Counting down.

This week I have decided that we are ready to return to school. . . and I am now counting the days (11 for Grace and 18 for Claire)!  I know I have a shorter fuse right now because as much as I thought I was feeling better, I'm really not.  I'm wiped out all day, cannot get rid of pain in my mouth (hoping it's just my sinuses and not a dreaded root canal coming), and well the girls, let's just say they've had too much togetherness and are whining and fighting over everything.  And to top it all off, Tyler decided two days ago that he was going to start crawling!  My first child to "army crawl" which is so cute and thankfully slow going (right now).  But the days of letting Tyler play on the floor and not worrying about him getting too far are gone, so maybe that's why I'm so tired :)

Thankfully Mike is great about trying to get home right after his last clinic patient.  He helps/plays with the kids until bedtime and then spends most of the night doing his notes from the day.  Here's Mike and Tyler the other night in front of the computer (I'm sure reading about Notre Dame football, no less).

Princess ballerina.

In a few short weeks, the girls will begin dance class for the first time.   Grace did gymnastics for almost 2 years and enjoyed it, but this year we thought we'd try something new.  To help the girls get more comfortable with the place they will be taking dance, I signed them up for camp that lasted four mornings last week.  Claire's sickness precluded her from getting to participate the last two days, but Grace seemed to thoroughly enjoy the experience.  The camp was entited "Tutus and Tiaras" and all the little girls were princesses on the last day. 

Trying to move.

Other than a lingering headache and a slightly reduced appetite, I'm finally feeling close to normal.  Claire is getting back to her normal self as well, though she did voluntarily get in her bed around 4pm this afternoon and actually fell asleep, so I know she's not 100% yet!  Thank goodness, we were able to enjoy a lazy, stormy afternoon at our house. 

And now back to what I was planning to post right before I got sick.  These pictures were taken on July 15 and clearly show that life as we know it in our house is soon going to change. 

Fortunately, Tyler's still working on his push-ups since these pictures were taken.  And I'm secretly hoping he continues to until at least 2 weeks from now (i.e., when Grace begins school).  Maybe then I'll have better luck at keeping the floor a little cleaner!

Sickness.

So many things to blog about, but no energy to do so right now.  I came down with a virus on Tuesday night and have been feeling miserable ever since.  Trying to deal with a bad headache, nausea, toothaches, and no energy because of not being able to eat has made for a fun two days.  Of course, it was a busy week because Grace and Claire were in dance camp Monday - Thursday morning this week.  So every morning we were on the go with no time to rest and get better.  Claire got sick as well (and had to miss the last two days of dance), but fortunately everyone else is feeling fine (right now).  And thanks to my mom taking the girls this afternoon and Tyler napping from 12-4, I was actually able to nap for 3 hours today which was a good step in the right direction.  Hopefully tomorrow, everyone will be close to 100 percent. 

Mastery.

For weeks Tyler has been playing with his cheerios.  Picking them up.  Dropping them.  But never getting them into his mouth.  Well, he put it all together earlier this week. . . .

. . . and he couldn't be happier with his accomplishment!

Snack time.

Summer time = perpetual snacking in our house.  Here's Claire and her hodge podge of food eaten over the course of the morning/afternoon.

Let's see. . . a blue bowl with some pretzels, leftover pizza from the night before, yogurt, an empty glass of milk, and an apple.  At least some days our snacks are fairly healthy! 

Apples were the choice snack this afternoon.  Eaten whole by one child and cut up by the other. 

As much as we're enjoying our relaxed summer schedule (and constant snacking), it's probably a good thing Grace's school starts in 3 1/2 weeks and Claire's in 4 1/2 weeks.  Maybe then Tyler won't be the only one getting three decent meals each day!  Though he still enjoys his snacks as well.  Some sweet potato puffs and O's.  Yum!

8 months.

I guess this post should really be about Tyler at 8 1/2 months since he's closer to that right now.  He turned 8 months old on Saturday, June 26.  We spent that day in Nashville with our former neighbors, The Senna's.  It's always a lot of fun for us to get back up to Nashville to see them for a day!

