ten months

Greta turned ten months three weeks ago (OOPS) and she is changing so quickly. Her personality is bursting through and there are a few things we know for sure.
1. She's very curious and busy
2. She has no problem keeping up with her brothers in terms of NOISE and NAUGHTINESS
3. Her dimples aren't going anywhere

• She is just shy of 20 pounds
• She wears size 4 diapers 
• Her thighs are noticeably less chunky now that she's on the move
• She pulls up to her knees a lot and is an expert at reaching the Legos I've stashed away and putting them in her mouth
• She is trying to imitate us a lot more with words and gestures
• She waves bye-bye and says b-b-
• she LOVES her daddy and says "Dad-d" more than any other word
• She eats lots of table food but loves toast, scrambled eggs, cheerios, and applesauce the most
• She still loves her bath and splashes like crazy
• She loves to empty out the drawers and cupboards in the kitchen so the floor is even less clean than usual
• She is still a pretty bad napper and a pretty awesome night-sleeper
• She nurses four or five times a day
• She sits super patiently in the car while we wait in the school pick-up line for 20 minutes every afternoon
• She has four of the cutest little teeth you ever did see (2 on top, 2 on bottom)
• She still does the bunny nose and pulls all kinds of other faces that make us laugh
• She can sign MORE, NURSE, and sometimes ALL DONE

why my kid is crying (warren edition)

OHHHHHHHH, Warren.

Is he not the cutest little thing? He is so lucky he's cute. Never has a child challenged me to control my inner rage like this guy. **Please tell me I'm not the only mom who knows about inner rage.** Thankfully, at the end of the day he always finds a way to remind me how fiercely I love him (or maybe Jesus does that??) and how poorly I handle things...and all is good again. Often I think about how interesting it will be if Warren has a Warren someday and calls me with his Warren stories. And by interesting I mean ironic and hilarious because I can just say YEAH, I KNOW. So, for the sake of laughing at the stuff that makes me insane and also chronicling this for future Warren, I present to you: WHY MY KID IS CRYING. And keep in mind, he's three. Enough said.

• Because I'm holding the banana he asked me to hold 
• Because he "ran out of walks" (one of his favorite things to say) and we haven't even made it to the end of the driveway
• Because I'm driving too fast and he doesn't like fast (Note: I'm driving 24mph)
• Because he begged me for eleventy million hours for popcorn and then I gave it to him but he wanted it NOT POPPED.
• Because I wouldn't let him wipe me.
• Because he only has two arms and he needs three.
• Because he hasn't had a birthday in years
• Because the leaf he wanted to bring home from the park was just.too.heavy. for him to carry to the car

And that was only Tuesday.

nine months and new seasons

GRETA KAYE...

This little sis is nine months old!

And I may or may not have gone a little crazy and bought her this fruffy outfit online!

It was super hard to get a picture of her this month as all she wanted to do was dive head-first over the edge of the chair.

Here's what's new with Greta Girl these days:

• crawls everywhere and gets into EVERYTHING
• pulls up to her knees
• puts everything in her mouth
• has two teeth on the bottom and a tooth on the top right is just starting to peek through
• likes to cat nap in her swing and sleeps all night in her crib (except this past week which has been a little rocky with the teething)
• loves to eat and does really well with finger foods. Newest foods include scrambled eggs, pancakes, and a few tiny tastes of cool whip and pumpkin bread which she went nuts over
• tries to wave byebye by putting up her hand when Henry leaves for school
• wears size 3 and 4 diapers and has outgrown 6-month separates and 9-month sleepers
• nurses sporadically throughout the day
• likes to sit on the floor and play with her toys
• goes camping like a little champ
• likes being read to. Especially Pat the Bunny in which her favorite page is the Peek-a-Boo with Paul page
• has a little bit of apprehension about unfamiliar people
• still has the chunkiest thighs and knee dimples (I'm hoping these don't disappear now that she's moving)

WARREN CHRISTOPHER...

This buddy is officially three and a half (as of yesterday) and started art class at the community center last week. He had to miss his second class today because he has a cold. He is talkative, friendly, HILARIOUS, and gives us a run for our money in the patience department because he really knows how to whine. But...three is a hard age and there's just no way around it. When we walked in to art class the first day, he made sure everyone knew that his name is Warren, he's three years old, he wants to wear the pinkish paint shirt and he'll TRY not to have a potty accident. Alrighty then.

He still loves ponies, although Dameon and I sort of reached our wits end with the pony obsession (yes, we know we brought it on ourselves by buying him one million of them) so we agreed we aren't buying anymore pony merchandise or watching the My Little Pony cartoon anymore. We just need a BREAK. I will say his interests have started to branch out a little and he's more interested in things such as Curious George, Paw Patrol, and Legos than ever before. However, I found him napping like this the other day with the pony his cousins gave him (read: the pony he was going to have an all-out conniption over if we left there house without it) Who could resist that beautiful flowing mane?!

