7 Months...A Week Late

Things have been crazy around here the last week with preparing for Thanksgiving and Thomas's birthday, but for my own short memory I thought I should add Lydia's 7 month update.

At 7 months Lydia has had an explosion of activity and development.  She continues to barrel roll across the room to get where she wants to go.  She shows some signs of potentially crawling in the next month or so.  She can hold herself up on her hands and knees but that's as far as she gets right now.  She sits independently for long periods of time.  She can manipulate objects very well with her fingers and has started to pick up small finger foods on her own.  She eats very well from a spoon and a sippy cup.  She is beginning to try and wave when you wave at her.  She makes the "Indian War Whoop" for lack of a better term (pats her mouth with her hand while saying "ahhhhh").  She will climb all over your lap, pulling herself over with her strong arms and legs.  She makes sounds like "buh" and "dah" but isn't really making anything that could be connected as a word.  She claps when she is happy.  And most fun of all, she is responding to her name!"  I can't believe how much she has developed in one month!  Oh, and she has developed a terrible "cough" when you aren't paying close enough attention to her. :)

6 Months (Can You Believe It?!?!)

 

At 6 months old, Lydia is a blast to be around!  She is nearly always smiling, she is very curious and has to know what everyone is doing at all times, and always has a giggle.

 

She is going to be a tough one to parent though, because seriously, who can resist that smile?

 

Oh yeah, this is what happens when Mommy is eating a snack while feeding the baby and she unknowingly drops a chocolate chip that lands in your neck rolls.  Keeping it real up in here.

 

Here she is showing off her newly developed ability to sit independently for several minutes at a time.

 

And showing off her ability to fall with grace AND style!

 

"Haha, that was fun Mommy!"

 

And doing what she doesn't do very well at this point.  Well, at least she sleeps well at night, she just doesn't nap very well, which needless to say, doesn't let Mommy get much done around the house.

 

I am so in love with this girl.  She is such a blessing everyday.  The blessing we never knew we needed in our lives.

5 Months

 

Lydia turned 5 months old last week.  She is a sweet girl full of personality, and I am so happy to get to watch her grow everyday.

 

She is head over heels for her big brother.  She thinks he hung the moon, and nobody can make her laugh like he can.  He can just look her direction and she laughs her head off at him.

At 5 months old Lydia can sit pretty well when supported, she smiles and laughs and coos all the time, she shrieks with delight when she is playing, and she can now do full barrel rolls across the floor.  When I lay her in her crib at bedtime now, she immediately rolls herself over to her tummy or her side.  She has apparently had quite enough of laying on her back.

Lydia is loving solid food too.  She has had a few meals of rice cereal, as well as small bites of mashed avocado or banana, and we have tried a little bit of pureed carrots.  She is loving the carrots, as you can tell from the picture!

 

She is a very happy baby, as long as she's not too tired.  She has quite a bit of stranger danger anxiety right now, but we're working on that.  She is just so much fun!

Thomas Talks

 

Thomas, Lydia and I were at Nana's house one day last week helping her cook some freezer meals.  When it came time to make the meatloaf the following conversation ensued:

 

Nana: Okay Thomas, we need to measure the oatmeal to put in the meatloaf.

 

Thomas: Okay Nana, I be right back.  I go get it.

 

*runs out of the room and comes back*

 

Thomas: Okay Nana, I got it!  I measure it!

 

Nana: (Laughing) Oh honey, I don't think that's going to work, but good try!

See picture above. :)

*********

 

This morning Lydia was fussing because she was tired and apparently Thomas had had enough.
 

Thomas: Mommy, I think we need to get a new baby.  She cries too much.
 

Mommy: Thomas, all babies cry.  I don't think getting a new one is going to make much difference.

**********

 

Upon coming home from work Saturday night, Nana who had been watching the kids while Daddy was at a fundraising event told me that Thomas was still awake upstairs so I should probably go check on him.  I walked up to his room to find him sitting up in his bed.
 

Mommy: Thomas, why aren't you asleep.
 

Thomas: I want to sleep in your bed.

