Mary's 7-Month Update

Mary turned 7-months old on Easter, and here is her monthly photo in her cute Spring-time cardigan :).

This photo is from a couple weeks prior, and her smile is hilarious to me.  She's such a little ham.

I took this photo this morning, but it was too cute not to post.  

 

Both boys love their little sister and are really great with her.  Jack shows a little bit more interest just because he's older, but Owen is really cute with her too.  Hearing Owen say her name is extra adorable.  Just today they both wanted to hold her.  Jack asked if he could hold Mary first, and they both were so relaxed with each other.  Owen said he wanted to "feed Mary" since Jack was using the boppy pillow, so he got to hold her too.  

They both like to join her on the floor, and Mary loves the company.  She's always very interested in what they're doing.  

We went to the park last week, and I tried to put Mary in the swing for the first time.  She just kind of slumped to the side and showed very little emotion.  So she's not really impressed with the park yet.

I've been super slow about starting solids this go around, but we have started letting her join in on dinner.  She loves sitting at the table with us and trying new foods.  She'll eat just about anything so far, and she's pretty straight-faced when she tries things.  She's never made a disgusted face, but she has gotten extra excited about a few things.  She's loved strawberries and egg yolks the most so far, but she's also liked mango, pear, apple, banana, and sweet potato.  She ate avocado but didn't show much emotion over it.  She liked chewing on a steamed green bean, but she wasn't really able to eat much of it.  I gave her a taste of cod the other night, and she seemed to like it.  I also gave her a chicken bone to gnaw on a few nights ago, and she was super excited about that:   

I gave her a piece of chicken, which she sucked on for a second, but she was more interested in the bone.

Here she is with avocado:

Baby led weaning is great, because I can just let her try things.  She also gets used to feeding herself from the get go.  It seems like she's been swallowing some of what she's been eating, but a lot of it gets chewed up and comes back out as she gets the hang of the whole eating thing.  I ordered these spoons called Num Num Spoons where she can dip it into things like yogurt, pudding, etc., and there are special grippers that help the food cling to it so she can start learning to use a spoon while feeding herself.  Those should be here tomorrow, so I'm excited to try it out with her.

On March 20th I noticed that her bottom front right tooth was breaking through the gums.  About a week or so later the other bottom front tooth started breaking through the gums.  So she has the top part of both bottom front teeth now.  Besides her always chewing on things, you wouldn't know that she's teething at all, so that's good she doesn't seem to be having any pain.

She continues to be a great sleeper.  She sleeps from about 8:15pm-7:30am (give or take 30 minutes on both ends).  She's generally up chatting still around 5:30 or 6am, but she will usually go back to sleep for a little while longer.    She was really grumpy and fought nursing on an every 3 hour schedule, so I spread them out to every 4 hours now and it has made it much easier.  She'll be hungry after 3 hours occasionally, but 4 hours is working well overall.

Mary is about as easy going of a baby as anyone could ask for.  The only thing that is somewhat challenging is that she just wants to be held constantly.  She doesn't like being on the floor for long with toys, and she doesn't like to be put in the bouncer or her bouncy seat for more than a few minutes either.  I usually try to do most of our dinner prep during her second nap, because she'll just cry wanting to be picked up the whole time I'm trying to make dinner if she's awake.  My lower back and neck have been hurting pretty badly this week, and my wrist was hurting on the arm I hold her on just from holding her so much.   

Easter and the Beginning of Spring Weather

We had a pretty casual Easter this year, but we wanted to make it a fun day for the boys.  A couple days before Easter we decorated bunnies and hung them on our back door.  This was a great craft for Owen, because it was easy to put all the stickers on to decorate the bunny.

Jack had an Easter egg hunt at preschool, and each kid in his class brought 6 filled eggs.  Jack was super excited to open up the 6 eggs he came home with that afternoon.

I was busy doing something in the other room, and he snuck his basket off the counter and hid in a different room.  I was calling out for him and he wasn't answering.  When he finally responded he was finishing up chewing something.  I asked him what he was eating, and he told me he was eating an apple.  Seeing as I had not given him an apple I had to question his story :).  I smelled his mouth, and the look on his face when he realized he was about to be found out was priceless.  He had eaten one of the chocolates from his basket while in hiding.  I had to turn around to hide my smile at how funny he was, and we discussed how it's not good to lie.  

On Easter morning the boys painted Easter eggs instead of dying them.  Owen was interested for about 1.5 eggs, but Jack really enjoyed it.

