August Birthdays and Births

It was a month of birthdays and births in August. We celebrated the kid's cousin Bowen's 1st birthday on August 17th.

He was so excited by his candle and everyone singing for him. He is just so cute with Nicolas and tries to kiss him all the time.
Then on August 23rd it was Kirsten's 7th birthday. I can't believe she was only a bit older than Nicolas is now when I first met Adam, time really does fly when you're having fun!!

I was so excited because we bought her a My Little Pony Castle because she loves her ponies but has no 'home' for them. Nicolas loves it too because you press a button and the 2nd and 3rd level pop up.
We just did a low key party for her because we thought it was going to rain and also because I was really tired (poor excuse I know). We had all the family over and the neigbors and she had a great time and got lots of wonderful presents.
Before the left Mom and Dad had bought her a spinning thing that you drop paint into, and that was definately one of her favorite presents.
I love Kirsten's birthdays because I get to buy her all kinds of cute things like Littlest Pet Shop and Pony in My Pocket. She loves new arts and craft stuff too.
The kids all played outside and then we opened presents.

And then it was time for ice cream cake. I got the year off making Jaden and Kirsten's cakes thanks to Adison taking up my spare time, but I know next year they will have thought of some wild things they want me to make.

We had celebrated our friends Chuck and Rebecca's little boy Trae's birthday on August 9th because Rebecca was expecting twins and didn't think she would make it until his actual birthday on August 31st. I didn't take my camera but he had his party at an place with giant moonwalks/bouncy castles. The kids had a great time and Rebecca was right, she didn't make it to August 31st with the twins, she had Nathan and Wakefield on August 22nd. She is my new hero because she was so serene throughout the last month. She had the biggest bump I've ever seen on anyone and I don't know how she survived.

My great excitement this month was my friend Shelley had her baby, Jake James on August 15th. He was 9lbs and she had no medication!!! He looks just like her husband Jamie, and Mom says he's one of the cutest babies she's ever seen. It looks like August will soon rival March and December as our busiest birthday months.

Nicolas at 19 1/2 Months - Understanding Everything

I haven't blogged just about Nicolas for ages and he's so adorable, yet demanding, that I don't want to forget any of the things he does. He still isn't saying anything other than 'Di', "Mummy", "Dadda" and "Bye" (with a very southern accent!), but I'm amazed every day by how he understands everything I say. We were walking this morning and I was asking him to point to things and he knew everything I asked. I can ask him to pick up anything in the house and put it somewhere and he will do it, if he's in the right frame of mind. I wish he would speak because one sided conversations are getting a bit old now. He still loves his books but perfers to be on the go all the time. This was a rare peaceful moment at his new desk.

At his 19 month check up he was 33 1/2 inches tall and weighed 26 1/2lbs, which finally puts him in the 70th percentile. It gives me hope that he might make it to 6 foot, which would be my ideal height for him, not that it really matters. He also had his 3rd hair cut and looks very grown up.So here are all the things I love about him:

He closes any draw that is open

He loves driving his fourwheeler (a bargin I got 2nd hand), but doesn't know how to steer yet, but knows Leo will get out of the way if he rams him!

He picks up bits off the floor and puts them in the trash. He also loves to put things you ask him to in the trash - he seems to think it's his job to clean up the leaves that Leo brings in on his fur.

He loves being a big boy in his booster seat rather than in his high chair

He hates having dirty hands (like Jaden) and will point to all the bits he drops when he eats and will take the cloth and wipe them up

He impressed the ladies at nursery by spending ages trying to work out how to open all the doors in the room, including the ones on the cupboards, rather than playing with toys

He loves hiding in the closets now he can open doors. He's started to hide to pooh, so potty training will begin soon!

He tells me whenever Adison is sick or spits out her passy

Says thank you, or rather "Da Dum", everytime you give him something

He goes crazy when he sees a school bus, digger or traffic light and points and shouts. He remembers where every road works are around us and will point out the diggers, even if they are well away from the road

He will point out birds and planes way up in the sky that I can hardly see and squirrels high up in the trees

Loves putting things in my mouth, like Adison's passy and laughs when I spit them out

Gives proper kisses with a loud smacking sound, but only when he feels like it

Is very snuggly and wants to be with me all the time, which is very unusual for him. I know it's a reaction to Adison being here, but I'm enjoying all the love. I tried to bath Adison last night without him, as Adam was home and playing with him, and he had a fit and was crying and banging on the bathroom door

Occasionally he tries to have a tantrum when he can't have/do something he wants to, but when I get down to his level and speak to him firmly and quietly, and explain why he can't have/do something, he will stop. If it's bed time then it's much harder to reason with him.

His favorite bathtime game is hiding the sponge under his legs when he's sitting down

He throws the ball for Leo and 8 out of 10 times will throw it in front of him and not behind

He's getting good at his shape jigsaw, but more complex ones are harder for him

He knows where the on/off switch is on every gadget in the house and every toy he owns. He also wants to switch on and off every light that he can reach. He also knows everything that goes beep in the house and will point to it - the alarm, the microwave and the oven are favorites

His favorite thing is to wash up. As soon as he gets up in the morning he will try to drag a chair over to the sink to wash up.

He knows knives, needles and screwdrivers are sharp and the stove is hot and will tell you by going "Shhhh"(his version of the noise I make for hot or sharp). I made jello last week and told him not to touch it because it was hot, and then when I tried to feed it to him the next day he wouldn't eat it and kept going "Shhh". I suddenly realized that he remembered me making it and telling him it was hot which amazed me.

