The end of summer!

Well, I didn't blog much this summer.....didn't have as much spare time as I thought I would either! Caroline is growing right along - at her 4 mo. check up, she weighed 14 lbs, 4 oz, and was 25.5 inches long - just above average on both counts. I took her in a week ago, and she was up to 15 lbs, 5 oz, so she's gaining about a pound a month. She's just moving into 9 mo clothing (also known as 6-12 mo size). She's eating rice cereal once a day, in addition to about 6 other meals from the milk truck known as Mommy (she still licks her lips every time she sees me). We'll be moving up to 2 rice cereals a day in another week or so, and after that (once she's 6 mo.), we might start our branching out to the yellow foods (fruits, veggies). This is my least favorite phase of child food, but at least it's fairly brief. No teeth yet, but I expect to see them in the next month (if her drooling and her brothers' histories are any indication). She's starting to hold a sitting position for 10-15 seconds at a time, which she's very proud of. She's also FINALLY napping consistently during the day - about an hour for her morning nap and about 1.5-2 hours for the afternoon. And going to bed around 7-8pm.
Ben had his 4th birthday this summer, and he had ANOTHER water/train themed birthday. He requested the same train cake as last year (although I did try to make a better mountain - this time out of rice krispie treats, instead of last year's cupcakes). We rented a 3-in-1 inflatable (bouncer, wall climb, slide), and he loved having that on our driveway. He had LOTS of friends come, and they just played and played, and ate. He has wonderful friends, and teachers, and family! He also had his 4 year check up and got FOUR shots (he was really dreading it, but was actually very brave and got to go to Incredible Pizza afterwards with Daddy). He is 42 lbs, and 42 inches - which is very tall, but average weight. He eats all the time, but doesn't gain a lot - don't we all wish for that metabolism? He's really into pretend play right now - all last week he was pretending to have a Christmas Celebration; this week it's a Boat Show. It's always something, and he'll persuade ANYONE to play along with him, and actually gets quite bossy about it. He's enjoying books more and more, though he still claims to be uninterested in letters and reading, but at least he enjoys being read TO. That's the fun part for us anyway.
Jake is starting 2nd grade, and has lost 5 teeth. He's read the first two Harry Potter books this month alone, and is well into the 3rd. He went to Camp Cho-Yeh again this year and didn't want to leave. Lucy and our neighbor Taylor were there, and he met some new friends as well. He's exceptionally tall, and proportional weightwise, and is just a big kid. He and Ben fought quite a bit this summer, with Jake exercising his antagonizing muscle and Ben flexing his physical muscle back. But they survived!
We did quite a bit this summer - went to Lake LBJ for the annual retreat with Scott's family, drove to Plano for a visit with Mark and Hanna (who are expecting my first nephew in January!), went to Austin a few times, took a family trip to Colorado in August, participated in Vacation Bible School, and took swim lessons. And Caroline just grew and giggled and grew and giggled.
Here are some pictures from the summer:

Jake and his 2nd grade teacher, Mrs. Williams

Jake on the first day of school

Jake and Ben on Pikes Peak

Ben and I in Boulder at the Lazy Dog Grill

Scott and Jake at the Lazy Dog Grill

Caroline and I on her first flight

Family picture on the Georgetown Loop Train

Caroline napping on Papa

Jake is a Rock Band drumming fiend!

Picking up Jake at Cho Yeh

Jake and Lucy at Cho Yeh

Ben and his birthday tongue

All three grandmas at Ben's birthday

Singing Happy Birthday to Ben!

Sleeping Beauty

Playing au naturel

Faux hawk

Swimming at Granite Shoals

Jake, Ben, the 3 Davis boys, and Adam

Fun at Granite Shoals with glow in the dark sticks

Ben and Caroline's Well Checks

Today was Caroline's 4 mo. well check and Ben's 4 yr. well check. Caroline was as follows:

Weight: 14 1/2 lbs (75% percentile)
Height: 25 inches (75% percentile)
Head: 16 1/2 inches (85-90 percentile)

He addressed her eczema and is going to write a prescription for a steroid cream that we can apply when she has a lot of redness. He gave us the green light for introducing solids, although we'll postpone that another few weeks, I think. He was delighted that she already rolls from back to front, and that she can reach and grab items from our hands or from a table. She's doing well. Still sleeping a total of 12-13 hours at night with one long stretch, a meal, and then a shorter stretch. I can't complain. She got two shots and an oral vaccination and did okay.

