let a mama brag for a moment

Guess what Pete did today? C'mon, just guess.

Give up?

He ROLLED OVER! Mark it down- 4 months and 11 days! From back to belly, going to the left. That's the side that the torticollis is on (translation: a small mass in his neck that developed in utero and limits his range of motion.) 2 months ago, we had a hard time even getting Pete to look to the left, let alone spend any amount of time facing that way. But today, while I was getting him ready for his bath, he just rolled all the way over, all by himself. He even got his head up and his arm out from underneath him. I was so proud of him!

All this from the kid who was born with fused and/or missing bones in his LEFT arm and hand. I knew he'd blow me away with all that he's capable of. This is just the tip of the iceberg, Bug.

musings from the day

We had your average day today, but there were a few times when I wished that I had my "helmet cam" on to record what I was seeing and hearing. For instance,

* E checking out a scratch on P's forehead this morning, and exclaiming "Pete, your head is cracked!"

* how can 1 uncut, ripe melon stink up an entire house by just sitting on the counter?

* holding Pete for any length of time is like going paintballing...you're going to get hit somewhere, and you'll probably need a change of clothes. Or couches, as the case may be.

and on a related note...

* in a pinch, baby formula will work in place of hairspray. It definitely falls into the "maximum hold" category, although the fragrance is less than desirable.

* I now text my mom more frequently than I email her. Strange.

*Hot chocolate in the middle of July is HILARIOUS to an almost 3 year-old. She was intently stirring it and not saying much and then burst into a fit of giggles. When I asked what was so funny, she scrunched up her face and wailed "Hot chocolate in the summer??!!?!?" See, Papa. Mama CAN be silly somtimes.

* Emerson said (and I'm typing this verbatum) to her Grandpa tonight, "Grandpa, I know you're sleeping over at our house, but why won't you be there in the morning when we get up?" Jeff, Grandpa, and I were all speechless at that one.Not just the linguistics, but the reasoning behind it. Sheesh. At her 3 year check-up, the doctor asked me if she's putting together 3-word sentences. Um, yeah. We've got that covered.

So, that's a peek into the average day for this stay-at-home Mama. Wouldn't trade it for a thing.

a big day around here

We had P's 4 month and E's 3 year check ups today. Emerson (who's actual birthday is a few weeks away) weighed in at 36 lbs. and is 38 inches tall. That's only 5 inches away from the "big" rides at Disney World! She's in the 90+ percentile, and we are blessed that she seems to be in teriffic health.

P, on the other hand, is a tiny guy. He's now 26 inches long, which puts him in the 65th percentile. That's great news, since only one month ago, a measuring snafu put him in the FIFTH percentile. But his weight is only 11 lbs, 11 oz. He's not progressing the way they'd like on the chart, and has been having trouble digesting formula since weaning from nursing earlier this month. He poops 8-10 times a day, and has an epic, EPIC rash on his bottom from spending his whole days in poopy diapers. We're trying soy formula, so fingers crossed that he'll be able to process and digest it properly. This will help him 1. lose the rash, and 2, GROW! The doctor also advised that we should start "solid" foods, so Pete had his first taste of rice cereal tonight. He was pretty confused at first and did not like the consistency. But he caught on quickly and started opening his mouth as Jeff would approach with the spoon. But by the end, he was really tired, and began to look a bit like the Leaning Tower of Pisa. I can't believe we have a kid in a high chair already. He's growing up so fast!

Here's some pics from Pete's first "dinner."

10 more things

Here are a few more things that I'm quite fond of. Again, in no particular order:

* Jeff
* Emerson
* Pete
* avocadoes (I'm OBSESSED with them. Squirt a little lemon juice on and oh, my!)
* photography
* Disney World (duh!)
* pedicures
* county fairs
* catching up with old friends
* crossing things off of my to-do list

Make it a great week~

have you seen pete lately?

Well, here he is. Live and in the flesh. Um, sort of.

Master P is now 4 months old. What a Lovebug...

a project

So, we've admittedly not been doing as many projects around here since, oh, mid March ;) But we do still get to do something crafty from time to time. Emerson inspired our latest endeavor. A few weeks ago, when looking at a green light in Pete's room, she asked me "Minnie (she likes to pretend that I'm Minnie Mouse), why is that green? And I said something like "Well, it's not red, and it's not blue, so it must be green." To which she replied, "Why is it green?" And I got to thinking about how yellow and blue make green. But this seemed too abstract to explain, so I resolved that I'd SHOW her.

We busted out our paints and talked a little bit about primary and secondary colors. And then we got down to business. Mixing the colors. She LOVED it. In fact, we have done "color mixing" 4 times in the last week. Yesterday, we even made a color wheel (I should have taken pictures, but sadly, I didn't.)

Anyway, I thought you might enjoy the fruits of our labor. If you haven't done color mixing with your kiddos, give it a try. They'll love it, and their kindergarten teachers will be so impressed that they know where colors come from!

so?

So, do you like the new blog design? I have to say that I just love it. It's just where we're at right now. Sort of free and just going where the wind takes us. Hope you like it too.