I have so many little matters to tell you of, that I cannot wait any longer before I begin to put them down.
Jul 29th, 2013 by ECM
Susie Q decided a couple weeks ago that she wants to wear big girl panties, so out came the potty training paraphernalia. We’re having a lot of success, especially when we added in the M&M prize. A friend gave me their potty training movie, and Susie loves it. It is the stupidest, most annoying video I’ve ever seen in my life. But it’s getting her to go. Excuse me while I go hide in my room until “The Magic Bowl” is over…
Jul 26th, 2013 by ECM
Why do we buy toys, again?
Jul 25th, 2013 by ECM
So tonight was going to be the night. Dr. Vallance told me that as soon as Janie was better from her cold/ear infection, we could sleep train her. So we were going to start tonight. I was all set and ready to let her cry it out. Derek gave her an extra 4 ounce pumped bottle before bed, then I dream fed her at 10. She was tanked up. Then I woke up at 3ish, wide awake. When she cried at 3:15, I decided what the heck, I was awake anyway, I’d feed her one last night and let her cry tomorrow night, when I’d presumably be sleeping soundly. And she ate a lot, which was good, and fell back asleep. But I’m still wide awake, and it’s past 4:30 now, and maybe I’m just up for the day? How do I train MYSELF to sleep through the night, when I haven’t for a good 5-6 months?
Jul 24th, 2013 by ECM
(pictures courtesy of Tommy)
Jul 22nd, 2013 by ECM
Not too many four month pictures, because Janie and I came down with a cold last week, and her nose is caked and red. She has officially rolled both directions (she went back to front just hours after I blogged about wanting her to learn!), and she’s cooing a lot. She looks at me from across the room now, and she even seems to have started playing with (or at least grabbing) toys when she’s in the carseat or bouncy seat. She rolls more every day. She likes the Bumbo for short periods of time. When she’s on her back on the changing table, she’ll grab her toes and try to eat them. She coos and squeals when someone smiles at her. Tommy seems to be her favorite sibling so far, perhaps because he manhandles her a little less than her sisters. She has slept through the night (until 5 or 6) three or four times, but not when she was sharing our room these past few weeks with company here. I have high hopes once she and I both get over our colds.
We’re trying to move in the direction of a predictable schedule, but life has been so busy that we’re not really in a routine yet. She generally takes 3-4 naps a day, and usually the early afternoon one is nice and long. Life has been so crazy that I’ve been doing a lot of nursing her on one side when she wakes up and the other an hour later, only to have her fall asleep at the breast. That’s not cool (and is more painful, too), so we’re going to work on eating on both sides when she first gets up so that her tummy is full longer. I need to start pumping again one of these days, too!
Her stats…
Height: 25 ” (75%) (Tommy was 27″, Elizabeth was 24″, Susie was 25″)
Weight: 13 lbs. 8.5 oz. (37%) (Tommy was 16 lbs, Elizabeth was 13 lbs 11 ounces, Susie was 12 lbs 5.5 oz)
Head Circ: 16 1/4 in (63%) (Susie was 16 in)
Dr Vallance discovered that Janie has an ear infection along with her cold, so we’re holding off on vaccines for a week to allow her to get better. I opted not to do antibiotics, but Janie has been so fussy since the appointment that I think I made the wrong choice.=( I can always call tomorrow to get a prescription if she’s worse.
Jul 19th, 2013 by ECM
Someone has decided that she needs to roll front to back at every possible opportunity–including all through the night. Problem is, she prefers to sleep on her tummy and has been waking us up at all hours with her protests against being stuck on her back. We’re working hard to get her rolling back to front for the sake of our sleep!
With our college friend, Joe Hunt, in town over the weekend, we had a great excuse to go out to Malibu and have a beach day. The kids LOVED it, and we really do need to go more often.
The kids riding in their “motorboat”…
Tommy meticulously worked on details such as the grills at the front of the boat…
While the big kids liked playing in the water, Susie mostly just dug. For two hours.
We used a real umbrella as a makeshift shaded shelter for Jane, who slept through most of it.
And I got inspired for a post for Everything to Someone, resorting to crayon and the back of a sticker pad to jot down my thoughts before they disappeared!
Jul 16th, 2013 by ECM
Last week, we hosted the Haneys (who had hosted us back in January). It was fun to see how well our girls are playing together (considering that Elizabeth and Claire have been friends since birth, back in Chicago), and of course Naomi and I never ran out of things to talk about.
(a musical duo:)
Tommy held up pretty well, considering how many girls were surrounding him, but he was happy when the daddies came home from work on Friday for a barbeque picnic at the park!
Saying goodbye…
Jul 15th, 2013 by ECM
Swimming lessons went much better these past couple of weeks–no one ran screaming from the pool, shrieking that she didn’t want to go under water (as happened last summer).
Bribes (ice cream and legos) seem to have been the key, as were new goggles!
Meanwhile, Tommy has been getting so brave–swimming several body lengths and starting breaststroke.
And on the last day, Q did an audition to get special permission to start Tint Tot Seals next month, even though she’s not quite two and a half. She can’t wait to do swimming lessons with the big kids!
Jul 13th, 2013 by ECM
