Another First For Me

It is not super often these days that I have a new mommy experience. Unfortunately this is one that I wish I just could have skipped. Last night I was nursing Gwen in bed as usual. It was about 5am and I was pretty sleepy still. I had Gwen positioned on the outside edge of the bed and she had finished eating. I sat up to put her back into bed when she rolled right off the bed and went WHAM on the floor. She screamed and screamed and screamed! I don't remember the last time one of my babies have cried that hard. In all my nursing years I have never had one fall out of bed either. I think she was trying to roll onto her tummy and go to sleep. It was a rude awakening for both of us and something I hope never to do again!

This morning she woke up with a nice bruise in the middle of her forehead. It looks fine now and in the picture but she has been fussy all day and I wonder if she doesn't just hurt a bit. Sad. I love you my Gwen. Even if I do let you roll out of the bed!

Lucy's Has A Turn Too!

Lucy insisted on a turn too. So after Zane was done feeding Gwen I scraped the leftover cereal in a pile and let her have at it. She was much less coordinated but I suppose she did pretty well for a 2 year old.

Lucy had a tendency to gag Gwen but all in all she did great. Gwen certainly didn't care. She just liked the attention.

So proud of herself!

Zane Feeds Gwen

Since we let Andrew feed Gwen the other night I knew that I would have to give Zane a shot at it in the next few days. Last night I got all set up to feed Gwen and Zane asked if he could do it. Sure I say, knowing that his attention span will probably not last the whole feeding.



Zane actually did better than I thought he would. He was patient with Gwen and waited for her to open her mouth. I think it helped that she was hungry. She did not seem to care who was feeding her as long as something was making it into her mouth!



I worried a bit about him gagging her with the spoon or with too much food but he did a great job. Yet another chore that I will be able to pass off a bit. They love doing it and I can get something else accomplished. Sounds like a win-win in my book!

Because I Love My Andrew...

I helped him make a Paper Mache Duck.

Paper Mache is one of those projects that I hate. Painting I don't mind. Playdough I don't mind. Markers, crayons, glue, scissors, all those are all right with me too. Something about making a paper mache project for the "fun" of it just rubs my hair back the wrong way. However, Andrew brought home a book about paper mache projects and because I love him very, very much I told him we could make one this last weekend. Andrew picked the duck in the book. There were several that seemed easier but he was convinced that he wanted to make the duck.


Last night he decided he wanted to paint the duck. That part was fine. He did a good job with it. This isn't the finished paint job but you get the idea. It made his day to finish the project. I think he feels it is going to be an Easter centerpiece. He mentioned something about putting eggs in the box part. We shall see.

She's Pretty

Zane, Zane, Zane. He is going to be my little boy with big crushes. I see this already. Last week I was having tea with some friends at Jeanette's house. Her oldest daughter Jessie is home for a visit and had tea and a chat with us. We came home from Jeanette's house and Eric was talking to Zane about our visit. Zane mentioned that a visitor was there today. And Eric asked if it was Jessie. I told him yes and Zane got a look on his face. Eric asked "do you think Jessie is pretty?" Zane said "yeah" and then turned beet red, stuck his bottom lip out and said "you don't laugh at me!" Totally stinking cute! He also thinks his swimming lesson teacher Hannah is cute. It just cracks me up because Andrew NEVER did this type of thing. He states a fact. Anna is cute. And that is the end of the story. He is commenting on the appearance and it has nothing to do with feelings. Zane on the other hand I think has a crush which is adorable. Especially since Jessie is 23 and Hannah has got to be close to the same age. No teasing my Zane, momma promises. You just keep telling me about it because I LOVE hearing about it!

Just Call Her Chipmunk

I will never call her anything but resourceful. Since Lucy was tiny she has been able to get into packages of food or toys by imitating the most pesky of outdoor rodents. The Chipmunk. Lucy will chew her way into packages of food. Usually this is candy but occasionally I have found her chewing holes into the package of cheese. She does not seem bothered by the plastic that she must be consuming either. She just works her way to the good stuff and then goes from there. It amazes me how quick she is at it too. (Either that or Eric and I are woefully unobservant). We were making lunch the other day and the next thing I know she has chewed through the wrapper for a tootsie roll. And she was sitting right in front of me doing it! I would have a picture of her demolishing packages but honestly we are trying to discourage this type of behavior.

What a Nice Brother!

Andrew has been wanting to feed Gwen for awhile. Since spoon feeding babies is NOT something Eric or I enjoy this seemed like a perfect plan.

Gwen did not seem to care that Andrew was feeding her. In fact she seemed to think that he was super funny.

I have a feeling that Zane is going to want a turn in the next few days. I think his attention span will be shorter than Andrew's. It will be a joint effort for sure. Now if we can just keep Lucy from wanting to feed her too....

Gwen's 6 Month Checkup

Took Gwen for her 6 month check today. She is doing great as expected. I normally don't have any problems or things to really talk about at the kids well child checks however I have been noticing something with Gwen that I wanted to talk to the doctor about. I have noticed (and maybe so have you) that not all my photos of Gwen have equal flash dots in her eyes.

I took some pictures of her tonight to try and get proof. Here is a close up of the photo above.

If you look close you will notice that there is a white flash reflection in her right eye but not in her left. I have been noticing it for awhile and I know that this can be caused by Strabismus. The doctor looked today but her eyes looked equal. That didn't surprise me since most photos I take look fine (like the one below) it is only occasionally that I see the difference.

