Katie: 9 Months

We are three quarters of the way to one year, can time slow down a bit please? This month was extra fun watching Katie learn and grow!

This month we finally had our first tooth pop through- her bottom left front tooth!

We enjoyed lots of sink baths this month, and they are definitely a favorite for her. This girl loves a bath and will play in there long after you are done washing her. It's been a great way to keep her occupied while Eric and I deal with the twins. 

Katie celebrated her first Valentine's day this month. She is absolutely our little sweat heart. 

Thanks to the warmer weather we've had this month, Katie has also spent quite a bit of time outside. She really seems to enjoy being out in the sunshine. She's mostly been in the carrier so we can go wherever Brayden and Ashley want to go, but I am looking forward to when it warms up (and dries out) a little bit more and I can lay a blanket down in the grass for her. 

When I was home with them on President's day, Katie got to enjoy some time in the swing. Brayden and Ashley really enjoyed getting a chance to push her, and Katie seemed to like it too. 

President's day weekend was also a big one for Katie but she started to army crawl! It is still very rudimentary, but she is definitely scooting around. You could tell for the past few weeks that she has really wanted to move, but she just hadn't put all the pieces together yet. It won't be long before she's hands and knees crawling, and then walking!

She is a master at spinning around in a circle on her butt to face the direction that she wants or reach a favorite toy. I've seen her go from her belly to laying on the floor, but it isn't super graceful and sometimes one foot gets stuck under her belly from the transition. She still enjoys standing up, but only really does it if you are holding her hands or under her armpits. If you put her next to something to have her hold on on her own, she isn't super confident in her skills and will usually go straight to her bottom. 

Katie is using so many more consonant sounds in her talking this month. I even finally heard her say "mama" on my birthday! Amanda said she had been saying it at daycare for a few days but she never busted it out for me at home. Now she has absolutely no clue what "mama" means yet, so it's not a true word yet, but I'm working on making it one :) Other consonant sounds include /b/ (which is probably her favorite), /d/, /g/, /y/. 

Her play has really developed this past month. I feel like she is playing with things more intentionally. She definitely has her favorite toys- which have been the ring stacker and the hungry caterpillar fabric book, or whatever thing you have in your hands. She even did some back and forth play with me the other day when she would reach her book out for me to "eat" and then she would bring it back to herself and pretend to eat it. She did that about 3 or 4 times. I'm so excited to see her finally really play with Brayden and Ashley. 

Katie's favorite things this month include blowing raspberries, Brayden and Ashley, touchy feely books, and her momma. 

She has serious FOMO and wants to be where all the action is. 

Katie wore six month clothes all this past month, but I actually changed her into nine month clothes just today. She is in size 3 diapers now. 

Her schedule has her eating four to five 6 ounce bottles a day. She gets through an extra bottle during the week at daycare that we can never fit in at home on the weekends. I think she sleeps longer naps at home so she has one less wake window than she does at daycare. 

Katie is up for 2-3 hours between naps, and eats every 3-5 hours, depending on how long she naps. 

She is measuring about 26.5 inches long and weighing 18 pounds. At her doctor's appointment on February 28th, she weighed 16.94 pounds and measured 27 inches long.

And we even snuck in her sitter session in my studio this month.

Just three more months until the big O-N-E, we can't wait to see what all happens with our silly girl until then!

Brayden and Ashley: Three Years

I'm finding it hard to comprehend the fact that my babies aren't babies anymore. Our bundles of joy that once both fit in my belly now barely fit on my lap at the same time. Brayden and Ashley are officially three years old! 

Since Brayden won the oldest sibling award by one whole minute, it's only fitting to talk about him first.

But where do I begin. 

That smile is a good place to start. I think it will melt hearts one day, it sure melts mine, that's for sure.

Behind that smile there is a little temper. We feel our emotions big (but what three year old doesn't I suppose), and sometimes that leads to hitting or pushing. We are working on understanding that we don't hit people and can hit our pillow or bed instead, but we aren't totally there yet.

In a crowded room, Brayden would seek me out in a heartbeat. He is a true definition of a momma's boy. I can calm him down with a hug, make his owies better with just a kiss, and make his face light up by smiling at him. 

Brayden is weighing 38 pounds and is 3 feet and 2.75 inches tall. He wears size 3T clothes, size 8 shoes, and size 6 diapers. (Yes, we aren't potty trained yet. We've attempted a few times, but haven't had much luck. Now that basketball season is basically over and Eric will be home more, I'm hoping we can get this tackled as soon as possible.) 

