Here are the photos of our time with Bubby and Poppa:
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Photos from the weekend
We had a great time with Bubby and Poppa and here are the photos to prove it! We also had a simply lovely time at our friends' wedding, although we didn't get any pictures. The kids behaved well and the ceremony was just perfect. Congratulations, K and C! We are so happy for you!
Here are the photos of our time with Bubby and Poppa:
Here are the photos of our time with Bubby and Poppa:
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Rosa's five month letter
Dear Rosa Jane,
Today, you are five months old! It seems like you have grown a lot and learned even more this past month. Here are a few things you've been up to:
First, you have maintained your generally sunny disposition and get many comments about what a happy baby you are. And you are a happy baby! You really only cry if you're hungry, tired, or need a new diaper. However, we should add that when you are hungry, tired, or in need of a new diaper, you can really scream. Wow. You treated us to quite a show in the car this afternoon, when we were on the way home from Bubby and Poppa's and stopped midway for the wedding of some good friends. After the wedding, during which you were peaceful and happy and passed around to several people, we put you in the car and you were inconsolable for what seemed like an eternity. All this is to say that you know what you want and you definitely let us know when you're not getting it!
Things on the sleep front are going well, for the most part. You have been having some trouble getting to sleep at night, especially now that you aren't in a swaddling blanket anymore. However, once you get to sleep, you have been sleeping mostly through the night and waking up just once to nurse. You usually start out in your little crib and then come in bed with us after you eat. It's a very sweet pattern and we appreciate getting to cuddle you! You sometimes even get cuddles from Mateo, when he comes in to snuggle in the early mornings.
You still love your Mommy's milk and have that for 99% of your feedings. You do get a bottle or two a day from me, which is nice for me, and you just started rice cereal yesterday! We're excited to introduce you to all kinds of new foods now!
You have learned a lot during this past month. You can really grab things and you've also added bringing them to your mouth after grabbing them. You've also gotten down the whole thumb sucking thing. You love your thumb and have begun to learn to self-soothe by sucking it. You've never been much of a pacifier baby, so the thumb-sucking is a nice thing for you to have learned to do. You've also been doing a lot more tracking of people and things, and, especially, food! You watch with rapt attention when we eat. That's one of the reasons we decided to try some real food on you, because you seem so interested in ours.
And, for your grand finale, you learned to roll in both directions! You demonstrated that you can do it with both hands tied behind your back, (nearly) literally, last night. You are a rolling baby now. You combine the rolling with a love for tummy time that neither of your siblings have, making us wonder if you will crawl early, or if you will be content to just observe the world from your tummy for awhile. Either way's fine with us!
It may be too early for this, but you do seem to recognize your siblings and you love it when they play with you. They will get down on the floor and help you roll or help feed you or help change your diaper and we can't help but think that you love it.
Rosa, we love you more than you could ever possibly know. We're excited to see what the next month will bring us!
with all our love,
Mama and Mommy
Today, you are five months old! It seems like you have grown a lot and learned even more this past month. Here are a few things you've been up to:
First, you have maintained your generally sunny disposition and get many comments about what a happy baby you are. And you are a happy baby! You really only cry if you're hungry, tired, or need a new diaper. However, we should add that when you are hungry, tired, or in need of a new diaper, you can really scream. Wow. You treated us to quite a show in the car this afternoon, when we were on the way home from Bubby and Poppa's and stopped midway for the wedding of some good friends. After the wedding, during which you were peaceful and happy and passed around to several people, we put you in the car and you were inconsolable for what seemed like an eternity. All this is to say that you know what you want and you definitely let us know when you're not getting it!
Things on the sleep front are going well, for the most part. You have been having some trouble getting to sleep at night, especially now that you aren't in a swaddling blanket anymore. However, once you get to sleep, you have been sleeping mostly through the night and waking up just once to nurse. You usually start out in your little crib and then come in bed with us after you eat. It's a very sweet pattern and we appreciate getting to cuddle you! You sometimes even get cuddles from Mateo, when he comes in to snuggle in the early mornings.
You still love your Mommy's milk and have that for 99% of your feedings. You do get a bottle or two a day from me, which is nice for me, and you just started rice cereal yesterday! We're excited to introduce you to all kinds of new foods now!
You have learned a lot during this past month. You can really grab things and you've also added bringing them to your mouth after grabbing them. You've also gotten down the whole thumb sucking thing. You love your thumb and have begun to learn to self-soothe by sucking it. You've never been much of a pacifier baby, so the thumb-sucking is a nice thing for you to have learned to do. You've also been doing a lot more tracking of people and things, and, especially, food! You watch with rapt attention when we eat. That's one of the reasons we decided to try some real food on you, because you seem so interested in ours.
