11 Months Stats

11 MONTHS
(Do you think she's tired of posing yet?)

30 1/2 Inches
21.2 Lbs.
12 month clothes, Size 3 shoe, Size 4 diaper
No teeth yet, but it looks like #'s D, E, F and G will be first (and all at the same time!)
They are bulging under the tissue.

HEALTH: Head cold/cough #2.

NEW TRICKS:

• After a short round of baby boot camp the first week of December, Harper is back to sleeping solidly for about 12 hours every night.
• Balances up on knees, bounces up and down.
• Sometimes stands alone for a few seconds, until she realizes what she's doing!
• "Talks" on her toy phones.
• Hugs and rocks her babies.
• Makes "scrunchy face" all the time.
• Initiates a game of peek-a-boo with anyone who looks at her.
• Speed-demon crawler.
• Sits in a "hurdler" pose all the time, with one leg bent and the other straight in front of her.
• Can drink out of a Dixie cup (spills a little, but can do it)
• We think she's said a few words, but just randomly... "uh oh" when she throws stuff off her high chair, "eye" (and points to eyes)...
• She has pretty much stopped sucking her thumb. Every now and then she'll pop it in if she's really tired, but it's very rare now. I actually kind of miss it! But I'm glad, since she'll probably get a tooth soon.
  

FAVORITE FOODS:
Shredded cheese, baby meat sticks, any canned vegetable, hard boiled egg whites, beans, cheerios, elbow macaroni.

FAVORITE BOOKS:
Rainbow Rob makes her smile every time, Millie Moo, Good Night Moon.

FAVORITE TOYS/ACTIVITIES:
Pushing the top on her ball popper, crawling through her new activity house thing she got for Christmas, pulling up on everything, rocking on the rocking horse, playing in the play tunnel with Brax. Playing patty-cake (this ALWAYS makes her smile) and peek-a-boo.

DAILY ROUTINE:
Up at 6:30
6:45 breakfast-whole jar of fruit and some dry cheerios
8:45 4-6 oz bottle, then down for nap at 9 till about 10:30
11:00 lunch-4-5 meat sticks, a cup of veggies, handful of shredded cheese; will also still eat jarred baby food if we give it to her (big jar of meat/veggie)
12:30 4-6 oz bottle, down for nap at 12:45 till about 2:30
3:00 snack-jar of food or some finger food
5:00 dinner-same as lunch
6:15 bath
6:30 6 oz bottle, to bed at 6:45

FAVORITE SONGS:
Dances to anything!

DISLIKES:
Having her nose wiped, being in a room by herself, holding still for a diaper change. She always has a little hissy when I get her out of the bathtub, too. She LOVES to play in the water!

MOMENTS I DON'T WANT TO FORGET:

• I was feeding her breakfast on Christmas morning and she reached over, grabbed my face and gave me a big open-mouthed kiss. She had her arms by my neck and hugged!
• How she speed-crawls over to me, grabs onto my pants and says "uh uh uh" till I pick her up.
• How when I go in to get her out of bed, she lays there and smiles like she's pretending to be asleep.
• Face-grabbing, open mouthed kisses.
• How her little booty wiggles side to side when she crawls.
  

3 Yr/5 Mo Stats

HEALTH: Respiratory infection #4. Mild again, no biggy.

NEW TRICKS:

• Likes to show off his ability to balance on one foot.
  
• Likes to jump of the footboard on our bed and off the couch. Not encouraged, tho!
• Articulating his "r" sounds perfectly now! Without any guidance, he just started pronouncing his "r's" the right way... It makes him sound so grown up! For example, instead of saying "Hoppa," he says his sister's name right! Or instead of "twuck" it's "truck."
  
• I've been trying to teach him that girls like to be touched softly, not rough. (Mainly to get him to be gentle with Harper, but I figure this won't hurt his game with the ladies down the road!) So now he will come up and caress her face (or mine). It's so sweet!

