a bit about my babies 9.30.15

beatrice

-bea's new favorite word is "actually" (axchlee!) she says it before making any kind of real statement. "axchlee i'm gonna eat my breakfast now mom. axchlee, i can't pick up my toys mom."

-bea had the most epic of epic tantrums last night. we told her if she didn't calm down we couldn't read books and she didn't so we didn't and she FLIPPPPED OUT! it was one of those tantrums where we as parents were trying SO hard not to laugh at her. it was so ridiculous. we were cracking up. but then she finally calmed down and i went in to tuck her in (for the umpteenth time) i played this song on my phone that she likes to listen to before she falls asleep sometimes (the rain song!) and i laid down next to her, and she whispered "roll over mom so i can scratch your back." she amazes me every day with how sweet she is. each day she proves to me over and over again that she is aware of others and wanting to improve the world she lives in.

-i was having a hard time the other day and went to my room to have a minute while brad watched the kids for a bit. i heard bea tell dad, "i'm gonna check on mom, ok?" and she wandered into my room and climbed onto my bed with me and said "how are ya feeling mom? are you feelin ok? want me to sing you a song?" it was the sweetest thing ever. she proceeded to sing "i am a child of god" to me and it gave me all the feels. i just love her to bits.

-so this happened in august but it's a good one. maybe i wrote about it already...checking now...ok i didn't. i have to remember this one it was just too good. so we were at a bridal shower that was outside, and bea had to go to the bathroom. i almost always have a little potty in the back of my van for situations like this but i forgot it so i took her behind a tree with a baby wipe and took off her pants and had her squat, which was easy enough until she started to poop, which complicated things. but she finished up and i wiped her up and she turned around and saw her poop and jumped away and screamed "OH NO!!! IT'S A SNAKE!!!!! IT WILL GROW AND GROW!!!!!!" and almost started crying haha i had to tell her it wasn't a snake it was her poop and she was just like "oh. cool." i ended up scooping it up with a diaper and that was that. it was such a funny moment. maybe you had to be there...i'm reading it now and it's not as funny. BUT YOU GUYS. it was. i couldn't figure out why she was saying it will grow and grow but then i realized (and this is a deep cut, you guys) the scary creature in "one fish two fish" (look what we found in the park in the dark, we will take him home, we will call him clark etc.) it says "he will grow and grow" which i'm assuming she just associated with scary things. so when she got scared of a snake, she exclaimed that it would grow and grow. her brain, y'all. it makes weird connections.

-she has started to want to pick out her clothes more. her favorites are her "pony pants" (these amazing unicorn galaxy leggings i found at target. the best.)

-she loves calling oliver a cutie patootie, which comes out more like "cuey patooey!"

-she is starting to sound out words! she's not even 3!!! she's known her letters for a long time but watching so much superwhy while i feed ollie has helped her a lot with building words. we sing "B says buh, b says buh, every letter makes a sound, b says buh" etc and today in the car she started singing, out of the blue, with no prompting, "P stands for popcorn! p stands for popcorn! every letter has a word, p stands for popcorn!" and yesterday we were listening to music from the lego movie and she goes "L is for Lego!" this happens more and more now. she is just so smart. i hate to be a braggy parent but, this girl. she is going places. and yet no preschools will take her because she didn't turn three before september. pfft. now if only she could get her colors straight.....

-she loves nature. we went up millcreek canyon today and she kept spinning slowly around with her arms out saying "mom what a beautiful garden! what a beautiful place! i love this place! this is a beautiful day!" she loves to comment when it's a beautiful day. it's too sweet.

-when i ask her what she wants to be for halloween, she always says "a happy ghost." sad that my choosing her costume days are over, but delighted that she doesn't want to be a princess for halloween.

spaghetti faces!

oliver

-he is starting to use his little voice now and ohhhh my gosh. the sounds he makes. so so cute. i think his voice has a slight rasp to it which i can't wait to see develop a bit more. he is going to have the cutest toddler voice. and he either opens his mouth super wide to make them or puckers his lips super small. always the cutest faces.

