Dylan is FIVE!!!

How can my tiny little baby boy now be a smallish 5 year old boy?  Man, time sure if flying!  Like Adam's dad said," You think this was fast?  Soon your five year old little boy, will have his own five year old little boy, and you won't know when that could have happened"

Dylan is such a boy these days! As I might have mentioned, Dylan has been going to a full time Pre K since August.  He loves it.  He has learned so much, made lots of friends, and just well, learned so much!

He continues to be the best biggest brother there is.  He loves his little brother and sister something fierce, and I hope the day never comes, when he stops trying to make them laugh.  It's his daily duty.  He is sweet and kind with them, though we do have lots of arguments between him and Graham these days, but I'd say more often than not, they play together and get along still.  I know the day is coming when that won't be the case, but until then, I think I'll savor it.  His life mission is to get Tessa to smile, or laugh, or say something, though it's usually only "MaMa" still! Poor girl, will have no personal space because of Dylan.

Dylan once again played soccer this year.  He certainly improved from his first season, but still has a long way to go.  We have convinced him that you don't always have to score a goal to be helpful on the field.  He has shown some interest in gymnastics, so when I get around to it, I think that will be the next thing on the list.  I don't really want him to play more than 1 thing right now, because I know when he gets older his schedule will be packed with stuff to do, so since he is only 5 we are keeping it simple.

He is of course into ALL things super hero.  although, he seems to have passed the "wearing a suit" torch down to his brother.  Every once in a while I will find him in a suit, but he seems to prefer just a sword, and mask these days.

Right before his birthday, Dylan showed us he was reallly into games, and puzzles.  Much to his Daddy's delight, he loves playing video games as well.  He is surprisingly good at puzzles and I know he will probably get a ton for Christmas.  Paper Rock Scissor is his newest thing.  Though he seems to only like to play with Adam.

He is everything you would think a five year old boy is.  He is full of energy,  Full of attitude. Full of hilarious phrases.  Sweet. Kind hearted. Emotional.  He is infuriating at times, then so gentle and sweet others.  It's hard not to love him, though sometimes he does drive me crazy.

I have a FIVE year old.  How did this happen?

Tessa {9 Months}

Can someone please explain to me, how exactly my baby girl is already nine months old? I'm not sure I understand how this has happened.  Wasn't she just born?  I vividly remember the drive to the hospital!

Anyway, since she is another month older, you get a new post!;)  She is just a joy, most of the time!  She is still just an easy going baby, and a happy one at that.  She is starting to get a little attitude, which worries me a bit!  She will cry when the boys take something away, or if they are playing with her, and leave, she realllly gets mad.  She also is obsessed with my phone.  Just holding it really, and chewing on it, but if I take it away, you got it, she throws a fit.  Other than those things, she is pretty easy going.  She still takes the majority of her naps in the car.  She has gotten really good at getting about ten, 15 minuet naps during the day!  Poor thing, she loves the days we are at home and she can take a nap in her crib, where they are usually 2-3 hours, unless of course she has to be woken up to go somewhere.  Third child problems.

We had a follow up with GI this month, everything was looking good.  Sadly, her numbers hadn't improved, or declined since the last time, so her Dr, didn't give her the "all clear" for liver disease, but she still is hopeful, that she will be just fine.  She is growing and thriving which they say is great, and a good sign.  Maybe I'm naive, but I'm not too concerned about it.

Tessa still isn't crawling, but she has truly become a master at sitting, rolling, and scooting backwards.  This month she also learned how to get herself out of the sitting position without face planting on the ground, and even a few times, got herself from her back, back into the sitting position.  I'm still ok with the fact she isn't crawling or pulling up, though I know it's coming soon.

After my post last month, where I say she wasn't saying anything, the next day she was in her high chair going " mamamama" so she made a liar out of me.  She still says mama, and occasionally we will get some bababa, dadada, and lots of yelling.  She is really good at yelling.  It's loud, and high pitched, and hurts my ears, but she thinks it's so funny.  Not much new on the eating front, other than she is a puff pro these days, we even advanced to yogurt melts,ritz crackers, the occasional piece of pizza crush, and even the crust of a grilled cheese sandwich.  She will still gag sometimes if something gets too far in the back of her mouth, but we are working on it!

This little girl still loves her tongue, it's always sticking out of her mouth.  She can blow raspberries, and slobbers everywhere.  It's adorable, and pretty much most of her pictures, it's hanging out of her mouth!  Such a silly girl!  I can't believe that 9 months with our sweet baby girl has gone by so quickly. She is a joy and her little smile and dimples can light up a room.  Oh and the cheeks aren't so bad either!