FAVORITE FOODS:
Still only eats oatmeal, yogurt and chocolate milk for breakfast. Will try about anything Miss Noelle brings over-he loves to eat her Clementine oranges. Very picky otherwise. LOVES popcorn.

FAVORITE BOOKS:
Smiley Shark, Thomas Breaks a Promise, Thomas and the Great Discovery

FAVORITE TOYS/ACTIVITIES:
He's still trying out all his new toys from Christmas. His request from Santa was dinosaurs, so he is loving those. He also got several board games (Chutes and Ladders, Hi Ho Cherry-O, Candyland, Connect Four, etc.) so we are working on learning how to play them and following directions. So far, his attention span doesn't last much past me getting the game set up! Ha!
Loves watching his popcorn popper.

DAILY ROUTINE:
Up around 7:30, still typically naps for about 1-2 hours, in bed around 8.

FAVORITE SONGS:
He memorized several Christmas songs this year, so I hear him singing bits and pieces of those all the time! So cute.

DISLIKES:
He still doesn't like Harper getting into his stuff, but he is better about "trading" her when he wants what she has.

MOMENTS I DON'T WANT TO FORGET:

• Our lunch dates at Chic-Filet.
• One night I was putting him to bed... I thought he was almost asleep, when he asked me, "Does Jesus save us?" "Yes, He does," I said. "Does He wear a cape?" he asked. Not sure how to answer that, I just said, "Well, maybe?" Brax then asked, "Does He save us from a fire?" (he was thinking in terms of how firefighters save us, I guess) but since technically Jesus does save us from eternal fire, I said yes. Then he asked the million dollar question, "HOW does He save us?" I'm certainly no biblical scholar, but I do know this one. "Jesus saved us by dying on the cross so that we could go to heaven someday. All you have to do is believe in Him." It amazes me how God works on even the littlest hearts.
  
• One night while I was cleaning up the dinner dishes, he said, "Mom, I wanna give you a hug." He climbed up on a chair and stood there and hugged me for what seemed like minutes, then went about his business.
• Sleeping together while we were at Grammy's over Christmas and snuggling in the mornings.
• I was helping him get dressed one day and he started singing, "Mommy mommy mommy, I love you..."

BRAXISMS:

• He was banging on his xylophone while I was reading Harper a book. I asked him to choose a more quiet toy. "I'M PLAYING A SONG AND YOU HAVE TO LIKE IT!" he retorted.
• We were listening to "Let it Snow." When the song said, "It doesn't show signs of stopping..." He said, "Did the snow wash away the stop signs??"
• He fell down, jumped up and said, "There's no blood! I'm ok!!"
• Randomly says "pop-tart" alot.
  
• Kept wanting to play in "the creepy room" at Grammy's (the bedroom with the lights off!)
• He and his cousin Joel were wrestling on the blow up bed and Brax kept saying, "Fight! Fight! Fight!" (They were just playing around, no one really got mean!)
  

Just FYI

I am getting caught up with my blogging. I have posted some from October, but made them to where they show up back-dated instead of the date I post them on. So scroll back thru to see new-old posts!
Does that even make sense???

10 Month Stats

10 MONTHS

Ht/Wt/Teeth:
29 1/2 inches
20 lbs
No teeth (no surprise)
Still wearing 9 month clothes, but I'll be breaking out 12 month stuff this weekend!
Size 4 diapers
Size 3 shoes

HEALTH: Had a virus this month that lasted about 10 days-very frequent and mushy poo (good to know, right?), a rash all over her neck, shoulders and back, and a congested/runny nose. Thank goodness no ear infection!

NEW TRICKS:
In just the last 4-5 weeks she has done so many new things! It started with being able to get from her tummy to sitting up, then was able to pull up on the fireplace the next week. The week after that, she was starting to crawl up on all fours (versus her usual tummy scoot) and she figured out how to sit down from a standing position. The next week she started slowly walking along while holding onto the couch. A few days later she was consistently (and quickly) crawling up on all fours (mostly to chase Brax.) It is just incredible to watch how she has become so mobile and sturdy in such a short time!
She also...

