First Ever Day of School

How can I have a preschooler already?  I mean the signs are all there--he's potty trained, counting, identifying letters and shapes, asking "why" every other question, wanting to play with his friends every day, and learning to manipulate his parents! 

When I put "first day of school" of the calendar for the first time in our house this year it brought such nostalgia reminding me of all the "first days" I had and how excited I always was to return to school.  The trips to the over-crowded school supply aisles at Wal Mart with my dad, the anticipation of going up to the school to see who my teacher was and who my classmates would be, and shopping for a new school wardrobe with my mom at Uptons and Marshalls :)  On one hand I am so excited for Hank to head out into the world on his own and start creating a place in the world outside of our home, on the other hand I miss him terribly on the two mornings a week he is gone and I feel like a part of myself is missing.  The house is so quiet, and even Lucy seems distressed when she can't locate her brother running amuck.  

The first day of school has been a highly anticipated day in our ouse since we had to register him way back in January.  I got teary eyed just thinking about it over the past few months, and pushed the idea out of my mind.  Although, I knew my hard headed little man needed some preparation to adjust to the idea so we went out and bought a backpack and a lunchbox, we drove by his school  frequently to "get excited".  

The first day arrived, and he was so excited!  I was actually a little shocked as he is generally very resistant to change and I assumed we would have some difficulty with the big life change.  Well, that excitement wore off and we had a rough 3 weeks with lots of crying/anxiety surrounding school days despite the fact that his teachers told me that he did great and he came home everyday chatting up a storm about his new friends and the day's activities.  Hank has been home with a nanny since he was born, so this was a huge change for him to be dropped off somewhere.    Like his father, Hank is always thinking, I can see the wheels turning all the time, but he internalizes everything like his dad.  So, ole mom never really knows what's going on in those heads, but I can be sure there is a lot being processed all the time-I could see his little head in overdrive trying to wrap his head around school, but he said very little to me about it. 

 After 3 weeks of screaming at drop off, constantly telling me "i don't like school", and generally a lot of anxiety for me, he just woke up one morning and said "I like to go to school, but I just miss you, and dad, and Baby Lucy".  That's my little man!  After we talked about it, he just flipped a switch and since then-school is great!  and mom is soooo relieved as I didn't think I could survive a whole year of whining/crying on Tues/Thurs mornings.  

So school is great-I'm still not used to the idea, but on the outside I'm very happy for Hank.  The first week a good friend of mine who also has a little one starting school for the first time this year sent me an email and said to me  "Here's to our children growing up and learning to fly with their own wings. It won't ever be easy, but we can do it because we love them enough to let them" ...ain't that the truth?

5 months old

I still feel like I was just pregnant with Lucy last week, now I turn around and she's 5 months old!  Still sweet as ever, I'd actually venture to say that she just keeps getting sweeter all the time.  She is full of giggles and smiles everyday and rarely do we hear this little one cry. She is such a joy to have in our family-she absolutely adores her big brother.  No one can make her laugh like he can, and the mornings that he goes to school she seems to really miss him and all of his nonstop activity.  The last month has been full of excitement for our little lady-first and second vacations/road trips, first solid foods, first cold :(, first trip to the beach, and first time meeting all of her extended family. 

Some 5 month stats: No official weigh in this month, but according to our scale she's up in the 13.5-14 pound range!!  Finally some weight going on this little girl!

Likes:

• rolling all over the floor
• pushing up on all 4s trying to crawl
• peek a boo
• chewing on everything
• sitting up in the high chair like a big girl
• pool time
• playing in the exersaucer
• squealing at her brother
• faces
• looking in the mirror
• sucking on her toes

Dislikes:

• not being able to actually crawl-she tries and tries until she gets so frustrated!
• being in the carseat too long-I think she gets angry that she has to face backwards!

Sweet summertime

Who has time to sit around and blog when it is summertime??!!??  Well, now that our vacations are over, swim lessons are done, and school has started it seems it is time for a blog update on our recent happenings.  Our roost has been in a crazy state of change, so I have many posts coming to catch everyone up!  