9 Month Stats

28 and 1/4 inches ( 80th %)

17 lbs 9 oz ( 25th %)

6 and 9 month onsies, 

9 month sleepers

eating 4-5 bottles a day

Sleeping through the night

Power Graham

disclaimer: I wrote this about 3 weeks ago, just never posted it. poor middle child

Did you forget we had other children?  I know you haven't gotten an update on anyone but Tessa, in oh, about eight months or so.  But Graham just turned THREE!  I can't believe it.

His big birthday theme this year was Power Rangers.  He has really been into them lately and started telling me months ago that he wanted a Power Ranger party. Do you know how hard it is to have a Power Ranger party for a three year old?  All of the pinterest ideas were to have Ninja games and courses, which three and five years olds would make very difficult.  It ended up just being my kiddo's and two other little guys, so they were perfectly content in just playing upstairs, so it all worked out.  

I kept decor and food pretty low key this year, again, the guest attendance was light, so it worked out perfectly.  Chick Fil A was the main course, of nuggets, a
nd chicken salad sandwich along with chips some fruit, and a Sam Club Cake.  It was actually nice because we hardly had any left overs, and I am pretty sure everyone had plenty to eat while they were here.

Graham made out like a bandit with lots of super hero themed gifts, which he has NOT stopped playing with.  He certainly plays with toys in a totally different way than his brother does. It's nice to see him sit with his figures and make them talk and just play.

We had a small gathering with his other besties on his actual birthday at Chuck E Cheese, where they were all in heaven because they got extra tickets if they dressed up in costumes.  That is right up his alley, wouldn't you say!?

We had his three year Dr. visit on Monday, where he weighed in at 27.5 pounds ( 20th percentile) and 37.5 Inches.  ( 60th percentile)  His Dr. also found what looked to him to be an inguinal hernia, so we have a meeting with a general surgeon on Wednesday afternoon for him to look at it to see if he needs surgery.  Fun times.  We are working hard on potty training, and it seems like he is finally getting it.  He stays dry at school, and has even been waking up at night dry.  Amazingly.  Dylan still doesn't even do that.  We've had a few accidents, but hey, I'm alright with that.  ( The Dr. said that he didn't need surgery yet, but if it actually presented as a hernia, we should consider it, but his opinion was to wait and see)

We moved him to his big bed probably about a month ago, and he is loving it.  He loves being able to get into just about any position that he wants, and not fall out.  His brother asks to sleep with him all the time, and the answer is always "No"  he likes his space, what can I say.

He and his brother, they are two peas in a pod.  They have a love/ hate relationship.  Hot and cold.  It just depends on what mood either one of them are in.  They are to the age they love making up games, Dylan loves " being the boss" and telling Graham what to do.  Lucky for Dylan 85% of the time, Graham goes with the flow!

 I can't wrap my head around him being three.  I remember so vividly his birth, and the process of getting there. This year he became a big brother, which he is superb at.  He is so hard headed, and stubborn, but so sweet at the same time.  He loves hard, plays hard, and has a hard head, seriously, we don't think he can feel pain in his head.  I'm not sure where we would be without our GrahamBam, GrammyRammy, Grambo, our middle child.  He always can bring a smile to our face. 

Tessa { 8 Months}

I'm running a bit behind.  Things have been crazy as you can imagine!  Tessa went and turned 8 months last week.  It makes me sad.  She will be one before we know it.  She will be walking, talking, playing, and have an attitude before we know it.  I'm excited to see what kind of a toddler she turns into.  I'm pretty sure she is going to be crazy like two other boys that live in this house.

This month was a pretty good one! Tessa is still sleeping through the night, and she figured out
rolling.  She can now roll from one side of the room to the next, she will get up on all fours, but she isn't anywhere close to actually crawling.  Thank Goodness.  She is still just a joy, and happy baby all around.

This month Tessa was also Baptized.  She did great, and even took a nap in Aunt Erin's arms during the service.  She only cried because we had to wake her up to take her to the front of the church.

She has also gotten to be a big girl.  She sat in her first shopping cart, she usually gets to sit in high chairs at restaurants now, and she sits in the stroller  like a big girl.  She also clocked lots of time in the baby backpack this month.  Halloween, the day after, and lots of days in between.  Lucky for me, she seems to like to snuggle, and we keep each other pretty warm in there.