 

It was wet and a little rainy on Easter, so we did an Easter egg hunt in our house instead of outside as planned.  We filled a bunch of eggs with small toys, candy, stamps, and coins.  They had a great time running from room to room looking for the eggs.

The past month has given us some better weather overall for getting outside more often.  We've taken a few trips to the neighborhood parks.  

The boys built some houses out of sticks.  Jack said he was building a house for worms.  I asked what animal Owen was making a house for, and he said a cow.

When Jack is at school and Mary's napping Owen and I have fun in the backyard.  We kick around soccer balls and practice t-ball.  He looks like a natural in this photo:

 

Jack has started showing interest in making his lunch for school.  I set everything out for him last week, and he got it all organized in his lunchbox.  

The grass is turning green and the birds are always chirping, so we're looking forward to some great days outside trying to get out all of the energy that these two little boys have. 

A Little Winter Cabin Fever

I think we have finally turned a corner this week into warmer weather, but the past month or two has left us with a bit of cabin fever.  Jack has had so many days of school cancelled from inclement weather, and we have had to find activities to keep busy in the house.  Jack has always been really interested in drawing, and his pictures continue to get more intricate.  He draws several pictures a day, but this is an example of one:

His finger is pointing to a duck in a pond.  Below the pond to the right is a sun and a moon with another duck walking around.  Below the duck in the pond to the left is a princess with her cone shaped hat and veil flying in the wind.  He always draws these busy scenes which tell a story he comes up with.  He's so creative, and it's fun to see how he views things through his pictures.

He has also found an interest in coloring, and I have been waiting 4 years for this day.  I really find coloring enjoyable, and I have been hoping that someone would find an interest in it soon.

He did a great job coloring inside the lines, and he added the storm clouds and rain above Curious George.  He asked me to show him how to draw a star, and he did really well copying mine.

Jack always wants to play games in the morning when he wakes up.  He's had a lot of fun with this spelling puzzle.

We've also played a lot of picture bingo, because Owen understands and is able to play the game as well.

Owen wakes up pretty late each morning.  If you would have told me in the first 13 months of his life that he would sleep as well as he does I would have told you that you were crazy.  He goes to bed at around 8:30pm and sleeps until at least 9:30am, but there are days he won't wake up until 11am.  Plus he takes a 3-4 hour nap!  On the days he wakes up super late I just give him a giant brunch since he is between two meal times.  Here was plate number one, and he ate even more after this:

We've had some decent snow storms that have given the boys an opportunity to play.  Since we no longer live near the beach, the boys use their sand tools for digging snow.

Unfortunately the weather cancelled Daddy Dinner at Jack's preschool.  Jack came home from school one day with a coaster that they made for the dads as a gift for the dinner night.  His picture was adorable:

This past weekend Jonathan took the boys to a monster truck show while Mary and I enjoyed girl time at home.  Jonathan said Owen was scared at first since it was sooo loud, but he enjoyed it once Jonathan put his hands over Owen's ears.  They both had a lot of fun, and Jack continues to talk about the trucks smashing the cars.

After Mary's doctor visit today I took the boys for haircuts since Jack has school pictures tomorrow.  They both did a great job and no one had a tantrum!  Jack is a little gamer and enjoyed the free arcade games in the front.

The weather this week looks pretty good, and I'm hoping this is truly the beginning of spring weather.  I'd like to get a little bit more Vitamin D and spend some time at the park getting little boy energy out.

Mary's 6-Month Update

Mary turned 6-months last Thursday, and here is her 6-month picture collage:

We went in for her 6-month wellness visit today to get her stats:

Weight: 15 lbs., 6 oz. (37th percentile) **this was a big percentile drop from last time
Height: 26.4 inches (74th Percentile)
Head: 43.4 cm/ 17.09 inches (76th percentile)

As seems to happen to all of our children, they become long and lean with larger than average heads!

Mary's skills continue to get stronger, and it's fun to watch her little personality.  She is still willing to do some tummy time and play with her toys.  She is in love with the keys in the picture on the right.

She likes the bouncer for about 5-10 minutes at a time only.  I usually put her by our front window so she can look out at the bird feeder.  She really doesn't like to be in any sort of baby contraption (bumbo, bouncer, etc.) for very long.  She pretty much just likes to be held.  The only other semi-acceptable substitute is if you put her on the floor or couch and give her direct eye contact while talking to her :).    