Ben is doing well also - Dr. Mac still isn't considered about the lack of "r"s or "th"s in his speech, because he understood everything that Ben said. He thinks those will materialize this school year, as will the interest in his ABCs. Ben's stats are as follows:

Weight: 42 lbs (90-95 percentile)
Height: 42 inches (85-90 percentile)

Ben got FOUR shots and was very brave. He even got a trip to Incredible Pizza Co. with Daddy as a treat for his good nature. He cried but was sweet to the nurses and didn't try to run (unlike his brother!!). We're going to try a different allergy medicine, in an asthma spacer, to see if we get less instances of wheezing/croup/coughing. Hopefully it will help his coughing spells be fewer and far between.

That's it - a birthday post for Ben's 4th birthday is coming....

Some More June Pictures

There were more pictures that I wanted to add in the previous post (and now I know how to do more than 5 at a time!)

Here's Ben in an innertube.

Jake and Matt at Pappadeaux


Beba and Caroline at Pappadeaux

Caroline's after-bath fauxhawk.


Donna visiting Caroline and Ben

June Happenings

Well, June is coming to a close.....we've survived! The first couple weeks without school were a little rocky, but nothing that a new behavior chart and incentive program couldn't help with. So far so good....I've gotten to see some friends (Alicia, Anna Klara) for lunch, I got to go to Chocolate Soup before they closed its doors ( :( ), Scott and I went out on a date to the new Star Cinema Grill (Conroe's answer to Alamo Drafthouse), and we went on vacation to Austin and Kingsland. Caroline is growing right along (I think - she has her 4 mo checkup and shots next week). She recently discovered her feet and touches both sets of toes every chance she gets. She's got a horrible case of eczema that seems to be getting worse instead of better...I'll be talking to her pediatrician about that at the appointment. She's talking and blowing bubbles and drooling and shoving her whole fist in her mouth - definitely early teething. She's spitting up a lot more - which either means she's getting way too much to eat (I don't think that's it though) or she's having an upset tummy. She doesn't complain much if the second one is the case, but nevertheless, I have cut dairy out of my diet to see if that makes a difference. She is still a great night sleeper, and is doing better with naps during the day. She is officially losing her hair - the jury is still out if she'll lose all of it or just some. It looks pretty silly right now. But there's still some on top to put a bow in.

Ben is looking forward to his 4th birthday - Scott and I are finalizing his party plans (Scott's gone on a mission trip from July 11-19 and Ben's birthday is the 13th, so we're looking at a July 10th party). He's NOT looking forward to his 4 year well check, because they'll be the first shots he's had since his 2 year checkup. He keeps telling me that he'll skip his 4th birthday and go straight from 3 to 5 years old, since 5 is "the best numba eveh". He still doesn't say his "r"s and "th"s, which makes for a cute little voice, but we'll be addressing that in the fall. He's been very tentative in the water so far this year - we've already done one round of swim lessons - but he's starting to warm up to it a little more. I do remember when Jake was 3 1/2, he had some anxiety in the water and by the next summer he was swimming - maybe history will repeat itself.

Jake is leaving for Camp Cho-Yeh today. He is really looking forward to it - he'll get to spend every day with Lucy, his best friend, and go swimming 2-3 times a day. He likes camp food, and is looking forward to snack time each day where he can choose his own snack. They have lots of fun activities that he's looking forward to - martial arts, blobbing at the lake, horseback riding. He's been to the library twice a week so far this summer, loading up on chapter books and inhaling them like air.....he's hard to keep up with. He's also starting learning how to water ski - Scott lets him stand on his skis, and they've been working hard to get up on the skis and show Jake how it feels to be pulled by a boat.....he's pretty apprehensive about the whole business but does agree to try, and I'm proud of him for that. He's eating everything in sight, so I'm expecting another growth spurt. He already wears the same size shoe as his grandma, and he's getting closer and closer to 5 feet tall.

Everyone is growing and learning and testing boundaries - what childhood is all about, I suppose! Here are some pictures from the summer so far:

Jake with his cousins Austin and Connor Davis at the rapids

Daddy and Caroline at the pool

Mommy and Ben at the lodge

Caroline touching her toes

Caroline holding the silver cup at Austin Bryan Perry reunion

3 Months Old!

I can't believe that I haven't blogged in three weeks - oh, that's right - I DID go back to work for two of those weeks, so I'm sure I'm excused from any harassment. Caroline turned 3 mos. old on Friday, and so I thought I would note some things about her at age 3 mos for posterity and for the baby book update that will happen at some point:

