So, what've you been up to?

All remains quiet in the Smith household. There are pros and cons to that. The biggest pro is there's pretty much nothing to stress about. The con is there's pretty much nothing to talk about. In a few weeks we start our "preschool", which I'm looking forward to. It's only a few hours 3x a week, but add in story time at the library once a week and trips to the museum or park every other week and we'll be pleasantly busy, though still with very little to blog about.

Connor is only a week shy of being 5 months old and getting quite a personality on him. As social as Megan was, Connor is twice that and gets fussy if left on his own for too long. He's so ready to be sitting and standing and gets mad when it doesn't work the way he wants. He hates how much his carseat reclines and it's not uncommon to peek back and see him holding his head up so its perpendicular to the car floor. His favorite toy is a slightly-squished water bottle, so we have a few laying around the house to be handed to him whenever we see one. I used to roll my eyes at people who tell me "boys are more difficult" and wonder if they'd even met my girls (and those that do know my darling girls well enough have backed me up on this, so I never second-guessed my eye-rolling tendencies). Now, however, I'm beginning to fear this may be very true. Only time will tell. And my only saving grace may be that there is only one of him to handle when he gets to that really difficult age, since he'll be 2 1/2 when Megan starts kindergarten.

Cadence and Megan... I almost can't even think of them as a separate entity some days. Love them individually, but they're paired together in my head more often than not, which is most unfortunate for Megan who is 3 1/2 and often chastised for not acting 4 1/2. Though I have recognized that many of Megan's current behavior issues are ones we just outgrew with Cadence, so I do see the age difference, even if I don't automatically acknowledge it.

Anyway, their days are spent with books, princess dolls, and crayons (though they've lost access to crayons recently due to pictures appearing on my walls again). Ever since mastering the computer, they want to play "the game on the computer", aka Starfall.com, every chance they get. I need to get some more games for them to play. I've already decided to incorporate "screen time" into our preschool week. Only once a week, but in this day and age, being able to manipulate technology is going to be an important skill, so... I'm even hoping to pick up a tablet for my birthday, with the secondary intention of having a slew of learning apps for them to play as well as the laptop, so they don't have to share.

I'm realizing that Cadence is probably mentally ready to start school, if not quite emotionally ready to be away from me. She's begun asking questions, becoming very aware that there is more to the world than she immediately knows. I keep wanting to tell her "slow down! we're going to start learning that in just a few weeks!" We're either going to butt heads as I attempt to get her to sit down and really learn her letters, or she's going to love it and we're going to have a great time. Or, more than likely, both depending on hers or my mood. Megan, of course, will be happy to do whatever we're doing, which is good. I feel like she's so behind where her sister was at the same age, mostly because I didn't encourage it with her than way I did with Cadence (who I would quiz about her letters as soon as I realized she was learning them). She's smart, though, so she should pick up on it. And if she doesn't get it right away, she'll get a 2nd helping of it next year when we repeat in anticipation of her kindergarten year.

Other than that, we're looking into moving soon, but not too soon. We're thinking around Feb/March and hoping to find something in a specific neighborhood. Unfortunately, in our preferred neighborhood, their cheaper rentals are at the top of our price range and barely at that. Our fingers and toes are crossed that something turns up in the Feb-May range, or we'll have to consider other options. We're also hoping to get a second vehicle. Those two things are, of course, made more difficult as we attempt to also save for our trip to California in November.

Also, I received a new calling in church a couple weeks ago. My first "real calling" as I've jokingly been calling it. After being a primary teacher for most of the past decade, I've moved on to primary secretary. And in my second week in the position, I had to spend all day walking the halls and asking kids questions to put the primary program together, which is only a month away. Yikes!

Megan's Unexpected Haircut

Cadence cut her hair once, and it was a small chunk in the back of her messy curls, so it was barely noticeable. She got in trouble for it, of course, and never did it again. So when she handed me a pair of scissors (scissors I had been unable to locate for the past few months, mind you) and informed me her sister had cut her hair, I looked at Megan and saw no immediate evidence of the supposed crime. Since Cadence has lately been prone to exaggeration, I took the scissors away, informed the girls "you don't cut hair, only grown-ups can cut your hair", and that was that.

