Jack: 10 Months

I swear to GAWWWWD! I could eat this kid alive he is so scrumptious!

I am getting sad that it is closer and closer to Jack's 1st birthday.  It means that he's closer and closer to not being my baby anymore, the stage I absolutely love.  I know part of my role as a mom is to be proud and excited and support my kids getting older, more independent and all of that crap...but lately there is a big part of me that wants so badly to hold on to this chunk of a baby stage where he basically can do no wrong in my eyes.  To be honest, a lot of this "wanting to keep Jack a smiling chunky perfect baby forever" is the fact that we are 100% done having kids.  Although this is a decision we both made and have put in to action (snip snip), I think it is inevitable that there will be some doubt and wonder after making a choice like that.  I'm sure I'll move on and get over it soon enough, especially when our group of friends are no longer having newborns.  There is something just exciting (for me) about being around pregnant people, growing bellies, newborns, etc....but maybe thats because its happening to them and not me :)  Eh, who knows....I guess I better just have fun these last few months of baby-hood and do the whole "enjoy it while it lasts" thing :)

Here are some funny random pics of Jack..."in costume":

Fairy: he likes playing with his wand...ha!

Chef: he's really no help at all in kitchen just yet but looks cute playing the role anyway

 

Curly: "Why I oughta"

Elmer Fudd: got stuck in the swing hunting for wabbits.....not really, but dont know what else to say about Elmer Fudd

Eskimo: ready for winter...although we may have another mild year again :)

Clark Kent OR Grandpa Karl (since those are his glasses): looking stylish in his button up and overalls for Thanksgiving

"Jack in the Box" at Thanksgiving: This kept him contained in one area and prevented him from rolling, sliding and spinning around on the floor and ending up under the dining room table

I say this every month, but time sure does fly by.  I feel like just yesterday we were celebrating Halloween and dressing the kids up as Mickey and Minnie...and here we are now trying to organize our holiday plans over Xmas.  Jack continues to excel in the areas of cuteness, eating (mostly), and sleep.  We are introducing more and more finger foods to Jack's meals, but also being cautious and midful of choking risks...which can scare me at times.  He is doing MUCH better grabbing at food and bringing it to his mouth, but has a habit of doing it over and over again without always chewing everything up...so we have to give him bits at a time to avoid gagging or choking.  Regarding sleep, Jack normally busts out two good naps a day and sleeps through the night 7pm-7am.  WE.ARE.SO.LUCKY!

Thankful for nights with Nana Terese, who picks up the kids from day care, helps with dinner and bedtime when I work late every Tuesday night

 

Jack is "pretty much the same" this month with two noticeable exceptions: his verbal outbursts/babbling and the wide range of hilarious facial expressions he has. He does a lot of random babbling, squealing and legit screaming with excitement...and even some animal-like grunting at times...it's all so funny and I must get it on film as evidence (I'll add that to the to do list).  His facial expressions are also to die for.  Of course, facial expressions are hard to capture but we got this one recently and almost pissed ourselves:



Grrrrrr

Our friend Megan called this perfectly....he looks like the little old man, Carl, from the movie Up!!

 





So I know I've said this before, but this time I am "REALLY trying not to freak out" with the mobility development that is NOT happening with my little Bubbers. He is straight up 10 months old and still can not really stand up and can not crawl...forward. I chalk it up to laziness, fat rolls on his body and the fact that it isn't necessary at this point for him to have this skill to get what he wants (ie: someone will bring him what he wants, he can slide and pivot on the floors, and he can for real ROLL himself over and over to get something her wants, hehe). Everyone reminds me to enjoy this time when he can't move too fast and in too many directions, but my emotional and irrational mind is already made up that I should somehow be a bit worried. On a scale of 1-10 I am at about a 6 for being worried...but if we are still talking about his lack of movement in 2 more months, I imagine my worry scale will be closer to 9 or 10 :) Other than that one concern, Jack is awesome...simply perfect.

I mean seriously...

 ...could he BE any cuter?

Nope...can't get cuter than this (says his unbiased mom)

 

Speaking of fat rolls on his body...this is him bustin' out of 12 month jammies when he was barely 10 months old.

 

One last pic to gear up for the busy holidays...

Mia, her baby Kayla, Santa (aka Mike from the bank) and Jack

 

...See ya next month/year!

Jack: 9 months

Oh my dear sweet little baby Jack.  Another month has vanished before my very eyes and here we are already in November...and a few days late...my bad.  Again, my apologies for the fuzzy or out of focus pictures but I have other things in life to worry about :)

Complete with his "fire safety" sticker he got from day care for "F-week" in which they learned about fire, fish, frogs and other 4 letter F words :)

I promise he is not grumpy in this pic...he's most likely grinding his teeth :)



 Weekend morning snuggle time...some of my favorite moments with Jack

Hard to see but Jack got two more teeth this month!



