Realizations

You realize your child is deprived
... when you try to explain to him what will happen at the doctor's office and you assure him he will probably get the good medicine that tastes like bubble gum. Then your child starts crying and saying, "I don't like a bubble gun" and you realize he is almost 3 and has no idea what bubble gum is because you a) think it will be messy and b) are afraid his teeth will rot out.

You realize you have irrational fears
... when you are afraid gum will rot your child's teeth but he barely has any teeth left because he falls and chips them off every other day. Really? Who cares!?

You realize your child is growing up
... when you are reading and turn to a page with a kangaroo. You used to make a "boing, boing" sound for the kangaroo but now you find yourself explaining what a marsupial is...

You realize your child will only get sassier
... when you tell him to do something and he responds with, "Oh... what's the point?!" Then you have to explain the "point" is that I said to so get busy getting it done!! ha.

Stella - 7 months old

Almost 7 months!!

Tomorrow Stella will be 7 months old. That girl has A-T-T-I-T-U-D-E! I don't take back anything I have said about her being sweet but she has really started to develop her own opinion about how life is going to go! (where did she get that gene?!) She gets really, really ticked off when things don't go her way. I think mostly she is just frustrated. She wants to do more than her body has figured out how to do. She wants to play! She can't crawl and she can't sit up but she doesn't want to be held and she doesn't want to lay down... see the problem? She can roll and squirm to whatever she wants but that squooshes her belly and causes her to throw up. Then she likes to roll around in the throw up or continue to eat the toy that is covered in throw up... um, gross. By toy, I mean anything she can get her hands on... her toys, Lennox's toys (until they are snatched out of her hand), magazines (she ate a whole page today), and, her favorite, hangers!

Yesterday, I laid her on the floor to change her but I had to run in the other room to get some wipes. She was so mad that I laid her down that she rolled over and started banging her face on the carpet! repeatedly. Temper? check. How did I get another kid with this quick temper!?!

Last night she slept through the night for the very first time! That was 7 very LONG months... Maybe she slept so well because she ate 2 jars of baby food for dinner. She has never eaten 2 jars. Trust me, I will be shoving two jars in from now on... kidding. sort of. It seems really late to start her but she just started eating puffs. She double fists them and screams for more. Most of them get stuck in her fists or under her chin but she loves the one that actually make it to her mouth. This leads me to my new invention... the garbage disposal for bath tubs. Yes, I realize that could be highly dangerous, especially for toddlers, but I am disgusted by all of the food that ends up in my tub after Stella's bath. It would be great if I could just spray it all down the drain.

While Stella has attitude, she is still my sweetheart. She loves to get kisses and give them, unless of course she isnt in the mood for kisses, then she screams at me. She enjoys a good game of patty cake and motor boat. She loves her brother more than anything in the world. She likes to be outside. She likes to bite on her squeaky blocks. She likes to pull her headbands down and eat her bows. She likes to snuggle up close. She likes to spit and blow spit bubbles.

Stella HATES to go to sleep. When she gets really sleepy she starts taking her pacifier out and throwing it. She doesn't want to suck on it because she's sure to nod off. She pushes against whoever is holding her so she can hold her head up... when it starts to wobble from her sleepiness, she starts laughing. She squirms and cries and fusses and flops, all trying to avoid the inevitable... sleep. It's exhausting for us and I do lay her in her bed for a while to see if she will go to sleep on her own. Sometimes she does. More times, she doesn't. I am not a fan of letting her cry. I don't mind the fussing but I can't take the sad crying. So we hold her and fight her until she falls out!

Bathing Beauties...

getting her tan on...

This kid LOVES to swim... he is doing great with the floaties and sort of great without them. He jumps right in by himself, goes under water, kicks his feet, and we're working on the arm motions. I'm glad he isn't scared but I wouldn't mind if he was a little more cautious!!

Papa loves to do whatever Lennox wants to do... how many 72 year old men do you know who will still attempt a cannonball in the pool?!

Let's Go Fly a Kite!!

My friend Celina brought Lennox this cool airplane kite...

Lennox loved the kite but he wanted to "ply" it himself...

He did alot of running after Jay, while Jay flew the kite!!

The kite was WAY up there!

Finally... he got a turn!

And... yes... I let my kid run around in the yard with just underwear! He was actually naked but I made him put on underwear for the pictures!! ha.

Lennox's Program

Lennox's end of the year program was last week. It was SO CUTE!! I was a little too emotional about the whole situation... I can't believe he is already done with a year of preschool or that he will be in the 3 year old class next year or that he will have a whole new teacher... the list goes on. The program was just so cute. I have no idea how the teachers get 2 year olds to even remotely cooperate but, somehow, they pull it off. Lennox marched up on stage and when he saw me & Jay and our parents, his little face lit up! He jumped out and started showing out for us. He stared at us the entire program. Maybe it wasn't completely obvious to someone who doesn't know Lennox but it was plain to me that he was incredibly pleased we were there to see him. I am so incredibly proud of him. He is such a sweet and funny mess! Here are a few pictures of how the day started... practicing his moves!

"CHEESE!"

I love my little man so much...

Check out his first belt!! :) He seriously thought he was something!

So, to say Lennox "participated" might be an overstatement BUT he stayed on stage the whole time and didn't cry. Here is a recap (I brought the wrong lens AGAIN!)...

