Bear is FIVE months!

Happy Five Months, Bear!

I'm a little late. It's been a busy month with Grandma and Grandpa staying with us, jammed packed weekends, and too many activities during the week! You've been to several of Juliet's soccer games and 2 day long tailgates. You do great everywhere you go and get so many compliments for your great attitude.

A few weeks ago I was at the bus stop thinking about how scared I was a year ago. I worried about you every day. I was thinking that if, 1 year ago, someone asked me to pick my perfect baby, I would have picked everything you are. I would have wanted a boy, for him to have my coloring and chin (so one kid looked like me!), I would have wanted him to be a bigger boy (and healthy!), and for him to be happy and easy going, but also a bit of a Mama's boy. I got it all!

You had a great month. This month you learned to roll over both ways. You love to show it off during diaper changes and when I am trying to get you dressed. You love to talk and coo and I swear you are getting close to making purposeful words. Everyone kind of rolled their eyes when I said that about smiling, but who was smiling at the camera at one month exactly?

You woke up in the middle of the night a few days ago and said, "hi!". When I leave you for too long in the exersaucer or something you cry, "Ma ma ma" We hear lots of "m" sounds from you, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed you say "Mama" first.

Your hands are always in your mouth and you have started to drool a little more. Today I was looking closely and I'm pretty sure I saw 2 little bottom teeth just underneath your gums. You LOVE toys and I am always reminding Daddy to give you a toy to hold when he holds you. You positively love beer cans and make it your mission in life to closely inspect as many as possible. Leah even cleaned out a few for you, took off the tabs, and taped over the spouts. She wrote on them "for Teddy: completely baby safe". So, when CPS comes, we will be all good. Last month Daddy got the exersaucer out and cleaned up for you, and you have loved it! You like to stand up tall like a "big boy".

 You completely fell in love with your sisters this month. They can make you smile and laugh so much quicker than Daddy or I can. And you always laugh harder for them, too. We let them start to carry you in addition to just holding you, and the sight of Juliet carrying you across the living room makes us laugh out loud every time we see it. You think it's funny too. You seem to be about half her height, and are more than half her weight. We always warn them to be calmer with you, but you like when they are frisky!

This month I noticed how much you rub your feet together. When you lay down, you just rub them together until we pick you back up. It's really cute! You eyes have stayed blue (take that, nasty lady at Holiday Market!) and your hair is still white blond. You still sleep swaddled (we didn't for a night, and it was a disaster!) in your dock-a-tot until between 2-5am. Then you get a diaper change, nursed, and turned over to your belly. You wake up again around 6 and I can usually nurse you back to sleep until you wake up for the day between 7-9am. 

This month I've let you try a little bit of my ice cream of milk from my cereal. When you see me come sit down next to you with a bowl and spoon, you get very excited! You open your mouth like a little baby bird and smile big after every bite. I wanted to hold off on food until 6 months, but I might add sweet potatoes to the shopping list because I think you are ready for it, and I know you would love it! 

Here you are rolling over your sign! 

 We love you so, so much!!

Super Fort

Leah and her friends made this super fort in her room. It was insane. She slept in it for 2 nights before I made her take it down and put everything away.

Random Pictures

 Seeing all 3 cuddled up is the best. Juliet was practicing her reading here. 

 Speaking of reading. This girl. All the books. All day long. Yesterday she came home from school and told us she read 2.5 books. Novels. Chris and I were like, "Did your teacher teach?" Leah was like, "of course, but there is SSR, and and some free time, and sometimes you can find some extra time!"

 So proud of this girl and her skills! She's been doing the "skill days" at the gym and made some giant leaps in her skills with the extra hour or so of coaching. She's learned SO MUCH. She can do back walkover and back and front hand springs now.  

For a few years, I've visualized 3 kids on the swings in our backyard. Even when things sucked, I imagined 3 kids on those swings. Teddy is finally big enough to be put in one, so we put back up the baby swing. My heart. One day I'll try to get a picture of them all on the swings not looking homeless. 

Expander Removal!

