Little Bug is 4

Puppet theater

I said no four. I'm sure of it. And yet, here I am, writing a post about our FOUR-year-old. Four is kinda a big deal. It's big ... and all of a sudden school is right around the corner. Four also comes with a lot of baggage. Mom and Dad say things like "You are four. You know better than that." You have to put your own clothes on, put your toys away, help your sister. It's the pits.

But when you are four, you aren't required to take a nap. You can play "quietly" in your room while your sibs nap. You get to watch Tinkerbell movies, which are quite awesome, AND you get some of the jokes in them. In fact, you even make some jokes yourself. So maybe four isn't all bad!

We can't believe our little bug is four. Fiona is simply a super person and we are incredibly proud of her. She's working hard on her letters and numbers and writes her name like a pro. She loves art projects and stickers. She is also really enjoying the magnetic 'paper' dolls and playing babies with her sister. She got a puppet theater for her birthday and we can't wait to see what her imagination delights us with.

Her buddies

She wore me down this year and had two birthday parties - the standard family/family friends. And then another one with her buddies from day care. The first party was a camping theme. We had a beautiful day - until it started pouring rain. That, combined with the fall insurgence of mosquitoes, and it was pretty true to a typical camping experience!

She had her well check today and is still very small. We have spina bifida clinic next week with an MRI. Depending on the results of that, they may do a couple non-invasive tests to ensure she is growing in a healthy way. Not anything to be too concerned about yet, but our ped wants to keep it on the radar. Other than that, she is a perfectly wonderful and healthy four-year-old!

Bathroom Buddies

I need to write the big "four years old" post - and it's a good one, don't worry - but there's a cold going through the house that means that anything beyond basic survival is optional right now. But I had some cute pictures of the kids that were easy to share.

Teeth brushing is both heart-melting and heart attack inducing around here. They have been known to just stand there and hug and giggle. And not brush teeth. They've also been known to stand there and annoy each other ... and not brush teeth. Mike and I probably say "brush your teeth" an average of twenty times - per tooth cleaning session. But we can't argue with them loving each other ... which is why I took some cute shots of them one night. While saying "brush your teeth" on repeat.

Our bathtime routine involves popping D in the tub, letting him float around and smile, and then getting him ready while the big girls splash in the water. He's usually content to hang out on his towel for a few minutes while I get all their stuff set ... and then he starts to fuss. Because he wants to stand at the side of the tub and watch them. It is his favorite part of the routine and they love it as well. I'm afraid we'll forget how sweet it was, so we took a few pictures to remember it.

Coffee is Our Best Friend

I sent this recap of last night to my sister. I will admit we are thankful that the gang contained the craziness to an hour. But holy moly.

1:32: Declan wakes up crying. Pacifier doesn't do it and I wander around our room bouncing and shushing.

1:45: Mike takes a turn and goes downstairs with D.

2:00: I go downstairs to see how the boys are. Mike is still working to settle D but tells me to go to bed.

2:02: Go to bed. Close eyes.

2:02: Hear crying and calling for mama from across the hall. Go in. Both girls are awake and Fiona is sobbing because she had a bad dream. Get her settled down. Tuck both in. Kiss.

2:05: Leave their room. Hear Yogi puking in my bedroom from the hallway. Hurry to the slider with Yog, but he doesn't make it and pukes in the living room too.

2:06: Start cleaning up dog puke.

2:08: Mike comes upstairs to see what the H is going on. He trades me dog puke for crying baby.

2:23: Dec is settled, asleep, in the crib downstairs. I go up to check on Mike. All are settled and in bed there too. I go back downstairs to bunk on the couch.

5:43: Dec wakes up to eat. And I am up for the day. Yet somehow still don’t get to work until 8:20.

Silly Sisters

The girls have really been bonding as sisters. We love to see them working together, playing together, learning together, and loving each other. They also fight like sisters, but they clearly love each other deeply. Tonight, when I refused to go back to their room after bedtime because I knew it was a stall tactic, I heard [over the monitor] "You help me, Buggy?" "Sure. I'll tuck you in. Don't kick it off this time." We love watching their relationship grow!

What better way to swing than to get extra momentum

Two swings

"Ok, pardner. You ride behind me."

Declan - 3 Months

Sitting handsome

Mr. Man is three months old today! We are a quarter of the way to the big first birthday. WHAT!?!? He’s a super happy little guy who is very content to hang with the family and take in life. His smile goes all the way to his eyes and every family member delights when he blesses us with his grin.

Some of D’s latest tricks are:

• Going to day care. He loves it there. A says that he just fits in with the gang and they adore him in return.
• Down to one feeding at night. He gets up somewhere between 2:30 and 5:00 to eat. So he’s still bunking in the master bedroom with us and the furry guy. Hopefully in the next month or so, he’ll join the sisters in the kid room.
• Giggling. Be still my heart. He had been doing a single giggle for a while, but last Sunday, he treated Auntie to some raucous laughter. She is quite funny looking.
• “Swimming.” He LOVES the bath (reminds me of a biggest sister) and is thrilled when I lift up his little bottom so he can “float” on his back in the tub. He smiles, giggles, chats, and kicks like crazy. He also loves to stand up next to the tub and watch the sisters splash around in there. That’s really where the single giggle began.