Until I found the pile of pretty, blond curls on the floor. *sigh*

When I first inspected Megan's hair more closely, the damage was still difficult to see. She touched the back of her head when I asked what hair she had cut, but I could find no patches of shorter hair. Finally, when I turned her to face me did I realize the wispy hair at the front of her head had a definite cut to it. I had overlooked it because she normally has wispy, short hairs at the front. As we combed it, I discovered just how much hair she had cut and wasn't sure how to make the best of it. Finally, I combed the bulk of the short hair forward and just cut the right side, which hadn't been cut at all, to try to match.

The result was my 3-year-old with bangs that make her look way too grown-up. Don't you agree?

Connor's 4-month Stats and then some

Well, it threw off our Wednesday=library day schedule, but Connor had his 4-month check-up this morning. As per usual, he charmed his way through a battalion of nurses and gave lots of smiles to the pediatrician, who thought his bald little head and round cheeks just made him absolutely precious (and while I'm sure the pediatrician makes similar comments to every mom, she was 200% sincere in cooing over my handsome little man).

Since I had no concerns about Connor's growth, the most exciting part was seeing how big he's gotten! I had nothing to compare him to. At 2 months old Connor weighed the same as both his sisters did at 4 months. All I knew was he was going to be significantly larger than his sisters at the same age and the real question was would he break Megan's 1-year-old weight (17lbs 3oz, scrawny little girl)?

Well, he didn't, though he certainly tried his best! He did, however, surpass Megan's 9 month weight (but not Cadence's). At this point, I think he'll beat both girls' 1-year weight by 6 months.

Height: 25.25" (previously 23.5", +4.74" since birth)
Weight: 16lbs 8oz (previously 13lbs 11oz, +6lbs 13oz since birth)

As far as percentile's go, he's right around the 75th percentile line. Just under it for height, just over it for weight. He has chunky thigh rolls and his little belly is so round he's fitting into his sisters hand-me-down 6/9 month size jeans (yes, he's wearing "girl jeans"). And his sweet little cheeks are too kissable, especially since kisses often result in big smiles and even a few giggles.

Learning

I often comment on how hard it is to notice new skills the girls have mastered, because they're slower skills and don't come as often, so I'm not looking for them. However, we've had a few. First and foremost, Cadence has learned to use the computer. I attempted to teach her using a normal mouse, but she got frustrated with it. She did eventually get it, but never really mastered it. Then, one day, she asked to play a game on my computer. I didn't pull out the mouse, just plopped my laptop in her lap. She mastered the touchpad mouse in minutes and has been asking to play ever since, which is good, since I'll be using computer programs to teach them in the coming months.

I am excited to start up what I'm calling "preschool" for the girls. Paying for Cadence to go to a preschool is outrageously overpriced, plus there's the added inconvenience of getting her there when we're still a one-car household. Cadence already knows her letters and numbers, so I won't be teaching her anything new, but she will get to review, make sure she can write them properly, and practice sitting and doing worksheets and following directions for art projects. Megan will be joining us, because the two girls are inseparable, so she might learn a few things. We'll also be doing a "science" topic each week and every other week we'll be going on "field trips" (mostly to the natural science museum) to emphasize something they've learned. For example, the week we learn about fruits/veggies and farm animals, we'll be going to Dewberry Farms.

Connor's milestones are slowly starting to appear. He's rolling, when he wants to, but he HATES being on his belly, so almost never does, because then he gets so upset he forgets he's capable of rolling onto his back again and just cries. Mostly, he likes being on his side and, if given the chance and left alone by his sisters, he'll happily roll to his side and put himself to sleep. He's starting to sit up well, but I won't claim that milestone yet. He still flops over more often than not, but he has managed to balance himself on occasion and not fall completely over. No rush, he's only 4 months (tomorrow! Wow, how time flies). All too soon, he'll be sitting up on his own and then the next step is crawling and I haven't baby-proofed yet!

