Red Oak

We took a quick trip to Red Oak yesterday. Mom had spaghetti, Grant played with his bike and we (of course) took a ride on the Ranger to feed the fish. It was my first time to feed the fish since my parents restocked the pond.
Back in my day, we would throw food into the ring and a few fish would come up and we'd be amazed. But nowadays, the fish are TRAINED to come up when they hear the sound of the food on the water. About a hundred come up at once. They fight for one little nugget. It's AMAZING. I think I hadn't been down to see the fish feed yet because from what I remember, it was not that remarkable. But these new fish - WOW!

Pics from the day:
Dada and Abby -
Grant playing:
Grant cooling off (his face was red from heat, not the sun)
And Grant "driving" Abby in the Ranger. With spaghetti sauce all over him.

Abby is 9 months!

My girl is 9 months. Here's what she's up to:
Height: 28 inches (70th percentile)

Weight: 20 lbs, 1oz at the doctor's office when she was halfway through a bottle, although the Wii says 20 lbs, 10 oz. = 80th percentile

Head: 46 cm (90th percentile)

Diaper: 4's

Eating: 7-8 ounces every 3 hours. She is eating about 6 oz. of baby food each day and sampling from our plates! I'm SO ready for table food! Like I said last month, she is a good eater, but nothing like her brother. He would cry between bites, and she waits patiently (or gets distracted by Lola).

Clothing: 12 month clothes. I'm looking for a new source for 12-18 month old girl clothes if you know of anyone!

Sleeping: 11-12 hours. 3 naps... but at daycare, she only fits in 2 short naps.

Talking: She talks a lot. Mama, Dada, and I think she even says Bubba. Not really at anyone just yet.

Teeth: Her top right is cutting through. It'll be here any day now!

Milestones: She's officially a CRAWLER. Sometimes on all 4s, and sometimes with her right leg sticking out. She LOVES to stand up! That's when she's the most lively. She can also PULL UP unassisted, but prefers to do it assisted! And one other milestone - she's in a NEW CAR SEAT! The infant carrier just became too much. And Carrie was getting rid of 2 seats, so the timing was just right!

The doc also confirmed that the rash on her cheek is eczema. We had diagnosed her ourselves, so it was good to know it wasn't something more serious. And he said treating with Vasoline is good (which we've been doing), so we get another star.

Guaranteed Smiles: Watching Lola and Grant. She's still a mama's girl - reaches for me all the time. She also LOVES the activity table or just pulling up with a little assistance.

Guaranteed Crying: Getting into PJs or generally being on the changing table.

And here are Grant's stats from his 9 month check up.

Potty Training

Up until now, we have always done something fun for Labor Day. But now that we're 30, the fun has ended.

We start potty training this weekend. I have no idea how this will work. I definitely haven't read enough about it. I'm expecting total disaster day 1, and only small improvements Sunday and Monday.

I need to stock up on more wine for this weekend. Don't worry though - I've got PLENTY of M&M's and carpet cleaner on hand.

For a little fun, check out the Squatty Potty. I was trying to find a bigger stool for Grant because it's hard for him to turn around on a small step stool.

Restaurant Week

For the past 7 years or so, we've participated in Restaurant Week. The fancy places in town offer a 3 course pre fixe menu for $35 each, and $7 of each plate goes to the North Texas Food Bank. It has grown so much that restaurants extend it to several weeks.

Wednesday, August 15 we went to III Forks. We try to go here every year with a group of awesome ladies that Derek worked with at Baylor. I love me some III Forks. Susie came over to hang with Grant and Abby.

Saturday, August 18 was Girls' Night! We went to Whiskey Cake in Plano. It was pretty good, but I actually ordered off the regular menu. It's not super-fancy. And they bombed our reservation - so that part sucked. I stared at these 2 pieces of meat all night:

Another highlight to the evening is that Derek let me take my sweet time in getting ready and kept the kiddos busy. It. was. awesome.

Cat, Rach, Jill, Laura and I were all there, but my photos didn't come out. Still trying to figure out the lighting on my new camera.

Friday, August 24 we went to Landmark with the same bunch - with our better halves. I was so caught up in conversation that I don't really think I can properly review the food. I left full, but when I ate my leftovers today, I was not impressed. The kids had a "reunion" night with Matt, Julie, Nathaniel and Clara. There was a "love fest" of kissing Baby Abby and boys that stayed up too late talking. When I picked them up on Saturday, they were all playing with the play kitchen. Practically perfect!