• Can drink from a sippy.
• Claps her hands when she sees someone else do it.
• Gives kisses upon request (especially to Daddy).
• Pulls up in her crib and shakes the side of it.
• Sits in the bathtub and plays all over (instead of sitting in the blow-up tub I used to put in the big tub).
• Sometimes gives "high 5" and waves.
• Signs "all done" and "please."
• Responds when we tell her not to touch something.
• Says "Momma" and I love it!!!
  

FAVORITE FOODS:
LOVES food she can chew! Cheerios, peas, carrots, butternut squash cubes, shredded cheese, bread, diced baby apples. Really prefers solids vs. baby food.

FAVORITE BOOKS:
Any of the hard kind she can chew on.

FAVORITE TOYS/ACTIVITIES:

• LOVES to dance while watching "The Fresh Beat Band" on Nick Jr.
  
• Clapping, playing Patty-Cake. This always makes her smile.
• Sleeping with her head nestled against her bumper in the corner of the crib.
• Playing in the bathtub. Doesn't mind water over her face.
• Chewing on toothbrushes. Gets VERY mad when I take them away.
• Sitting in her toybox.
• Loves jumping her jumperoo.
• Sucking either thumb (she used to prefer the right one.)
• Hiding in our play tunnel.
• Riding the rocking horse.
• Being held by me as I do anything. Always wants to be in the same room as us, doesn't like to be left alone.
  

DAILY ROUTINE:
She hasn't been a great night sleeper this past month. I thought it was because she was sick... now I think it's just a habit. She is waking at least once to eat, sometimes twice to be held.
6:30ish-up
7am-breakfast (Cheerios and a jar of fruit)
8:45-4 oz bottle
9-10:30ish-nap
11:00-lunch (a big jar of veggie/meat and some solid finger food)
12:45-4 oz bottle
1:00-2:30ish-nap
3:00-snack (finger food or a jar of veggies)
5:30-dinner (jar of meat/veggie and solid finger foods)
6:00-bath/books/6 oz bottle
6:30-to bed
11pm and 3am or anywhere in between--eating a 6 oz bottle, wanting to be held. I need to do a round of baby boot camp... Not wanting to.

FAVORITE SONGS:
Loves when Brax sings Jingle Bells!

DISLIKES:
Sour fruit baby food (peaches, apricots). Being put down and not being able to see us. Strangers/new baby-sitters.

MOMENTS I DON'T WANT TO FORGET:
The first time I think she really said "Momma" and meant me-it was Thanksgiving day and we were at my Aunt Kathi's. I was trying to get her to take a nap in her pack n play, and she was not having it. She was crying, and she said "Momma" twice! Needless to say, I went in and got her up!
One day she was standing in her crib and waved at me when I went in to get her out of bed. She is always so happy when she wakes up. Usually she is laying on her tummy playing when I hear her wake up, and when I go in she puts her head back down like she's pretending to hide or something! I can see her smiling as I say, "Good morning, sleepy head!"

3 Yr/4 Mo Stats

HEALTH:
Nov. 11-Fell on the wood floor, busted his chin open--4th ER trip. Got 2 stitches and took it like a champ.
Nov. 13-Round 3 of seasonal respiratory illness. Had 101.6 fever one night, but otherwise easily treated w/ BT's.

NEW TRICKS:

• Randomly talks in funny southern accent.
• Pours his own drinks out of his mini-pitcher.

FAVORITE FOODS:
Chocolate milk. Popcorn. Any carbs. Everything else is pretty much force-fed these days.

FAVORITE BOOKS:
We broke out our collection of Christmas books! So far, his favorite is "The Smell of Christmas" that has scratch and sniff stickers in it!

FAVORITE TOYS/ACTIVITIES:

• Loves to tie string to anything and pull it around.
• Made up a contraption using the long tube attachments from my vacuum cleaner--puts his plastic banana in them and sticks them together, pretends it's a number of things. Very random.
• Most common activity is taking whatever Harper has and acting like he really wants to play with it.

