Daddy is the best

Jon probably doesn't need our gym membership... He has his own exercise routine at home, including free weights. :)

Videos

All 3 kids the other morning before school:



Levi this morning just starting to pull up:



And Lucy starting to use the computer this week. She DID get a haircut last week, but the video this morning shows her pre-"curl-calming lotion" and barrette:

Time to retreat

Our church's women's retreat is this weekend. I have gone for 5 or 6 years now, sometimes taking a baby along, too (Nate when he was 10 months, Lucy when she was 6 months). Taking the baby prevents it from being a true retreat, but it's still fun. Levi is 10 months old right now--still nursing and "needing" me like a baby does--but my wonderful husband is keeping all the kids, including Levi, at home this weekend so I can enjoy the retreat alone. If you think of it, would you please pray that Levi is extra good for Jon and that he takes the bottle? :)

Dangerous but fun; spectator too

Fancy Nancy

I know a bunch of you know what Fancy Nancy is already. We've had the book for a while for Lucy, and she just recently really started liking it. As I'm reading, she likes to complete the end of each phrase, and I just love how she says words like "chauffeur" and "Merci" in her little froggy voice.

I couldn't pick from these two videos, so here they both are:





And look how cute this link is!

Sleeping arrangements

Levi has been sleeping in a pack n play in our room since he was born. But with his poor sleep over the past few months, we are probably getting even less sleep because of the shared room. I love the idea of kids sharing a room, but when they're babies and/or not sleeping well, the logistics can be difficult! I didn't want to move Levi into Lucy's room (just next door to ours) while he's sleeping like this (i.e., not sleeping). And of course I didn't want to move him into Nate's room because 1) Nate isn't a wonderful sleeper to begin with, and 2) it's on a different floor than our room. So yesterday we moved Lucy's bed up into Nate's room, and they'll share for a few months (or however long it takes for Levi to sleep through the night consistently). Levi slept in the pack n play in Lucy's room, and we'll set up the crib in there for him this week. As for nap time during the day, when all three kids have a "rest time," I will try putting Lucy into our bed so Nate can still have alone time in his room.

Jon and I were anticipating a long evening as Nate and Lucy adjusted to the new arrangement. But it wasn't as bad/long as I thought it might be, and both kids were asleep within an hour or so. (In fact, I think Nate fell asleep first.) I love that this is inadvertently teaching them a "life skill." It will be nice when we go places (e.g., Mimi & Grandpa's) or when they sleep over at friends' houses, because it won't be foreign to sleep with someone else in the room.

OK, random post, I know. :)

Snippet

I painted my nails red before Jon and I went to a 30th birthday party last night (adults only--it was so fun!). Lucy saw them and asked, "Mama, why'd you paint yourself?" I told her just because it was fun and I was going to a party. So today she asked if she could have her nails painted just like Mama. I'd painted her nails once before in a barely-there pink, but this time she wanted to go all out. So cute!

Oh, and I didn't get a good picture of it, but Levi looked so cute for the 0.3 seconds his hair stayed put when I wet it down the other day (pic below). You can also see he's wearing a shirt, shorts, and shoes that used to be Nate's... When Jon cleaned out our whole garage over Labor Day weekend, he discovered a big box of Nate's baby clothes size 9 months and 12 months--just in time for Levi! I had been wondering where some of Nate's baby things went that I hadn't found yet. :)

Big girl pajamas

Lucy is sooooo sensitive to tight-fitting clothes (around the arms, wrists, waist, ankles, neck, etc.) and is apt to throw multiple daily fits about certain articles of clothing. Well--most articles of clothing. That includes pajamas. So I was proud of myself when I realized she could wear gowns to bed. (It took me a long time to figure this out--don't know why.) We picked one up today at the Carter's store on sale; when Lucy tried it on in the store and I asked her if it bothered her, she triumphantly declared no! I quickly washed and dried it so she she could wear it tonight. We put it on tonight for bed, and what do you know? She threw a fit (seemed like the shoulder seam/underarm area was the culprit). Great. She got over it, but still--goodness gracious, child!

Regarding the "tactile sensitivity," I do think Lucy has some sort of sensory issue regarding stuff touching her. Her aversions go beyond normal 2-year-old tantrums. So I've looked into "brushing therapy"; I'm going to get a brush this next week and try it, because I don't know how many more clothing-related tantrums we can take!

The big 2-7

Happy birthday, Greg!

Can it be true that you are growing up? :)

First day

Tomorrow is the first day of school. Nate's signed up to take the bus in the mornings again, and last week I signed the IEP addendum paperwork for his new daily schedule:

8:30-9:00 IBI classroom (special ed)
9:00-12:00 Preschool Connections ("regular" class!)
12:00-1:30 Lunch, recess, work time in IBI (special ed)

I'm hopeful that the number of transitions will be OK for him, and I'm so excited about the "full time inclusion" in the neurotypical class. Preschool Connections, run by the Parks and Recreations department, doesn't start until 9/16, so the first four days of school will be different from this. We'll see if that's detrimental....

I'm nervous. I'm nervous because of how badly Nate was behaving toward the end of the school year (May-July). I had thought it was classroom related, but by golly the bad behavior has continued straight through the summer. The disrespectful attitude. The whining. The blatant disobedience. So I'm nervous because he is out from under my supervision at school, and I can't discipline immediately when it is called for. I'm going to pray with him each morning before he leaves, but I'm still nervous!

Philippians 4:13
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Philippians 2:14
Do all things without complaining and disputing,

Proverbs 20:11
Even a child is known by his deeds,

Video equality

Levi was featured yesterday, so here are Nate and Luce:

Nate the amazing reader:



And the only recent video I have of Lucy:

Video

Levi almost clapping. :)

Levi/reflux update

I took Levi to the doctor yesterday morning (he wanted to check Levi's ears to rule out infection), and the doc thought this new trouble might not be the Prevacid but teething. If that is so, then it is some MONSTER teething. Just in case, I have stopped the Prevacid and am giving Levi his old Zantac dose until this night-time craziness stops. Then I will try the Prevacid one more time and see what happens.

This week's pictures: