Watermelon Time

It is watermelon season here and we have been enjoying them wholeheartedly.  Usually, I just cut the watermelon up into bite-size pieces, but Steve suggested that I leave a few slices whole so that the girls could eat them outside -- a real summer treat.

 

 

Diving right in:

 

Savoring every bite:

I have to say that they did great eating everything but the rind.

Grabbing the last of their allotted two pieces each:

I know for a fact that they would have eaten even more if I would have allowed them!

Weekend Randoms

Monkey see, monkey do.  Sophia is never far behind her big sister, attempting to do everything that she does.

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Giving my van a much-needed car wash on a very hot day:

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Making star-shaped cookies for the 4th of July:

(This turned out to be an even more entertaining activity than I thought.  Long after the cookies were baked, the girls continued to play with the left-over dough until I finally had to inform them that we needed to clean up).

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Whenever we go somewhere, the girls are so good about holding hands in the parking lot and sticking together.  They understand the safety rules and know that they need to stay close by me and Jack at all times.

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Grammy came for a visit one day and brought her "craft bag" with her.  Inside the bag were all kinds of things that the girls typically use when they are at her house to make projects.  They had a blast! 

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I try to take my shower every morning before the kids get up.  Most days, I am successful, but depending on the kind of night that Jack has had, that's not always possible.  On those days, the kids are content watching a quick television program while I have 15 minutes all to myself!

(Note the uniforms of choice for the girls early in the morning: Sophia is sporting Samantha's old doctor's jacket, complete with the "Dr. Samantha" name tag, while Samantha is wearing an oldie-but- goodie ballerina outfit from Aunt Chris).

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Sophia is never lacking for personality.  She has a different face for every occasion and there is never a dull moment in this house with her.  She cracks me up!

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We needed to run over to Uncle Dennis and Aunt Deb's house to return a saw that Steve had borrowed.  It was a quick visit, but the girls were excited because Cousin Amberlee gave them some beads to bring home in order to string together to make necklaces and bracelets.  They set right to work the next morning ...

(The toolboxes were something that Steve had ordered online for the girls.  They had just arrived the previous afternoon and I put them together for them.  One of our next projects is to decorate the boxes with their names and stickers.)

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This is how a lot of my days look; my three favorite little people all together in the same room.

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Sophia loves to help me water the plants, which has been a full-time job this last week because the extremely hot days (in the 90s).

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No More Training Wheels

Last week, on a whim, Steve took the training wheels off of Samantha's bike.  And then I stood there in awe as my little girl took off with Steve simply using his hand for balance on her shoulders.  In no time at all, she mastered the hang of it.  Pretty soon, she was sailing out past the driveway and into the road -- with neither one of us holding onto her. 

And then there is this little cutie. 

Of course, she wants to be doing everything that her big sister is doing.  She is getting much better at pedaling her tricycle now that her legs are a little longer and she has better control.  (In fact, I am pretty sure that she has grown a few inches just in the last couple of months because I noticed last night that her nightgowns seem to be getting shorter on her).

Jack is 2 Months Old

This month has brought with it quite a lot of changes in our little man.  Not only is he starting to fill out and grow more and more with each day, he is spending a greater number of hours awake and aware of his surroundings.  He has begun focusing on objects and responding to various voices. 

Jack now weighs 11 lbs. 7 oz., which puts him in the 40th percentile for weight.  He gained 2 lbs in a month!  When I expressed my concern to his doctor over the rapid weight gain (and noticeable chubbiness), she laughed!  She said that the only time that we are allowed to have 'rolls' in our lifetime is during the ages of 0-2.  She said that he is actually a little below average in his weight and that he only appears chubby to me because I am used to having two little girls that always hovered in the 5-10 percentile!  Jack is now 22" in length, which puts him in the 20th percentile.

Jack had his first bottle at about 6.5 weeks of age.  This is the longest that I have taken to introduce a bottle with any of our kids, but with me having the summer off from teaching, I have not needed to give him a bottle.  He fussed for the first minute (because it was something new), but once he realized what was in it, he gulped it down in no time.  Since then, I have been pumping a bottle for him every morning that he then receives before his bath every night.  It helps to fill him up when my supply might be a little lower toward the end of the day.

