10 Month Update

Sweet Pea is 10 months old and I have to say that I am not ready to think about her turning 1 in just 2 short months. But I think she is more than ready as she is not content to stay and baby and wants to push towards toddlerhood to join her running and talking brothers.

The most notable change is that Sweet Pea is spending more and more of her time vertical. She pulls up on everything and will grab anything that moves to use as a walker, including her big brothers. Her little cruising steps are becoming more and more stable and sometimes she will let go to play with a toy and stand on her own. That standing lasts until she realizes she is doing it and then she will plop down with a laugh.

Sweet Pea loves to dance. She is a moving, grooving little lady. It starts as her little hands and wrists get down but if she happens to be standing she will get her legs and booty into it. She maneuvers all over the house and has also mastered the regular hands and knees crawl. When she is really trying to gain speed she will revert back to her original army crawl slither. She babbles regularly but not usually with meaning and when she wants something she can't have she emits a high pitch scream that lets us know a girl has invaded the ranks of boys.

She is taking 2 naps a day each for about an hour to an hour and a half and sleeps from 7:30-7:00 at night. She won't sleep without her binky and blankets and looks so sweet snuggled up. She is still in some 12-18 month clothes but her chunky awesome thighs fit best into 18-24 months stuff. She is an eating machine just like her brothers. She nurses 4 times a day and eats 3 meals. She typically eats anything that you give her and we have started to just puree whatever our dinner is for her so she will develop a taste for our regularly served food.

Things I don't want to forget:

1. The vampire* smile she gives me when she wants to be picked up and I comply with her wishes.

2. The feel of arms wrapped around my neck, she my best and earliest hugger.

3. Her sneaky ways. If she sees the bathroom door open she will charge for it but her laughter at what she thinks she is going to get away with always gives her away.

4. Her sweet smell. I know it sounds crazy but my baby girl smells like honey and chocolate. It is unique to just her and I love breathing in her sweet baby girl scent.

*vampire smile = her incisors have started to come in before her front teeth so it looks like she has fangs until her front teeth catch up

What Trouble Looks Like...

Trouble and other updates

Sweet Pea's new name is "Trouble". We must find her in some troublesome situation at least five times a day. It is a good thing she is so darn cute or she might actually get in trouble for all of the mischief she causes. She is up on all fours crawling now and loves to hear the slap of her hands hitting the kitchen floor. We love to hear the slap of her hands too because it helps us know where she is so we know what kind of trouble she is getting in like making a mad dash for the bathroom or pushing a bench over so she can climb up on the couch.

Peanut is on a corn-free diet based on a suggestion from one of his doctors and we have seen a huge change in his speech. We were amazed at how many food products in our fridge and pantry had corn in it, especially high fructose corn syrup that we are avoiding like the plague. It was in the ketchup, maple syrup, bread crumbs, crackers, cereals and yogurt. So we found new brands to buy of those products and have already seen a much different pattern in his speech. He has added 10 words in just the one week to his vocab including done, now and gone which are awesome because they are very generic words that he can use at school in a few weeks. We are also getting some better pronunciation on his words and today he said "go" with the proper hard g 3 times in a row! He is a little moody and tired with the diet change but his body is detoxing and we are just keeping him snacking on healthy corn-free food to help regulate his blood sugar without the crack known as high fructose corn syrup.

Little Man is focused on being fancy and handsome. He dresses himself only in shirts that have collars and shorts that have buttons and patterns. He is so grown up. We were making cookies together the other day and I handed him a cookie ball that was too big and I said "oops, sorry buddy, that one isn't a good one" and his instant reply was "That's ok Mama, it is all a part of making cookies. It is the process, not the result". I was so proud of him and it is rewarding to know that the lessons I am trying to teach him are making an impact. I don't want him to worry at the age of 4 of getting things right or perfect when he is working on a project. I want him to have fun and learn from the process. I love all of his "Little Man-isms" and the truth is, that I learn a lot from him too.

Sister Likes to Swing

Sweetest Words Ever

Peanut made my heart melt. I am talking huge puddle of mushy heart in the middle of the hallway and he knows it. I put him to bed the other night and as I walked out of the room I heard "Night night, love you mama". This was his first unsolicited love you and it is extra sweet because I didn't know how long it would take to be able to hear those words from him.

This past Friday night I was handling all of the bedtimes for the kids because Papa Bear was taking the opportunity to mow the lawn. After putting everyone down I heard whimpering coming from Peanut's room. That is really rare. I often have to tell him to stop playing, singing, getting out of bed...but rarely is he upset. So I went to see what the problem was and I found him standing on the other side of the window shade watching Papa Bear mow the lawn. He was crying and saying "Papa stuck". I explained that Papa was just mowing the lawn and he would be back. Then I asked him why he was sad and he said, "love Papa".

We love our Peanut and we love hearing him tell us that he loves us too.

Handsome Pants and Fancy Shirts

Papa Bear and I both attended University of Virginia which was just voted one of the Preppiest Schools of 2011. I loved this about UVA but when I fell in love, preppy dress never entered the equation. Papa Bear was more of a skater at heart even though he would go through the preppy motions for me. Papa Bear prefers comfort over fashion at all times. But it seems that Little Man's style (though absolutely no coercion on my part) has decided that he prefers a preppy style...or handsome pants and fancy shirts. He will only wear plaid shorts with pockets and shirts with collars. I really wish he had made this clear before I went school clothes shopping for him a few weeks ago.

Lost in Translation and other tid bits

Little Man has been attending Vacation Bible School this week or "Jesus School" as he calls it. Every day I ask him about his day and I get his interesting 4 year old version of the day. Today he told me this story:

" There was a lady and a guy and they had a pretend fight and the lady put the pie in the guy's face. Smooch! It was to teach us that people in England have bad behavior and God had to tell them to not have fighting and throwing pies. Mama, if I ever go to England I will remember to have really good behavior." I am fairly certain this was not meant to be the lesson of the day, but I still found it hilarious and will have to inform my friends who live in England that they have to quit the pie throwing bad behavior.

A litte bit after lunch, was sitting on a chair and told me that he was getting so big because his fur was coming in nicely. What? I asked him to repeat it and this time I looked at him and saw that he was looking at his legs and the little hairs that he saw were obviously his fur. I am so glad that my cub's fur is coming in so nicely.

Peanut has been trouble of late. Today he dumped out all of the cherrios on the table, dumped sugar on the floor, made himself a glass of sugar water and drank it and for the third day in a row I found toys in my oven. All of this aside, he said his first 4 word sentence today " Ja Ja Help Lo Lo do" He was asking his big brother to help him make a car light up and roll forward. It was awesome. He also said "smurf" which in and of itself is not worth mentioning but it is a great example of his ever expanding vocabulary that he was able to clearly name a McDonald's toy that he got in his happy meal just yesterday. Trouble he might be, but he is still my hero.

And speaking of trouble, that is Sweet Pea's new name in this house. We are constantly having to fish something out of her mouth, grab her before she falls off of something, rescue her from standing up on something less than stable etc. Yesterday she was playing with a toy and Peanut came and tried to play too and she let out a shriek and pushed his hands away. Already? Seriously, we do not have any more room for drama in this house.