 

Mommy: No, you're not going to sleep in my bed.  You have to sleep in your bed.  What's wrong with your bed?

 

Thomas: I want to sleep in your bed.  It's comfy!  My bed not comfy.  I need a bigger bed.

 

Mommy: Well, you're going to get a bigger bed soon, when we can afford to buy you a new mattress.  We have a nice bed downstairs for you to use, we just have to get the mattress.

 

Thomas: And then I have a big bed like Sissy?  Okay!  But can I sleep in your comfy bed tonight?

 

Mommy: Uh, no.

The Outtakes!

Sun in the eyes....

Everyone looking somewhere else....

Losing interest...

Just chaos.....

Oh what were we thinking trying to do this?

I love Thomas's face!

Nobody can see....

Okay, out of the sun!

Looking all over the place....

Thomas's eyes....oh my...

Jillian is jumping ship....

I love Jillian's smile in this one!

The babies are done!

The Cousins

Laughing at Nana who was jumping in the background.

I love the boys' faces in this one.  And even the babies look like they're smiling

A good one, finally!

Matching Thunder Thighs.

Both kicking those Thunder Thighs!

Goodness, look at those rolls!

Nana and her babies.

They're Cousins......Identical Cousins...

Lydia with her cousin Jillian, who was born 19 days after her.

 

Take 1

Take 2, showing their personalities!

Take 3, Jillian still doesn't care.

Take 4, Lydia's wondering what Mom finds so fascinating.

Take 5, we're gonna start a fight!

Take 6, we're both in the game.

Take 7, as good as it gets!

Why 3 Kids is Easier Than 1!

Crazy as it may sound, I firmly believe that three (or more) kids is far easier than one.  There are so many reasons why I think this is the case, so I'll discuss a few of them.

I've done this before:  The first and most obvious observation is that this is not my first time in this rodeo.  I've gone through this twice before already.  I know that there is light at the end of the tunnel of each stage and phase.  If the baby is waking up every 30 minutes through the night, I know that won't last.  If the 3 year old is throwing a tantrum, I know that at some point (hopefully) those will become fewer and farther between.  No phase is permanent, they will outgrow these times.  And sadly, someday, there really will be a "last first" something.  The last first haircut, the last first steps, etc.  Even though I could be much better about it, I know I should savor all of these things, even the annoying bits, because one day they'll be grown and out of the house with little ones of their own to drive them crazy in return.

I know what to expect:  For the most part!  By now I feel like I know what is "normal" for a baby and what isn't.  Or at least what is normal for that baby.  When Thomas was a baby he was the king of spitting up.  Since he did it almost from the beginning, I thought that was just normal.  But he would spit up a huge amount every time.  With Lydia, she didn't spit up at all the first few weeks, but then she started spitting up like Thomas had all of a sudden.  I figured out finally that the only thing I had changed was the amount of milk I was consuming.  After talking to the doctor about it I found out that this is quite common and that all I needed to do was cut way back on the dairy.  Lydia hardly spits up anymore now, and when she does it's usually because she hasn't burped well or she got moved too soon after eating.  Looking back I imagine Thomas had the same sensitivity and I just didn't know any better.

I feel comfortable speaking up if I think something is wrong:  This ties in with the previous point.  I wouldn't have felt comfortable when I only had one to speak up and ask if something was wrong.  I wouldn't have felt comfortable asking for a second opinion if I didn't feel like the doctor cared about my child's diagnosis.  Luckily, I haven't had many instances where I felt like my concerns weren't heard or taken seriously.  We have a fantastic pediatrician who has three kids of her own and she is always great about listening to our concerns and addressing them.  Unfortunately not all doctors are like this and some of the specialists we have had to see over the years have left a lot to be desired.  I've never felt uncomfortable calling the pediatrician and asking her to refer us somewhere else.

