Another baby...or babies

The kids and I were all playing in the play room the other day and Keeley told me that we needed to have another boy kiddo.  When I asked her why she said, "so Killian will have a friend to play with on the primary playground since we won't be there."  So sweet.  I then explained to her that we can't choose if we have a boy or girl when we had a baby.  I asked her what would happen if we had a girl.  She paused for a second and said, "well, then we would need to have 2 more boys."  I clarified that she meant three total babies - the one girl and the two boys, to which she responded yes.  I asked why we would need to have two more boy kiddos and she said, "so we'd have teams - three girls and three boys." 

I'm not so sure Kelly and I are on board with that logic but it certainly was an interesting conversation!

First Day of School

We are off to a new school year again!  The girls have enjoyed counting down the days with their links.  I think the excitement is mainly due to the fact that they are both in the primary now so they will get out of the car at the same time, see each other on the playground, and get to get in the car together.  They are the best of friends. 

The morning started off with a special breakfast and note for each girl.

At school, each time they have snacks they put a tiny flower vase on the table.  It always causes problems at our house but I thought I would give it a try for the first day.

They were excited about their breakfasts and immediately began telling me what they wanted for the next day.  Apparently they are expecting special breakfasts every day now...

Everyone got dressed and fed and we were ready to go on time.  I was super impressed with all of us because even though the girls get up early and school is close, getting all of those things done and taking care of Killian seemed overwhelming to me the night before!

When did she get so big? :-(

 

They had a great first day, played together on the playground and came home very tired.  No nap happened, obviously, but they went to bed early and fell asleep instantly.  I think this is going to be a great year.

Bath together!

The girls wanted to join Killan for a bath today.  He certainly didn't seem to mind.  He really loves his sisters.

Teenage years

I'll be honest, we have a lot of drama.  My girls are 3 and 4.  I've frequently thought forward a few years to what the teenage years will be like.  Today I had an entirely different reason to be worried. 

School starts on Monday so I was busy today getting things ready.  We had entered the bad time at our house (4-5) and girls were playing in Kayden's room. I was thrilled.  No begging to watch tv, requests for snacks, or fighting....Then I peeked into Kayden's room and saw all this money spread all over the room.  This money is all the "pig food" that Oma gives the girls when she comes over because their piggy banks get "hungry".  They really know how to work Oma.

  

Anyway, when I say spread out, I mean placed all over the entire room.  It was fairly evenly spread around the bed, into the closet, by the dresser.  When I saw it, I asked the girls what had happened.  Kayden responded with a giggle, "we wanted to trip the tiny people."

Oh my. I have no idea what that even means.  I told them they needed to help me clean up.  Then I noticed that there was what looked like tiny pieces of ceramic everywhere.  I asked the girls what it was and Keeley said, "Oh, our piggies broke a little."

I asked how that happened and, apparently, they "jumped" off the bed.  Well, now that there was tiny ceramic everywhere it wasn't safe for the girls to help me clean up the change.  I sent them to Keeley's room while I cleaned up the change so I could vacuum up the ceramic.  Keeley said we had to buy them new piggy banks since I was going to throw the old ones away.  I told her we did not have to do that and that they knew the piggy banks weren't toys.  Then, as I'm cleaning, I heard Keeley say through her tears, "we have to be sneaky and we can't even drive yet."  I called her back into Kayden's room and asked why she needed to drive and she told me it was so they could go get piggy banks since I would not replace the broken ones.  I'm not pleased that a 4 year old is already plotting to sneak out of the house!

Killian at 3 months

We are so in love and I'm amazed at how fast babies change.  Month in the month leading up to his three month "birthday" Killian has become more and more social.  He has been on his first family vacation (Great Wolf Lodge) and taken an airplane ride to visit family in Seattle. 

Wolf ears at Great Wolf Lodge!

Prefers to check out the world like this.

Glass museum in Seattle.

Playing with Uncle Kendall in Seattle.

LOVE THIS picture of the little man with Grossmama!

Enjoying the cool - hanging out on a blanket in a grassy area under a tree.  Heavenly.  He was mesmerized by the way the branches moved and the way the grass felt on his feet.

Solqualmie falls. Another beautiful day.

Waiting for our plane to head back to Dallas.  He was not interested in sleeping on either flight but was sweet as could be with everyone.

 Here are some highlights of development:

* long pauses when he is thinking of something big to say; louder when talks; verabalizes to get attention if not getting enough attention at the moment

Talking to his crab toy on the bouncy chair.

* blowing bubbles
* holding my finger during feeding

* still working on getting that thumb/hand and rubbing his ear when tired

* July 26 - he started blowing raspberries at me; swatted at and successfully hit a toy on his play mat (while holding on to the arches)

* July 27 - discovered tongue and started playing with it, refused to eat somewhere other than our "normal chair", refused to eat in our normal chair when he could hear a new person talking (other than sisters)
* boo and ba noises
* Can lift his head, but so not a fan of tummy time.

