Happy 3rd Birthday, Abigail!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Abigail!

Our sweet Abigail is 3!!  We celebrated her birthday with friends and family at our home with a Minnie Mouse themed party.  On her actual birthday, we celebrated by going to the park, playing at home, and playing in the rain after dinner!

~Abigail is quite the chatterbox!  She's a talkative girl and has a great vocabulary!  She also loves to sing.  Some of her favorite songs include Mommy Finger, the alphabet, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and Jingle Bells (...the "Batman smells, Robin laid an egg" version). 

~She continues to be a "girlie girl".  She loves wearing skirts and dresses, having her nails painted, getting her hair done, reading "girlie" books and her favorite colors are pink and purple.  She has recently started to "look at myself in the mirror" after getting dressed, which includes doing a cute little dance/jump in front of her mirror. 

~Around Christmas time, Abigail randomly announced that she wanted to "use the potty".  We had not previously introduced potty training with her, but followed her interest.  She very quickly became 100% day and night trained!

~Abigail is our Mommy-in-Training.  She loves babies--real babies and baby dolls.  She enjoys feeding, hugging, carrying and playing with them.  When playing with toys, she often creates a family of dolls/animals/etc. 

~Her imaginative play is wonderful!  We enjoy watching her play and joining in on the fun!  She's content playing independently, although she and Gavin often gravitate towards each other. 

~Abigail is a happy, sweet, caring young lady!  She makes us smile every day and we're so proud of her!

Current stats:

Height: 3 ft, 1 inch  (47nd percentile)

Weight: 31 lbs (52nd percentile)

Happy 1st Birthday, Natalie!!

Happy 1st Birthday, Natalie!!

Our adorable little Natalie is 1 year old!  She's such a sweet girl and is an absolute blessing!

~Natalie is walking!  She has taken up to 13 consecutive steps and is getting sturdier every day.  She's quite determined...she'll keep trying, even after falling down.
-Natalie is talking!  Current words include: Mama, Dada, Bup (Up), Ni-ni (Night Night), Uh oh, Bye bye, and More-more (More, accompanied by the sign for more).
~She is very affectionate.  She enjoys giving hugs and LOVES to give kisses.  Natalie often smothers us with open mouth kisses, complete with a "Muuuu-waaah!" She wants to give her siblings kisses at bedtime every night.  She also often gives her baby dolls hugs, kisses and snuggles. 
~Natalie is doing well with eating. Her preferences vary between wanting baby food and wanting table food.  Her desire for sweets is constant, though.  She is well aware when dessert is available and makes it known that she wants to partake!
~Living in a ranch house, Natalie doesn't have many opportunities to climb chairs.  At a recent trip to the library, she tackled 2 stairs in the play area without hesitation.  Shortly after, we gave her the opportunity to climb the basement stairs.  Natalie climbed them without a second thought!
~Natalie loves her siblings...and they love her!  She thinks their silliness is hilarious!  Brennan, Gavin and Abigail love to make her laugh and try to teach her new tricks.
~Unlike previous monthly pictures, Natalie's 12 month picture was not taken on the baby chair.  Little Miss Wiggly immediately squirmed her way out of the chair each and every time, thinking it was a funny game!

Official 1 year stats:
Height: 31 inches (96th percentile)
Weight: 21 lbs 10 oz (77th percentile)
Head circumference: 18 3/4 inches (99th percentile)

11 Months Old!

How is it possible that our little Natalie is already 11 months old?

~She's talking!  There was plenty of friendly debate over her first word, causing a bit of boys vs. girls within our household.  The boys thought her first word was "Dada", while the girls thought her first word was "Mama".  We had many post-dinner competitions to see which word she would repeat.  While she says both often, she's most likely to repeat "Mama".  Without prompting, she has said "Up" while getting out of bed, getting out of her highchair and wanting to be picked up.  Also without prompting, she'll say "Ni-Ni" (Night Night), accompanied by a sweet wave and/or blown kisses.  We've determined that her first repeated word is "Mama" and her first spontaneous word is "Up".  She continues to babble often with quite a bit of inflection.  
~She's standing! Natalie is able to stand unassisted for several seconds and is quickly increasing the amount of time she's able to remain standing.  She's quite determined and will typically pull herself back up and try again after she falls down.  Natalie is also increasing her cruising speed!
~Natalie has 8 teeth--4 on top and 4 on bottom.  She's chewing on her fingers often, so we suspect molars may be coming soon.
~Natalie is a sweet snuggle-bug. She loves to snuggle with us and will give kisses, either open mouth kisses or blown kisses, and hugs upon request.  She loves to snuggle toys/objects also by pulling them to her chest/shoulder and leaning in her head.
~She quickly mastered sippy cups and loves to drink from them. Initially, she just wanted to chew on them, but is now able to drink water from sippy cups and straw cups.
~Natalie's hair is growing fast!  It's growing the most on the back and top, and not so much in the front.  We'll be ready for bows soon!

10 Months Old!

Miss Natalie is 10 months old!

