lauren :: months seven & eight

I neglected to post about Lauren in May, so I am combining her seven and eight month posts together.

After a rough month six, month seven was great. Not a lot of changes developmentally, but she really started to show off what a sweet and playful personality she has.

Solid food + (mostly) clear skin + good sleep schedule = happy girl

She got to spend a lot of fun time with aunts and uncles in late April, early May. It worked out great, because she loves to be held.

Mealtime is one of her favorite times. Over time is has become clear that she prefers fruits to veggies, but before she had tasted fruit, sweet potatoes and peas garnered the most excitment. Puffs are also a fave.

Sometime this month she learned to ham it up for the camera. This picture was taken on Mother's Day. This was the best smile Will could muster after I promised him a cookie. Lauren rocked the head back, arm behind the head pose with no coaching.

Lauren got to spend a lot of time in her carseat at the park this month. It was really awesome because she would even take naps in her carseat and we could get out and do things in the morning before it go too hot and she still got a good nap. Now that she's eight months old she needs to be in her bed to get a good nap in. So high maintenence.

She got her first taste of the pool at the start of her eighth month. She likes the pool pretty much as long as she is being held. She thinks it is funny when Will blows bubbles or "pushes" me into the water.

Lauren discovered she can fit her entire fist in her mouth. Like father, like daughter. She also started saying Dadada fairly regularly. I wouldn't exactly call it a word, but she she babbles it a lot, especially when Daddy is around.

This month she prefers to sit up in the stroller, but she is still patient while her crazy bro collects sticks. She doesn't like staying in one spot for too long though.

Smiley, messy baby

 

Enjoying story time at the library. Lauren has started to enjoy books and reading more and more. She doesn't seem to have quite the affinity for books that Will did, but she's also going through a phase where she puts everything in her mouth, so maybe it's more that I don't give her many books to hold these days.

A major milestone of this past month is that not only does she sit up by herself, but she doesn't freefall onto her back when she wants to lay down. She now chooses to roll forward and to the side when she's tired of sitting up. She also has started to play the cymbols. I love the pleased look on her face whenever she makes noise.

Lauren is awesome. She's such a sweet and loving little girl. I having been complaining a lot about Will lately (too much), and it's like Lauren decided, Mom can only handle so much right now, so I am going to go easy on her. She has played quietly by herself for long periods of time while I've had to deal with her brother. She doesn't make me feel like a bad mom when I am too tired to do much besides hold her while she chews on a teething ring. She's my sweet girl and I can't believe we've only had her with us for eight months.

weekly picture post

This past week a lot of emotional energy was spent dealing with Will not sleeping well. There were several embarassing public tantrums and daily fights about the tiniest things. I didn't sleep well either and was kind of grouchy myself. By Friday things started to get better, but the first half of the week was pretty rough.

Lauren has been such a delight lately. Her top teeth are working their way down, so she's chewing on everything she can get her hands on. Even though she is teething, she has still been pretty cheerful, which was awesome because I couldn't have handled two grumps this week.

Will likes it when we help him spell words with his letter magnets. When I was getting the kids breakfast I noticed some strange words for toddlers to know on the fridge. I checked with Anthony and apparently they had spelled BASS DRUM the night before when I was at a Relief Society activity.

Thursday was a frustrating day for me. I had pretty much reached my wits end in dealing with Will, and as such, was feeling quite sorry for myself. Thursday also happended to be my sister Laura's birthday, so we went to Red Robin for dinner. I brought some food for Lauren, but she wasn't interested and as we were walking to the car I dropped the opened container on my foot. This just goes to show why you shouldn't have a pity party for yourself. Instead of having cute pictures with your sister on her birthday, you take a picture of your foot with purred garden vegetables splattered on it. It is easier gain that perspective after your stubborn child finally gets a good night of sleep though.

We got TJ a grill for Father's Day and he has been lighting it up. We've been eating a lot of grilled chicken and fresh veggies. Each meal we've gotten a little more creative with the marinade and spices we use and each meal gets better. And bonus, it is really hot and we haven't had to use the oven. I think we'll be putting it to good use this summer.

