Amazon-Dot-Kid

In all of the birthday craziness of the last week, we neglected to write much about Neve's turning six months old.  (Can you believe it?)  Our tiny gal is really starting to develop a sweet personality.  Even the pediatrician commented on her mellow demeanor during her six-month well visit (more on that later).  If you can keep her well-fed and rested (easier said than done when she is getting carted around on her siblings' schedules), she is generally quite happy and observant.  She is still not rolling, but she is sitting better on her own.  She really reaches out for toys, hair, glasses, anything near her general vicinity.  She's reaching out and yanking enough that even Katie and Michael are taking notice...much to their chagrin.  She's starting to babble a little, cranking out those MA-MA-MAs when she wants our attention.  Overall, she's a great kiddo to have around.

As for that doctor's appointment, the doc was generally happy with her development.  She wasn't worried about Neve's lack of movement, citing it as probable "Katie Syndrome" (lack of motivation coupled with rather large size).  Speaking of her size, she has now bypassed Katie in her same-age measurements.  She weighed in at 17 lbs., 10 oz. (75th percentile) and measured 28.25 inches (99th!!!!).  She just may grow to be our tallest kid yet!

Num-Num-Num

Since she turned 6 months old (!) last week, we finally tried solids with Neve this weekend.  Out of our three kids, Neve has definitely been the least willing to open up her mouth for this new, squishy, cold stuff.  There have been a lot of furled eye brows, tongues sticking out, and clamped mouths.  Maybe it's because we started with green beans?  Hopefully she'll get more in the groove when we hit the sweet stuff later this month.  Anyway, here is a video from our first attempt with her.  Katie was the one actually manning the spoon for a bit.  Then she gave up and handed the dirty job right back to Mom.  So much for Mommy's little helper!  

Birthday Rewind

This past weekend was quite the party, what with Michael turning three and all!  We had tons of surprises (some planned, some not) in store for our kiddo.  First, we had been debating for weeks what exactly to do on Michael's special date since it fell on a Saturday (and, would therefore include the whole family).  With Michael's new obsession with towers of every stripe (water towers, radio towers, skyscrapers, you get the picture), we decided on the National Building Museum downtown.  Little did we know that they were hosting a HUGE hands-on kids' building festival that day!!  There were actual children's stations set up in the Museum's Great Hall for everything from drilling holes to wiring circuits to laying bricks.  Our kids enjoyed the amphitheatre devoted to Legos and the station for sawing wood most of all.  Alas, Michael was a little too intimidated for pictures with the construction truck "petting zoo" set up outside.

As if all of that wasn't already enough, we had a second surprise for everybody waiting at home.  Unbeknownst to the kids, Grammy and Papa drove down from PA to spend quality birthday time with their favorite little red-headed boy!  Needless to say, between that surprise, all of his new presents, and his water tower (!) birthday cake, Michael was beside himself with joy.  Happy birthday, little buddy....we love you!

Happy 3rd Birthday, MJMIII!!!

Mommy-Son Time

Ever since she was about to turn three, it has been a tradition in our house for Katie to go out to dinner the evening before her birthday with her Daddy.  Well, guess who's turn it is to forge his own new tradition!!!  In keeping with the opposite gender theme, Traci invited Michael out to the restaurant of his choice.  Not surprisingly, he chose the place that most red-blooded American toddlers would favor:  McDonalds!!  Mom and son had a grand, ol' time, enjoying very basic conversation (involving shapes, colors, and his new Happy Meal toy) and yummy comfort food.  He even got to slurp up a chocolate shake for dessert!  Traci was having such a fun time completely doting on Michael (for once) that she suggested that they go on to a party store to pick out a birthday hat for tomorrow's festivities.  Michael was THRILLED with that plan....until he walked in to all of the scary Halloween decorations everywhere.  Oh well, at least 99% of the evening went swimmingly!  Anyway, since part of the tradition is that the birthday kid has to pick a new place every year,  Traci can't wait to see his choice next year!  Now, on to the birthday!!!

Sibling Security

For the past several months, we have had a lot of trouble keeping Michael in his bed.  Usually, he sneaks over to our bed in the middle of the night for a little snuggle and snooze.  It's not that we don't love the little guy, but it has become problematic for two reasons:  1.) It's really hard for two adults and an ever-growing preschooler to comfortably sleep in a double bed!, and 2.) Our morning routines to get ready for work/the day have begun to wake him up too early.  We're not quite ready to put an ultimatum on him (since he has developed some nighttime fears), but we are always relieved when he doesn't end up in our bed by morning time.  Lately, when he hasn't shown up, he has come up with his own solution:  raiding Katie's top bunk!  As long as she doesn't mind, who are we to complain??  :)

Back-to-School Night

It's been a while since we had a post about our big Kindergartener!  Tonight, Mike attended Back-to-School Night at Katie's elementary school and was very impressed by its teachers, administrators, and overall environment.  Katie is usually EXHAUSTED by the time she gets home, so we only pry little tid-bits about her class from her in the evenings.  It was fun to finally put some of the pieces together.

Mike's favorite observation?  The little flip book of classroom "expertise."  One of the pages related to Katie and included a fill in the blank that read, "Katie is great at..."  Katie had filled in "...cleaning and picking up toys."  Obviously this expertise is confined within the walls of her classroom!