4 Months

Time continues to fly

Faster than I thought possible.

And this little one, continues to get bigger.

Smiling.

Giving Mama her first giggles right around 15 weeks.

Finding her toes around 16 weeks.

And dominating the 'roll over' by 17 weeks.

All of this activity has meant MUCH less sleep for the family.

Our previously amazing sleeper has been giving us a run for our money. Waking every 2ish hours between 10 and 6.

She tried out the exersaucer for the first time a few days ago.

It suits her perfect (and gives her a little fortress of protection from the eldest).

Bea is grabbing, grasping and putting anything she can right into that little mouth.

We are working at breaking the paci habit.

And have settled into a every 3.5-4 hour feeding schedule.

You finally love your activity mat instead of hating it.

AND, the day after you turned 4 months, you gave us the first car ride home that allowed me to stay in the front seat the whole way. It was glorious.

She isn't starving...

still has her kissy cheeks.

And oh, how I love to kiss them.

And I kiss them as much as possible to make up for the pokes, slaps, and occasional kicks that she has endured from Matilda.

She loves you, Bea. She really does.

She just doesn't love you getting any attention.

Which is why I cherish our moments at home alone.

I can smother you with kisses, snuggles and attention, AND leave you alone on the floor for longer than .3 seconds.

You are working on some new noises.

 And are mastering the "I am annoyed to be in the car seat again" noise.

And the "are you seriously not going to come pick me up right now" noise.

And of course the "I just got slapped in the face by my sister" noise scream.

I can't believe I only have 6 weeks left with you at home.

And I can't believe that most women have already been back to work for 6 weeks.

I am one lucky Mama, for so many reasons.

On Second Thought...

I have to retract a few previous statements I made on a whim after having only one child.

At the culmination of Matilda's first year, I posted my "Skip this: Baby Items you Just don't Need" list. And while I still hold firm on 80% of that list. I have to admit that there are two items on this list, that we have used quite frequently with Beatrice.

1) A Video Monitor.

Oh yes. I was so smug about not needing one of these with Matilda. But then we had Beatrice. And she was in the basement. And I couldn't just hear her in the middle of the night. So we got a video monitor. ANd I have to admit that I LOVE it. I love being able to see if she is crying because she is stuck in the slat of her crib, or if she is crying but still sleeping.

And now that she is rolling, and we are still (gulp) swaddling her...I love being able to see that she is still on her back and hasn't rolled over. I know, I know. We need to get rid of that damn swaddle.

The point is: video monitors get my thumbs up.

2) Stroller cover:

Yes, a blanket works. And that is what I did with Matilda. But since I walk Matilda to and from daycare every day, and that means Bea comes with...in any weather...the cover comes in handy. Especially in the snowy days of May, and the monsoon season of June.


So there it is. I am eating my words on these two items. But I swear a bottle and wipes warmer remain the biggest baby registry sham around.

She Just Wants to Slide

A while back, I posted my adoration for Matilda's new daycare, Kid Zone. And it is a love fest that continues. I love them, and they love Matilda. It's a win win relationship.

Fast forward 7 months, and I am not on the fundraising committee for the facility. Yes, fundraising. Because this place is a non-profit. A non-profit that still commits itself to doing things like 'toddler yoga (i.e. Stretch N Grow), making delicious homemade food every day, etc).

So, we have to have fundraisers to get new things. For example, the current playground leaves a little to be desired. And so I am spearheading the effort to raise money to get this modest playground purchased and installed.

That is where you come in. Help bring a smile to this one's face by bringing a slide to her daycare.

Did I mention that your donation is completely tax deductible?

And will also be enjoyed by this one for almost 4 years as well...

And it is SUPER easy to do it....just follow this link: http://givemn.razoo.com/story/Kid-Zone-Child-Care-Center

$10, $20, $100, any dollars.

Who Needs a Gardener?

We have determined that we do not need a gardener to keep up our huge garden this year.

Nope. 

All we need to do is fill up the inflatable pool that Aunt Marna sent, invite some of Tillie's friends over, and they do the rest.

This is not child labor. In fact, they invented this genius little game all on their own.

Take empty bubble containers.

Fill them up in the pool.

Or from the giant ball.

And then dump the water on the tomato plants.

Brilliant.

And of course after all that work, we allowed some major splashing.

