More fun phrases that slipped my mind the first time around:
Uppies - This is the shortened version of "Up, please" and a phrase used frequently by our princess who likes to be carried around.
Be Right Back! - self explanatory, and used when exiting a room
Stop the Music! - This fun phrase was first used during a visit from her grandparents. Everyone was singing in the car, and R decided they needed to be quiet. This got such a great response that she decided to keep using the phrase.
Perfect! - Apparently I use this word a lot, because now R uses it for anything that pleases her.
How 'bout... - Another one she picked up from me. At snack time each night, I will always ask, "How 'bout strawberries?" or "How 'bout crackers?" Apparently she picked up on my phrasing. (It could be worse!)
One more minute - R's favorite phrase to use when it's time to clean up. On the bright side, as long as we allow her one more minute (give or take, sometimes a half hour), she will actually clean up afterward. Sorta. With a lot of nudging.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Baby Talk
R never stops talking these days. Unless, of course, an adult wants to hear her speak. Then she goes mute. Sometimes we get tired of hearing her chatter, and sometimes we can't help but be amused. Here are a few of our favorite phrases that come out of her mouth.
- Hair-poo - She refers to shampoo as hair-poo. This has been going on for months. We can't help but find it hilarious.
- What you said? - Her current favorite phrase. She asks it over and over so that she can recite conversations. It is also her favorite way of butting in on conversations. But she somehow never says it when we ask her to do something like pick up toys.
- Supercalifragi...um...errr...hmmm...docious! - She can't quite get the Mary Poppins song out, but that doesn't stop her from trying.
- Bobby Shaftoe - She discovered this nursery rhyme in a book from the 1950s, and she has become obsessed. Since neither one of us knew it, we looked it up and discovered it's sung to the tune of "Yankee Doodle." She know sings it. Frequently. And she has my singing voice!
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Crazy!
Right now our lives are completely and utterly crazy. I am working full-time, Jeff is busy with soccer two nights and two weekend days each week, and we are trying to move.
Yesterday we closed on our house, and all went well. We took all three kids with us to the closing, and they were actually incredibly good. I filled R's backpack with all sorts of things to do, and she just spread out on the floor and mostly entertained herself while we were there. The boys wanted to be held the whole time, but otherwise they were good. We later figured out that at almost five months, they were confused by the whole experience and just needed to cuddle for comfort.
The madness had somewhat pushed the boys over the edge. For the past two nights they have had a SCREAMING fest in the evening. On Sunday I was alone with the kids while Jeff was at soccer when the screaming began. I spent about 15 minutes trying to console them. At that point, R was crying too, and I couldn't take it anymore. I scooped up everyone, left dinner on the table where it was, and we went for a walk. Everyone was quiet by the time we got to the end of our little driveway.
Last night Jeff was home with me when the screaming began. Without taking a walk, the only way to console the boys was for us each to hold one and to go to separate ends of the little house. Then, once we got them calmed down, they both ate. After that, I tucked them in, and they both slept for 12 hours, only getting up once in between to eat.
After last night's screaming fest, Jeff and I finally realized why we were required to watch a video on shaken baby syndrome before the boys could be discharged from the hospital. We all know not to shake a baby. It has devastating, if not fatal, effects. If you have one screaming baby, you do what you can to console him or her, and when all else fails, you walk away. But two screaming babies create an entirely different level of frustration.
But, given how well the boys responded once we got them out of earshot of the other screaming baby, fed them, and cuddled, we know this will be okay. And in a couple of weeks, we will be done with the moving madness.
On a happier note, the boys development has been out of control for the past week. After writing about his brother's accomplishments, M apparently was jealous, because two weekends ago, he was the first to reach for a toy and put it in his mouth. So then L had to bat at toys to try and grab them (although M had actually been doing that for awhile now). Following that, M decided to work on scooting by pushing up on his arms and kicking as hard as he could. He's not really going anywhere yet, but I have a feeling he'll be moving by the time he's six months old. L is moving all over the place these days, but he kinda looks like a boat missing an oar. He rolls all over the place, but for the most point, he just pivots around his big ol' noggin. On Sunday, out of nowhere, M rolled from his front to his back. He is dangerously close to rolling back the other way. L, on the other hand, loves to just lay on his back eating toys. L has also taken to sleeping with a blankie, and our little Linus likes to grab it with both hands and suck on it.
Yesterday we closed on our house, and all went well. We took all three kids with us to the closing, and they were actually incredibly good. I filled R's backpack with all sorts of things to do, and she just spread out on the floor and mostly entertained herself while we were there. The boys wanted to be held the whole time, but otherwise they were good. We later figured out that at almost five months, they were confused by the whole experience and just needed to cuddle for comfort.
The madness had somewhat pushed the boys over the edge. For the past two nights they have had a SCREAMING fest in the evening. On Sunday I was alone with the kids while Jeff was at soccer when the screaming began. I spent about 15 minutes trying to console them. At that point, R was crying too, and I couldn't take it anymore. I scooped up everyone, left dinner on the table where it was, and we went for a walk. Everyone was quiet by the time we got to the end of our little driveway.
Last night Jeff was home with me when the screaming began. Without taking a walk, the only way to console the boys was for us each to hold one and to go to separate ends of the little house. Then, once we got them calmed down, they both ate. After that, I tucked them in, and they both slept for 12 hours, only getting up once in between to eat.
After last night's screaming fest, Jeff and I finally realized why we were required to watch a video on shaken baby syndrome before the boys could be discharged from the hospital. We all know not to shake a baby. It has devastating, if not fatal, effects. If you have one screaming baby, you do what you can to console him or her, and when all else fails, you walk away. But two screaming babies create an entirely different level of frustration.