And, for your grand finale, you learned to roll in both directions! You demonstrated that you can do it with both hands tied behind your back, (nearly) literally, last night. You are a rolling baby now. You combine the rolling with a love for tummy time that neither of your siblings have, making us wonder if you will crawl early, or if you will be content to just observe the world from your tummy for awhile. Either way's fine with us!
It may be too early for this, but you do seem to recognize your siblings and you love it when they play with you. They will get down on the floor and help you roll or help feed you or help change your diaper and we can't help but think that you love it.
Rosa, we love you more than you could ever possibly know. We're excited to see what the next month will bring us!
with all our love,
Mama and Mommy
Friday, August 26, 2011
Rosa's first food!
Rosa had her first real meal today! We went with the traditional rice cereal and she LOVED it. She got some from Mommy, some from her siblings, and the rest from me. Yes, she finished the whole bowl. She got to the point where she recognized the spoon and would lunge for it as she saw it coming. It was awesome. It was so much fun to feed her something that she was so obviously enjoying. Coming at one day shy of five months, it was a great milestone for the whole family.
Rosa also had another first today: she learned how to roll from back to front while swaddled. She did it once during her nap and then again at bedtime. It seems impossible, but she just hurls herself to the side and boom, she's on her tummy. So, swaddling is done as of now. She is having a heck of a time getting herself to sleep tonight, because she has no idea what to do with her arms flailing all over and then suddenly finding herself on her tummy and all that. It's something she's going to have to learn, though, because we obviously want her to be safe while sleeping.
Rosa had a big day today and will have another tomorrow. She'll turn five months old and attend her first wedding. Pretty exciting stuff! For today, let's just cross our fingers and hope we all get some sleep...
Rosa also had another first today: she learned how to roll from back to front while swaddled. She did it once during her nap and then again at bedtime. It seems impossible, but she just hurls herself to the side and boom, she's on her tummy. So, swaddling is done as of now. She is having a heck of a time getting herself to sleep tonight, because she has no idea what to do with her arms flailing all over and then suddenly finding herself on her tummy and all that. It's something she's going to have to learn, though, because we obviously want her to be safe while sleeping.
Rosa had a big day today and will have another tomorrow. She'll turn five months old and attend her first wedding. Pretty exciting stuff! For today, let's just cross our fingers and hope we all get some sleep...
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Happy camper
This week has marked a new milestone for Mateo: his first drop-off summer day camp. He's never been in a setting like this before, other than preschool, and sometimes takes awhile to warm up to new situations, so we worried a little about how it would go. However, it turned out that there was absolutely nothing to worry about. He has been having SO MUCH FUN that he can hardly believe it, and we are cheering him on. He and his little group have been at a Parks and Rec nature camp, which mostly involves taking hikes around the local arboretum, digging up molehills, making homes in the trees for fairies, climbing trees, and generally getting Very Dirty. Plus, they have to carry a backpack with a water bottle and their lunch for most of the camp, so the little guys (and they are all little boys, which is cool on one hand and totally unbalanced on the other) get pretty tired by the end of the day. Yesterday, I picked up Mateo and he fell asleep in the car before could even pull out of the parking lot.
Tomorrow is the last day of this camp and will be their longest hike. We're going straight up to Bubby and Poppa's house after the end of camp (so that we can visit them and then attend some good friends' wedding on Saturday that's close to their house), and I think our van will be full of sleeping kids for most of the ride.
I wanted to post about this camp because it's a first for him and because it's been such a rousing success. I love the confidence and exuberance I see in him when he talks about his time at camp. Sacha and I both think it has been great for him and are already looking forward to signing him up for next year, when he and Tali can do it together. Fun stuff! Add to that that summer has finally come to Portland and we've had days and days of gorgeous, warm weather, and you have one happy family. Yay for summer camp and for adventurous son for taking it on with such infectious excitement!
Tomorrow is the last day of this camp and will be their longest hike. We're going straight up to Bubby and Poppa's house after the end of camp (so that we can visit them and then attend some good friends' wedding on Saturday that's close to their house), and I think our van will be full of sleeping kids for most of the ride.
