edie at 6 months.

somehow my little caboose is six months old now. as much as i absolutely adore this age, time is moving entirely too fast for my liking. it's been fast for each kid, of course, but it feels even more non-stop this time, i guess because the other two are so big and busy these days.

anyway. we went to the doctor last monday and her stats were:
height: 26"
weight: 16lbs. 3oz.
head: 45cm

so she's my littlest baby at this current juncture. had i realized this, i probably would have asked the doctor if her growth curve is ok, but she seems super happy and healthy, so i'm going to try to just be cool with it...

what else? edie is rolling - loves getting on to her tummy from her back, but is more hesitant to roll back over (even though she's fully capable). the sitting is getting stronger. she's capable of sitting in tripod for a bit, but is often too wiggly to stay there for long. miss jeanie and i try putting her in her high chair for 10 minutes at a time or so and she's getting better about tolerating that.

we introduced her first food (avocado!) on february 3rd. i think she liked it? it's so hard to tell at this age. since then, she's had banana, coconut, grapes, carrots, and a bite of red lentil soup that i made. i love feeding infants - it's such a fun phase. so far i don't think she's wild about anything, but she doesn't really hate anything yet either. she goes for food with gusto, but once it's actually in her mouth, she can get kind of mad about it. ha.

anyway. sleep is all over the place. i blame myself. i'm so exhausted these days, mentally and physically, that i just haven't mustered up the energy to sleep train her. i need to get on that, but it may have to wait until mid-march when jb and the bigs are away. i don't want to do cry it out, but i know some degree of crying will be involved and it's just super hard to do that when there are other people around (and it's just generally so upsetting to see her upset). i'll get there, just...probably not today.

miss jeanie continues to be a total blessing. i can't even imagine what i would be like if i didn't have her helping me hold it all together at the house.

i'm sure there are other things, but i'm at work and i'm tired (sensing a theme here). i absolutely adore this baby, though. she is magic. her wiggles and her boisterous personality light up my whole life these days. i'm very lucky to have these precious mongrels, all three of them.

edie is almost four months old.

my poor third child. so much has happened in the past almost 3 months and i have not documented a thing. i'm so sorry. the good news is, it has nothing to do with the amount you're loved and doted on. in fact, i would argue that we spend the majority of our time being in love and that leaves little other time for things like writing about your days.

but, for posterity, i will try to capture some things.

you are laughing, which started a few weeks ago (november 5, actually). you're still figuring it out, but holy geez it is some cute business. you love it when i growl and kiss your neck or your belly and it makes you do this little giggle squeak that is really just too much.

you are cooing and growling up a storm. you squeal and talk a lot, especially when we're looking at you on your blanket on the floor or on your changing table. you looooove being on your changing table, naked preferably. you dig your little heels in and try to launch yourself around and you generally just talk and smile and kick like a madman.

your sleep is not ideal these days, but that's ok. truthfully, my going back to work has been a big and difficult transition for both of us. you love miss jeanie (your nanny), but you don't love taking a bottle, which leads to napping trouble, which leads to cranky times...you get the idea. it's a feedback loop. but we will get there! i've been swaddling you since the day you were born and i think you're about over that, so we are just going to figure out how to ride through this time and it will all work out! i did buy you a new thing called a zipadee zip that promises to be the answer to all things sleep, so we shall see. i'm told there's also a sleep regression around 4 months, so maybe that's also part of this whole thing? who knows. sleep is a weird, elusive thing, but both your siblings learned how to sleep and (mostly) love it, and i believe you will too. also, you're so freaking beautiful when you're sleeping (all the time, really) that i know you will begin to embrace it.

what else? your eyes are still crossed, but i think the patching is helping. you have an ophthalmologist appointment on thursday, so we will see what the doc says. you love nursing and aren't a huge fan of the bottle, but i know you and miss jeanie will overcome that soon. you're a huge fan of being held and talked to - as long as someone is making eye contact and having a conversation with you, you're a happy camper. you looooove your mama, which makes me beyond happy, but you also really love your siblings and your daddy a lot too, as it should be.

we all just adore you, little wiggles. we are so happy you're part of our family. 

one month.

oh man. a whole month has gone by since our sweet edie cakes was born, and what a month it has been. i seriously cannot imagine life without this child - what was our family like before she was here? it's so weird.

i haven't been great about documenting each moment like i did with emme. i don't think i've even been as semi-consistent as i was with hollis. but that is just a result of life as it is now with three kidlets. anyway. i do want to jot down a few things now while they are fresh.

edith my sweet baby love. you are a treasure, for real. you rarely cry and you are super happy to be wherever you are. we should all take a lesson from you on that. my most favorite times are when you're milk drunk and passed out on my chest, nuzzled up in my neck. you smell like a baby and your skin is magically soft and i just adore your little frog legs and your snorkels.

