Max loses his first tooth

Waaaaay back in November, before Thanksgiving Max mentioned that his tooth hurt. This caused my hygienist ears to perk up and upon further examination I was relieved (and surprised!) to see that it was just a loose tooth. Ah! My big boy has his first loose tooth! So exciting. I told him to start wiggling it and that all was well. 

During my time working in the dental office there a two camps of loose tooth kids; the "wiggle it out in 2 days" or "don't touch it! My tooth will erode by itself thankyouverymuch". Max was in the latter group. 

When I took Carson's 11 month pics I sat Max down to snap a few pics of his smile before it was forever changed. Dramatic much? Yes, I am. My babies are growing up and these things make me melancholy. Which means pictures to document.

January 1st, roughly 6 weeks later, after some rough housing and jumping on beds, Max finally lost his tooth! I was thinking we were going to have to take him to the dentist to get it pulled since he wasn't working on it. Plus his permanent tooth is coming in behind and crooked. Little shark.

Due to aforementioned rough housing the famous lost tooth was literally lost. Somewhere in his bedroom rug, under the bed, in his covers, who knows? We were both bummed. I wanted to see it and he wanted to leave it for the tooth fairy. I assured him that she would understand and to start looking!

Miraculously it was found while Max was in time out. Then when he was putting it on his dresser it fell again into the carpet. He found it again though and we put it in a little cup for safety.

The tooth fairy left a $1 bill in the shape of a sailboat with a shiny and sparkly blue quarter. 

 

One satisfied customer.

Carson: 11 Months

11 of the fastest months have come and gone. The countdown is on until Carson's birthday and I am simultaneously thrilled and devastated. He continues to grow and learn new things each day.

This morning I was tying Rhett's shoes and one shoe was just out of reach. I asked Carson to get his shoe while making a gesture of my reaching for it. He grabbed it and handed it to me and said "coo-coo", his way of saying "thank you". Last night I started cleaning up the clean plates off the floor-- he likes to "help" with the dishwasher AKA toss everything out on the floor-- anyway, he saw me picking up and crawled over and started handing me plates. I just love him.
One more example: Carson was drinking from his sippy cup on the floor next to the water cooler. After he finished he placed his cup on the little shelf. It just continues to amaze me how much he picks up just from observing our seemingly minutia and daily tasks. Babies are incredible little sponges.



He loves to point and we "buzz" when our pointer fingers connect. He stands on his own and balances quite well. He will walk assisted and with a walker toy. He babbles all the time.

Carson knows the jingle of the candy jar, that cookies live in the cookie jar and that the advents on the mantle contain chocolate. Any treat you have you must share. Immediately. Non-negotiable and shrieking demands are involved if you do not comply. When you do share he does a full body happy jig and rewards you with copious amounts of full grins and baby love.

He is obviously very spoiled. #LastChild

He retires to bed in the 7 o'clock hour. He enjoys all types of food but doesn't care for milk in his sippy cup. I am not pushing that and he mainly drinks water and nurses just once a day now, upon waking for the day. He still naps twice a day pretty consistently with the odd ball day thrown in for good measure.

He shrieks and cries incredibly loudly, ear ringing decibels. It's terrible.

He loves his siblings and bath time and making messes where ever he goes. Which is every where.

In size 12 month clothes, size 2 diapers (because I ordered too much from Amazon...).

He is still obsessed with his Wubbanub binky, it is a cute giraffe and I found the perfect Christmas ornament to match it.

We still call him the Velcro Baby; separation anxiety is in full force and weeping and wailing is involved when someone other than Phil or I holds him or if I walk into another room. It's great. Not. On the flip side, it is nice to know I am beloved.

He's pretty dang awesome and I sure hope I gushed this much about my other kids when they were this age. I am sure I did, this is such a fun age.

Carson: 10 Months

Someone is growing up! 10 months already and I'm kinda sad about it.

 He's not though! Mr. Big Stuff.



At 10 months Carson is scaling furniture, standing on his own for longer periods or time. He eats mostly table food and prefers to feed himself.  He has earned the nickname "Velcro Baby" from my friend Tara; separation anxiety is in full force. Phil has been working Sundays the past month so I have been conducting music in Primary with a baby on hip. Super fun! My arm is numb.



This little nugget is starting to mimic words and sounds. He can "shhhh", sign "all done" and is a pro now at "uh oh". Complete with dropping his binky over and over as he repeats "uh oh". Stinker.



He is always on the move and loves to be in the mix with all the big kids at our house. He loves to play with them and shrieks in delight when they crawl after him. He has the best belly laugh and loves to give open mouth kisses and love bumps.

He wears size 2 diapers, almost out of those!, 9-12 month clothes due to length and a size 2/3 shoe. He weighs roughly 18 pounds.



He finally cut his first tooth and the second isn't far behind. He nurses 3-4 times a day still with a good "I'm too busy" nursing strike thrown in the past month for good measure. He drinks from a sippy cup and loves all things food. Sharing is mandatory, don't even think otherwise.

