Felicity at 11 Months

Felicity turned 11m old on Saturday. We spend the day up the shore.

 

Felicity is getting big. Her personality blossoms everyday. I love the bottom picture of these three because it shows her conquering what to her was a mountain, a steep incline of rocks at Iona's beach. 

She took what I declared her first steps on Friday (Aug 21st). (I know she probably took some steps before that.. but not that I saw!!) Her body is getting strong. After a couple weeks not resorting to co-sleeping I tried to bring her into our bed recently on a rough night and realized how toddler like her body has become.

I mean it shouldn't be a shocker, she is taking steps, standing on her own, squatting, climbing stairs, climbing onto the couch... those muscles are developing. Yet, its always a shock to realize how much she has grown. The 12 month clothing I started putting her in around June are starting to look full.. maybe even small when it comes to full length pieces. We are buying 18m clothing for her fall/winter wardrobe. 

Back to her personality though - this girl knows what she wants. At meals, she will tell us exactly what she wants by pointing and "maah" and clapping and more pointing. Today at lunch she had everything we had except lunch meat and made it clear that was what she actually wanted. She knows what toys she wants, where she wants to go, and she does it. If you stop her from doing it, she becomes a rag-down collapsed meltdown. 

She likes books... though its questionable whether she wants you to read one to her or she just wants to open it to different pages herself. She likes phones and my kindle, whether or not they are turned on. She likes duplo blocks and is trying to learn to put them together. She is really close to being able to put two together, just not quite coordinated enough. She can stack wood blocks on top of each other (and enjoys doing this). She loves laundry and peekaboo and mimics the sound of the phrase "there-she-is" quite well. She mimics a lot, both actions and  language. Its hard to tell whats immediate mimicking and what is her trying to actually use words appropriately, but her language is definitely coming a long. In terms of actions, here is an example. We were in the upstairs bathroom and I was changing Benjamin's diaper while he stood up. Both Ben and I were using wipes to clean him off. Meanwhile, Felicity was off with her own pack of wipes taking them out of the package one after another. We finished cleaning him and Ben sat down to put on a new pullup. Felicity crawled over with a wipe and started to wipe his leg with it. It was extremely adorable. 

Felicity loves music. She responds to music almost instantly these days. I often sing her to sleep (Tin Soldier, When I'm Gone, 1000 Years, Under the Quarter Moon, Let it Be..). If a song gets turned on or comes on during tv watching she will start rocking or bobbing her head. 

She is at the stage where she makes the cute adorable scrunched up smile face. 

She still doesn't have any teeth and anytime she is fussy we guess that she is teething. We have been guessing this for about 8 months now. 

That is all I can think of right now. Next year is the big 1 year old!

 

Felicity at 10 Months 10 Days

I have now fallen victim to forgetting how fast things change TWO months in a row. On August 3rd, when I posted the last "late kid update", I started to write the new update. I thought it was going to be the "11m" update. I mean, it was only three weeks early.

But of course, in the life of baby, three weeks is ages.

So....

Felicity at 10 months 10 days

How fast does this little girl change and grow?

In the couple weeks she has started to really try to walk and stand. Before she seemed afraid to let go, even though she could remain upright if she did so, she just did not want to let go. Now she will let go, or try to kneel and stand without aid, or stand while vaguely leaning on something with her shins. She wants to learn to balance and walk and move like us.

I love to watch her play. I like to see how her little brain is learning. She actually plays with toys now instead of just banging them together or eating them. She likes to take magnets on and off the dishwasher. She will put toys (such as megablocks) into the Tonka dumptruck bed, filling it up. She rolls the dump truck. Yesterday, she lifted the dumper so it was up, and then experimented with putting items "in" the truck (between the cab and lifted bed). She tried the DVD remote, and when it made a clanging noise, as it was big and awkard to fit in, she went crazy clang clang clanging it every which way. She likes to take things apart. When we have Mega Blocks out, or foam puzzle blocks, I build things as fast as she unbuilds them, though she has also started to show interesting in building, for example, handing me two puzzle block pieces together, and then when I attach them, handing me a third and watching me attach it, etc.

