Around Here

We've had some busyness around here and lots to document.   Here are a few blips.

1.) We've had friends in town this week.  Running around, hanging out, playing, reading, building, talking, and eventually constructing multiple individual forts which cracked me up.

2.) Norah Jean joined the world (and our street) this week, and I was so happy to be there to get pictures for her mom and dad!  :)  7 pounds and 1 ounce of sweetness.  She's 4 weeks early, but just in time and just right.

 

3.) I got a haircut.  I wanted bangs.  This is the sort of thing that I wanted someone that I trusted to do, so my dear friend (who is also a hair stylist) cut it for me.

We were giggling a lot while she was doing it.  She kept trying to cut my eye lashes and I couldn't keep my head the right way.

Her:

Are you sure you want bangs?  How about I start a little longer?

Did you already straighten your hair?  Well, I'm just going to go ahead and straighten it again.

Look up.

Look up with your head!

What's happening right here? pulling at a cowlick on my forehead.

Me:

No, shorter.

Yes, I still want them shorter.

Don't cut my eyelashes!

But I love it.

 

4.) We've been sorting through toys, always trying to figure out a better way to store them, organize them, keep them out from underfoot, etc.  We moved the ottoman the other day and Jayce took the opportunity to set up rescue stations in each of the squares of the carpet.

5.) It has been warm here as I said last week.  We spent last weekend working in the yard and cleaning up the plants, and then on Sunday Chris and Jayce washed and cleaned out the cars.

Which meant that, on Monday, spring allergy sickness hit us full force.  We went to the doctor three times last week and had to switch up medicine before everyone was healthy again.

On Monday I have to take Jayce in for an extensive allergy scratch test, which I'm really dreading.  But not as much as I'm dreading a spring and summer without doing something to help him be healthy.  I'm hoping we can get some answers, because at the moment he is on an absurd amount of medication to fight off his current cold and prevent a new one from coming on.

Oh please, let this round of scratch test be worth the stress and tears.  Last year, after pinning Jayce down for 3 trays worth of scratches, the doctor said, "Well, not a single thing showed up as an allergy!  Well, other than the control scratch just to make sure it's working.  But you'll need to bring him in again next year so we can do all 7 trays."

I had never had the urge to punch a doctor before that day.

 

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Trot Little Horsey

I love to hear my little girl laugh and on this day she was totally cracking up.

Grandma was being so funny that Jayce had to get in on the action as well.

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Silly Goose

Me: You're a silly goose.

Jayce: Mom! I'm not a goose, I'm Jayce Andrew Keith!

Me: Well, that's my favorite kind of goose!

Jayce: Yeah. And mom is my favorite kind of duck!

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9 months

Miss Hannah.  At nine months...

You play peek a boo in the crib with your bumper pad.  My favorite thing to do when you wake up is crouch down outside the door to your room, when I open the door, creep over to your crib, and call your name softly while you pull down the bumper and smile at me.  Then play peek a boo over and over for a few minutes until I must scoop you up to kiss your cheeks.

You drink easily from a sippy cup.  I have started giving you whole milk sometimes at the table instead of water.  I have finally given up the formula battle after 3+ months of trying to sneak it in everywhere that I could, and you always knowing that I'm doing this and refusing to eat whatever I've offered you.

You have started sleeping a bit better at night.  You wake only 1-2 times, but there have been a few times when you've gone from 7:30 until 5, and we'll call that all night.  For the past week, since the spring forward time change, I've dropped your am nap, when you could stand it, and kept you up until your post-lunchtime nap.  This means that you sleep for 3 straight hours on those days, and it is amazing for all involved.

It has been warm enough to dress you in sleeveless and legless ensembles, and I can't get enough of the chunkiness.  No one can.  Jayce was always so long and slender that I had to keep him in onesies that were a size or two up just for the length.  So you're the first baby whose round belly perfectly fills out the middle of a onesie.  Your chubby baby arms and legs just make me crazy!

I'm having my fun putting you in baby girl clothes.  I cannot resist putting you in the bloomers that don't match the top that you are wearing, though they do coordinate.  I just love seeing a little surprise of color pop out of your dresses and it draws attention to your sweet little booty.

Every time that I take you into the doctor the same thing happens.  I strip you down, holding you up proudly like, "Look how chubby she is!  I'm doing a good job feeding her/she's doing a good job eating!"  I carry you smiling to the scale and discover that you weigh at least 2 pounds less than I think you do.  Every time.  Then the doctor gives me your percentages, which are always smaller than normal.

I asked him various questions to assess his concern about your growth and he is not concerned.  You are proportionate, so he's happy with that.

He also said that he'd have a hard time being too concerned given those cheeks.  (He really said that.)

So I'm going to let it go.  You are just a smaller child and it is no indication of any failure on my or your part.

At your 9 month check up you weighed 17lb 11oz, and are  inches long.  40% for your weight, 38% for your length.

You are a bossy little thing.  You yell at us a lot.  When you want more cheerios, want to be picked up, can't reach a toy that is out of reach, or if we're talking to one another and not to you.

The other day, Jayce and I had this little exchange, which showed me that he does understand exactly how things work around here.