First up...our family vacation to the Outer Banks!  This has been a long awaited family vacation for my entire family as it was planned well over a year ago.  The OBX was the agreed upon "middle ground" between Chicago and the southeast; although I think all parties would argue after their respective road trips.  Who knew that it would take 12 hours to drive from Atlanta to the OBX?  Either way, it was basically the ultimate beach vacation--Hank and Lucy were in heaven with all the swimming, sand, and cousin love.  We all stayed in an enormous beach house complete with private pool, elevator, theater room, and across the street beach access.  We've been home over 3 weeks and I'm still missing the beach!  I guess we need to get planning for next year :)

 

4 months old

Sweet, Sweet, and Sweet.  The best word to describe our little Lucy.  I'm a huge fan of this age--full of smiles and giggles and fun things like toe grabbing and blowing raspberries.  Lucy is such a dream-always happy, super chatty, mellow, and extra snuggly.  If I am ever feeling overwhelmed, stressed, or tired a few minutes of hanging with Lucy is guaranteed to turn my day around.  She is still our petite little one; although she is becoming rather long and lean like her dad-isn't that what all women want anyways? Her hair just keeps getting longer and longer and now she can wear fun barrettes and almost has enough for little pigtails! Who does she look like?  Well she has my hair for sure, but some days we will have 3 people say she looks like the spitting image of her dad and the next day 3 people will say she's the spitting image of me.  When I look at baby pictures of myself, sometimes it is like looking at a picture of Lucy; however sometimes I look at her and see a striking resemblance to her dad-either way I am starting to see a lot of her brother in her.  She still has deep blue eyes that I'm thinking will change to brown-Hank still has beautiful blue eyes but Johnny and I both have dark brown eyes, one of our kids has to have eyes like us, right?

Favorites at 4 months:

• grabbing my toes!
• rolling over from back to front 
• cooing and babbling-starting to hear consonant sounds already!
• playing on my playmat
• watching my bird mobile in the crib
• sucking on my fingers
• squealing and laughing at my brother Hank when he "gets my piggies"
• any water fun-bathtime, pooltime, splash fountains
• blowing raspberries
• swinging on the porch with dad
• swinging at the playground with Hank
• standing up
• looking in mirrors

Not so Favorites: (there is really only one)

• my carseat--this should make our 12 hour car trip to the Outer Banks a lot of fun :)

How Lucy measures up: Long, Lean, and a big head

Height: 25 inches 69th %

Weight: 12 lbs 9th %

Head: 16.6 inches 90th%

First playdate with Ellie and Gigi

Bathtime is fun!

I found my toes! 

First Braves Game

The camera loves her

Looking just like her brother in this one

Fathers Day Adventures

For our father's day celebration we decided to celebrate all the dads in our life and rent a pontoon boat for the day up on Lake Lanier.  Hank is always thrilled to have all of his "grammies and grampies" in one place.  It was a beautiful day, perfect for a boat ride and a swim in the lake.  Hank even caught his first fish! Lucy was completely content to be held in the shade by one of many willing arms or stretch out on a blanket on the shore.   Happy Father's day to all!

3 months

Oh my sweet sweet Lulu....I cannot imagine a baby sweeter and happier than this little girl.  I can count on one hand the number of times this little one actually cries during a week.  She flashes her sweet smile at me constantly now, and has started giving little giggles if I tickle her cheeks.  Still full of coos and goos, and recently started shrieking followed by a huge smile as if she's so proud of herself.  I love the 3 month marker-babies start becoming more like the babies we imagine bringing home from the hospital and less like the little scrunched up wrinkly newborn who does nothing but sleep and eat.  Lucy now spends a lot of time on her activity mat working on bicycle kicks and rolling practice (she can roll from her back up to her side, but not quite all the way over yet).  She sits up in her Bumbo a lot-she seems to really like seeing the world from the upright position; although her little neck gets tired quickly.  She has started napping her in crib now and will just smile and giggle as she watches her mobile go around.  Did I mention that she puts herself to sleep?  Swaddle her tight, give her the passy, set her in the bed she'll give you a huge smile and that's it.  I'll hear her chattering for a few minutes and then she's out.  She also wakes up full of smiles, and lets me know when she's hungry by grunting at me rather than crying.  

Our little peanut is certainly getting bigger, but remains on the small side.  She's up to about 11 1/2 pounds and fits right into 3 month clothes.  Her hair is getting so long so fast-can't wait for pigtails!  Hank just told me this morning that baby Lucy is his best friend, he's such a great big brother to her.  There is no one that she smiles at more than him--she will follow him around a room with her eyes like no one else.  He will get her passy when she fusses, cover her with his blankets so she won't get cold, pats her head while she nurses, and gives her rattles while she lays on the floor.  Anytime he wants us to play in another room or outside, he will immediately run and get a chair for baby Lucy to sit in so she can be included as well.  Hank is such a rough and tumble boy, always moving, yelling, throwing etc but with his sister he has such a gentle side.  She's so lucky to have such a good big brother!

 Before she was born, I frequently wondered how it would feel to have a 4th member of our family.  I would feel sad thinking that our days as a family of 3 were almost over, but those were such silly worries!  From the second she came into the world, there was no question that there has always been a spot for her in our family-she just fits right into the mix and makes us all so so happy! 

Happy 3 months to my Lulu bird!