10 Months...

Another month has come and gone which means Little Man has gotten

another month older.

I guess that makes me another month closer to 30.

I've been thinking about that particular number quite a bit lately, but as this post is about Little Man and not me I'll save it for another time.

At 10 months Little Man...

-has 6 teeth: 3 on top and 3 on the bottom.  I think more are trying to break through because man has he been a grump!

-is cruising along the furniture.  A friend of ours had her son the day before Spencer was born (we were in the same hospital but on different floors) and her boy is trying to walk.  I'm glad Spencer isn't that ambitious yet.

-travels at light-speed (or so it seems) up the stairs.  No joke... I look away for a second and he's gone.  Due to the success of the latest baby gate I've ordered another for the bottom of the stairs.  I'd rather deal with a frustrated Avery (she can't open it on her own) than with an ER-bound Spencer.  I'm hoping the gates will also help contain the pony, I mean dog, that we'll be inheriting next month.

-follows his big sisters just about everywhere.

-still hugs me tightly and I love it!!! (Especially when I remember to trim his razor claws.)

-thinks it's hilarious when he crawls away with a bare bum, usually when I change his diaper somewhere other than the changing table in his room.  I think it's pretty funny also... only because he's got a cute naked bum.

I planned on weighing him but since I forgot to and he's in bed I'll do it another time.  I enjoy my son.  He's already so different than his sisters, but alike in many ways as well.  He brings me so much joy.

*   *   *

So about our soon-to-be new family member...

My grandma's health has been declining quite rapidly so my mom has taken leave from work through FMLA to take care of her.  Because of the demands on Mom's time, as well as the strain on her physically, mentally, and emotionally, we are going to adopt her dog, Zeus.

Now I'm sure you're thinking, "How could you slip and say 'pony?'"  Well, Zeus is about a year old and he's a Great Dane.  So yes, pony may not be entirely accurate but we're talking about a large dog who's only going to get bigger.

And compared to Laura Lu who weighs about 39 pounds he's enormous.

I must admit that Aaron and I were a bit apprehensive at first.  We worried that we wouldn't have the time or patience to train him (and I'm not looking forward to the poop-scooping).  But after thinking and talking about it more we're starting to get really excited to have him.  Of course it's going to be a lot of work to prepare then train him, but he's a beautiful and loving dog.  And he's potty trained (halleleujah!)  I'm thankful we have the room for him.  I know it's going to be a relief for Mom to know he's with a family who will love him.

I wonder how long it will take Laura to gain enough weight to be able to walk him?

Hooray for 3...

Sunday Avery turned 3.  She is very proud of this.

All of last week she kept saying, "Birthday, my birthday!"

If anyone (in the entire world) happened to mention the b-word, especially if it were about someone other than the munchkin, Avery would loudly proclaim, "no, MY birthday!"

As her big day drew closer she started talking about her party.

Oh snap.

I thought 3 was an age where I'd still be safe not having a party.

You see, I've done the whole 3-year old party thing.  It's more like zookeeping except instead of ginormous animals like elephants and giraffes you have small, amazingly agile children who scream, hit, bite, and may or may not be potty trained (my 3-year old isn't).

Have I mentioned the short attention span yet?

Well, because she got to experience her two older sisters' parties I felt a bit guilty.

Of course I consider myself to be quite rational, but there is this part of me (sometimes tiny, but more often large) who wants to be supermommy (unfortunately without the super powers) and make my child perfectly happy. 

So, Aaron and I decided to compromise.

We invited our good friends, the Bazils, and Aaron's parents over for dinner, cake and ice cream Saturday night.  I got party hats and the husbands gave the kids quite the laugh by wearing them around (they were "princess" hats).

I made a 3-D Winnie the Pooh cake (have I ever mentioned how much I enjoy baking?) which Avery thought was awesome.

The kids seemed to just enjoy playing together, and the fighting was pretty much non-existent.

The best part of it all was that Avery was happy, which made me feel pretty super.

What I enjoy and love about my 3-year old whirlwind toddler:

*when she says "too Mommy," which means "I love you Mommy"

*how she looks so much like Aaron

*how cuddly she still is (I'm sure that won't last much longer)

*when she sings (pretty much all the time)

*how she wears Laura's rainboots all the time

*the way she tries so hard to be just like her sisters

*laying with her for a few minutes at bedtime and the way she looks at me, like I'm the most important person in her world

*her lovely golden hair

*how she loves to go to nursery at church to be with her "Schimbecks"

(the nursery leaders are Brother and Sister Schimbeck)

*the way she busts a groove any time there's music playing at home

*when she looks at us after we ask her a question and says with a shrug, "I have no idea"

There are so many things I love about this girl.  No matter how frustrated I get I am always reminded of what a gift it is to be the mother of my girlies and Little Man.

Shake It...

There's no photo to accompany this post... you'll soon see why.

Last night as I was feeding Spencer his dinner (we'd just finished ours)

Laura came up to me laughing and barely able to speak.

The following is our conversation:

Laura:  "Mom (laugh)!  Kaitlyn told me she had to show me (laugh) something!"

Me:  "What was that?"

Laura:  (Still laughing)"This!"

Laura turns around and shakes her bum at me.

Me:  "Oh yeah?  She shook her bum at you?"

Laura:  (Laughing so hard she can barely make a sound now just nods her head yes).

It's at this point that I remember that it's bath time.

Me:  "Ahh, was she naked?"

Laura:  "Yes!"  (Now she's laughing the hardest I've ever seen her laugh)

She then proceeds to shake her bum at me one more time on her way to the bathroom.

See why there's no photo?

Yes, I laughed... but not nearly as hard as Laura.