9 months in, 9 months out! The EGH Version.

Elizabeth Grace - 9 months

Elizabeth Grace is 9 months old!  Look at her adorable face!  She is doing so well and is always so happy!  She brings us so much joy.

Elizabeth went for her 9 month check up yesterday and she weighs 23 lbs 2 oz and is 29 3/4 inches long - both are the 100th percentile!!  100% people!  Public Warning: I produce large babies!  I mean, they are normal at birth but then seem to just jump right into that BIG BABY stage and stay there.  Aaron, at 4 1/2 years old is just recently starting to "slim down".  

Elizabeth sits up on her own, is starting to pull herself up from a sitting position and is trying super hard to get those big legs under her to crawl.  Right now she just rolls everywhere.  The doc said it's a bit tougher for "bigger" babies to get themselves going since they've got more weight on them. 

She is just starting to get a bit big for her 9 month clothing and so we've got the 12 months ready for her.  We also switched her diapers to 7th Generation because they are unbleached and she kept having reoccurring rashes.  These diapers have definitely helped with that!  

She's got 4 teeth on top and 4 on the bottom and loves to smile (and bite!).  Of course she puts absolutely anything you give her in her mouth including you!  She likes to chew on Josh's collarbone which for some strange reason I think is kinda cute.  She also loves to put her hand in his beard and pull his hair & skin!  She likes to smack her brother's head and pull his hair.  And with me.... well, she likes to motorboat.  LOL!  Yeah, I just said that.  I mean, she's been on formula for more months than not but she just likes to rest her face in there and open her mouth.  It's so funny.  I'm sure it's a comfort thing.  

She wakes me up in the morning by banging her feet on the crib and yelling "Mama!  Maaaama!  Mamamama!" but she always greets me with a smile.  She's been sleeping through the night for awhile and takes 2 naps a day.

Basically, she's doing awesome.  We love her to pieces.  Thanks to all of our family for helping us out lately especially.  We love you all and will hopefully be sending some pictures out soon.  

Stay tuned because we've got some stuff on the horizon!!! 



       

Growing Up Healthy - 4 months

Elizabeth Grace - 4 months old

Elizabeth went for her 4 month check up 2 days ago and baby girl is catching up to her brother quickly!

Lizzy baby is 25 1/4 inches long (85%), 16 1/3 lbs (90%) and her head circumference is 16 3/4 (85%)!  The NP says she's looking great and if we want, we can start her on solids.  I'm not sure we're ready, but Elizabeth sure does smack her lips and lick her chops when anyone eats in front of her!  LOL.  I think once I decide what I want to start on, we might try that soon.

She's currently wearing 6-9 months in clothes but I think in the one pieces (like pjs) we'll have to move to 9 months soon.  She literally went through ONE jumbo box of size 2 diapers and now she is on size 3.  She's definitely going to be in need of new stuff soon.

She still tries super hard to turn over whenever she is on her back, but besides that one time, hasn't been able to do it on her own yet.  She gets just the top half around.  She sits up pretty well with help and she's getting a little bit better at tummy time.  

Elizabeth loves, loves, to laugh at her brother.  She just stares at him and watches him.  And whenever he laughs, so does she.  It's pretty adorable.  I only wish Aaron was more calm, gentle and aware around her.  (sigh)  She loves when anyone sings to her too.  

On March 1st, I moved her into her room finally.  She's been sleeping through the night for some time now, but since we're still missing things in her room (like a proper room/floor lamp & a changing pad cover) I held off on it.  Finally I just decided to make the move and she's been doing so well!  She wakes up happy.  I think that might have something to do with the colorful bedding, pink walls and owl mobile!  Once I feel like the room is complete, I'll have to take some pictures.

Until then........   Hope you all are just as happy and healthy as Elizabeth!  

  
   

Two is Enough

Elizabeth Grace, 2 months old

Gah!!  So today I was holding Elizabeth, squeezing her chubby parts and kissing her skin and it made me a bit sad.  This is my last baby!  This is the last time I will be holding and squeezing and kissing a baby that is MINE.  MY BABY!  Aaron is a big boy now.  And Elizabeth is growing.  I mean, I know she's just starting out.... just two months old still but......  She's my last baby!  I'm crying a bit inside for that.

