38/52 cool dude

How cool does Max look in his hat and sweater vest?!? I say, super cool. :)

37/52 daddy’s helper

Raelyn helped Daddy install a latch on the cabinet door. I don’t think she understood that she was installing a device to keep her out of this cabinet. :)

3 months

Max is three months old!

Quick facts about Max:

• He has slept through the night a few times, but isn't consistent yet. Hopefully soon!
• He holds Sophie the Giraffe if you place her in his hands. He even tries to chew on her ears.
• His head control is coming along and we continue to do tummy time each day.
• He has started to enjoy the vibration mode on his bouncy chair. It seems to calm him if he’s a little fussy.
• He loves watching Raelyn play and run around.
• He really gets his arms and legs moving around during his play time.
• He is eating 5-5.5 ounces every 3 hours during the day and has been taking one bottle during the nighttime, usually about 3am.
• He weighed in at 12 pounds 5 ounces earlier this week.
• He is wearing 3-6 month clothing (needs 6 month sleepers for length) and size 2 diapers.
• He loves his new jungle play mat!

20 months

This past month I’ve  been keeping notes about some of the new and/or cute things that Raelyn does so that I wouldn’t forget. Here is a compilation of those facts & stories.

• She won't eat an English muffin if I cut it into pieces.
• She scoots herself down the stairs, instead of needing to be carried. Yay for mommy!
• She waves bye-bye to the tv before bed and naps. (And now basically to every object in the house to delay sleep.) Also to the vacuum when I say, "all done" after sweeping the floors.
• Early in the month, she waved bye-bye when the nurse came into the treatment room at Max's check-up. (same nurse who "made" Raelyn scream while getting weighed the week before.)
• She really enjoyed her first pickle!

• She likes to "help" load and unload the dishwasher and is especially good at pushing in the drawers and closing the door. I have to remind her not to climb though.
• When she sees me yawn she imitates and then she runs to get her picture book and opens it to the page with the baby yawning.
• She figured out how to use a straw! But she has a hard time getting the last of the milk and wants to tip the cup. She hands it to me and I say, “hold it straight.” Apparently she can’t hold it straight while standing up, but if she lays on the floor she’s a pro! :)

• I caught her trying to use her empty sippy cup to "feed" Max.
• She often gives Max hugs &  kisses on her own accord.

• When I say "all gone" or “all done” she lifts her hands and shrugs her shoulders.
• She signs I love you by crossing her arms across her chest.
• When Mark was out of town and I was on the phone with him she kept signing I love you over and over again. She really misses him when he travels.
• She wants music playing all day and will get the tv remote if there isn't music playing. (we keep the tv on a classical music channel much of the time)
• She is very interested in photos right now. She especially loves looking at her baby photo album and our wedding album.
• She likes looking at her reflection in the fireplace glass and waving. (And now she also looks at her reflection in all of the kitchen appliances too.)

• We had our first time of playing dress up. She loved it!

• She has started randomly pulling her pants down.
• She has a favorite book before naptime & bedtime: On The Night You Were Born. If I try to read another book she gets very upset. At naps she wants that book read and then her "bible lesson".
• One day I was doing something in the kitchen and I noticed in my peripheral vision that she was standing near Sheba “talking” to her. I turned to watch not wanting her to notice I was watching. What I witnessed was the cutest thing EVER! (Back story: since Raelyn was a tiny baby I’ve been rubbing noses with her and saying “Noses”, what some would call an Eskimo kiss.) What I saw was Raelyn put her hands on Sheba’s face and then she rubbed noses with her. After that, she stepped back and signed, “I love you.” I think it’s obvious how she feels about her dog.

36/52 room for two

You’ll find the three of us like this quite often. This was right after dinner (yes, I wear an apron to cook) one evening. I hope to be able to squeeze them both on my lap for a long long time!

Here she goes…

Last weekend this little girl, Elle, gave Raelyn a book she no longer needed.

She brought the book to me and said, “Miss Stephanie, I don’t need this book anymore and it’s really cute. I want to give it to Raelyn.” Elle is 4. (She also told me that she “really loves baby boys” and she gave Max about a million kisses.)

All week, Raelyn has been obsessed with her new book. She has carried it with her, soaked in every picture, and asked me to read it over and over. On Monday afternoon she grabbed her book, marched into the bathroom, patted the toilet seat, and then came and got me to help her climb up. She has asked to sit on the toilet with her book at least 3 times a day since then. She even asks for a piece of toilet paper and uses it appropriately. She never actually “went” in the toilet but I didn’t expect that she would.

Today we bought Raelyn her very own potty. Here it is with the book Elle gave her.

We do not expect that Raelyn will be potty trained in the near future, but we do want to encourage her since she seems so interested in it right now.

We introduced Raelyn to her new potty chair tonight before her bath. She checked it out first.

Then she promptly sat down with her potty book. To our amazement, she peed! I think she was a bit surprised too. ;)

Her reward? The duck potty sang a song.

Our little Raelyn is growing up and apparently is tired of diapers.

35/52 first day of school

Raelyn started her Mother’s Day Out program at Church at the Crossing this week. She’ll be going one day a week from 9am to 2pm. Her first day was abbreviated from 9 to 10:30. Next week she’ll go from 9 to noon and the following week will begin the full time. When we arrived she found a toy and waved me off. I think she’ll do just fine!