Woof.

I have often compared having a toddler to having a dog.  The two have lots in common:

• They understand you but often don't obey.
• They don't speak English.
• They run.  Everywhere.
• They give you the puppy dog eyes when they want something.
• They're messy, especially when eating.
• They demand a lot of attention at inconvenient times.
• They like to roll around in the grass and dirt.
• They love you no matter what and are happily excited to see you come home.
• They eat really weird and not-good things.
• They mooch food from everyone around them.
• They whine a lot.
• They make lots of noise.

In fact, now that I think about it, at least dogs are house broken, which is one up on certain toddlers I know.

Anyways, when I was a teenager we had a Labrador-doberman mix dog named Nikki.  (She was a used-dog when got her so we didn't get to name her.  I can think of a ton of better dog names: Velcro, Zipper, Emerson, Rufus, etc., but we got Nikki.)  Nikki was a typical dog in that she was brilliantly stupid: in some ways she really out-smarted us, but on the whole she was an idiot.

Nikki didn't always wear a bow, but this was the first digital picture I found of her.  Fun fact: since I don't have any sisters she was my "bridesmaid" at my wedding reception.  A bridesmaid that mooched off of all the guests all evening and peed in the corner of the yard.

Nikki had a bad habit of getting food off of the counter and eating it.  Well, really, my mom had a bad habit of leaving the food on the counter.  I'm not sure why she ever thought that Nikki couldn't get the food, because Nikki almost always did.  She (Nikki, not my mom) was infamous for one time eating a whole gallon-sized bag of Muddy Buddies (also, appropriately enough, known as Puppy Chow) which had been left on the counter.  She was happy and sick all at once.

Today I remembered this episode when I came into the kitchen and discovered this:

See those muffins on the counter?  And see what Cole has in his hand?  Apparently I left the plate of muffins too close to the edge of the counter and Cole just couldn't resist.  He was terribly pleased with himself and gobbled the muffin down before I could take it away.  I wasn't going to take it away, I just wanted to get him to the table before he got more crumbs all over my floor.  (This was moot anyway, since there were already muffin crumbs all over the floor.)

Once he was finished I realized he had a pretty pungent diaper, which made me laugh because Nikki wasn't exactly known for her pleasant dog-odor.

Woof.

Sleepy

For the past three days Tess has deemed it necessary to wake up at 5:30 in the morning.  I have explained to her that this is completely unacceptable, but she ignores me and continues to wake up and demand to be fed.  And by demand I mean scream to wake the dead until I give in and feed her.

It wouldn't be so bad if I were used to waking up at night to feed her, but she's been sleeping 10+ hours at night for months. 

Also, 5:30 is the worst time, because by the time I'm done feeding her I'm wide awake.  I climb back into bed but can't ever really fall back asleep. This is made worse by the fact that Lance is out of town and I always seem to stay up late when he's gone.  I don't know why; probably because he's not around to tell me to go to bed.

So anyways, I'm exhausted and can't sleep. Unlike Tess, who seems to have no problem falling back asleep for several more hours.

Why in the world is she doing this now?  Maybe she's having a growth spurt.  Or she's mad at me for putting her in boy pajamas.  Or perhaps she's just a punk.

To tell you the truth, I'm leaning more towards the punk theory.  At least at 5:30 in the morning.

Sunday Smiles Part 3

Still no success.  This blasted baby will not smile for the camera while wearing a dress!

She will eat her pacifier, though...

At least the boys smiled!

Close-ups on the Patio

Because sometimes you just have to post a whole mess of pictures when you have a baby this cute and chubbily-wonderful.

Spitting at the Zoo

I've been kind of a bad mom lately.  Not that I've been beating my kids and making them live in a closet or something.  I've just been working on a bunch of projects lately that have been taking up some time.  (Sorting old baby clothes, selling old baby clothes, feeling sentimental about old baby clothes...)

I've noticed in the last day or two that Cole has really been acting out.  I couldn't figure out why until it struck me this morning: Duh, Maren.  The child is BORED.  And he really wants some attention. 

So off to the local zoo we went. 

We spent the afternoon playing in the sprinklers, looking at the animals, and just enjoying the very nice weather.

I love that Cole can barely see out the hole.  Heaven only knows why Josh is scowling.  (Because he's Josh, that's why.)

They had a bunch of fiberglass frogs and pigs on the lawn.  Josh quickly learned that this frog was a bit too hot to sit on!

*Side note: the frog above reminds me of the frog below.  Bonus points to anyone who knows where the frog below comes from!  Hint: "All glory to the hypnotoad!"

Josh finally found a pig that wasn't too hot.  He called it the Bunny Pig because of its pink ears.

Cole LOVED seeing the animals.  Especially those at the petting zoo.  He chased chickens all over the place -  through fences, under bushes, across lawns.

He would walk really slowly up to the chickens and act all nonchalant, as if he didn't have a chicken-petting agenda or anything.  The chickens, of course, weren't fooled at all.  They would start walking away and Cole would follow them, going fast and faster until chickens and child were running.  It was awesome.  (He would never do it for me while I was recording video, though.)  He eventually did get to touch the tail feathers of a rather large rooster, which he was very proud about.

A shot like this usually shows a child who is hesitant about petting the goats.  Cole is actually trying to figure out which one to pet first; he ended up petting them all.

Tess was pretty good at the zoo.  She slept some and got carried around some and even came up close to pygmy goats some.  What she did a lot was blow raspberries.  She discovered this lovely trick a day or two ago and has been practicing ever since.  When she's awake our house is filled with the sound of TTTHHHHHBBBBTTTTT!!!!  It's great.

Of course she would never perform for the camera.  But I did get a pretty great open-mouth smile of cutie.  Good enough for me!

