Squeaker is now a YEAR OLD!!

Are you ready to hear the cliche things we all say at this point in our babies' lives?

"Where has the time gone?" "I can't believe my baby is one already!" "It seems like he was just born!"

And yet I mean all of them.

As for an update on the little guy, he has 5 teeth for sure. Not sure if that one tooth that has been bugging him has popped through yet. He still has his blue eyes, which makes me happy. (I have a brown-eyed boy, and I was hoping for a blue-eyed one, too. I think it's fun when they are so different.) He has been taking steps for a bit now, but isn't truly walking yet. I think he probably could, but he is too chicken to go for it. Oh! And he has a small dimple in his right cheek. None of my others have a dimple, so it excites me. However, the sort of dimple it is, I half wonder if it is the chub in his face that is giving him the dimple... guess we'll have to wait to find out for sure.

He's actually super shy. He hides from other babies, lol! I admit that I love how he curls up on me when another person comes near. But if you are at home with us (and he is used to you enough), he is so fun and active. He talks and talks, even seems to sing sometimes. He goes up and down our stairs with the older kids to the playroom. They can't shake him, but they actually love it. Sweetheart (my 4 yr old) will actually get down on Squeaker's level to ask him to play with him. It's pretty sweet.

Oh yes, one more thing - he has a trade mark growl when he is happy, of all things. I suppose for him it would be akin to a cat purring. He just growls and growls. It's pretty amusing.

The weird thing for me is... no new baby in sight. I'm trying to savor his each and every... everything! I wonder if he'll be the last or not. If he is the last - what a way to end that season! He is just SO wonderful. I cannot complain a bit!

Glimpses of the kidlets

I thought I'd let you in on how the kids are doing. It's amazing when I think about it how fast they are growing.

Sunshine is in first grade this year. She loves loves loves school. In fact, the girl *enjoys* tests. Can you believe that? Her reading level is wonderful. Tonight she brought the newspaper to me, pointing to an article she had gotten about a couple paragraphs into. And speed drills for math excite her. I love my little nerdy girl! (Made in her mama's own image. I was in Math Club in high school, where I voluntarily spent my Saturdays at math contests.) She's got a couple permanent teeth now and more on their way. I see braces in our future... Also, she has discovered that she loves sewing on my machine. She made a purse the other day for herself.

Sugar-n-Spice is doing preschool and loving school as well. So far, I show her things pretty much once, and she has it. I know it won't always be that way, but it is an encouraging beginning. No one wants the initial experience to be like pulling teeth. She is ever so much like her name, too. We go from sweet moments when she tells me that she loves me even more than she loves her friends (lol) but then we are disciplining her for telling one of said friends that if they don't share, she is going to kick their *ahem*. (I know everyone deals with their kids picking up a few unsavory phrases here and there, but I kinda hoped we'd avoid it for a couple more years.) A roller coaster ride with her for sure, but hey, let's all admit it: we love our rides, don't we?

Sweetheart is soooo enamored with Spiderman/Peter Parker. Mistakenly, some days I call him by his given name and am quickly chastized for not remembering to call him Spiderman/Peter Parker. And it has to be the entire name of "Peter Parker" if that is the day's alternate identity. I can't get away with a simple "Peter." Part of the obsession (or maybe the reason for the obsession) includes all 3 Spiderman movies. We are also still working potty training this little turkey. And just today I found out why it is going so slowly - he prefers the diaper route. He would rather just not be bothered with the toilet, thank you very much. Bribes of candy do not entice him. So we're off to try something he might be interested in: Spiderman stickers. Think it'll work?

Shortcake has become quite the singer. And it is so adorable!! Just today I heard her ask Squeaker if he wanted to hear the song "Fishers of Men." It came out something like, "See Fishuh Men? I may fishuh men, fishuh men, fishuh men..." etc. If you know the song and can figure out toddler-speak, then you totally just understood that! I also canNOT keep that girl out of the refridgerator. She has also found a stubborn streak when it comes to naps and bedtimes, as well as wanting to sit in a regular chair instead of her booster chair. She is two and wants to be seen as a twelve-year-old.

Squeaker is 5 months old now. He been rolling over for awhile, grabs anything within reach, growls in pleasure (hilarious), and loves to watch Shortcake. He is no longer breastfeeding and seems to miss it. He won't take a bottle from anyone else if I'm around - he only wants Mama to give him that bottle. I think he is also entering the separation anxiety phase. I admit sheepishly that I love that he wants me. Oh yes, and if you should elect to hold the kissable bundle, wear waterproof clothing; he drools.