Our typical night-time routine with him is as follows:

1.  After the girls are down for bed (at 8 pm), Jack gets the pumped bottle of milk.

2.  Around 8:30 pm or so, he gets his bath.  He loves that!

3.  Once he is in his pajamas, I will nurse him until he seems full and satisfied.  I usually put him in his crib between 9:00 - 9:30 pm.  (Eventually, we will start moving this time up, but for now, it will usually buy me about 5-6 hours of sleep before he is hungry again.  This is a welcomed relief from the every 2 hour feedings for his first 6 weeks of life).

As I mentioned, Jack LOVES his bath.  If he is fussy, he calms down immediately upon putting him in the warm water.  He often smiles and coos as I am cleaning him from top to bottom.  And then he cries when I take him out and dry him off.  I think that he would stay in there all night if I let him.

Around 6 weeks of age, Jack began reaching for objects that were hanging from his activity mat.  Sometimes he is successful at touching them, but he doesn't usually grab ahold of them because he likes to still keep his hands in a fist position.  I am working with him to open his fingers a little more.

 

Jack also started using his Bumbo seat a little more efficiently. By efficiently using it, I simply mean that he can hold his head up almost completely by himself.  It is still a lot of work to support his body, but he will sit in it for short periods of time.   (Never mind the purple color of it; we were gratefully given this seat by some of our friends when they longer needed it for their daughter.  We used it with both of our girls and now Jack is using it and luckily he doesn't seem to mind the 'girly' color!). 

 

 

 

In the last month, Jack has really started to use his swing.  He didn't seem to care for it too much when he was a newborn, but he will gladly sit in it now and will often swing himself to sleep.  In fact, I have been known to let him take a nap in there if he seems a little fussy and won't nap in his bed.

 

 

 

At 7 weeks old, I officially moved Jack upstairs to his crib to sleep at night.  He no longer sleeps in the Pack 'n Play in our bedroom.  I am happy to report that this transition has been very successful ... Right now, he will sleep for about six hours (give or take) before waking for a feeding in the middle of the night (usually between 3-4 am).  After a quick nursing, I am often able to get him to go back to sleep for another 2-3 hours.  I consider this to be pretty good for his age. 

 

 

 

I am also working with him to take his afternoon nap in his crib at the same time that the girls take their afternoon nap.  Most days, I am able to make it happen.  I then use that naptime to catch up on odds and ends around the house and to start dinner preparations.  Once I go back to teaching (in another month), I will likely use some of that time to do my schoolwork.

 

Jack's personality is really starting to develop.  He seems pretty easy-going and mellow right now, and has lots of smiles for the people and voices that he recognizes.  Even in the middle of the night, when this momma is tired and really doesn't feel like being too social, he gives me a toothy grin and I just melt.  It is safe to say that he has me totally wrapped around his "fist-clinched" little finger.

 

 

 

And I'm not the only one that is smitten with him; his sisters love him so much ...  In fact, Samantha asked me last night if Jack could sleep in their room with them!

 





Swimming Lessons

We signed the girls up for swimming lessons at DeWitt High School (Steve's alma mater) this week and next week.  The classes are for half an hour, Monday through Thursday, making a total of 8 sessions.  Sophia was originally signed up for the Blowfish class and Samantha was signed up for the Pike class; both of these were based on their ages.

Outside of the high school on the first day of class:

The girls were SO EXCITED to go swimming.  It was all that they talked about for days.  They had so many questions and couldn't wait to get there.

And even when we walked into the school, they were still anxious with excitement.

And then, it turned into one of the worst days EVER.  Sophia freaked out in the pool and Samantha refused to get in. 

No amount of sweet-talking, coaxing or threatening worked.  Sophia screamed bloody murder for the whole 30 minutes (even when I walked out of sight) and Samantha wouldn't even go so far as to dip her baby toe into the water.  I was humiliated.  My one saving grace was that my sister had met us there and was able to occupy Jack during this humbling experience.

After discussing the horrid situation with one of the leaders there, she encouraged me to consider switching them into the Aqua-tots class, which meets as half-hour earlier.  The thing is: that class is designed for a parent and a child.  Yup, I would need to do the lessons in the water with them.