This girl likes to eat. She still is getting breast milk several times a day both from the bottle at daycare and directly from the source. On top of that she loves meal time. Her favorites are blueberries, cottage cheese, shredded cheese, puffs, baked beans, olived, pickles, and pretty much everything else we have tried. She originally did not like bananas, but has since changed her mind. She likes all of the random casseroles and pasta salads we have given her. She likes pizza. She likes food. DH says that she would eat forever if you just stayed at the table and kept putting things in front of her.

Sleep wise is really hit or miss. She has slept through the night a handful of times but it is extraordinarily rare. More common is waking 1-2 times a night to eat. Usually if it is two times a night, the first is very close to my bedtime (like 10:30-11:30pm) and the second is really the middle of the night. She occasionally has a really bad night where she just does not seem to want to stay asleep at all. On these nights, all bets are off. I do attempt co-sleeping sometimes when she gets like this and its hit or miss. Sometimes she sleeps peacefully nestled in my arms, other times she thrashes and whines and  its a total disaster. I still am much more rested than I was with Ben at this age, because his sleep was even worse.

She knows the word book. If you ask her "do you want to read a book?" or "get the book" or "can you hand me the book?" She will look around, find it and hand it to you. A lot of the times she just grabs it back and tries to close and open the pages, but now she is getting to the point where she will let you read it and she will pay attention. She seems especially drawn to a small little book called "shapes" and we have even caught her mimicking the word "triangle" from it.

Late Kid Updates

How about an update on the kids that is long overdue?


At the beginning of July I started a post about Ben being 3.5 yrs old. I never finished or posted it... here is what I had:

Ben turned 3.5 yrs old on Sunday.

He is not a toddler really anymore, besides perhaps the diapers. He is a little boy.

All of Ben's favorite things involve water. He still loves pirates, and he is obsessed with pirate ships (the reign of the Bowy Rodger has continued... though somewhat lessened). We had a period of avid Octonauts play (a BBC kids show about underwater creatures). Sometimes he just pretends to BE an underwater creature, most specifically, an Octopus. Our whole family is Octopi. Felicity is a baby Octopus named Inky.

Unsuprisingly based on the above information, Ben's current "lovey" of choice is a stuffed Orca whale. He picked it up at the Park Point Garage Sale. We walked into one of the sales and there was a whole table of stuffed animals. Ben zeroed in on it right away and asked if he could get it. I said yes because it was like $.25. Then DH and I were browsing. DS started to wonder off. I told him to come back so we could pay for his whale and the sale owner, who was nearby, said "oh he can have the whale," At which point Ben turned and said "Its an ORCA" lol. He has since named it Splashy.

There have been phases where Ben has been very difficult. Typical three year old stuff. I think we went a good month where he ate ONLY corndogs. But, recently things have been a bit easier again. He has started eating more things, and listens better. He still is a three year old though, so of course there are difficult moments. One particular issue is sibling stuff, of course. He plays too rough with Felicity, or intentionally does things he know will upset her, like this morning he blocked her crawling path when I asked him not to (she was trying to crawl to me). That sort of thing. Hugging her so hard she is tackled to the ground, removing her hand from the table when thats the only thing allowing her to keep her balance, etc. But he does love her. We just have to remind him to be gentle gentle gentle.

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And, on 7/23/2015 I started a post about Felicity being 10 months old (as of 7/22). Here is what I wrote:

- She is pulling up on everything and now she will walk holding just ONE Hand, but she still just does not want to let go to stand independently

- She has not said anything that I would consider "her first word" but she mimics so many sounds. Most impressively is her attempts at copying the phrase "There She Is" that we use when we play peek-a-boo with her.

- Her favorite things in the world: Cell Phones, Pacifiers, Mom, Water (swimming, bathing, splashing, drinking) and Laundry

- She is quite good at fine motor skills, picking things up, and getting them to her mouth, no matter how small.

