Green Beans

My baby girl ate whole green beans Saturday night. She didn’t quite know what to think about the texture, but she ate a couple before swatting her plate off of the highchair signaling that she was done.



She also got a big girl car seat yesterday just like her brother’s Britax Marathon. I haven’t put it in the car yet, but I tear up just thinking about switching it!

Playtime on an Ordinary Day

Playtime is our favorite time.

First of all, can I just say that I love this picture. I love the fact that my angel babies play so well with each other. They are the best of friends & it warms my heart.

 

Riley loves reading to Averly. He is such a great big brother. And she is such a great little sister.

  

Plain old ordinary days like these are why I feel so blessed to be able to stay home with them most days. Working out of the house part time has been such a blessing. It’s the little things in life that I love the most now.

My Boy

I just love the things this little guy says. He is so much fun! I know I say that at every stage, but I love that he can communicate using actual sentences now.

Just last night while we were drawing on the sidewalk with chalk I yawned & he said “Tired, Mama?”

He’s so thoughtful. He is very polite too. Right now we are working on yes ma’am & no sir. TAG & I grew up saying it & so will our kids. Period. He usually remembers, but he sometimes gets the whole ma’am/sir thing mixed up. 85% of the time I’m a sir with him. Ah hem…anyway, I think it’s great he’s trying.  If he burps or if he wants to get by you, he says “scuse me!” He also says "Thank you sooo much" when he gets something he really wants.

Averly was babbling in the car the other day & he said “whatchu talking ‘bout Avy?” PRE.CIOUS. He loves that little girl so much. He always almost always shares his toys with her. He gets very concerned if Averly doesn’t have enough bubbles in her bath & has even taken it upon himself to correct that problem for her a few times. He’ll also point to her & say “Avy, little sister. I lub you Avvyyy!” and give her a kiss.

Yesterday he was eating a granola bar & wanted more. He kept saying “Mama, monkey bars. Please?” Cracks me up.

As mild mannered as he may seem, don’t let him fool you because he is ALL BOY. He loves to wrestle & play “foofball” & baseball with his Dada. He is rough as a cob without a doubt. Rarely does he ever not have dirt under his fingernails & his favorite place to be is outside “running fast”. He loves to pretend that he is Spiderman or Ironman. Watch out if he’s Spiderman because he is climbing all over everything.

He also has a love for books & learning. He can count to 10 easily so we are working on going up to 15 now. He can get to about 13 by himself. He knows the colors green, blue, brown, red, yellow, white, black (sometimes) & orange. He can almost say all of his ABC’s. He starts out pretty good, then muddles through the middle & picks back up at Q, R, S…

I could go on for days about all the things he says & does nowadays. And I just might. We never know when something great is going to come out of that little mouth of his.

His new favorite phrases are “Huh?” & “Why not?” Most kids ask ‘why’ but Riley asks ‘why not’.

The other day he wanted to watch 101 Dalmatians. He picked it out & said “Watch 100 dogs, please?” How stinkin’ cute is that?!

He can do a front roll & loves to show out doing it.

Lately everything is "Awesome!"

We stayed at my parents’ house a couple weekends ago & he sleeps in my sister’s old room when we are there. She has a heart-shaped picture frame on her dresser that has magnets on it. Riley was naming his shapes & I told him that one was a heart. Then I told him he was my heart. He replied back, with a hug, “You my heart too, Mama.” Stop.The.World.

Now that Averly is drinking out of a sippy cup, we will grab his & say "Cheers, Avy!" as he knocks the cups together. Such a stinker.

We are still working on the whole potty training thing. He just goes in the potty when he wants to, but it's not on a regular basis. He has gone #2 in the potty once about 3 weeks ago but nothing that exciting since.

He will hold his hand out to shake yours & say "Heyo, how you doing?" When you respond, he will say "Yea, I know it." He reminds me so much of a little old man.

He also told me he was going to build a house for me. I was helping my mom nail something on his playhouse that he has there, so he got a hammer & decided he wanted to help too. He said “Build you {a} house Mama.” Maybe he will do just that one day!



Oh how I love, love, love this little boy!

Sad Realization

My precious baby girl is 8 months old today! Where has the time gone?! It’s really hitting me hard that she is leaving the “baby” stage & will soon be a toddler. Sometimes I try to force infancy on her. I still want her to be that little lump of a baby that just lays in my arms smiling & cooing all day long. I’m not ready for her to be running around, eating real food, and only taking 1-2 naps per day. Yet I know it’s coming whether I like it or not. She wants to keep up with Riley so badly. But I don’t want that just yet. I try to soak in every day & embrace the “babiness” that is still left in her. It breaks my heart when she would rather get down in the floor and play than to snuggle with me. Don’t get me wrong, I am so proud of all the milestones she has reached & that she learns something new every single day. I just miss my baby being…well, a baby.



Some things my baby girl is doing these days:

Crawling like a champ. I told TAG we should enter her in a speed crawling contest because she is so fast!

Pulling up on everything. She is super strong & pulls right on up with no problem.