She's CRAWLING!!!

After teasing us all last week and over the weekend, Abby TOOK OFF today. Instead of crawl, crawl, fall... she can cross the entire room.

And yep - I'm teasing Grant the whole time in the video. I didn't realize Derek was rolling.

Catching up on photos

The kids started back to daycare last week. Derek managed to catch Grant playing outside when he went to pick them up.

And they are SO advanced that they moved up a room already. Ok. Can't even say that with a straight face. Really, the day care added a new infant room, which made everyone in the whole joint bump up.

Back up a few weeks - we were scrambling to find child care so that Clara could heal (she's STILL in a cast). And who came to our rescue?! THIS girl!

I'm so happy we got to spend time with Kennedy and that she saved the day for our babies. We figured out that I was her age when we first met. She was 5. And then I blinked my eyes really hard so that I would stop becoming my father. "When I was about your age..."

Some shots of my babies playing with each other.

And my big girl, who will drink herself to sleep many nights. I don't know where she gets that.

Grant-ism

In One Fish, Two Fish (known as Blue Fish here), there's a line "Not one of them is like another. Don't ask us why. Go ask your mother." and when we ask G where his mother is, he always says "Not here" bc Jill was here when we asked him the first time we asked and so he thinks she is mother. And when we correct him, he says "no, that's mama!"

And tonight Derek asked Grant "Can you say your alphabet?" (he's on an ABC kick). Grant replied "Alphabet!"

And every book ends with "Deeee end"!

Swimming

We played in the pool a bit today. Abby had fun - and we matched again.

Grant played with cups for a while...

Watched lizards...

And then wanted to "jump" off Daddy.

Oh - and I still don't have my editing software on my computer.

Then we changed (and someone else matched Abby), ate my knock-off Chick-fil-uggets, and went for a walk to POP IN on the Motos!

Going back

About a month ago, we found out that my cousin Julie was pregnant. Exciting of course, but we knew we'd have to find alternate care for the kiddos.

But the next week, Clara broke her arm. Grant may or may not have assisted. But not a traditional break, a break that required surgery and a pin. Ugh. Following doctors' advice to not let her fall on the arm (which is tough for a fearless gal like Clara), we called in backup. Julie has to watch Clara like a hawk! Kennedy was our nanny last week and will be our nanny this week again!

This sped up our search for child care. I was so sad when our old daycare said they couldn't take them until November... But that only lasted a few days! A parent in the infant room has to move, so a spot was open for both babies! They will return to daycare on the 13th!

Abby is 8 months!!

I'm still trying to recover from the great computer crash of 2012. Clearly I'm behind on posting, but I'll try to improve!! Here is an update on my favorite girl!

Weight: 20 lbs, 2 oz. almost 2 lbs up from last month!!

Diaper: 4's

Eating: 7-8 ounces every 3 hours. She was sick last month for a few days, so she emptied my last supply of breastmilk. I had reserved it for such an occasion.

She can almost eat 1 container of food per day. She has gotten SO much better at eating. I can tell she won't have her brother's eating skills though. He would cry between bites bc it wasn't fast enough for him. She waits patiently.

Clothing: 12 month clothes... And even some of those PJs are VERY tight. We measured her thighs bc they are... "sturdy". They are only 1 inch smaller than Grant's.

Sleeping: 11-12 hours. 3 naps.

Talking: She said MAMA on the day she turned 8 months. When G said it, it was "Mamamama", but she just says MAMA. She says DADA too. Jury is still out on if she knows what she is saying. I'm amazed at how quickly she learned these sounds/words!

Teeth: Same as last month - two on bottom.

Milestones: She's SOOO close to crawling! For a while now, she's been rolling across the room or moving backward. So the smart girl started looking for toys BEHIND her instead of trying to reach for the ones we put in front of her!

Guaranteed Smiles: Watching Lola and Grant. And she laughs at everything I say. Again - I get that. I think she's a mommas girl right now.

Guaranteed Crying: She gets pretty impatient after her bath and whenever she drops whatever she is gnawing on.

And more for myself, a link to Grant's 8 month stats.