Oy Vey

I told Sunshine tonight that her new name was gonna be Scissors.

Why? Oh because of the little matter of about 12 inches. That is roughly how much of her beautiful hair I'm gonna have to cut off to fix what she did today.

She has the most beautiful hair down to her rearend. It is just gorgeous. We get comments on her hair almost every outting. And now, it will be up to around her shoulder blades.

Not only that, but she took the same scissors to her sister's hair (Sugar-n-Spice) which has literally taken us YEARS to get to a decent length. S-n-S's hair doesn't grow. She still has a patch in the front of her head that is only ONE inch long (yes, that is correct). She will be 5 in a few months, and it still hasn't grown past an inch long. Her hair is finally to her shoulders, after 5 years of growing and growing. She has had two trims in her entire life! And Sunshine decided to cut it.

When I discovered it, I felt like laughing and crying at the same time. Still do.

Kids. What do you do with them? Take pictures first, then get angry, right?

The fun of pretending with Sweetheart

When I was growing up, Dad said he loved to sit and listen to us pretend. I have only sisters, and Dad says that none of us ever wanted to be the daddy when we played house. It made him laugh, but I'm sure part of him would have loved to hear one of us be excited - or at least willing - to be the daddy.

Well, it has been more of the same around here, until very recently (the last week or so) when Sweetheart started being willing to pretend with his sisters.

The first time he was pretending to be Daddy, complete with a military outfit. He was actually lowering his voice a bit to be Daddy! He walked around holding Sunshine's hand as they pretended to be married.

And today, he was pretending to be "Papa" as he calls my dad. I just had to call Dad to tell him. As you can guess, he found that pretty cool. This new little "Papa" was reading books to his "granddaughters" and tucking them in. Pretty sweet.

Had to expand modesty discussion with my oldest

We were reading yet again the story of creation. And of course, there was the pic of Adam and Eve naked. Well, we've pushed modesty so much here at home with the girls that she was appalled that they were naked together. She has always pointed out the fact that they are naked, and I'd always sidestepped the issue.

But today she pushed it, so I just took a deep breath and told her that it's ok for husbands and wives to be naked together. Which led to the *very simple* discussion that God says husbands and wives are one, so it's ok. She asks if she can be naked with her husband one day, and I say yes. She had a bit of trouble understanding, but the simple answer seemed to suffice her, anyway... it's just that these sorts of things tend to come out in her play, so I know I'll be hearing her say to her little sister, "You be the naked husband, and I'll be the naked wife." I know I'll deal with it when it comes up, but goodness.

Growing up is so much fun!

Shortcake now drinks from both a sippy and a straw. She learned both skills in the last few days. Man, does it make things easier. Now when we are out, I don't always have to nurse her, if it's not a good time. Sometimes she still insists, but often she is content with the other options.

Goodness, I just can't believe how big she is getting! She walks pretty quickly now. And she loves to play chase. I chase her by crawling behind her, slapping the ground behind her really loudly, which makes her shriek in glee, while growling at her. She loves it. She gets so excited that she'll get all tangled up in her own legs and crash. Then I attack her and tickle. I do SO love that belly laugh!

Shortcake's busy week!

The biggest news is that she is now ONE YEAR OLD!!! She had her birthday July 5th. Poor girl was too tired to enjoy her cake. So I forsee a reinactment one of these days. I want some good pics of her digging in!

She also experienced her first fireworks display. She sat on Grandpa's lap and STARED. She occasionally clapped and shrieked in delight. Very.cute. Boy, did it bring back memories of last year's experience at the fireworks show. I was doing my best impression of a hippo. I'm short - between 5'3" and 5'4", carrying my babies straight out front. People stared at me as I'd work my way up and down the concrete steps. The next day she was born, weighing 10 pounds, 10 ounces. See what I mean when I say hippo impression?

As if a birthday and your first fireworks weren't enough, she also started giving us kisses, saying "uh oh" and cut her 6th tooth. Oh yeah, and walking more and more. The week before, her walking to crawling ratio was probably 50:50. This week, we're looking at 75:25.

Dad affectionately calls her "Sookie," which you Gilmore Girl fans will recognize instantly. He says it in this special tone of voice that makes her grin. And although we hadn't seen my parents in about two weeks which made her look at him like... "I think I know you," she instantly threw herself at him when he did the "Sookie" thing. You could just see her little light bulb turn on.

And here I will leave you with a picture of Grandpa (my dad) and his "Sookie."

Typing with Shortcake

is a very hard thing to do. I thought I'd type and not fix the typose so you can see who she affects my writing. Ritght now she is playing with the mouse and keyboard, so letters are getting shifted around.