He is a great sleeper; two long naps a day and a good 10 hours straight at night but still wakes in the 4 or 5 o'clock hour to nurse. He is not a fan of me ignoring his cries and is relentless. I always give in anyway, it's easier on all of us. Plus when I go to get him he is trying to eat my face and smacks his lips, so I think it is safe to say he is hungry. :)

There are so many other things to say about this boy! We love him to pieces and I can't imagine life without him. It is fun to see the older kids interact with him and I am glad they have the opportunity to enjoy having a baby around.

First Snow

Thursday morning brought the season's first snow flakes. We arise early in our house and usually breakfast is done by 7:30am. The kids didn't have school and were already downstairs playing after breakfast. As I was cleaning up I noticed it was snowing. I quickly hollered down the stairs to the kids and they all came clamoring up. They were so excited! Clearly captivated with their first look at snow. They peppered me with questions about going outside to play, building a snowman and if Christmas was coming now that it was snowing. And after a few more seconds of snow watching they ran back downstairs. Ha! 

Rhett is at the window too, just out of sight beside Kate.

I've been prepping for snow since we found out we matched to Michigan, gathering snow bibs, jackets, boots, the works! The kids think they need to wear it all the time since it is so cold here.



Rhett found a jackpot "pile" of snow accumulating and had to have a taste.




Annnnd another taste. Funny kid.



At this point Rhett started stripping down, off with the hat, hood and snow gloves. A few minutes later and they were all back inside. I had spent a good 30 minutes getting them all put together for less than 10 minutes of play. They 'll get pretty good at dressing themselves with all the practice we are going to get in the next 6 months.



This is how Carson felt about being left out of the snow fun. I don't have a snow bib for him yet.

Carson: 9 Months

At his 9 month appointment Carson weighed 17 pounds 6 ounces and was 28.5 inches long. That puts him in the 5-10th percentile for weight and 50th percentile for length. Long and lean.

He just learned how to point and started saying "uh oh!". We think it is the cutest. Because it is. He also says "hiiiiiii", emphasis on the drawn out "I". Again, the cutest.
 

Carson: 8 Months

8 months! This is such a fun age. I probably say that with every month since babies are just the best. At 8 months Carson is a crawling master, he is just figuring out steps and climbing, which makes me very nervous.



He still has incredible hair and we are able to cut it without too much incident.







His Wubbanub giraffe binky is his very best friend and it goes with him everywhere.

He is happy and content, loves his siblings and his mama.


He eats like a champ, still nurses 4 times a day, naps well.

 

I love this little "stink bug" crawl here. He wasn't a fan of the rough concrete on his sweet little knees.
 
We love our Carson boy!

 

Max & Kate's First Day of School-2014

Wahoo! We have arrived. School.

Max and Kate started pre-k this week. Michigan's age cutoff for kindergarten isn't til October 1st, so we did meet the requirement but we felt it was best for our kids to have a bit more time and not throw them into full day school right off the bat. Their prior school experience was a lovely preschool; 2 days/week for 2.5 hours each day. Going from that to 9-4 school was certainly a big jump, and we weren't taking it this year.

We are really excited for this year and I know that they are going to do great. I put them in separate classes and am happy with this decision. Their classrooms are side by side for easier drop-off/pick-up.

The night before class we had the kids set out their clothes for the morning, get their backpacks ready and we went to bed early. I awoke before everyone to get a good breakfast started; baked oatmeal. By 7:15am the kids were all up, dressed and we were sitting together for a nice breakfast. Gone are our leisurely mornings of PBS kids and cold cereal. Class starts at 8:15 and my goal was to be out the door by 7:45, we made it by 7:50. Phil's schedule allowed him to come along with us and I am glad since it was busy and with two kids and two classrooms we needed to divide and conquer.

Kate was anxious that morning. She was the first up and ready but as we were eating breakfast she started crying that she didn't want to go to school. She also cried in her classroom but was brave and we left her nervous but not crying.



Max didn't have any tears but I could sense his apprehension, he was just a little clingy but with some reassurance and a big hug he was great.



The first day was just a half day; so half of a half day, haha! 90 minutes long in reality. By the time we did the drop-off and returned home we only had 40 minutes before it was time to go back and pick them up again. Max was all smiles and Kate was a little grumpy and sad. She just wanted to come home. When we got home and I told her that she would get to go to school again tomorrow and the next day and the next... She teared up again and cried out that she didn't want to go to school everyday! Haha, poor kid. We know she will do great.

Rhett was quite sad that his best friends were at school and he didn't get to stay. He thinks that we are going to make cookies together everyday. As much as he and I would like that, I am trying to convince him that maybe once a week is feasible. (He says that because when Max and Kate went to a Primary activity that he couldn't attend my consolation activity was making cookies together. Oops!)



We are so proud of these two big kids! As we were bustling about the night before and Tuesday morning Phil said that "we've finally arrived! We are legit parents now, we've got school kids.".