• She weighs 12 lbs, 10 oz per a weight check at the pediatrician's office today. She's only gained one pound in the last month, but the doctor wasn't concerned, as she had been gaining steadily up until this month - it was bound to level off at some point.
• She is sleeping well at night - once she finally GOES to sleep. She has developed this nasty habit of refusing to fall asleep for good until 10-11pm or later. Scott is totally frustrated by this - I have a little more patience with it, because part of it I think might be due to me going back to work, and now that I'm home for the summer, I think it'll take a while to break the habit, but I'm sure it'll get better. Heck, she still sleeps from whenever she falls asleep until 6-7 in the morning, and then eats, and goes back to sleep until 9-10am. I'll take it!
• She has rolled a few times from tummy to back, but I haven't been regular about tummy time, so she hasn't had a lot of opportunity to keep practicing - I'll be better about that this month!
• She has developed a moderate case of eczema on her elbows, backs of her knees, wrists, ankles and cheeks. We are slathering her with some really greasy cream twice a day in hopes of keeping her skin pretty and smooth. I bet it itches, so hopefully the cream provides some relief.
• She can be a chatterbox - rattling off multi-syllabic gurgles and coos. She uses her eyebrows a lot when talking which makes her seem very expressive.
• She loves her brothers - she scans the room for them when she hears them. They're both very sweet to her. Jake has a ritual of rubbing her forehead with his pointer finger whenever he comes up to her. Ben just comes up talking to her in the sweetest baby voice saying "there's my baby girl - it's your brother (bwaddah)!".
• She is wearing 3-6 mo clothing not because of her weight, but she's very long, especially through the torso, just like her brothers were.
• She loves her bath (it's her special time with Daddy), and so far likes the swimming pool.
• She has a flat spot on the "favorite" side of her head, and so we're trying to keep her off that side of her head whenever we have control over the positioning.
• She still eats 7 times a day - Mommy's ready for that to start slacking off, but since she's not gaining a lot right now, I'm not going to rush her to drop a feeding...yet.
• She likes to be in the Baby Bjorn, up close against me and where she can get a good view of things. She also likes her Bumbo chair, where she's upright and sitting up like a big girl.
• She got baptized last Sunday (June 7th), and wore a beautiful ivory silk gown and shoes. She had an ivory satin bow in her hair and wore a little pearl and crystal bracelet. She cried briefly when Pastor John sprinkled the water on her head, but recovered quickly and looked inquisitively around the sanctuary for the rest. She slept through lunch afterward.

That's it for now!

Zoo Trip and Other Happenings

We have enjoying ourselves these last couple of weeks of my maternity leave. Caroline and I have had lots of quality time together at home. I've gotten some girlfriend time with my friends Alicia, and Karin, and Anna Klara. I've gotten to work out regularly and hopefully avoid the weight gain that has usually plagued me AFTER pregnancy. I've been able to work through my blood pressure and anxiety issues and get my medications weaned down back to normal. Ben and Jake have had Mommy at home to take them to school and pick them up. Laundry and dishes have been done promptly without stacking up. It's been my most favorite maternity leave to date - and it comes to an end this Friday. I'm okay though - I'm looking forward to my job, which I DO love, and I know it's only a short stint (10 school days to be exact). To celebrate the end of my maternity leave, we decided that everyone should play hooky on Monday and we all five headed down to the Houston Zoo. We had a great time - the boys were so surprised (we didn't tell them where we were going or even that they weren't going to school until the last minute), and Caroline was SO good in her baby carrier (the stroller is in "the shop" for repairs). I was able to feed her in the monkey exhibit, and she spent some of the time napping up against me while we walked around the zoo. A totally successful adventure. Here are some pictures from our trip:

Ben and Jake in a tank of piranhas

Riding the carousel

Daddy, Caroline, and the monkey on her head

Ben, Daddy, and giraffe

Caroline peeking out after a nap

Mother's Day Post

I've had a fun Mother's Day today! I woke up to the boys and Scott presenting me with breakfast in bed. We went to church and got carnations from the church. I got myself a Panera panini for lunch on my way home. We opened presents - all very sweet ones from the boys and Caroline. They handpainted little white ceramic bud vases for me (Caroline had a little help from Daddy). Each boy made me a pair of cross earrings with little blue stones in them. Ben made me a little jewelry box that he painted royal blue from school. Jake made me a little kitchen towel with his handprints on it from school. And Scott got me the stainless steel apple corer I've been wanting from Williams Sonoma and a gorgeous blue and lime hydrangea. Now I'm stealing away for a little "me" time, but I'll be home soon to feed a baby and spend some quality time with my other "babies".

