LJ's Birthday

Luke's actual birthday was another day of celebration.  Grammy was here with us and we had another fun-filled day.  It started out with a trip to the Lego store so Luke could fill a container with Legos he choose--that was Hannah's birthday gift to him.  He had a lot of fun picking out all kinds of different Lego pieces.  He also made 3 Lego men or rather two Lego men and one Lego woman--it was me Luke said.  After the Lego store, Troy met us at the mall so we could all have lunch together.  We then came home for a little down time before we headed to the pool.  Ashley, Benjamin and Andrew met us at the pool as well.  Unfortunately, the weather decided not to cooperate and after only an hour it started to rain which wasn't a big deal but the lightning and thunder was.  Luke was more than a little disappointed that we had to head home so early.  His day was brightened though when he saw the pirate cookie Benjamin had got him for his birthday.  We ordered Pei Wei for dinner because we all know how much Luke likes rice food.  After dinner we opened presents and then had some ice cream cake.  Luke had fun playing with his new castle and Legos the rest of the night.  

7 Months Old

Hannah was 7 months old on Sunday!  It's hard to believe in only 5 short months she will be 1.  I can't imagine our lives without this beautiful baby girl.  Her personality is really developing right now--she's persistant, impatient, vocal and very inquisitive.

*Schedule: This hasn't changed too much from last month other than it is more firmly set now.  It goes something like this: up between 8 and 9 with a very short feeding shortly after; about 10:30 eat again and take about an hour nap; after this nap is her happiest time of the day; eat solid food for lunch about 12:30; nurse again about 2 and then another nap--this nap varies greatly in length--sometimes it's very short, 30 minutes, and sometimes quite long, over 2 hours; depending on the nap length she will eat 1-2 more times before we have dinner; one of the most fussy times of the day is when I'm fixing dinner but this is slowly getting better and she is usually content to play now; she will eat 2-3 more times before going to bed for the night between 10:30 and 11:30; she also will take a catnap or two during the evening hours although I don't let her sleep for very long after 7.  

*Stats: She was 18 lb 3 oz and 27 inches long at her 6 month check-up.  This put her in the 75-90% for height and 90-95% for weight.  I weighed her last week and depending on the rounding of the scale she is between 19-20 pounds.  She is now wearing almost all 9 month size clothes--the only 6 month stuff she still wears are those things that I really like and don't want to put away yet.  Pajamas are now 12 month size.  Hannah is a big girl!  Her hair is continuing to get longer although we still get many comments about her lack of hair.  It is still very light in color and sometimes there is a hint of red. Her eyes are still blue.  

*Food: Hannah is still really enjoying solid food and she has solid meals twice a day now.  At this point Hannah has added too many things to her diet to remember.  Because she shows so much interest in our food I tried giving her some puffs about 10 days ago.  She tried to swallow them whole rather than gumming them so we put them away and I'll try again probably next week.  Hannah is still nursing between 7-10 times a day as well.

*Activities: Hannah's favorite activity is exploring.  Now that she is crawling she wants to see what everything is; she was doing this before but obviously not as easily.  Hannah seems way more inquisitive than Luke ever was--she's trying to open drawers already and pulling anything she can get ahold of into her mouth.  She still loves to move and has gradually become happier being more on her own.  She spends most of her awake time on the floor,  in her exersaucer or in the bouncing horse.  Hannah's other favorite activity is still watching Luke play.  More often than not Luke can make her laugh or smile if she's fussy.  

*Mobility: Hannah is now CRAWLING!!!  She has been working on it very diligently for the past 3-4 weeks.  She finally figured it out Sunday night.  We had to immediately baby proof the family completely.  Troy put the gates up and Hannah has already tried pulling on them to get out.  She isn't super fast at crawling yet but give her a couple of weeks and we will definitely have our hands full.  Hannah has pretty much mastered sitting up on her own and has managed to get back to a sitting position from laying on the floor a few times.  Hannah continues to amaze me with her strength.  You must be ready for her spontaneous attempts to launch herself out of your arms at any moment while holding her.  She has even managed to pull herself up to her knees a few times.  