Not a whole lot is different for Jack this month.  He continues to be a happy, relaxed and chill baby; however, there were several times this month that he was somewhat "out of sorts".  He had a quick in and out illness this month and was reported to have "projectile vomited 3 times" at day care one day.  But during that "bug", he was also cutting his top two center teeth and going through what I think was yet another growth spurt.  Speaking of...here are Jack's 9 month stats:  Length=29in (65%), Head=17.5in (42%), Weight=22lbs (76%)....up from 6 month stats at 38%!  The doctor had no real concerns about Jack's development and assured us we have nothing to be worried about regarding my mommy concerns about his verbal or motor development (not yet crawling, not yet standing, not yet mastered the pincer grasp, not quite "talking" with things like bababa/dadada/mammamama).  One thing that really DOES seem to be developing lately is his interest, love and curiosity with his sister.  Jack LOVES Mia and she is basically the only one that can make him laugh without fail...they are like two peas in a pod.

This makes me smile and laugh and cry all in one!!!

Role reversal here...Mia is pretending to be the baby and assign Jack the role of "rocking" her I guess

Awwww, can't WAIT to see them grow up together

 Both equally interested in story time

Loving them some Menards while mom and dad decided to take on some kitchen updating and 

"floor ripping up"

Jack got to experience his first Halloween and was a PERFECT age for it: not concerned with candy, full of smiles and happy to just sit still and be entertained by the big kids.  We had a busy Halloween week complete with two friend and family parties and trick-or-treating (Jack skipped that one and stayed home with Nana and Papa).  I'm a sucker for costumes and love seeing kids all dressed up and cute.

 I mean seriously...does it GET any cuter than this?!

Forcing life long memories...for the parents

But still...these kids are so adorable!

Jack continues to be an exemplary sleeper and has been consistently sleeping through the night, without requiring any of our attention, since our trip to Disney world early last month...thank you sweet baby Jesus...we win again!  On an average day, Jack will take two 1-2 hour naps and sleep from 7pm to 6:30-7am.  Yes, I know...we are very lucky.  As evidenced by the double chin and jump in weight, Jack continues to be a generally good eater as well.  He has 3 meals a day in between bottles and he typically scarfs them down.  He usually has a fruit and rice cereal or oatmeal for breakfast, veggie/fruit and a meat for lunch and various combos for dinners.  About 85% of his food is still pureed; however, we are trying to introduce more "finger food" to encourage chewing and the pincer grasp.  He has been successful with tofu (sprinkled with cheerio crumbs), squash, teething biscuits, etc.

exploring a gorgeous fall day 

 look what I got mom, a leaf!

I love love love tickling his neck with zerberts!!!

 Hog pile on mom!!!

Similar to last month, and really the last 9 months of our lives....we have simply fallen in love our baby boy.  We are so lucky to have an amazing baby complete with cautious curiosity, genuine smiles and a "chill" demeanor that brings happiness to many.  I love you my bubbers!



Mia: 3 years old

Um, yeah, so I'm a bit late on this but better late than never and to be honest, blogging is pretty much the last thing on my priority list these days....that, and dusting.  Our family has been having so much fun lately that I just don't have the time to document; but I know I should.  I almost feel like it's pointless to do a blog about Mia turning 3 since it is has a half a month since she did....but I will :)

I can hardly believe that three years have gone by since our baby girl was born....she turned in to a 3 year old before I knew it.  Here is the 3 year birthday video Nate created for Mia's party...it's a good recap of the past three years and what she's been up to lately.

I think I tend to do better blogging when I can simply let the pics (whatever quality they may be) do the majority of the storytelling.  Here are some pictures of Mia over the last year...she certainly has come a long way in development, personality, looks and intelligence.

Oh this hair cut still kills me...remember when Nate cut her hair by himself RIGHT before her 2 year birthday party?...she continued to "suffer" for a few weeks...good thing she didn't mind :)

Although it may not look like it form the above two pictures, we DO try to feed Mia a healthy balanced diet.  What is interesting about Mia's preference in food is that she is VERY much excited about candy and sweets but she takes FOREVER to eat them, and almost never finishes things like cupcakes.  She is very similar to me in this way where I will suck on a lollipop or hard candy forever and rarely bite or chew it...savoring each moment :)

This was a typical hairstyle for Mia in her 2's....before we bit the bullet and got her a cute little Bob.

Mia continues to LOVE animals, trips to the zoo and has not once passed up an opportunity to ride a pony.  To date, I think she has had close to 10 pony rides on various occasions. 

Pimped out in her gear last winter when helping dad shovel the snow.  

It is no longer a battle to get her to wear a coat, jacket, hat, mittens or boots.  Mia used to freak out with any shoe on her feet other than her Stride Rites; but nowadays she has become much more tolerant of her footwear and understands we need boots on when it snows.