~Natalie is a very quick crawler!  She pulls herself to standing on just about everything.  She has also mastered cruising along furniture!
~Natalie has been through a series of ear infections. Starting at the end of January, she's had 3 nearly consecutive ear infections or double ear infections.  After 2 rounds of Amoxicillin and 1 round of Augmentine, she seems have to beat it!  Our fingers are crossed that she's in the clear for a while.
~Natalie is a chatty girl!  She babbles often and is combining syllables.  We commonly hear "Mama", "My-Ma-Ma" "Dada", "Aba-Aba",  and "Gaga".  She also says "Yeah", which she sometimes states after we ask her a question.  She also signs "more" (clapping) and "all done" (waving both arms in the air).
~She enjoys navigating her environment and has a few favorite to-go's.  She enjoys digging through a drawer in Mommy and Daddy's bathroom that stores travel size toothpastes, toothbrushes, etc.  She also likes to look in bathtubs.  She loves to investigate her siblings' toys and dirty laundry baskets. She often looks at us before reaching for items, such as items on the coffee table, as if to say "Can I have this?"
~Natalie is the proud owner of 6 teeth!
~She is such a love bug!  She loves to crawl up on us for hugs, snuggles and kisses.  She waves and blows kisses, especially when we say it's time for "Night night".  She recently started going in for hugs when verbally asked.  Natalie likes to snuggle her head on our shoulders and occasionally packs our backs while snuggling.

~She loves to dance!  She immediately bounces up and down when she hears music!
 ~Natalie likes putting clothes, etc. over her head.  We are thinking she may be trying to put them "on" or playing peek-a-boo.
~Natalie is full of smiles and giggles!  She's such a happy girl!

9 Months Old!

Miss Natalie is 9 months old!

~Natalie prefers table food over puree and enjoys feeding herself.  We often give her sippy cups, but she typically just chews on them rather than attempting to drink from them.
~She is working on cutting her 5th tooth.  She has 3 bottom teeth and 1 (almost 2) top teeth.
~Natalie is a speedy crawler!  She pulls herself to standing and is working on figuring out how to cruise along furniture.
~Natalie experienced her first double ear infection this month.  After a few rough nights and a runny nose, we took her to the pediatrician with a suspicion of an ear infection.  It was determined to be "resolved" when we took her back for a check the following week.  Unfortunately, it was determined that she had another double ear infection at her 9 month well check appointment.  We were beginning to wonder about this possiblity just before her appointment when she came down with another runny nose.  We're hoping the cycle of ear infections ends soon.
~Natalie typically wakes once a night to eat.  After a few nights of her waking shortly after I put her down, we decided to work on her putting her self to sleep.  She is laid down awake consistently at the babysitter's house, so we knew she could do it!  After going into her room once for a snuggle and the addition of a blanket in bed, she went to sleep after only a minute of two of fussing.
~Natalie loves to talk!  She babbles often, including combining various sounds, such as "Ah-ba" and "Du-ka".
~Natalie signs "more", which currently looks a bit like a clap, when asking for more food.  Her brothers and sisters like to model the sign for her.
~When asked to say "goodnight" or "bye", Natalie will wave!  It may be a wave of her hand, a whole arm wave, or a whole arm wave followed by putting her hand to her mouth (as if she's also blowing a kiss).

Official 9 month stats:
Height: 29 1/4" (95th percentile)
Weight: 20lb 1/2oz (79th percentile)
Head circumference: 46cm (94th percentile)

7 Years Old!

Happy 7th Birthday, Brennan!!

Our sweet Brennan is 7 years old!  He's growing up so quickly!

~Brennan LOVES school.  When asked about his day at school, his answer is consistently an enthusiastic "Great!"  He's doing a fantastic job and is making great academic progress.  He is participating in a gifted math program, a weekly enrichment opportunity.  His teacher explains that he is doing wonderfully in the curriculum and within this enrichment.  She anticipates that he'll be involved in additional gifted/enrichment programs as they become available in later grades.

~Brennan also LOVES Legos!  It's impressive to watch him build sets as he's easily able to assemble the steps with ease.  He also enjoys playing with mini-figure characters.

~Brennan has such a sweet and thoughtful heart.  He also has a wonderful silly side and a great smile and laugh.  Brennan is often inquisitive and loves to learn. 

Interview with Brennan:

Favorite school subject: Silent reading

Favorite school special: Gym

Favorite food: Chocolate

Favorite toy: Legos

Favorite movie: Lego Batman Gotham City Breakout

Favorite color: Green and black

Favorite book: Lego Ninjago
Favorite game: Hangman and Candy Land

Official Stats:

Height: 4 ft 2 1/2 in

Weight: 58.8lb

8 Months Old

Miss Natalie is 8 months old!

~Natalie is a speedy crawler!  She quickly navigates a room, including over obstacles.  At times, she gets ahead of herself and takes a quick nose dive to the ground, but she quickly recovers and is on her way!
~She is pulling herself to standing on just about everything!  She's quite proud of herself and enjoys investigating new, now within reach, items. Her crib mattress is now on the lowest setting.
~While not usually on command, Natalie is blowing kisses and clapping her hands.
~Natalie enjoys eating baby food and is eating a lunch and dinner daily.  She really enjoys puffs and rice rusks and does a great job feeding herself.  She also enjoys playing with and chewing on sippy cups.  We may try small bites of soft food soon.
~She loves to babble and is very chatty.  Within her babbles, we often hear "Mama" and "Dada", leading to playful banter about her first word.
~Natalie is doing well with her naps.  She previously had more difficulty on Saturday, possibly adjusting to napping at home rather than at the babysitter's house after a few days.  She doesn't seem to have trouble with this anymore!  She occasionally wakes once over night, but will return to dreamland after a new diaper and nursing.  She almost always sleeps on her belly.
~She loves baths!  She's been known to crawl across the family room to the bathroom door and pull herself up on the door when she knows that her siblings are getting a bath.  If she's in the bathroom while they are being bathed, she tries to crawl out of our arms towards the water.  She enjoys splashing and playing with toys when in the tub.
~Natalie is full of smiles and giggles!  She's a happy, laid back girl!