We just went in for Patrick's 4th month doctor checkup a few days
ago. He came in at a healthy 26 inches (84th percentile) and 17 lbs 11
oz (92nd percentile). I decided to compare that to Bradley's 4 month
stats and discovered that they were the exact same height at this age
but Patrick weighs nearly half a pound more than Bradley did ... oh
dear. Bradley is our skinny boy?
Here's a fatty fat no clothes video of sweet Patrick.
Too fat for the baby bumbo chair
Okay, we are able to squeeze the fatty legs in there
But getting out afterwards remains an adventure
Patrick
missed a meal once and no lie he binge ate the rest of the day to make
up for it. It was amazing, I got to sleep in until 9:00 while Nathan
played with the kids. But then I fed Patrick about every hour and a half
for the rest of the day. He never wanted to feel that hungry feeling
again. He works hard to achieve his physique.
Sleeping in is so easy to do when you have help
Our cuddly crew
Despite
getting some shots Patrick thinks he could get used to going to the
doctor's office, he finally gets the amount of attention he believes he
is entitled to.
Patrick rode in the swings for the first time and loved it!
Such a helpful big brother
Taking over the swings at the park!
He has a new front facing carrier which he loves, although it may be a bit TOO cozy at times.
Patrick
really is the perfect baby, we can't believe how easy he is. He is so
cheerful and if anyone happens to look at him he instantly gives them a
huge smile. The older two were running laps around the main floor
yesterday and Patrick would jump and squirm with delight in my arms
every time he caught a glimpse of them on a lap. Bradley in particular
gives him a ton of attention so Patrick starts smiling whenever Bradley
comes around because he knows exciting things are going to happen (even
if it may involve a little guy's eyes getting poked a wee bit).
Who wouldn't want to hang out with this? Bradley is always a fun time!
The
older two are such buddies and continue to be more and more fun to take
out to do activities with. Eleanor sings along loudly with songs at
naps and bedtime now. Her favorite song is Row Your Boat and Bradley's
favorite song is Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.
Play doh together
Cleaning toys used in play doh together
Excited about their new Minion socks (thanks Aunt Diana!)
Best reading spot in the house
Thunderstorm cuddles
Fun
Eleanor story: She loves to come into our room in the morning for
cuddles, which I probably loves just as much or more than she does. But
apparently she decided to make a try for cuddles at 11 PM the other
night. I have no memory of this because I was pretty tired and had only
fallen asleep about a half hour before she came in but Nathan tells me
he thought it was morning when Eleanor came in and whimpered by the side
of our bed (he may have been tired too) and he pulled her in to bed and
I made happy noises as I snuggled up next to her. After about twenty
minutes he realized his mistake and tried to get her out of our bed and
back into her own but both Eleanor and I made very unhappy noises when
he tried to take her away and so he gave up. Soon after this, Eleanor
decided she was thirsty and climbed over me and onto the floor so she
could drink (chug) my giant cup of water I keep by the bed. Then she
climbed back into bed by me. Nathan finally decided that enough was
enough so he picked her up to carry her back to her room and my only
memory is begging him to give her back to me for one more hug while she
was wailing because of the imminent separation. He spent the night in
her room with her. We are very fortunate that this happens once in a
blue moon, she is typically a very good sleeper.
Super pony princess
Helping Daddy shop
I love watching Eleanor play. She tells me about all the things and it's all that I could hope for and more.
We
had some visitors over the weekend, Grandma Colleen and Kerry made the
trip down and we took them to a fun block party at our grocery store.
There was a train, and free food, and balloons, and it was pretty much
kid heaven!
Oh my, look what we found at the block party!
My
cousin Julie and her husband Eric came to visit from Nebraska. We spent
Saturday afternoon catching up. I hadn't seen her for over ten years, I
love getting to see all my wonderful Midwest relatives!
We kept things mellow for the rest of Colleen and Kerry's visit. Sometimes an easy walk to the park is the most fun thing.
Patrick was in a super happy mood at the park
Neither child was as excited about this as I thought they should be
Grandma was willing to hold the sleeping baby at church. What a good sport.
Patrick is so a little person now. Whatever is going on he wants to be in on it.
The kitties sure love him! Meg says hurray for babies!! More cuddles, please!
Such shared joy.
Layla cuddles are more voluntary and perhaps a bit more desperate
And here is Nathan in his happy place. Nothing better than napping with the baby!
You can tell a lot about Bradley and Eleanor by what they shout out as we get in the car to go somewhere. We got them loaded up to go to church this morning and Bradley starting asking hopefully "Are we going to a friend's house? Friends house??" while Eleanor shouted "SHOPPING!" Nathan says I already broke our two year old daughter. I can't help that she's awesome.