The dentist has been telling us since Leah was in Kindergarten that she would likely need an expander. The news was finally confirmed by the orthodontist, and we were given a 1 year window in which we could start the process. Leah, like us, is a "let's just get it over with" person, and opted to begin immediately. She got the bottom expander in January, which wasn't too bad because it is removable. She got the top expander in February, which was bonded to her teeth. She couldn't eat gummy candy or popcorn the entire time it was in (though we let her indulge a small handful of times). She finally got it out in early August. Girlfriend was PUMPED. We thought it was going to be pretty easy, and made plans for ice cream later. It was actually a bit bloody and swollen and painful after getting it removed, and Leah was in no mood for anything. After a day or so, her mouth felt so much better and she happily ate her weight in gummy candy. Now she has a retainer and looks so ding darn grown up. She is happy that she can once again eat candy!

Friend Sleepover

 Luke and Anna spent the night while their parents were on a cruise. They had a lot of fun eating candy, watching The Simpson's Movie, and just being loud. They ask often when they can do it again! 

Taylor Swift!

 The big day finally came! Taylor! Their first concert. These kids have been waiting for this day (and planning their outfits) for a long time. Leah bought these earrings in the Spring with her own money. Juliet so wanted to look "big" and "grown up". She found this little pleather skirt at Nordstrom and thought it was perfect. Leah wanted one, too, and ended up getting it for her birthday. I got them the shirts of Etsy. 

 We dyed their hair, too. It's a little hard to tell, but Juliet's hair is blue(ish) and Leah's is purple(ish). 

 It took FOREVER to get to the show. It seriously took us about an hour to go the last 1 mile. Overall, we were in the car for almost 2 hours just to get there. Leah was completely beside herself holding back tears because she thought we were going to miss the show. We ended up missing one of the opening acts, but saw Camila Cabello's entire act (Havana Oo Na Na) and, of course, all of Taylor. Aunt Nicole hooked us up with great parking. We were going to meet up with a few of Leah's friends in the parking garage, but because we were late, we weren't able to. Chris and I had a few beers at the show to relax after the car ride. 

 It was so sweet to watch them watch the show. I told Chris I watched them more than I watched Taylor. They loved singing and dancing along. It was a great show with lots of energy. I especially loved that Taylor came off so kind and gracious when she talked to the audience. 

We had pretty good seats. The girls just stood on their chairs and they were adult size. They loved dancing and singing. Everyone who came to the show got bracelets. They all lit up sometimes differently, sometimes the same. During one song, they made little hearts all over the stadium. At other times, they blinked along with the beat. Taylor said it's because she was playing such big venues, she wanted to make sure she could still "see" every person, even the people in the very back rows. It was sweet. 

 She had a great set up with different sets and some pretty cool dances. Leah loved when they dropped confetti from the ceiling. She was picking up as much as she could and shoving it into my (ridiculously small--per stadium rules) purse. 

 There were 3 stages. 2 were pretty close to us. This is (a crappy shot of) her traveling in a little balcony thing to one of the other stages. 

 Teddy stayed with Aunt Renee and got a great report. We were so thankful for the opportunity to do something with our "big girls". It was a great night! 

Happy Birthday, Leah Loo!

I cannot believe this is my last year of Leah being single digits. The first time I looked at this picture of her cake, I thought, "I put her candle on upside down!" NINE. Nine. How is it possible? This year Leah had a totally normal, uneventful birthday. The past 2 years have been high stress days for the adults in our little family. This year was much more normal. This year she woke up, opened presents, went swimming at Colony, went to dinner at Olga's, checked out the class lists at school, got an ice cream cake, played outside with the neighbors past dark, and stayed up late reading in bed. Completely perfect.

Leah continues to love reading. She always has a stack of books with her. She's totally quiet in the car because she's always reading. She reads before bed every night and comes into our room 75% of the time to either ask for more time or tell us about how exciting her book is. She's thrilled that she already got a book order from school. This summer she read and loved the entire "Land of Stories" series, the "new" Baby-Sitters Club, the graphic novels "Smile", "Sisters", and "Drama". We were at the library often.