*Favorites: I am still Hannah's favorite person but she has a smile for anyone that says hello or interacts with her.  Her seperation anxiety has definitely increased the last few weeks and she wants no one but me esepecially at night.  Luke never went through this to this extint so another learning period for us.  Other favorites:  a telephone rattle; balls; squeaky toys; and she still really likes being outside, playing with my necklace while in the Moby wrap and actually just being in the Moby wrap, chewing on anything she can get in her mouth, and playing with Luke.  Hannah also really loves bath time and just hanging out in water in general :)

*Noises/Talking:  A new category this month.  Of course Hannah isn't saying any words yet although Troy is convinced she can say momma when she's very tired and wants me.  It certainly sounds like she is saying it but I don't think she knows that's who I am yet.  Hannah has some very intense noises.  She squeals the highest pitch squeal I've ever heard from a baby--it truly can hurt your ears.  She also has a very deep-throaty growl/grunt.  Hannah is also constantly jabbering and in general just making different noises

*Events: This last month we celebrated Luke's birthday, had 3 days of just mom and Hannah time, figured out crawling and established a more consistant schedule.  The next month we have a trip to visit Uncle Todd and Aunt Georgia planned and another few days alone with mom as Luke spends time with Grammy and PawPaw.

4 Years Old

I have a 4 year old.  I was talking with some friends the other day who also have sons that recently turned 4 and it sounded so strange to talk about 4 year olds and know that Luke is one now.  For some reason it makes him sound so much older (you are allowed to laugh at me)!

Here is a list of Luke's life right now:

*Luke is able to recognize most letters now and he loves to spell things out but will still ask us to do that occassionally for him.  He is also starting to sight read.  There are a few books that he is very familiar with and he will "read" them to us.  This is really exciting for us.  A favorite activity has become going to the library every two weeks to get new books to read.

*Luke's imagination is still going super strong.  It is sooo fun to listen to him interact with whatever he is playing with and hear the stories he comes up with.  He typically has some plot that involves being nice to each other, sharing and rescuing someone.  

*Luke is still into cars and his trains. The major difference with those is that they are now upstairs in our gameroom and he plays with them more on his own.  Luke has always played well by himself and continues to do so.  I am also able to trust him now being upstairs by himself.

*Other top activities: playing with/interacting with Hannah; reading stories; playing monster or bonk with Dad at night is still probably in his top 3 favorites; riding his new big wheel; collecting/watching bugs; playing outside with or in water.

*Diapers are no longer a part of Luke's life.  He will occassionally have an accident during the night but that is even few and far between.  Hooray!!!

*Luke has adjusted well to having a little sister.  He is a terrific helper and he is the first to comfort her if she is upset.  I do foresee some sibling issues arising involving toys and whose is whose but Hannah isn't mobile enough for it to be a big problem yet.

*Luke's eating habits are in general very good.  I wish he would try/like a few more veggies and some fruits but we're much improved in this area.  He recently just started enjoying strawberries and isn't always reluctant to try new things now.

*A few challenges Luke is currently facing include listening, following directions and whining.  This has improved greatly in the last two months but it can still be a big struggle.

*Luke is a big time home-body.  I could ask him ten times if he wants to go out and about for the day and nine of the responses would be no.  My boy loves to be at home, hang out in his pj's all day and just play.  I can't really blame him; he takes after me greatly in that regard.

*Luke's favorite TV shows include Word World and SuperWhy.  We only watch children's shows on PBS.  PBS shows for the most part are very educational and I attribute some of Luke's new letter and word knowledge to these shows.  Luke also really enjoys watching movies.  We've been watching more movies lately since he has given up his nap and we need some down time in the afternoons.  

*Luke's schedule is as follows: up between 8:00 and 9:00 (or if he's not up by 9 I wake him up); no more nap (he gave it up with no warning about 2 months ago much to my dismay); and bedtime is between 8:30 and 9.  I tried having quiet time in his room when he gave up the nap but he would end up falling asleep and then staying up at night until 10 or later.  

*Luke is a kind, determined, tender-hearted, easy-going 4 year old who is a joy to have as a son!  I love my munchkin to pieces!

Random Stuff

There are always those little tidbits that I don't want to forget but don't deserve a whole post.  Here are a few tidbits of late.  

*Wednesday night we had ribs for dinner at my dad's.  As I put Luke's plate in front of him he said, "Mom, I don't want the fossil."  It was so matter of fact.  And it was absolutely hysterical!  We all died laughing.  