She is really advancing with her eating of puffs, and she has even tried some other foods.  She has had mashed potatoes, chicken from lettuce wraps, some roll, and even a tiny crumb of cake at a birthday party.  I do enjoy just being able to sit her in the high chair and give her puffs to entertain her.  Most of them end up in her lap, but hey, she'll learn someday!

We go back to her GI next week to have her level's tested again, but I'm pretty confident that she is doing really well.  She is growing, and thriving.  She doesn't say much of anything, she is an observer like Graham, but she doesn't make much sound.  She is either silent, crying, or yelling.  I'm ok with that though to be honest.  If I learned anything with Dylan, it's that kiddo's all do things at their own pace, and eventually all catch up!:)

I'm looking forward to another month watching what Tessa learns and discovers. She is just such a fun age now, where she thinks I'm the most funny, awesome person she'll ever meet.  I need to cherish that, before she learns it's not true!

8 Month Stats

16.5-17 pounds ( my scientific measuring way)
6 month onesies
9month sleepers
sleeping 10-12 hours
4 bottles a day
1-2 meals and snacks

Tessa {7 Months}

Well well well, here we are another month gone.  Our little girl is growing up too fast.  This month was a great one.  She is developing into such a little person with likes and dislikes and a personality.

It's fun to watch the differences in her and her brothers at this point.  Speaking of brothers, boy does she love them.  Something fierce.  Lucky for her, they love her just as much.  She is sitting, and interacting with them, starting to steal things from them, and lets not forget, pulling their hair!  When she wakes up in the morning, they both rush to her room to greet her.

Speaking of sleeping, we hit the jackpot this month.  Well other than a few days when you were cutting your second tooth! You FINALLY figured out how to roll, and have been sleeping on your tummy.  Through the night.  For at least 11 hours.  It's bliss.  I am having to wake her most mornings to get into the car to take Dylan to school.  Luckily, she doesn't need to eat the second she gets up so I can just put her in the car and she can wait until we get home.

Her hair is really starting to come in.  I'm interested to see if it grows differently than the boys did, or if she will have a weird mullet type do until it gets really long! She is a smiley, easy going little girl these days.  She just goes with the flow which is SO nice.

She loves to eat.  She still gets pretty sparatic meals though.  Sometimes gets 3 meals a day, sometimes, none.  Just depends on what I've got going on.  This next month though I'm going to start putting her in a high chair when we are out, so she will probably get to eat more then.

Needless you say, we are looking forward to another fun filled month, with some visitors, and family pictures and lots of other things planned!  I know with the holiday's coming up, just like with my pregnancy, these months are going to FLY by.

7 Month Stats:

15 lbs 12 oz.

wearing 6 and 9 month sleepers

3 months onsies ( still) 6 Month if it's cold!

Sleeping 11 hours a night 

eating 2-4 oz of solids per sitting

Tessa {6 months }

Say it isn't so.  Half a year.  How can this be?  My baby girl is growing into such a big girl!  This month marked some good milestones for us.  Sleeping being pretty much the biggest.  Though she is still not continuously sleeping through the night ( come on child, get with the program) she is ALMOST there.  If she wakes we can for the most part run upstairs and give her a paci and she will go back to sleep.  Talk about creating a bad habit right? But it's better than having to feed her.

Feeding, oh the good times.  She started solids this month.  Like her brothers she has a strong dislike for rice cereal.  I tried it and she refused to eat it.  It took her a bit longer to get used to eating real food, but with some persistence, she is now a champ.  Some funny things she does while she eats are shake, the kiddo just sits there and shakes it so weird, she also does ankle circles, though this is kind of all the time, but I really notice it when she is eating.  Another huge break is that she had blood work done again a couple of weeks ago, and her numbers look great so her GI said I could put her back on normal people formula, so no more $750 a month for formula for her!  Hooray! Probably the biggest milestone this month is that she got a TOOTH.  WHAT?  She isn't old enough for a tooth.  She did get one earlier than both brothers but only by a few weeks.

She is such a happy little girl, and she is no doubt going to be a rough and tumble girl.  She loves to sit and watch her brothers fall down.  It's one of their favorite games, just fall down, but I think we've gotten the biggest belly laughs out of Tessa as she watches this.  So I'm sure as soon as she can fall down, she will think it's hilarious.  Speaking of falling down, she is this close to being a sitter.  Still no rolling, but sitting yes.  Her pediatrician said yesterday that girls usually are not as fast to move as boys, which is a good thing seeing as the boys were rolling around the floor by 4 months.  She is taking her time, and I'm good with that.