Here's our pretty girl in a repeat performance of her Easter dress

She's giving Donna a pretty smile.

Pretty ruffled bottom (and thighs).

I had pictured the guys surrounding ME with attention today but forgot about Little Miss Priss.

My three babies and me loving on them.

2 Month Checkup

Caroline went to Dr. Mac today for her 2 month checkup. The boys were VERY eager to know that she would be getting 3 shots - that seemed like such a mean obsession of theirs - they love to hear about OTHER kids getting shots. She behaved herself very well at the dr. office. We were 10 minutes late - the waiting room was practically a no man's land, and we were in a room within 5 minutes of sitting down. It was great! The nurse took us back and she measured Caroline's head circumference and body length, and then we went out to weigh her - this was the 1st time that she DIDN'T poop or pee on the floor or scale while being weighed. She weighed 11 lbs, 12 oz, and she is 23.5 inches tall. I was so proud - she went from the 25% percentile for weight at 2 weeks to the 75% percentile for weight at 2 months. Her height went from 20 inches at 2 weeks (50% percentile) to the 90% percentile. And her little petite head went from the 50% percentile to the 75% percentile. So, she's slowly, at least so far, starting to follow more of her brothers' trends of being big. The only concern, and it's mild, is that she has a little bit of a flat spot on the side of her head, the side that she always sleeps on. He wasn't really worried - he didn't even notice it until I pointed it out to him - she has so much hair that it hides the little flat spot. He just wants us to be mindful of trying to get her to sleep with her head turned the opposite direction. He also reminded us that she'll start rolling soon and the boys will need to pick up their Legos off the floor soon. I already spoke with them about it. Anyway, it was a good visit overall. She handled her shots nicely - mostly slept the day away (the boys slept more after shots too - I guess the crying wore them out), but so far no fever or irritability. That would be great if she didn't have any adverse effects. Here's a new picture of Ben holding his sister - she was enjoying it, as you can see!

No News is Good News, Right?

Okay, I haven't been very dedicated about posting, but I'm anticipating a good post after Caroline's 2 month checkup on Thursday as well as Jake's 1st grade musical on Friday. Jake is about to lose one of his top front teeth any day now - if he'd just have the courage to wiggle it a little harder, or maybe chew gum or bite into an apple. Ben is just Ben right now - cute as can be - although he's gotten in big trouble the last two days for saying "Shut up" to Jake.....he's actually gotten spankings for that, because that is just unacceptable. I blame that we aren't as vigilant with what Ben watches on TV, because whatever Jake is watching, Ben will watch too. I think we're going to be spending quite a bit more time with the TV off in the weeks to come. Caroline is sleeping really well at night - going down earlier (as opposed to her old preferred bedtime of midnight). She's usually in her bed by 9pm or so, and then sleeps until 5-6am, eats, and goes back to bed until 8-9am. Can't ask for much more than that from a nearly 2 month old. She does NOT, however, sleep well during the day.....just little catnaps and can leave her grumpy on certain days. It's not for lack of opportunity...she just fights it. But overall, I can't complain - she's a sweet baby and loves to coo at us and is starting to regard her brothers with a little bit of interest. I'll post a few pics and a cute video of Ben (I apologize to Facebook users who have already seen these - Grandma and a few others don't use Facebook and don't get to see them).

Wearing the duck outfit Grandma bought her

Sleeping on Mommy and Daddy's bed

Showing us her beautiful sock (wearing the dress Taryn gave her)

Doing some tummy time with her boyfriend Burke

Here is a video of Ben reciting a little ditty he has been practicing for a program at school:

Some Smiling and Cooing

Today while she was nursing, Caroline suddenly stopped, and I looked down to figure out why. She was smiling at me and then started cooing. So, I got the camera and tried to get her to do it again, and she obliged. It was very cute. The best smiling and cooing is at the beginning of the video.

Easter Egg Hunt at Church on Saturday

We did the obligatory churchwide/community-wide Easter Egg Hunt and activities at church this morning. It was fun - the boys did crafts, participated in the singing and dancing, and all three kids saw the Easter Bunny and egg-hunted. As you can see by the pictures, Caroline wasn't too fond of the Easter egg hunt. It was fun that our neighbors, the Tranthams, ended up coming too, so the boys enjoyed playing with their guys on the playground after the egg hunt. Tonight we're dying eggs, and thinking that the Easter Bunny might possibly hide eggs indoors tomorrow as we're supposed to have strong storms in the a.m. I'll post some pictures tomorrow from egg dying, church going, and egg hunting.