Life Around the House

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I guess I can't totally blame him...it does look like cat puke!

 

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Seriously...how many cars does a kid need?

 

 

Kendall's 6 Month Report

Kendall has hit the 6 month mark and what an amazing 6 months it has been. She went to the doctor's on Friday and unfortunately our regular pediatrician is on maternity leave so we didn't get to see her. But her fill-in said that she was impressed how well she was sitting up. Kendall also weighed 20 lbs and her head diameter was 19 inches. So needless to say she is a big girl.
Right now she loves to sit and play on the floor. If she isn't on the floor playing, she is in her blue saucer or the Jenny Jumper. She loves to watch Reagan and also her big brother play with his cars. Her sleeping habits haven't changed much. She still goes to bed around 7 and then gets up somewhere between 9 and 10 the next morning. She often gets gets up once or twice during the night (usually early morning) and talks to herself, but always manages to go back to sleep. She eats cereal twice a day - lunch and dinner. Along with cereal, she gets either a fruit or veggie. Loves her fruits, hates her veggies; no big surprise. And she does a very good job of drinking from a regular cup. Kendall is still nursing - eating about 5 times a day (about 6 ounces each time). Her favorite toy is a butterfly that has several parts dangling from it to pull on as well as some parts that have different textures and some loud paper-like sounds. Still no pacifier - we have pretty much given up on that one, but she really hasn't needed one. At nap times, she rarely fusses, but just talks herself to sleep. Kevin and I both agree that she has a look that could kill. She tilts her head down and looks at you from the top of her eyeballs...makes me laugh every time! We started her on the little puffs today and she really liked them. She can't pick them up just yet to feed herself, but I'm sure she will be there before we know it. As for crawling and rolling over, she just isn't there yet. For about a week around Christmas time, she was rolling like crazy, but then hasn't been interested since. We have tried to get her on her tummy so she can start the crawling process, but her spitting up habit gets in the way of that. Her "happy spitting" has gotten so much better, but she can still drench her outfit! Overall, Kendall is a very easy going baby around the house and we love her so much! She totally completes our family and I can't wait until this summer when I can be home with her so much more!

My Kendall Rae first...in 5 days my little girl will be 6 months old! Kevin and I went out to dinner last night and we were talking about how fast her life has gone by. We feel so much more at ease with her - like we kinda know what to expect. Like when she sneezes we aren't wondering if we need to take her to the doctor or if she is crying, we know better how to comfort her.

In the last couple of weeks, we think her spitting up is getting better (YEA!). It doesn't happen as frequently and when it does happen, it is not as much. Kevin and I (and Parker) can't wait for her to jump that barrier. She does eat cereal a couple times a day. She also enjoys some banana every once in a while. We tried some apple sauce (sugar free of course), but I got sour face out of that adventure. But when I mixed in some cereal so was all about it! Tonight she also tried green beans for the first time, and just like everything else on the first attempt NOT GOOD! At least she hasn't learned to spit it out yet. She also drinks from a regular cup; I've tried the sippy cup and she actually does better with the regular one for right now. I know that by the time we got to Tammy's house, we will get her converted. Tammy has sippy cups for all the kids (can't imagine the spills if she didn't use those).

Kendall's fingers are working hard these days. She "scratches" at EVERYTHING! Feel test as we call it over here. She got to experience grass for the first time the other day (below). Always interesting to see her reactions to new things.

She does great at sitting up by herself now and I don't have to worry anymore about her falling over. Sometimes she will entertain herself for up to 45 minutes playing with her toys. Parker is a huge entertainer to her too! She LOVES to watch him and giggles and laughs at everything he does. But it works both ways...Parker loves to play with her and he laughs just as much at her. Parker shares his cars with her and he enjoys playing with his old baby toys. I hope that they always play so well together.

She is still sleeping like an angel - from about 7 at night to 9 or 10 in the morning. Still no teeth but is pooping on a more regular basis. She wears 12 - 18 month clothes and we have really lucked out getting hand-me-downs from cousins and friends. Just every once in a while do we have to go shopping for her. She grows so fast that she only gets to wear an outfit a couple of times before it is too small. Her tops are always to short for her - very long baby! So we get onsies that fit her length and then the arms are too long. Oh well, we roll them up. Then for her pants her belly is nice and "jolly" so we have to fit it around that and then the pants are too long - again, roll them up.

She loves her bedtime routine! And she definitely knows the words "bath time." She gets all excited and kicks her legs at that phrase. She likes to splash in the water and suck on her washcloth. I can't wait for this summer to get her into a pool. Hopefully we will spend many summer days there!

And now for my big boy Parker! 4 Years Old...REALLY!?! We did mark his height on the wall the day of his birthday. Hopefully that will be a tradition that we will continue to hold year after year. We measured his height and he is 41 inches tall. I looked up what the average is (37 inches), so we have a tall kiddo on our hands. He also weighs 40.4 lbs so he is above the average there too (35-37 lbs).
Parker is quite the talker. I swear from the time I get home from work to the time he hits the bed, he could literally talk my ear off. Most of his talk is about racing his cars - "which one do you want to win," "look at his cool tires," "wanna race my hot wheels," "this is Finn, this is Dinaco Lightning McQueen, this is Holly..." He can tell you ALL of their names and numbers!
Speaking of numbers, he has been doing so well at school. He loves school and really looks forward to going twice a week. One of his new favorite games is Uno Attack. He likes to match the numbers and colors - thanks Maus! His other favorites (other than car stuff) are the movie Transformers, playing Angry Birds on my Kindle book, playing with Kendall and trying to make her laugh, and just running around! He always asks me when he is running if he is smoking (aka going fast). "Oh course" is always my answer.
Parker has been such a big boy when it comes to adjusting this winter to having just one parent around as Kevin and I rotate from "babysitting" to going to work. Both Parker and Kendall love having their Dad around all day long. I know that Parker enjoys having a wrestling buddy. Kevin sometimes complains about a sore back because they get to wrestling around so hard. Then when Kevin leaves for work and I'm home with the kids, Parker is very understanding when it comes to Kendall going to bed and all the attention she requires at that time. While I'm giving Kendall a bath and nursing her to sleep, Parker plays with his cars or his Mobigo games for the hour that is "Kendall time." Very mature!
One characteristic that continues to pop up in Parker is his need to know everything that is going to happen BEFORE it happens. I wonder where he got that from - sorry Parker, that is ALL Mommy! When we get in the car, he wants to know where we are going first, then second, and then after that...One answer is never enough and it all has to be laid out for him. If we make a surprise stop somewhere that wasn't on the agenda, he will definitely let us know about it. When we are driving, he surprises me many times by know what street we are on. Maize road, Kellogg, Tyler and he usually knows his way around. He is very observant. I'm pretty sure he could get us turn by turn to Maus's house, Tammy's house, school/church, or to Maize High School.
And life is all about racing to Parker. We race to bed, race to the truck, race to brush our teeth, race to eat our dinner, TV's race, fingers race, EVERYTHING! Even though I assure him every time that WE ARE NOT racing. One day I hope it will sink in. And second is never good enough. When he gets second place on the Wii (which is rare), he is very disappointed in himself. We try to show him all the people that he beat, but he wants to be on top. I hope this level of competitiveness drops a notch or two. I like that he is competitive and I hope he strives to be the best he can be, but I'm a little nervous for track and field day at kindergarten in a couple of years. Everyone watch out! If he's not first, there might be blood!