Suddenly, Whitney is a big kid. I cant think of one thing thats keeping her in babyhood or toddlerhood anymore. She doesnt rub the tag on bear blanket anymore. She drinks from big-kid cups. She brushes her own teeth. She is getting really good at dressing herself. She puts her shoes on herself. She plays board games and follows the rules and waits her turn. She continues to amaze us with her empathy and imagination and her ever-growing love for her little brother.
She is such a big kid. Her tantrums are few and far between and her behavior and conversations and questions are all SOOO big kid.
I thought I would miss the baby years...and some days, I do. Like when I peek back at my blog posts from three years ago, two years ago, or from a year ago, I cant help by smile from ear to ear. She has been such a complete joy to raise and get to know. I have great memories from those early days with her, but she just keeps getting cuter and funner (its a word) and more amazing with each passing day.
Another family member is getting older, and its not all fun and board games. :( Poor Baileydogger is almost ten years old, and its taking its toll. He is having a lot of trouble seeing, especially in dim lighting, and often walks into the coffee table or our legs, or steps on toys he just doesnt see in his path. Its hard to see him decline, especially since it seems to have happened in a matter of weeks. He was perfectly fine at Christmas! His ears are bad. His eyes are awful. But man, his personality still rocks. He LOVES Whitney to pieces and she absolutely adores him. We've started having the talk with her about when Bailey will go to Heaven. She remembers that Faith and Austin's dog, Jovi, went to heaven last year and she always says, "I will miss Bailey a LOT, but he will get to go play with Jovi-girl!" She gets teary-eyed but tries to stay strong when we remind her to enjoy the time we have left with sweet Bailey.
He still runs and tries to fetch toys. He still barks at sounds, just more often than usual. And he still gets hyper-excited when we have visitors. Its not as though he's knocking on death's door...but he is certainly showing his years.
Last month Whitney leaned in to give Bailey a hug and said, "Mommy, I adopt Baiwey SO much!" I love that the word "adopt" is a synonym for "love" in her sweet mind.
Silly mutt.
And yet another family member is growing in so many ways! Mr. Grady is getting larger by the day! He is wearing 6-9 month clothes and babbling and finding new sounds and reaching for toys and transfering toys from hand to hand. He rolls onto his sides when on his back if he sees a toy he wants or if he catches his reflection in the mirror.
He still hasnt figured out how to belly laugh, but his smiles light up my life.
He loves to be held facing out, taking in the whole room and tracking our voices around him. He is starting to crane his neck to watch Mickey Mouse and other cartoon voices, and he doesnt love the bumbo but wants to sit-up and watch his sister play. His big, fat thighs gets trapped in the Bumbo, so I cant blame him for only tolerating it for brief periods.
A lot of people have said that a switch is flipped when kids turn four. Whitney is obviously only a few months into being three, but I can see a pretty picture of who this little girl is becoming, and I can tell she is starting to shed those whiny, difficult, does-it-ever-freakin-stop three year old tendencies.
Is she a perfect angel? HECK no! But she is just calmer, easier, less-needy and less dramatic (well...sorta) than in past months.
And she's eating better! I gave her a hard boiled egg last week and before I could take most of the yolk out of the center, she had shoved the whole thing in her mouth. She got all her cholesterol for the month in one ball of yolk. And she chewed up the whole thing and loved it.
Another Mommy solo mission: the zoo splash pad with both kids. Outcome: SUCCESS! The zoo is right around the corner from our house. While the actual zoo/animal stuff will never live up to my expectations, (Hello? I grew up going to the Bronx Zoo on field trips and with Brownies.) the playground and splash pad are rockin'! Whitney hung out with her friend Connor while Mommy got some adult convo and Grady fell asleep in the stroller. I am so grateful that Whitney is as easy and well-behaved as she is, or I would never take these two out alone. But with Grady's new-found relaxed attitude and Whitney's go-with-the-flow demeanor, we are always up for adventure.
Grady had a brief love affair with a few Jessie toys last week. I think he has a thing for red-heads :)
And I had to snap a pic in this onesie since I almost had to use a crowbar to get it on him one last time. :(
He is finally gaining more control of those arms, so we attempted an un-swaddled sleep last week. He did great once he was asleep, but definitely took much longer to fall asleep, as he kept trying to get those thumbs in his mouth.
Let the fun begin!
I was putting away some hand-me-downs from my nephew Corbyn and Whitney found Corbyn's old Halloween costume in the drawer. She held it up and yelled, "SEBASTIAN!!!!" She has been HUGE into The Little Mermaid lately, and this lobster costume spoke to her. She really wanted Grady to be Sebastian while she was dressed like Ariel.
How could I say no!?
Poor guy.
It was great for a few pics but even Whitney said "Ok, he doesnt have to be Sebastian anymore. I just want him to be My Grady again."
I know. Its gross. But I had to include the following pic as proof of the corner this guy has turned. We recently changed Grady to Similac from Enfamil, and he hasnt spit up once since. But right before the switch, he had spit during tummy time. Before I could get to him with a burp cloth, he planted his sweet face in the mess and rubbed it around with his fists.
Now, if *I* had regurgitated milk on my face, I'd be crying. Grady? All smiles.
We had to cheer for our Boston Red Sox last weekend! Grady wore the onesie we had made for Whitney. Its size "18 months". Granted, its a small 18 months and he has room to grow...but still. Whitney would have been swimming in this onesie at three months old. Hes a tank :)
This is the happy face of a dude who, dare I say, is sleeping through the night. Last night made five nights in a row!!! (Yes, I am fully aware that I will be up at 4am now that ive typed this.) He sleeps from about 7:30pm to 7am. Im LOVING it :) Just in time for Whitney to go back to school :)
On Sunday mornings, we all sit in the playroom eating breakfast, chugging coffee, watching cartoons, and laughing. I love Sunday mornings.
The Meatball in his first Toy Story tee...size 12 months. I couldnt wait to put it on him and was surprised when it didnt actually hang off his body.
He was striking poses at Disney :)
The Happiest Ariel in Magic Kingdom :)
Someone remind me again why I NEEEEDED a double stroller before Grady was born?? We havent used it once yet. Now that Grady is sitting up better, we might use it next time we are at the parks, but there really is no need to have it until he can solidly hold himself up. Eric pushed Whitney in the umbrella stroller (which, somehow, makes her look like such a big kid!) and I stuck with Grady in the trusty Chicco. Worked great!
And last weekend marked three years since Eric and I did this:
She was always meant to be ours, but I love remembering this special day in the life of our family.
And I know I said I was gonna wait til after his appointment this month, but I got a wild hair and decided to let Grady try some cereal earlier this week. He really seemed to like it! Im not making it a regular occurrence but it was fun to see his reaction and watch him light up as the spoon approached :) I bet this kid is gonna tackle some major baby food in the coming months!
Big Kid Whitney was playing on the floor in the playroom the other day and I overheard her saying "Ok cwass....wet's make deese into a color pattern! How about we do red, orange, bwue?" and then she lined up the coins in a pattern of red, orange, blue, red, orange, blue.....I had no idea she knew what a pattern was, let alone how to make it up in her head without guidance or help. She amazes me with all the things she picks up from tv, movies, books, and life around her. She remembers EVERYthing.
And the Meatball has been finding his hands and his voice and using them to talk to his bouncer seat friends. He LOVES the frog and the monkey :)
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