I did take a picture of her on 7/22, at Wednesday night at the races, playing on the turf at East. I hope to add it to this post shortly.

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Both kids have changed a ton in the time since I wrote these respective updates, and I will try to do another update for them here in a couple weeks when Felicity hits 11 months (OMG my baby is growing up!)

Just Another Day in Paradise

My weekends lately have been fantastic. Full of fun and full of what I can only easily describe as "quality family time". Of course during the weekend there are moments of frustration... but by the end when asked what my "high and low" were, I always find myself thinking how wonderful it was to just spend time with my kids (and sometimes with siblings, grandparents, etc). I feel like these weekends are little slices of paradise, the "happily ever after" I waited for before I had kids, or even when I had just Ben and I longed to be pregnant again with each day.

Here is what my happily ever after looks like:
Friday Night: Pizza at my parents house. Ben loves playing outside there. I took Ben for a walk on the northwest passage (a trail through the woods that goes from my parent's house to the road). I told him about being a kid and climbing the old apple tree and promised we would find a tree for him to climb. I told him that I remember my parents cutting that trail. I put him up in the slingshot tree and told him the names of all the wildflowers. When we got back to the house I traded w DH and took Felicity inside while he came out to play with Ben. I had a tasty microbrew beer and hung out with my parents and little sister. Eventually we ate pizza, then watched soccer and played together. Ben was pretty rowdy, but we got some funny moments between the discipline. He likes to play space there. We sit on the couch and pretend to take off and then when we land on different planets he goes out and explores (and we stay on the couch comfortably. LOL).

Saturday morning we went to the Rhubarb Festival. We got there right at 9am, which was apparently just in time for the kids races. We ran the "little kid" race (BEN and I), it was quite a long "course", then we hung out in the shade sipping rhubarb lemonade while he colored a picture of a rhubarb stock (for a coloring contest). Then we headed inside for a treat. He had blueberry rhubarb pie with cinnamon icecream and I had rhubarb custard pie with vanilla icecream. Both were amazing of course. Back outside to pick out a free book, decorate a mug, plant a flower in said mug, and decorate a lady bug to put in dirt. We also found a good tree for him to climb, but as it was so crowded I told him we could go back and do that another day.

Saturday afternoon, after everyone got a nap, we went outside in our yard. Ben colored with chalk on the driveway (he drew a "no parking" spot. How hilarious is that?), and Felicity and I laid on a blanket on the grass (well, I laid there and she climbed all over me). Then I went in and started getting dinner ready. DH grilled brats. We had a family dinner and then gave both the kids baths before bed. They both LOVE Baths.

Sunday morning we did a "Target" run... kinda a family tradition lol. It went kind of rocky because Ben didn't listen and therefore had to forgeit the matchbox car he had picked up. Then we headed up to Enger Tower. We found a tree Ben could get up into a little bit. We climbed Enger Tower. Ben LOVED it and just wanted to run circles around the top of the tower. When we came back down he wanted to take the steps sideways. At the bottom he wanted to run around the tower again and climb on the walls. After that we walked over to the Asian garden where he thought the wooden bridge made a good pirate ship, and we had a near miss of him running into/ruining the Zen Garden (combed rocks). We headed up to the overlook area and let him climb on the rocks. He jumped into a puddle of sludge on one of them. The flowers were amazing, yellows white and oranges, even some wild roses.

Sunday Afternoon we decided to have a movie night. DH took Ben out to rent a movie and he picked Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. DH and him watched that while I mostly cooked and hung out in the kitchen. After dinner we all played together as a family with foam blocks/puzzle pieces. It was a lot of fun. In the evening, and this is a big deal, Ben pooped in the potty! LOL. Yes. Big deal here. We had been trying to get him to go/reminding him ALL day and suddenly out of no where he said "I have to poop" and ran to the potty, and poop he did. We practically threw him a parade - chocolate bar, number on his chart (he is working towards a book), and let him call his Aunt to leave a VM stating what he had done. Hopefuly it continues today but I am not holding my breath.