47iuIsn't it fun when they get curious about what you are doing and want to do it too?,




idea how she does some of the stuf fshe does. Like no? some how now I'm typing above where I was. Go figure. 76
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She pu41
lls up all sorts of swinowsd and programs with a smack of her tiny hand on the keyboard. I've been using computers for a very long time, and yet she knows shortcuets I do not.

Ok, I put her down. And she's none too happy about it, either, lol. But you can see all the stuff I have to fix when she is with me.

Leap Frog... played solo?

I kept hearing Sunshine thumping in the hallway, so I asked her what she was doing.

"Playing Leap Frog!"

This I had to see. She was alone. How do you play it alone? Well, I'll tell ya. With a rock. LOL, yup. A rock.

She was laying the rock on the floor, leap frogging over it, then pretending it was jumping over her (she didn't just move the rock, it actually had to go up in the air over her body). Then she'd repeat. And when she got down to the end of the hallway, she yelled, "I WON!"

What a goof.

Whew - close call with Shortcake

Last night she started choking on something small that we really don't know how she got... anyway, she started choking and couldn't breathe. She was doing one of those high-pitched wheeze things. It felt like my heart stopped for a few seconds. Time felt kinda surreal while we were trying to get it out. Looking back, it was only maybe 10 seconds, but it felt long.

I'm so thankful God allowed us to get it out so quickly. That gal is such a joy! Life around here would NOT be the same. She makes us all giggle and adore her.

Did I tell you she is crawling now? Anywhere she wants to go, she goes. And she's been pulling up on things, too, as well as experimenting with holding on with only one hand. Where does the time go?

Proud and funny moment

Today, Sunshine colored a picture for a friend who still lives back in our former neighborhood. And for the first time ever, she sounded out her own words to put on the picture. All I've ever asked her to do is sign her name, nothing more. But she put on the picture:

"Fum Sunshine"

LOL, I'm soooo proud. She is still in preschool, but sounding out words and writing them herself!

I didn't dare tell her how to correctly spell "from." I think it is precious the way it is.

Hide!

Sweetheart is just a doll these days. Well, I suppose he is most of the time, but lately he is just even sweeter. Today he took my hand, dragged me into the living room, and while holding his favorite fleece blanket, he said, "Hide! Hide!" So we sat on the floor together, covered by the blanket, breathing stale air. He kept grinning and giggling, pulling his little head into his shoulders - do you know the silly gesture I'm describing?

Oh, he is soooo cute. And I'm not biased.

Please, enlighten me

Why do children insist on telling you their bowel habits?

I regularly receive an update on their happenings. When Sunshine was little, she went through a phase of describing the color and shape of her bowel movements. Occasionally now she'll tell me its degree of firmness. (I'm sooo sorry. I'm trying to keep this from grossing you out as you eat a sandwich at the keyboard. Or brownies. Oops. Sorry.)

But these days, mostly they run up to me, holding themselves and declaring their needs loudly. "I"ve gotta go p*tty!" And even less exciting to hear, "I've gotta go p**p!"

Great... so go already. Don't come tell me. If you're holding the pertinent body part, then you probably don't have time to gamble with, you know?

Kids. Gotta love 'em.

Who cake?

As you know, my youngest goes by "Shortcake" here on my blog.

Today my sister and I were discussing that she just doesn't fit the description anymore, as she is large for her age (wearing 12 month clothes when she is only 7 months old). So my sister suggested we change her name... to Poundcake. LOL

I'm not going to, though. Gotta keep the alliteration going, ya know.

Shortcake isn't living up to her name

Nope, she isn't. She is 7 months old, but she is wearing 12 month clothes! I cannot believe she is growing so well. None of my other kids have grown like this! She is both as tall as a 12-mo old, as well as heavy as a 12-mo old.

Now, my other two girls were always considered on the tall side for their age, but nothing to the point of wearing clothes that were ahead of their ages. Sweetheart, well, he has been on the small size for awhile, and just recently started being considered "average" in some categories. So I guess I've had all the ranges.

Also, she has got two teeth and working on two more (very slowly, though... they've been teasing us for awhile now), and she can sit up alone. She loves her mommy and her feet, LOL. She also likes Mommy's toes. I think perhaps because they are painted...? And she loves her big sisters and brother. They make her laugh so much!

Sweetheart's thumbs up

Sweetheart is a "new" 2 year old, so his finger coordination isn't so great. When we give him a thumbs up, he does his version - his index finger!

Sunshine can write her name in cursive!

