Halloween Preview

To ruin the surprise...Nana wanted to get them costumes and we spent a while online looking to see who they wanted to be. Anna was going to be Snow White and Kara was going to be a pink doggie, until we got to the boy costume section and they found their dream costumes. They were SO happy when we got them last week and didn't want to take them off, even though they were sweating to death and desperately needed to pee. :)

Kara was roaring, who knows what sweaty Anna was doing. I did eventually convince them to take them off, and told them they could put them back on when Andrew got home. Sure enough, as soon as Anna heard the garage door open (over an hour later), she ran for her Pooh costume. The look on his face when she surprised him as "Anna Pooh" was priceless.

The girls actually picked a monkey for Alden's costume, but we found this today and they really wanted him to be "Alden Tigger," plus he just looks SO cute. (Here's one of Anna in the same suit when she was a little older). They literally called him "Algo Tigger" the rest of the day.

September is my Favorite Month in St. Louis: Two Weekends Ago - Updated

Alternatively titled: will travel for Fredbird. We packed everyone up and drove to North County for an early childhood fair, featuring none other than the girls' favorite person. Whenever we ask what city we live in, the girls say St. Louis, then remind us that Fredbird lives in St. Louis too.

I love that it looks like (sad, feverish) Alden is snuggling Fredbird, and I love the little hand reaching up to touch him. Kara and Alden did shake his hand, and he "ate" all of our heads, too. The girls tried to follow him around (to hug him, according to sweetie Kara). There were also a bunch of other costumed characters, and they're still talking about all of them and how they "almost" hugged them - a bear, a bunny, and a dinosaur.

The girls each got a lollipop, which they loved, touched some animal skins (random, yes), everyone got a book, and I made them do a craft - they are generally not interested, and weren't really (they ripped them up when we got home), but I try.

They also got fireman helmets and rode on "our" fire truck (note the Pierce on the seat in the first picture).

Alden did get to try on his baseball caps for the first time when we got home...what a sad and cute little sickie (Kara trying really hard to jam them on, with no success, probably didn't help). He also got a dinosaurs book, which the girls took.

I forgot...later that night we went to the Clayton Art Fair and walked around - we didn't really get to look at the art, since I had Alden strapped on me and the girls decided they'd rather walk than stroll, but it was a fun time. The highlight was the live band, which had the girls literally dancing in the street, running around, etc. They put on quite the show (I briefly considered putting out a little bucket for their college fund, since so many people were watching as they walked past - ha). I would LOVE them to dance, but when I asked if they wanted to take dance or swimming in the winter, they said swimming; no surprise there, I guess.

Going for a Train Ride with You Is Especially Fun

Please be warned, those who buy Alden toys: you are providing hours of entertainment for his sisters, and he'll be very lucky the day they share. :) The most recent gift we got acknowledged this fact and the card said it was for the girls now, and Alden later. They LOVE this Pooh train, and are (still, or again, maybe) obsessed with Pooh. I am really tired of hearing all the songs and phrases (like the one in the title of this post), but it does keep them entertained for a very long time, which is great. Also causes fights, but what good toy doesn't?

September is my Favorite Month in St. Louis: Last Weekend

This past weekend was not all that eventful, as we spent Saturday looking at houses, and putting in an offer on one (which we just found out was accepted by the seller! Now on to the bank...it's a short sale = slow, but it's the right house for us, and I'm in no hurry to pack up and move). Sunday was church, playing outside in the rain, and cleaning. Friday night though, we went to the Balloon Glow part of the Great Forest Park Balloon Race. We didn't actually make it to the balloons, since it was ridiculously crowded and too far to lug 3 children from where we had to park. But we strolled around Art Hill and climbed it again to see the statue of St. Louis, and to watch the fireworks from up there. Last year we saw the balloon race on Saturday

Ready to go in their big girl jeans.

Anna ready to climb (she did a little bit), and then sitting on the wall at the top (Kara clinging to me for dear life, since she's afraid of heights).

The girls liked the fireworks (their second show in 2 weeks) and apparently so did Alden. He "watched" (as if he could see that far) and started crying when they were over. The girls are so funny in telling me why he cries, because the way their minds work is so short-term. He was clearly crying because he wanted more fireworks.

Since he sleeps during most every outing, Alden pictures are harder to come by. The highlight (?) of his weekend was wearing navy with mom on Sunday. I was trying to take a picture to show how he had grabbed inside my sweater, demonstrating his new grabbing skills, but of course he grabbed for the camera as soon as I pulled it out.

Shenk baby jowls in full effect. :) Also showing that he has a little ear tag like Anna and Kara - his is on the right ear, as is Kara's.

Favorites

The original Best Babies are still my best girls - and won't let me call them babies anymore - they always correct me and tell me they're "big girls." If only they would act like it more often... On another note, one time when they were fighting over who got to nurse on which side (for some reason they both preferred whichever side of mine was closer to the wall at the moment), they said my left side was "stinky" - I asked what it smelled like and they said "peanut butter." Apparently they remember that months and months later and now the entire left side of my body is known to them as "stinky peanut butter" and the entire right side of my body is "other side." Awesome. So, Kara on stinky peanut butter here, Anna on the other side. Anna has a way longer tongue, in case you ever need to tell them apart that way.

His first time in a hood...on my birthday (so he was 9 1/2 weeks). I thought the girls looked really cute when they were about to cry, too.

