3 Months

We hit the 3 month mark yesterday. I just love this boy to pieces. These are the facts:

Weight - 15 1/2 lbs - boy is this kid heavy to pack around! Luckily he's pretty content just kicking around on the floor. Unless we're at work and he's tired. Then into the Moby wrap he goes - until my arms go numb from his weight pulling on my shoulders.

Likes: watching his big sister, cooing really loudly, batting at the toys in his carseat and bouncy seat, sleeping in his crib all swaddled up, being sung to, trying to imitate his momma's laugh (we've gotten a couple of giggles, but mostly he just tries really hard to laugh with only a little squeak coming out), smiling, standing on my lap (he gets a very serious look on his face and goes stiff as a board - funny),

Dislikes: still the carseat - although we've discovered that he tolerates it better when we sing in the car, tummy time for more than about a minute, not being able to sleep in his crib - while at church for example, loud noises, being stepped on accidentally by his sister, being held horizontally (he always wants to be up)

He still sleeps quite a bit during the day, usually with a really long nap in the afternoon. I've started putting him to bed earlier at night because he stopped waking up from his evening nap. We had several days where he slept in his clothes all night until I realized I should just get him ready for the night earlier. Generally he's only waking once at night for a 4am feeding. Except last night. He was up FOUR times. Hopefully that was just a one-time thing.

He easily smiles during the day. Except when I bring the camera out. Then he just stares at it with a very serious face, or completely looks away. Although I don't have any pictures of it, he has a really cute open-mouth smile.

He is such a happy, calm boy. He brightens my day every time I pick him up. I'm so happy we have him. When I was first pregnant with Madeline, I was sure I was having a boy and I was scared to death about it. I didn't know what on earth I'd do with a little boy. I'll tell you what you do - you love them. And they love you back. It's so simple and so wonderful!

A little half smile is all he would give the camera this morning - but he refused to look at it

He loves his big sister, and she really loves him too

Renewal

This will hopefully be a week of renewal. Raising our 3 year old has been progressively getting more and more difficult. It's probably a combination of all of the changes we've been through in the last couple of months. Scott was out of town at a seminar for the weekend, and we had an awful time at home. Not that we've never had to fend for ourselves before without Scott, but it's been a while. He's usually the calm peacemaker. I realized on Saturday afternoon, after Madeline and I had both lost our tempers with each other in a bad way, that we needed to change some things around here. Sometimes it takes a crisis to realize the error of our ways.

We set some family goals last night. Some of them are new, some are things we'd just let go of over time. We already have more peace in our home today.

First Real Cut

I've trimmed Madeline's hair several times, but tonight I gave her her first real haircut. Her hair has been a battle as of late. It's so fine that it tangles really easily. I comb it every night before bed, and by morning it's a knotted mess. The same thing happens as she plays throughout the day and as it drags in her food at mealtimes. This wouldn't be such a big deal if she would let me comb it and fix it without a big fuss. But, it's a major ordeal everyday.

My little 2 year old niece was sporting a really cute a-line bob when we saw her family a couple of weeks ago. So low maintenance. I asked Madeline if she wanted her hair cut, but she wasn't happy about the idea. I told her she would need to be better about letting me comb it or we would need to cut it.

Tonight she surprised me (or not so surprising because she often tells me she really doesn't mind the thing I threaten to punish her with, thus making it not a punishment at all) and said she'd like to try a haircut. She was in the bath at the time, so I pulled out the scissors, did a quick search online for "undercut bob" and went to work. Not an easy task on a wiggly 3 year old. I finally relented and gave her a sucker to keep her busy for the finishing touches. I think it turned out pretty cute. Hopefully we'll have less tangles. I maybe should have gone shorter, but I was a little gun-shy.

I have to sneak in a couple of pics of my little man. Madeline thought he might like to watch the action from the seat of her dolly stroller. He wasn't so sure about it. He's still sporting a natural faux-hawk in the back of his head, which won't be cut anytime soon!

Header

Like the new header? It's compliments of my youngest sister, Megan. The same sister who will be leaving on a mission for our church a week from Wednesday to Winnipeg, Canada. The same sister we went down to see this last weekend to hear her speak in church, and to have her choose out clothes for me while shopping. The same sister my kids adore (even Benson smiles and cooes at her more than anyone). She's a talented girl, and I'm proud to call her my sister. We'll miss you, Megan.

Benson's Blessing Day

Benson was blessed in our home last Sunday morning (actually in the backyard because we couldn't fit everyone comfortably in our living room). He was given a beautiful blessing by his father. Much of our family was there, and it was intimate and lovely. Benson behaved well and just kicked his legs during the blessing.

He also behaved well by sleeping through the WHOLE night for the first time. I had put him to bed at 9:45pm, and he slept until 7am. I even woke him at 7 because Madeline, amazingly enough, was also still asleep and I didn't want him to start crying and wake her up. He promptly went back to sleep after I brought him into bed with us and fed him. Until 10am. He's the best baby. He was up just in time to eat again and get dressed before everyone arrived.

We took lots and lots of pictures. It's getting a little more difficult to do now that he's discovered his hands. A good portion of the pictures have my hand in them trying to hold his hands down and away from his mouth.

Miss Madeline and mommy all ready for the day

My very favorite people

Me and Mister Chunkarooni

I loved his little outfit. Madeline insisted that he looked like a girl, and it WAS an outfit that I had gotten for her, but she had never worn. I maintain that it was unisex and just fine for my sweet baby boy. I'm not into the stiff little suits at his age. This was soft and cuddly.

Under him are the blankets Scott and I were wrapped in when we were blessed.

Madeline's Quilt

Here's the finished product. I'm pretty proud of it. Just don't look too closely - it still has chalk lines and strings, and some of the sewing is crooked as can be. That's what happens when you try to make a quilt in a weekend.

And here's the big girl on her new big girl bed. The headboard was a DI (like Goodwill) special that we painted a couple of months ago.

Time Off

We've had a student in the office for the last week and a half. She needed to complete some clinical hours in a doctor's office. This was awesome because she's been able to be Scott's assistant/witness at work. That means I've finally gotten some time off. I took the kids with me on Friday and we headed down to Logan. One of my younger brothers had just gotten home from his mission two days before. I was so glad we got to see him before he headed off to school. One of my other brothers is moving his family to Peoria, Illinois this week, and we were able to see his family as well. It was a fun weekend.

I spent most of my visit there making a quilt for Madeline. We decided it was time to move her out of the toddler tent and into a twin bed. The quilt took a lot more time than I had anticipated, but it turned out pretty cute. Most importantly, Madeline loves it. She keeps telling me, "Mommy, thank you so much for working so hard on my blanket! I really, really love it". Totally worth it. I'll post pictures soon.

We're up to our necks in the end of the summer produce, and loving it. Last night we had pasta with pesto sauce and tomatoes made with herbs and cherry tomatoes from my parent's garden, and cherry apricot crisp. Today we've had zucchini pancakes (the very best way to eat zucchini - check out Ina Garten's recipe) for lunch. This morning I started a batch of apricot leather and froze a bunch of apricot puree for baby food. I can't wait to have my own garden next year.

It's been so nice to have a few days off to do some of the things I've really wanted to do. Family and food - there's nothing better than that!