Cruising from one piece of furniture to another. Walking is literally right around the corner. She wants to walk now so, so badly. If we hold her hands & let her stand up she will take off. She practically runs after Riley.

Drinking juice from a sippy cup.

Eating some solids: crackers & breads.

Has a total of 3 teeth & I think the 4th will be in soon.

Has reverted back to not sleeping through the night most nights. I think her teeth are hurting her. If she is screaming, which does occur at times, I will get up, give her some teething medicine, nurse her (I know, big no no but I’ve GOT to sleep & sometimes it’s the only way to get her back down) & put her back to bed. If she is just whining though, we are doing the CIO method-at least a somewhat revised version of it. Basically, if she isn’t screaming & I know she isn’t in pain, we let her cry herself back to sleep. It doesn’t usually last long at all.

Her new trick that she has been doing for about 2 weeks now is barking like a dog. It’s just a little “oof oof” sound but I know that’s what she is doing because she only does it when she spots a dog.

Babbles a ton & has gotten “Dadadada” out a few times but she isn’t yet associating it with her Dada. She will also say “Maaaamaaaa” but that’s only when she is upset-usually when I’m changing her diaper. She hates to be still for that long! Again, I know she isn’t associating it with me yet, it’s just a mad noise for now. But I'll take it! :0)



She is wearing a size 4 in diapers & her clothes sizes are really all over the place. Everything runs so differently. She can wear some 6-9M outfits, some 12M, & has been wearing mostly 18M pajamas. We just have to roll the sleeves & legs up on them.

She is still my chunky monkey weighing in at 25 pounds as of November 1.

We found that she is very sensitive & was told “No” for the first time ever on Monday. We were at TAG’s grandmother’s visitation talking to some family. She spotted a pearl necklace that a lady {TAG’s aunt} we were talking to was wearing & started leaning in towards her to grab it. I said “No ma’am. That’s not for you.” And you would’ve thought it was the end of the world. Averly’s bottom lip poked out & she looked up at me with big alligator tears in her eyes & started boo-hooing. TAG’s aunt let her play with it for a minute & when it was time for her to leave, the whole meltdown/hurt feelings/wailing ensued. Bless her little heart.

New tooth & a sippy cup

Miss Averly tried some juice from a sippy cup for the first time on October 27th. We have been offering it to her for a few weeks, but she didn’t quite get the concept of it until then. She looks like such a big girl drinking from a cup!



She is also up to 3 teeth now! The top left one popped through a couple days ago. She hasn’t been sleeping very well as a result of it. Which means Mama hasn’t been sleeping much either. I. am. exhausted.

But…look how cute her mini ponytail is sticking straight up!

Halloween 2010

Halloween this year ended up not going at all as planned for us. We were supposed to Trick or Treat with some of our good friends at home, but Saturday we got a call from TAG’s sister with some not-so-great news. Their grandmother’s health had taken a turn for the worse & she ended up passing away that late night before we could get there. We woke up early Sunday morning & headed straight to Brooke’s house. Ruth had been very sick for quite a while & she was suffering in the end. It really was for the best because she is not in pain anymore. Although, it’s always hard to lose a loved one. We made the best of the day knowing she is better off in a much better place & went Trick or Treating Sunday night. With my mind all over the place that morning as I was packing the kids’ clothes, I only brought part of Averly’s Halloween costume so we had to improvise with what we had. She originally had a black turtleneck & black tights to go under her Love Bug costume, but I went off & left them. I think she still looked super cute though!

My little Love Bug. When I bought her costume, I thought it was a Lady Bug but after looking at it, I noticed the spots on the back were heart-shaped. So I guess it’s a Love Bug. That’s what we called her anyway!



Riley, the Friendly Dragon, with his Aunt Brooke.



Even though Riley has been around for 3 Halloweens now, this year was his first time to Trick or Treat. His first year he was only 2 months old & last year we were out of town. He didn’t really know what to think in the beginning, but once he saw what he got when he said “Trick or Treat” he was loving it!



He was so sweet & wanted to share his candy with Averly.



Mrs. Rhonda made the mistake of letting Riley grab hand-fulls of candy straight out of the bowl! Haha!



Then we let Averly dig in too.

 

She only thought she was getting something good!



I love this picture of Averly. She found a mirror & started smiling so big at herself. She would pat it too. Talk about precious!



Despite the circumstances & passing of TAG’s grandmother, we had a good Halloween for Averly’s first & Riley’s first time Trick or Treating.



I really hate that TAG didn’t get to tell his grandmother good-bye, but he is doing ok knowing she is at peace. She will definitely be missed!

Review & Winner!

Thank you to everyone who entered the makeover giveaway! Using random.org, I have selected the winner!! But first I just wanted to say if you are interested in a blog makeover, be sure to contact Kelly. She is super sweet & will work with you to do anything you want. Plus, her designs are great!

And now, the winner of the FREE blog makeover is...

Entry #2:

Kellie at Running the Race

Congratulations, Kellie! Please email Kelly at Koxborough@yahoo.com to claim your prize.