He regresses occasionally and wants to be treated as a baby. He will climb in Adison's bed and put her passy in, or will suck on her bottle if he finds it and then I have to pretend he's my little baby again, and then he's fine.

He's very happy again because we are so busy. I have something planned for each morning and then we paint, cook or play in the afternoon. He loves working the mixer or attempting to stir things.

At the moment I seem to be building or moving furniture for Adison's room in the afternoons, but he helps me (or hinders me, depending on how you view a small boy with a screwdriver trying to help!) and enjoys playing in her new room.

Adam agreed to us enrolling Nicolas in a gym class which he loves, and I really enjoy too. We just run around a lot and he gets to climb and hang on things, which is just his thing. Being the least gymnastic person in the world I want to encourage him. If he is half as good is Kirsten by her age I'll feel very proud. I meant to take my camera to take more pictures this week but forgot.

I feel so lucky to have two such happy, content children. It just makes me wonder if their teens are going to be hell as payback!!

Adison Rose at 7 Weeks - Smiling at Last

Having spent the last 4 weeks of my pregnancy just getting through each day, and then having spent the last few weeks getting into a routine with Adison, I have had so much to catch up on. Finally I'm getting the time to update the blog. The photos are from the last 3 weeks.

At her 5 week check up she weighed 10lbs 1oz and was 21 3/4 inches, that puts her in the 60th percentile. I'm happy with that because I'd love her to be about 5'7'.

I feel bad because I'm so busy I hardly ever take photos of Adison, whereas with Nicolas I sat and looked at him, waiting for him to do something cute, and took hundreds of photos of him!! I'm trying to get better because I don't want her growing up wondering why their are no photos of her. So here are the things I want to remember about Adison but will forget if I don't write them down: She rarely blinks, just like Nicolas as a baby; her neck is much floppier than Nicolas' was, but she tries hard to lift her head and push forward when she's on her tummy; she is very hairy, but it's soft downy hair, especially on her shoulders and she has a faint line of hair down her forehead which is fading now; she has random 1/2 inch long hairs on her head, but her hair doesn't seem to be getting any thicker; she has a tiny tuft of fine hair on each ear where the hair grows in different directions (I'm making it sound like I gave birth to a gorilla!); she has a little crease in her forearm; she always has cold, clammy feet and hands.
She is so alert now and yesterday on her 7 week birthday she decided to stay awake from 6am to 3:30pm. She was very sweet and no trouble, but I felt like I should be talking to her and holding her as much as possible. All I wanted to do was assemble the dresser and shelves I'd bought her on Monday from Ikea. She slept from 11pm until 5:30am last night and only woke because of Adam's alarm. I'm almost finished with her room (the old guest room) and then she can sleep peacefully in there. I was pleased to get Nicolas out of our room when he was a couple of weeks old because he was so noisy, but she is so quiet that I don't really want to move her, but I know she will get into a better routine and sleep through sooner if I do. I'm amazed at how well she sleeps, but lack of sleep is catching up with me. Adam is going to give me a late sleep this weekend which I can't wait for.

She is becoming so expressive now, so these are the faces of Adison Rose.....

She doesn't often cry, but when she does it's very loud!!She yawns alot.....
.....and smiles in her sleep..........and scruches her face up....

...but she also furrows her brow and looks very serious.......

......and then tries hard to look like Elvis, just for my Mom!

And then there are the days she just doesn't want to pose to show Auntie Karen and Uncle Will how pretty she looks in the dress they sent. She has really strong legs and will hold her weight up if you support her under the arms.
I loved this picture because the bow on the dress looked like little wings, she is my angel after all.
She doesn't mind being in the car seat because she seems to know she will go somewhere new. Nicolas is so sweet with her and will go crazy pointing and shouting if she's sick or spits out her passy. She is sick just about eveytime I feed her or if I've just got her dressed to go somewhere. It's almost as if she saves a mouthful just to make me change her!
She is very alert and loves to see what Nicolas and I are doing. She is quite happy to sit in the bumbo seat for 5-10 minutes which Nicolas hated. The photo below shows the color of her eyes pretty well. Sometimes they look very blue, but sometimes they look brownish. I would love them to be blue, but I think they'll change.We've had a few days of cool weather (low 20's) so Adison has actually been outside. I want to get in the yard in a couple of weeks and get it sorted out, but I have other priorities at the moment. She will get to spend a lot of time outside in the fall. She loves looking around at the trees like Nicolas did.
We had Luke, Jack and Bowen stay for the evening a couple of weeks ago and they were so sweet with Adison. Luke just loves babies and will sit for ages with Adison on his lap. Jack was cute too but I think he only wanted to hold Adison to be like Luke.

I don't often get to just sit and hold Adison. I'm always trying to keep her awake or doing something with Nicolas. She was pulling funny faces so Adam took a picture of her.
The only thing that I found slightly worrying about Adison is she only poohs every 4-5 days. The doctor and everyone else has told me that's normal and she doesn't seem to mind. She farts and burps like an old man. I've never known such a cute baby smell so bad and fart so loudly.

It's hard to tell who she is going to look like. She definately has Adam's mouth, which makes her look a lot like Kirsten, but I see more of Mom in her than anyone else and occasionally my brother Will. For all the South African's out there - she always has her thumb between her index and middle finger (as you can see above), so I think she must get that from Mom!! I don't see much of Nicolas in her, but then Jaden and Kirsten don't look alike.

I've not got a photo of her smiling yet but the photo below is almost a smile. I love it when she smiles and squeaks at me, I feel like all the love and care I give her is being acknowledged.