Wet baby, post bath. To say I am jealous of her eyelashes would be an understatement. Both of my kids have nice eyelashes, but Lauren's are nice and dark for someone with hair as light as her's appears to be.

On Sunday I had a pretty annoying headache, so TJ entertained and took care of the kids most of the afternoon. When I got up from a nap I found them building towers and spelling words with the letter blocks. Lauren was making us laugh because every time she extended her arm to reach for a block she would hold the other arm behind her to balance. My words are not doing the cuteness of it justice. I think it is just funny for Anthony and me to see how graceful she is in comparison to her brother.

We've been taking the kids for evening walks quite often lately. My mom got Will a tricycle that he loves to ride. You can't see in the picture, but it has a push handle. Will rarely peddles. So I'm not really sure why he is resting his head like that, considering he just got a free ride. The other night (back when he wasn't sleeping and I was feeling sorry for myself) we took the kids for a walk and he literally fell asleep on the trike. He fell into such a deep sleep that he couldn't be woken up. I had to carry him home and Tony had to push Lauren and the empty trike home. I guess it is true when they say drowsy driving is like drunk driving. Side note, Will has started to talk to Lauren a lot. He frequently asks her if she wants to play, and insists on giving her a hug and a kiss when she takes a nap or goes to bed. She loves the extra attention.

weekly photo post

Many of you have already seen this picture on facebook. Anthony decided to scoop me and post it. Not that I blame him, it is a cute picture of Will. On Tuesday night, after we went to the pool and video chatted with Aunt Jill for her birthday, TJ and the kids played outside while I finished making dinner. Tony and Will started to sing the Cougar Fight Song while running in circles around Lauren to keep her from crying. Also worth recording, the sidewalk chalk was Will's reward for a successful quiet time (successful = quiet). It was the only successful quiet time of the week.

Wednesday afternoon during Will's "quiet time" I tried to get some reading done. Of course, Lauren couldn't sleep due to Will's yelling, so I brought her in with me. It was fun spending some one-on-one time with my girl. We don't do it nearly enough. Lauren loves to lay on her back and stick her legs straight up in the air. She is so pleasant and sweet. I love my little girl.

I already wrote about the night Will and I went to the library. Here is another shot of Will organizing the railroad cars. And in case you were wondering, that is a mosquito bite on the center of his forehead. The mosquitos have been pretty bad this year. Despite the fact that I spray him every time we go out, he is still covered in bites.

Will continues to be Mr. Independent. When we went to the grocery store, he insisted on helping me push the cart. I usually make him sit in the cart, but we were at Aldi (which is smaller grocery store), and it wasn't very crowded, so I let him walk. Here he is pushing the cart straight towards a display. I turned the cart right before he made impact. He wasn't very gracious about my help. And yes, he did wear the same shirt two days in a row.

One of the activities at the Sprint Family Fun Days was a pig race. Members of the audience got to choose a pig to cheer on to victory. The pig we picked came in third, I believe. We didn't stick around to watch every heat.

Sunday was Father's Day, and here are my sweet kids with their dad. Will wanted Tony to wear his "B" hat so they could match. We celebrated a fun Father's Day together. After church we ate a delicious dinner with my parents and Laura, and Will rode his new tricyle. (He is now officially 2 1/2.) I'm so grateful for the wonderful dad's in my life. I am blessed to have positive relationships with each of them (husband, father, father-in-law, grandparents), and know that isn't the case for everyone. Hopefully Will will grow up to be a great dad someday too.  Isn't Lauren so cute in this picture? She has really started to ham it up for the camera. I love this picture of her because it really captures her playfulness.

My diploma came in the mail today, making things official. I am D-O-N-E with school. At times I daydream about going back to school to study other things, but at this point in my life, I am happy with where I am at.

a family outing where we learned our kids like air conditioning

 At least Will prefers air conditioning. Lauren still had a good time.

