raising a mommy

raising a mommy

Monday, February 23, 2015

our little girl: three years

Wait. What? That must be a typo...

I don't even know what to say about our little kid. She amazes me daily with her kind and generous heart. Her vocabulary is ridiculous and still growing daily. And oh boy, can this little one throw a tantrum when she wants to.

P is amazing at sharing - not just for a toddler, but as a human being in general. She insists on sharing a bite of her dessert with Daddy and I whenever we have something special. There I am, hoarding my cupcake all to myself, and this little three year old is holding out her fork with a saliva soaked, sprinkle laden bite of cupcake, and she will not allow me to turn it down. It's humbling.

And so polite! (Most of the time.) She woke up sick one night and apologized for throwing up on her bed.

Until she decides not to be. We were playing one of those games at church the other day where I rolled something down the ramp, made a silly noise, and then chased her or something like that. You know, a three year old game. After about four times of doing the exact same thing, she decided she was done with me, ran to the end of the hall, and proceeded to lay on the floor, screaming and crying, until Auntie came to the rescue. Someone asked what was wrong, and all I could do was shrug and say "She's three."

As I was putting together my blogs this month, I realized that I've really been slacking on the picture taking front lately. That makes me sad. New Week Resolution: take more pictures!

Helping Mommy make biscuits for supper

Don't feel too bad for Daddy - he brought this on himself when he put the antlers on his head and said "Look, I'm Sven!"

We have a friend who works at Nadia Cupcakes, and she brought us some treats on her way home one day. So many sprinkles. And of course, she insisted on sharing.

"Look Mommy, I found a fun book."

I was putting together the tool bench she got for Christmas, and she got very upset when I tried to throw away the little plastic scraps in between the actual toys. Apparently they were her Allen wrenches.

Now that's a three-year-old birthday smile if I ever saw one!

Friday, February 6, 2015

our little boy: five months

Big Sister P turns three this month, so I figured that warranted it's own post, meaning Baby M gets his own post, too!

Mastered Skills (most babies can do)
Can distinguish between bold colors: How can you tell? He was watching a friend play one of those games the other day with bright colored "gems" (Bejeweled or Candy Crush or something like that) and he was absolutely enthralled by the screen, so I'll go with yes on this one.
Can roll over: Both ways. Just try to stop him.
Amuses himself by playing with hands and feet: Yes he does, and it's really cute when he tries to suck on his toes. He's so chunky that he usually can't get them quite there. He also hasn't figured out how to get his socks off his feet yet, thanks to these amazing little creations, so he whenever he does succeed in getting his feet to his mouth, he manages to soak his socks pretty thoroughly with drool. (I think I used my affiliate link there, so if you order anything from the site I make a small commission. I may not have done it right, so you can also click on the Nicki's Diapers button on the right sidebar and search for "Sock Ons." That will definitely work.)

Emerging Skills (half of babies can do)
Turns towards new sounds: He does. Sometimes I wonder how he gets his head to some of the angles he does and how it doesn't hurt him. He's like a little owl.
Recognizes own name: Not yet.

Advanced Skills (a few babies can do)
May sit momentarily without support: He does! I think I got a good five seconds out of him the other day! It might just be his fat rolls propping him, up, but I'll take it!
Mouth objects: He's really close. Sometimes he has the muscle control to get a toy neatly into his mouth, but usually there's a little bit of flailing involved before he makes it in.
Stranger anxiety may begin: So far he still loves pretty much everyone.

I'm not sure how we got so lucky, but we somehow ended up with a free consultation with a sleep consultant. More on that to come in a later post, but for now, I am SO EXCITED to share that M is usually sleeping though the night, is sleeping a lot more during the day, and is a happier baby in general! Yay!

He continues to grow at an alarming rate. We have let out the snaps (again!) on his diapers and are in either 9 or 12 month clothing. Yikes.

Baby M will be crawling way too soon. He's really working on getting the motion down with his legs, and I blame Daddy and all his kicking games. ("Run run run run run run run, jump stop, jump!" Every now and then he'll throw in a "hurdle" for Mommy. He's much more likely to end up being a steeplechaser like Mommy was, but that's a bit advanced for five months. Or a shot-putter if he continues to grow at his current rate.)

No teeth yet, but he drools all the time and likes to chew on things, like toys and fingers.

We make cute kids.

He really likes his mat...most of the time!

Though it really wears him out.

Look at those rolls! He refused to sit back during his bath. This makes it very difficult to get rid of stinky neck cheese.
I'm afraid I may be falling victim to "second child syndrome." I didn't have nearly the selection of pictures for M from the last month that I would like. It doesn't help that my phone is dying a slow, painful death and takes extra long to open anything anymore. By the time I get my camera open, I'm often too late. Sad day. I did dig out the video camera, though, and started using that again!