Celebrate!

Today we had our first parent-teacher conferences of the 3-year old school year. It's such a different experience being on the parent side of these conferences vs the teacher side! You want so badly to hear that your kids are shining the way you know they can. You want to know your kids are being loved and taken care of during the short time they are away from you.

So to sit across the table today and hear such loving words from your teacher made me so proud! At (almost!!) four-years-old you are still compulsive and learning how to control your actions. To hear that you still able to be so successful, loving, and kind makes us so proud! It was also so wonderful to know how loved you are by your teacher. Already she knows each of your hearts and knows just what you each need to succeed.

With this great news, we had to have an afternoon to celebrate. It was a beautiful, fall day that called for an afternoon picnic and time  to play on the playground. Keep shining, Little Ones!

 

 

 

8 Months

Well Little Squish, another month has come and gone! We have been busy celebrating fall and Halloween this month.

• No official weight this month, but we would guess you are close to 20 pounds now. You are still wearing size 3 diapers and size 6 and 9 month clothing.
• Your schedule hasn't changed month this past month. You still take a solid 2 (or more if we're lucky) in the late morning / early afternoon. Occasionally, you will squeeze in a second nap, but this is more of a catnap. You still aren't sleeping through the night and will wake for a quick 10-15 minute nursing. With the close of this eighth month, I do believe it's time to start transitioning to your own room. When you stopped sleeping through the night the first time, it was because you were too big for your rock-n-play. Once transitioned to your pack-n-play, you slept through the night again. So maybe, you need more space? Or maybe you just need to be in a room where when you wake you aren't staring at your food source and will put yourself back to sleep.
• You are still eating about every three hours, with some solids for breakfast and dinner. You love to eat your food now, especially when you can feed yourself. You like to pick up small pieces of bananas and cooked carrots to feed yourself. You do a pretty good job of it too!
• We have been introducing you to sign language too and this month you started to use it! You sign "all done" when you are finished eating your breakfast or dinner. You will also occasionally sign "more," when we ask you if you would like more.
• You are a cruising machine and incredibly confident in your abilities. You can now stand up without really pulling up on anything (you like to use the wall to guide you). You can also stand for more than 10 seconds at a time without holding on to any supports. You are even beginning to brave taking those first steps! This month, you have moved from coffee table to couch, letting go for just a moment to get to the next surface.
• You are still an adorable, toothless little girl.
• We love to listen to you babble, especially as you start imitating the sounds and inflections you hear around you.
• You are a clapping machine this month. Anytime you hear "yay," you grin and clap. 
• You love to play with your toys, as well as your brother's toys. You have learned the art of dumping out your toy bin, which seems to be one of your favorite games. You also like when Wy or Ry build block towers for you so that you can knock them down.
• Your sleep cue has stuck - you are officially an ear tickler! It used to be that you would tickle your ear while falling asleep, but like your brothers' sleep cues, it seems to be growing into more of a soothing pastime. I catch you tickling your ear when nursing now too.  

I say it every month, but I just don't know how we are here already! You are such a sweetheart and the four of us adore you more than we thought possible!

 

 

 

 

Fall Break

To sum up fall break in two pictures, it would look something like this:

Whew, we survived quite the fall break. I had been looking forward to this week off to relax and recharge our batteries, while having a little fun. Instead, we kicked off the week with a very scary accident with you Wiley, followed by a double dose of hand, foot, and mouth disease - that even caused us to miss out on trick-or-treating. Instead, we headed to Tse Tse and Zsu Zsu's so you could at least say, "trick-or-treat," at two houses. You were too sick and grumpy to even bother putting your costumes on (yet at the last second, decided to throw on a combination of dress-up clothes!). It wasn't quite what we hoped for, but thankfully it all happened on a week I already had off of work, so that I could be home with you.

 

 

General Butler: Trick-or-Treat

Every October, we head up to a nearby campground to join Pappy and Carl at their campsite for a night of family, fun, and trick-or-treat. This year was no exception. Last night, we headed up for a fun night spent with your cousins, playing and trick-or-treating. Family traditions seem to get a little more fun as you guys continue to grow, getting excited about these traditions too.

 

 

 

 

 

Jack-o-Lantern Spectacular

For the past few years, the Jack-o-lantern Spectacular has been on our radar as something we have really wanted to do, but just never have. This year, we finally went, thanks to Aunt Boo! Together, we walked through the park viewing incredible pumpkins, with a variety of themes A-Z. It was a little overwhelming in the beginning when the crowd was thickest and it was difficult to see anyone. But once the crowd thinned out, it was really neat to see such detailed and talented work. I just love October and all of the ways we celebrate the start to the holiday season!

 

 

Pumpkin Picking

One of my favorite, and longest running, fall family traditions is our trip to Mulberry Orchard. We pick a Saturday in fall to enjoy a hay ride, pumpkin picking, corn mazing, and playing on the playground. It's been fun to watch these pictures change through the years as you boys (and now Charleigh) have grown. This year we had a beautiful day and found the perfect pumpkin for carving!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Boo at the Zoo

Boo at the Zoo has quickly become one of our favorite Halloween traditions and a fun way to kick off the October festivities. This year, you boys were finally brave enough to meet the characters and get your picture taken with many of them (the ones you recognized and were excited to see). Like kids ourselves, it made your Daddy and I very excited to one day take you to Disney World. The magic in your eyes meeting some of the characters was wonderful. I love the innocence and wonder you kiddos make me stop and notice on a daily basis.