I wanted to post about this camp because it's a first for him and because it's been such a rousing success. I love the confidence and exuberance I see in him when he talks about his time at camp. Sacha and I both think it has been great for him and are already looking forward to signing him up for next year, when he and Tali can do it together. Fun stuff! Add to that that summer has finally come to Portland and we've had days and days of gorgeous, warm weather, and you have one happy family. Yay for summer camp and for adventurous son for taking it on with such infectious excitement!
Monday, August 22, 2011
In the middle
I'm sure being a middle child has its challenges, but we are working hard to minimize them for ours. Here are a couple of photos of her from this morning. She was having so much fun jumping on the bed. We love our big girl Tali!
 |
| Jumping! |
 |
| I think this is among the best photos I've ever taken of her... |
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Favorites
We have had a lovely weekend and are about to start our last week of summer vacation. It seems like summer has just flown by, even though we've been consciously trying to appreciate every day. The weather has finally warmed up and it really feels like summer. Hopefully this will continue for awhile until fall starts :)
Sacha's going to be back at school tomorrow even though she doesn't officially report back until the 30th. She needs to move rooms and get all her copies done and all sorts of other stuff. She's hoping to get a lot done tomorrow and then not need to go back until the 30th. Meanwhile, Mateo's going to be in a half-day nature camp for most of this week and we are really hoping that will be fun for him.
This is unrelated, but we've gotten some good family photos lately and I thought I'd post a few of them here. Enjoy!
Sacha's going to be back at school tomorrow even though she doesn't officially report back until the 30th. She needs to move rooms and get all her copies done and all sorts of other stuff. She's hoping to get a lot done tomorrow and then not need to go back until the 30th. Meanwhile, Mateo's going to be in a half-day nature camp for most of this week and we are really hoping that will be fun for him.
This is unrelated, but we've gotten some good family photos lately and I thought I'd post a few of them here. Enjoy!
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Berry picking and pull ups
Three exciting things happened yesterday! Very exciting if you ask me.
First - all three children slept through the night! Yes, you heard that right. I am jumping for joy. Rosa slept from 8pm till 5am. She did wake up, but was easily put back to bed with a pacifier insert and then slept through the rest of the night. And both of the older ones slept through the night in the basement on the bunk bed.
Second - both older kids kept their pull ups or diapers dry last night. Mateo actually finished 10 nights of keeping his diaper dry, and so he got to wear his McQueen pull ups for the first time last night! (He was very proud of himself, as were we.)
The deal is that if he keeps the pull up dry, he gets to wear one again the next night. If it is wet, he wears a cloth pull up the next night. Whenever he has a dry night, he gets to wear the McQueen pull ups again.
I can now see the day, at some point in the future, where the older ones will be completely out of diapers. How fabulous is that?
Third - Mateo picked 5 half baskets of blueberries yesterday, and Natalia picked 1 half basket. I made a deal with them that I would pay them each a quarter for every half basket they picked. This was highly motivating, and had them picking tons of blueberries the entire time we were out on Sauvie Island.
Previously, they would lose steam after 20 minutes of picking and want to be carried, entertained etc. With the quarter incentive, Mateo was so industrious the whole time. Natalia wasn't as impacted by the quarter, but she enjoyed earning her first one and then was content to eat berries on her blanket. All together, we picked 8 full baskets to save for winter time!
First - all three children slept through the night! Yes, you heard that right. I am jumping for joy. Rosa slept from 8pm till 5am. She did wake up, but was easily put back to bed with a pacifier insert and then slept through the rest of the night. And both of the older ones slept through the night in the basement on the bunk bed.
Second - both older kids kept their pull ups or diapers dry last night. Mateo actually finished 10 nights of keeping his diaper dry, and so he got to wear his McQueen pull ups for the first time last night! (He was very proud of himself, as were we.)
The deal is that if he keeps the pull up dry, he gets to wear one again the next night. If it is wet, he wears a cloth pull up the next night. Whenever he has a dry night, he gets to wear the McQueen pull ups again.
I can now see the day, at some point in the future, where the older ones will be completely out of diapers. How fabulous is that?
Third - Mateo picked 5 half baskets of blueberries yesterday, and Natalia picked 1 half basket. I made a deal with them that I would pay them each a quarter for every half basket they picked. This was highly motivating, and had them picking tons of blueberries the entire time we were out on Sauvie Island.
Previously, they would lose steam after 20 minutes of picking and want to be carried, entertained etc. With the quarter incentive, Mateo was so industrious the whole time. Natalia wasn't as impacted by the quarter, but she enjoyed earning her first one and then was content to eat berries on her blanket. All together, we picked 8 full baskets to save for winter time!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)