Like her mother, she is not a girly-girl and does not appreciate bows :).  A few people told me that if I want her to wear bows then you need to start young.  So far it's not going well.

The newest thing we have been practicing is sitting up unsupported.  She can sit up for a few seconds without any help, but she does really well with the boppy pillow around her. She sat upright on the floor for quite a while today with the slight assistance of the pillow.

Sleep has been going well (knock on wood), and she has been sleeping 11-12 hours straight each night.  About twice a week she'll wake up crying to eat around 4-5am.  I feed her before bed, and she goes down awake and puts herself to sleep pretty quickly.  For the past week she's been waking up between 3:30 and 5 am, and I can hear her chatting to herself in bed over the monitor.  About 5-10 minutes later she'll just fall back to sleep.  If she doesn't cry then I don't go up there and assume she's not hungry, just in the mood to talk.  

     

Here's a couple more pictures of Mary being sweet and enjoying some face-to-face time.

I'll be starting to introduce some foods soon.  I'm going to stick with the baby led weaning strategy that I used with Owen instead of purees.  I'm just trying to get myself mentally prepared for the mess that comes with learning to eat :).

Valentine's Day and Girls Weekend in Chicago

Jackson was really excited about Valentine's Day, which he calls Just Because I Love You Day, just as he's excited about most holidays.  His preschool class had a Valentine's party last Thursday, so we prepared little cards for his class.  I made his name traceable on the back of each card since it was such a small space to fit his name.  He did such a great job tracing his name legibly on all 15 cards.  I asked him if he wanted to take a break part way through and he said, "I don't need a break.  I don't get tired."

When he got home from school he emptied his box of goodies and picked out a sucker.  He was even willing to give Owen a sucker to show him that he loves him.

The next day Jackson told me that he wanted to make me a card.  He told me he wanted to make one because he loves me.  He said he loved me because I give him water as well as listing off a few other day-to-day things that I do for him.  It was so sweet that he listed things that seem like mundane tasks but obviously mean something to him.  The bear card is a card he made at school.  The card with all the hearts is the one he made for me at home.  It's a punching robot, another robot, and a bunch of "I love you hearts," in his words.

 

Mary and I left for Chicago Valentine's Day afternoon, but Jonathan and I made heart-shaped waffles for the boys that morning.  They also each got a dry erase crayon board and mini M&Ms.

Valentine's Day afternoon the boys dropped Mary and me off at the airport for our trip to Chicago.  Jonathan had Monday off of work, so we took advantage of a longer weekend.  Mary was a very good travel buddy.  She was easy to keep happy overall with only a few short crying episodes when she got tired.  In the picture on the left we were hanging out in the airport waiting area, and she was happy playing with her teething ring and a make-shift mobile with a teething necklace.  We had a row to ourselves, so on the right she is just laying in the empty seat next to me.

When we arrived in Chicago the temperature was 7 degrees with a windchill of -13 degrees.

I brought Mary to meet my Grandma in her assisted living home.  My parents and sister came long on Sunday afternoon.  On Monday morning Mary and I went back with my mom and brought my Grandma a chocolate shake :).  My Grandma met the boys a little under 2 years ago, so I wanted to make sure she had the chance to meet Mary as well.  Mary was full of smiles, coos and 'talking,' and grabbing her fingers.  It was a really sweet time.

One of the funniest things about our visit was how much attention we received from all of the residents at the assisted living home.  Mary was quite the popular little baby.  I think we met nearly everyone who lived there, and they would come up to tell us they heard there was a baby around.

Talking to all the women and men in their 80s and 90s is always such a reminder of how special this time in life is.  So many of them told stories of their children when they were babies, and I heard over and over what a blessing Mary is.  My Grandma asked about a rocking chair from her house that my parents now have at their house, and she was talking about how she remembers nights rocking my dad in that chair when he was a baby.  During this time of life that sometimes feels chaotic and definitely low on sleep, it is a nice reminder to slow down and soak it all in since time goes by so quickly.

Mary's 5-Month Update and A Month of Sickness

Mary turned 5-months old this past Thursday, but I just took her 5-month photo today:

Some of the major milestones for the month include:  

• Mary rolled front to back for the first time on January 22nd
• Mary rolled back to front for the first time on February 11th
• We moved Mary out of our bedroom into her own room this past Sunday, February 9th

This was Mary on the actual 5-month mark:

Mary woke up the morning of the 5th with a 103.6 fever as the final child in our home to fall victim to the flu.  When she woke up that morning her cry sounded different than usual.  It was this really sad, miserable sounding cry.  When I went to pick her up she felt like she was on fire.  Since her fever was so high we called the doctor and headed straight over.   They weighed her while there, and she weighed 15 lbs., 1 oz.

