Lauren:
Lauren cut her first tooth on December 5th! That's record time in our family :) She just barely turned 8 months.
She has finally learned how to crawl forwards--- up until a few weeks ago she could only go in reverse. Causing such predicaments as this:
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| stuck under dishwasher |
And this...
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| legs stuck under couch |
And this...
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| stuck on top of a pillow...can't go forward or back. |
She's been on two different photoshoots for high chairs--- one for Babies R Us (Dorel) and one for Baby's Journey. You may see her on packaging in July/August :)
Although she lagged behind Kate in the movement arena, she has QUICKLY made up for it-- anywhere Kate can go, Lauren goes faster... Anything she can do, Lauren does too. (to be sung to the tune of "Anything you can do, I can do better" from Annie Get your Gun.) Lauren doesn't really go faster, but I had to write it like that so you could sing it. But Lou is pretty darn fast-- she is a conventional crawler, hands and knees while Kate does a one-legged pushing crawl.
I know I shouldn't label my children, but I think it merits mentioning that Lauren can be quite the drama queen. Dave said she should have been named after Katie instead of Kate :) It's pretty amusing to watch her cry sometimes because it's like she's trying to tell you the whole story of what just happened to her. She moves her eyebrows and makes different expressions as she cries-- and the cry always lasts just a bit longer than need be. If she falls there's the instantaneous scared/hurt cry, then the "can you believe it cry," and then it morphs into the "oh, it was just dreadful, mom, you should have been there" cry.
Lauren is sensitive to the emotions of those around her, like Nicholas. She often watches my face as she nurses and moves her eyebrows up and down as my facial expression changes. I have to watch myself around those two (Nick and Lou). If I am stressed, crying, scared, or angry, they instantly pick-up on it and react.
Lauren, when well-rested and fed, will play contentedly with whatever is near her. She is so quiet sometimes that I forget she's there! One time I had to run to help Nicholas with the potty, so I plopped Lauren into the infant tub sitting on the bathroom floor. After all the hub-bub surrounding Nicholas' poopy, I forgot she was in there! About ten minutes later things finally calmed down and I realized I was short a baby--- there she was, sitting in the tub, just chillin'
Kate:
Kate is the little fireball of the family. She sees what she wants and she goes for it, undeterred, and unperturbed. She reminds me of an untrained puppy in so many ways--- always happy to see you, smiles and laughs at me even when I'm mad, zips around the house getting into everything. In fact, she even does an excited pant with her mouth open and bobs up and down as if she's wagging her tail when she sees me-- whether it's 4 in the afternoon or 4 in the morning.
Here she is crawling around with a wooden toy in her mouth. I fee like she's always multitasking--- why sit and suck on a toy when I can suck on it while I play with other things??
Kate is a speedster. Mando calls her the Roadrunner because she is SOO fast. If she sees something she wants, she takes off and crosses the room/hall/house in record time. So often I'll see her over by the couch while I'm in the kitchen, turn around to put a dish in the dishwasher, and by the time I look again she's standing right next to me reaching for the spoons in the washer. crazy fast. I originally thought she would be the first to walk because she can stand unassisted, squat and stand back up again, and she walks along pushing a laundry basket in front of her, but I actually think it might take her a while because she's so darn quick at crawling. I think she's going to be one of those kids that prefers crawling to walking for a long time because it's so much faster.
Also, Kate has since cut her first tooth since I started writing this post two days ago :) Today she has a bright, shiny new tooth in the center of her bottom gums.
Both of the girls like to hang out around my ankles. At any given moment during the day they are either hanging off my pant leg or crawling toward me to hang off my pant leg. Here's what Kate is doing while I'm siting at the kitchen table typing this (because she woke up early from her nap, stinker).
Nicholas:
Nicholas has been a champ these past few weeks. All the kids have been sick with some virus that turned into a secondary infection of some sort (chest and ears for Nick and Kate, just ears for Lauren--probably because she's a week behind the other two, so we got her to the doctor sooner). Lots of coughing fits, terrible sore throats, congestion and phlegm everywhere, and some vomit/diarrhea combinations... it has not been a pretty month at our home. They're now all on antibiotics (something I don't like doing, but holy cow---they're like magic pills, right??!), and feeling much better. Nicholas got sick the week before Thanksgiving with a seemingly minor cold, then his fever started right before Thanksgiving, and it just progressed on from there. Every night, all night, Mando and I were both up with either Nick, the girls, or all three. NOT A FUN MONTH.