Yes, that's him with fingers in his ears... apparently the singing was too loud for him! (not his own singing... since he did none of that)

He gave a little of this (crossed arms)

Then he started taking off his shirt....

Then he tried to pull his pants up and off!!???

Then he crossed his arms again

Then he stood and stared when he was supposed to sit... (he did alot of that)

AND THEN HE MARCHED!!! (Like a dinosaur) I so wish I had a close up of him doing this song. it was SO cute!

Mrs Ashley

Mrs Amy!

Here he is creeping in on the girls' picture! His "stance" is in full effect!

My mom and Sydney... or "Mrs. Cindy" as Lennox calls her :)

Total cooperation! what else is new?

Lennox is so NOT careful! He went swimming with Aunt Debbie and fell on the steps. His jagged little teeth went right thru his lip :( He was also recovering from falling on his face while trying to jump over Papa's cat (see the scab on his nose). he went to school 2 days with Sesame Street bandaids all over his face. I wish I had taken a picture!

Chillin outside with Daddy

She's a talker! She yaps all day long... I love baby babble.

Mother's Day

We dedicated Stella on Mother's Day but I forgot my camera! After church we went to Jay's parents to play. That afternoon my mom and I went shopping and to eat. We spent over 2 hours in Marshall's!!! It was just so pleasant to be able to look at EVERYTHING I wanted for AS LONG as I wanted. No one was crying or running away or pulling things off racks... really fun!!

Mrs Debbie, Stella, & Jay

Me and my sweet baby on Mother's Day

Easter

I was sick over Easter weekend so I was really slacking with the Easter Bunny duties. Stella didn't even have a basket. I know. It was pretty sad. Lennox didn't have a new Easter outfit either. Terrible. Um, Yes... he went to church like that on Easter

He was pretty disappointed that the eggs were empty!

After church we went to Debbie's for a crawfish boil.

Stella wore this pretty dress that Meme made for her!

Lennox - "What's Stella doing?"
Me - "She's eating supper."
Lennox - "What's Stella eating?"
Me - "Oatmeal and sweet potatoes..."
Lennox - (While making a face that would break your heart and shaking his head furiously) "Nooooo!! NO... that's not for Stella to EAT!! NO! Babies don't eat that.... WAHHHHHHH!" Then he headed to the living room in a panic of tears.
Me - (With a light bulb over my head) "No, Lennox. She's eating SWEET potatoes... She's not eating Mr. Potato Head."
Lennox - (tears dried up and talking to Mr. Potato heads... all 3 of them) "You're Mr. Tato HAY-ED, babies don't eat you..."

• Stella's 6 month checkup was Friday. She weighed 16 lbs, 3 oz (50th) and she was 28 inches long (90th). I really thought she was heavier than that! The doctor said everything looked good but she kind of made a face when I said she couldn't sit up. ??? Should she sit up already? Lennox was OLD before he could sit up but he had a big fat gut that prevented him from bending to a 90 degree angle!


• Yesterday Stella waved for the first time. The bug man waved at her and she just picked up her right hand and waved back like "yeah, I can do that...." no problem! :) It was cute.


• Lennox has been pretty low key lately. He is still a character but he hasn't done anything too embarrassing lately. Last week at the grocery a lady tried to talk to him and he put both fingers in his ears, looked at her, and said "What? I can't hear you." Needless to say, she kept right on moving with her buggy! ha.


• We went to Texas 2 weeks ago and both of the kids were awesome despite the fact that our airport didn't have curb side check in (so I was schlepping through the parking garage with our bags, carry ons, and double stroller), our flight was delayed 1.5 hours, and we didn't arrive at my sister's house until midnight. I was EXHAUSTED though. I think it was all of the planning and attending to immediate needs and anticipating upcoming needs that wore me out! Lennox listened so well. He rode in the stroller without complaint. He stood next to me and kept his hands to himself through security. He walked ahead of me, but not too far ahead, on the plane... he waited when told to wait... and he even picked out our seat. Everyone we passed gave me looks of sympathy or smiles. Some people even CHOSE to sit next to us!?? (what's wrong with those people?!) As soon as we took our seats, Lennox's nose was glued to the window. He immediately started yelling, "We're not PLYING?! We're not going PASTER to PLY!! I can't see a white airplane. I don't like a blue airplane!" Sorry Southwest. Regardless of how many times I explained that everyone has to take a seat and buckle up, he was ready to "ply" immediately. All I can say is thank you to who ever invented candy & battery charged DVD players! Both of those are essential when traveling with a toddler.


• I didn't take a single picture at my sister's house. Actually, I didn't take a camera but she didn't take any pictures either. It was pretty crazy with 5 kids running around. I must say that there isn't much I enjoy more than spending time with my sister AND brother. I am so lucky to have them both. They just "get" me. It's nice to be gotten.


• Lennox will be 3 in 3 months and I am SAD! I can't believe he will already be 3 years old. Three is so much older than 2. Two seems like a baby but 3? THREE?? That's not a baby. His latest obsession, aside from the moodies, is Mr. Potato Head. He loves, loves, loves to take him apart and put him together and smash him apart and put him together. He played with Everett's Mr. Carrothead and Mr. Cornhead the whole time we were in Texas. I went out and got him the real Toy Story Mr. Potato Head and my sister sent him a Buzz Lightyear Mr. Potato Head. He puts them all together, lines them up in lines, turns them around, sleeps in the bed with them, and, of course, strows Mr. Potato Head pieces all over my house!