DAILY ROUTINE:
Up around 7:30, does okay skipping his afternoon nap a couple times a week. Still sleeps for about 2 hours though when he does nap. Goes to bed around 8:30.

FAVORITE SONGS:
Christmas music, of course! Knows Jingle Bells, and likes to change the word "sleigh" to "car." "Dashing through the snow, in a one horse open carrrrr...."

DISLIKES:
Eating.

MOMENTS I DON'T WANT TO FORGET:

• I was brushing his teeth before bed and he grabbed my neck and pulled my face next to his. We were both smiling, looking in the mirror. I told him to remember this moment!
• We spent the weekend at Nana Star and Papa T's, on the last day he said, "I had so much fun here!"
• Brax and I going on the neighborhood horse-drawn trolley ride.
  
• Thanksgiving. My dad came in town and we crossed lots of fun things off the Christmas-activity-to-do list--visiting Santa, going to look at lights, and going to a movie!
  

BRAXISMS:

• Listening to a Louis Armstrong Christmas song, he asked, "Is this a strong man singing?"
• When asked at school how to make a turkey, he answered, "
• Runs around saying, "Catch me if you can!!!" and "Missed me, missed me, know you gotta kiss me!" I guess he learned this at school.
• Harper was screeching at him in the backseat. He told her, "Do it one more time and I'll turn you into a tree!" (He got this from a book.)
• "I said crap on accident."
• One night he came running to me after looking out the window. He was SO excited, he said, "LOOK AT THE STARS!!!" (He was seeing the street lights, thinking they were enormous, close-up stars... I didn't correct him.)
• After bath one night, he noticed the pictures I have on the wall in the bathroom. He told me they were pretty. Then he said, "You are pretty, too. I love you!" Such a charmer!!!
• After we were done doing our grocery shopping at Wal-Mart, he asked me if I would give him a ride home. HA!
• I swear, he still tells me he loves me like 5 times a day. "I love you dery much, Momma." (Yes, very with a "d.")
  
• "I need a different eyeball. This one hurts." (It was itching him.)
• We were walking into the movies and he noticed the thin, feathery clouds in the sky. He said, "LOOK! The clouds are stretched out!!!"
• I stubbed my toe and said "Owwww!" He asked what happened, and when I told him, he said, "Oh, I'll kiss it and make it better."
• Trying to pronounce "Marmaduke" and was having a hard time. He exclaimed, "I'm tongue tied!!!"
• Sitting on the stairs in our entry way, said "I'm just enjoying the air." (He was sitting where the sun was shining on them and it was really warm.)
• At school they asked the kids how to make the Thanksgiving turkey. Brax's answer: "Put pasta in the turkey. I put cheese on mine. Put icing on it. Put candy on it. Cook it at your house for 7 seconds."
  

In the meantime...

While I take a break from blogging, I will be putting pics on Facebook.
It is so much faster to upload pics there than on Blogger.
Click HERE for my FB link.

Pause

I am writing this to officially release myself from the grips of this blog (temporarily!)
I have had a hard time keeping up with frequent postings since Halloween, and I seriously lose sleep over this! But I just have too much going on right now... catching up our family photo album (the blurb book) and getting started on making a DVD out of the last year of home videos... not to mention all the fun in preparing for Thanksgiving and Christmas!
Something has got to give, and I'm afraid it's going to be the blog for awhile. Grandparents, I know this will be sad news for you, but I guess that means you just have to come visit us more often to see the kids' sweet faces :-)
Don't worry, I'll be back... but for now, my blog posting may be sporadic. Just a heads up!

Tulsa Trip

For all 3 of you who read my blog... Sorry for the extended absence!
We have been so busy since Halloween--I am almost 3 weeks behind on blogging all the fun stuff we've been doing! Halloween parties, trips to the pumpkin patch, grandparents here, trip to the grandparents', getting ready for Turkey day... But my biggest time-sucker-upper is managing this hobby I like to call "memory preservation." I've been getting caught up on my Blurb book (the digital photo album I make-one for every 6 months) and then I have the weight of a year's worth of video sitting on my shoulders that needs to be made into a DVD... If I don't stay on top of this stuff it will NEVER get done! I DO enjoy it, but sometimes it gets to be overwhelming. (Perhaps that's because I take a ridiculous amount of photographs. Ya think???)

