addy: 4 months

Our little Addy bug (as she is affectionately called) is 4 months old!

My mom and I braved a double pediatrician visit with both kids while Brandon was in London.  Poor little Addy got a little overshadowed in the visit by her big brother and his antics, but in typical Addy fashion she just sat and quietly watched him and smiled.

Addy weighed in at 13 pounds, 11 ounces and was 25.5 inches tall.  She is in the 30th percentile for weight and 85th for height.  Tall and skinny still!
She is the sweetest baby, it's quite unbelievable.
She is so laid back, content to just sit and snuggle and watch the chaos around her that is our life most of the time.

Lucas can consistently make her laugh still, and the way she watches him makes my heart melt.

She freely gives out smiles and we have plenty of conversations.  She has learned lots of new noises lately, my recent favorite being a squeal.  All girls have to master a good squeal, right?
She rolls from belly to back and has rolled from back to belly only twice that we have seen.  She doesn't like being on her belly these days, so motivation to roll that way is lacking.

I swear she's close to sitting up.  She loves to sit and can balance for a few seconds now before toppling over. She likes to stand too, and has even balanced for a little while standing up next to her little play table.

We have entered the stage of putting everything in the mouth. All toys go immediately to the mouth, as well as clothing and my hands.  The girl loves to chew.
My poor girl still doesn't have much hair.  It's starting to thicken up a bit but it's still not a lot!  And what she has is still light in color.  Those eyes are brown with still some teases of hazel.
Her smile lights up the room.

We started operation-sleep-in-your-room this week.  And with that comes some cry-it-out tactics.  Our sweet girl has started to figure it out though after only 3 nights, and last night slept ALL night until 6am!  I couldn't believe it.  I may or may not have snuck into her room at 3am to check on her...don't judge me.  When she woke up at 6, I fed her and she slept until 7:30.  Finally.  Here's hoping that we do it again tonight.  Because mama's tired.

Did I mention the snuggles?  We have a snuggler. And I LOVE IT.

Our family is better with you in it, sweet Addy girl.  We love you!

an excavator birthday party

When we asked Lucas what kind of birthday party he wanted this year, his first response was "a Christmas birthday party!"  I hated to pop that sweet little bubble of his, but mama shot that idea down.  So his second choice was an "excavator birthday party."  Now excavators, I can do.

I didn't realize how specific my little man was with his construction vehicles of choice.  The original invitation I picked out had a dump truck, a bulldozer, and an excavator all together.  That was not acceptable according to the very opinionated birthday boy.  Just excavators, mommy.  Okay.  So we made it happen.

We had the party at our house the weekend after his birthday.  We had family members and friends over and kept it simple with cake, icecream, presents, and a few games.  I had a lot of fun planning the details of the party, and never knew decorating with a construction theme could be so fun!  Here are a few of my favorites: 

We decorated the table with a black table cloth, yellow duct tape, and white masking tape to make a road.  Then I had a variety of construction themed paper products, a book, and of course the cake.  I made that cake, and I'm pretty darn proud of it!

My mom found the cutest construction photo booth cut out.  All of the kids took turns getting their picture made in it, except for the birthday boy.  In typical threenager fashion, he wouldn't do it for a picture.  So we stuck Addy in it!

All the kids had cute little hard hats to wear.

 

We set up a "wrecking ball" in the garage with a work out ball and computer boxes.  It was a hit.

We had so much fun.  So many of our closest friends came.  Grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends from church, friends from work, baby sitters, everyone.  To be surrounded by the people that love your family so well is so overwhelming.  God is good, y'all.  We are so thankful for everyone who helped us celebrate our big 3 year old!

