Louis: Eight Months Old

Louis is eight months old. Time is flying by and I don't know how to stop it. He is an amazingly hilarious baby...I have never heard a better laugh and we hear it often. He continues to be incredibly sweet and cuddly, and is developing a deliciously mischievous side. He kisses the side of my face, reaches his arms out to be held (so far just to me-suckers!), and shoves his face into the soft spot on my neck.

He loves the bath more than anything, is obsessed with balls (and it still makes me laugh every time I tell someone he loves balls-ha, ha), and can't get enough of those textured board books. He has a serious preference for yogurt and fruit and wants nothing to do with a vegetable. He shoves puffs, crackers, and peas into his face on a regular basis. He can drink out of a straw cup like a big kid, but much prefers to dump it in his lap.

He weighs somewhere around 18 lbs and is crazy long. He is mostly in 12 month clothes because of his length. Sleep continues to be hit or miss. More hit than miss when he's in his own crib. I don't mind so much (although if he wanted to give me a 7 or 8 hour stretch I would be all over it).

He adores his sister and loves his cousins. Every day we think it will be the day he starts crawling, but so far he's been content to moonwalk (crawl backward), and army crawl around in circles. He's starting to pull up on things and still totally digs the jumperoo. His hair is fabulous and grows longer and taller by the day.

Every day with this dude is awesome. I don't know what we ever did without him.

Happy Halloween

Me: Wow, what are you going to do with all of that?

Norah: Put it in my mouth.

Norah-isms

Norah was being particularly funny this morning, and I wanted to write things down before I forget:

• This morning she came up to me, said "don't move" and then proceeded to wrap me up in a giant bear hug. She said, "you are in my cocoon."
• Norah loves medication of all kinds. If we let her she would take Motrin on an hourly basis. Lou's bottle of gas drops was on my bedside table and she asked what it was for. I told her it was medicine for Louie's toots and she asked if she could have some. Given that she has the toots of a grown man I said sure. I uncapped the bottle and she got a panicked look on her face and said, "wait, mom. Does it go in Louie's butt?"
• Norah has an, ahem, effective digestive system. She poops once a day, sometimes every other day, but more times than not it's a huge, huge, HUGE poop. We started calling her a hobo. Lately she's been demanding privacy when she poops but then will call us in to help her, ahem, clean up. This morning she asked me, "was it a hobo?"
• I love cereal but I don't like milk. As a result, there is always a half cup or so of milk left in my bowl every morning. Norah loves to finish the milk in my bowl, so it's a win-win. She was slurping it up at breakfast and it was dribbling all over the table. I gave her the side eye and asked if she had spilled any milk. She hesitated and I told her that it wasn't a big deal at all to spill milk and everyone does it, but if she does she needs to tell me so we can make sure to get it off our nice, new table. Not telling me is the problem, not the actual spill. She told me, "mom, I promise to always tell you if I spill milk. And cheese. But only the melted kind."

On a completely different note, here's the family picture from the pumpkin festival two weekends ago. It's not on a 1,700 lb pumpkin, but it's cute nonetheless.

Fleeting

As those who have been around awhile know, Norah used to be a crap sleeper. We agonized for the better part of two years as to what to do and tried just about everything to make her sleep better. We had just about every contraption ever made for babies (bassinets, co-sleepers, white noise machines, sleep sheeps, etc etc etc). For a solid stretch of eight months or so she slept in our bed every night because it was the only way anyone got any sleep. I worried she would never sleep on her own. I worried she would get too attached or if she slept alone she would feel abandoned. I worried we were somehow doing her wrong. I worried.

Lou on the other hand took to sleeping remarkably well. He slept alone and often and in long peaceful stretches. We thought we had it made.

And then he turned six months old. And wanted to play with us all of the time. And knew when we were gone and he was all alone. And started getting teeth. And started moving like some kind of jungle animal in his crib. And wasn't happy about it.

And so, here we are again.