Just so you know this baby loves to smile.  I'm thinking of getting her a shirt that says "I just like smiling.  Smiling's my favorite".  She can hold her head up and has been from almost the beginning.  Sometimes I can get her to hold her half empty bottle while she's feeding.  Not for very long.... but you gotta start somewhere!  If you say a phrase like "I love you" she can mimic the inflection.  She has been sleeping through the night for over a month now.  She is just brilliant.  

In 2 days, she'll be 3 months old.  Gah!  My last baby.

  

Too Cool For School

That's my kid, in a jean jacket, headed to his first day of a preschool daycare program.  He is just too cool.  I should have popped his collar.  Aaron won't be going to this school full-time, or even part-time really.  It's more like a drop off basis type thing.  But Grandma & Grandpa were out of town for the week to celebrate Grandma Yvette's birthday (Happy Birthday Momma!) so we needed a back up.  And luckily were I live currently there is one right across the street.  They take kids from infants up to 12 years old for before and after school daycare as well as all day care that includes playtime and curriculum.  They even throw in some Spanish and Potty Training!  Woot!  Of course, by throw in I mean more like I just paid $191 for 3 full days of care.  And THAT, my friends, is WHY he won't be going full-time.  

It is a great back up and resource to have and he seemed to like it, though I'm sure he thinks of it more as play time than anything.  But it's something new for him and it gets him to socialize with other kids, keeps his brain working on new things and I'm sure (hopefully) they do a lot more activity than we do with him since on our days off we just want to relax.  But his Grandpa & Grandma take him on adventures like the story time at the library which he loves.  In fact, the teacher at the school said Aaron knew most of the stuff they were going over so he was able to join right in.  :)  Hooray for reading to him since he was a baby!  He loves his books.  In fact, he has a Blues Clues video that he watches where Blue reads Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and I kept telling him I would buy it for him once I found it.  The other day we were at "the circle market" (aka Target) and there it was!  I think Aaron saw it as soon as I did and he immediately started "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom!  Will there be enough room?".  He would not let go of the book once it was in his hands!  

This of course, doesn't bother me at all and I never consider books as toys or "gifts" in the sense that he has to ask for them as a special treat because every kid should have books!  Now toys, that's a whole other issue.  Frankly, his bedroom is more like a playroom with more toys than furniture but as the only small child in the immediate family -- it's to be expected I guess, right?  But since birthday #3 and Christmas are coming up and just wanna put this out there -- he has plenty of toys!  He does grow out of clothes constantly, however and is now wearing between a 3 and 4 Toddler.  He's also a size 9 Extra Wide in shoes.  PS - he now comes to my waist.  Granted, I'm only 5' but still.  It's a bit daunting to see your (almost) 3 year old be almost half your height already. 

Aaron is still naked potty trained for the most part, but we are practicing with underwear more often and that's still hit and miss.  On his big boy bed, well....... Being with Grandpa & Grandma for a week while Josh and I were on vacation in Myrtle Beach, SC meant that he got to sleep with Grandpa & Grandma in their bed and that put us back a notch or two.  So now we're working again on getting him to sleep on his own in his own bed again.  Having a toddler use you as a head pillow while simultaneously kicking your husband in the kidney (Ow! My pancreas!) and smacking you in the face is not a good way to sleep my friends.  Not At All.  

But this boy, this boy is a crack up.  He as learned that saying "What the hell?" gets a funny reaction out of adults so he's been using that phrase quite a bit more often.  He still loves his singing and dancing.  He still falls asleep faster to Dave (Matthews Band) faster than mostly anything else.  He is still really into The Cars movie and practically every day asks his dad "Can we go to the circle market and get another toy?".  Right now we're on the hunt for Flo & Ramone!  And a kid friendly cd player/radio because he loves music.  And momma's gonna teach him to shake his booty!

Life with Aaron is wonderful.  


The rest of our adult life is stress and work and bills and debts and chores and everything else YOU are also going through.  And today, if I wasn't before (I totally was), I am now most definitely the 99%.  But this blog isn't about that so .......


I'll just say again life with Aaron is wonderful.  He reminds us to love, to smile, to dance to sing, to laugh.  


If you ever need a reminder, just let me know and I'll send you a picture of Aaron! 

Big Boy

Oh My Goodness, so many changes!  