But, given how well the boys responded once we got them out of earshot of the other screaming baby, fed them, and cuddled, we know this will be okay. And in a couple of weeks, we will be done with the moving madness.
On a happier note, the boys development has been out of control for the past week. After writing about his brother's accomplishments, M apparently was jealous, because two weekends ago, he was the first to reach for a toy and put it in his mouth. So then L had to bat at toys to try and grab them (although M had actually been doing that for awhile now). Following that, M decided to work on scooting by pushing up on his arms and kicking as hard as he could. He's not really going anywhere yet, but I have a feeling he'll be moving by the time he's six months old. L is moving all over the place these days, but he kinda looks like a boat missing an oar. He rolls all over the place, but for the most point, he just pivots around his big ol' noggin. On Sunday, out of nowhere, M rolled from his front to his back. He is dangerously close to rolling back the other way. L, on the other hand, loves to just lay on his back eating toys. L has also taken to sleeping with a blankie, and our little Linus likes to grab it with both hands and suck on it.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Spelling
Yesterday R and I were playing with sidewalk chalk. She wanted me to write words. First I wrote her name, she read the letters, then she excitedly shouted her name. I next write M-O-M, and she proudly read, "Mom!" Finally, I wrote D-A-D. She looked at it, thought about it for a second and said, "JPo!"
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Baby Update
A couple of nights ago, I was sitting at the table eating dinner with L in my lap. R walked by singing. L decided to sing too. Very loudly. He was screeching and squawking right along, and he was so proud of himself!
Last night L finally mastered rolling over. He was lots of fun. We would put him on his belly, and he would instantly roll on to his back. So we'd flip him back on his belly, and he would roll over again. We did this many times. What a great toy!
M is not rolling over. He has too much belly! But he loves to do push-ups. In fact, he is much more comfortable playing on the floor than L. could spend hours playing on his belly, as long as we don't "abandon" him. The minute we leave the room to go take care of the dishes or laundry or another one of our many children, he wails. He does not like to be alone. He was also the first to bear weight on his legs, and he loves to stand with support. He spent much of the evening standing and trying to move his right leg as though he were walking. We keep reminding him that he really needs to learn to sit up first!
When it comes to talking, M was the first to coo, but he "talks" less than L. And where L likes to have "conversations", there is none of that with M. He only talks when he decides to, and he prefers to deliver monologues. If you interrupt him with encouraging questions, he shuts up. But then, when he's ready, he will babble on again.
And one more random thing, in looking at pictures of the boys, I realized that in all pictures in which they are near each other, L is reaching out and touching M. Interesting.
Last night L finally mastered rolling over. He was lots of fun. We would put him on his belly, and he would instantly roll on to his back. So we'd flip him back on his belly, and he would roll over again. We did this many times. What a great toy!
M is not rolling over. He has too much belly! But he loves to do push-ups. In fact, he is much more comfortable playing on the floor than L. could spend hours playing on his belly, as long as we don't "abandon" him. The minute we leave the room to go take care of the dishes or laundry or another one of our many children, he wails. He does not like to be alone. He was also the first to bear weight on his legs, and he loves to stand with support. He spent much of the evening standing and trying to move his right leg as though he were walking. We keep reminding him that he really needs to learn to sit up first!
When it comes to talking, M was the first to coo, but he "talks" less than L. And where L likes to have "conversations", there is none of that with M. He only talks when he decides to, and he prefers to deliver monologues. If you interrupt him with encouraging questions, he shuts up. But then, when he's ready, he will babble on again.
And one more random thing, in looking at pictures of the boys, I realized that in all pictures in which they are near each other, L is reaching out and touching M. Interesting.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Noisy Nights
When we initially decided to let the boys sleep in our room for the first few months of their lives, it never occurred to me that this meant I would be sharing my sleeping quarters with three boys. And I certainly never thought about how noisy boys are, even when they are sound asleep. At times it seems like there is always someone burping, farting, or snoring. That's just the way it is.
But since the boys have been born, there have been a lot of other noises too. As sleeping newborns, M sounded like a contented little lamb, and L sounded an awful lot like a donkey. My husband used to joke that as they hauled me away to the nuthouse, I would still be going, "Baa, baa, baa. Hee-haw, hee-haw, hee-haw," since that is all I heard all night. (And after enough time spent listening to that, I was pretty much a confirmed nut.)
As the boys got a little older, these noises stopped, but there were other noises. M went through a grunting phase. A very loud grunting phase, and for some reason, his grunts increased in volume throughout the night to the point that I spent two weeks sleeping on the couch in the living room starting around 4 a.m. each morning. The deep sleep that went with the grunting also correlated with a corresponding drop in M's heart rate. A low resting heart rate would be a good thing in anyone else, but the poor little guy was on his apnea monitor, so just as he started sleeping well, his hideously piercing monitor would go off, startling the whole house awake. We were not sad to see the monitor go.
The last couple of weeks, things have actually been quiet. The boys are sleeping much longer stretches, and M has even slept all the way through the night twice. (He went 11 hours without eating! We never thought that would happen with Chunky Monkey!) I had gotten so used to the noise, that there have been a couple of times where I woke up in a mild panic and went to check on the boys just to make sure they were still breathing.
Last night we got a whole new set of noises. At 4:00 a.m., L decided to chatter. This was no quiet cooing or happy playing. The kid went on and on. Apparently he had a lot to say! As cute as it was, after about 20 minutes, I decided it was time for him to eat since he had awoken both parents and dogs, and M was starting to stir. Thankfully, he wanted to nurse back to sleep. Hurray for breastfeeding!
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