Jayce: Mom, little boys aren't the bosses, moms are the bosses.

Me: That's right buddy.

When I get bigger, will I be the boss too?

Yes, when you're big like dad, then you can be the boss.

But Hannah is the boss too, and she's a baby.

Yeah, Hannah is the boss too.

You now have a 3rd tooth, one on top.  I only noticed it when I had you upside down for a second the other day while we were playing.  You won't let us feel around in your mouth or pull your lips back to look at your gums, it was just a glimpse but it is there.

You aren't crawling yet, you prefer to spin yourself in a circle on your stomach, and then roll to whatever you need.  You push to your knees a few times a day and this morning were up on your knees doing the bounce, so I'm sure it's not far off.

We cannot get enough of you.  Happy 9 months sugar.

 

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Our Favorite Jayce-sims Ever

Immediately after publishing my Jayce-isms a few weeks ago, I realized that in my effort to be all-encompassing to the things that were happening right then, I was forgetting the most important things.  Our favorites.  The ones that we smile over the most on a daily basis.

And the winners are:

1.) Wait for thi-is!

(Often pronounced, "Wait for thee-yis," with an accent coming in from out of nowhere.  Chris might have an accent, he doesn't say, thee-yis.)

This little gem is Chris' favorite.  It comes at bedtime, and occasionally nap time, and is a stalling tactic that we always indulge because it's so sweet.

He uses it at the very end of the bedtime routine, when he has already been read to, sang to, rocked, tucked into bed, prayed with, covered, with bears, told to stay in bed with Goodnights, I love yous, hugs and kisses.  Just as we pass through the doorway into the hall, (or a few minutes after), he sits up in bed and declares, "Dad! Wait for thi-is!" with his arms wide.  Chris walks back over, receives his hug, the many stages of a kiss, and then Jayce lies back down to go to sleep.

It's his way of saying, "You almost left without this kiss!"  We like it.

2.) Han-noculars

Much like binoculars, except you use your hands.

These often come out in the car, on our way somewhere.  I'll say something like, "Let me know when you see the smokestacks."  And he'll say, "Okay mom, let me get my han-noculars."  Then he intently looks out the window through his handnoculars, which obviously help him see better.  We have to hide our smiles, because this isn't a game for him, it's serious.

3.) Un-rections

This one surfaced around Christmas time, when there were lots of instructions and directions with new games and toys, so Jayce simply combined the two words for the sake of efficiency.

Now, every time that we sit down to play Go Fish, even though he knows how to play, Jayce will hand me the card that came with the game and declare, "Mom, read me the un-rections," which I do, in cliffnotes form.

He also often will make up a 5 step (or more) set of un-rections for whatever he's doing.  Riding his bike, shooting the basketball, racing his cars around, etc.

Last week, I heard Chris say from the other room, "Jayce, it's in-structions," and I called, "Awww!" from the other room.

 

At least he's still saying canarium.

 

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Easter Dress Before Easter Day

Sometimes Chris will walk by the kids doing something, or me taking pictures of the kids doing something and declare accusingly, "This looks like a photo shoot."

I usually reply one of two ways.

1.) It's not!  She/he was totally doing that already!  That's why I grabbed my camera in the first place!

or

2.) Oh, leave me alone.

This was honestly a scenario #1.  Not at all staged, it just really looks that way.

I had been taking Hannah's monthly pictures that afternoon, so she was already stripped down to her diaper.  I decided to try on this AMAZINGLY sweet little dress that I had bought her for Easter since she was already undressed, and while I was buttoning it up, Jayce ran outside and then insisted that we join him immediately, so we did.  I set her down on the blanket that we had been playing on, in her dress, in the afternoon sunlight, and only hesitated for an instant before running back inside for my camera.

It was especially worth it once Jayce started making her smile and laugh.

Easter dresses should be worn more than one day a year anyway, right?  Right.  Especially with arms and legs and cheeks like this.

I'm glad we're all in agreement on this one. :)

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Outside

It has been in the 70s for 3 days now.

Last Monday there was 3 inches of snow on the ground, but now we are pretending it's summer. We've been outside to play, but there is nothing that kicks off the summer season in my mind like a walk around the block.

I think this is because for the past 3 years, Jayce and I take at least 1 walk around the block every week day during the summer. The first year I pulled him in the wagon, the next year he pushed his lawnmower, last year he rode his bike. This year we headed out with the bike, the stroller, and a sister.

Jayce forgot a few of the things that he knew when he did it almost every day. Like where he needs to pedal fast to not get stuck on the broken sidewalk or a gentle slope. Or how to turn around on the narrow sidewalk. Or the need to immediately apply the brake on our sloped driveway so that he doesn't go speeding into the street. But he remembered the important stuff.

And he paused to give me his best Blue Steel and show me his muscles.

It was Hannah's first front facing stroller ride and she loved it. I don't know if it was the warm wind, or the scenery, or Jayce riding out in front of us, but she did the happy baby bounce almost the whole time, kicking her feet excitedly.

After our walk we all headed out back.

Bubbles, running, stick eating, pacifier to prevent stick eating, stick shaking, giggling.

Feet without socks, toes in the grass, DQ that night for dessert, and pretending like it's June. Perfect.

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