Now, here's some information about Tyler right now:

• Last month, I was commenting that Tyler had been a little fussier than usual.  The reason finally presented itself a few days after Tyler turned 8 months old. . . a tooth!  With both my girls, I never knew they were cutting a tooth until after the tooth had popped through.  It appears, however, that Tyler does not have as high of a pain tolerance because he is constantly letting us know his displeasure about teething and always pushes my hand away anytime I get close to his mouth. 
• Tyler has been sitting up for a while, but this past month, I finally felt as if I could sit him down and not worry about him falling forward or backward and hurting himself.  He can now reach forward or sideways to reach for toys and can get himself back up without help.  He's been trying to pull up on things but is not strong enough yet.
• This month, Tyler started sleeping on his belly at night and during naps.  It amazes me that last month, he really did not like being on his belly at all and now wants to be on his belly when he sleeps.
• Tyler is not crawling, but he gets on all fours and rocks back and forth.  He's figured out how to move around though by reaching and rolling or pushing himself backward. 
• Before Tyler started teething, he was sleeping great.  Now he's fighting going to sleep at night and usually wakes up once during the night.  When I check on him, two fingers are in his mouth and he will not go back to sleep unless I feed him or let him sleep with me.  And then I don't sleep well because he moves around a lot in his sleep!  On typical (non-teething pain) nights though, he'll go to bed around 7pm and get up between 6-7am.  He's usually back to bed for nap between 8-9am and sleeps around 1-2 hours.  Then he usually takes just one afternoon nap starting around 1pm.
• I still nurse Tyler 4-5 times each day. He is also eating cereal twice a day and a fruit in the morning and a veggie/meat at night. He's still eating Mum Mums and has figured out how to pick up the Puffs and can sometimes get them in his mouth.  He started eating Cheerios the other day.  He'll pick those up but for some reason won't put them in his mouth. 
• Tyler still babbles the same words. Mostly says "Ba Ba" and sometimes "Ma Ma" but that's still it. He's still as high pitched as ever.
• Tyler loves to grab anything, especially faces and hair, and he'll squeeze and pinch with all his might.  The girls have learned at times to not get so close!
• Tyler now weighs 17lb. 10oz and measures 26 3/4 inches. He gained one pound from last month and finally looks like he is filling out with some cute pudgy legs.  He's been wearing both 6-9 month clothing and 9-12 month clothing.  He is still wearing size 3 diapers.
• We have not used a pacifier at all this month so it's officially gone.  Instead at night, he is using a blankie.  His favorite right now is the Angel Dear Monkey that the Senna's gave him.  Claire has a pig one that she still likes to sleep with, so I decided to buy Tyler some other animals to have on hand.  They are all so cute. 

Here's a new picture of Tyler (at 8 1/2 months) in the 12 month onesie and the 7 month old picture for comparison.  I think this is the last time I'm going to be able to lie him down on the ottoman to get this picture. . . I had very little time to snap some pictures before he tried to roll off it!

4th of July.

We had a nice 4th of July weekend.  On both Saturday and Sunday morning, we started the day off at the pool and left by 11am, right when it started to get crowded.  The night of the 4th, fireworks were going off all around us.  Two different people on the street over from us as well as one neighbor on our street were shooting off large fireworks.  Our neighbor across the street had more kid friendly fireworks and started off with parachutes to entertain the kids.

Once you caught a parachute, you were out, so the number of the kids dwindled until everyone caught a parachute. 

There were enough parachutes for two rounds.  The first round Grace was the last one to catch a parachute.  But the second go around she caught one a little faster. . . and she was so excited!!!!

Our neighbor was not setting off huge fireworks by any means; however, I think we were the only ones on any of the streets around us to get the honor of having the cops visit us.  Gotta love a neighbor who actually walks outside her front door and stares directly at us while she is on the phone with the cops! Nice.

Claire, our child who is frightened by pretty much everything, ran inside at the first sound of CRACK!  Tyler, on the other hand, was laughing at the noise and enjoyed the show. 

Hope everyone had a great 4th of July this year!

Sibling resemblance.

It's pretty obvious that Grace looks like me and Claire more resembles Mike.   From the moment Tyler arrived, I have always felt as if I were looking at Grace when she was a baby.  Mike, however, continually tries to assert that Tyler is more of a blend between both of us.  I beg to differ and think I found two good pictures to argue my point. 

Here's the picture I posted yesterday of Tyler and one of Grace at the same age (and in the same Exersaucer).  Two thoughts on the pictures:  (1) I had forgotten how dark Grace's hair was and (2) I'm so glad I have a new camera!

Mood change.

Three days ago, we were all smiles. . .

Whereas yesterday, we sported a wet shirt and tears because of the pain. . .

Finally, four days after turning 8 months old, Tyler's first tooth is trying to break through!  Right now, I'm trying to decide what's worse, sleep deprivation due to a newborn or an 8 month old getting his first tooth!