On the way home from church. Patrick is asleep and both older siblings are holding his hands.
We rarely take all three kids with us on errands unless it's Costco and it's kind of fun to have an enthusiastic shopping buddy. She loves groceries, she loves the hardware store, there is no wrong kind of shopping as far as Eleanor is concerned.
Here's our little shopper staying cool at the pool. She and Bradley love the pool so much, we've gone a lot more than I thought we would this summer.
Patrick's favorite pool activity
Patrick's personality is coming through. Mostly he seems to be obsessed with his older siblings. He cackled while watching them play basketball in the basement.
THIS is Patrick. He had just woken up and spotted me.
He also cackles with delight when you scare him. As in, I'll say "boo!" and he'll jump in fright and then laugh. He also does this when I hold him upside down and move him up and down in front of my face. I find this very promising for his future keeping up with his exciting big brother and sister.
Parenting tip needed: What do you do when your daughter runs to you crying "He eat me!" and your son comes out of the next room and says calmly "I did not bite her, I missed." Sighhhhh.
Usually they play so nicely together.
This is fairly standard during shows
All three kids playing with play doh and dinosaurs
Nathan is soooooo cute!
Bradley has been taking notes on how things work around here and the other night at dinner Eleanor was begging for some of the blueberries on his tray because she had already eaten all of hers. He said "Do you want a blueberry? Eat some of your bread." Yep, that's pretty much how we do meals. Bradley can take over.
Bradley showing Eleanor how you're supposed to talk on the phone.
Eleanor still has a little trouble at naps and bedtime and often volunteers items that I'm supposed to take away from her for trying to escape from her room, even without me asking. I don't feel good about our odds of her falling asleep quickly on her own when I finish singing her a song and she says "Here penguin" and tries to hand it to me, before I've even left the room. She's lucky she's so cute.
This is what happens when you sit still for a minute after categorically refusing to nap earlier in the day.
And after Mommy removes the paraphernalia. Didn't expect her to fall asleep in her new tutu but I LOVE it.
And here she is in my bed for some post nap cuddles. I love that she comes and finds me for snuggles when she wakes up.
Eleanor has been very into checking out my shoes lately and has already learned her lesson when it comes to tricky heels.
Running shoes are much better!
I could follow Eleanor around all day and record what she says as she plays with her toys.
We've had to put Patrick in the stroller for recent park outings because he decided he hated the baby carrier I had that had him facing in towards me instead of out towards the world. My attempt at figuring out the Moby wrap did not go well so into the stroller he goes!
Someone save this baby
He kind of hates the stroller too so I'm getting a new forward facing baby carrier for him.
Smiling in the stroller only because he's finally getting the attention he is very much entitled to.
Bradley is so happy being the big brother and taking care of his younger siblings.
Both children are eager to help take care of little Patrick.
Is this photo staged? What? Me stage a photo? I can't wait until we retry a family picture when we do Patrick's six month photos in October. I think our crew will do well this time around!
Bradley wishes he could wake up from every nap with Patrick cuddles.
We've had fun going to friend's houses over the summer, especially now that there are some other babies for Patrick to play with!
This is Bradley's friend Eli's little sister. Extra friends are so much fun!
Kids' table at dinner with friends
It's finally at the point that I feel like it's nice to get out to see friends and do things but staying in can be okay too. We make our own fun!
Bradley is a hilarious maniac. He skipped his nap the other day and when I went in to his room he stole all my fingers and my nose and laughed hysterically the whole time. I love this boy so much.
He also continues to tell great stories. I told him about a family trip to Florida I want to do in the next year or two and he told me a marvelous tale about speed boats. After this video ended he started talking about speed boats made of cows ... Also, note the tan line on his ankle here. Swim shoes and good pool time makes for excellent tan lines.
Our church rented out a theater for the new Minions movie and Nathan got to take Bradley and Eleanor. It was Bradley's second movie in a theater and Eleanor's first.
They loved it almost as much as Nathan did. He doesn't get to do many of these "big" experiences with the kids, he loves it when it's a special Daddy outing.
We have a number of kind-hearted friends that come to visit and get coerced into reading to and entertaining children.
Lucky Cerra. She got the kitty too.
Kory and Fatima remain favorites.
It's crazy how much has changed in the four months since we brought this little guy home.
I think he's fitting into the family just fine.
This is our crew these days! Saturday morning cuddles and comics with Daddy. We may have a few cuddlers in our family.