2 Months+

Alden's been 2 months for, oh, 3 weeks now, but I never got around to posting about his 2 month birthday. So...here you go, a couple pics of "Algo" (as the girls call him, and I do sometimes, since I think it's funny) the day after the big day (taken on Sept 2nd).

We had his 2 month doctor appointment when he was 2 months, 1 week, and 2 days old. He has gotten (or remained) enormous. He was 16 lbs 11 oz, and 25 5/8 inches long, both >97th percentile. I forget how big his head was, but it was 90th percentile. It looks small compared to the rest of him, though. I love our big boy, even if he is the size of an average 5-5 1/2 month old at 2 months (his head is the size of a 4 month old's). I checked where he was on the girl growth charts too, for comparison, and he's the size of an average 7 month old girl. Since Anna and Kara were always average-sized, that means at Alden's current size they had been crawling and pulling up to stand for a little over a month, which just amazes me. Here are a couple from the day before his visit (taken Sept 9th).

I think he's starting to look a little thinner than he did.

Other milestones he's hit, or just things he's been up to, since he turned 2 months old include:

Rolling over (back to front) - he did it a couple times on the couch (which is a little angled) right around the 2 month mark, then onto my lap from Andrew's the next weekend, and then Sept. 15th he did it on the floor for the first time. He doesn't do all too well with tummy time (he is content to just rub his face around on the floor/bed), so who knows why he wants to roll - my theory is that it's just because his thighs are so huge that when he heaves one over, the rest of his body follows whether he wants it to or not. Here's the momentous first roll; he's gotten better, and does get all the way over now (then the girls tell me "Algo trying to do tummies").

He has also started grabbing for things and interacting with toys, found his feet - for grabbing of course, loves to eat his hand, gotten sick (from shots? he's still all snotty, though, so maybe not just the shots), has decided he likes to be held a lot of the time, and that a lot of times he will only nurse when I stand up (the last 2 are good for arm strength). Finally, he's been sleeping through the night ever since he hit the 2 month mark, going about 8 hours usually, though he did wake up some when he was sick. Of course Anna and Kara still don't go that long without waking up screaming, so it's not as joyous as it might be were I actually getting to sleep all those hours. It's still great, and we just love our baby boy - he's the easiest, happiest, most social baby (he talks ALL the time) and makes me want another!

Girly Girls

Old stuff - from mid-August. Anna hates to get her nails cut and cries every time, so as a reward, I painted their toe nails for the first time. Kara now officially calls her toes "Kara blue toes" and Anna's are officially "Anna pink toes."

Also mid-August - Kara, then Anna struggling to be independent - it's rough being a pretty girl. :) I think I reinforce the pretty part maybe a little too much...they each refer to their faces as "pretty faces" and when I was telling Kara to close her eyes at nap time, she told me that she had "pretty blue eyes." Indeed.

Potty Update

Kara still refuses to poop on the potty, regardless of potential rewards or how happy it would make everyone (other people's happiness is a big motivator for her).

Today after I changed her diaper...
Mom: "Kara, when are you going to poop on the potty?"
Kara: "Not Wednesday."
Mom: "Did you just say 'Not Wednesday'?"
Kara: "Yeah, poop in diaper Wednesday."

Yes, Kara, clearly Wednesday is not the day for you to begin pooping on the potty. :)

Proud big sissies - Kara on August 1, Anna on August 19 (I am SO behind in posting...life with 3 children is busy!)

More proud sissies - Kara on August 27, Anna on August 25 (sorry for the food in her mouth).

An Update

It's been over a week since I've updated...very atypical, I know. We've been up to not much, but a lot at the same time. We decided to buy a house a couple weeks ago, so have spent all our free time perusing listings, going to open houses, visiting with our realtor, etc. And the girls were sick for a little over a week - Anna started with throwing up, then progressed to diarrhea, where Kara met her with throwing up, and rounded out with diarrhea the end of last week. Just in time for Alden to get his first shots (6 vaccines - yikes! though only 3 shots) and them to make him sick and miserable with a fever, runny nose, and cough. We still have runny noses and some coughs, but are otherwise recovered.

I've been alternately enjoying and loathing parenting the girls. They are generally the nicest and sweetest, and are very smart and expressive, but I can do without 100 shrieking fits a day between the 2 of them (some days that is not much of an exaggeration). Anna is good at confessing what she's done (Nanny pull Kara's hair, Nanny bite Kara, Nanny pinch Kara, etc.) and has lately been telling me "Nanny a little bit angry," between shrieks, which seems to be a "little bit" of an understatement. Alden is my sweetie boy and continues to be (I'll do another post with his stats, etc. to commemorate hitting the 2 month mark, oh, almost 2 weeks ago now).

Some pictures to tide you over until I get my act together to really update things...

Girls trying on fall stuff...sweetie Alden doing what he does best (at 7 1/2 weeks...he's almost 11 weeks now).

Happy Birthday to Mom

Here's to a fun day with my family and best sweeties.

Kara and Anna were SO happy I let them wear this present from Nana (these are the first real smiles I've captured on camera for a long time). Thanks Nana and Pop!

Alden at 9 weeks - caught a tiny smile before he fell asleep. Seriously, seems like this boy is NEVER awake. And it's so rare that he is awake and happy that I play with him, not photograph. But that's another post. :)