All it took for Will was one glance at the KC Wolf for the meltdowns to commence.

Saturday we took the kids downtown to the Sprint Family Fun Day with our friends, the Reynolds. This month's activities surrounded sports, so we thought the boys would enjoy it. Unfortunately it was a the hottest day in a week, fairly loud, and every mascot from the metro area was in the 2 block radius. Will hates encounters with gregarious silent people in over sized animal costumes.

So we made the most of it. TJ shot some hoops, we watched a pig race, collected some SWAG, and made the best decision of the day.

We went to Gordon Biersch and shared an order of garlic fries.

Immediate mood improvement. Considering how grouchy he was outside, Will was extremely content once we were seated. In fact, all of the boys were happier.

So thank you, air conditioning, crayons, garlic fries and ketchup for salvaging what could have been a family outing fail and turning it into a fun treat.

We will probably venture out to the family fun days again. It was actually pretty fun, there was a lot of cool stuff to do, but it probably is best for kids 4 and up.

a post about will

We've made a lot of changes with Will's sleep routine in the past two weeks. First, we took away his pacifier. I've been fearing it for awhile, but he hasn't asked for it once. Unfortunately, he started yelling and clumsily climbing out of his crib (and hurting himself in the process) so we had to permanently move him to the twin bed. Of course, the twin bed offers way too much freedom for a little boy who has yet to master his agency. Besides staying up as late as possible, he now wakes up much too early. This early rising led to TJ and me waking up to a clicking noise this morning. When Anthony asked what was going on, a little voice replied, "I take picture Mommy sleeping."  What?!?!

This is the photo case you were interested. It's my arm.

Will has really been exercising his independence, which, although normal for his age, is annoying. I like to call him the King of DIY because he insists on doing everything himself.

This is a picture of him running away when we told him it was time to come in the other night.

Here he is wiggling out of his car seat on the way home from the pool.

I know my frustrations are not unique. Any parent of a toddler could tell you similar tales, but it is starting to wear on me. I feel like I am constantly nagging, pursuading, reprimanding, etc...

But tonight, we had fun. We went to the library, just the two of us. We picked out a few movies, books, and played with the train set. Will loves trains. I had fun helping him put the track together and watching him enjoy himself as he pushed the train around. It was good for us to have a fun time together. Will even told me on the way home that it was "so, so fun."

Yes, he is stiff-arming me, but at least he's smiling.

At the end of almost every day he tells me that it was a "good day." I hope he really feels that way, and he doesn't focus on my nagging too much.

weekly picture post

I don't really know why I am doing these Tuesday through Monday.

On Tuesday I attended my first session at the Kansas City Temple with some friends from my ward. Because we went to the last session of the day, it was dark out when we were leaving. I had never seen the temple after sunset before (besides pictures) and couldn't believe how beautiful it is in person. It's so nice having a temple close by. We were previously assigned to the St. Louis Temple, which is about a 4 hour drive each way. Tuesday I was able to drive to and from the temple and go through a session in about the same amount of time it would take me to drive one way to St. Louis.

Will likes to "read" to us. And by read, I of course mean recite. He has a few books memorized, his favorite being the Boat book. He does a pretty good job, but it always makes me laugh how phonetic (is that the right word?) his readings are. Lauren likes to observe what Will does, and I'm pretty sure she's going to be surprising us any day with what she can do.

Tony's Aunt Kathryn and Uncle Robert were in the area because Uncle Robert was speaking at a medical conference. They checked out our house and allowed Will to drag them around to show off his toys and the bird's nest that fell out of a tree in our backyard, earning his devotion in about 5 minutes. After visiting at our house for a bit they were kind enough to take us out for BBQ and ice cream.

For my birthday, TJ got us tickets to see In the Heights! at Starlight. I was really excited because I had heard the play was good, but even a little more because I enjoy outings that don't involve a diaper bag. Lauren is getting to where she goes down for the night early enough that we can still get out and do something, and I look forward to taking advantage of that this summer. It was a prefect night. The weather was gorgeous, not to hot or cold, with a light breeze. The actress who played Nina had an amazing voice, listening to her sing made me wish I was more talented in that area. I would tell you to go out and see it, but I think the national tour ended in KC.

