September II

It cooled off slightly, so we tried out long pants in the next sizes. Jonah's shorter than Scott was at 3, so I cuffed his jeans and he's the cutest!

 Always in Perry's face, for better or worse.

 Crashed.

We went to our annual Cardinals game with John's birthday tickets. It was our first longer date without Perry and we had a blast.

John dressed this angel baby and he was killing me all day with his cuteness.

I took Jonah in for a sleep study. He found 275! He seemed hesitant, but excited for something new.

I gave him a birthday present that I kept aside to entertain him until they were ready.

It was a nightmare. He sat perfectly still while they put everything on, until the nose cannula, then he freaked out. I tried everything and eventually had to threaten to leave him if he didn't stop screaming. It was awful and I felt so guilty because he was scared and uncomfortable, but it worked and he calmed down. Then he woke up every hour or two crying and asking to "get outta here" until 530am when the study ended. 

Thankfully they didn't find anything major that needed to be fixed and hopefully we don't have to go back. I'm beyond grateful our kids have been so healthy because this opened my eyes to the reality of little kids in the hospital and Jonah wasn't even in pain and it was only one night.

Naturally we got pirate day donuts. The glazed ones were free, but I pretty much let Jonah do whatever he wanted that day. The bandana covered the blobs of glue left in his hair.

The stickiness is still on his forehead. It took a couple baths to all wash off. He was excited to find pickles in his sandwich.

Found himself in a different pickle.

Mitchell's feet were dirty from playing barefooted in the backyard, so Jonah got a baby wipe and spent several minutes cleaning them. "These feet are soooo dirty, Mitchell. I hafta wipey them. There, now that one is clean. Ucht. Your feet is soooo dirty. Now I hafta do the other one."

Jonah ran to me and said, "I saw Perry's eyes are open! Our baby is awake!" He was so excited to have someone to play with.

"Perrypoozle! Where's your Jonah Bear? Here I am!"

Jonah climbed on my lap in the rocking chair. I told him he looked tired and asked if he wanted to go rest in his bed. He said I'm not tired. I asked if he just wanted to snuggle and he didn't answer. I looked down and he had fallen asleep. I'm not supposed to let him nap so his sleep is more consistent, but made an exception since he obviously needed it.

Such a happy boy. He's practicing his oohs.

Followed by a Jonah tackle hug, as always.

Technology addict already.

We went to Nora's first birthday party, which was fun and delicious.

Jonah and Perry slept on the drive to Amanda's new house after the party. Scott just rested with his sunglasses on.

Jonah was so sad to leave Amanda. Scott cried because they wanted to feed her kitty and she was hiding. Smart cat.

I watched the RS conference broadcast and Perry craned his neck backwards to see the tv. We actually try not to let him ever watch screens, but it's hard because he loves it.

Trying to get his pacifier, but he kept scooting backwards.

New shirts! We went to the bathroom after checking out and Scott asked if they could put them on.

Driving home we saw a huge smoke cloud. There was a fire in the mountains for several days and the air was smokey.

Scott asked if they could have a "nice, cold pear" when we got home.

Scott and Jonah will both color and draw for extended periods of time. If Perry sees them, he'll happily bounce along and I can get something done or have a break.

Scott all dressed for picture day at preschool.

Perry has figured out how to pull hair. Jonah still puts his head in Perry's reach, so it happens a lot.

Bouncing little candy cane.

Getting better at holding his own bottle.

I told the pediatrician that Perry wasn't rolling over, then the next day he rolled stomach to back a few times.

Jonah and I picked up some Halloween window decorations while Scott was at preschool. He was excited to get a surprise from his brother and quickly put it up.

Perry tried some new flavors of baby food. He had carrots first and he likes them okay. He didn't care much for other vegetables, but loves fruit and yogurt.

Buzzes working on their preschool project.

With extra kids over, the bigger the train track the better.

Snuggling a sleeping baby. I actually took this to show John my glasses, but I seldom take pictures with the kids, so now I'm glad I have it.

Perry bumming a ride on the swings.

A simple remote control car from a neighbor. The boys loved it.

Another fun position we found Jonah in.

It's a new arrangement almost every night!

Perry 6 Months

Already half a year old.

Perry's been sitting up for a few weeks without wobbling and can usually go from sitting to lying with minimal injury.  He can pull himself in circles and scoot a little, mostly backwards. 

