooter when a motorcycle pulled up to the stoplight. It was a totally lame motorcycle -- even I could tell that. But Afton stopped in her tracks, stood up, and refused to move until the light turned green. The poor guy did not know what to do with all the gawking. Afton was far from subtle.

Needless to say, I think she and Tony may be taking a trip to the store soon to get a tricycle. Maybe that will satiate her for a while.

Other Summer Stuff

This past summer was full of family, which was an unusual treat for us. Tony's sister and her family were here in Utah for about three month, so we were able to spend a lot of time with "uh-ul Dirt" (Uncle Kurt), "Aunt Ee-a" (Aunt Sylvia), "Dab" (Gavin), "Beelee" (Bailey), "Ah-ju," (Audrey), and "Baby Ah-men" (Baby Erin). (By the end, Afton could actually pretty much pronounce "Audrey.") They came to church with us, which made a world of difference for Afton. For the first time she didn't cry and cry and cry when we dropped her off at nursery -- all because she got to be there with Ah-ju. It was fun to have them over for Sunday dinner, and Afton couldn't get enough swimming in at their hotel pool.

Best of all, for me anyway, was that after Ainsley was born, Kurt and Sylvia would swing by the house and pick up Afton to take along on some of their excursions. Afton loved it. When I would tell her that she was going on a trip with Audrey and Bailey, she'd either run around inside the house like a crazy woman until they arrived or she'd insist that we sit on the porch watching for their van. By the end of the summer, anytime they left in their van, Afton wanted to be in it. I loved it because I could rest, have time with the baby, or just get things done in real time (as opposed to the way time runs when the Aftonator is around). I owe them big time.

Despite all the time we spent together, we evidently did not bust out the camera too much. But here's most of the crew:

We've missed them a lot.