Audrey: 3 years.

Hi sweet angel baby, you turned 3 a couple weeks ago. Three years with our sweet, spunky, doot scoot riot. I can't believe how big you are, little lady. Some days the things you do and say take my breath away. Sometimes in a good way, sometimes not so much. You have a lot of sass in your little body, my dear. But one thing is abundantly clear, you are not a baby anymore, not at all.

This year has been a very big one for you. You got not one, but two little brothers, you went from daycare to a nanny, and you got a big girl bed. Those are just the major life change highlights. There was much, much more involved in this wonderful year of your life. Let's try to recap in order, then we will talk about you and your overflowing personality.

We had a big year right from the start, Christmas in New York followed fairly quickly by the arrival of your brothers. With your brothers came grandma, and then grandpa. They came and stayed with us for a month, this may well have been the highlight of the year for everyone in this house. You loved having them here and so did we. Quite honestly, I am not sure how your dad and I would have managed the first month of your brothers life without Babas. It certainly would have been harder to get you the attention you needed. The one thing we were able to keep consistent for you was bedtime stories. Since your brothers were born neither mom or dad has missed reading you your stories if we are home. I think it a favorite time of day for all of us.

Enough about your brothers, right? You did so much this year that didn't involve them. You went to the dentist for the first time, you went to the Atlantic Ocean for the second time, you went to Wisconsin and Minnesota, we went to the museum and zoo, you got a sand box, you got a bike, you went on lots of hikes, walks, and stroller rides, you kept working hard at swimming lessons, you stopped wearing diapers, you started choosing your own clothes and brushing your teeth, in short you got big.

You are so big baby girl. Filled with sass and silly. You love to dance. You love construction vehicles of all types. You love to help your brothers when they are sad. You try music first, followed by hugs, kisses, loveys, and nuks. You love to play tag in the basement and hide and seek everywhere. You are presently obsessed with Octonauts, but last month is was Paw Patrol, and earlier this year it was Doc McStuffins. Elmo remains a favorite through thick and thin. You love books, Curious George, Clifford, Little Critter, Bernstein Bears, and the Magic School Bus are some favorites. You recently have discovered the joy of the Wii and love your leap pad. You increasingly love hugs and cuddles (thank you, thank you, thank you) and to be picked up. You are always fixing people and giving check ups and your pretend play has flown off the charts. You even do different voices for your different Octonauts.

You my sweet girl are amazing. You are, however, three. Which means there are a few less than desirable tendencies. You have started shouting "No. Stop talking to me." when you don't want to engage, not so polite, friend. You also are ridiculous about what and when you will eat. I have given up, I assume you won't starve yourself. There are meltdowns, but really you are pretty easy going for a three year old. I can't complain much. We are working on your sass and manners. They will come with time I hope.

Your daddy and I love you to the moon sweet baby girl. Don't ever lose your adventurous spirit, silly disposition, or sweet giggle. Or maybe just stop growing up, that might be OK too.

Thankful.

Sometimes the magnitude of the love I have for my three little people catches me off guard. Like a sucker punch to the gut, it takes my breath and causes a moment of panic. How can I love these little monsters this much.

My whole heart is in these little humans. Just walking around the world free to be shattered at a whim. I don't think about that possibility long though, instead I bask in the glow of being surrounded by such intense love. The kids, my husband. There is so much love in our crazy little home and I am so incredibly grateful.

I am so grateful that I was lucky enough to be born into the safety of upper middle class America, I am so grateful I was able to marry the love of my life, buy a beautiful house, and create three perfect people. That is a lot of wonderful right there, and sometimes it sneaks up on me and punches me right in the gut. A reminder to let the tantrums, messes, and poop go, and instead bask in this house full of love.

So much to give thanks for, so very much.

The Brothers: 10 months.

The brothers are getting very close to a year. I find this very hard to believe. Perhaps because much of this year has been a blur of sleep deprivation and craziness. Speaking of sleep, I am not going to talk about sleep today. Let's just say some nights are good, some nights are terrible, someday they will sleep.

Soren, I am sorry. Most of the photos from this month are of Kai. I will do better next month, buddy.

The brothers are still working hard on moving they scoot around on their bellies but mostly go backwards. They have mastered going from their bellies to sitting, though. Both have started to crawl on all fours in very small increments but they really haven't taken off yet.

