Stella Monroe :: 6 months ::

 It is SO hard to believe that it has been 1/2 a year since you were born! You apparently love to grow up as you won't stop and you seem to be doing things faster than your sibs ever did! Please slow down! 

You weigh 14 lb 10 oz and you are 25 3/4 inches tall! You are in the 50th percentage for both of those!

- You are wearing 3-6 months and will be for a while I bet! Size 1/2 shoes!

- You are in size 2 diapers!

- You sleep about 11- 11 1/2 hours at night.

- You nap about 3 times a day. Anywhere from 20 minutes to 2 hours!

- You nurse about every 3 hours, sometimes more in the evenings!

- You have started using a sippy cup and get the idea!

- Food wise, you just aren't into it. You like to put food in your mouth and like baby puffs. But baby food just isn't cutting it for ya! Practice, practice, practice.

- You biggest milestone was getting your first tooth just a few days before you were 6 months. Since then you have gotten another (bottom two front).

- You can scoot and roll - and will scoot anywhere except forward. You are also a spinning machine!

- You can get up on your hands and knees and rock!  You move your legs like crazy but can't figure out your arms yet! Which is JUST fine by me. Momma is NOT ready for another mobile child in the house.

- You sit great for minutes at a time! 

- No baby sounds yet!

- You have found your voice even more than before and can be quite loud!

- Your jumperoo is still is your best friend if you are in a good mood!

-  Speaking of moods - you are still a happy baby majority of the time. But lately you have wanted to be held 24/7 and if we dare think about setting you down, you cry or scream. The second we pick you up, all smiles. Stinker.

- You like sitting in your highchair and "eating" with us!

- You probably love your brother more than your sister at this point! He can make you laugh and smile the most! Though sister is a close second!

- You are constantly move and have strong little legs! You like to go.go.go.

- You've started reaching for people!

- You like to grab everything and put it directly in your mouth!

- You wake up super happy from naps and it is pretty easy to make you smile! Just smiling at you makes you smile!

- No stranger danger yet but out of everything, momma is your favorite. And I am just fine with that!

- Evenings are definitely your worst time of day! You think life can be pretty rough if we don't entertain you for every second!

- Your night time routine is to nurse and then top you off with a bottle! You normally go to bed awake, stick your thumb in your mouth, and away to night night land you go!

Happy 1/2 birthday sweet girl! We love you!

Mr. Max :: 3 years later ::

 On March 31st - Max would have been 3! It's so crazy to think 3 years as has passed!  I still (and will never forget) his birthday. I was in bed when I got the call from Kevin at 7! Hour later Lyla and I were out the door! Couple of hours later, he was here! Being pregnant with Cohen at the time, I was super excited to find out that "Max" was a boy (they didn't find out and just nicknamed the baby Max). I was excited for Cohen to have a buddy to play with! Even though he isn't here, it's important to me that my kiddos remember him in some way. Last year we put his balloons on his grave, this year we let them go in our yard! Lyla knew exactly why we were doing it and said that little boys love balloons in heaven! So with that, Happy Birthday, Max! 

March happenings

The month of March brought on 2 kiddos with ear infections, potty training success (for the most part) and cousin get togethers!

Stells practicing her sitting!  

This day we had a cousin fun day! We went out to eat and then headed to the pool in Russell for swimming.  After we got back I had to run to a photo session but Sean sent me a video of the kids sleeping. They were worn out. These pictures are from when I got back.

And yes. Cohen. This kid. He loves his sisters shoes!

At the beginning of the month we tried some applesauce with Stella but she still has her tongue thrust so it wasn't really a success so we waited a few more weeks.  But she liked playing with the spoon and Sean's airplane noises!

Lyla has been big into tea parties and this is her normal set up! :)

And Miss Stella, just a happy little thing!

Cohen is pretty much potty trained. He does good everywhere but at the Center - where we workout. He likes to poop his pants there for some reason. But other than that, we just have a few accidents here and there (mostly #2). So I'm pretty happy! Only 1 kiddo in diapers is nice! Hard to believe that in about 2 years we will be done with diapers!

Stella had an ear infection at her 4 month appt and in March she still had fluid behind her ears but thankfully it was clear. But then 2 weeks later, Cohen was jealous of Stella's ear and thought he should have ear infections too!  Thankfully, they are both better and the ears are good - for now!

In March we also had Lyla's preschool round up! It is SO hard to believe that she will be going to preschool everyday for 2 1/2 hours. When she did 3 year preschool she only went 3 times a week so it was a nice little break, but everyday seems crazy. And now that means everyday I'm going to have to get up early - boo! 

Stella Monroe :: 5 months ::

 Better late than never right? You are already 6 months + a few days! 

- You are 13 lb 10 oz.

- You are in 3 month and some 3-6 month clothes!

- You are in size 2 shoes!

- You wear size 2 diapers!

- You were sleeping 11 hours at night and then you started getting up once or twice a night when you were sick. After 1 night of letting you cry (maybe 15 minutes) you are back to 11 to 11 1/2 hours at night. (Thank goodness)

- You do not nap good! You will only sleep in your crib and at that you may sleep from 20 minutes to 2 hours. You just never know!

- You are a rolling machine and can get up on your knees and forearms.  

- The jumperoo is your favorite thing and you go crazy in it!

- You nurse very 2 - 4 hours and no food yet!

- You are pretty much the happiest baby unless you are super tired! 

- You are a big fan of your siblings. You smile so big when they entertain you!

- You are a daredevil and have no fear yet! You love to be thrown and flipped upside down! You are one tough cookie - but you've gotta be in our family!

- You've found your feet and like to play with them, but none in your mouth yet!

- You are good at sitting unassisted for a minute or so. But if you reach for something your fall right over! :)

- You can't crawl but you do scoot backwards! You get stuck quite a bit under the couch!

Happy 5 months, sweet girl!

Jumperoo and potty training 2014

 Girlfriend loves her jumperoo.  Apparently, she got such a great workout that it wore her out! How sweet is she?

My parents came up and watched the kiddos for me while I had a back appt one day!  Someone got cozy and fell asleep on pops.  It's funny I'm posting sleeping pictures of her, because for the most part she doesn't sleep during the day! 

Yesterday we started potty training Cohen for real! Last week I got the potty out of the van and just kept it out but he had no real interest.  Well yesterday, after I realized I had an easy week, I thought this would be the best time to do it.  So while I was playing with Cohen I told him he could have candy if he peed in his potty. Well, no later than 15 minutes he comes into our bedroom where I'm folding clothes carrying his potty. Totally sanitary, I know. But whatever, I screamed! :) I was so excited I think I freaked him out! :) But he was super proud.  So I told him he could have any candy he wanted and he asked for oreos. A call to daddy who was grocery shopping (it was a mere 1 degree yesterday - no way in heck was I getting out) and oreos were picked up.  He had 2 more accidents whenever daddy got home but after that he was golden.  He's peed and pooped in it! So a successful first day! 

As I type this, this morning, he's peed 2 more times! So I'm feeling pretty confident. Knock on wood - he is even doing better than big sister. And I thought she was pretty easy.  She had a few accidents on the second morning but was then golden after that! 

Daddy picked out some sports undies so we shall see what happens from here on out. I'm afraid to get too excited since he is a boy and his attention span is like 2 seconds, but hopefully it'll continue. 

We will be going out this afternoon, so fingers crossed, it goes well.  

Oh and for the record, we do the 3 day potty training system. Works awesome. But here's my 1 piece of advice. Wait until they are ready - like super ready. Don't do it because you want them out of diapers. Im lazy and like things easy - so waiting until they are super ready makes it much easier for me!

Good job sweet boy!