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):

Connor's 2-month Check-Up

Chunky Charlie strikes again. ;-) The pediatrician saw him and called him a "bruiser" because of his size, teasing him about not growing up too fast. She also laughed at how much he wiggled and warned me I was going to have my hands full with a very active toddler. Then, with a glance at the girls who were with me today, assured me I would do just fine. Connor is healthy and growing well (pediatrician's pat on my back for awesome mommy milk, 1lb 12oz in only 3 weeks!). He jumped up a percentile group for his height and weight measurements.

Height: 23.5" (+3" since birth, 75th percentile)
Weight: 13lbs 11oz (+3lbs 14oz since birth, 90th percentile)

I can't even begin to compare his measurements to the girls', who were only about 10-11lbs at this point (height was comparable). If Connor keeps growing like the weed he's currently imitating, he might be heavier than Megan by his 2nd birthday (it doesn't help that Megan is scrawny, still under 30lbs at 3 1/2 years old). People might think he's only a year younger than the girls rather than three years younger!

But, who knows... the girls didn't really reach their actual "growth curve" until 6 months. Only time will tell (just as only time will tell if he keeps his blue eyes or if they turn brown like Cady's did around 1-year).

Urgent Care (+Pictures!)

Last night, as I made dinner, Cadence arranged our four folding chairs and two wooden high chairs into a jungle gym and attempted to climb all over it as I worked on cleaning the kitchen. Since she got down when I told her, I did not immediately swoop in and disassemble the makeshift playplace. Turn my back for a moment, then I hear a hard thumb sound followed by screaming. *sigh* She'd climbed right back onto the chairs and in the process of climbing over the back of one, lost her balance and fell into the TV table.

As I usually do over minor bumps and scrapes, I dutifully moved the hair away from the area she indicated was hurt so I could pretend to scrutinize the non-existent boo-boo and send her on her way so I could return to my original task. Unfortunately, instead of a goose-egg, I saw a fair amount of blood underneath her hair. Great... In the end, the resulting head wound was just big enough (mostly deep enough) I wasn't sure whether to take her in or not. So I called James home to get his opinion (he only had an hour left of his shift). He agreed it was big enough that getting it seen was reasonable, so on to urgent care we went. The doctor cleaned and treated the wound. Even she was on the fence about whether or not to do anything else for it, but in the end we decided on one staple "just in case". If you're curious, picture of the final product can be seen here.

And now, pictures from the past month now that I finally have them on my computer:

Chunky Charlie's 1-Month (6 weeks) Stats

Since coming out half again as big as either of his sisters were at birth, Connor's been kind of stuck with the nickname "Chunky Charlie". Being called by this name is usually quickly followed by kisses on his round cheeks or belly. The "Charlie" actually comes from his middle name. Tsaliroi (Cha-lih-roy) is roughly translated as "Son of Charlie" (can you hear the "Charlie" in his name?), so it is technically his name, albeit, a small part of his name. ;-)

Anyway, he had his 1-month check-up today. He's actually 1 month and 10 days old, but his doctor was on vacation last week and it wasn't super important that we be there "on time", especially since he was seen at 3 weeks and at 4 weeks for weight checks. I was pretty pleased with his 1lb gain in 2 weeks during his weight checks and I wasn't sure whether to expect another pound after such awesome gain. Connor decided to surprise me and the doctor and gained 2lbs in the past 2 weeks. I wasn't entirely sure how unusual it was until the doctor commented on it. His weight wasn't huge for his age, but the total weight gain was impressive.

My heart broke a little when he got his Hep B shot. He was staring up a me, talking a little, completely unaware of what was about to happen and looked so trusting. I saw the shock register when he felt the needle, a full second of staring at me with an expression of "what just happened" before he scrunched up his face and started to cry. He soothed easily enough.