Lili excels in dance and gymnastics. This summer she advanced TWO levels in gymnastics. Now she is in Silver. There is only one class offered that is higher than where she is now (Gold). Come Spring, she will need to choose to either join the team at gymnastics or dance, or staying rec for both. She hates the idea of choosing between the two, but also wants to get "really good" at both. She loves our dance school's production number, but she also really likes watching the big kids do flips on the bars and beam in gymnastics.

 For Leah's birthday, she got the entire collection of "The Land of Stories", a marshmallow/squishy pillow, some new clothes and earrings, a new journal, some sport headbands, and a science kit. She was thrilled. Gone are the days of "twirly dresses" being her favorite. While she still wear dresses (and looks amazing in them), she seems to prefer shorts and shirts most days now. She loves Justice and I begrudgingly bought her some clothes from there for her birthday. I can't get over how low quality they are. Leah LOVES having super long hair. She gets so upset with the idea of cutting it. It now touches the top of her butt. She would love her hair to be even blonder. For Taylor Swift, we dyed her hair purple(ish) and she thought it was the best thing ever. She loves to wear dangly earrings and gets a kick out of changing her earrings more often now.

Leah is a great big sister. Without ever asking her, she will seek out Teddy if he is fussy or crying and try to help him. Her and Juliet are total best friends. This summer there were many sleepovers in each other's rooms in different types of "super forts" that they made together or with friends. While they occasionally bicker or fight, they get upset when I separate them. Leah also really enjoys one-on-one time with us. A few weeks ago Juliet went over to a friend's house. I offered to invite over a friend of Leah's, and she said she would rather just be with me. We went to a farm stand and to Bushes and she kept telling me how much fun she was having with just me. Leah's made some pretty close friends this year and we had more play dates than ever this summer.

 Leah's getting closer to being a "tween" and we already notice some attitude. We remind Leah several times a day that she doesn't know everything yet. She never used to argue back, and now she is starting to. We are hoping that she goes easy on us over her teenage years. She's getting more interested in adult shows. A few months ago she really wanted to watch "Poltergeist" for some reason. We told her how scary it was, but she insisted. She watched it one afternoon when I was at a party with Juliet. She wanted Chris on the same level of the house, but that was about it. We tried freaking her out afterward, but she was never scared. She was asking me about my favorite books as a kid and I was telling her about "Alex: The Life of a Child" which I was obsessed with when I was a little older than her. She made me check it out of the library. I was also telling her about some Ann Rule book, and she really wanted to read it. We will see about Alex for now (I'm going to reread it first), but try to hold off on Ann Rule for a few years. The girls love watching the shows "Mia and Me", "Just Add Magic", and now "Anne with an E" which we are watching as a family.

Leah is kind and understanding, and she is still an old soul. It's so interesting to watch her and Juliet together, because even though they are so close, they are just so different in their approaches to different situations.

This summer Leah made more friendship bracelets than I can count. We made a lot of slime, too. We stayed busy at the pool and with friends. She LOVED Real Life Farm and begged us everyday to take her early and not pick her up until as close to 6:00 as possible. It was a great summer.

 I'm so excited to see what this year brings. She got a great teacher and was lucky enough to have several friends in her class this year. It's going to be a great year! We love her so, so much.

 Just for fun, here are some diving board pictures I took at Colony on Leah's birthday. This was the first day Juliet went off the diving board!

Family Pets

Brain and his boy. It's crazy to remember that I've had Beast since my days on Charles Street at MSU. Chris picked out Brain (I kinda liked his sister better--NEVER tell him that!). He's been moved a few times, seen us get married, woken us up by giving his rabbit some attention, pooped on our suitcase after we went to Italy for 16 days, sat on my pregnant belly, taken up the bed, and cuddled three babies now. Occasionally, we all worry that he's getting old. I hate actually tallying up how old he is because it scares me. He's got a lot of life left, though, and I hope he's around long enough for Teddy to remember him, too. Then we will get him cloned and start the whole process over. 

 I've started calling Tilly "Cookie" like the cat from "Cookie's Week". He is a total stinker. But he's got a lot of personality. Juliet is still unsure of him, even though he was supposed to be "her" pet. 

 Weekend sleepover in our room. Now Ollie thinks he can get in the kids' beds.