5 months

Lucy is 5 months old! She is a very happy easy going baby still. She likes to laugh and babble loudly. She is definitely finding her voice. She still loves most anyone she meets not showing any stranger anxiety yet. 

Lucy loves to show her smile and is very active as well. She is constantly rolling from back to stomach and then to her back again. Scooting around her playmat is lots of fun and I have to put her at one end of her crib because she always wiggles forward to the other end. Chewing on all of her toys and playing with tags are some of her favorite things to do right now. She also has found her feet and loves to throw them up into the air. Chewing on her toes is another favorite thing to do. Whenever we change her diaper she loves to kick her legs around freely. 

Bathtime is also still a great time for Lucy; she really loves splashing in the water and kicking her feet. Caroline and Lucy take baths together now and Caroline likes to help get Lucy clean. Caroline is pushing the boundaries more and more with what is ok to do to her baby sister so I don't like to leave them unsupervised for long. Lucy rarely cries regardless of what Caroline is doing to her so it's best if stick around them at all times.

Liam is still a great big brother to Lucy, always showing her attention and he loves to hold her. At this time we are trying to encourage Liam to read to Lucy as most of the baby books are fairly easy for Liam to read. He is doing great at that and Lucy enjoys that time as well.

Lucy is still nursing about every 3 hours during the day. Last weekend she may have been going through a growth spurt because she was waking up every 2 hours to eat. (ugh!) But then on Tuesday night she went to bed at 7:30 pm and didn't wake up until 5 am. (woohoo!) Most of the time she wakes up between 1-2 am, eats and then doesn't wake again until around 6 am.

During the day she will take 2-3 naps. Once between 9-10 am then again in the afternoon and sometimes a quick power nap in the evening. 

She still loves to sit in the highchair while we are all eating and is beginning to be very curious as to the food we put in our mouths.

It seems that her hair is coming in lighter although it's still a guessing game as to what color it will be. Her eyes are beginning to show up brown although they could be hazel. 

I am finding it harder and harder to be as strict with bedtime routines. With the two older children we would read two books, sing a song and then lay them down and walk out of the room. I know that Lucy is our last. I love to feel her soft skin next to my cheek and breathe in her baby smell. I find myself lost looking into her sweet face that has fallen asleep on my shoulder. I know how quickly she will grow up and how this baby snuggly time goes so fast. She is the youngest and already spoiled.

We love our little Lucy and couldn't imagine life without her!

Happy Easter

Sweet (and sassy) Caroline

As Caroline is getting closer to her 3 year old birthday her sassiness is becoming more and more evident. Two conversations in the last couple of days:

C: "Mommy, let's go to your work!"
M: "Why?"
C: "Because."
M: "What is it that you want to do at my work?"
C:  "Eat M&M's"


While sitting with Evan and I at the table:
C:"Mommy, you the boss!"
M: "You got that right."
E: "What about me?"
C: "No, Daddy. You are not the boss. Mommy the boss."

St. Louis

We decided to take a mini vacation to St. Louis at the end of Liam's spring break from school. We had a blast! On Friday we checked out the Magic House and then the pool at our hotel. 

Saturday we went to the zoo first thing in the morning and ended up spending the entire day there. It was a beautiful day and the kids had a great time even without a stroller. Caroline was carried some but Liam walked the whole day and never once did he complain! 

On Sunday we hung around the hotel so Lucy could have a decent nap and then checked out the Science Center. It was definitely interesting but a little "old" for my kids. Both Liam and Caroline kept running from display to display wanting instant gratification. When Evan and I tried to slow them down to talk about what the display was about and how to make it work they were off to the next thing. Caroline was most interested in the robotic dinosaurs on the lower level. She was truly fascinated by their movements and would stand in front them just watching them for 10 minutes at a time. When we tried to move her onto something else she would run off and find them again. The highlight at the Science Center was the face painting that Evan got suckered into. (Ha!) I had to feed Lucy and left him with the kids to eat lunch. When Lucy and I came out of the nursing nook we discovered a tiger and Minnie Mouse! 

So happy that we were able to get away even just for a few days. We love St. Louis!!!!

4 months

Lucy is 4 months old! She is such a happy, easy baby. 

Lucy weighs: 11 lbs 13 oz  (11%)
          length:  26 inches    (95%)

Lucy is really enjoying books and is starting to reach her hands out to explore the pages in front of her. She absolutely adores her big brother and sister and gives them BIG smiles whenever they are near. She has even started laughing especially with Daddy and loves to "talk" with Mommy. She is still consistent with rolling from her tummy to her back and when she is on her back she is starting to think about rolling from her back to her tummy. Lucy loves her playmat and now will grab and kick at her toys.

Lucy will now put weight on her legs and is pretty excited about it as well. She likes to be in her Baby K'tan wrap either facing in or out.