That is my weekend in paradise. Just everyday stuff... but awesome.

Felicity at 9 Months Old

Felicity turned 9 months old on Monday, the day after Father's day. We had a lovely weekend. She went to her first Grandma's Marathon, and we enjoyed time at the mall. We painted hand/foot prints for dad, spent a beautiful foggy morning at Brighton Beach and went to Grandma and Grandpa's house.

GROSS MOTOR: She is crawling like a champ, she moves quickly and likes to explore. She pulls up on anything that will support her weight (and sometimes something that won't support her weight!) She is interested in the stairs but has not made any real progress on them. She can withstand the occasional intentional and unintentional assaults and attacks by her brother.

EATING: She loves to eat. Some of her favorites: cottage cheese, blueberries, cereal, meat (she had salmon patty last night that she really seemed to enjoy), olives, and any kind of carb. She did not seem to enjoy the sweet potatos last night.

TALKING: Same old.. lots of babble. She is very loud in her vocalizations an the daycare worker who hosted the Grandma's Marathon party we attended emphasized that she is the loudest baby in the room. She loves to clap too and is interested in other gestures, though I haven't seen her make any.

TOYS: Her Favorite toys are maracas, crinkly blocks, small (very small) board books, and anything her brother has.  The books I read her most often are from the "Mini Masters" series (van gogh, matisse, degas and monet)

SOCIAL: She has chilled out a bit though she still is clingy sometimes. She has even let her Aunt L hold her for a few minutes without crying. She likes to play more and that distracts her from being clingy. She loves watching her big brother do just about anything, especially run and laugh though.

SLEEP: We transitioned her to a full size crib a few weeks ago. It has gone pretty well. The main problem is that she is at that stage where she tries to sit up pretty much the second she begins to wake up, and so wakes herself up. I am not really keeping track of how often she is getting up at night. I would say a good night these days is if she went down at 7pm, and got up at 10pm and 2am. That is rare... a third time would be more common. She also has a tendency to wake up at 5:15am, at which time I just bring her to bed with me for the last 45 minutes of the "night". I think this is probably associated with the light in our room.

I have a confession. I didn't take pictures of her holding the 9m sign, but I did take pictures of her on Sunday and Monday. Here they are:

A Trip to the Park

This afternoon we went to a park, a different park than normal because it was about to rain (better to drive to a park and be 30 feet from the car then walk 4 blocks there and be stranded if it rains). It was quite the adventure. Felicity was along for the ride (in her carseat, or strapped to my chest), but the real star of the story is Ben.

First, we get in the car, and on the way to the park Ben asks the question dreaded by all parents... "How did you get me as a kid?". I gave a very general answer: "Dad and I decided to have a baby and you grew in my stomach just like Felicity". Nope. Not good enough "but how did you make me?" Uh. Awkward laughter. Aaron started to jokingly say the infamous line "when two people love each other very much..." and we both cracked up. Then I said something like "men and women each have part of what it takes to make a baby inside them and we put them together in moms stomach". DH stepped in at this time and decided to compare it to making pancakes. Something like "Its like when we make pancakes - mom has some ingredients, dad has some ingredients, you mix them together and it bakes in mom's stomach". I asked Ben "Make sense?" and he said yes. LOL. Hope we didn't scar him for life.

We got to the park and walked over to the playground. There were quite a few kids there. Benjamin is not great at making new friends. He tends get this really "mean" face on and stand in their way and sometimes yell random things at them related to what he wants to play... we are working on it. Today though he was yelling "Feeding Mice ahead!!". We asked him to make sure and this was indeed right. We have NO idea what he meant or where he got it. Something about his new nursery rhyme story book (from the garage sale yesterday)... DH and I were both puzzling over it when out of no where another little girl yelled the exact same thing, obviously copying Ben. OMG we almost died laughing. The madness is spreading!! Well, despite his bad / mean face, he did eventually manage to get involved in a game with two other kids... where he was the bad guy of course!! They started calling him Mr Goo and running away from him and he ran after laughing maniacally. Guess as long as everyone is happy it works well!!! As DH said, he casts himself as the villain!