Kai is working hard on pulling himself up. He loves to stand and is getting close to pulling up all by himself. Soren is a little less into the pulling up and more into moving around. Generally he just scoots around the room until he gets stuck against or under some piece of furniture and then he starts squawking. Kai is perhaps a bit more needy in his desired play activities. To each his own. I am certain they will be moving with speed soon enough. It is fine if they take a bit longer than their big sister to walk, too. She was walking in favor of crawling by her first birthday. I must say I will be perfectly happy if the boys take a bit longer.

They still aren't doing much waving or clapping, but Kai can catch and throw a ball like a boss. They both also reach up with their arms to be picked up and are generally quite interactive. We will keep working on the waving because it is so darn cute when they figure it out. I think part of why they don't wave yet is they don't get dropped off or picked up from daycare. I think that is where Audrey picked up that particular skill. I guess we will have to start waving goodbye when we leave the room.

It has been a pretty busy month for the brother bears. They had their first Halloween. They were a monkey and a giraffe. They started music class. We went to Madison and saw all the Babas and cousins. So much fun.

They continue to love food, anything we give them. We have not yet found one thing they will not eat. Good work little men. They are big enough that they get angry when you take something away from them, sorry Audrey. As a result, Audrey has started "trading" toys with them when they have something she wants. I keep telling her they will be bigger than her soon, I guess she should enjoy her time as queen.

Still no teeth. I assume they do have teeth and will get them some day. For now they seem to make do quite well with just their gums.

In addition to those baby boys keeping their beautiful blue eyes, it appears they have a bit of curl to their hair. Jackpot.While we are on the jackpot subject, you may recall that Audrey was not a cuddly baby at all. She still isn't super cuddly but does request cuddles everyday. The brothers are way more cuddly than Audrey. Especially Kai, he is the cuddliest little dude and I love it! He also has a clear affinity for me which I must admit is nice given Audrey's preference for daddy of which she informs me everyday.

All in all, we have two happy, healthy little men. And don't worry guys, once you turn one and I cut back on these update posts I will do one for each of you. I do feel like you need some individual attention on the blog so you both get your own one year old post. You are welcome. Also, I really will update the name of the blog soon. Sorry about that little dudes.

Things the brothers love right now

• Scooting all over
• Standing
• Trying to chew on dog toys
• Putting any and everything in their mouths (mostly Soren)
• Sister
• Pets
• The rocking Police motorcyle
• Stroller rides
• Walks and runs
• Baths in the sink
• Life

Things the brothers hate right now

• Books, though it is getting a bit better
•  Diaper changes
• People interfering with their play, safety is a pain
• Falling

The brothers: 9 months

This is my 100th post. Woo hoo!

Also, it is the brothers 9 month post. They are almost exactly 9.5 months. Such is life.

Today may not be the best day to do this post. The boys have had a cold this week and sleep has been hell. Seriously. From 9 pm to morning one is up the other is up repeat, repeat, repeat. It has been on par with newborn days. We did get a 4 hour chunk last night, so here's hoping the worst is past. I do feel bad for the poor stuffed up little dudes, but I also like to sleep. No, I love to sleep.

Other than the sickness the brothers are great. We had their 9 month check up and Soren was 17 pounds 8 ounces, Kai was 16 pounds 13 ounces. Both are still on the growth curve like 15% and 7% or something like that.

Everything checked out well. They are a bit behind in their gross motor skills, but they were also a month early so no one is concerned. They will crawl, and pull themselves up, and walk, and wave when they are ready. They seem to be progressing just fine so no worries from us or the doctor. In fact, Kai is quite good at catching a ball. Here is some video proof.

What are the brothers doing? They are scooting all over the place. The get on hands and knees and rock but they mostly move by rotating and scooting on their bellies. It's not really army crawling because they mostly go backwards and side to side, though there is some forward motion. They definitely go after things they want. Before we know it they will be everywhere
 
I swear Kai has said hi and I also think they have both clapped and waved but it is not consistent yet. They say mama and dada and we think maybe they say it in the appropriate context. Food, they love food. Any food we put in front of them they devour some of their favorites are eggs, meat of any kind, and yogurt.

