9 month checkup

The chunky boy had his 9 month checkup this morning, and he's right where he's supposed to be, developmentally, verbally, and physically! He's staying near the top of the growth charts -- weight is 24 lbs 1 oz, and height is 29 1/2 inches. (In contrast, Oliver was 24 lbs 13 oz and 30 inches, and Buttercup was 22 lbs 6 oz and 30 inches.)

He passed the tests of making appropriate babbling sounds (mamamama, dadadada, babababa), responding to his name and a few words (no, more, eat, bye bye), and looking in the general direction of something I point to. He also once again blew the pediatrician away with his gross motor skills of crawling, pulling up, standing, cruising, and walking by holding onto my hands! :-)

This time he didn't get any vaccinations, but he did get a flu booster, which he tolerated very well. :-)

Nine months

Theodore is 9 months old today!! He's so big. I can't believe how quickly the time has passed!

He's sleeping much better at night and he's still a happy, happy baby boy! He's almost always smiling and he's so laid back. Which I guess you have to be, if you're the third baby. :-)

He loves his big brother and sister so much, and he wants to do everything they do. These days when we go to the park, he's not content to swing in the baby swing the entire time -- he wants to get down and explore the playscapes like his big people! That means that I get to go explore with him, making sure that he doesn't fall through a large opening or try to eat mulch, rocks and leaves. :-)

He's still trying his hardest to walk, and one time he took a step holding onto only one of my hands! He's getting much steadier with standing, too, and every once in a while he'll test gravity by letting go of whatever he's holding onto. :-)

Right now he has his first ear infection, but he's recovering and seems to be feeling much better already, thank goodness.

Happy 9 months, little fat boy!

Drawing, running, and catching bugs

We haven't been up to too much lately. Not in the way of our regular adventures, anyway. Both of the big kids had short-lived viruses last week, so we mostly hung out and played at home, which was really fun! My favorite kind of day is one where we play at home, get lots of outside time running around in the yard, and don't go anywhere, other than walking to a park or playground. It's not so easy to stay at home so often now that there are 3 little people in our house, so I really enjoy it when it happens. :-) (I also really enjoy it when all 3 kids take a tandem nap, which happened 3 days in a row last week! I'm not holding my breath that it will ever happen again. :-))

These days, the kids love to run on the sidewalk outside our house with their babies in their strollers. Here's Buttercup in action, wearing her favorite running outfit--Oliver's old Thomas shirt and her black running shorts. :-)


Here's another of their favorite things--catching (or trapping) bugs and "sciencing" (observing) them.

They've also been spending a lot of time writing and drawing! Oliver has drawn quite a few pictures of his new favorite stuffed animal, Froggy. And Buttercup draws mostly squiggles, lines, people and circles, and every once in a while she'll draw a letter or two (she's particularly fond of writing Bs!).

It's not always easy

Oliver has a preschool classmate who is also in his Sunday school class. Seems like they would be really good friends, right? Well, no. The problem is that Oliver's best friend in preschool doesn't really like the other little boy. From what I understand, they've never really played together, so it's more likely a lack of communication that is getting in the way of a friendship. Whatever the reason, because Oliver's best friend doesn't like the other little boy, that means that Oliver doesn't play with the other little boy at preschool, or at Sunday school, either.

I think that's wrong. It's dumb when it happens in middle school, but it's even dumber when it happens in preschool.

I knew this was going on and I felt that it wasn't right and that I needed to talk to Oliver about it. It's a small issue now, but can lead to bigger and bigger issues later on. But he's only five years old, and I wasn't sure what to say or how to say it in a way that wouldn't be confusing or giving him too much information . . . I wanted him to be receptive and not start to tune me out as he's so apt to do sometimes. ;-)

I was praying about it a couple of weeks ago, and God tapped me on the shoulder and gave me the words to say. And when I talked to Oliver, I was able to get my point across simply and help him see his classmate's need for a friend. Oliver was pumped up about being a good friend to the other boy, and decided that he was going to play with him during Sunday school, and also try to invite him to be on his team at preschool.