After those kids had to leave we wondered down to the baseball field. I did not know how it would go, but Ben LOVED it. I was pretending to be the pitcher. I would act like I threw the ball, then they would swing and say "CRACK" as if they were hitting the ball hard and run the basis. It was very fun and there were some great moments. First, DH told him he had to touch third or it wouldn't count, he dramatically reached down and placed his hands on it. Later, on the third or fourth go, he got tired and just sat down between second and third base. Then, when DH decided to pretend to be an outfielder, instead of running his bases, Benjamin chased DH into the outfield to help. Fun was had by all!!

Felicity - 8 Months Old!

 Felicity turned 8m old on the Friday of Memorial Day weekend. She seems so much bigger than a month ago when I look back!!

 She started a basic level of mobility when we were in San Diego (May 11-14). That was a sort of three point crawl where her hands, one knee, and one foot (her left foot) were on the floor. She wouldn't put that left knee down. Now, two weeks later, she is a very good traditional crawler who can go where she wants, though is still not sure she will get there. I am sure that will come in a day or two. The same time she was working on crawling she also started pulling up A LOT. And, by pulling up, I mean going into a four point stance with her hands on any slightly raised surface. She started doing this in Flagstaff (May 9th) and kept doing it more and more and more. Now she is really close to flat out standing. She WANTS to be standing. She will happily stand with one hand holding onto something (like my pant leg) while waving the other hand in joy. And - she has started to let go. Any day now she will let go and won't fall over right away. She also cruises a bit, though she is still working on that.

And what does she do with this new found power? She tries to get wherever I am. She harasses the animals. She seeks out new and interesting things to put in her mouth. Being able to pull up in her crib and pull up on the coffee table has opened up some whole new worlds to her. Now if we can keep her from ingesting random carpet fibers and rocks, and keep her from pulling giant books onto her head, she should live to see her first birthday.

For eating, she is at the stage where she is interested in putting EVERYTHING in her mouth, so when it happens to be food it usually goes well. Except cauliflower. She rejected cauliflower tonight for sure (but happily ate broccoli, tomato, strawberry, baked beans, and a pickle). At dinner last night she demolished an entire slice of lemon and was intent on eating the rind as well (but I took it from her). She likes pizza. She likes soup. She likes cottage cheese. She likes olives. She likes bacon. She likes green beans. She likes pretty much everything we have given her. Besides cauliflower. Her pincer grip is pretty decent and gets better everyday.

She also LOVES to talk. She babbles a lot, and very loudly. I am not sure she actually has any new sounds since last time - Da, Ba, Ya, Wa, and Ma. She also makes a popping noise sometimes, and a sort of swallowed "g" noise. She likes to mimic a lot now. She learned on the way home from San Diego that she could make short noises as well as long when the flight attendant started "roaring" at her. She is interested in singing and music and variation in pitch though she does not really do it yet. She can clap if she wants to and likes when other people clap.

In the last few days I have been making an effort to read her more books and she actually seems to enjoy it quite a bit. I think she really would love a texture book, she likes to touch EVERYTHING. We have some somewhere but I need to pull them out. She tries to "feel" the pictures in "Brown Bear Brown Bear What to You See?" She likes the turning pages.

Overall, she is a very happy baby still. She is almost always smiley and happy. She has started some of the "You took what I wanted!" crying when a toy or piece of food (or remote control or rock) is removed from her  possession, but overall she is cheerful. She loves when you talk directly to her. She loves her brother, even when he is tackling her (right until her face gets pushed into the floor).

Her biggest love though is Mom. She wants to stay within 18 inches of me at all times. Depending on the moment it can be adorable or stressful or overwhelming. She is growing so fast and I love to watch her grow.