We started a music class with them and they love it. They love instruments, especially shakers and banging sticks together. They have a blast at class. So does Audrey, though she is not actually in the class but the teacher is quite kind about letting her participate when she wants. The class is at an indoor play space and she sort of comes and goes depending on what instruments are out. She always makes it for the goodbye song and dance. That little lady loves to dance and the brothers love to watch her.
 
Things the brothers love right now

• Food
• Blocks
• To steal each others toys
• Baths
• Stroller runs/walks
• Riding on mom or dads back in the carrier
•  Peek a boo
• When mom or dad walks in the room
• Winnie dog

Things the brothers hate right now

• Books (Kai likes them OK. Soren hates books. Hates them.)
• Getting their noses wiped
• Diaper rash (poor Soren)
• Getting stuck places, scooting around is hard

Happy brothers and a happy sister. She loves to help them and give hugs and kisses. She melts my heart daily, she also tells me daily daddy is her best and she likes daddy better than me. All things in moderation. 

Fall family fun.

We went to a pumpkin patch today. But of course, it was not just a pumpkin patch. There were also animals, a hayride to the pumpkin patch, a train ride, pig races, and all sorts of other stuff.

I tried to get a nice picture of the kids by the giant pumpkin on the way in as I thought it would be easier than the way out. They were not in a cooperative mood. We tried all sorts of sounds to get them all to look. Was. Not. Going. To. Happen. Not today.

Audrey mostly just wanted to play on the playground, but we did convince her to watch the pigs race, look at the animals, and go on the hayride to the pumpkin patch. She also really wanted to go on the train, as did we, but it turns out it only ran once an hour and it was small. Like really small. So when we went to get on there was no room and we weren't going to sit at the train station for an hour to wait. So, alas no train.

 

 

The brothers were pretty ambivalent about everything. They rode around in the stroller and carriers and took it all in. They did very much enjoy eating a small piece of Audrey's donut. That was the highlight for them for sure.

You may be wondering what the highlight was for Audrey. We asked her as we were leaving. She said going potty. Yep. Her highlight was going potty.

You may be wondering why that was fun. Well, she had to go about two second after we got off the hayride in the pumpkin patch. Of course. No bathrooms in the pumpkin patch and we all know a just potty trained little person can't wait 15 minutes to go after they say they need to. So to the woods we went. Her first peeing in the woods experience, and it was the highlight of her day. Oh toddlers.

The brothers: 8 months.

The brothers turn 9 months next week, so I should probably do an 8 month post for them. Sorry brothers, mama's work schedule has been extra crazy the past few weeks and I just haven't been able to make the time to get this post done. Sincere apologies. I will continue to live by the better late than never mantra.

Those brothers are happy, healthy little dudes! In the last month they have gotten a dog, a sandbox, and time with their Babas. They especially enjoyed watching the sandbox being filled.

Cutest video ever, perhaps.

They do love seeing their Babas, though perhaps they get a bit too excited about the extra attention. Every time grandparents come to visit they stop sleeping. For real. So much so that I brought them to Urgent Care to get their ears checked. It was that bad. Their ears were perfect, by the way. Like clockwork as soon as Babas leave they go back to their normal eat once around 2 pattern. I guess the little dudes can only handle so much excitement.

This month they have started loving solid foods. Both baby food and finger foods. I am continually amazed at what they are able to mash with their gums, cause they still have zero teeth. I think Audrey had 4 teeth by now. We keep thinking they are teething, I'm sure it will be true someday.

They also are working on their mobility. They both have backwards army crawling down. Unfortunately for them, they are not trying to go backwards. Baby life is hard. They also are getting up on all fours and making some forward progress here and there. They will be crawling everywhere soon enough, we are in no rush for that to happen. No rush.

Some things they espeically enjoy right now are:

• Playing catch
• Rolling around on the floor
• Watching the dog
• Food
• Sleeping in mom and dads bed (this is mostly Kai, stinker)
• Their dog and elephant
• Playing with sister
• Watching the world go by
• Practicing their crawling
• Riding in their stroller 

 
They do not especially enjoy:

• Getting out of the bathtub
• Reading books (hopefully they will come around on this one)
•  Diaper changes, mostly because it requires sitting still
• Nursing anywhere but a dark quiet room - distracted to the max, there is far too much to watch anywhere else

Happy 8 months brothers. Hopefully I will get your 9 month post done before you turn 10 months. Love you little buddies.