* Prefers to ram his face into the mat as he tenses his body  and digs his toes in...sort of working the army crawl instead of actually lifting his face.  If this is not successful, he'll just fuss for a second and then lay there as if to say, "I know what you want me to do but I'm not interested."

* August 5 - laughed for the first time
* Tried out the jump thing but his legs are still too short

Sleep
He knows his cues for sleep. Since he was just a few weeks old, Kilian knew what was going to happen when you put him on his swaddling blanket.  You could see his body relax as he realized you had figured out exactly what he needed.  This was a welcome relief for me after spending so much of the girls' infancy having no idea what to do to stop the tears!  When Killian was tired and we would change him before naps he would get angry, very angry.  As if he was protesting the fact that he was laying on his changing table and not in his bed. Once he was in his wrap, he'd calm down instantly and usually fuss less than a minute when put in bed before falling asleep.  As he has gotten more social, this routine has begun to change.  We go in his room and turn his light off on the way to the changing table and I can feel his body tense up.  I lay him down to get a clean diaper and he begins to scream.  I pick him up and put him in his crib and he gets even madder and will cry for a full ten minutes sometimes before realizing that, "yes, I do need to sleep." However, he does pass out, sleep well, and wake up happy.  I'll take it!

So far his pattern has been to take two 45 minute-1 hour naps in the morning with about the same amount of time awake, a 2-3 hour nap around lunch time, and then a tiny 45 minute nap in the late afternoon.  He'll then nurse and go down for 8-11 hours before he wakes up again.  He almost always wakes at 5 (whether that be his first waking or his second) for a very quick bite and then settles again until 7:30 or so.  Good thing he sleeps so much because his sisters are all over him whenever he is awake. As soon as they hear me going to get him, they run in there screaming, "Killian!!  Killian!  Killian's awake!"  They hop on the crib and start talking to him..."Hey little guy.  You're awake.  Get those stretches out. Hey little man..."  Then starts the, "Keeley's there, I can't see him. He's looking at Kayden...why won't he look in my eyes."  I pick him up and get ready to change him and Keeley moves his changing pad to the floor so they can get even more all over him.  So far I've been surprised because there have been no girls climbing in his crib.  That was one of the first things Keeley figured out after Kayden was born - she was climbing in sister's crib before she ever tried to get out of her own.  He really loves his sisters though and just smiles and stares at all this commotion and all that comes after.

Attempting his "photo shoot" I got all of one picture

before this happened

"Here I am.  Do you see me behind the heads of my sisters?  They are giving me kisses.  I love them."

Toe tickles.

Howling.  Apparently all pictures need a howling shot after Great Wolf Lodge.

As is apparent by this series of pictures, we are all in love with him.

Circus

While Killian and I visited in Seattle, Kelly and the girls played.  On Sunday, his mom got tickets to the suite at the AAC for the circus.  Some precedents are being set here.  Two summers in a row the girls have gone to the circus with Dad and Gramma while Mom was out of town and both times were in a suite. Not sure they are going to know what to do if they have to have Mom tag along or sit in normal seats!

Dressed (girls and dolls) in dresses Grandma made for them.  The little suitcases have extra clothes for their babies.

So cute.  Look at Kayden's hand.

Kayden

I need to preface this with the fact that Kayden is usually a very good helper (both the girls are) and usually is very excited to do the random little things I ask her to do.

Right after lunch today and before a nap time they were going to miss because we had someone coming over to the house to do some work, I asked Kayden to put her clothes away (they were all folded on our "laundry couch" as Keeley calls it).  She looked at me and said, "Umm, I don't think I want to."  Seeing this as an opportunity to discuss how sometimes you have to do things you don't want to, I said, "Well, what if I hadn't wanted to make you that extra ham sandwich you asked for at lunch?"  Without even pausing to think she said, "Well, then, I guess I might run out of hugs and kisses."  And then gave me her cutest smile. Bested by a three year old.  Perhaps this day is not going in my favor!

Great Wolf Lodge

After the girls finished swim lessons, we took them to Great Wolf Lodge again. Oma readily agreed to come and hold the baby so the girls could enjoy the water park a little more freely.

Eating dinner.  They brought Killian wolf ears even though he didn't order a kids' meal.  How cute are they all?!

Not sure what to think.  Pretty adorable, I think.

He spends a lot of time in the wrap in a state of "quiet alert."  He likes to face me and just peek out and take in his world.

Playtime before story time.

Dad with wolf ears.  Love it!

Oma snuggles!

Girls getting ready for story time.

Kayden is mesmerized.

So are Keeley and even Killian seems intrigued.

Mesmerized, and perhaps a bit tired!

Checking out the wave pool.

Showing off their glitter tattoos.  I told Dad to get the girls one while I was dealing with the baby.  Somehow they each got two...

All in all, fabulous get away and fun first family vacation for Killian!

Two days of swimming, no naps, late night time left two very tired girls...