Grandma Betty

Last week Derek's grandmother was admitted to the hospital. She stayed a few nights and then was released to hospice care. We took the kiddos over for a visit this weekend. Betty was in good spirits and even held Abby for a while! Grandma Betty passed away this morning. She will be missed.

Big Gaga's house

We visited Big Gaga yesterday. We ordered in Angelo's. Grant loved the baked spaghetti and between what he ate and what landed on the floor, he had an adult-sized portion. I don't have any photos from the visit, but I did take this about 3 minutes after we left. Both are OUT! Big Gaga's house is TIRING!

And just because - here's a photo of Abby from earlier in the week. I think she's already rolling her eyes at me!

Matthew's baseball game

We went to Matthew's baseball game this week. With 2 kiddos, we were doing good to make it through the third inning. I have no photos of Matthew playing, but I DO have some of my babies playing. Matthew had a double and 2 singles (I think) at his 3 at-bats and lots of RBIs.

Grant enjoyed the playground, but he also did decently well (when bribed with food) watching the game.

Hello Minnesota!

I just added some code to my website last week for Google Analytics. It's pretty fascinating stuff. If you haven't done this for your own blog, I definitely recommend it.

Most of my blog hits come from DFW, although Waco made the list too (Hi Jenna!). North Carolina had 4 hits to my site since last week. Hi Mitts!!

But there was also 4 hits from Minnesota, 1 from Georgia, and 1 from England. Who was THAT?! Show yourself Minnesota! I just dedicated an entire post to you, so you owe me.

"That is all." (Peter Griffin voice).

Hello, twos.

The terrible twos are knocking on our door - only 6 weeks away. Grant’s testing us all the time now. I wonder if it ever really stops or if this is the age where parents are shocked into a lifetime of children testing limits. Are the twos really terrible or is it terrible because this is just the beginning?

Grant’s new phrase is “bad dog.” We always correct him and tell him “no, nice dog!” But this phrase is carrying over. When he’s not getting his way, it’s “bad mama” or “bad dada.” UGH! He says it when he’s frustrated that we can’t understand him, but more often he says it when he has to stop playing to get a diaper change.

Reading his favorite book, Go, Dog! Go. with Susie ("Tootie")
Manners are a work in progress. We have to tell him to say please and thank you (“Meee” = Please and “Tay too” = Thank you). He always takes his plate to the sink when he’s done eating. He will stop eating and put his hands together to pray. He always puts his hands together for bedtime prayers too and whispers his version of “Amen.”

He loves planes and Elmo. We live near the airport so we see and hear planes ALL THE TIME. He always points them out. And if we’re playing and he hears one, he runs to the window to try and find it (all the while telling me “Mama – dat” and pointing to the sky).



After the storms 2 weeks ago - tornado prep at Julie's and playing with the hail my neighbor saved.
His favorite toys are the baby doll and stroller at Julie’s, the dog pillow/blanket that my aunt Debi gave Abby at home (that dog is ALWAYS “Nice dog”) and CARS! The boy loves Hot Wheels, his Cozy Coupe and all cars of all sizes in between. They are all assigned to certain people. Baby Abba Caw = lime green flat bed big rig; Coco (Carrie) caw = white & purple; Mama caw = White with the driver in it (from Great Grandpa KC); Dada caw = shiny green hot wheel (also from Great Grandpa KC). And on and on… When we were at Grandma Rose & Papa’s house last weekend, he gave everyone a car for the toys in the house and never strayed. He also assigned the hot wheels in the garage, again never straying. He remembers which car belongs to each one.

The child can also be a comedian. If I toot, he’ll say “Mama, poo poo.” HA! He’s starting to understand jokes. This morning I told him the dog pillow/blanket thing (I need a name for it!) was “Susie’s dog.” He looked at me with his chin slightly down and a grin on his face and corrected me, “No – my dog mama.” We laughed and kept going back & forth. I do the same with his cars – pointing at Abby’s and saying it’s mama’s car. I remember watching my brother tease Matthew (pointing to a pig and saying “cow”, etc.), thinking it was all in fun. While it is fun, I now see it’s important to teach him to think on his own.

The boy just ADORES his sister! He helps me move the Bumbo in the next room for sister (“Baby Abba Bumbo.”). He actually says Baby Abba so much that I find myself saying it too instead of Abby! Derek doesn’t have a mirror set up in the car to see Abby while he drives, but Grant does a great job of telling us whether she’s asleep or awake when we’re on the road. “Baby Abba nigh nigh” or “Baby Abba waaay”.

He has hit her a few times, but it’s when he wants her to stop crying. A few weeks ago she was BEGGING to go to sleep (read: screaming her head off) while I was getting dressed in the morning. It’s impossible to put on clothes and hold a baby, so she just had to be upset for a few minutes. Grant did NOT like that. He was at my feet in my closet – “Mama, baby. Mama, baby.” And when that didn’t work, he went up to her and smacked her on the forehead.