Sunday school went well, and Oliver and the other boy played together. Then, after preschool a couple of days later, Oliver told me that he tried to get the other boy on his team, but his best friend didn't want to include him. Oliver said he tried to change his best friend's mind, but his friend still didn't like the other boy and Oliver kind of gave up on trying.

I was torn between requesting again that Oliver make the right choice, versus forgetting about it. It seems like such a big issue for a five year old! They should only be worrying about which color marker to use, or which socks to wear -- simple things. Then God spoke to me once again and reminded me that His ways are not always easy, but they are the best ways. That it's more important for Oliver to show His love by being a friend to a child who needs a friend than for Oliver to turn his back and let that child feel left out. God gave me the words to say again, and I talked to Oliver, and once again he was receptive and more than willing to try to be a friend to that boy.

The following week (last week), Oliver's best friend was not at preschool, so Oliver had the chance to invite the other boy on his team again. Their teacher said that the other boy was so happy to be included, and he and Oliver played together very well, along with another of Oliver's good friends. That was great news!

Then yesterday morning, the kids and I got to school a little bit early. When we walked in the building, the other boy was already there, and he jumped up to tell Oliver hi. The boys started talking and then ran off to the classroom together. Oliver's best friend showed up a couple of minutes later, and he told Oliver hi, but ignored the other boy. Right then, Oliver told his best friend that they needed to invite the other boy on their team, and that if they didn't let him on the team, Oliver was going to start his own team with the other boy on it. His best friend looked kind of puzzled, like he was going to say no, but after a minute he shrugged and said it would be okay. (Yay!)

When I picked Oliver up from school, I asked him how things went during recess and play time. He said that everyone played together just fine with no problems at all that day, and also on the next school day.

I am so proud of my big boy. Such hard lessons to learn at such a young age! It might not be such a big deal to Oliver, but I'm proud of him for taking the time to be considerate and make playtime easier for his classmate. I don't like that he has to deal with this so early, but I'm thankful for a loving God who is there to help me and my hubby find the right way to talk to our son and help him grow into the considerate, kind man that I pray he will become!

Whoo hoo!

Last night was the first night that Theodore slept all.night.long! Yay!!

For about a month, he'd been consistently waking up between 3:00 and 4:00 to eat. Since he's quickly approaching his 9 month birthday, I decided last week to start weaning him off of his night feeding (because a 24 pound 9 month old does NOT need to eat at night!).

So I started "sleep training" (read: making him cry) on Thursday, and it actually went really well! Each night he woke up, cried off and on for about 20-30 minutes, then fell back asleep until after 6:00am. Last night was night #4, and he didn't even make a peep! He just slept straight through. He's actually just starting to wake up now, about 11 1/2 hours after his bedtime. :-)

Way to go, Theodore!!

(I wish my poor hubby could have gotten some extra sleep last night, too, but he was up all night fixing a work problem, and he hasn't been able to go to bed yet. :-()

Oliver's tree house

Oliver has become obsessed with tree houses lately. He wants to look for them in other people's yards, he wants to build one in our yard, wants to live in one when he's an adult, etc. So I suggested that he design one and build it in our backyard.

He came up with this blueprint (he needed some assistance spelling "tree house" because of those tricky Es):


Later on, he went outside to build it by himself while I was busy inside with the baby. I heard lots of banging and yelling and went to go check on him. He had all of the big sticks and pipes leaning against the tree, and he was sitting -- very squished -- under them. It was kind of like a house, except that it kept falling down on him every time he moved (hence the yelling).

Then he filled his wheelbarrow with dirt and stuck one end of the sticks and pipes in the dirt for support, then rested the other end against the tree. It worked better, because he had more room, but the sticks and pipes kept falling down.

So then, he came up with the idea to lay the pipes and sticks across the wheelbarrow and Home Depot bucket, so they wouldn't fall down on top of him. Pretty smart, I think! :-)




While Oliver was working on his tree house, Buttercup was playing with Moon Sand and playing on the playscape while singing made-up songs to herself. Here she is with her almost constant snot-mustache, ha ha. I love her! :-)

Delirious baby

This is what happens when my 8 month old decides to not take an afternoon nap -- pre-meltdown delirium!