TJ turned to Betty Crocker to heal his aching heart after the Celtics lost Saturday evening. In an attempt to lose weight I have stopped buying as many treats as we are accustomed to having in the house, so Anthony had to resort to a snack-sized cookie mix.

I love our back porch. This is the view I had Sunday afternoon as I attempted to take a nap. Why would I take a nap on the back porch when I have a perfectly nice bed inside? Noise pollution. Will has given up napping and refuses to have a quiet time, so when we put him in his room he yells, cries, and kicks the wall. I can't hear it outside, it's lovely. I can pretend it isn't happening and that I have a sweet angel upstairs, resting peacefully in his room.

We went for a walk to the park today, and Will climbed onto my lap when he saw a dragonfly. Will enjoys correctly identify many insects, but he freaks out if one ever gets too close. In this case too close is within his line of sight. This is what happens when we are outside: constant looking to the sky for insects, quickly identifing what said insect is, and then either crouching, covering his face, or attempting to climb onto me. On another note, this picture doesn't quite do them justice, but Will and Lauren's heads are the same shape.

weekly picture post

I have gotten a bit lazy with my picture taking, so I apologize for the poor quality of these photos.

On Tuesday morning I watched a friend's daughters for a few hours. They are good girls, but three toddlers and a baby keep you on your toes. Will has really been enjoying having friends over lately, which is a nice change. He still has his moments. I'm learning that I have to hide his "drum and sticks" if kids are coming over because they are his most prized possession and he just doesn't have the emotional maturity to share them. Yet.

"Daddy, can we watch the Green Team?" --Will John

I don't know if there are many questions Will could ask that would make Anthony more pleased than this one. In this photo they are watching the Celtics on the laptop. Will now routinely asks to watch the Celtics and Red Sox in last ditch attempts to stay up a little bit later because he has discovered his Dad has a soft spot for watching sports with his boy.

Thursday was surprisingly cool, so we are wearing jackets in this picture. I took the kids to the park and Will agreed to go down the slide only if Lauren and I would go too. It seemed like a reasonable request, but I didn't realize that going down on my lap was also part of the bargain. I have yet to master the group selfie, and this isn't my most flattering angle, but I like the smile on Will's face, so it wins for photo of the day.

I finally got around to mopping our kitchen floor. It has been on my to-do list for over a week. Yuck. For those of you who have been to my home, the floors are swept daily, but a good mopping was in order. Lauren sat in her high chair and observed my work and didn't appear to be very impressed. Good thing our Sunday School lesson included a section about teaching your children the value of hard work. Someday, Lauren, the kitchen floor and it's grime can all be yours.

Saturday during nap time I walked over to the pool and hung out with my sister Laura for a few hours. It was so nice to just relax at the pool. The sun was shining, and it was pleasantly warm, not oppressively hot like Kansas summers can sometimes be. I had a good book to read, fun sista to chat with, and no kids to watch.

We got a piano a few weeks ago and we've really been enjoying having it in our home. Both of our kids like it when we play primary songs. Playing the piano is an almost fool-proof way of getting Lauren to stop crying. On a totally different note, doesn't Lauren just blend into TJ's shirt?

We took away Will's pacifier. They've shared some good times, but their relationship had run its course. At least, that's how TJ and I feel. Will has actually been okay about not having the actual pacifier, but he has had a much harder time falling asleep. This is him, on my bed, after crying for an hour and a half at nap time. I finally got him out of bed and told him he could lay on my bed with me if he was quiet and looked at a book. He was not quiet and he did not just look at his book. I got chumped. But it was hard to get too mad when he kept saying, "I like you so much, Mommy, I like you. Sweet dreams," over and over. I guess I just like to be liked. In all of this, we have discovered that Will does much better with a (long) going to bed ritual and that I need to grow a backbone ASAP.