*Hannah is SO close to crawling.  She's up on all fours rocking back and forth whenever she's on the floor.  She launches herself forward with both feet to get to a toy that is just out of reach.  She has even moved both legs forward at the same; she just needs to figure out moving one leg at a time and she will be absolutely everywhere.  And we will be in big trouble!

*I can't believe that LJ is 4!  We've had a great birthday week.  There will be a birthday post soon :)

*Luke loves cards that make noise or play a song.  He got two for his birthday.  The first was from Aunt Sarah.  It makes monkey sounds which is very appropriate because she calls Luke a crazy monkey.  The second was from Troy and I and it plays the "Move It" song--one of LJ's favorites.

*Hannah has this ear-piercing screech.  It can really hurt the ears.  I'm hoping she doesn't hang on to it because it is awful.  She also is doing a deep throaty growl of sorts.  It doesn't hurt the ears so it's much funnier.  She usually makes it if she's upset or frustrated by something.

*Luke and I were talking about the sunset the other day.  He recounted the sunset he and Sarah saw together on the beach last May--they got way to much ice cream and walked to the beach to eat it and it made a mess.  I was amazed that he remembered that from over a year ago without any prompting.

Photo Shoot

Troy and I got a new camera (an early 10 year anniversary gift).  It's a digital SLR and it's awesome!  I am anxious to have the time to sit down and play with all the settings and learn about everything it can do.  I'm also really hoping that Troy and I can take a photography class together soon.  Meanwhile, I have the camera set on auto and it takes really great photos in auto.  Because it's so much fun to use, I had a spur of the moment photo shoot with Hannah and Luke (mostly Hannah because she still isn't mobile) on Sunday afternoon.  These are unedited pics.  Enjoy :)

 And they're done :)

4 Year Old Questionnaire

I thought it would be interesting to see what Luke had to say about life right now as a 4 year old.

How old are you? 4
How tall are you? really big
How much do you weigh? I don't know.
Can you guess? I don't know.
What is your favorite toy? a car
Favorite book? Dinosaurs
Favorite movie? Barney
 Me: You never watch Barney.  LJ: I watch it all the time at my house. (He has never, ever watched Barney when I have been around.  I would guess his favorite movie would be Cars or Ice Age.)
Favorite TV show? Super Why
Favorite food? McDonald's (big sigh from Mom) (I asked him this one the other day and he answered granola bars and fried okra.)
Favorite fruit? cantaloupe
Favorite snack? fruit snacks
Favorite drink? chocolate milk and kool-aid
Favorite activity? sleep (I can vouch that is probably true.  He is very hard to wake up in the morning.)
Favorite color? green and brown
Favorite sport? basketball
Favorite song? Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
Favorite animal? elephants and giraffes and monkeys and zebras and tigers (lots of favorites)
Favorite game? Trouble
Favorite outfit? green shirt
Favorite holiday? Mother's Day (so sweet) and then with more prompting...All of them
What do you need in bed when it's time to go to sleep? all my animals
Best Friend? Benjamin (McBride)
When I grow up I want to be? a T-Rex giraffe
Nicknames? Munchkin, Lukester, Dude, Kiddo
Thing I am really good at? practicing (I asked practicing at what and he said as he was swiveling his hips around, skating.  Not sure where that one came from either).

Some other stats:
Clothing size: 3T or 4T
Shoe size: 9 or 10
Height:  39 inches
Weight: 33 lbs

(I know there are a few missing answers here.  Luke got tired of answering questions and I wanted to get this posted on his actual birthday.  I plan to come back and edit where needed.)

Sleepy Babies

Aren't they just the cutest?!?!  Luke's picture is from December 18, 2008 and Hannah's is from June 26, 2012.  I love having such similar pictures of each of them.  You can certainly see the resemblance between them.  Love my babies!!!

Lego Party

We had Luke's 4th birthday party this weekend.  His official birthday is tomorrow and I'm planning a special post for then but for now here are the party details.  The guests included Grandma and Grandpa Johnson, Grandma and Grandpa Hogancamp, Aunt Kristi and Cousin Wesley, the McBride family, the LaGroue family and Leslie and Sawyer Saenz.

The Party went like this:
*Play outside until all the guests arrived
*Build Legos
*Break open the pinata
*Lego toss game
*Open presents
*Eat lunch
*Sing Happy Birthday
*Eat cake and ice cream