Lucy does not like being ignored when she thinks someone should be near her. She also is not a fan when Caroline "experiments" with her. Currently, Caroline is trying to figure out what are things she can and cannot do to her baby sister. Putting her finger in her eye, laying on top of her, trying to shove toys in her mouth are all things that have been attempted and much to her dismay are also things that result in her going to timeout. Otherwise, Lucy is pretty happy most of the time.

Lucy has decided that bottles are not really that bad and now will happily down a 3 oz bottle in 15 minutes or less. She usually likes to eat every 3-4 hours during the day and at night it will range from 3-5 hours. We did have a pattern developing of her going to bed a little after 8 pm. Waking to eat around 2 am and then again at 6:30 am. It was great. The last two nights however she has been wanting to eat every 2-3 hours again....it's not so great.

Naps are also starting to develop at 9 am for about an hour, sometimes less and then again in the afternoon for a longer stretch, about 2-3 hours. She will also take a short third nap in the evening.

I decided on Thursday to finally kick her out of our room. I am a light sleeper and every time she moved or made any noises I would wake up. Since moving out, she has been waking up every 2-4 hours. The transition to the crib has gone fine except for me having to get up and walk down the hall. Hopefully she will go back to her routine of only waking up once in the night soon. 

Lucy's hair is falling out so it will be interesting to see what color it will be when it comes back in. Her eyes are definitely not blue like her siblings. I think they will be brown like Evan's but it's still a guessing game at this point. I got the 3-6 month and 6 month clothes out of the attic this morning and they seem to be fitting her pretty well. 

She loves to sit in her high chair while we all eat dinner. I think because she can see us all better. She definitely loves to know what's going on around her and wants to see people's faces.

Sleep challenges

A couple months ago we decided to move Caroline from her crib into the toddler bed.

She did great and would stay in bed until we told her it was time to get up regardless of whether she was awake or not. 

A month ago I decided to break her from the habit of sucking her two middle fingers. It was becoming harmful as her bite was changing and she would get sores on her fingers where her teeth rested. We got the special nail polish that tastes acidic to remind her how yucky the habit was, she tested it once and never again did she try to put her fingers in her mouth. I must say I was impressed. I really thought she would have been more stubborn about that considering they were always in her mouth.

Now that she no longer has a soothing habit to help her fall asleep Caroline has decided to start boycotting naps. At not even 3 years old naps are beginning to happen less and less. I'm not ready for this. Liam took naps until he was 5 years old. This is going to be hard. But hilarious.

Example #1

Aunt Emily was here the other week babysitting while we were at work. Lucy was napping and she said after she put Caroline down for her nap she went to take a shower. Maybe 20 minutes later Emily emerged from the bathroom and heard a noise. The noise of a horse. She opened Caroline's door to find her riding her rocking horse with her cowgirl hat on. Caroline was shocked that she had been found out and shamefully walked back to bed.

Example #2

At the babysitters house Caroline was supposed to be taking a nap but instead was trying to wake up the other little girl in the room  by talking loudly to her. After being told numerous times to be quiet the babysitter decided to move her from the cot to the pack n play. Once she was back upstairs she was watching the video monitor and thought that the monitor was starting to short out on her due to the fact that the screen kept going black and white continuously. She then realized that Caroline was right underneath the light switch.

Example #3

Again at the babysitters house Caroline and the other little girl were supposed to be napping. The babysitter had even given them each a couple of books just in case they didn't sleep they would have something to do. From the video monitor she was able to see Caroline offering one of her books to her friend. Once she stretched out her hand to take the book Caroline would quickly take it out of her reach. This continued for several minutes.

Example #4

We have also been having problems with Caroline staying in her bed in the middle of the night. The first night there was a thunderstorm and she said she was scared. So Evan brought her into our bed. That did not work as Caroline is and has always been the kid who doesn't fall back asleep if she's next to mommy or daddy. We allowed her to sleep on the floor on a sleeping bag that night. So, since then she has been coming into our room and telling us that she wants to sleep on our floor in the sleeping bag. Even though I have told her no, sometimes when I get up in the morning I find her next to Lucy's pack n play where she has laid out her blankets and her pillow. She is resourceful.

I am remembering that Liam went through this phase as well. At about the same age too. Hopefully it will be short lived. I don't think I can handle more than one child waking me up in the middle of the night. Lucy has first dibs on that title, someone better tell Caroline.

At home we have started having naptime with the door open. This has resulted in Caroline actually staying in her bed. Note that I didn't say sleeping or even laying down. Many times I will walk by or sit in the hallway and see Caroline lining up her stuffed animals and talking to them all. She also loves to stand and do a halfway backbend holding onto the crib sides. I imagine she's waiting until she feels the blood rushing to her head.

This weekend we may transfer her to a twin sized bed so we can turn the toddler bed back into a crib for Lucy. I can't even imagine what she will attempt in her new room with Liam. I'm guessing that Liam will not be amused when Caroline tries to wake him up in the middle of the night.

Sometimes I just have to pull out the camera...

Because even ninjas need to know how to spell. 

Because they both have their tongues sticking out. And it's adorable. 

Because she couldn't be any cuter.