-he really isn't too much of what you would call a "content baby" like bea was. you pretty much need to be doing something for him all of his waking hours (and some of his sleeping ones!) or he will be fussy. he isn't a huge screamer but he will fuss or whine or cry a bit if you aren't feeding or entertaining him. it's cool when we have nothing to do but frustrating when i'm supposed to be cooking or driving or playing with bea or going to the BATHROOM (just..just..just can i go in peace?! i know. the answer is no, not til they're in college. and maybe not even then..!) when you ARE entertaining him though, holy cow he does the cutest little coos and faces. no laughs yet but we are so close!

-he continues to be a giant baby. he is in 6-9 months clothes already and he just turned 3 months last week. he is enormous. and his legs are starting to get little rolls! ohhh how i love his chub.

-he has really bad torticollis, which means he will normally only look to one direction, like if i hold him facing him head on, he will only look to his right, and when he lays down he only looks right, no matter what we try. it's made his head a great deal misshapen and we are going to have to fix it with physical therapy and if that doesn't correct it, it's helmet town for us. which is ironic because while i was pretty careful about not making "well when I have kids, they will never {insert ridiculous standard here}" except about helmets. i always said they were a plot by greedy pediatricians. but then i saw ollie's head and was like ok that kid needs a helmet. and my ped actually addressed that studies have shown that most be-helmeted kids don't show any real difference from kids that don't wear them, but kids with torticollis were left out of the studies. so hooray.

-he has the loudest, nastiest farts. all boy, this one. i have to constantly check to see if he's pooped but it's always gas. well like 99% of the time.

-i thought he hated baths all of a sudden but turns out he just hated the newborn insert in his new tub. which, duh because he's too big for it. i keep forgetting how big he is. he was technically a newborn when we got it but he was way too big for it. so now it's out and he's back to loving the tub. i love giving him baths at night.

-he faces outward in the baby carrier now which was another duh moment for me. of course he needs to face out, he's 25 in tall and 15 lbs. way too big for newborn style! which is ok becauuuseeee:

-his head/neck control is getting stronger! he is getting really good at supporting his weight. he stands up in my lap now too, strong legged little dude. i can't wait until he sits up on his own! maybe if he can play by himself or with bea he will stop being so fussy....

-he isn't a great day sleeper, his naps only last 30 min-an hour. a bit frustrating, esp since his waking hours are so demanding, but he sleeps 10-12 hours at night, so i'll take it. it's hard to deal with compromises like that with him because i literally never had to compromise with bea. she was always content and slept with perfect naps during the day and 12 hrs at night. i realize this is unusual but it's what i was used to and it's frustrating to have to make compromises! i'll get used to it though. hopefully. good thing he is so cute ;)

-he is a never-ending fountain of vomit. i thought bea used to spit up a lot but this kid takes the CAKE (and then throws it up.) we change his clothes several times a day and have to bathe him every night so he doesn't smell like barf all the time. we have some really attractive makeshift blanket drop-cloths all over our couch that make our living room look oh so lovely. we've tried every formula and bottle but nothing changes except the consistency of the throwup. (which by the way, bea told me i smell like throwup the other day. wonderful.) we talked to our dr about it but he's gaining weight and he's not in any pain soooo not much we can do about it except wait it out. and i kind of love bath time with him at night so. no real complaints here.

-if he ever gets unmanageably fussy and starts to get worked up and scream-y, white noise calms him down IMMEDIATELY. it's like flipping a switch. magic. i love it. i don't love the idea of dependency of white noise but like. it's pretty amazing and i may be changing my tune here pretty soon. if i keep it not too loud, it can't hurt right?

-if you can commit to holding him all the time, he really is the sweetest, happiest little chunk when he has your full attention. he smiles and coos and wiggles for me whenever i pick him up and it is just the cutest. i love seeing more of his fun personality!

always that big goofy smile when he talks (:

trying to crib train him. he takes all of his naps in there now and really doesn't want to be swaddled much anymore. he always naps with his arms above his head. i love it. ignore that big old scratch on his forehead. trimming his nails is scary!!!

in bea's old bouncer at gramma's house. i don't know why i love this picture so much. i love his face. and that hat is supposed to help him look the right way. it's so goofy.

smiling in his sleep (:

#thuglife