Bedtime Woes

As of right now, every single child in this house is crying because they do not want to go to bed.

I'm madder than heck and am hiding in my room.

A thunderstorm is rolling in. 

It's gonna be a long night.

Sunday Tess

It has now become my goal to get a picture of Tess smiling while in one of her Sunday dresses.  I tried again yesterday and failed.

Blasted darling baby girl!

Why won't you smile for me?!

This isn't the greatest picture, except for her legs.  Oh my goodness, I could eat those chubby little legs all up!

Oh well.  Perhaps next Sunday I'll get a smile.  Maybe.  Hopefully.  Probably not.

Tess at Four Months - and - A Bathtime Idea

Yesterday Tess turned four months old.  She is now 24 inches long and weighs 14 pounds 2 ounces, which she carries mostly in her cheeks and thighs. :)

At four months Tess likes to:

• Spit up.  Quite a bit.
• Sleep for 10+ hour stretches at night.  Sweet.
• Sleep with a blanket on her face.  She won't go to sleep without the blanket and no matter what I do it ends up on her face.  (Don't worry, it's very light weight cotton.)
• Sleep with only her legs swaddled - her arms MUST be free or face the wrath of an angry Tess!
• Be held facing outward.  This girl wants to see what's going on.
• Swat at and grab rattles on her playmat.
• Growl.
• Smile a huge, gumless smile whenever I talk to her or pick her up.
• Drink bottles.
• Rub the headbands off her head.

At four months Tess doesn't like to:

• Lie down in the bathtub. (See below.)
• Be held by daddy for too long - he's creepy.  (Her words, not mine!)
• Smile for the camera.
• Have Cole sit on her face.  In fact, she hates that.
• Be on her tummy.  From the sound of it, it's a fate worse than death!
• Be in her car seat for too long.  We don't even bother taking the carrier into church with us because we know we'll just end up holding her.
• Wait.  For anything.
• Nurse.  Well, that's not true.  She usually does like to nurse.  But lately she has really been resisting it in the evenings.  She would just rather have a bottle and she lets that fact be well known.  I have tried everything, but to no avail.  She's just like Cole in that she's kind of a lazy eater and would rather just take a bother than work at nursing.  It's both frustrating and guilt-inducing on my end.  I nursed both Spencer and Josh exclusively, what's up with my last two babies?!  Oh well.  I just keep telling myself not to feel too bad.  I'm doing all I can.  Besides, it's not the end of the world - I was bottle-fed and I turned out pretty okay.  Mostly.

Anywho, as mentioned above, Tess is not so much into laying down in the bathtub.  She just doesn't like it.  Which was fine for a while because I like giving babies baths in the kitchen sink.  But she is so stinkin' wiggly and slippery now that it's almost impossible to bathe her in the sink without Lance being home. 

A few weeks ago I had an aha! moment and put the Bumbo seat in the sink and had Tess sit in it for her bath. This works fairly well and gets the job done, but the seat is just a tad too big and poor Tess's feet are always smooshed against the cold sink.  Plus, she can't really have much water on her because the seat's pretty high, so I think she gets a bit chilly.

So today I figured, hey, why not put the Bumbo seat in the tub?  That way she can have plenty of warm water and space.  I was getting this all set up when Josh and Cole decided they needed a bath, too.  No problem.

Haha!  My plan worked!  I was able to easily bathe Tess, and she LOVED being in the water with her brothers.  She would kick her little legs and just stare and stare at the boys.

Cole was just happy to have been invited.

I imagine Josh giving me this look a lot when he's a teenager.  It's kind of smug and defiant.  (He was being naughty just before.)

They played and played and the tub filled.  Quickly I realized something was amiss - specifically, the Bumbo was starting to float!  I had figured that the seat would float, but I thought that Tess's weight would keep it down.  Nope.  That chair was buoyant!  So I had to hold her in place so it wouldn't topple over.  I also helped her float around and run into her brothers, which they loved.

Eventually my arms got tired and Tess had to get out.  My plan was good, but I don't know how really safe it is to have an infant in a floating chair in the bathtub.  Time to think of another plan.  Or just help Tess get over her hatred of laying in the tub.

Tess got out, dried off, and had a good rub down with baby lotion.  She's the first baby I've had who really does need the lotion, even during humid summer.  I can only imagine how fun this is going to be during the winter!  No matter, is there anything more lovely smelling on a baby than baby lotion?  Oh man, it just makes me melt.

And you gotta love those fat rolls.  They are so cute!  Remember all the fuss with getting her to gain weight when she was born?  Yeah, not so much of a worry now!

 

Oh Tessie-girl, I love you!

Daddy Issues

It is a well known fact around here that Tess is not exactly in love with Lance.  Just yesterday I told Josh that we were going to have lunch with Daddy. 

Josh: Is Cole going?
Me: Yes.
Josh: Is Tess going?
Me: Yes.
Josh: But Tess hates daddy!

I don't know that she hates Lance.  She'll let him hold her - for a while.  But she's not exactly friendly with him.  She smiles all the time for me and the boys, but she's a bit stingy with smiles for Lance.  She tends to just stare at him with a kind of deer-in-the-headlights kind of look.  Maybe she's in awe of how good looking he is.  Or maybe his goatee entrances her.  Who knows.

Yesterday Lance tried to get into Tess's good graces by playing with her.

At the end of the video I said to Lance, "She finally likes you!"  I turned off the camera before he replied "No, she likes the fish."

Well, I'm sure that all too soon Daddy will become the favored parent.  It always happens - right around the time baby figures out that Momma isn't the only source of food in the world.  Go figure.

 

That's okay.  I'll just enjoy the exclusive Tess love while I can.