Another 1/2 Birthday

Big Sister is 3 1/2!

She's grown up so much in the last few months.  She's definitely not a baby anymore, although she often reassures us that she'll always be our baby (so sweet!).  She is quite independent, really enjoys making crafts (she just might be addicted to glitter pens), loves to socialize with her friends, and is always asking us to read her a story (we easily read 10 to 15 stories a day!).  She includes family members in her list of friends - grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins!  She is a great big sister; she takes wonderful care of Little Bud and excitedly greets him in the morning and after his naps.  She knows which toys are his, and is diligent in rounding up every single one of them so that he has a large selection to choose from at any given time.  The transition from single child to big sister hasn't seemed too difficult for her, but she has moments when she needs extra attention.  I've realized that it's easy to ask her to wait a bit when she needs something, but when Little Bud cries, I'm quick to figure out what he needs.  So, I'm trying to do a better job of meeting her needs/requests as quickly as possible.

She loves anything and everything PINK!  She was upset when we stained her swing set brown; she told us that, "Pink is much prettier!".  When we were picking out paint colors for our kitchen cabinets, she again suggested pink.  I'm not entirely sure what that would do to the resale value of our home!

The other day she flipped herself into Little Bud's portable crib (thankfully he was not inside!).  She hit her head when she landed, and then whispered to herself, "Heck, heck, heck!  I think I broke my neck!".  She then called out to me, "Mom, I think I broke my neck!".  It seemed like she thought she wasn't supposed to say "heck" since she whispered it and didn't repeat it when she called out to me.

We had Big Sister's 1/2 birthday celebration tonight, since John was out of town the last two nights.  She requested avocados and spaghetti for dinner, and wanted to "pupcakes" for dessert.  When Big Sister was a baby, I read about a family that celebrated their kids' half birthdays, and thought it was a great idea, so we started the tradition ourselves.  Kids love to celebrate any occasion, and when you're young, it seems like it takes FOREVER to get to your next birthday!  Happy 1/2 Birthday Big Sister!!  We love you sweet girl!

The Half Birthday Girl!

blowing out the candle on her "pupcake"

special gift that Daddy picked out at Mast General Store

7 months

This cute little guy is officially 7 months old!  It seems like each month goes by a little faster.  We love him oh so much!

Since we were out of town last month, Little Bud's 6 month check up was a bit delayed.  We went to the doctor last week and overall she was pleased with his development. He is a bit underweight, so we're trying to help him pack on the pounds! The doctor suggested we up his avocado intake and even add some coconut oil to his baby food. She also said to make sure he gets plenty of veggies (this is one area I neglected a bit with Big Sister, and she still only likes a handful of vegetables, although she decided last week that since she's "grown up", she now likes salad!).  So far he hasn't met a food he doesn't like! He's had apples, avocado-apple, banana, golden beet-apple, carrot-fresh coconut and smashed sweet potatoes with a touch of cinnamon. Next I'm planning to make him a kale-banana-avocado mixture. I was a bit worried about finding time to make his baby food, but I forgot how simple it is! I typically make up several batches at a time and freeze them in ice cube trays. About an hour before he eats, I pop out the baby food cubes and let them unthaw. Hopefully when we go back for our follow up visit Little Bud will be a bit chunkier!

Here are his 6 month stats:

Weight: 13 pounds, 3 ounces

Length: 26 1/4 inches

Head Circumference: 42 1/4 cm
Teeth: 2

In other news, Little Bud and Big Sister are roommates!  After much deliberation about the best course of action (keep him in his portable crib in our room, make space for his portable crib in the spare room, put the crib in a little nook in our hallway, etc.) we decided to do a few trial nights with them both in the same room.  We were worried that he would wake her up if he woke up fussy(which he was doing almost every night) or that she would wake him up calling for us to help her to the bathroom, cover her up/uncover her, or find a missing "friend" (stuffed animal) in the night.  They've been rooming together for a little over a week, and so far they each have slept through the other's wake up calls, and Little Bud must be extra happy with the arrangement, because he hasn't woken up during the night since he moved in!  Big Sister loves the new arrangement since she prefers to not be "lonely".

