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Monday morning, Daddy was getting dressed when Ian walked in. He saw Daddy's American flag tie and said,
"That's a flag. Where's Barack Obama?"
That's what you get when you live with a man who watches C-Span for fun.
***
This morning, as I packed a very excited Ian for a trip to B and Pop's house, he detailed out my instructions: not that shirt, this shirt. Not those socks, these socks. And not that sippy cup, that sippy cup. And lastly, not the fast (read:Daddy's) car, Mommy's (read:the BBV) car. I told him no, the BBV had to stay home with Mommy and he had to ride in the fast car with Daddy.
"But Mommy," he whined. "Daddy can't drive!"
He came up with that one on his own, I swear.
Wordless Wednesday: Thursday Edition x2
Thursday, Nov 13, 2008
Catherine "Legs" Bender
Daddy let her leave the house dressed like this for red, white & blue day. Oh yes he did.
State Fair
Saturday, Nov 08, 2008
Here you go! Finally! Pictures from our State Fair trip with B, Pop, and Uncle Scotty.
Snippets
Friday, Nov 07, 2008
Wow, y'all. Whataweek. I've worked way too much and we have had a rocky week of ups and downs, and the blog, our pictures, and unfortunately my house have suffered for it! So here's some snippets about each of the kids.
Austen: Austen's big news is her first report card came in. She has a 98 in language arts, 97 in math and Satisfactory in all other subjects. Her math and language arts grades are based on her self-paced curriculum, and she has finished her second-grade curriculum and is now halfway through the third grade curriculum in math, and is working on a late fourth grade level in language arts. So, aside from her spelling tests, her grades are based on her working level, not her grade level.
She has read almost 50 books this school year, and has about 180 AR points so far this year. The school year goal is 30! I have loved helping her pick out new books - we picked up "Tuck Everlasting" and "The Secret Garden" this weekend - but I have to admit, I'm starting to run out of ideas!
Her other big news is she is student of the month for her school! We are so proud of her. She had the honor of being student of the month last May as well, and to be chosen twice is just awesome!
Ian FINALLY pooped in the potty! YES! Just once so far, but hey, it's a step in the right direction. He was so proud of himself, and immediately demanded everything we've been promising him for the last six months -- and then some. He's also started spelling three-letter words. He's asked how things are spelled, too, but for now, he's got a handful of words in his arsenal that he'll spell just because he can, but never on demand of course. He looks so much older these days. His legs are so long, and little-boyish. It's enough to break this mama's heart.
Catherine is still so tiny. Well, compared to her siblings, anyhow. She slept through the night for the first time in months last night, and Daddy and I woke up smiling. Hopefully the trend will continue. She has been really snuggly recently. She just wants to lie on my chest and cuddle close. Her two bottom teeth are threatening to pop through, and I'm not sure if that's the culprit behind the cuddling, but I'll take it! She's gotten better at standing, and she can stand on her own for a few seconds before she tumbles. She also started pulling up on things other than Daddy and I. She looks too tiny to be preparing to walk.
Her eyes are changing color, from blue to green. This is earlier than Austen's changed, and I'm so excited to see what their permanent color will be.
I have a big set of pictures from the fair I need to edit and share. They're two weeks late at this point, and I'm sorry for that. They're just so colorful I want to be sure to do them justice! For now, back to work.
Halloween
Friday, Oct 31, 2008
Here are some shots from our very motley Halloween! Grandma B found Catherine's "Caffodil" costume, and Ian's "Aaron" costume (his choice of name). We have also had some compliments on the kids' Thanksgiving outfits and those are thanks to Grandma B as well!
We didn't make it to a pumpkin patch this year -- well, to be more precise, we DID, but all they had were really crummy pumpkins left. So, we made do with pics of Catherine as a scarecrow in the yard instead!!
This is how she thinks 'Hermione' would smile.
Monthly Update - Eight Months Old
Wednesday, Oct 29, 2008
Sweet Catherine is now eight months old. The last month was really tough for me with my work schedule, and being busy every weekend. In in a lot of ways, I think I missed out on too much of Month Seven. I hate that. I am making a conscientious effort to spend more concentrated time with my kids and try to work smarter when I am at the computer. We know all-too-well that these days fly by too quickly, and even if the memories are dim, I want as many of them as possible of my littlest peanut.
Anyhow, on to Miss Catherine. Catherine has had a big month of growth. She's now mobile, crawling around, rocking on all fours, and pulling up and crawling over obstacles. She enjoys her jumper for a few minutes here or there and gets some pretty good height when she gets going. There's no more slack left in the jumper, and standing in her jumper shows off those lovely, long legs of hers. She's entirely given up her swing, bouncers, and play mats, and I'm ready to get them boxed up and moved out!
Catherine says "mama" a good deal now, usually when she's upset about something, or if I don't get to her fast enough. She also enjoys being squeal-y. She eats three meals a day (whines through any kind of veggie), with two snacks in between, and she nurses 4-5 times a day as well. She's doing better sleeping at night, but she's still up once a night in the early hours of the morning.