Anyway, I'll start here...
The first weekend of November I drove the kids down to Tulsa to visit Nana Star and Papa T. Mike had to stay here and bring home the bacon so we went Wednesday thru Sunday. The kids did GREAT for the drive (we left at 6pm, got in at 10).

I am inherently incapable of packing lightly.
If Mike would have come, he would have been strapped to the roof.

The first thing Harper noticed when she woke up the first morning was
CHARLIE! Charlie is not very fond of rugrats, but he humored Harper a little.

Harper getting a bath.

Brax slept so good in Nana's bed!

Papa T made us all breakfast!
Gourmet scrambled eggs...

...and pancakes for Brax!


We played outside ALOT! The weather was phenomenal.

3 generations!

Checking out Papa T's huntin' gear.
His favorite thing were the sticks you bang together to sound like antlers.

Little buck.

Papa T also made us the most amazing spaghetti dinner...
Wine, fancy salad, and deer meat sauce! Outstanding.
I just have to give the guy a shout out--he's running a marathon (that's 26.2 miles, you know! Next weekend!!!), he is a great cook, he's ALWAYS smiling and taking care of everything...
We love you Papa T!

We went "exploring" around the neighborhood...

...and found a little stream...

Brax loved walking Charlie!
(I don't know that the feeling was mutual, though.)

I love this pic!
(Although you're seeing Brax's bribed-with-candy-corn-smile here.)

I went to a good friend's house one night while Brax had fun with Nana.
They made popcorn...

...and had ice cream cookie sandwiches!
(Suddenly, Charlie didn't think Brax was quite so bad.)

Helping Papa T put together a new toy.


More outside play...

Playing peek-a-boo!

One of my favorite past-times...
Making chocolate chip cookies with my mom!

Harper even got in on the action...

Lovin' on Nana before she went to work.
(Notice that my mom dresses better than I do!)

Brax enjoyed his morning Pop-Tart and milk with Nana!
"Cheers!"

I also got to see all of my very best friends in Tulsa while I was there.
I didn't get many pics tho because we were too busy catching up!
Traveling with two little ones is exhausting, but it was well worth the trip.
We had so much fun!

If you give a moose a muffin...

I made some muffins the other day.
(very yummy and easy recipe, btw:
2 boxes Jiffy oatmeal muffin mix, prepared according to directions,
but add diced banana and semi-sweet chocolate chips before you bake!)
Brax ran and found these antlers and said he wanted to be a moose to eat the muffins
(like the book!)

Halloween Weekend

Grammy and Pop Pop came in town Halloween weekend.
(Is it just me or does that seem like EONS ago?)

That Friday night Grammy and I took Brax to the Deanna Rose Farm's Halloween event.
He practiced more of his roaring.

Checking out the goats.

They gave out free ice-cold chocolate milk.
This was the best part for him!

"Ghosts" on the hill.

This was pretty amazing... it was a ring toss,
and Brax just chucked all three rings at the same time...

...and every single ring landed on a post!

Waiting for our hayride.

Inspecting a log.

Roasting marshmallows!!


Some festive pics...

Grammy being crafty for us!

The joy of the slinky.


Pumpkin carving.

Brax did not want to touch the guts.
Instead, he wanted to clean them when we were done.

Mike had to carve the little ones, they were so dense!

Ta-Dahhhh!

Grammy, Pop Pop and the kids.

Ready to Trick or Treat!

Grammy made this Dorothy outfit!
Isn't it precious?!

And the big moment...
Brax said he wanted me to paint his face!

He said, "I won't even cry!!!"

Showing Jace his ROAR!

Harper was such a good sport.