But I'm sure they'll do fine sharing toys! I don't have to take my head out of these clouds until Abby is mobile. I like the view up here anyway!

Abby is teething!

Grant started drooling like a boxer when he was 3 months old. We thought he was teething for the next 4 months until he finally DID get a tooth (two) when he was 7.5 months old. So when Abby started doing the same thing, I was sure that she'd be a drool-monster for several months like Grant was without any signs of teeth.

I was wrong. When the kids were with my parents on April 13, my dad felt a tooth. And now you can see it (if you look hard enough). Abby's first tooth is in at 4.5 months!!

On a related note, we're going to start weaning. Teeth + vacation next month = time to wean!!

Abby is 4 months!!

Special thanks to Roberta for the adorable outfit!!
Abby is 4 months!! Here's what she's up to!!

Weight: 14 lbs., 4 oz (50th percentile)

Height: 25 inches (75th percentile)

Head Circumference: 42 cm (75th percentile) It’s a little crooked but should straighten out soon.

Diaper: Moving up to Size 3 today!

Eating: 7 oz. every 3 hours.

Clothing: 3-6 month size

Sleeping: Almost always 10-11 hours! There were 2 days last week where she woke up in the night, but I think that was a growth spurt. We still swaddle her for naps and at night.

Talking: Owl noises (a-whoo), Gargling type sounds, squeals, and other vowel sounds

Teeth: None – but she’s become a drool monster!!!

Milestones: She’s getting close to rolling over from her back to her belly, but hasn’t done it yet. Grant started rolling over just before he was 4 months old. Grant also started in the exersaucer and jumper at this age, but Abby has been in them for a few weeks already. She loves them!

Guaranteed Smiles: Same as last month - whistles, raspberries, tickling her neck, and brushing my hair against her.

Guaranteed Crying: Same as last month - riding in the car. She hates it!

I’ve got 500+ oz of milk in the freezer. I just found a program that basically pays you $300 for 300 ounces of “donated” breastmilk. The company fortifies the milk, then sells it to hospitals for premies (under 3 lbs). Economically, it is sort of a no brainer. It’s strange to sell my milk, but I’m glad it’ll help babies and also help me offset formula costs!

I’m pretty nervous that our clothes supply may be coming to an end soon. If Abby stays in the 50% range, then by 6 months, Abby will weigh about the same as Lila did at 1 year (17 lbs, 8 oz is the projection on the growth chart for Abby and Lila was 17 lbs, 4 oz). I will still refuse to pay more than single digits for baby clothes though!!

Random photos from this month - Part 1

Grant loves M&Ms:

The kids are ready for baseball season:

Tummy time is more fun with big brother:

Solo tummy time (notice the truck, which Grant has dubbed "Baby Abba Caw"):

Playing on the changing table:

The first step to recovery

Is admitting you have a problem. My problem is that I have a sick desire to match my little girl. Ok. Not really. It's usually just a sarcastic comment about matching bows. But today in Target I saw an infant swimsuit that matched the bikini I snagged there (on sale) a few weeks ago ($15 total!!). And a force overcame me. How cute are we gonna be?!

Grant's baby - and singing

There is one specific baby doll at Julie's that Grant just LOVES! It is his baby. Exhibit A:
Changing her diaper

Exhibit B:
Feeding her lunch

He loves to push the doll around in the stroller too... and generally likes pushing around the stroller even if it's empty or full of cars.

Singing

I don't think it's a secret that we're a singing household. We work everyone's name into songs and bust out singing with little provocation. But Derek has made it clear that my new little ditty has to go. I just sing/spell Abby's name to the Alphabet Song (btw - Derek is STILL unsure whether this is REALLY the same tune as Twinkle, Twinkle. So clearly our singing skills are questionable). But try her name and see - A-B-I-G-A-I-L H-I-C-K-S-M-N-O-P.... The AB, HI and K all line up to the real song!! Derek says I can't sing it tho because Grant won't learn his alphabet. :(

Derek on the other hand is teaching Grant new songs. Lately it's been Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody." He yells sings "MAMA!!! Oo-oooooo-oo!" Grant has started joining in. Sometimes Grant changes MAMA to DADA or BABY. Grant will also try to sing "Skatman" with Derek - basically just repeating a lot of "B" sounds. So cute. I've gotten a few decent clips on HeyTell (to Derek and Susie), but I'll have to try to catch some video of it soon to share on here!

Talking

This weekend Grant started saying "Baby Abby". In the past it's been "Baby Ah-Bah", so he's getting better!! It's still hit or miss, but I'm sure in short order, I will miss hearing him say "Baby Ah-Bah"!