Catching up

Being a goof ;) Like the aspirator as well? Hates me using it on her, but loves picking it up and trying it on her self...she grabs it and says "no, no" for nose, and continues to use it and a kleenex to "clean" her own ;) She has blown her nose for several months though, so that helps!

She is catching up finally! She is right at about 19 pounds, still little, but has gained a great deal in height. I am now down to one feeding a day...she has lost interest, and more or less weaned herself. She loves just about all foods. Favorites are "chee" cheese, "manana" banana, and "aher" cracker. She now knows her meals, and will ask for "behbah", "na na" (breakfast and lunch) especially. She says juice, milk, please, thank you (and uses the last two appropriately a good deal of the time without being prompted). She has taken to nodding and saying Yeah regularly to questions asked, which is a great help. At bedtime, she takes her milk, grabs her blankie and binkie, and says "nigh nigh". We'll ask if she is sleepy, and she'll sign the word and wimper "seepy". She LOVES bedtime, but I think it is because of getting to cuddle with her blanket. Jes and I take her to bed and she gives us both hugs and will fall towards her crib ;) We do wonder if nightmares are beginning...she will wake every once and a while screaming...but when we turn on a light and try to talk to her, she is fine and will settle down. She can be moody, but has turned into a very happy girl. She loves her siblings, as they do her, and definately misses them when they're gone. She calls them "issy and bubba". When the kids come home, they immediately ask for her, and by that time she hears them and races to come greet them! Melts my heart when she does the same to me if I'm gone...she gets so excited! One of her favorite games is when the kids "chase" her saying they are going to "get" her. She run around the main floor laughing hysterically! She loves "titty" kitty, but is beginning to get a little rough...likes to hold on to his tail and follow him around. But if we say to pet or be nice she says "paaa" for pet and acts innocent :) She is now walking everywhere. A few weeks ago, she finally mastered pushing up from the floor without something to hold onto, so that got her going full time. She LOVES reading...especially when accompanied by music (Jes and I know the whole song of Over the River and Through the Woods because she loves the singing). She signs book regularly while saying "ba" and asks to get "upease" up please to be read to. She then says "dow" when she's reading to get down. She speaks so much, the kids LOVE trying to get her to say new words! I truly think signing has helped her comprehension. She gets a good deal of what we say, whether it be getting out, closing, put it away, etc.

We heard the baby's heartbeat Thursday...166...the nurse joked based on the wive's tale that it was a girl because of the fast heartrate...Jes didn't much appreciate that. The boys are definately voting for a boy...especially Chase. It would be a great birthday gift for him! The baby is due May 11 just days before his birthday. I am beginning to feel better, but not completely recovered yet. Thank you for all of the prayers! That's about all I can think of to catch you up on now! Enjoy all the new pictures! So sorry for the delay...I will try to be better!

Rainy Day

I love rainy days. The babe is asleep and the kids are quiet, so I figured I'd update a bit.

The kids spent a couple of hours yesterday building a very large lego tower of all the legos we had in our upstairs bin. I can tell they are starting to get a little bored with summer, though not quite ready to go back to school yet. We spent Saturday outside teaching Maisy to ride her bike without training wheels! She has a terrible fear of getting hurt on everything, so it took getting a new one for her birthday that she HAD to learn to ride. Half an hour and she was off! Now she can ride around with Chase!

Gianna is still waiting on her top teeth, but they are so close! I'm pretty sure the top four are all going to come in at the same time. You can feel them right under the gums and see them as well! I think it's a gift to breastfeeding mothers when the teeth come in late. Wondering if there is a correlation?! I've almost reached my twelve month goal! Although bitter-sweet at the same time. I don't know that she could handle any more as distracted as she is these days. Keeping liquids in her is becoming increasingly difficult.

She is progressing with words, and slowing on others (she seems to learn some and forget them for awhile). She is much like a cat though, and does things only on HER terms. She can point out momma, dadda, and baby Gianna and says momma and dadda. She waves differently for hi (learning and open wave from one visit with Stephen Kerschen) and bye-bye (opening and closing her fist). She says "ba-ba" for goodbye and "ha" for hi. She even went chasing after Allison's car as it left the drive waving. She says "pa" while doing the action for "more please" while eating, and she has said "eye duh" while doing the action for all done. She's even repeated "baby," though rarely. She giggles constantly, and loves to be thrown all over the place (thank you daddy). She has recently become fond of riding in a wagon as well! She also took her first step at Michelle's wedding! She is getting much better with walking (help of course), but still thinks crawling is easier! She is smart as all get-out though...she can watch things once and can figure it out on her own. She has recently discovered she can take off her diaper as well! so we have to keep clothes on her ;) Can't believe my little baby is almost one! More later, she is such a light sleeper that the toilet wakes her...and now she is up ;)

Sign Language

I forgot to mention a couple of things. Gianna is greatly advancing in sign language too! She is much like a cat and chooses when she wants to use it, but she waves bye bye and hi (and says both, although bye bye much more consistantly). She also is getting much better at "more" and "all done." She is gaining so much personality. She'll giggle much more and hugs herself while crouching in on herself almost shy-like while laughing...adorable.

The other two kids are growing like weeds! Maisy is excelling in her drawing. We would love to get her in art classes when finances are not so tight, because she truly has a gift. She has been drawing Disney characters from a book she has. It is eye-balling not tracing. Though some proportions are a little off, it is amazing work! Chase has gained a very large fascination towards Star Wars. He loves video games, but definately has to be curbed, for it makes him much more edgey. They both have great imaginations...and they work together, MOST of the time.

PS~ Haven't forgotten about the picture Jen! Just haven't been able to get a good one! I'll get one in CO for you!

Love you all!