Nap Time Shenanigans

Lately, the nugget isn't so much a fan of nap time. He used to walk upstairs and hop in bed with no complaints (amazing, iknowright?).  But these days, he'd rather his play time remain uninterrupted by pesky sleep.

Regardless of the boy's desires, into bed he goes. I don't necessarily care if he sleeps, but by George, he WILL rest. (His rest + baby's sleep = nap for mama. Excellent equation.)

Sometimes he's so worn out that he will immediately fall asleep. Other times, he'll play around for a bit with his cars and books, and then eventually drift off. But then there are the days when he is determined NOT to sleep. These are the days when situations like this arise:

This has happened a handful of times now. The boy thinks it will be fun to see if he can climb into the hamper, and then somehow or another ends up stuck. 

On this particular day, he found his way into the hamper, and then it tipped over, wedging him in between the wall and his bed. And yes, I stopped to take a picture before I helped him out. (He wasn't hurt, just stuck.)

I have a feeling this is the beginning of many nap time shenanigans to come...

Gabe: 2.5

Well the ole' blog has once again turned into my online baby book. Snicker if you will, but how many well-intentioned moms out there have baby books that are complete through about baby's first month, and sparse or even blank after that?  At least this online space keeps me on the ball when it comes to my babies growing up.

With all of the attention my littlest is getting these days, it's easy to forget about my big boy. But today my little man is two-and-a-half!  I thought this momentous day deserved a post. 

These days, Gabe is a little boy. No baby left here!  He is a walking, talking, jumping, playing, racing, zooming, climbing boy. 

It's only been in the past few weeks that my quiet boy has begun speaking in relatively full sentences. For example, if he sees a toy that he hasn't played with in awhile, he'll say "Look Mommy, I found!" as he shows me what he's found. Or he'll call me to come upstairs to the play room: "Mama!  Come up here!"  And when I respond that I'll be up in a minute, he says "K!" and carries on with his play.  And in ultimate big-kid language, today when I asked him to pick up his toys, he said "five mo minutes!" 

Play consists of his old stand-by: CARS. He still loves them. He's started to recognize specific models, and can point out cars that family members have. Uncle Jeffrey's mustang is certainly his favorite. Sometimes he just likes to cruise Google Images for pictures of Mustangs or police cars. When he comes across one that is particularly cool, he'll say slowly and in awe "Yook at dat one."  Even when he's asleep, you can find car paraphernalia nearby.

Precious. 

He also still loves books. His favorite of the moment is "Goodnight Goodnight Construction Site."  (Or as Gabe says, "Goonight Goonight 'struction site".)  We read this one every night. He has a bevy of others that he loves, as well, and will pretty much sit and listen to anything anyone will read to him. 

He has exactly four favorite movies: Cars (of course), Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, and Tangled. He loves to watch them on the TV or on his iPad. And yes, he has completely mastered the iPad, and even added the word "app" to his vocabulary. 

He's a boy.  Of course he watches TV with his hands in his pants.

Gabe loves his Daddy. He wants to be where J is and do what J does. Case in point:

Only when the chips are really down, like a bad dream or an injury, does he call for me. I'm okay with this. Gabe's personality is 100% J- they're two peas in a pod, really. Melts my heart. 

My boy is finally starting to accept his role as big brother. He now not only acknowledges his sister's presence, but he'll sometimes give her a toy to play with, or put her pacifier in her mouth!  The other day we went to wake her from a nap, and he so sweetly said- wait for it- "Hi pretty Margot. How you doing?"

Oh. Em. Gee. 

Gabe is a sweet and quiet boy, and for the most part, so well behaved. He has his two year old moments (being told no isn't his favorite thing), but in the grand scheme of two year olds, he's a dream come true. 

Who am I kidding?  In the grand scheme of all children of all ages the world over, he's my dream come true. 

Nugget, you make this mama a happy one. Happy half-birthday, my sweet boy!

Margot: 7 Months

Somehow I am offended by Margot reaching 7 months of age.  Now that she's an entire months past the half-birthday mark, I feel like she's just this little kid, instead of a tiny baby.

