"no, no, they can't take that away from me..."

Dear Little Sweet,

You're seven months old and you have quite the personality and spunk! You let us know that you're there and what you want or don't want...like having certain things taken away....like the remote.  You shriek in protest!   

We made our first trek out to visit Mimi and Bubba and Aunt Denise & her family without daddy and the Fonz. You screamed for about forty minutes each way. Not a big fan of not having mommy right there with you.  Hopefully our next long car ride will be a bit more peaceful.

This month you started to roll a bunch.  At first you'd only go one way and then get stuck, but you've gradually learned to flip the other way.  We're still working on sitting up on your own.  You either fold in half or tip over to the side.  I think you're more interested in getting around and won't want to be sitting for long.  You seem to be constantly moving!  You love to kick you're legs....you even do it in your sleep!

We started solids and you're slowly getting the hang of it.  You've started to open your mouth when I put the bib on you.  So far we've done avocado, oatmeal (you prefer breast milk mixed in with that), green beans & peas (not a huge fan of those), squash & sweet potatoes, pears and apples (those have been a favorite so far). I have a feeling you're really going to like finger foods when you get a little bit bigger.  You love to suck on my apple core and try to hold it yourself.

Three more teeth popped out this month.  You now have three on the bottom and two on the top...the left one on the side started coming in before the front ones.  It looks like there are two more working their way out.  Ever since they started to come through long stretches of sleep have been few and far between (that's a whole post in itself!).  I'm really hoping that you grow out of this phase quickly...I do better with a good five or six hour stretch of sleep, sweet pea!

Like your big brother at this age, you're going through a bit of a mommy phase.  While at Mimi and Bubba's you were fine to have them hold you until you saw me.  You actually got confused at one point when Bubba was holding  you and Aunt Denise walked in the room.  You started to fuss, thinking it was me...you looked quite confused when we stood next to each other and talked to you :-)

I'm looking forward to bringing you to the pool in the month ahead and watching you splash around with Levi!

"I go back....I go back..."

A couple weeks ago I went out to visit my parents and Denise and her family. I've driven the PA turnpike too many times to count and this was probably one of the top five most stressful rides! Poor Grace isn't used to being in her seat for that long and without a pacifier...well, a pacifier other than me, she was not too happy! Thankfully Levi was a champ and at one point just said "that's loud mommy"...what a trooper! Seeing my family's excitement and Levi's happiness made the trip all worth it...we even stayed an extra day to make the traveling more worthwhile.

Each time I visit my parents' there's something that takes me back in time. This time my parents had a toy out for the babies that used to be in my crib when I was young.  Grace seemed to enjoy all the dials and spinning things. 

I asked my mom to dig around to see if she could find a picture of me playing with it...she enough there was one....nude! (I guess now I can say I have a picture of myself naked on the internet!)

My mom kept the first dress that my grandfather had given me.  I think she said that he went out and bought it himself the day I was born.



 I decided to do Grace's week 29 pictures in it.  She's bigger than I was when I first wore it, but cute anyway.

 

Always fun to take a trip down memory lane...especially when you can go there with your own little ones!

"where, oh where has that little dog gone?"

Last Thursday the Fonz turned two.  It's hard to believe he was once just a little thing!  We celebrated by putting a party hat on him and singing "happy birthday" before giving him his dinner with a little something extra on it.
He's finally coming out of the adolescent stage and becoming a dog.  He does great with the kids and watches out for them.  He still gets a little feisty if you give him too much attention so you have to kind of draw a hard line with him.  True to the breeds nature, he's ever the watchdog and will let you know when the UPS man is driving down the block...he remembers the sound of his brakes I think!  You'd think he ran miles a day by his physique, but most of his days are spent sunning himself on the deck and barking at the squirrels and neighbor's cats.

 

Some days he drives me nuts, but life wouldn't be the same without him!

It's been a lovely Mother's day.  Grace gave me a five hour stretch of sleep last night...hallelujah!  I woke up to a few cards and a beautiful bouquet of roses.  Levi and I watched some birds on the front steps in our PJ's before church and talked about the little helicopter seeds that had fallen.  Grace stayed in the nursery for a little bit for the first time and seemed to enjoy the new toys there.  We went to Outback for lunch (Levi's request), I actually ate my whole meal before it got cold and got some Starbucks on the way home. Now Grace is taking a marathon nap and we're anxiously awaiting the arrival of Grammy Bev!

Other Mother's day happenings....last week Levi told me that they were working on something special at school for today. He's not the best with secrets and mentioned something about a flower and painting it purple because it was my favorite color. When I picked him up on Thursday he was even more excited than usual to show me what was in his bag (we have a little routine every school day...we have to step aside so other people can get through while he takes everything out of his bag to show me!).  I told him that Mother's day wasn't until Sunday but he didn't want to wait to give it to me. 

 

...a cute little flower frame.  He told me that I could put it by the window in the kitchen by my other flowers :-)  Along with the little frame was a card.  Levi drew a picture of the two of us and signed his name.  His teachers filled in the blanks. 

 

I got a little teary-eyed when I read the reason that he loved me...because God is in me! Little Man, I really hope that is true...despite all my many flaws I really hope that you see God in there somewhere!  Happy Mother's Day!

"rolling, rolling, rolling...."

It was only a matter of time before little G figured it out. She had a few instances where she flipped from her back to stomach but didn't know how to keep going. Last Monday she finally got on a roll...literally. It's so funny to watch her keep flipping over and over. Levi's getting a big kick out of it too.  Guess it's time to re-babyproof the house!

Like most preschooler, Levi asks a LOT of questions...."why?" is a particular favorite.  I've written about that before.  At times it gets a little annoying (sometimes he does it just to push my buttons!), but I've grown used to it and now it's just part of our daily routine.
I guess it's the biologist in me, I try to answer his questions about the body and scientific stuff as accurate as possible so he can understand.  Lately we've been talking more about different food groups.  He had eaten a ton of cantaloupe and carbs the one day so I told  him he needed something with protein....like some chicken or yogurt. Now he asks me "does this have protein?" when we eat different things.  A while back he was trying to "do his business" and I told him that he needed to eat more fruits and vegetables.  I had to laugh the  other day...I was putting away the groceries while he was in the bathroom and he yelled out "is turkey a fruit, Mommy?"...he cracks me up!