Silent Sunday

Eight and NIne Months

Hannah Bear, Hannah Bear,

It has been a busy two months for you.  We ended up taking your eight month pictures at about eight and a half months (but never did the post), and then we took your nine month photos this morning.

While you still weigh about 17 pounds and wear mostly nine month clothing, a lot has changed since your seven month post.  For one thing, you are mobile!  You are crawling like crazy.  And not only that, but you are pulling yourself up to a standing position every chance you can.

You love school.  You are there full-time now, and Jack loves helping me drop you off and pick you up each day.  He's in charge of putting your bottles in the fridge, and he reminds your teachers every day which bottles are yours.  You love to play with the other babies, but you don't sleep too well at school.  You take little cat naps, and then on the weekends, you sleep for 2-3 hours at a time.

You are such a good eater.  You eat everything we offer you.  Even though you don't have any teeth, you love solid foods.  Your teachers always talk to me about how much you eat, and one day, when I came to pick you up from school, you were hanging out near the table where some other babies were having snack - just in case something were to fall:)

That might be my favorite picture of you thus far...definitely frame-worthy, Sweet Girl.

You are so silly.  You love to be right next to me, no matter where I am.  And now that you can move on your own, we're pretty much tied-at-the-hip:)

You still love your big brother like crazy.  You love to play with his toys, and you get so excited when he comes into your room, at home and at school.

And he very much loves you.  He tries to make you smile when you are upset, but he doesn't love to share with you.  Still.  We're working on it!

You just moved up to 12 month jammies, and you look like such a big girl when you wear them.  I'm about to change your diaper size to a size 4 - things are feeling a little snug.

You've been feeling under the weather lately, with fevers and thrush and a runny nose.  Maybe it's your new school environment...  Either way, you are still such a happy baby.  The only time we could really tell that you didn't feel good was when you had the fever, and that was only for part of one day!

You found a lovey!  Grammy bought you a pink bunny/blanky before you were born, and just this last week, you decided it's your favorite.  You lean down to grab it before we get you out of your crib, and when you're going to sleep, you like to rub it on your little cheeks and eyes.  Too cute...

You are still so proud of yourself every time you pull yourself up on something and don't fall right back down!

Nine months - I can't believe it, Baby Girl.  While I'm so excited that you're growing and learning new things every day, I was sad on Tuesday when you turned nine months because now you have been here just as long as you were in my belly.  Where is my little baby going?!  I just wish I could stop time for a few months and just soak up these last few months of your first year...such a special time, and we'll never get it back.  We love you, Hannah.  So, so much.

Great Job, Mommy!

Isn't it lovely when we receive a little bit of positive reinforcement?  Even if it does come from our three year old?

Tonight, as I was tucking Jack into bed, I read a simple, board book about one of the Cars characters.  It was pretty short, and even though he had picked it out, this wasn't lost on Jack.  When I finished reading, he looked through the few pages and said, "That book didn't have very many pages."

I knew what he was getting at and agreed to read another one.  There are four in a boxed set we got him at Costco.  We finished the second one, and without a word, he just looked at me.  I can't help it - he's adorable.  I told him we'd read all four.  I set the second one down on the covers, but before I could reach for the third book, Jack popped up and explained that we needed to put them on top of each other.  In order.  So we'd remember how they go.

No problem.  I can relate to this kind of insanity organizational system.

When I finished the third book, I stacked it onto the top of Jack's pile and reached for the final book.  But my little man, who's a control freak just like his mama, sat up to be sure I'd followed his directions.

And I had.

Which is what prompted him to say, "Great job, Mommy!  You remembered what I said about stacking the books on top of each other."

"Oh, thank you, Buddy.  That's so nice."  We snuggled and I kept reading.

When we finished reading the books, I smiled and watched as my little boy carefully put them back into the box (in the "right" order) and on the shelf behind his pillows.

I love him.  I really do.

Lemonade

Our littles are under the weather...between ear infections, fevers, allergies, and thrush...

We have two new, rather large, monthly bills...

My car needed a new radiator and is now in the shop...

An un-diapered Hannah Bear may have pooped on the family room carpet, maybe...

We have not had a normal, problem-free week in at least two months...

Our house might be tidy, but it is certainly not clean...

The last two nights were the first nights where I actually made a good dinner in weeks...

None of us are getting enough sleep...

BUT...

There are good things happening here. 

Hannah has mastered crawling on her hands and knees and now moves at lightning speed.  

{Video: Daddy's Home}

Jack loves his baby sister so much.  Today he asked her about her day, and then kissed her on the head before she went upstairs to go to bed.  Moments like this are many at our house...

Someone has been practicing his soccer skills...

Hannah Bear is pulling herself up to a standing position at every chance...

Jack nearly "fell to his doom," but don't worry, he said, "Mark my words - I will be the king."

Our baby girl waves and says, "Bye bye," and blows kisses to her teachers at the end of the day.

Jack found a dollar in the basement and decided that he did not want to keep it.  He wanted to give it to church.  I love his little heart!  

Miss Hannah might have some curly hair!

And Mr. Jack went from this...

to this.

We've been rather busy, wouldn't you say?

Let the Games Begin

On Saturday, Jack started soccer.

We've been talking about it for a few weeks, and he was very excited when we went out to get him his soccer gear.  

He's worn his shin guards around the house for awhile, and he couldn't wait to put on his cleats.   

We had a minor meltdown at the house before we left because he didn't like the soccer socks that we'd bought.  To be fair, they were a little big, but he didn't love the fact that they went up his legs.  He didn't seem convinced when we arrived at soccer and everyone else had tall socks on either.   

For the first few minutes, he didn't seem particularly happy.  He looked a little teary-eyed, and I felt bad.  He truly is mine - a little shy and nervous in new situations where he knows no one.  I just wanted to scoop him up and hug him, but instead, I clapped and cheered his name:) 

The wonderful coaches noticed that he was a little nervous and shy, so they gave him a little extra attention, and we watched while our little man started to relax and enjoy himself. 

The weather was beautiful - we were so comfortable sitting outside and enjoyed the nice breeze.  You can see that Jack seems to have warmed up to the wind a bit:)

As he ran down the field towards the rest of his team, we noticed that Jack had discovered we were taking his picture, and he started to pose.  

He loved taking a water break and getting to visit with us for a few minutes before heading back out onto the field.

Those eyelashes are dreamy - I'm sorry; I can't help it!

This little peanut was such a good girl.  She just rolled around and happily played on the blanket.  She's Jack's number one fan:)

GOAL!!!

Daddy and Jack

Hannah, Mommy, and Jack

We're so proud of our little man and can't wait to spend many more Saturdays watching him grow and play:)

A Very Happy Easter, Indeed

Enjoy my favorite images from our beautiful, fun, family-filled day...

 

We hope your Easter was just as special!