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)

Three months

recently graduated to size 2 diapers (only wears cloth once in awhile)

eye color seems to be settling in as blue

has kept most of her hair but has small bald spot on back of head

has figured out how to reach up and grab ahold of the toys hanging down from her play mat

smiles and coos readily

loves to have the attention of her brothers (henry's attention lasts longer, of course, and they share lots of conversations together)

not sure how much she weighs but it's a lot

sleeps through the night pretty much every night (yessssssss. and no 'how to' book made this happen. she was just born awesome.)

doesn't seem anywhere close to rolling over (#tummytimefail)

laughs when you change her clothes. mostly the part where you take her arms out of her sleeves.

has no interest in binkies or bottles. really wants to find her thumb but so far only finds her fist.

holds onto both her thumbs with her index fingers. sooooo cute!

still not a big fan of her carseat but seems to be getting better

likes riding around on mommy in the ergo carrier...especially while brothers are playing at the park

nicknames: Greta Girl and Sissy

has many chins. so many. i just discovered a new one last week right in the front that i don't think had ever been washed. oops.

This kid

Oh, Warren. I don't even know where to being with you! Warren has the best personality. We've seen it since Day One. Super laid back baby and cute as a button. Smiley and talkative. Passionate about ponies. BUT...three was the hardest age with Henry and we've seen three coming with Warren for about...well...18 months. Warren is our boy who cried wolf. He is teeny tiny for his age and has learned his best defense in life is noise. He screams and cries about everything. And with the same intensity regardless of whether his sleeve is touching his thumb or he's pinned under a rocking chair. Therefore, it makes it really challenging to know when to actually respond to the shrieking. Because if I didn't sometimes ignore him, I would die of crazy.

Anyway. Mixed in with the noise is a whole bunch of cuteness that is just so Warren. 

•When I am about to make him take a nap, his latest phrase is, "Can I just play for a few whiles?"

•When he's sitting on the potty chair or working on a diaper he says, "Leave me pribacy!" (Yes, priBacy)

•instead of saying, "Im so excited!" He says, "I'm so exciting!"

•he says Lasterday instead of Yesterday. And, honestly, it makes a lot more sense.

•One day he was asking me the ages of various people in our family. Finally he asked how old he is. I told him he's two but he will be three very soon on his next birthday. He then got a super sad look on his face and said, "But, Mommy, When will I be 'W'?"

•This past weekend Dameon took the boys to his aunt's house because she had a new pony and blanket for Warren. That night I said, "Who gave you that pony? Was it Jim?" He said, "No, it was Meerwax." I said, "Miralax?" (He takes miralax often). He looked puzzled and said, "No! What's that boys name? Ohhhh! Awex (Alex)"

•his second love in life after ponies is drinking bath water (WHY????)

•his third love in life after ponies and drinking bath water is play doh. Plays it for hours and mixes the colors which drives us nuts but I finally gave up trying to police the play doh and now just buy Henry his own set.

•It is hard to find him not wearing his Pony hat (see photo below). He doesn't even take it off to sleep. Summer should be fun.

•Today he escaped his crib for the first time. I know it's kinda weird to still have him in a crib but it's been working out great until now. I put him down for nap screaming and suddenly he was eerily quiet. Then the door slowly opens and he nonchalantly walks out into the kitchen. Without making eye contact he says, "Well, I think I'll just finish my lunch now and then I'll sleep tomorrow."

•last week I had all three kids at the park and, much to his dismay, I made Warren swing on the "big kid" swing because there was no way I could heave him up into the baby swing while also wearing Greta. I was going over the top explaining how he was big enough to swing like the big kids because he will be three in one week yadda yadda. Three days later I took him to a different park where he immediately ran over to the baby swing and said, "Mommy, since I poop in my diaper a lot, can I swing in the baby swing?" (You got me there, kid.)

Here he is with his pony hat, ponies, and play doh. And for the record (and I quote): "IM NOT MIXING THE COLORS, IM CONNECTING THEM!" Shouted not spoken, of course.

Greta's birth in photos

more Henry funnies

(His "I just drank hot cocoa from a really large mug" face)

Another installment of funny things that have come from Henry over the past few months...

•for Christmas we gave him a spy kit so he's been working on the art of sneaking and being inconspicuous. #nothisstrength. One day he came into the room with all his spy gear and said to Dameon and me, "Okay, raise your hand if you want to be spied on!"

•he calls Parmesan cheese "carmage cheese"

•he says "figury" instead of "figure"  As in, "We need to figury out how to use this."  It's probably my favorite thing ever.

•the other day he told me that if you have five four times then you have twenty. Flabbergasted, I asked him how he knew. He proceeded to count his fingers and toes.

•comes bursting in the door with a pine cone he found in our yard and exclaims, "Mommy, look what I found! Now we can make syrup!"

•asked me if he could marry me. When I told him I'm already married he said that's fine because he'll just marry Greta or Warren.