After much discussion (both with the girls and with Steve), I decided that the Aqua-tots class was definitely what we needed to do.  The girls needed to become accustomed to a "pool" and to the lack of life-jackets.  Up until now, they have only ever really been in our lake and they have used some sort of floatation device for deeper swimming.  They needed to feel comfortable.  And if it meant that I needed to put my post-pregnancy body into a bathing suit to do it, well, I just needed to "take one for the team."

We showed up today for Day 2 with a happier outlook:

Sophia, with me holding her, gained confidence right away.

In fact, within five minutes, she felt comfortable with Miss Emily (the instructor) and let her work with her on swimming. 

That freed me up to try and coax a certain four-year old to join us in the water.

It took awhile.  But, eventually Sam saw how much fun we were having (there were swimming games designed to help the little ones feel more comfortable) and allowed me to work with her.

She is nowhere near comfortable enough with me letting go yet (hopefully we will get there in a few days), but her grip has definitely loosened up a little bit.

Going around in a circle while singing and swimming to "The Wheels On The Bus:"

The girls left their lesson on a definite "happy note" today.  That is exactly what I had hoped would happen.  They are anxious to go back tomorrow (woo-hoo!) and I am so thrilled about that.  After I hung up the phone from talking to Steve and telling him all about it, Samantha asked me if Daddy was proud of her.  Awww ... melt my heart.

A Picnic at the Park

I surprised the girls today with a picnic lunch down at the park.  It was sort-of an impromptu thing; the girls were getting antsy (meaning that they were picking fights with one another) and we needed a reason to just plain get out of the house.  I really don't care for the extremely hot and humid weather, but knew that we could find a shady spot at the park to eat.  It would be a win-win situation for everyone.

 

 

After lunch, Jack and I continued to sit in the shade while the girls were off and running to play on the playground. 

 

 

 

Frankly, I am sure that they burned off every single calorie that they consumed from lunch, but it also meant that they would be nice and tired by the time that we headed back home for naps.

 



This girl's arm strength never ceases to amaze me:

It turns out that there was some miscommunication between myself and a certain 2-year-old on how far she could go into the water.  I had explained, in great detail, that we did not have our bathing suits on and that I was not going to be "playing lifeguard" from all the way across the park (in my nicely shaded area). 

Alas, the temptation was too great. 

So, I managed to come over and monitor from a closer perspective until both of the girls were able to get cooled off and get the water out of their system.

It was such a nice time for all of us.  The breeze was greatly appreciated and the girls came back home to take wonderful naps (Jack fell asleep in the fresh air at the park). 

This is exactly what I had envisioned for my family when we first moved into this house.  I wanted to be able to go down to the park/beach whenever we wanted to (either with or without a plan) and make memories.  I wanted to pack picnic lunches and enjoy the beautiful landscaping and fresh air.  And that is just what we are doing ...

Parties Galore

The month of June was full of gatherings and parties.  Some of the time was spent with family and other times were spent with friends.  What was most noteworthy was that Samantha was invited to TWO different birthday parties for two different friends that month.  She was so excited to receive invitations in the mail (the first of many to come throughout her school years, I am sure).  And she was even more excited to be able to choose birthday gifts for her friends -- although, the first time resulted in a small breakdown upon realizing that her birthday is months away and she would have to wait for her own gifts.

The first birthday party was for her friend, Aleah.  Samantha and Aleah were in preschool together, and Aleah's mom and I were the "room moms" for the classroom this last year.  Steve took Samantha to the party and I stayed home with Sophia and Jack.  It was right during nap time and Jack was only a couple of weeks old. 

It was a pool party!

There was a Cinderella piñata, and the kids took turns pulling the string until the candy came out.

Then, they enjoyed snacks with cake and ice cream on the deck.  What a nice way to spend a warm Sunday afternoon!

Most of the kids at the party:

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Later in the month, Samantha was invited to a birthday party for her friend, Hayden.  Not only was Hayden in Samantha's preschool class this last year, she was also in her dance class.

The party was held at a Jumpin' Jax facility where the kids could spend most of the party jumping on blown-up inflatables.  There was also pizza and cupcakes for the kids.

Needless to say, Sam had a great time!

 

 

 

The guests at the party:

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