Megan's newest skill is one I've been eagerly awaiting. Cadence started drawing at age 2 1/2, so with Megan being more than halfway to 4, I was getting antsy. I knew Cadence had started unusually early and drawing wasn't really Megan's "thing", but I was more than thrilled when she brought me her notebook and showed me the family she had drawn (complete with James's beard). I was a little less thrilled when I discovered she had followed in her sister's footsteps a little too closely and also drew a family on the wall:

An Austin Weekend

As we headed up to Austin this past weekend, I expected to come home with at least a half-dozen pictures to share of the great time we had. Unfortunately, all our plans kind of fell apart. Austin, I have decided, is not a great family vacation spot. Especially when you're on a budget. However, it was Uncle Jon's birthday, so we went up to see him.

The driving portion of the trip went well. The girls happily colored, snacked on Chex Mix and watched a DVD to pass the 3 hour trip. Connor was content to sleep for half of the trip and blow raspberries at his reflection the other half. I wish the experience made me feel a little more confident about our planned road trip in November, but... well, it doesn't, since that trip involves 23 hours of driving (without stops).

Unfortunately, the rest of the trip was the whole idea of "the best laid plans..."

The itinerary was decent. A trip to the natural science museum, a quick stop at the Cabelas store, and then an early dinner at the pizza buffet/arcade. The actual execution...

The natural science museum exhibit that interested the girls the most was the fake boat in the "aquarium" portion, which was a small room with a bunch of dead fish skeletons pinned underneath glass. Perhaps the only really interesting display was the large pterodactyl skeleton they had hanging from the ceiling in the main hall.

The Cabelas store was mostly for James, but the girls did enjoy the aquarium and the two diorama rooms. They also had a bit of fun at the shooting gallery, but the stress of the trip started to hit them and they were pleading to go home or back to the hotel.

So, we went to "dinner" at 2:30. The girls at least enjoyed that part, but when we moved to the arcade, the music was so loud it was difficult to communicate and the novelty quickly wore off as the tired girls started to get headaches. They did get to do some skee ball and mini-bowling. Then we hastily traded in our accumulated points for "Pinkie Pie funny faces", 2 pink bracelets, and a stick-on fake mustache for Connor (not pictured... yet).

By the time we dropped Jon off to have an evening with his in-town friends and got back to the hotel we had several hours left. However, once at the quiet room, the girls calmed down and were able to relax. So we had "dinner" at Yogurtyland (that's right, fro-yo for dinner), got them bathed and in their pajamas and settled them down for bed. Of course, getting two preschoolers to settle down for bed when they're sharing a bed in a lit room... well, they were at least asleep before 10 this time.

Funnies from Church

As we drove to church, the girls chatted in the back of the car about things 3 & 4 year olds find interesting. I had not heard much from Connor, who has become quite the chatterbox lately, in awhile, so I asked Cadence if her brother was asleep.

Recently, Cadence often tells us "Connor passed out" or "Connor is passed out". This morning her response to my question was: "No, he's passed in". As I chuckled, Cadence sagely explained to me: "Because he's not passed out, so he's passed in."

*

While pacing the halls during the third hour of church with a restless Connor this morning, I took advantage of the peek-through windows to peek in on the girls and their primary classes, pleased to see them sitting and listening well. Megan's primary lesson was about families. Her teacher went to each student and had them describe their family and drew a picture on the chalkboard of stick figures representing the members of the family.

When it came to Megan's turn, I happened to be peeking through. "Mommy" was the first figure drawn, then "Daddy". Up until this point, the teacher had been denoting gender with long hair for girls and spiky hair for boys. When her teacher put hair on James's stick figure head, Megan quickly corrected her. I do not know exactly what was said, but I did see her teacher start to laugh, erase the top half of the hair-covered head and replace it with a hairless one.

Undoubtedly, Megan informed her teacher of what is a known fact in our household: Daddy doesn't have any hair!

*

While not a church funny, I shall share it anyway (hope I haven't already!):

I bought the girls a used Tag Reading System, which is a pen that reads books (specially bought for the system, obviously) out loud. As the girls explored their new books, they also showed off the book they held to their sister. Megan held hers up with the back cover showing. Cadence wanted to see the front cover, however she did not know the correct word. So, using impeccable logic, she instructed Megan to show her the "belly" of the book.

Made sense to me!