She's teething but still doesn't have any teeth. She hasn't started drooling yet, and her tear ducts have finally cleared up too, so the bodily fluids are down to a runny nose. And her hair is finally growing longer! It's still pale blonde, and you can't see much, but it's there! She's been doing great in her morning out class, and loves watching the other children. They, in turn, love poking at her.
Catherine's favorite things are her siblings, toys, paper, being outside, baths, water, talking to her daddy, and going after anything gadgety. She also loves to play ball with anyone who will sit with her. She loves to go for walks, and just sitting out on the front porch in the rocking chair. She babbles a lot these days, and shakes her head no. She will wave bye-bye most of the time, and has a really strong pinch (ouch), but no pincer grasp.
In the next month, she'll be taking her first ride on a plane, visiting with Grandpa, celebrating her first Halloween and Thanksgiving, and meeting a whole slew of Texas family. It's a lot of activity for a little girl, and I'm sure she'll handle it in stride. As her father noted tonight, she's a quiet personality, and enjoys sitting back and watching things -- more than being in the middle of all the noise and chaos. So she should enjoy all the things we'll be throwing her way this month, and throwing things back at us in return, of course!
Calling all New York family
Tuesday, Oct 28, 2008
**UPDATE**: Look what came in the mail from my grandmother!! A picture of my dad as a little boy, hee! I grew up seeing this picture, but I have no idea where those pictures are now. Luckily Gran took Aunt Debi's comment to heart and sent some pictures our way. Thank you!
So here he is - what do you think??
Ian weighed in just now, when he saw my editing it: "Oh! It's Eeya!!" I told him no, it's Grandpa, and he said "It's Grandpa Eeya!"
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I need you to weigh in on something. For a few months now, I have been seeing more of Dad in Ian. He'll grin a certain way, or I'll see that hairline of his (poor kid), or those big, droopy eyes, and think "wow, he looks like Dad."
Now, granted, he still looks like his daddy and Uncle Scotty, but there's a good deal of Grandpa in him as well. And I'm not just talking height. Grandpa, however, doesn't see it. He apparently can't see past the Chris.
Sunday, we took the kids to have pictures made, and when I look at the picture of the kids together, all I see is Grandpa. What do you think?
Please ignore the quality - this is a picture of a picture! More to come when the pics are online!
Spicing things up
Sunday, Oct 26, 2008
Now that Catherine is teetering on eight months old, we decided to finally kick her out of our room. She's still getting up twice a night to eat, and I have high hopes that it's just because I'm nearby.
Anyhow, the original plan when we bought this house was for Ian and his younger sibling to share a room for a few years in what is affectionately known as The Five Year Plan that Now Ceases to Exist. Since the house hasn't sold, we decided to put this part of The Plan into action anyhow.
But Ian threw his own three-year-old shaped wrench into the mix. About two months ago, he decided that there was nothing better in the whole world than climbing into his sister's crib, taking her her pappy, and forcing her to wake up and play with him. To date, he has done this at naps, bed time, and even 3 am. While his record has improved from "every freaking time Catherine was asleep" to "every other day or so", Catherine's ability to power sleep/cat nap means I was no longer interested in my two little ones rooming together.
There was also the matter of him giving her the most inappropriate toys he could find, like his big sister's miniature Porcelain tea set two days ago.
We started suggesting she stay with Austen instead. And, logistically, it seems it's going to work out! Austen sleeps through everything but her own nightmares, and Catherine is exceptionally quiet (unlike her brother, who snored at her age). Austen's room is the smaller of the two, but at 12x12, still a really good sized bedroom.
For many reasons, I'd like Austen to have her own room, with the top on that list being that her little toys are stored there. But I don't plan on letting Catherine play upstairs too often because of the stairs/bannister anyhow, and I feel confident that Austen would comply to a "no toys on the floor while Catherine is on the floor" rule as well.
I was concerned Austen wouldn't want to share, but she surprised us! She was stoked about getting Catherine in her room. So, this weekend, Daddy and I rearranged her room, and put Catherine's crib in there. Everything else will stay in our room. There's still a surprising amount of room, and Catherine went down for her first nap without a sound. She slept two hours and woke up happy as could be, looking around at her new room. I'm wagering it will take Austen three times longer to adjust, due to her excitement at sharing a room. When we move, all the kids will return to their own rooms, but hopefully this arrangement will work well for our girls temporarily.
Portrait session
Friday, Oct 24, 2008
Here's the pics from our portrait session last week. These are mostly Ian's three year and Catherine's six month pictures. There's a few of all the kids and of Austen in there too, of course! They didn't actually cut off Austen's head in the one where they're all standing - I think that's just how it uploaded.
C versus the V
Thursday, Oct 23, 2008
Catherine hates veggies. It's driving me batty. I don't really care right now if she eats solids in general, but the amount she eats directly coincides with how well she sleeps (or wants to eat), as well as how much sleep I get at night. So three meals a day are necessary, and the mom in me just cannot bear all three meals being cereal and fruit.
For a while she would eat orange veggies, but now, she's even turning up her nose at those. Literally.
She hadn't taken a single bite in these pictures. These are just some of the faces she makes when simply offered a bite of veggie. I foresee many mealtime battles in our future....