The start of the school year has, of course, brought a big change to our daily life around home as I'm trying to find a new routine with these two monkeys. Warren is a little lost without Henry around but it's nice because I get to see a much different side to his personality when he's not living in a constant state of trying to defend his territory. Hooray for sanity! P.S. That turban on Baby's head? www.blutaylor.com   SO ADORABLE

HENRY DEAN...
Of course if you follow me on facebook you know that Henry started preschool last month and it's been a little hard on me but I've handled it better than I expected. It helps so much that he loves school and gets a little sad about the weekend. He tells me here and there about a few new kids he plays with or sits by, so that makes me hopeful he's feeling included and also including others. He's always excited about the "specials" classes (art, p.e., music) and it's fun to see him experience new things. I pack his lunch most days but last week he wanted to eat school lunch a few times. After school on Thursday as he was eating snack he burped and then announced,"Wow, that hot dog I ate at lunch was so good I just tasted it again!"

A couple days before school started, we had a Meet the Teacher day. About 30 minutes before it started, he ran downstairs and asked me if he could shave so he would smell good for his teacher. (Sheesh, kid, Mommy's barely hangin' on here.)

Eight months

• No paper sign this month. She loves to eat paper!
• I don't know her exact weight but I would guess her to be right around 20 pounds.
• size 3 diaper...she's been having some pretty nasty diaper rash lately so we've been using cloth a lot more and some essential oils
• Her biggest adventures this past month: Going to Adventureland and camping for 3 nights at Jester Park!
• she has tried several different fruits and veggies and it's just now getting the hang of doing some chewing and swallowing. she's also pretty good with finger foods. still nursing throughout the day.
• wears size 9 month and 12 month clothing
• loves loves loves her brothers! kicks, squeals, and grins from ear to ear when she sees them.
• loves her Pat the Bunny book and has already destroyed two of the pages. her favorite part is the peek a boo with Paul page and she can find it on her own.
• sleeps all night every night (in her crib) and cat naps during the day (usually in her swing or in the car)
• goes from tummy to sitting, gets up on hands and knees but not crawling yet
• has a fondness for the "scrunchie nose face" (see photo above) 
• says Dada, mama, ssssssaaaaa, baba

seven months

      (We've got ourselves a sitter!)

      (Girl time with Mommy after dropping the boys off with Grandma for the night.)

     (I guess she's a little allergic to bug bites.)

     (Fun at the Fourth of July parade!)

     (A stop at Union Park on our way to Yankee Doodle Pops)

    (Sleeping beauty still likes her swaddle)

    (Thinking about crawling so she can chase those brothers.)

Greta stats:

•18 pounds (ish)

•size 3 diapers

•6-9 month clothes and 12 month sleepers

•mostly just breastfeeding still but has tasted watermelon, green bean, banana, and oatmeal

•sleeps all night and cat naps during the day 

•says dada and buhbuh

•sits all by herself 

•rolls everywhere

•loves to splash and suck her thumb in the bath

Summer Groove

It's weird how quickly things change. Before Henry started preschool last August it was hard to imagine him being away for three hours four days per week. What in the world would I do without him?! Crazy how quickly Warren and I settled into an afternoon routine (and of course eventually added Greta to the mix). About mid-April it hit me that in a few short weeks Henry would be on summer break and it would be like every day was a Wednesday. (Wednesdays are no preschool days in Pella.) At this stage, Henry is usually the easy one. And Greta is easy, too. **i'm looking at you, Warren** But I was just dreading having to endure days and days on end of the boys' fighting. Spring was a season of so much fighting. And tattling. Oh the tattling. Now, as a former early childhood teacher I have certainly endured lots and lots of tattling. But only for short spurts of time and then their mothers come and pick them up. Now...I am that mother. It was clear I was going to need a summertime game plan. I signed onto Pinterest hoping for some inspiration. But, who am I kidding? My mothering capabilities have become much less Pinterest-worthy than they were two kids ago so at first things were looking grim. And then I spotted it. A weekly routine that served more as a general guide than I minute-by-minute schedule. I felt like it was attainable. And helpful! I think I took a screen shot of it and sent it off to a few of my friends.

So Monday morning rolled around and after breakfast I brought the boys downstairs to the computer for the big reveal. (And hence learned I had over-hyped it way too much because both of them were expecting gifts. Let down.) I explained the gist of it to them and Henry stayed interested. Then I said, "So, what do you think?" To which Henry replied, "Wow, I gotta say. I was worried about kindergarten but this seems GREAT!" I think I kinda mumbled something about how this isn't kindergarten but then just let it go as to not lose my momentum. So we're now over a month in on this thing and I've gotta say it has been great! We haven't followed it every day because of course summer brings some spontaneity and such but overall we've gotten into it and the boys now even ask what day it is. I will say I've been slacking a bit on Craft Day and we've technically only done one craft (Garden Sun Catcher for the win!) but on the docket for this week is Cotton Candy play doh and that's sure to be a hit.
But beyond the summer schedule, the absolute best part of the summer so far has been the complete 180 the boys have done in the Getting Along department. I don't know what changed but they play together amazingly well and entertain each other for days on end. Dameon and I sometimes actually get scolded when we try to join in. Most of their time is spent developing many different story lines with their My Little Ponies but also these weird things called Shopkins have entered the picture. Does anyone even understand those things? But, yes, I pay the $2.88 for such treasures because they provide endless hours of peace, love, and weird names.