But it feels different this time around. I don't mind as much. I don't worry as much. Because I know it's fleeting. Because in the blink of an eye he's going to be a kid. A kid who eats real food and sleeps in a bed and goes to school and uses the toilet. A kid who knows what a scepter is and the Spanish word for butterfly. A kid who asks 9 million questions a day and decides worms are nice but kind of disgusting because they eat dirt and probably their own poop. A kid who announces from the back seat of the car that a mermaid must pee out of her belly button because she doesn't have a butt.

Don't get me wrong. I am tired. Really tired. And I would love to sleep without getting drop kicked in the face. But I know that even though it may not be ideal right now, it isn't going to last forever. Most everyone I have talked to about it has found their second child to be easier. They trust their instincts, they don't worry as much (no time, no energy), and they are confident they know what they are doing. I bemoaned to our pediatrician once that I felt guilty that Lou didn't get the kind of attention that Norah did and she reminded me that Lou also isn't getting "the crazy." All of these things are true, but I think fundamentally the biggest difference is that the second time around you really understand that nothing stays the same. They change so dramatically, so quickly and if you look away you'll miss it.

I am a little obsessed with this music right now. It's a kids folk duo (and I apologize in advance, anyone who has a baby in the next 10 years is getting this as a gift from me....it's that good). One of my favorite songs (and really, they're all my favorites), has the lyric: "It's a big world baby, and you're little. For a little while." Maybe it's because Louis is our last and we aren't ever going to experience these "baby" things again, but lately the sentiment seems especially profound. I am trying to appreciate all of the little things, even when they are frustrating and exhausting and demoralizing (believe me, I still have my moments), but with a certain perspective even the shitty days don't seem quite so shitty.

I am lucky to have them. And I want them to know I always felt that way. Even when they were kicking me in the face.

Lou versus Barbie

When Uncle Kiki was little she would chew on the hands and feet of her Barbies. Like, she would chew OFF the hands and feet. Her Barbie house was basically a horror movie.

Good to know we're keeping it in the gene pool.

C.O.S.T.C.O

I despise Costco. I get overstimulated by the products and the crowds and always end up making very poor decisions (like impulse purchasing 17 lbs of lunch meat or a giant container of salted caramels). However, I agreed to go last week for one reason.

I was dying to see Reid and Lou in the cart together.

There was some hair pulling, eye gouging, and paci swapping, but for the most part I think they enjoyed it. Look closely and you can see a 3 year old in the main basket. She had a fabulous time enjoying all of the samples. Lou won't eat pureed apples, but he was all over the artichoke dip. Discriminating palate, I suppose.

Pumpkin Festival

Every year we go to the Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Festival. It's kind of surprising how much I love it, especially considering it involves a ton of traffic, massive crowds, and some questionable street food...all things that normally I would shun. But, there is also a ton of live music, beer drinking on the street, and every pumpkin flavored food you could possibly ever want. I love it. Plus, I love taking our picture on the giant 1,700 lb pumpkin and seeing how our family changes from year to year.

I was super bummed that we weren't there this year for the festival, especially given the fact that Louis has never been. Sigh. I was so bummed that when our friends the H's invited us to the Elgin Pumpkin Festival, we readily accepted even though it was predicted to be 95 degrees. Let's just say it was hot. And dusty. Did I mention how hot it was? There was so pumpkin crusted mac and cheese, no pumpkin micro brew, no live music. There were, however, lots of tractors. And a lady selling gatorade out of a ice chest. Sigh.

We met up with the H's and some of their friends. Sorry this picture is so small. If you look closely you will see 8 lawyers. In one picture. There's got to be a bad joke in there somewhere. Also, a lot of cute kids, including newborn Wallis. She's tiny and perfect.

Here's a rare family pic.

One of the highlights was that a giant tractor trailer hauled people around the farm (it's actually a Christmas tree farm). Lou was such a sport, especially considering the fact I had dressed him in a long sleeve black shirt.


There was some face painting.

And a sheep dog demonstration. That was legitimately pretty cool. Those sheep are wussies.


I sent this picture to Amy and she said I looked like one of the Real Housewives. That's the look I was going for.