He can dress himself when he wants to. He has mastered his pants, and will put his socks on maybe half the time. The other half he acts like he's never put socks on in his life. His shirt is still tricky for him, but if I hold it open for him to put his arms in he is usually able to get his head and arms where they need to be with little help from me. 

One fun fact about Brayden is that he loves suckers, and now thinks that every time we leave church (or Dan and Theresa's house) that he gets one. And I really shouldn't call them suckers, because he definitely bites them. If you have tricks to get him to stop doing that I'm all ears. 

Brayden's vocabulary has really grown this past year, but he can still be difficult to understand. He is a much pickier eater than Ashley and sometimes won't even try a bite of his food unless you give him a bite of your food first. He enjoys reading books and playing with playdoh. And thanks to his new socks that distributed fuzzies onto his feet which then ended up in the bathtub causing the biggest freak out (by both him and Ashley) that I've ever seen over something that can't hurt them, he is recently a huge fan of showers over baths.  

Favorites for Brayden include dinosaurs, tractors, monsters, and Katie. He told me his favorite color is orange, his favorite food is pop-tarts (strawbaby ones), his favorite toy is dinosaurs, his favorite movie is Monster Doors (Monster, Inc), and he didn't know his favorite song.

From Eric and I's point of view, we would say his favorite color is blue or orange, favorite food is a sucker or pizza, favorite movie is Up, and favorite song is Rolex by Ayo and Teo. Seriously, you should see his moves when a rap/hip hop song comes on ha!

I can't wait to see how his little mind continues to learn and grow through this year.

Here he is with his strawberry flavored orange and green tractor cake (per request) my mom made him for his birthday. He loved it so much he literally would not share it with a single other person at his birthday party.

And now Ashley, my big, big girl.

Ashley might love Eric more than she loves me. She'll ask for him in the mornings and want him whenever she is upset or sad. She is practically the same person that he is- laughing at all of his ridiculous jokes, wanting to pull his finger to make him toot, and cracking the same jokes/sayings that he does (especially calling papa- (Dan) - a fat pig).  

But she has to give me a goodnight hug and kiss (a million of them, actually), and tell me that she loves me (a million times for this one too) before she goes to bed, so I don't think I'm too far from the favorite.

Ashley also feels her emotions on an exaggerated scale. For her, they come out as screams. High, high pitched screams. She will also hit, but I don't feel like she is as quick to do it as Brayden is.

Her curly hair and scrunched nose smile are two of my favorite things in the world. I almost didn't let her get her hair cut for the fear of her losing her curls (mom said that was when I lost my curls as a toddler). Now every time she's gotten her hair trimmed she will comment how her curls haven't gone away. And I really hope they never do.

Ashley is weighing 33.2 pounds and is 3 feet and 1.5 inches tall. She is in size 3T clothes and size 7 shoes. And she is proud to comment how she is a big girl because she goes to the bathroom on the potty (since August of 2022). 

Ashley can fully dress herself, but lately she is wanting me to do more of it for her. Honestly a few months ago she was 100% independent and wanted to do absolutely everything on her own and now she is wanting Eric or I to do more and more for her again. I'm hoping she gets over this phase soon and goes back to wanting to do it all herself here soon. 

Fun fact about Ashley is that she loves a good mash up. Her current favorite is to combine the ABC's with Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. And when she isn't combing them, she is getting stuck in the middle of both of them and making a continuous loop of them. 

Ashley is a sponge and soaks up and remembers what you say. She has an excellent memory and quite a large vocabulary. She's our star eater, and loves to read a good story and look at pictures on my phone. She also prefers showers to baths lately. 

Favorites for Ashley include makeup, dress up, trying to do everything Eric and I do, and Katie. When asked, she told me her favorite color is pink, her favorite food is pizza, her favorite toy is JJ (cocomelon tonie for the toniebox), favorite movie is "Monsters go to school" (Monsters University), and her favorite song is ABCD. When I asked who her best friend was she told me "mommy". 

From Eric and I's point of view, we would say her favorite color is yellow or pink, favorite food is pizza or meatballs, favorite toy is a book, favorite movie is ??- we can't think of a clear winner for this one, and favorite song is twinkle twinkle little star or mommy finger.

I have a feeling that this next year will bring lots of learning and fun for her.

Here she is with her chocolate flavored pink and yellow flower cake she requested from my mom. 

Happy birthday to two of my biggest blessings, biggest pains in my rear end, and biggest joys I could ever ask for. Brayden and Ashley, we wish you all the best in this next trip around the sun!