Before our son Jack was born, we really tried to "load up" on quality Mia time as we knew that soon would be substantially limited.  These little outings included trips to the children's museum, the zoo, a couple of hair cuts, movies at the theater and a VERY special day to watch Elmo LIVE (aka crack for kids!)  She loved it, sang along, and was in a daze...it brought tears to my eyes....AND there is no reason we should ever do this again: one time is enough I think :)

On dad's shoulders for Elmo Live...in a true state of wonder

Then....Mia's world instantly became different with the birth of her little brother, Jack.  Parental attention had to be divided and amazingly enough, Mia did and has done WONDERFULLY well as a big sister.  From the get go, she was curious, cautious and protective of her brother...this generally remains the case 8 months later.

Mia got to take her "doll" bathtub home from the hospital and always wanted to help out with Jack's baths.  On this day, she was insistent that Jack should sit in this tub and take his turn to get washed.  I think this pic looks particularly freaky.

Awww, the pic and video that captured the hearts of our family and friends.  When Jack was "teeny tiny", Mia was so gentle, protected his head and sang him songs. 

The older Jack gets, the more she is encouraged to read to him and show him picture books he might like...she takes this seriously.

Similar to her "Papa", Mia sticks her tongue out when she is concentrating...in this case, the pages were stuck and she was in the middle of reading to Jack

Mia: big sister to twins
This pic also freaks me out but makes me laugh out loud because she was SOOOOO proud that she was sharing her toys and dolls with Jack...she kept bringing toy after toy over to him

As expected, Mia got SUPER in to playing house when Jack was born.  She chooses to be the baby most days, but also enjoys taking on the role of the mommy once in a while.  She is very much in her "baby" stage and loves to sneak on Jacks hats, mittens, sit in his bumbo or car seat or steal his Nuks and suck on them.  Oh Mia...if only I could rewind time a bit and hold you as my baby again.

Pics like this remind me how much she's still my little baby girl.  I wish I could sleep like this.

Mia enjoying the Highland Pool with me on a "mommy daughter date" after Jack was born....this moments are so much fun

This year in particular, Mia has had a very busy social life.  Different from when she was a baby and last year, Mia actually LIKES hanging out with friends.  Mia asks about friends, wants to know where they are, when we'll see them again, if they can eat with us, etc. She is quite the social butterfly and I am happy she is generally a nice and caring friend to others.

At the cabin after claiming she had a boo-boo and needing a boo-boo pillow.
I just love this pic...the posture...everything.

Same with this one....so much could be said about this pic.  "Ummm, I've been waiting guys....where is my wine?"

Mia still enjoys her buddy, Soprano...and actually has started to call him by his name as opposed to "yeowie" (a nickname within a nickname)

One of Mia's favorite things is face paint...we allow it in small doses so it remains "cool and special".  She wanted to be a puppy dog this day.

Coffee and playtime with friends...I LOVE places that accommodate and entertain toddlers while us parents can have a beverage

Okay....this last portion of the blog is basically the coolest thing in Mia's life this past year: a trip to Disney World!  We specifically chose this time of year as it is the "slow season" for basically anything in the USA.  Kids are back to school and almost no one with school aged kids are traveling in September....so hellz yeah...sign us up! PLUS.....as Mia was not yet 3 years old, she was free to all of the theme parks, etc.  AND....we had extra seats in the airplane on the way there and back....life was glorious.  Needless to say, Mia has a blast and it brought us to tears on a few occasions :)

Mia is SUPER in to "travel" safety lately and wants everyone to make sure they have their seat belts on and basically memorized her airplane book before months before we took this trip.  She was very excited to see the safety book and watch the flight attendants do their thang.

These three were hard to separate during the trip...

Nana and Papa LOVED their time with Mia....as did Mia.

Also, Mia was stylin' with her tiger headphones and ipad complete with Dora and Disney clips for the flight :)

1 of 3 kiddie pools at our resort...notice the LACK of people ANYWHERE....
this was basically Mia's own personal pool complete with a blue sea lion

rubbing in the sun screen on her face....a daily chore for Mia during our trip

Ready for our safari ride at the Animal Kingdom

One of Mia's favorites...Rafiki

Donald and Daisy were just sculptures...but she had a blast with them anyway.
Also...Donald looks like he's droppin mad gang signs while Daisy's all like "back up B...we's takin' a photo with Mia so walk away"

Campfire S'mores one night...Mia was loving the gooey-ness

Hug with Goofy

She was SOOOO excited to see Pooh and Tiger...
I would reinvent this moment 1000 times over if I could

Bouncing with Tiger

Returning home from Disney, we were greeted with continued warm/hot weather and fun events for the remainder of her last days as a 2 year old including "music in the park", birthday parties, walks to the park and her own birthday party with a bunch of her friends :)

Snuggles with my girl while listening to music at Lake Harriet

She insists on "walking the wall" on the way to the park

Bobbing for apples at a friend's birthday party...this was so funny to watch

Success for all!

Waving her birthday cash around

Snuggling with her new Dora sleep mat and pillow...she's even slept on the floor in her own bedroom with this :)

Well, there you have it.  Sorry this took me so long.  Mia has been such a blessing in our lives and the lives of others.  Her personality is hilarious, her comments are to die for and she absolutely keeps us on our toes on a daily basis.  She continues to make us laugh and love her more and more each day.  We are so lucky.