I'm not afraid to make mistakes:  I'd be lying if I said I haven't made any mistakes in taking care of these children that God has entrusted to my care.  I'm a quick learner though, so I try to always learn from those mistakes.  Except for that one where the kid always tends to find a way to roll off the couch when they are barely mobile.  Somehow I keep forgetting that one.  :)  I remember my mom always telling me that the first born is kind of the experiment.  You get all of your mistakes out of the way on that one.  I don't know if I totally agree, but I do think there is some truth there.  I think you make the majority of the mistakes with the first one, but I know I've made plenty of different mistakes with the second and third born as well!  Chalk it up to a learning curve, ask for forgiveness, and move on.

I no longer think they are always on the verge of death:  You know how it is with the first one.  They drop their binky on the floor and you rush to wash it off.  You washed all of the clothes in Dreft 3 months before they were born.  You made sure all the electrical outlets had a safety plug and all the cabinets had a combination lock on them so the baby would never, ever, ever encounter anything unsafe.  The first time they had a low-grade fever you called the pediatrician on call and panicked until they returned your call and told you to give them a lukewarm bath and reminded you that, since they are 6 months old they are probably cutting teeth, so give them a little baby Tylenol and they'll be fine.  The first time they slept through the night you didn't rejoice in the fact that YOU got to sleep through the night, you went running into their room to make sure they hadn't suffocated in their crib.  I've been there.  By the second one, you're lucky if you remember to put the safety plug back in the outlet after you vacuum because it took you 10 minutes to get the damn thing out in the first place.  You leave the cabinets open when you cook because it takes too long to continue messing with the child safe combination locks you installed.  You get so excited when they FINALLY sleep through the night for the first time.  By the third one, you don't even bother with the child-proofing.  You've lost all of the safety plugs since the second kid and it wouldn't matter if you had them to remove from the wall because you've vacuumed twice since #3 arrived anyway.  And messing with the combination locks on the cabinets?  Who has time to cook now?! The kid is lucky to get a bath once a week some weeks, let alone a lukewarm one when they have that low-grade teething or vaccination induced fever. And you wouldn't even notice that they slept through the night anyway if it hadn't been for the 3 year old coming into your room at 7:30 in the morning to wake you up and you're annoyed because the baby DID actually let you sleep and now the toddler is waking you up.  I don't get worked up about the low grade fever anymore.  The bigger kids help to make sure the baby isn't going to get something unsafe and try to shove it in her mouth.  I don't think they'll be leaving her alone long enough anyway for her to get near the wall sockets, let alone stick a penny in them.  Like we have enough money sitting around anyway for her to find a penny!  We have three kids, we DON'T have money!!!

I know what doesn't work for our family:  And I'm not afraid to admit it when an experiment fails!  If it's not working for your family, DON'T KEEP DOING IT BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT THE BOOK SAYS TO DO!  Be the mom "whatever works" mom, for yourself and for other!  If (safe) co-sleeping works for your family and everyone gets sleep and you're okay with that, cool.  If it doesn't work for your family and you all start to hate each other over it and nobody is sleeping and you can't even have the baby in the same room as you because you AND the baby aren't sleeping, then by all means get them out of there!  There is no perfect time when the baby needs to move to their own room.  Both of our girls couldn't sleep in our room from the start.  We tried having them in the bassinet for the first week for each of them and it was a terrible experience for all of us.  Whenever one of us would roll over in bed the baby would wake up.  Whenever the dog would move, the baby would wake up.  Whenever the baby would breathe, sigh, move her pinky toe, or clear her throat, both adults and both dogs would wake up.  It wasn't working.  So before either of those two were even a week old they were in their own nursery in their own crib sleeping several hours at a time and it was beautiful.  If you have better luck co-sleeping or rooming in, good for you, I'm glad that worked for you, it certainly didn't for us.  But if you are co-sleeping/rooming in and it's NOT working out for you, then get that baby out of your room!

They know what is expected of them:  I have gotten better with practice at letting them know what is expected of them, punishing when needed, and following through.  When we go to the store they are reminded before we get out of the car what is expected of them and what the consequences of ignoring those expectations will be.  Sometimes they obey, sometimes they don't, but they choose their behavior and therefore choose the consequences.  They are choosing more and more to follow the rules.