Today, I watched her crawl with such purpose, until she reached the stuffed animal that she wanted.  She then reached out and took it from J.  Just like that, took it.  She saw something, set her mind to getting it, and then got it.  Babies don't do that, do they??

She then, of course, promptly put it in her mouth.

My girl is crawling and drooling, drooling and crawling this month.

Crawling.

Drooling.

Sometimes, if drooling isn't enough, she spits, just for good measure.

She's also growing teeth.  There they are, all two of them.

She refuses to really sit up.  She could do it if she wanted to- she just doesn't want to.  Too busy to sit still, even to eat.

Half-sitting, ready to crawl away.  This is the best she'll give us.

I'm seeing more and more every day that this girl is like her mama, only with beautiful blue eyes- social, likes to laugh, and is always accessorized.

Happy 7 months, my little lady.

Margot: 6 Months

Dear Margot,

Today you are six months old.  You have been with us for a half a year already!  I've learned that with you babies, the first year flies by at a truly alarming rate, and I wish time would slow down.  You are so precious to me, and this time is so fleeting.  I already dread the day when I can no longer carry you around the house on my hip, or rock you to sleep, or gaze lovingly down at you while you sleep in my arms.

But enough of the sappy stuff...

You are a marvel, little girl.  You just light up a room with your happiness.  You, my sweet one, are truly happy.

You like to be on the floor.  You are trying to crawl, but aren't quite there, yet.

You aren't quite sitting up by yourself yet, but we can prop you up so you can see the world.

You know, you aren't in a hurry to do much.  You don't yet have teeth (but those two on the bottom are this close), you're not sitting up or crawling, and you don't think too highly of solid foods.  As a matter of fact, you rarely finish a bottle.  You are just content to be in the moment.  You'll just grab whatever is nearby and put it in your mouth.

You're tongue is always sticking out.

And your brother is your favorite person in the wide world.  (He's not too sure of you yet, but I think you're growing on him.)

Everyone you meet just can't help but love you!  Your blue eyes are mesmerizing, your golden strawberry hair always a topic of conversation, and your smile contagious.  You're a beauty.  And you've added immense joy to our family.

Happy half-birthday, my sweet baby girl.

Love,
Mama

This is Happening

SO...for quite some time now, J and I have contemplated moving.  I wrote a post about it here.  Then we decided to work on the current home and stay put for a few years.  I wrote a post about it here.  Then we finished up some major projects and were happy with our space.  I wrote a post about it here.

Broken record much?

Well folks, it seems we have come full circle, because this can currently be seen in my front yard.

That "Coming Soon" sign will be replaced with one that says "For Sale" by the end of the week.

Forgive me if blogging suddenly took a back seat.

The never-ending debate about finding the perfect time to move seems to have come to its conclusion.  The housing market is making its way back.  Home prices and interest rates are on the rise, so we think maybe we should just get while the gettin' is good.  You know, Carpe Diem and all.

I convinced J to just come drive through a new neighborhood with me, and perhaps get out of the car to tour the model home.  And before I knew it, we were writing a check to hold a lot, a lot on which we plan to build the beautiful new home of our dreams.

Then we got home, and reality set in.  We crunched numbers.  Then we crunched some more.  Then we called in the Realtor.  And finally, we kept crunching.  We came to the conclusion that we would give this thing a whirl.

Then madness really set in.  Painting, power washing, and carpet cleaning are all happening in the next few days.  We spent every ounce of the weekend getting the house put together and show-ready.  I will continue to spend every moment of the next few days continuing on this mission (then, God help me, will spend every moment keeping it show-ready until it sells- please pray that happens quickly!).

Fingers crossed that all goes well, and that we will be settling into our forever home in the near future!

Return from Vacation

Oh, vacation.  How I love thee.  We spent last week at the beach with my family, and we had a wonderful time.  We swam, we played games, we ate fried food and drank lots of beer, we relaxed.  If it weren't for my kids being very ready for a return to normalcy, I would have been extremely hard pressed to leave.  But alas, the real world was waiting for us to come back to it.

