Audrey at 8 months

Weight:  ??

Height:??

Clothing size: 9 months, but 12 month pajamas fit now, so I'm guessing she'll be moving up soon. Eek.

Diaper size: Cloth baby.

Feeding: Nursing almost exactly the same as last time- around these times every day: 6:30am, 10am, 12:30pm, 3:30pm, 6:00pm, 10pm. Would love to drop the dream feed like yesterday, but I've tried skipping it a few times, and she always wakes up again in the middle of the night, so it's not worth it.
She's tried these solids so far: avocado, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, green beans, banana, carrots, blueberries, pears, spinach. Still loving it.

Sleeping: She's at 2 naps a day, but still not a great napper. She's not consistent at all, but usually her morning nap is about 30-45 mintues, and afternoon nap is 1-2 hours. Sometimes she doesn't nap at all in the morning, except for like a 10 minute catnap in the Ergo while we're out. Yikes. Those days she gets an early bedtime for sure. But normally I put her down around 6-6.30pm (she's usually fussy all through dinner because she's so tired!) and she sleeps til 6.30-7am ish, with a dreamfeed when I go to bed around 10.

Milestones: Sitting much better now. Does it by herself no problem most of the time, but still topples over occasionally. First ear infection. :(  Army crawling!!! This seemed to come out of nowhere, so she must have been practicing in her crib for a while (when she should have been napping! ha). It seems so early to me because my boys took their time doing everythingggggggggg, and Owen never crawled at all! 

Likes: Her brothers. She's always looking around for them, smiling, and laughing at them. Presh. Holding things in her hands, and chewing on anything. She still likes her paci at night to go to sleep, but ever since her ear infection, she will not take it during the day!! Ugh. I think it hurt her ear to suck on the paci for a few days, and it must've created a bad memory. Annoying when she's fussy and we're out somewhere, but secretly glad that this will probably make weaning her from the paci way easier, when the time comes.

They still squeal over her.

Dislikes: Naps. Ear infections. Traveling. (Enjoy the 10 seconds of screaming in the car to represent hourssssssssssssss for us. Traveling with littles is sooooooooooooooooooooo fun. :(

Adventures: First road trip & Thanksgiving. Christmas festival & parade.

I wish you could see this in person. Think huge poufy marshmallow. Gotta keep the baby warm.

What we couldn't live without: I should really be an Ergo salesman.

ERGO BABY

Best part of parenting this age: I don't know how, but I love her more every day. She is SO, SO sweet.


Hardest part of parenting this age: Always- meeting the needs of 3 littles 24/7 is challenging. But worth it. Love my babes.

 

8 month comparison: G, A, O (don't mind the mistaken 9 month sticker ;)

G-money at 4 years

Age: 4 years

Stats: 39.5" tall (25-50th%) and 36 lbs (50th %)

Clothes: 4T. He has gone 4 years without being opinionated, or even noticing his clothes. Now he wants to wear blue jeans "like Daddy" every single day. Cannot get him in any other pants. And his "choo-choo" shirt is his very favorite... which I apparently don't have a picture of.

  

 

Favorite Foods: He definitely gets most excited about pizza, cheese crackers, and "Daddy sandwiches." (turkey and cheese)  ;) And cupcakes 4 lifeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. He's a really great eater overall. Major progress with SALADS lately!!! LOVES to help me cook.

 

Words: He talks nonstop. He asks 4501701933923 questions a day and gives commentary for everything that is happening and everything that he's thinking. My curious little monkey.

 

Activities: The usual, not much has changed. Mops, Kroger, Children's Museum, gardens, library, parks, backyard play, Nature Center.

 

 

Favorite friends: Elodie & Lewis, Chet, Cori, Chapman, Liam, Charlotte & Jonathan... And Owen of course. ;)

 

Favorite Things: 
- Music. As a tiny baby, he would respond to music. I remember specific times when he would be crying, and Andrew would snuggle him close and sing hymns to him, and he would stop crying. Ever since, we have noted his love of music. Lately he loves to jam out on his air guitar all day every day. He also studies the worship leaders at church each week and comes home and reenacts "worshiping Jesus," standing in front of the fireplace and singing, playing his guitar, and praying. Adorable.  He got a guitar from Andrew's mom for his birthday, which of course was the best present ever for him!! I literally will be so shocked if he doesn't do something musical one day.

 

- Teddy. My stepbrother and his wife sent this Teddy to the hospital the day Graham was born, and it has not left his side since. ;) Sweet thing is so well-loved, he's starting to fall apart. But Graham doesn't notice and literally takes him EVERYWHERE. He's pretty skilled at playing everything he wants to with Teddy tucked under his arm somehow. Presh. Gotta admit, I'll be pretty sad when this stage is over.

- Books. Kid LOVES to read and has memorized a ton of his favorite books. Current faves: Backhoe Joe, Pancakes Pancakes, Jesse Bear, Owl Moon, Toot and Puddle, Corduroy, Truck Stuck, any Pigeon/ Piggie and Gerald books.

- Board games. We introduced Candyland and The Hungry Caterpillar Game to him months ago and he's still obsessed. Either Andrew or I play them with him almost every day, and he still plays Candyland by himself during room time most days, always telling me the details of what happened. ;) We both love games, and I always tell Andrew I'm training up some future Cataan players for him, since I refuse to play. Haha.

 

- His DADDY!!!! Absolutely obsessed with Andrew these days. He lives for Andrew to take him out back to work in the garage, a trip to the tool shop, hang out and jam on his guitar, anything with Daddy is his favorite!! So presh.  

- Being outside. Always.

 

Siblings: He and Owen are definite "frenemies," mostly because they hate to share toys, but Graham is overall really kind and thoughtful to Owen. G will bring him a toy every day when he wakes up from naps, has learned to include him in decision-making (like which exhibit we go to next at the Children's Museum ;), and will encourage and cheer for him when he does big-boy things (sitting on the potty, unzipping his jacket, etc.). They love to chase each other on their cars they ride around in circles in our house, read books together- getting "cozy" on the couch with me, and giggle together first thing in the morning and last thing at night. This is my favorite noise. The last few days, they have been shouting "Jingle Bells! Jingle Bells! HEY!" and then dying laughing when they first wake up. Hahaha.

 

  

It was love at first sight with Graham and Audrey. He is still completely precious with her, calling her "pretty-face" and "little one" and "baby girl."  He gets so excited about each of her milestones, squealing and cheering over her getting teeth, eating food, sitting up, crawling. He adores her, and the feeling is definitely mutual. (Heart bursting.)

 

Mom's Proudest Moment: He's continued to grow in kindness and thoughtfulness and encouragement. It blows my mind sometimes. He reminds me to get the Ergo before we go places, tells me I look pretty when I put on makeup for church (haha), and gives the best morning snuggles. He's the same way with Owen and Audrey too. I absolutely adore this kid, and the boy he's becoming. He's also been so brave and great about moving to the top bunk on his birthday! Love seeing him grow in courage. We've started doing family Bible reading in the mornings too, and the other day I asked him what he read (he just looks at pictures in his Jesus Storybook Bible while Andrew and I read silently to ourselves), and he said "That I'm the apple of God's eye and Jesus is King!" THE BEST.

Dad's Proudest Moment: (I keep forgetting to ask him!)

 

Happy 4th Birthday sweet Buddy. We absolutely adore you.