She can write her first and last name! And it looks so good, too. Now all we have to do is teach her the middle name and she is good to go! Her middle name only has one letter she doesn't know how to form, so that will take no time at all to teach her. She already knows how to spell it, just not how to form the first letter.

Also, she counted to 100 yesterday for the first time, and get this - she did it alone. Wow, just leaps and bounds here.

Good job, sweet love! I'm proud of you! (And I saved the paper she wrote her name on... hehe!)

So pleased with Sunshine's progress!

Sunshine is learning to read, and she is doing great. Today we made our first book during school. We stapled a few pages together; Mommy wrote the words to the story; Sunshine then read the story with Mommy, and Sunshine added the illustrations. It was great fun for both of us. Mommy's inspiring story? "Sam the Pig" - ha!

We also met a college friend of my sister's, who is a cop. So Sunshine showed off her knowledge of her home information to him, and she loved it. He was appropriately impressed with her. It was really too cute.

Some praise for Sugar-n-Spice

I'll be honest. She is my difficult kid, so far. She is stubborn, wants it her way or nothing, and she is not easily deterred. Consequences of any sort send her into major anger.

But last week, she was wonderful. Truly wonderful. When I said it was time to clean up toys, she didn't even pause. She immediately stopped what she was doing and began cleaning up! She didn't ask what particular group of toys was her job; she just began on her own. In other things around the house, she didn't argue or try to hide. She just obeyed.

I am so proud of her! We bragged to Daddy on the phone, gave lots of extra praise and rewards, and even let her have a special treat last night before bed that no one else got to have. She beamed! I love seeing her pride in her own accomplishment!

Oh, and something else! We've been struggling with her going backwards in toilet issues. She just stopped caring and was pottying in her underwear multiple times a day, rarely making it to the toilet at all. I was doing so much laundry! Underwear was hard to find. I even got so fed up that I put her back in diapers, at age 3! But I changed my mind because I knew, that with her personality, she would not want to get out of them. So we went back to underwear again very quickly... and last week was a good week in that area, too. No accidents, no extra laundry!

Way to go, girlie! Mommy is proud of you!

My children are so wonderful!

Do you ever just look at your children and wonder? LOL, no, not the wonder where you think it'll be a miracle if they survive childhood. The kind of wonder that is sweet... where you are amazed at their little selves.

My oldest, who is 5, is a sweet and darling child, super affectionate, tender-hearted... wants so badly to please Mommy. I hope one day that will translate into wanting Him to be pleased with her. Most of the time, I just have to say something along the lines of... "Next time, why don't you say that a little sweeter," or "Maybe we should start a new rule..." and she will immediately pick up on it. She hops to change her attitude or words so readily. Now, wouldn't that be such a fabulous asset as she matures - to be that ready to obey Him so quickly? She could avoid a lot of pain and regret that the rest of us often have to experience because we are a lot more stubborn than she is.

Then there is my 3 yr old. Ahhh, what a bundle of POW she is! She is the stubborn one, the defiant one, the I-want-to-do-it-my-way kid. Lots of energy, lots of curiosity, lots of playfulness. Man, does she make me laugh. One day while my gal was sitting on the toilet, I was on the phone with a friend and my girlie pottied and pooped, all in the same sitting. She was so pleased that I let her brag on the phone about what she'd done... and do you know what she said? "I pooped in the toilet, and you don't want to eat it." AHHHHHH! I laughed myself almost to death. I can see her being one very creative and productive adult. If I can harness that stubbornness into awesome self-discipline... wow, can you imagine what she could do?

And then there is my little fella, who is 2. I don't see any predominant traits yet, but I will say, he loves his mama! I adore having a cuddler. He wants to sit in my lap so much, and who am I to refuse him? (wink) As of yet, he isn't a risk taker. Part of me hopes he'll never be... don't want to spend hours and hours in the ER as he grows up. But then I don't want him to be scared to try things, either. So far, he seems to gauge things, and if he thinks he can do it, then he will. If he isn't sure, he won't. Sometimes he amazes me at the things he knew he could do... and *I* didn't think he could.

And the new one, who is actually 5 months. What a precious bundle she is! She is SO smiley. In fact, she has smiled every single day of her little life. No kidding! Now, I know, that for quite awhile she didn't know that she was smiling, but I don't care, lol. I enjoyed every smile I got from her chubby face. And ticklish? Goodness, we can make her do belly laughs by tickling her palms and forearms. She giggles through diaper changes, even though the wipes are a tad on the cold side. What a crazy kid.

Anyway, I marvel at them. I wonder at them. God sure gave me a huge responsibility when He put those 4 little souls in my care.