Here are a few more of Little Bud's 7 month pictures:

Back to the Real World

The last few weeks have been a blur of unpacking, diving back into our regular schedule and getting caught up on things around the house (it takes FOREVER to sort through a month's worth of mail!).

Big Sister has enjoyed returning to her much loved activities. We usually go to 2 different story times at local libraries each week and also attend a music class at church (she's been going since she was about 5 months). We're also considering enrolling her in a gymnastics class.

Little Bud was a bit underweight at his 6 month check up, so we've been trying to add extra "good fats" to his diet (the doctor suggested avocado and coconut oil) to help him pack on the pounds.  It seems to be working; I think he's a little heavier every time I pick him up!  He started scooting around a few weeks ago and is increasing his skill level a bit every day, especially if a cool toy catches his eye.

Little Bud's 6 months stats:
Length: 26 1/4 in.
Weight: 13 lbs., 3 oz.
Head Circ.:  42 1/2 cm. 

Little Bud happily enjoying some carrots!

Big Sister with her "Friend Hat" she made at Story Time

Little Bud likes watching all the big kids at Story Time

Driving, Driving, Driving!

This morning we left Sioux City, Iowa at 4:15. We pulled into the campground in Paducah, Kentucky at 3:15. John drove about 700 miles in 11 hours. The littles handled it all amazingly well. They were able to sleep through the first couple hundred miles; which helped a lot I'm sure. The good news is that we're only about 270 miles from Columbiana. The drive tomorrow will hopefully take less than 7 hours. Traveling is fun and exciting, but there's no place like home!!

Wall Drug and The Badlands

We pulled out of the Mount Rushmore KOA around 7:30 this morning headed to the Wall Drug Store in Wall, South Dakota. The history behind the store is an iconic American success story. If you have the chance, I would recommend checking it out via google (seriously, how did we get our questions answered before google?!).

Big Sister has had her eye on pink cowgirl boots the whole trip, so we got her a pair in the western apparel section. I personally was hoping she would pick the hot pink fringed moccasins, but she wanted the boots!

When we left Wall Drug, we drove straight into Badlands National Park. We stopped at a few overlooks, took some pictures, had lunch, checked out a couple of teepee's and got the littles passports stamped at the visitor's center before we hit the road towards home.

We debated about visiting the Ingalls homestead on our way southeast, but decided that Big Sister might like to visit when she's a bit older, so we'll save that stop for our next western adventure. Our GPS told us that we have 22 1/2 hours to go, but in motorhome time, it will probably be closer to 30 hours. The good news is that we're officially back in the central time zone!

Custer State Park

Here's what we've done the last few days:

We had another flat tire on the Jeep; thankfully this time it was on our way out of the campground, not on the side of the interstate. After John changed the tire, we drove through Custer State Park. It's a very neat place; one side of the park has cool rock formations called "needles" (John put Big Sister on one of the rocks to take her picture, and as you'll see below, she wasn't fond of how high up she was) and the other side is rolling hills where wildlife graze. On the way back to the campground we drove along a scenic highway that had several nice views of Mount Rushmore. The rest of our time was dedicated to playing! Big Sister played both days until she was beyond tired! She came up with her own way of playing chess. You simply create a tower out of all the pieces; the coolest and/or tallest tower wins! Of all the fun things to do, of course she liked the pile of sand the best!

We're headed out today for Badlands National Park, and we're planning to make a stop at the Wall Drug Store. After that, we're hitting the road and making tracks toward Columbiana, Alabama! Big Sister is missing home (and we are too, at least until we hit the heat and humidity of the south!). We're still a LONG way from home, but hopefully we'll be back in time to get unpacked and settled back in before the weekend.