I have two big helpers:  I don't have to be the only person to retrieve a clean diaper or put a dish in the sink or walk to the mailbox anymore.  I don't have to the be the only person to put all of the dirty clothes in the hamper.  I also don't have to be the only one to try and make the baby smile or laugh!  I have two older ones who are more than happy to grab a clean diaper, toss a dirty one, put their own clothes in the hamper, and make a complete fool of themselves all for the sake of making that baby laugh at them.

I'm not the only person they have to play with anymore:  When it was just Amelia, I (or John) was her sole source of entertainment most of the time.  If she wanted to play a game, she came to us.  If she wanted a book read, she came to us.  If she wanted a snack she came to us.  Now that she is 6 and proud to be the big sister, she is more likely to ask her brother to play with her.  She reads a book to the family.  She and Thomas grab their own snacks from the cabinet after asking permission.  It's so nice to not feel like I have to put on a Dog and Pony Show everyday to entertain the kid since I'm her only playmate.  The hardest time so far was when Thomas was born and Amelia was still only 2 years old.  Having two kids completely dependent on me all the time was rough.  Now I have only 1 completely dependent on me and two who are pretty independent and willing to entertain their baby sister and each other.

I can enjoy them more:  Much as I forget to just soak it in and enjoy it sometimes, I really can enjoy it more now that it doesn't feel quite so much like I'm buried in the trenches of toddlerhood and newborn nightmares.  It's fun to watch them interact with each other.  It's a stirs my heart to see Amelia read a book to her brother.  It makes my heart leap to hear Lydia laugh out loud at Thomas when he makes a funny face and falls on the floor.  They are so difficult some days, but they are also so much fun on a lot of days.

They are a gift to each other:  I think this is the most important lesson of all.  They truly are a gift to each other.  I've heard many times that the greatest gift you can give your children are siblings and I wholeheartedly agree.  They are their first friends, the people they learn to fight with and make up with, they share experiences and a history, and someday when their dad and I are old geezers with no teeth and even fewer brains left, they will work together to make the decisions about how best to put us out to pasture.  As they get older, they will become closer friends and fight less and it will be beautiful.  But even now when they spend so much time fighting over toys and attention, there are still so many moments of beauty like when they let the other play with their favorite toy or they do something nice for the other without prompting. 

If you had told me when Amelia was a baby that two more kids would be so much easier than where I was at that point, I would have laughed in your face, but it is so true.  And I love it.

4 Months

Lydia turned 4 months old about two weeks ago and she has kept us on our toes this week.

On Monday I had surgery to have my gallbladder removed and she somehow managed to drink almost all of the bottles of breast milk I had spent days pumping before Monday night.  When the formula came out, she went on strike.  She didn't eat from 7:00 that night until she got desperate enough at her 10:00 doctor's appointment the next morning.  She was like the Lorax in the recent movie: "I'm going to eat this, but I want you to know I'm highly offended by it!"  She got her 4 month shots and tipped the scales at 15 pounds and 24 inches long.

Monday through Wednesday were very much recovery days for me.  Thursday Lydia had her first bites of food when I gave her a few spoonfuls of rice cereal which she actually enjoyed.  She opened her mouth wide and got so excited every time the spoon came near.

On Friday she rolled over for the first time.  But being an overachiever she went straight from immobile to barrel rolls.  She can make it halfway across the floor in 30 seconds.  And since she loves to roll so much she took a minute on Saturday to initiate herself into the "I Rolled Off the Couch" Club.

The funniest thing though happened today when Lydia and I went down to the basement to check on Daddy and she got scared to death when he used his cordless drill to screw into a board.  I've never seen her jump so hard!

Overheard at the Ihle House Vol. 2

Upon seeing a camper parked at a local house:

Thomas:  Wook!  Dey have a camper!

Amelia:  Yeah, I think it's a Small Class C....

Thomas:  Yeah!  It is Mall Cass C!


Upon heading upstairs to get something and being followed by both mobile children I heard:

Thomas:  Mommy, I want baff!  Can we take baff now?  Please?!?!?!?!

Mommy:  You need to wait a few minutes, I have to do something first....

