Believe it or not, today I turned five months old. I’m getting pretty good at sitting up solo, and am working on rolling from my back to my tummy. Turns out I’m not so much of a fruit guy, but I’ll take veggies any day of the week. And I’ve been laying the lovin’ on thick with lots of slobbery kisses — the kind where I grab your face and nearly eat your nose off. Mom can’t get enough of them. Yah, I’m getting something good for Christmas for sure!
What else was to be done with the two menaces while Marty and I were trying to set up my new office equipment?
It’s no surprise with as much as Flora loves to talk that she’s made up some her own words and expressions. Notable ones are “scrompy” (Flora explains, “it means when you are sick or crabby”) and “scoop it!,” which she uses to tell you off when she doesn’t like what you’ve just said.
Flora loves to hear stories from when Marty and I were little. Our new bedtime routine consists of at least one chorus of The Owl and the Pussycat (she knows the whole song by heart), and several tales of old. She often requests the story of when I scraped my neck on the parking lot fence or the one where I left Curious George outside in the willow tree. The other day at nap time, she asked, “Mom, do you want to hear a story of when I was little?” I of course said, “Sure.” Flora told this tale: “When I was a baby, I had two ponies [ponytails]. They were pink. One was named Greg … and the other was named Hanna.” I swear, you couldn’t make this stuff up if you tried.
This morning we met friends Boulton, Porter, and dad Ken (mom Julia and baby William were home sick) at Hei La Moon in Chinatown for Dim Sum. I liked the sticky pork buns, fried dough, and jello shapes the best. It was fun using chopsticks and sipping Chinese tea … and pointing out all the dragons in the red and gold wallpaper.
My favorite two fingers to chew on — pointer and tall man.
My pal Raessler had a princess-themed birthday party this weekend, and everyone dressed up in fitting attire. Since I’ve been sporting the royal attitude for quite some time, I had no problem completing the look with a dress.
That’s what Mom called these type of ponytail holders when she was little, and she loves to put them in my hair if I let her. I love to put them in Rusty’s.
Yes, it has been this cold already! What’s even more unbelievable is that this hat and bunting are hand-me-downs … from Hudson … who is almost 10!
We’re way, way behind on blog posts (a symptom of way too much work), but I’ll try to get the past two weeks and many more pics blogged before New Year’s! (Be sure to scroll way down, as the posts will be in chronological order.) In the interim, the kids had a fun-filled Halloween this year. In the morning we went to a play date at Mackenzie’s with lots of our friends, in the afternoon we trick or treated along downtown Melrose, and after it got dark we trick or treated around our neighborhood. Flora scored lots of booty — a plastic pumpkin full of sweet treats — and our neighbor Sue made her a special doll blanket and pillow. And being of the more-is-better mentality, Flora wanted to spend the following evening trick or treating as well while wearing two eye patches! Of course, we couldn’t get Flora to actually wear the eye patch and face paint on Halloween (just during our test run), so Rusty wore the eye patch and no one wore the face paint. But just for fun, we tried Flora’s old Yoda costume on Charley. Flora wore it when she was ten months old, and at four months old, it barely fit our Biggie Smalls!
Mr. Hergert’s Yod-a-lantern is featured in an article on Wired.com. Check it out here. Nerds rejoice!
My friend from school, Rachel, had a 3rd birthday party at The Little Gym in Woburn. We got to try out all the equipment, bounce on the air “mattress,” run around with scarves and swimming noodles, and eat pizza and cake. I really loved the balance beam best, and even pointed my toes and dismounted!
I’ve been busy the past couple of weeks sampling new foods — my first fruit (prunes) on October 16th and my first veggies (sweet potatoes) on November 1st. In between, I tried pears and apples and water from a sippy cup. My favorite? Breast milk.
Marty’s 38th birthday was celebrated with brownie sundaes topped with vanilla soy “ice cream.” Hey, if I have to suffer, so should you all!
I bet you can’t see me — I’m camouflaged. Even Lila and Deacon couldn’t find me on our playdate at the “pink playground” in downtown Melrose.
It was all fun and games until Mister C got his shots. But, he recovered quickly and fared well at his four month checkup this morning. Dr. G asked if he could push himself up a little when on his tummy, and I replied, “a little?” Then Charley showed the doctor how he can push himself up nearly erect and how he can quickly roll over. Dr. G. also discovered that Charley’s two bottom teeth are coming in already, which explains the constant drooling and fingers, hands, and fists in mouth. Since we’ve plowed through trying all the baby cereals, she gave us the go ahead to try fruits and vegetables. Maybe, just maybe, more food during the day will mean he won’t wake up every three hours at night!
And it’s not like he hasn’t been packing it on with just breast milk and cereal the past couple months. The notorious B.I.G. gained over four pounds (18 pounds, 9 ounces) and grew 2.25 inches (26.25 inches), placing him in the 97th percentile for weight, the 90th percentile for height, and the 87th percentile for head circumference (17.25″). Dr. G. said bigger babies sometimes have a harder time with the physical stuff, but not Charley. He had no problem doing a baby “pull up” with help and sitting upright for a few seconds unassisted.
OK, so I finally cooperated and let Mom take a picture of me in my big girl room. I’ve been residing in here since before Charley came on the scene, but every time Mom asked to take my picture for the blog, I said, NOOO!” Apparently she just got the memo that says it’s my way or the highway. Mom says I’m all about the Three D’s these days: Defiance, Demands, and Drama! And?
The only thing cuter than me in my speesees is big sister Flora next to me in my speesees.
We had to get a shot of Charley’s baby butt like Flora and Marty before him. His is off the flatish variety and capable of unleashing the most unbelievable stench. Amazing how something so little and cute can be so stinky! We’ll see how Charley measures up size-wise and milestone-wise at his four month checkup this week — stay tuned.
The kids love to take a bath together. Charley lounges in his baby tub and watches every move big sister Flora makes. She always gets him smiling and laughing with her silly sounds, which of course makes her smile and laugh, too. She says, “Oh, I don’t believe him … he’s such a cute boy!” Don’t ask me where she gets these expressions from.
After Charley’s photo session below inside, Marty took the kids outside to play in the big leaf pile. Looks like Flora enjoyed being buried in the leaves far more than Charley.
Our neighbor Joan knitted Charley this beautiful matching sweater and hat, just as she did for Flora. But because Charley is such a gigantic baby, his first wearing may be his last — it is already too snug! Even still, he looks darn adorable. Don’t ask me why he’s saluting.