Movies and Pics

Megan looking too cute in pigtails ("Merida" drawn on the door courtesy of Cadence)

My ragamuffins first thing in the morning:

Another thumbsucker (in all fairness, Megan sucks her fingers, not her thumb)

3 months old exactly. So alert and so sweet:

Connor playing his piano. He loves to make noise:

Megan serenading herself in the bathroom (video is just of the wall, no potty shots, no worries):

Cadence singing along in the car. She's normally more enthusiastic, but she noticed the camera:

And last but not least (okay, it is "least") our new couch. After our couch was broken during the move, we've been using our futon for the past year in our front room. So happy to have a real couch again (and get this, it's a LaZBoy, and we got it for a steal!):

Little boys grow up too fast

An interesting couple of weeks here, as always. Lots of the "same ol', same ol'", but the fun "same ol', same ol'". Now that summer is here, I'm trying to plan a few fun things each week for the girls and I to do. This past week we had a couple boys from a church family come over while their parents ran some errands, so the girls got to play with new friends. Wednesday we went to story time at a nearby library, which the girls loved. Friday the girls went to the pool. It took them a little while to warm up to the idea of playing in the wading pool, especially when they both got in a little over their head (literally) within the first few minutes of playing. However, by the time we left, neither of them wanted to go. Now for a few updates:

Megan is 3 1/2 and way too big. Yesterday, as I sat in their room nursing Connor while the girls continued to sleep, I saw Megan stretched out in her bed and realized how tall she's gotten. Despite having a "new baby", it's still hard for me to see and accept how big she is. I still want to call both girls toddlers. Megan is growing more independent and insisting on doing things herself nowadays. The girls have recently gotten assigned chores and Megan will spend an hour washing the table unless you force her to stop. Tonight when we gave her a new duster to dust the TV and entertainment center, she wanted to continue dusting everything, including the stairs and the couch. She loves to laugh and play games and is developing quite the sense of humor, which can make basic chores take longer. It really is hard to notice her milestones. She doesn't draw like Cadence or anything obvious. James and I suspect her "smarts" are more social and gross motor skills (girl can climb just about anything). (Picture below courtesy of Cadence stealing my camera)

Cadence is 4 1/2. Right about now, I'm grateful for the strict September 1st deadline for kindergarten registration. I'm not sure I can handle the thought of sending her away for a day. I'm going to be a mess when she does go. It was hard enough giving her up for two hours a week when she started going to nursery. She continues to show off artistic skills that are above average. She colors almost perfectly when she sets her mind to it and fill notebooks with doodles of princesses with curly pigtails, detailed dresses, and crowns. She's also begun drawing ponies (My Little Pony) and will fill pages with letters and her name. With Megan starting to act more emotional and dramatic, it's made us realize how much Cadence has matured over the past year. We still have meltdowns, but she's getting better at controlling herself. She loves helping out with Connor and is great with him. We'll be starting a homeschool-type preschool in the fall and I'm sure she'll excel (which means it's going to be review/practice for her and something new for Megan who will undoubtedly play with us).

And, of course, there is Connor. He's only a few days shy of 3 months old and Chunky Charlie is already fitting into 6 month clothes. Totally new territory for me, since the girls were still in 6 month clothes when they hit 1 year old! I already had to clear out all the NB and most 0-3 month onesies from his drawers and am now running low on clothes that fit. Luckily, it's summer, so he really only needs outfits for when we go out. He is probably the most social and easy-going of the three kids (which is saying quite a bit, since the girls were both very easy going babies). Connor talks like crazy and goes nuts whenever people talk to him, even strangers. Not surprising for a boy that smiled at 3 weeks, even though charts say 6 weeks is average. He's already bearing his weight on his legs for extended periods of time. If he's not standing he wants to be sitting upright and will do crunches in his attempts to get up if he's reclining or laying down. He's also begun using his hands on purpose, which is cool. He sucks his thumb (yes, Erin, I'm 3 for 3 here), pulls toys close to chew on them (he likes a jingling toy bear and the glow worm) and loves banging the little red piano to make noise. Everyone keeps asking me if it's different having a boy and so far... it's not. He's just a sweet, happy baby and I love him to pieces.

