Everyday Days

 Brain has been there for every baby I've had. He's loved them all. Teddy reminds me of Leah with Brain. He is very interested and does his best to be very gentle. I love seeing them together. He's getting older, which always scares me. And Chris, too, apparently. He's been letting Brain sleep *literally* on his head for the past year. I wake up in the middle of the night and laugh because Chris looks like a sleeping Russian, with a giant fur hat on. Brain thinks he belongs there now, and can't be tricked into sleeping with Leah as much as he used to. 

 We finally put up this guys crib. We meaning Chris. And only Chris. And it's a good thing, too, because Bear has slept in there for a grand total of 3 minutes in the one plus month that it's been up. He is spoiled rotten with getting held for naps, which remains A-OK with me. I am keenly aware of how fast time passes, and am determined to be there for every minute I can be. Soon he will be like Leah, sleeping to 10:30 whenever possible and complaining that I am embarrassing him all the time.

 Around Halloween, we were "Boo-ed". The girls thought it was the best thing ever. They got a lot of great treats, and couldn't wait to share the idea. They were so interested in who got us, and even after watching our doorbell recording, they couldn't figure it out (a smart 4 year old did her best to cover it during the act!). We picked 2 neighborhood friends to get. We had a lot of fun going under the cover of darkness (wearing masks, naturally) and ringing doorbells. We got one of Leah's friends who is Japanese, and here for only 2 years. I think we scared them by ringing the bell so many times at night. They never answered! I later found out the dad was away on business and they didn't want to answer the door. I had to text the mom the next day and explain it all (and tell her to get the stuff off her porch). They thought it was great once they understood. 

 Tilly and Ollie LOVE that Bear gets real food now. They crowd all around him when it is food o'clock. Ollie is always licking Bear's hands, and he seems alright with that!

 Teddy's first beater! He was so excited to eat it. What a big boy!

Halloween 2018

This year we did a family costume. It was so much fun to all be involved. We all agreed to do family costumes for as long as everyone allows. Not sure how many more years we have (if any!).

Last year around this time, Chris and I were watching Game of Thrones. We were really into it and because I was in my first trimester, and ESPECIALLY scared and looking for distractions, and also super lazy and tired, there were many weekends when Chris and I would send the kids away and watch a few episodes. An idea was born! 

While Leah and Juliet never watched it, we told them the story, and they were on board for being an "evil queen" and "mother of dragons". We picked Leah's costume BEFORE we saw that her and Jon Snow closed the last season. 

 Leah made a fierce Daenerys Targaryen!

 Teddy made a great dragon. He was kinda the loser of costumes this year. I never found a dragon costume that I loved. I decided it was lame to spend money on a costume I didn't like. So he got this headdress and a clip on tail and we called it a day. 

 Juliet was an amazing Cercei Lannister. She took her drinking seriously.  

We went trick or treating several times. We did the Summit and the girls felt ready for the Haunted House again this year. They went in with Chris while I waited with Teddy. Juliet came out crying, but Leah said it was scary but okay. One of my all time favorite Halloween memories (but so not funny at the time) was when I took the girls alone 2 years ago and they were so scared and some clueless 16 year old tried to scare Juliet as she was clinging to my leg crying. I was so mad that I came home and wrote them a strongly worded email about how mad and annoyed I was. 

  

 Chris was able to do some interesting things with his facial hair. This was an angry crab. He went to soccer with it, and one of our friends just talked with him normally. I was texting with her later and she was like, "I didn't want to say anything. I didn't know what he had going on and I didn't want to look at it too closely." haha! 

 It was a great year weather wise and the first year I went for the majority of the time. We left the candy out on our doorstep and walked around as a family. Juliet was done after about an hour, so we sat at home and answered the door. Bear had a lot of fun looking around at everyone and Juliet did her usual "eat as much candy as possible while there are no rules or restrictions on allowable amounts". 