It was so sad seeing her so sick that I got teary eyed a few times.  It's definitely scary to have such a young baby be sick since you can't give her anything besides Tylenol.  The doctor encouraged using Tamiflu for all of the kids, but I've read things about Tamiflu that made me weary of using it.  The second day she was sick, any time that she was awake she was crying just from feeling miserable.

She was a little bit happier in the carrier.

She actually recovered faster than the boys did and was back to her happy self after about 2 days.    Here's a little picture collage of Mary being cute this month. 

The second week of January Jack's class had pajama day.  When I picked him up the teacher told me that he was the 'Music Shining Star' for his participation as well as the line leader for the day.   He was pretty excited about it.

After that fun day at school he missed the next two days due to a respiratory infection.  That cold was also passed on to Owen.  We had to go to the doctor, because Owen's cold turned into croup and Jack was having difficulty breathing.  Jack had an x-ray done to check for pneumonia, which he did not have.  Both boys were sent home with a steroid, and Jack had to use an inhaler at night due to difficulty breathing.  Mary caught a mild cold, but she avoided anything too terrible.

Jack was able to return to school after a week off.  When I picked him up from school the second day the teacher told me he had not been acting himself, he was out cold during nap time, and he cried when she woke him up.  When we got home he did not have a fever.  Within 2 hours it was up to 102.5.    His fever ended up reaching 106.4 the next day, so we went back to the doctor.  They did a flu test, RSV test, and drew blood to make sure that bacteria was not in his bloodstream.  He ended up having the flu and strep throat.  Within 2 days Owen had a fever of 104, and we were back to the doctor for him to see if he also needed an antibiotic for strep.  He ended up having the flu but not strep.  Both boys were pretty miserable with the flu lasting about 6-7 days.

Both boys were starting to look better and their fevers were gone, so we took a trip around the block to the park.

The day after this park trip is when Mary woke up with the flu.  We thought she had dodged it since their illnesses were ending, but unfortunately she got hit too.  The morning that Mary woke up sick, Jonathan turned back around from driving to work to come home and take care of the boys while I took Mary to the doctor.

Besides people being sick most of January, my mom came down to visit for a week.  She arrived just as the boys were getting over their respiratory infections, and the flu started in the last 2 days of her visit.  So, she got some good healthy days with them to play :).

I wanted to include a super adorable picture of the boys that Jonathan took.  He told them to say cheese for a picture for the grandparents, and this is what they did:

So, we're hoping the remainder of February is full of health and happiness in our home.  Jack is looking forward to his Valentine's Day party at school tomorrow.  Mary and I are leaving Saturday afternoon to go up to Chicago for the long weekend, so it's a boys weekend at our house!

Jack's 4 Year and Owen's 2 Year Wellness Visit

I'm about 2-months late getting the boys in for their annual wellness visits, but they were both sick around their birthdays so I decided to wait until Mary's next visit and knock it all out at one time.  It was an almost 2-hour long visit getting everyone's stats, answering developmental questions, and all three had to get shots.

Jack's 4-year stats:
Weight: 33 lbs., 3 oz. (21st percentile)
Height: 41.5 inches (68th percentile)

Confirming what we already know…long and lean.  This is why his jeans will be huge in the waist and super short in length :).  

Owen's 2-year stats:
Weight: 27.0 lbs. (31st percentile)
Height: 35.5 inches (65th percentile)
Head: 50.5 cm (87th percentile)

Both boys had to get some shots today.  Owen had to get two, which is more than normal at this age since we followed a slightly alternative schedule.  Jack had to get three shots to finish up in preparation for kindergarten.  We had the option to wait until next year to get these since he won't go to kindergarten until August 2016, but Jack said that he wanted to get shots like Owen and Mary.  I figured next year he might not be as willing of a participant, so I capitalized on his wanting to do it this time and got it over with.  Jack went first so he didn't see the other two cry and get scared.  Owen went second, and he didn't realize what was going on even though he watched Jack.  Mary went last to finish off the scream session.  It's always so sad to watch, but the boys were rewarded with a cake pop from Starbucks for being brave and well-behaved at a long appointment.