Baby Talk

Hanky Boy is 2 Months Old!

I asked Hank where his smile was and to my surprise he showed me! Such a sweetie!!!

Our big little guy is two months old and still doing great. He's a whopping 12 pounds 4 ounces and 23 1/4 inches long (70th percentile for both). The doc checked him out yesterday and says he's perfect - we already assumed as much :)

Hank outweighed his sisters at birth by roughly a pound. That along with being a boy, his growth is leaving them in the dust. At 2 months Eleanor weighed 8 lbs. 5 3/4 ounces and Carolyn was 9 lbs. 13 3/4 ounces.

Last night he slept his longest and didn't wake up until 4am. A whole 8 hours after his 8pm feeding and 7ish hour after he fell asleep in his bassinet.

He's also continuing to smile some - mainly when laying on his back for a diaper change or playing. He loves, loves, loves his swing and we put him in it any time we need to free up our arms and he's fussy. He has also been batting at toys on his activity mat and bouncy seat. We got out the exersaucer this week since he's gaining a lot of head control. He liked it but only for a short while.

We're working on the naps in the crib and he's doing decent. Though he still loves being held while he sleeps and I'm a sucker for holding sleeping babies (housework? what housework?)

We gave Hank his first bottle recently. The girls were anxious and excited to be able to feed him.

I got out my pictures of the girls and their first bottles...



Wow, how life has changed in just 4 and a half years!

Carolyn Mae

I feel like I've been leaving out my cute little middle child lately. Out of my blog posts that is. She's definitely not forgotten as she is constantly keeping our attention - for both good reasons and bad.

Starting with the good, she recently potty-trained very easily. While she'll occasionally still have accidents, she caught on quickly and her independence made the whole process easy on me. Just days into it, she'd run past me to the bathroom. I'd ask if she needed help and she'd yell back, "No, I do it myself!" Great! And on the occasion that she does have an accident, she cleans herself up and puts on fresh clothes.

She's also an amazingly sweet big sister to Hank. If Hank cries, she stops whatever it is she's doing and runs to him yelling, "It's okay Hanky boy!" Then she gets right down in his face and tells him, "It's okay, mama's here." And then jams his binky into his mouth, "Hanky boy, you take this!"

She's so funny too. She was in the process of getting out a game last night when I suggested we watch a movie. She agreed so I started putting away her game and she screamed at me. I reminded her that we were going to watch a movie and her tears stopped and she smiled and said, "Oh yeah. Haha. I just kidding."

Just now I heard her in the kitchen. Eleanor told me she was getting into a bag of muffins. She had one this morning that she didn't finish so I told Eleanor she could have one if she was going to eat it all. So Eleanor asked her, "Are you going to eat it all?" "Oh no", Carolyn says. "I just eat one."

She also does a lot of repeating. Her favorite thing to tell me is, "It's not bedtime." She'll tell me everyday when I pick her up from daycare. She'll say it over and over regardless of my response. If I say you're right it's not bedtime she'll say, "It's not bedtime." Then I'll say yep it's not bedtime to which she yells "I said! It's not bedtime!"

And then there's the bad. The back-talking. The finger-pointing. The scowling. She likes to point her finger at me and say, "I not naughty!"

Okay, so I'm adding to this post already. My mom, what was she thinking, gave the girls the cutest ceramic tea set. It's in a cute little wicker case and I keep it out of reach of the girls. I'll get it out on occasion when I can supervise. It's been on the top shelf of the girls closet. Well Carolyn just brought it out and opened it. Three plates are shattered. So she's not only naughty, but the can climb to the top of the closet as well. She obviously scaled up there, snagged the case, and dropped it so she could climb down. Ugh!

Upcycling - take 1

Yesterday I was inspired by a couple blogs I came across. One which displayed reusing items in new ways, aka upcycling. And another on how to make a onesie tie shirt.

I really wanted to make a tie shirt for Hank but the thought of loading and shopping with three kids at Hobby Lobby was rather unappealing. Then the upcycling thought struck me and I raided the old clothes tubs in the basement. I found some of the girls old long-sleeved onesies and a dress Carolyn had outgrown. Granted the dress was so cute it was difficult to bring myself to cut into it, but she could no longer wear it and why not give it new life as a tie for Hank.

I downloaded a tie pattern and went to work...

The dress

The tie cut from the dress

Before sewing

And Hank - all dressed up with nowhere to go

So it looks like I've found a way to use my girl clothes for Hank. We'll see what I come up with next. Fun stuff! (am I becoming a crafty/sewing nerd?)

Hank Smiles!

We've been waiting wondering when our serious little boy would smile. Since the day he was born he would fall asleep and get one of those cute little grins. So we thought he'd be smiling by 4 weeks, 5 weeks, 6 weeks, ... Would he ever smile? YES, he would and he did. Finally on Wednesday at 7 weeks and 5 days that little bugger started smiling. Today I captured it for all your viewing pleasure.

Complete cuteness! Thanks Hank for making our week!

Eleanor's Preschool Pic

Eleanor brought home her preschool picture and it's just adorable. I can't believe my little girl has a school picture. She still just loves school. She comes home ever day singing songs about colors and shapes. She loves her teachers and has made so many new friends. It's really been a great experience for her.

Jack-o-lant the Pumpkin

Eleanor wanted to quote "Jack-o-lant the pumpkin", so jack-o-lant the pumpkin we did!

Happy Halloween

For two whole months Eleanor asked almost daily, "Mom, how many more days until Halloween?" Needless to say, she was looking forward to dressing up and trick-or-treating. She/I decided that she'd be the Queen of Hearts and Carolyn could be Alice. She made the decision, but I kept her to it. She would have changed her mind a dozen times if I would have let her.

We also thought Hank would make a great White Rabbit with ears and a big pocket watch around his neck. But as the days until the big event dwindled with zero progress on his costume, I gave up on the thought (and remember it is the thought that counts). It wasn't a big letdown. He is only 7 weeks old, can't hold up his head much less a bag for treats. Plus he slept in his carrier the whole time.

I semi-made Eleanor's costume from a $8 eBay find, a 1/2 yard each red and gold fabric and some red glitter foam hearts. Mister Hank isn't a big fan of not being held so finding the time was difficult and it wasn't until the night before when he was sleeping that I finally finished the project. And not to toot my own horn, but my I rather impressed myself with my non-sewing skills.

The best part of her costume though was her make-up. Just like Tim Burton's Queen in the new Alice in Wonderland movie. A little hair teasing and red hair spray and she was close to unrecognizable.

And little Alice was perfectly portrayed sans make-up or wig by the lovely Carolyn. Just give her a blue Alice dress and black headband and she was set - oh, and don't forget the candy bucket.

The Queen of Hearts

Alice

We did the Trek or Trail on McCoy Creek Trail. It's such a great time. And we easily had plenty of candy but Eleanor really wanted to go to her principal Mr. Nixon's house. After going to Mr. Nixon's she told me "Mr. Nixon tricked me. He said he was going to hand out dog treats but he gave me something else." She's so gullible.

We ended up trick-or-treating the entire time, not making it home in time to hand out our own candy. So we now have their loot plus what I bought at the store. Ugh, I need to start working out again!

Mommy and all the kiddos

On the trail with Daddy

We ran into the girls' favorite boys Jake and Kade. Carolyn was getting scared of all the spooky guys and wouldn't stand far enough away from me for a picture.

Carolyn eventually got Aunt Becky to carry her to the rest of the houses. Thanks Aunt Becky!

She told me she wanted to pet the kitty so I got my camera out but was too slow as she pet the cat and darted.