Thomas:  But Mommy,  need to take a baff!  MY BUTT STINKS!!!!!!!!

Mommy:  Did you seriously just say that?

A Whirlwind Summer Part Two

On Friday August 9th we got up early, packed the van, and headed to Davenport to pick up the RV we rented from US Adventure RV.  We highly recommend them.  They were reasonably priced, and had great customer service, even when the couple whose pick up time was before us showed up 30 minutes late to pick up and it pushed our pickup back over an hour.  They were very apologetic, even though it wasn't their fault by any means.  They were just great, and if you are looking to rent or buy an RV, I'd check them out first.

 

On Friday when we arrived at the campground it was almost supper time, so we set up the camper and then we ate Walking Tacos.  They were a big hit with everyone.  Daddy went outside and gathered some small sticks and made a little (very smoky) campfire so we could have S'Mores.  We spent some time around the campfire that evening and then went to bed to rest up for the next day's fun.

 

On Saturday we rented a pontoon boat for two hours and explored the lake.  The kids were disappointed to find out that we couldn't fish from the pontoon boat so they spent the next two hours asking when we could go back to the dock and whining.  Daddy and Mommy had fun exploring the lake, and Lydia spent five minutes fussing until she got to eat and fell asleep in her huge lifejacket.  When we got back to the campground we had the rest of the Walking Tacos and then everyone took a nap.  Daddy made another campfire that afternoon and got it nice and hot so we could grill our hotdogs and hamburgers for supper and we ate more S'Mores.  Daddy, Amelia, and Thomas went for a short hike to explore the trail at the end of the lane and the kids came back tired.  We tried unsuccessfully to watch the meteor shower.  Mommy and Daddy saw three after the kids went to bed and that was all.

 

Sunday was spent taking a hike down to the lake so the kids could go fishing.  They didn't catch anything, and were quite frustrated about it, but the water was choppy and it was very windy.  Lydia ate and took another milk-induced nap.  The fresh air seems to make her hungry and sleepy.  :)  We went back to the camper and the kids had more of the hotdogs while Mommy and Daddy had Taco Soup for lunch.  The whole family took a nice long nap that afternoon and we took a nice long hike after we woke up.  Then that night we had the same meal for supper, ate more S'Mores, and played a hilarious game of "I Spy" for which I have included videos.  Amelia understood the game but was really bad about looking right at whatever she was "spying" and Thomas couldn't quite get the concept down.  We couldn't stop laughing.  Everyone but Daddy thought that his hat was navy blue even though he insisted it was black so when someone would pick his hat as something blue he would say, "My hat is BLACK!"  Mommy and Daddy watched for more meteors (again unsuccessfully) that night and then we went to sleep so we could get up early the next morning and return the camper.

 

All in all it was a great weekend, even though we spent a good portion of the time disciplining kids and swatting bugs.  We'd do it again in a heart beat and John's already looking at RVs to see what he wants to get in the future.

 

Amelia was super excited to ride shotgun.

There's the beast....a 2013 Jamboree Searcher by Fleetwood.  It was cozy, but nice.

The first night's smoky campfire, when we didn't have any real firewood.

Chillin' like a villain.

The trifecta of goodness.

Safety first!

The men driving the pontoon boat.

The Cheeseball checking out the Lake.

It was a beautiful sunny day.

Mother Nature at her finest.

Lydia had mixed feelings about her lifejacket.

But she finally made friends with it and fell asleep.

Sunbathing while deciding whether or not to have another fit.

Finally enjoying the ride.

Campfire Night Two.

Getting ready to go fishing!

We didn't have much luck and they didn't have much patience for the lure fishing.

Lydia had lots of fun fishing.

Day Three Hiking!  This was before Amelia pushed Thomas down.

Dad is weird and Lydia is tired.  She passed out about 5 minutes after this picture was taken.

The end of the road for us.  Time to head back to the campsite.

"Morning, Clark!  Shitter was full!"

Thomas was excited to ride shotgun on the way home.

And passed out about 5 minutes into the ride. 

Amelia playing "I Spy."

Thomas playing "I Spy."