You could buy a pumpkin and paint it.


There may not have been beer, but there was good company. It may have been hot and dusty but Norah LOVED it. I am grateful she is the kind of kid who is impressed by just about anything.

We'll totally go back next year.

Ketchup

Get it? A major catch up. Things have been pretty hectic and there's not a whole lot of sleeping going on around here. I blame Lou's teeth (oh yes, now he has two), my stupid bar application (which is now in the mail, thankfully), and the fact that Norah is convinced the backyard sprinkers that come on at 4:00 am are actually fairies.

Norah got two princess nightgowns from Megan a few weeks ago. Even though they are at least 4 sizes too big she wears at least one of them every night.

We went to "Fable Fest" several weekends ago. It was very hot. There was archery and jousting. Norah made a crown. It was really, really hot.

SLB is on a mission to prove to me that there is indeed culture in Texas and so we went to the ballet. It was well done (plus, there was wine). It's no San Francisco Opera, but a worthwhile Sunday afternoon indeed.

Here's a good close-up of the most awesome baby hair in the universe.

This may or may not be a preview of what Lou and Reid are going to be for Halloween....

Norah had a playdate and asked to make cupcakes for the occasion. She was heavy on the sprinkles. Check out her awesome apron. I have a matching one. I went to a benefit for a foundation that supports maternal and fetal medicine in Africa and won them in a silent auction. (Check out the website when you get a chance...it's an amazingly worthwhile cause).

Louis and Reid have broken in the swings at the park at the end of the cul de sac. We've been back several times. They totally dig it.

Louis spends a good part of his day doing baby crunches.

He's on the verge of crawling. Every day I think he's going to get it but he chickens out.

Monday was a school holiday for everyone, so we got to hang out with Megan and Trevor while Aunt S was at work. I pretty much consider myself to be the cool aunt around here. Evidenced by the fact that I spent a good hour letting the kids crawl through the ottoman and taking pictures with a bright flash. It was a 'who can be the best demon' contest.



We are trying to get in the Halloween spirit around here, despite the fact that it is still 9,000 degrees outside.

Norah has been practicing a lot of scary faces.

The boys got matching pajamas. It's pretty unbelievable how cute they are (even though Reid wouldn't wear his hat).

I mean, c'mon. LOOK at this kid!

This one too.

We have run the gamut of Norah Halloween costumes the past couple of weeks. For a long time she wanted to be Jessie (Toy Story), then Aurora (Sleeping Beauty), then a cat. I thought it was close enough to Halloween to spring for the cat costume. Now she really, really, REALLY wants to be "Princess Frosting" (ie, Princess Frostine) from Candyland. We'll see.


Being this cute is exhausting. Too bad its not exhausting at night.

Ruby

Norah misses her friends a lot. She talks about them all of the time, asks questions about what they might be doing at any given moment, and loves to say "remember when..." and tell me something funny about one of them. Like, the other day she asked me if I remembered how much she liked the slide in Ava's backyard. Or how she once (or 10 times) took a bath with Caleb. Or how Caroline has a pretend ice cream cone toy.

But it is missing Ruby that generates all of the tears around here. We talk about Ruby a lot. A LOT. How much we miss her. How much we love her. How Ruby would like this and that and the other. She puts things away to "show Ruby later." There's a cupcake in the freezer that's "for Ruby." She tells the new friends she meets about Ruby. That she is really nice. And has yellow hair like Rapunzel. Norah wants a princess dress. Aurora is her favorite, but she "already has that one that lives at Ruby's house."

The other day we were driving to school and she was really sad (about Ruby), so I made up a song to make her laugh. I would sing, "Norah's got a friend named Ruby. She is such a cutie. She really likes to...." then I would pause and Norah would shout PLAY DRESS UP! Or READ BOOKS! Or EAT CUPCAKES! We did this for a good 10 minutes and must have gone through like 20 things Ruby liked to do. Finally I think she must have run out of ideas because when it was her turn she shouted TOOT REALLY LOUD!

A girl after my own heart.