Last night was the first night since before Thanksgiving that they all three stayed asleep from the time they went to bed until nearly 2 am. Awesome. Unfortunately I stayed up folding laundry, cleaning the kitchen, and working on my current project until nearly 2 am, soooo not really feeling rested :) oh well. At least I feel productive.
Anyway, Nicholas has been a real trooper-- and now that he's finally feeling better I realize just how terrible he must have felt. He's a really good kid. He tries really hard to be helpful, obedient, and quiet. Sometimes I feel like the only words I speak to him all day are, "Be quiet, please! The babies are sleeping, Nick! No, we can't do that, the babies are sleeping. That's too loud, the babies are sleeping!" Yet, I also feel like the babies never sleep..... conundrum.
The big news for Nicholas is that he's using the potty now! What a big boy! He's amazing :)
In the beginning he would only go poopy if we left him alone in his room on the little pot reading stories :) Now he's upgraded to doing it on the big toilet with my iphone. Not sure how I feel about that.
I have to say, I was not on board for the whole potty training thing, it was kind of forced upon me. But it turned out well--- I think it took me longer to get used to the idea than Nicholas. I definitely think I want to potty train the girls before I even think about having another baby. I don't like doing it with little ones around.
Nicholas also celebrated his 3rd birthday last month! He helped me make his birthday cake request: strawberry cake with whipped cream and strawberries. He really likes strawberries :)
Armando:
I don't really know how Armando is feeling right now. We've been passing like ships in the night for most of the past 8 months. We connect as much as we can, but overall, my knowledge of what's going on in his life outside of the home is pretty limited. I think everything is going well at work.
If I had to assign one word to describe how he's doing it would be tired. :) I don't know how he does it--- he takes the morning shift with the kids so I can sleep in, so he's up everyday at 6 or earlier (usually earlier), then he goes to work, brings home the big bucks because he's an amazing problem solver, and then comes home to play with the kids every night until bed time. Then, after a short nap while he puts Nicholas to sleep, he gets up to come hang out with me for a few minutes before we both conk out, inevitably waking within the hour to get one of the girls. Then he's up at least 2-3 more times. Then up before the sun the next morning. The kids and I are headed back to Indiana for a while so hopefully he can catch up on some sleep while we're away.
My favorite thing about Armando is how much he genuinely loves being with me and the kids. He is a wonderful father--- loving, kind, generous, firm and consistent. I'm so thankful that he stuck around to marry me :)
Elizabeth:
I am just trying to survive. I know that eight months is a long time to be in survival mode, and as my pediatrician so bluntly put it, "You can do better than just surviving!" Having three children is not that difficult, people do it all the time, but I just can't seem to get my feet under me. I always feel like I am drowning with a list of things that need to be done--- not even things "I need to do" because that means that I am somehow choosing what needs to be done. No, I am just putting out fires, all day, every day. Which means I'm always behind schedule (ha! like I'm even organized to have a schedule), always frazzled, always tired, and usually snippy and rude to my children and husband because they're not moving quickly enough or doing "the most important thing" first.
I have come up with hundreds of solutions to the "problem," but haven't been able to implement any of them.
My favorite chiropractor never adjusts my whole back. He fixes a few keys points that "unlock" the spine, and once those few points are in alignment, the rest of the spine takes care of itself. I think that's how my life is right now. I just need to figure out a way to alleviate the pressure in a few key areas (i.e. sleep, exercise, and spiritual nourishment), and the rest will take care of itself.
We're working on it.
In happier news: aren't my kids adorable? :)
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| Nicholas wanted to make bottles for the babies all by himself. He is such a good helper. His bottles were made of flour and water because I thought he was just going to play with it, not actually make bottles. But he dutifully put two scoops of flour in each bottle, screwed on the cap, and shook them. Then he asked for nipples to give it to the girls. I said we should probably save the bottles for later when they were more hungry. Then they got emptied into the sink before he tried to make them drink it himself! I was impressed at how efficient he was at preparing the bottles, though. He was so proud of himself, and I was so happy that he wanted to help his sisters :) |
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| Opening presents for his 3rd birthday! |
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