His bottom gums are bulging and he's drooling and chewing everything in reach. Unlike his brothers while teething, Perry is still sleeping well and is a chipper guy so far. Cross my fingers.

I love this face. He sucks his lips in to gnaw on them. He also likes to stick the tip of his tongue out.

Had to take a break from pictures for some milk.

At 6 months, Perry weighs 17 pounds, 5 ounces (44th percentile), is 26 inches (20th percentile) and has a 17.5 inch head circumference (81st percentile).

He's still smaller than his brothers were at this age, but carrying him is definitely giving us an arm workout these days.

His pediatrician was impressed my his ab strength and surprised he wasn't rolling yet. I said take your time, sweet baby.

September I

I love sleepy Perry.

This is how Jonah fell asleep.

Lucas was playing a phone game and Jonah liked watching him. He wrapped his arm around him--he's still learning about giving people space.

Jonah fell asleep at dinner.

Scott so happy to have a Mickey pancake.

Watching Paige open her birthday presents.

Perry had some Grandma Marva time.

Cute little cupcakes for a cute little girl.

We see where Jonah gets it.

Little chickie.

Perry can hold his pacifier toy pretty well now and it helps keep him happy in the stroller.

Poor kid gets his cheeks squeezed 100+ times a day. It's the cost of being so cute.

Jonah came in the bathroom where I was getting ready and asked me if he could go in the backyard. I said he should wait for Scott to finish breakfast. He replied, "Oh. But I have my shoes on! So can I go?" He had seen something back there . . .

Our neighbors were passing on their playhouse and chose us to have it. John picked it up one night and had it assembled as a surprise for the boys the next morning.

Jonah trying to soothe Perry through the one-way baby monitor. Sweet thought, though.

He loves when Perry wakes up.

Smiley crabcake.

Super hero in his super cape

We found kittens in the front yard. Our neighborhood has been having a cat problem and started trapping them to get them fixed. They're really loud when they get in fights and we found one in the backyard who had died and the cat trapping is expensive, but when they're tiny and cute it's easy to forget what a problem they can be later.

We had a re-do at the discovery museum since Jonah's birthday was a bust.

I ended up with a migraine and had to go lie down in the car, so I'm grateful Karen came with us so the boys could stay. Once my medicine kicked in I felt better and caught the end of the visit--the water area. Their favorite!

Tanya helping Scott with the boat racing at the Stake Street Fair.

He also tried golfing. We had dinner, cotton candy, sno-cones, drew with chalk and listened to great live music. One thing I love about the event is it's free, so I can let the kids try everything they want. I like being able to say yes to everything for an hour or two. 

We watched a hair-biting football game at John's parents' house.

Perry loved all the attention while his brothers played in the other room. Except when someone cheered too loudly.

My little pumpkin!

John and his sous chef working on dinner. We tried Hello Fresh for a free week. It was yummy and convenient, but not a lot of food for our family and more than double our grocery budget.

Sweet boy putting himself to sleep with his bottle.

The big boys have started building really creative things with their duplos.

Teething away.

Of all the things he has access to, hands are his favorite to chew.

Preschool

Scott's preschool redid their whole program this year. I was stressed all summer about if they would get in and what it would be like with all the changes. The only affordable options for us didn't have classes for both boys on the same days and weren't as close to us. Plus even "affordable" is thousands of dollars. Thankfully, it ended up working out at the elementary school. They have a new teacher and different schedules, which is a pain, but overall it's been great.

Their first day. Scott goes in the morning and has 15 kids in his class. He went right in with Miss Samantha and had no tears this year.

Jonah could not wait until the afternoon when he could go to school like Scott. The 3-year-olds only have 8 kids in class and some of them are so tiny! He waved goodbye and confidently walked in like a big boy.

It's inconvenient to have to get babysitting every week so I can volunteer in their classes, but I love being there. Jonah has thrived having his own thing. He loves going and calls all the kids his friends.

Scott is still hesitant and his teacher's style doesn't match his personality very well. He seems to like going, though, and excitedly tells me everything they did each day. They do cooking every Thursday, which is usually my task. I like working with the kids, especially when someone else has done all the planning and prep.

I like being able to see what they do so I understand what they're talking about and know how to help them at home. So far it's been a good choice!