So, yeah, pretty lucky here. The girls are frustrating and Connor's sometimes constant need for attention, wiggling and support for standing/sitting can make me want to growl, but I swear I bust up laughing from pure pleasure in watching them do or say something so totally unexpected and childlike. Just the other day, Cadence was laughing so hard at something James did she nearly fell out of her chair and I laughed, which only made her laugh harder. Or Connor will just light up, laugh and talk and how can you do anything but smile and laugh back? Love it.

Other Updates

The reason for my blogging silence hasn't really been the lack of time, but more the lack of anything really exciting to blog about. However, Connor is 2 1/2 months old and I should really talk about how our day to day has changed! He's as calm as his sisters were at his age, which makes me nervous about his hooligan potential. They were sweet little babies, too, before turning into adorable little terrors.

Anyway, last week, we went to a wedding of someone James is friends with at church. They had a ring ceremony before the reception that James wanted to attend but I wasn't about to bring my 3 hooligans into someone's ceremony. I didn't trust them to behave. So, we locked ourselves in the church's nursery while James attended the ceremony then came to fetch us to go to the reception. Connor spent the entire time eating his hands (one of his favorite pastimes) and the girls went crazy and made funny faces.

James is seriously Connor's favorite person ever. Every night when James comes home, they usually have a long moment of talking back and forth. Connor just grins when he sees his daddy talking to him and immediately starts talking back. I had to stop in my tracks one day when Connor mimicked James's "how" almost perfectly. Seriously, the kid can't stop smiling when he's face to face with him. James recently shaved and went to talk to him. Connor kept looking around for the "right face" when he heard James's voice. Eventually he accepted this new person and has been content ever since.

This probably makes me a terrible mom. But after recording video of him talking (or trying to get video of it, mostly he just wiggled and looked up at me), he got fussy. I had the camera in hand. Thus the inevitable:

Even at such a young age, Connor is determined to use his legs. He can support his own weight for a full minute already. I'd been on the lookout for the basic used jumperoo for awhile, so when I found one not too far from our house for a great price, I jumped on it. Once we brought it home and I wiped it down, I put him in it to see how he fared, fully expecting him to hate it/be too small and to put the jumperoo away for a few more weeks. To my surprise and delight, he loved it and fit. He's only been allowed small spurts, but he's all smiles every time.

Last but not least, the girls are loving their baby brother. Megan tries so hard to be the best big sister, but she's still learning how to be gentle and what the boundaries are. Cadence is amazing with him and ranks #2 on his "favorite person" list. Just the other day, he was fussing and I needed just a few more minutes to finish a task, so she held him and sang "I Am a Child of God" and he calmed right down for her. Megan is learning how to be a good sister by watching and mimicking her. Eventually, Megan and Connor will meet in the middle. She'll be gentler and he'll be sturdier and they'll get along just fine in the end:

Soccer Day

For a brief moment, I was considering putting the girls into a summer soccer class. It's not a league with games, just an indoor gym that does soccer drills once a week and does an "open gym" later in the week. Before I paid for the class, I was able to take the girls to a trial class. They loved it and I loved it and I'm really bummed they're not going to be able to do it, but the money that would have gone toward the class went toward replacing our computer, replacing my phone and repairing the Xbox (all of which went out on us within 2 weeks of each other).

However, the girls did have fun and I did get a couple pictures. They weren't the best at following the coach's instructions. Megan was the youngest/smallest, but they did have fun. They are iffy in new situations, so there was the promise of m&ms to motivate them to stick it out for the entire hour, but when they were on the gym floor they had a blast. The only time they wanted to leave was in the chaos of switching between free play and structured play (they cleaned up, so the girls assumed it was done) and when Cadence got scared by someone coming up behind her and tickling her.

Free play, the girls immediately went for the taller hoop and determinedly lobbed soccer balls, bouncy balls and basketballs toward the net and missed. Thankfully, one of the coaches noticed and brought out the more appropriately sized hoop for them to play with.

Once the structured play started, the girls had a hard time grasping the concept of dribbling (the day's special skill), but by the end of the class they actually were doing pretty well. Megan walked at a snail's pace and barely kicked her ball to maintain control:

In this game they had to dribble their ball around until the music stopped then quickly dribble their soccer ball to the nearest hula hoop. Clearly Cadence understood the rules (she wasn't the only one that picked up her soccer ball and ran, though):