So in order to feel better about the end of vacation, I thought I'd make a little list about the good that comes with vacation's end:

The shower.  I can't be the only one who is disappointed in nearly all showers that are not my own?  They either lack the acceptable water pressure, or the shower head disperses water too much or too little.  Perhaps there is not enough room to reach my arms out to the side as I shampoo my hair?  Or maybe there isn't a proper ledge on which to set the soap or prop my legs up to shave?

Soft-yet-strong multiple ply toilet paper.  Chuckle if you will, but you are a LIAR if you don't take issue with hotel toilet paper.  This is what was stocked in our vacation home.  Isn't it nice to return home to your brand of choice?

Familiarity with the remote.  Whenever I try to veg out in front of the boob tube when away from home, I always struggle to figure out how to work all of the electronics.  How do I turn the system on?  Switch from TV to DVD player?  I like to set the sleep timer at night- help!  And don't even get me started on trying to figure out which channels are which stations.  PBS Kids is of vital importance in the mornings.  WHERE IS IT?

The grocery store.  I am an admitted grocery store snob.  I just love my Harris Teeter.  I know where to find everything.  I am confident that the meats and produce are of high quality.  They carry the brands that I like to buy.  I feel like my fellow shoppers are my people.  I don't have these warm fuzzy feelings about my fellow beach-going Piggly Wiggly shoppers.

    

And the clear cut winner is sleeping in your own bed.  I love my bed.  I did not love my vacation bed.  It was pure bliss to crawl under my fluffy down comforter and lay upon my expensive, plush-yet-firm mattress, and sleep through the night (kindasortathankyouverymuchMargot) with proper lumbar support.  

In all seriousness, I didn't really want vacation to end.  But, you know, silver lining and everything.  Already looking forward to next year!

Margot: 5 Months

Please forgive my tardiness- we were enjoying a fun-filled family vacation on the little lady's actual 5-month birthday.  But have no fear- I remembered to pack my camera and the required sticker and legwarmers for the monthly photo shoot.

Margot at 5 months suddenly seems so big!  It's like in an instant, she is no longer a tiny, needy thing, but rather a growing, moving, girl.  Although she is not yet sitting up, crawling, or walking, she is certainly moving herself from one place to another to reach whatever has caught her interest.  And yes...things are definitely catching her interest.

This month, Margot has been introduced to the exersaucer.  That's right, she stands up and plays with toys.  Her little feet reach the bottom now, and she can turn herself around to look from one toy to the next.

She has begun playing on the floor.  Rolling over from front-to-back, and back-to-front.  Rolling this way and that, inching her way across the blanket that has become useless, as she won't stay on it for long.

She enjoys playing with stuffed animals, links, rattles, and most especially, anything that belongs to big brother.  She is fond of Gabe's cars.  For this moment, he's okay with it.  We'll see how long that lasts...

Her most favorite thing to play with is her feet.  She can pull her little legs right up to her face so she can suck on her toes.  Yep, she likes to suck on her toes.  Babies.

My pretty little lady had her first ponytail this month, sticking straight up on top of her head like Pebbles.  Her hair has lightened up a bit.  We still can't quite tell what color it is, although I'm starting to lean toward strawberry blonde.  Her eyes are the most beautiful blue.  I'm waiting and watching to see if they will change in the coming months.  She's a beauty, this one.

She's also a bit of a beast.  She is the worst bottle-drinker ever, fussing and fidgeting the entire time.  And she has decided that sleeping through the night is a thing of the past.  She doesn't need to eat overnight, but that doesn't stop her from waking up and whining or crying several times a night.  If I hop up and pop the pacifier into her mouth, she goes immediately back to sleep.  But this is not a habit I wish to encourage!  We are going through some sleep changes, including ditching the swaddle (out of necessity, not choice!) and trying to get back into the crib after a brief hiatus in the Rock n' Play.  Being away from home for the past week certainly exacerbated our problems.  Hopefully I'll have a sleeping (through the night) beauty again in the next few weeks.

The next time I post about my little ladybug, she'll be a half-year old.  Gasp.

Please slow down, time!