3.

dear lucas,

you're 3!  i can't believe it.  there are so many things i want to tell you, so many things i want to remember.  you are so so smart, buddy.  you know a host of information about your life and the world around you.  i want to remember all of the little things you know, because you make me so proud. 

you know with confidence that your birthday is "march 12!"  you have told me that you want an excavator birthday party.  specifically excavators, not dump trucks or front end loaders or bull dozers...excavators.  heaven forbid we pick out an invitation with a variety of construction vehicles on them...you want just excavators.  don't worry, mama's got it under control.

you know that you are allergic to peanuts.  you will often ask when you have a new food, "does this have peanuts in it?"  and then when i ask why it's important for you to know that, you say "because peanuts are allergic to me."  yes they are buddy, i'm sorry that you have to know that but i'm so proud of you for learning it.  

we love asking you about your favorite things.  your favorite color is usually red, although when asked you answer with a stipulation..."it's red today."  not every day, just today.  your favorite number is 3, because that's how old you are turning.  your favorite restaurant is lynnwood grill, and your favorite food is whatever you happen to be munching on at the time.  today it was grapes.  your favorite animal is a lexi (so i'm assuming a dog?) and your favorite friend is hensley.  your favorite tv show is paw patrol and your favorite game to play is i spy. 

 

you talk all the time.  all. the. time.  and you speak so well, putting together these long elaborate descriptive sentences.  you're way ahead of your age group in language!  and your vocabulary cracks me up.  you don't say your l's and r's well, but that's okay.

you can count to 100 by 10's, and you have learned the pledge of allegiance.  at the end of the pledge you say "with liberty, and justice, for all a good night."  we haven't corrected you on that because it's way too cute.  

you say the blessing before meals and are working on night time prayers. you sing lots of songs.

you have memorized your first bible verse, "the secrets of heaven have been given to you." matthew 13:11.  be armored with scripture always, okay?  

you love surprises, we can pitch anything to you in the form of a surprise.  you always say, "i'm going to close my eyes and hold out my hand for my surprise."  it's adorable.

you have a stubborn determination to you too that has given us some problems...we call them fofo's [full on freak outs]. we're all learning and working through it.  you're like a little sour patch kid...one minute you're sour, the next you're sweet.  it's hard, and i know sometimes i am impatient with you, so forgive me.  i'm trying, and i know you are too.  

you give out i love you's and hugs and kisses freely, and it's the sweetest thing.  you also tell me all the time, "you're pretty, mommy."  you know it melts my heart every single time.  you also say please and thank you and yes/no ma'am/sir.  thank you for practicing your manners.

you are so sweet to your sister.  i knew you would be the best big brother, but you have really knocked it out of the park, sweet boy.  

we signed you up for soccer to start next month.  i know you will love it because you love to run and be outside.  you have already showed us your athleticism and coordination and good sportsmanship, so we know you'll do great. 

  

you still love any type of truck, train, tractor, etc.  they are widening the road by our house and i think you'll be so sad when the big project is finished.  you educate me every time we drive by about which vehicles are working and which are resting.

you're easy going as far as what you wear each day.  the only time you've gotten opinionated about your wardrobe was when you insisted on wearing your mickey mouse slippers to target.  i didn't fight that battle, you wore them, and all was fine.

you are really really funny.  and you always surprise us with the shenanigans you come up with.  at the pediatrician visit for your 3 year appointment, they did a vision and a hearing test.  the vision test you did pretty well with, but according to their fancy hearing test you are deaf.  you kept telling the nurse that you couldn't hear anything in the headphones, and it really freaked her out.  but walking out of the room when "can you hear me" was so quietly whispered to you, you didn't even turn around and you responded "no!"  busted, little guy.  then in the car on the way home you admitted to hearing the beepbeepbeeps.  oh, buddy.  otherwise you were great at the appointment.  you weigh 33 pounds and i'm not sure how tall you are because you wouldn't stand still long enough for them to measure your height.  i'm not surprised.  you chatted it up with the doctor, making us laugh when we filled out the developmental questionnaire that asked if our toddler speaks in 3 word sentences.  

you love to be outside in your sand box.  and you love to ride in your jeep.

 

you chase your poor dog all over the place.  you love her, i know you do.  but i hate to break it to you buddy, she's terrified of you.

  i know every mom says it, but don't grow up too fast.  you are changing every day, and although the days are long, the years are short.  all of a sudden you aren't a baby anymore, you are this big big boy.  and we are so proud of you.  you are are our feisty, spunky, sweet, crazy little boy and we love you to the moon and back.