Connor's 6 week stats:

Weight: 11 lbs 15.5 oz (+2lbs 2 oz since birth, 75th percentile)
Height: 22.5" (+2" since birth, 50-75th percentile)

Connor was both heavier and longer than his sisters at about the same age. I only have Megan's stats on hand, but since Connor had an extra 3 weeks in utero to get some of those measurements bulked up, not sure it's fair to compare the two. He's as big as the girls were at 3 months. We'll see if his gain slows down like their's did around the 6-month mark, but I think Connor's got a good start to be as big as James when he's older. Guess we'll see!

Smiles and Sickness

Connor is a day shy of 1 month old and already giving us small smiles. I noticed the first one a little over a week ago, when I picked him up in my arm and smiled down at him and said "Hi, Connor". In response, the side of his mouth quirked in a little half-smile, but since all my google research said 4 weeks was the absolute earliest, I dismissed it. However, we've seen a handful of similar half-smiles over the past week, always in response to myself (or once Cadence) talking to him, so I think we're claiming it as "real" now.

Connor is a very even tempered baby, but he's definitely becoming more alert. We've had a few rough days here as he gets a little fussy and fidgety. This should peak over the next couple weeks and then he'll settle down again and we'll start to see his real personality begin to emerge.

The girls adore their brother. Cadence asks to hold him at least a dozen times a day, even if he's sleeping, and while she refuses to run most errands I send her on ("can you take this to the sink?"), she'll happily do any errand that somehow involves Connor (now to figure out how to make picking up the living room related to Connor...). Megan's just as helpful and loving, but not as capable. She doesn't understand the size difference between herself and her brother and is constantly in trouble for practically laying on top of him and trying to hug him by pulling his closer to her by his head.

A brief update about his weight gain issue: At his 2 week appointment, he was only 9lbs, 13 ounces shy of his birth weight and only 2 ounces larger than he'd been the week before. At 3 weeks, he'd gained another 7.5 ounces, which is great gain for one week but still not his birth weight. So we went in again this past Tuesday and he was 9lbs and 15.5oz. With another 8 ounces under her belt and finally passing his birth weight, the doctor gave us the "all's clear" and we're back to just the normal check-ups.

Unfortunately, while we were carting ourselves around doctor's offices (we also had to take James in on Monday. Unexpectedly, his allergies in Houston are worse than they were in Bakersfield's nasty air), we picked up a virus of some sort. I got his first, Cadence got hit next and poor Connor has a dry cough and I assume his constant need to nurse is in response to a sore throat. Thank goodness it's a mild cold. A little tylenol for the girls, a little extra snuggling for Connor and a few hot showers for me and we're surviving and already on the downside of it.

And while we're here, a picture of Connor at 4 weeks that don't have access to my Facebook:

The Orange Rhino

There's a new tab at the top of my blog. Stop YELLING!

My inspiration? The Orange Rhino. This woman hasn't yelled at her kids for over a year. As of today, she hasn't yelled at her kids in 431 days. I want to be her. Seriously.

One of the things she says to help you achieve your goal is to be accountable. My kids know I'm not supposed to be yelling, but they don't understand the challenge. Instead, I hold myself accountable to my blog readers as well as my kids. I won't be posting on the blog regularly, but I will be updating the page accessed from the tab just under my blog header.

My goal is to go 30 days without yelling. That's not 30 days of trying not to yell, that's 30 days without yelling. If I yell, the counter restarts and I'm back to Day 0.

I'm determined to do this. While I know preschoolers yell because they're hardwired to do so, but I also know that the girls yell more than they should and it's a behavior they learned from me. When they get upset, I see my own bad reaction mirrored back at me. I don't treat them with respect and compassion, so they don't treat others with respect and compassion, at least, not as much as I'd like. When I've made previous attempts to yell less I have noticed better behavior in them as well.

I am hoping 30 days of not yelling will see an improvement in our home all around and we'll all be happier.

30 days. Starting now (well, tomorrow morning, but we're practicing before bedtime).