you're a super quiet baby in general. your breathing is so calm and quiet, and you rarely cry. when you do cry, it takes you a minute to work it up - your whole face scrunches and turns super pink first, like you're really trying to convince yourself to cry. the exception to your quiet nature (for now) is when i try to put you back down during the night after a nursing session. you will root and grunt and snorkel so loudly i'm sure that no one will be able to go back to sleep. that is when i usually just get back up with you and we hang out until you're ready to go back down.

your night sleep is pretty great. you only get up once or twice, but that middle of the night feed is a marathon. it's usually 45 minutes + of nursing, with other shenanigans thrown in there so that the two of us are up for way too long in the 2-3am vicinity. we'll work on that over the next few months, eh?

the whole family is absolutely in love with you. hollis and emme talk to you and about you constantly. hollis asks to hold you multiple times every day. i'm pretty sure today, september 3, was your first smile while you were looking at your sweet sister. your daddy has to basically pry you away from me, and he's super happy to hold you and pet your head and back for as long as you'll let him. even the dogs can't resist giving you a kiss or two when you're close to their level.

i'm enjoying this newborn time with you in a way i wasn't able to with the other kiddos, and i'm super grateful for that. i want time to slow down. i am so thankful that you're here and that you're ours. you are magic, sweet girl.

edie's first few days - pics.

kindergarten!

yesterday my sweet baby girl started kindergarten! i kind of can't believe it. i didn't cry or anything (surprisingly), but it still feels like a monumental thing. she is in the system now - a kid and not a baby anymore.

sunday we had a fun, mellow day. breakfast tacos and puzzles, then jb took the kids to a movie while i went to a friend's birthday brunch. for dinner, i let the kids make their own pizzas which they loved. we had bath time and i gave them a little melatonin so they were ready for their early bedtime. i've been trying to move their bedtime up a bit every night for the past week or so, and that was a huge help.

i woke up around 6:15 and a few minutes later i heard her little footsteps heading up the hall. she asked for cereal for breakfast and got dressed easily. then we all walked to school together and took about a million pictures. she was a little freaked out heading in to class, but tough too. no crying.

jb and i picked her up a little early and she was super happy - she told us all about everything, including that she "made 11 new friends but i don't remember any of their names". ha. she was happy about her after school program. she was less happy that her teacher wanted them to be quiet a lot. but, all in all, a great day.

we capped off the first day with a trip to get ice cream before dinner. then, a low key evening and easy dinner. i was asleep by 8, so i guess we were all pretty wiped out.

we are so proud of our big girl - this is going to be a great year!

end of school.

oh. hi. remember when i used to keep track of our lives with this little corner of the internet? yeah. me neither.

way back at the beginning of june, ek wrapped up her preK year! it was such a great year - she learned so much and i feel like she will be so much more comfortable going into kindergarten after being there all last year. mr. butler was such a great teacher for her. they really loved each other and i hope he continues to be part of our lives. her early reading and math skills are really amazing so far - i could not be more proud of her. she made all 4s, demonstrating "mastery" in all the areas they measure, but more than that, i think she is really learning a lot about how to engage with the world and what kind of person she wants to be. i can only hope kindergarten is as awesome.

missing teeth!

i haven't been posting much - just a lot going on, i guess, as usual. but ek has lost two more teeth and the fourth should be gone today (i hope! that thing is hanging by a thread). the checkerboard smile of alternate top/bottom tooth missing was the cutest thing i've ever seen, but only lasted for a week before the other bottom tooth came out. i'm excited to see what she looks like with both front teeth missing - and to hear her cute little lisp! we are all ready for our next ice cream endeavor when she finally pulls this one out.

first tooth (top left): april 6
second tooth (bottom right): april 28
third tooth (bottom left): may 5

first lost tooth!

ek has been a thumb-sucker forever, which is why (i think) her front teeth started feeling loose a month or six weeks ago. especially her front left. we encouraged her to stop sucking her thumb and not mess with the tooth, i think mainly because losing a tooth seems like such a big kid thing and we were not ready for it - ha.

but, over the last week or two, it got looser and looser. we had many predictions for when it would finally be out, but last night was the night! this whole week it's been crazy loose - the kind of loose that grosses people out when you show them. by tuesday, some of the root was exposed and i knew it was definitely ready.

we felt strongly that she should pull it out herself - the first tooth can be scary and anxiety-inducing, especially for a kid like emme. so each evening, i gave her a paper towel and told her to work on it. we also told her we would go to lick (a fancy ice cream place that she loves) as a special treat as soon as she pulled it.

i got back from yoga last night and i knew it had to come out. it was hanging by a thread. after much shenanigans, i sat her on my lap and jb filmed the whole experience. it took a few tries, but she plucked it out. immediately, her eyes got super big and she started jumping around and shrieking. we were clapping and cheering - it was super fun.

and then, of course, we scrambled to lick even though it was like 6:45. there was no denying that sweet toothless grin. she and hollis chose strawberries & cream and chocolate milk for their two scoops, and they relished every bite.

this weird little monkey decided she didn't want to leave her tooth for the tooth fairy, so for now it's just hanging out in a little container where she can look at it every once in a while. funny kid.