Because of this we are going to take Gwen to an ophthalmologist next month. She may need to wear a patch for awhile or we may not need to do anything. I think I may take some photos in though for proof. Can't hurt, may help.

Other than the eye thing the appointment went great. Here are the latest:

Height: 27.25" (91%)
Weight: 17# 12.5 oz (80%)

Doing great! Although she is definitely starting to drop off the weight scale. I will keep you all posted on the eye stuff.

Children's Museum

Since Andrew had no school for President's Day, we decided to brave the Children's Museum in Everett. It was packed with kids but we still had a good time. It was very nice that Eric went too. It helps with letting the kids do all that they want. Kinda hard for me to be 3 places at the same time. Divide and conquer works really well.

Andrew is pretty fond of the building area and the water room. He spends a lot of time in both these areas.

Right now the Children's Museum has a train exhibit. Which of course is a huge hit with Zane. They have some model trains up and running and a set all put together for kids to run trains on. It is pretty neat.

Lucy had a great time with the farm area and with the ball vacuum maze. I think she could spend an hour in this area just moving things around. It is lots of fun to watch.

Gwen spent most of the day in her car seat. The museum is designed for kids over 1 and really the exhibits are more for the 2 and up set. That is ok though. The big kids have enough fun for her too and she loves to watch the people walking around. All in all it was a great day!

Anna's Card to Andrew

Seriously, I just couldn't help myself.

Isn't that just the sweetest thing EVER!

PS: Most of the kids gave their cards to their teacher. Andrew said he and Anna were almost the only ones to give the card to a kid in class.

Andrew's Valentine's Day Party

So today was the big Valentine's Day Party. He took the cards. Especially the sweet special card he made for Anna. I waited all day to find out how it went. I was nervous she would think he was being an icky boy. He walks in the door and I mobbed him to find out. "How did Anna like your card?" I ask. "I didn't give it to her." he says. "Why not?" says I. Andrew replies "We made different ones in class, I gave that one to her."

HUH? All that work and the boy doesn't even give the girl the card? Although I have to say that they made special lovey dovey valentines in class that they could give to whoever they want. He gave his to Anna and she gave hers to Andrew. So sweet. And it included a picture and a poem.

I think I have been replaced as first girl in my Andrew's heart. At least she didn't think he was icky.

Valentine's Day Cards

Andrew's class is having their Valentine's Day party this Thursday. Since it is already Tuesday and we haven't even thought of doing cards yet I figured tonight would be a good night to get it done. Andrew picked out a cute set of card (Disney's "UP" theme) and happily wrote out the names and attached the stick on tattoos to them. However, he did not want to give one of those cards to his very dear and super special friend Anna. He wanted to make a special card for her and it was not in my heart to deny him the pleasure. Andrew and Anna have a sweet little relationship. It seems to be mutual too. Too cute! I wonder if she is going to make him something special.....

Working on a special card for Anna.

The final product. I asked him what the writing meant and he couldn't tell me. Silly, silly boy.

Gwendalyn Lily- 6 Months

We are not even going to discuss how quickly the past 6 months have gone. Ridiculous. Utterly and completely ridiculous.

Miss Gwen can now sit and play with toys. Without being propped up even. She spends most of her day sitting or on her tummy playing. She can pull her knees up under her and lift her whole belly off the ground. Today I even saw the beginning of some hips being lifted. It won't be long until she is crawling. Gwen has also been extremely giggly lately. Like she will sit and crack up laughing at nothing. It is very amusing to try and figure out what she is finding so funny. Gwen also has found her voice and likes to talk with us when we talk to her. Sometimes she makes a noise that sounds somewhat like a dragon. It would be scary if it wasn't coming out of such an adorable little package. I have her appointment next week so I will update with stats then.

Not Much to Report

I have been somewhat neglectful of this blog but it has not been purposeful. It is just that so little has been going on lately with the kids I have found it easy to avoid writing. A brief recap of each one of their recent successes.

Andrew: Lost tooth #6 this week. Another trip was made by the tooth fairy. Andrew is currently saving all his money for some more Legos. I think he was almost desperate to pull the tooth out because he knew a dollar was headed his way!

Zane: Began swimming lessons again this week. We had been slacking off with going partially due to the money and partially due to the fact that I kept forgetting to register him. He is in Preschool 2 and absolutely loves it. We are attending classes in the morning and it has been much nicer than our previous evening attendance. It just made for such a late dinner.

Lucy: Acquiring more new words each and every day! This week it is pockets and cupcake. Also she is starting to string together some phrases which is really nice. Although one of her first phrases has been "NO! Mama!!!" So that isn't so hot. I guess I should just be accepting of it for awhile.


Gwen: Trying to pull her knees up under her while she is on her tummy. She can push all the way up on her arms and she can pull her knees up under her. Fortunately she has not yet figured out how to do them both at the same time. She is getting more and more chatty too with her babble. I also noticed that she is losing her baby cry. She is starting to sound more like a toddler. Occasionally I have a hard time telling her and Lucy's voices apart. She is growing up too fast though. Soon she won't be much of a baby at all!

I guess more was going on then I thought there was. But it is just the normal day-in day-out stuff and I don't usually think to post it. Hopefully I will be better in the next week or so! I just had to give you one more of Gwen. Isn't the flower adorable!