There are few things better in this world than seeing these three girls together. They have so much fun, and we do too. As they get older there is more time for sitting back, actually having adult conversation and a little less policing of the 'sharing.' 

Cousins~

We were in Viroqua last weekend and although Matilda was in a terrible way (teeth, bladder infection, etc etc etc) we still managed to have some fun with Family!

Is there anything better than a popsicle on a hot summer day?

Tried to get a few pics of all of the cousins together. Mom asked them how old they were. Leo got it right. I assume Finn is counting his thumb on his bum arm to get him to six, an Matilda doesn't quite get it.

Oh wait, now she gets it.

Apparently she is 7. Which makes sense given her sassy attitude the past few weeks.

Essentially she is a twonager.

 

Ahh...by end of the weekend she had those boys wrapped around her. finger. Bossing them around telling them where to go, when to go, what to carry.

Makes me wonder how this littlest one will survive.

Or perhaps rise to the challenge to be even bossier?

Finn got the ultimate compliment of a Matilda ear rub.

And Bea got lots of kisses, all over, all weekend.

Translation Tuesday: It's My Turn

With the turning of the birthday year, Matilda has become increasingly independent each day. 

And I know that this is the goal. To have them learn how to get their own shoes on. Drink from a cup by themselves. Get into a stroller on their own.

All great life skills.

Matilda doesn't use the typical: "I do it" language though.

She says: "It's My Turn".

Try to help her with her building block. It's my turn, Mama.

Try to help her carry her bowl to the table. "No! It's my turn."

Try to help her up into the picnic table. "It's. My. Turn."

For whatever reason, I feel like it is less harsh then hearing her say "I do it", almost like in her head she is sharing and taking turns. But that is probably my parental brain helping me cope with the frustration of having her try all this stuff by herself and turning it into pride that she is trying..?!?! 

Who knows. But for now, it's Matilda's turn. 

Boot Camp

I wish that the title of this post was a hint at some amazing fitness program I was starting.

But it's not. I still consider my work-out the walk to daycare, lifting my 32 pound child and an occasional run I manage to sneak in.

No, this weekend was a whole different kind of boot camp. Potty Boot Camp.

Let me set the stage for you. It's Friday Night. Nate and I are discussing whether or not this was going to be the weekend or not. We realize that this is the last weekend until like September that we have NO plans. ZERO. 

We begin to look for reasons to not do this potty training craziness.

We couldn't come up with any of substance.

And so we plunged in. We did zero research, so we probably messed some stuff up. 

Ok, lots of stuff up.

And I'm going to be honest, at the end of the first day, we ALL looked like this.

But, even though it was a TON of work. Way more than we anticipated, we had success in the first day. And the second day we had even more success, probably because we were more in tune with what Matilda wanted/needed.

For example: Day one, we were reading, playing, etc trying to get her to not think about it and just sit on the potty and go. But what she REALLY wanted was to be pseudo left alone. The girl doesn't want an audience. I can't really blame her.

 And I think she was as sick of hearing "Matilda, do you have to go potty?", as we were saying it. At the end of each day, Nate and I could barely even muster up enough energy to sit and watch a TV show. Not that it was so physically exhausting, but you literally had to be dialed in and focused on this child 100% of the time (and did I mention our typically amazing napper woke up after an hour BOTH days crying and wouldn't go back down).

Tired, crabby, potty training. Not the best combo.

PLUS, the weather in Minneapolis was sublime this weekend. And we were 100% homebound. Indoor homebound.

We tried going outside the first day and it was a huge mistake. So we stayed inside and opined about the weather.

And then last night, after a string of successes, we went out side. And it was glorious.

Matilda high-tailed her nudey butt out and took off to mow the lawn.

I think Nate and I learned that we may be a little to blame for Matilda's inability to stay at home without becoming bored, because we were DYING being at home all day. What can I say? We are a family that likes to get out. 

Which should prove interesting as we now will be keeping tabs on every public restroom possible.

After we put Tillie down last night, I did have a pang of "I"m not ready for this"....and while I articulated it as the work of always making sure she has gone potty before we go somewhere, etc, I think in reality I am not ready to admit that Matilda is getting bigger, older, more independent again. 

Another sign that she isn't a baby anymore, doesn't need us quite as much, and is going to be flying the nest all too soon.