 Teddy had a great first Halloween!

 I had to include some pictures of the Daddy/Daughter Dance. Although it was SUPER hot, we all had a lot of fun!

Teddy is SEVEN months old!

Bearsy Boy!

Your name is ever evolving--you've been Teddy, T. Bear, Bear, Prince, and now I mostly call you Bearsey Boy. Like Juliet, we joke that you probably have no idea what your name is. I remember taking a walk with Leah and Juliet when Juliet was around your age. We kept asking Leah what her name was. She kept answering with all her nicknames--Boo? J. Boo? Jelly Bean? Like Juliet, I'm sure you will learn your name one day.

You are SEVEN months old. How the hell is this possible?

It’s been quite the month. I went back to work. I had talked myself into it being (mostly) okay. While I’m no longer half-time, I am able to come home for close to an hour each day at lunch and only have about a 3 minute commute each way. I try to look at my day as (first part) and (last part). Both parts are only about 3-3.5 hours each. It all sounds good on paper, or in my head, but it’s been hard. I miss you. I know it’s not rational, but I get super jealous on the time you spend with Daddy. It is nice being with your sisters, though, and seeing more of their day.

Anyway, enough about me! This month you continue to be completely awesome. At our last pediatrician appointment, you were about 22 pounds. Your height and weight were both somewhere in the 90-95 percentile. Your head was even bigger! You didn't like the shots and cried, but weren't bothered by them at all that night or the next day (unlike last time).

You have a great head of hair that everyone always compliments you on. Somehow, it often looks styled. It’s getting longer, too. Long enough to sometimes flop over your ears which always makes me smile. You still have about 5 super long hairs on the top of your head that are about 3 inches longer than all the other hairs.

You spend your days napping, playing with toys, trying to put everything into your mouth, eating, and nursing. You rarely fuss. Your favorite foods this month are: meatballs, meatloaf, and butternut squash. Daddy fed you puffs one day when I was late getting home and you apparently were totally in love with them.

You are happy everywhere you go. You just smile and look around. You think the world is a pretty great place which amuses me to no end. Leah was always so skeptical of everything and Juliet spent her infancy only happy if she was in my arms. Your mama and dada try to avoid random people as much as possible.

While you definitely love your Mama and Dada, you will happily play on your own and don’t mind your car seat on most days. You still think your sisters are pretty funny and love when they give you lots of love!

The girls really like helping to make your board and taking your pictures each month. This month Juliet jumped in with her camera and Leah was helping her pose Teddy and hold the board. It was pretty cute!

 You still wear a size 3 diaper. You still have only 2 bottom teeth, but I can see that the top two teeth aren't far away from dropping down. You now have mastered a very sloppy crawl. Sometimes it looks like you are swimming. Sometimes you end up going backwards on accident. Sometimes your arms get stuck. But, nine times out of ten you can army crawl your way over to where you want to be. Your favorite things to crawl to are toy balls and cars and the stick we use to help lock the door-wall. 

 You wanted to play with this frame. And then you got super tired and needed a nap ASAP so this was all we got. 

 We love you so, so much Teddy Bear. There are still multiple times each week where I look at you and are completely overwhelmed with gratitude and love from my head to my toes. You are everything we could have ever wanted in a baby boy. Happy SEVEN month birthday, Bearsey Boy! 

Pumpkins

 I love pumpkin time. It's one of those things that I always think I am going to loathe and that I'm just doing for the kids. Then as soon as I start carving, I remember how fun it is. This year I was determined to put Bear in a pumpkin. Chris was against it. I worked super hard for that boy, though, and I knew I would treasure the pictures forever. I carved out the legs, and warmed up the inside with a blow dryer before I put him in. He was agreeable for the first 5 minutes. Then he was annoyed and done. 5 minutes was more than enough time. 

 All done. No fun anymore. He was a good sport!

I re-purposed his pumpkin into a jack-o-lantern. It turned out well!