        Baking Day--chocolate muffins

Six months

•I don't know how big she is right now because her check up isn't until next week but I would guess about 16 pounds

•size 2 diapers but getting ready to graduate. I've been putting her back in cloth more now that she's bigger and they fit a little more snug

•her cradle cap 'scales' have started falling off a lot the past couple weeks and a lot of her hair has gone with them. Leading up to that she had a really cute curl on top of her head.

•she had her first taste of mashed bananas two night ago. For a second we thought she was really going to like it but just like that her lip popped out and she cried and cried. I think we'll wait a little longer before doing solids

•I think she is getting ready to cut some teeth. She's really anxious to gnaw on anything she can get her hands on. Especially her sippy cup. Plus she's been just a touch cranky the last two days--fussing almost every time I set her down or walk past her.

•she can roll every direction but no sitting up or scooting yet 

•loves her bath and goes crazy kicking and splashing

•usually goes to bed between 8-9 and sleeps til about 6:30. Almost always wants a morning nap but afternoon naps are short and choppy because of brothers being on the go. Sleeps in her crib swaddled with her arms out. Sometimes spends part of the night in her swing

•loves her brothers and gets so excited when they talk and play with her. She tries to talk back with loud squeals 

•sucks her thumb mostly but also sometimes latches on to any combination of fingers

•nicknames: Greta Girl, Sissy, and the boys have come up with the name Papoosie

Making the move

When it came to moving Warren out of his crib, there were a few things I knew for sure. The first was that I hoped to keep him in until he turned three. When Henry was little I read this article about the benefits of waiting until three and I felt good about it. Since Henry never attempted to climb out, I felt it was safe and he loved his crib. When we did move him into his toddler bed it went so smoothly that it reinforced the decision to wait longer than most. The second thing I knew was that I didn't want to switch Warren before the baby came if at all possible. I was barely sleeping anyway and didn't want to make any unnecessary transitions. Plus we have two cribs so there was really no need. I knew nap time would likely disappear for him once he moved, too, and there was no way I wanted to give that up during my third trimester! 

As his third birthday was approaching I started thinking about when and how to make the move, but Warren decided to take matters into his own hands two days before his birthday. I had put him in his crib for nap and he was really hollering about it. Then it got really quiet and I figured he had given in and gone to sleep. And then it happened. His bedroom door slowly opened and he appeared in the hallway. He didn't make any eye contact with me and instead just nonchalantly walked over to his chair and said, "Well, I guess I'll just finish my lunch now." When I asked him how he escaped he tried to reenact it but I still can't figure out exactly how he managed to do it and do it so quietly. When Dameon got home from work I broke the news to him and we switched his crib into a toddler bed. He was SO proud.

Surprisingly for a few days following the move, he didn't give up his nap but instead decided he would put himself down for nap. It was glorious.

All in all it has gone well. He fell out the second night but then Dameon came to the rescue and wedged a pool noodle under his sheet to create a barrier. For the most part he stays in bed until morning but he does wake up much earlier now than when he was in the crib and climbs into bed with us. He thinks he's really a big boy. Now if only we could get him potty trained...

Five months

•This girl is oh so kissable! I bet she gets about 100 kisses a day.

•this month's firsts:rolling over both ways, swinging on the play set, Tulip Time, putting things in her mouth, grabbing at everything she sees

•wears 6-9 month clothes

•losing some hair and has a good-sized bald spot on the back of her head

•exclusively breast fed

•size 2 diapers

•Dameon thinks her eyes are decidedly hazel but I still see some blue in there

•takes cat naps when she can get them throughout the day and sleeps all night in her crib 

•starting to be interested in baby toys

•loves to laugh and coo at her brothers

•has scratches all over her nose from clawing at her skin while she sucks her thumb

•switches her hands back and forth to her mouth while I change her clothes and giggles when you pull her arms out of her sleeves

•finds her thumb and gets drowsy anytime she can get ahold of a little piece of blankie, fabric, or tag 

•continues to be an extremely laid back go with the flow baby

Four months

       (14 pounds 8 ounces - 70%)

(24.75 inches long - 69%)

     (Sleeps all night in her crib swaddled with her arms out)

     (So happy to see her brothers and gives smiles all the time)

    (First Easter)

     (Likes to swing)

     (Getting beach ready)

    (Baptism)

    (Sharing snuggles with Gma Great)

     (Jazz Championships with Mommy)

    (Finally finds your thumb without much trouble)

    (Pushing head up and thinking about rolling)