  

  Tummy time

• Being part of mealtime. He has always hung out in his swing while we eat. That is barely cutting it now. He wants to be at the table with us! So I spend a lot of meals with a baby on my lap.
• Wiggling. He likes to play. When on his back, he kicks and bats at toys (and captures long blonde hair that invades his space). When on his tummy, he will sometimes roll over and often pivots around. He can even worm himself forward a bit.
• Mimicking. He loves to stick out his tongue when Mike sticks out his. They stick them at each other and then laugh and laugh.
• Sitting/standing. Dec wants to be upright. He loves being held in a sitting position (and can even balance there solo for a second or so) or held standing up. He stomps his little foot and tries to figure out how to take off to join the fun.
• Growing. Most of the 0-3 months clothes are getting too tight or simply don’t fit. A trip to the doctor earlier this week (plugged tear duct) showed him at an even 13 lbs.

Some giggles

The Power of a Parshmallow

Her parshmallow

Today was a big day. Miss Q headed to day care in … a pull up! I promised her weeks ago that when she finished the current box of diapers, she could switch to pull ups. A win-win since half the time, we are taking off a completely dry diaper anyway.

She’s VERY interested in potty training and is doing remarkably well for the complete lack of effort that her parents are putting into it. If we really applied ourselves, she’d be trained. But there is very little extra energy at this point, so we support by running to the bathroom with her when she tells us she has to go, making a big deal about it when she does, and giving her a “parshmallow” as a reward (marshmallow, but she says it so much cuter!!!).

She’s much better at pee than poop, although we’ve had a few successes on that front as well. Usually we can see her going and then she immediately tells us that she has a dirty diaper and wants it off. We remind that she should have told us and gone in the potty. “Oh yeah. Next time” she smiles. Clearly, no one is all in on this potty training deal.

But someone in our world is moving toward life without diapers. And we have our next spina bifida appointments in October to see how we can more aggressively move Bugs in that direction as well. Life with just Dec in diapers. Sounds strange … and magical!

Do You Wanna Be a ...?

Dress up area

Fairy? Princess? Fireman? Birthday tiger?

As I constantly said this spring, the great spring cleaning/house clean out was not simply "nesting." While on my maternity leave, I continued my pursuit of decluttering the house. We finished the upstairs with Mike putting in two closet systems before he went back to work. The one in his closet enabled us to get rid of his dresser and the one in the kids' room allowed me to get three kids in one closet. It is a thing of organizational beauty!! I'm ridiculously proud of it ... and you'll likely be forced to admire it if you come by to visit.

My cousin Lori made them tutus
Super cute - and twirly

Then I moved downstairs. Mike also built some additional shelving for our storage room while he was on leave. And thanks to Declan's awesome napping, I reorganized the whole room. And then turned my attention to the toy room. They are kind of a package deal as toys go in and out and rotate and reappear ... and there was just not enough order. While doing this, I realized how much dress up stuff the girls had, but how they didn't really play with it much. Because it was spread all over the place. So I created a dress up nook in the play room. Mike built them a hat rack with the scrap lumber he took out of the closets. And our neighbor brought over a couple of the cutest wood shelves that she didn't want anymore. The area is a hit and they love that all the stuff is in one spot. Cleanup is also so much easier!

Now that I'm back to work, my cleaning is going slower. But I am closing in on it! And it feels awesome to purge some of the extra to make room for us and find better places for the stuff we do use.

Good-Bye Summer, Hello Fall

Batgirl and Mickey Mouse

We spent a lovely Labor Day weekend together, enjoying the final official weekend of summer. Even though we don't have school kids (yet ... one more year ... sob!), we still feel the change of the season. The gang will walk with their friends to the bus stop tomorrow. And it begins.

Declan finished his first week of day care. And he loves it. He loves to watch people and seems to like the commotion. The gang adores him and call him "Decky." He was definitely tired this week, but we think he's excited to go back.

We popped up the pool, likely for the final time, today. The girls had a good time in it and even D got in on the action. He did really well when we put him in - but he got cold pretty quickly (hose water). He loves bath time and watching his sisters in the bath tub, so we figured he would like the pool. They loved that he joined them in the water and hugged him repeatedly.

Chubby white rapper baby

We also checked a few things off the to-do list. Mike painted the hat rack he built and hung a couple shelves for me. We're working on a really cute dress-up nook in the play room that the girls are loving. I got the girls signed up for fall swim lessons. And the girls tested out their Halloween costumes - used as bribes to get them out of jammies.

We are looking forward to all the fun fall events on our bucket list: apple orchard, pumpkin patch, Pumpkins in the Park, Buggy's birthday, Daddy's hockey tournament, Mama's 5k race, carving pumpkins ... it's going to be a busy and wickedly fun couple months!