This girl has some long legs.  She is still easily in most of her 3 month clothes, but she is about to bust out of her 3-6 month sleepers.  She is in the 60% for length right now, and I'm positive that is because of her legs.  But hey, I bet it's nice to have long skinny legs as a girl, I of course wouldn't know! I'm buying her 6 month clothes for the winter, fingers crossed they work out!

She has no real nap schedule or real schedule for anything really.  Since school started, we are up and out pretty early in the morning, so her naps are usually in the car, and occasionally we are home long enough for her to have a nap in the swing.  She isn't a napper, but I'm ok with that for now because she doesn't get to bad when she is sleepy, nor does she demand that I play with her while she is awake... yet. She gives good smiles away, though it's hard for her to smile at strangers currently. Stranger Danger.  Graham had it.

Needless to say, she is one loved little girl, but everyone in this family, and her brothers can't wait until she can come outside and play soccer with her, or play "fighting" Oh brother! I can't handle her getting big.  I'm totally going to be a mess on her first birthday party.  Something about knowing all of these "firsts" are the last firsts.  But on the other hand, as they all get older, we will enter a new world of doing fun family vacations and not having any restrictions.

6 Month Stats:

14 pounds 10 oz. ( 20th%)

26.25 inches ( 60th %)

Eating 4, 6 to 7 OZ bottles

Sleeping 8ish to 6ish

1 tooth 

eating solid foods ( oatmeal, peas, bananas, peaches, pears, green beans)

Tessa {Five Months}

Little bit has gone and turned five whole months on us.  She is still just a little joy! This month she has given us smiles and giggles, teased us by sleeping through the night, and been on her first plane ride and vacation.  She has been a trouper through all of it.  No new tricks STILL this month, no rolling, sitting or anything like that.  I feel like it's because she spends the vast majority of her time asleep, or in the car seat.  She doesn't get a whole lot of time on the floor. I've been making a huge effort though.  She will roll to her side and she is happy so I think that's why she hasn't gone all the way over yet!

Right after her 4 month birthday she slept through the night for almost a week.  That quickly ended.  Then we went on vacation and she had to sleep in the room with us, and she did great, only waking at about 5-6, then we put her in bed with us, and she would sleep another 2ish hours. Note:  Neither of the boys have ever slept with us.  I thought that I would always bring her into my bed since I saw she slept more but since being home it happened once.  Last week was a rough week for sleep.  She was waking up two sometimes three times a night.  She didn't appear hungry( would only eat a couple ounces), there are no teeth, so the only thing I can think is that she hit that four month regression a little late!

We went to Denver on vacation.  She flew on a plane.  She mostly slept on the plane.  Though in her little bit of awake time she did manage to poop three times.  Once, requiring an outfit change.  Luckily, I learned my lesson with Dylan many years ago and had a change of clothes for everyone, and a couple for Tessa.  Needless to say, Adam and I got really good at changing her just laying across us!:) On our vacation she went on her first, and probably last hike in the baby backpack.  She did great, and never made a sound!

Tessa has found her feet,and her tongue and her voice.  She loves to yell.  She sounds so mad,but she really is just happy yelling.  It's loud though.  Her feet, oh she always has them in her hands!  She also loves to grab her toys on her play mat, and the ones on her car seat.  She grabs them so hard though she often can't untangle her fingers and gets really mad.

She loves her brothers something fierce but I have a feeling is going to start getting really tired of them being all up in her grill all. the. time.  You would have thought her newness would have worn off to Dylan by now, but he is still infatuated with her.  She gets night night hugs and kisses from both on a nightly basis, they bring her toys, want to take her picture, and feed her.  She is a lucky little girly!

Again, no rolling, she will occasionally roll from her belly to her back, but not always, often she will face plant and scream and I feel sad for her so I'll roll her over.  She rolled from back to belly once, but I'm guessing it was a fluke since she hasn't done it again.

She is still my tiny little girl, still wearing 0-3 month clothes.  3-6 month sleepers.  I've come to the conclusion she must have long legs and a short torso, because she is about to bust out of her sleepers, but has plenty of room left in the onsies.  Soon, I'll get to look at some new clothes though!  I've stocked her up for next spring/ summer!  Lets just say, I hope she likes to wear dresses!:)

5 Months Stats:

5-6 Oz bottles - about 28 Oz a day

pretty irratic sleeping

3 Month onsies

3-6 Month sleepers