First of all, Aaron is finally in his big boy bed!  Josh and I went to IKEA and gave in to getting him a toddler bed which he totally loves!  He was so excited to get in it after Josh put it together that he could barely wait for me to put the sheets on first!  So far, he's been really good about sleeping in it too.  At first, he didn't even leave the bed.  It was almost like he didn't even think about it.  This last week he's just starting to get up out of the bed after Josh and I leave the room and either try to sneak out of the room, or get toys to play in the bed.  And the last 2 nights he's been a bit more needy - wanting the light on and wanting one of us to lay down with him.  It's so strange how it seems to have actually regressed instead of the other way around, but I guess we should consider ourselves lucky we're not like one of those families on Super Nanny.  Not YET anyway!  

Secondly, thanks mostly to Grandma Yvette, Aaron is what I like to refer to as "naked potty-trained"!  As long as he's naked from the waist down, we're all good for going in the potty!  So most of the time at our house, he runs around without pants so he can do his business properly.  Then he loved to run out and announce "MOMMA!  I went PEE-PEE!".  Grandma is now working on getting him to tell us when he has to go while he has a diaper on.  And we've bought undies for both houses so we can practice wearing those too.  He does tell us sometimes when he has to go and asks us to take his diaper off, but that is about a 20% chance at best.  So for now, I'm happy to let him run around half naked in my house if it means less accidents.  Plus, I get to pinch those cute buns every once in awhile! 

Everything else is good.  He's growing taller and leaning out, though he's still in a size 4T even though he's only 2.5 years old!  Right now he's really into the Cars Movie and he's got Cars toys and cars undies.  We try not to spoil him too much, but with 5 adults who see him on a daily basis and him being the only kid -- let's just say he doesn't NEED anything.  Well, he's always needing new clothes since he seems to grow out of them so quickly, but you catch my drift.


He's definitely an only child and wants everyone's attention -- All The Time.  But that's usually if we're all together.  If it's just me and Aaron or mom and Aaron for example, he plays all by his little ol' self and he's totally fine.  But if he has an audience he definitely wants to be the center of attention!  

He's getting to be more and more of a "big boy" though and it's so fun to watch him grow and change and develop.  He loves stories and books.  He loves music.  Loves to sing and be sung to.  And he loves to shake his booty!  I totally taught him that.  Tee hee!

Yes, he's growing and this December he'll be 3.  He's my little "big boy" and I love him more than anything. 

Will he?

Sometimes I wonder.......

Will he remember ...

The smell of the blanket he's sleeping on?

The sound of the wind chime outside?

The warmth of his momma?

My face as he cuddles up to me?

My eyes filled with admiration?

My arms filled with love?

Will he remember us in this moment?

I hope so. 

Sweet Dreams

Do you ever wonder what babies dream about? I mean, really - what could they possibly dream about? What reference do they have in their baby brains to draw dreams from?

Aaron dreams. He frowns and smiles and sucks and even laughs when he's sleeping! It's the funniest thing ever. I see his REMs and the breathing pattern changes when he changes his expressions. Sometimes he even cries out when he's sleeping and then goes right back to sleep all on his own. He's so adorable.

Physically, he's definitely heavier, his head is larger, his hair thinner and his eyebrows darker. Most of the time I look at him and see me. Sometimes I can look at him and see his Tia Eva when she was a baby. But Aaron definitely has physical traits of Josh too. Josh tells him he has his Frenchy frog legs!

Aaron is awake much more and he "talks" with goos and gaas and grunts! He actually grunts alot -- he sounds like an elephant so I'm always telling him "Yo soy un elefante!". He's still got the gassy thing going on, even though we changed the bottles. It's actually alot better, but not completely gone so my mom bought a third system to try out by a company called MAM. I'm going to try that out today. When Aaron wants his bottle, he wants his bottle right now darn it! so if he gets really upset, I have found that the kitchen fan calms him down. Evidently he likes white noise. Now I'm going to look for a CD of white noise to play while he's in his crib.

Wherever he falls asleep during the day though is where I leave him! I try and get chores done when he's sleeping and if he's in a deep sleep, that's when I take a shower. Below is a picture of him in his chair with a stuffed penguin his Tia Natalie made him by hand. He seems very interested in it, doesn't he?? This was right before nap time.


Well, I hope you are doing well out there! Keep in touch.

~Adriane