The Grant Gang Adventures

Sunday, December 7, 2014

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Blythe Juliette at 7 Months

Happy 7 Months to our special gift, Blythe!

I wont write much this time other than this girl is AMAZING and is HUGELY loved! She is absolutely 100% without a doubt SPOILED with love and attention. I cannot imagine my life without this precious girl.

SHE CLAPS AND I CANNOT GET ENOUGH OF IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Size: Wearing 12 and 18 Month; 18 month for sure where length is important
Diaper: Size 3 and 4
Personality: Patient. Loving. Serious. Smiley. Meticulous. Observant. Smart
Signs: She signs "more" and "Dog"
Talking: She has said GO and DOG
Mobility: No interesting in standing/pulling up--typical for my babies
Food: She is FINALLY liking fruit. GIRL LOVES FOOD, especially when she self feeds. She has amazing pincer capabilities already.
Routine: Not much has changed here.

Addison at 11 months in the same dress as Blythe at 7 Months below

Thursday, November 6, 2014

Addison Reading Kindergarten Sight Words

I am INSANELY proud of this video. This is the first time I have ever showed her a list of "kindergarten" sight words. She knew all but two or three just from reading together. I cannot believe it---this is ALL HER!

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Blythe Juliette at Six Months

Happy Six Months Blythe!

I wrote a post earlier today about Caleb turning three on October 27 and I shared how I cannot believe how fast time is flying. I feel the same about Blythe, I blinked and she's six months. I want to freeze time. I think it took me three children to settle into my role as a mom. I am much more confident and relaxed this go round and I am loving it....maybe a little too much ;) I swore this would be a short post, but I love this baby girl!

The Stats

Weight: 20 lbs 6 oz (97%)
Height: 27 inches (89%)
Head: 44.1 cm (92%)
Diaper: 3
Clothing: 12 months

Doctor Summary: She dropped a little more in height than they like to see, but I suspect she has not hit the 6 months growth spurt yet. Addison took a steep dip at one point as well. She had a temperature of 100.4 at the visit but we still proceeded with all the vaccinations. The next day her temperature was as high as 101.5--YIKES! She is growing well, developing on track or ahead, is strong and happy!

Personality: I could spend an hour talking about how sweet and happy and lovable this little girl is! She smiles constantly and really only fusses when you wipe her face after a meal or start the nap prep routine. I would consider her a bit serious. She is absolutely happy but not silly. It takes A LOT to make her give you a tiny giggle, but smiles are plentiful. She likes to inspect things much like her big sister. She is also VERY patient, a quality she DOES NOT get from me.

Reflux: We stopped the zantac and although she spits up a lot she does not seem in pain anymore--PRAISE! I am slowly added dairy derivatives back into my diet as well. So far so good.

Sleep: We dropped the third nap this week. She still needs it once in a while. She takes a morning nap that lasts 1.5-2 hours and then an afternoon nap that lasts 2.5 hours. She sleeps about 11.5-12 hours a night. I nap her on her tummy and at night she is on her back.

Eating: I just introduced solids at breakfast the past two days. She has five liquid feedings/nursing periods and 3 "meals". She HATES fruit. Its crazy. She LOVES spinach, peas, squash, green beans and cereal. She HATES bananas and apples; I only recently got her into prunes and pears. I am OK with a baby loving veggies!

Swaddle: Oh the swaddle...oh the drama. We are swaddled at night only. We plan to drop the night time swaddle as soon as the dream feed is gone.

Dream Feed: We held onto this until the time change was complete and since then we have been weaning...we are to 3 oz at 10:30. Tonight we move the time up to 10:00 pm. We will hang out there for a couple days then reduce to 2 oz at 10:00 pm for a day or two then it will hopefully be gone. I like slow transitions.

Verbal: Da, pa, wah, doo, ta, ta

Major Motor: Sitting independently very stably. She pushing up onto her toes during tummy time and has even gotten to her knees a few times. Rolls both directions with ease.

Fine Motor: Picks up puffs well; reaches for small and large objects with great accuracy; she is working on passing things back and forth from one hand to another without dropping it.

My Little Juliette:

Oh be still my heart. My heart almost bursts when you smile because of how deep my love is for you; you make life so full! Your big green eyes and smile light up a room. I wish I could keep you this age forever. You are so special to this family and I hope you can feel that through all the hugs and kisses smothering you by everyone in our family. If I am never successful at showing you how much I love you, I hope all these posts articulate it clearly. You are beautiful inside and out. I could not stop loving you even if I tried.

Pictures & Videos

Comparing the Grant Gang Trio at Six Months....

Blythe, Six Months

Caleb, Six Months

Addison, Six Months

She likes to pat her hands on the ground like this

Smiling at her siblings

Sisters

Triple trouble

Videos:

She Hates Fruit

Another Chatty Kid, Poor Matthew

Popping her Mouth, I wish she still did this

Caleb Asher is Three

Happy Third Birthday Caleb!

I am in complete denial that we are here....three years with Little Asher. Wow, just wow. Wasn't i just publishing blog posts sharing my struggles about my disgruntled baby...who ended up being in pain the whole time? Didn't I just celebrate his victory over reflux and ultimately the end of his medications? I blinked.

The Stats

Weight: 38 lbs 6.4 oz (94%)
Height: 39.8 inches (93%--I actually think this was a little tall based on watching them measure him standing)
Clothing: 4
Shoe: 9

Sleeping: He still takes an afternoon nap. Some days he tries his hardest to keep himself awake and others he is asleep instantly and is asleep until I have to wake him at 4 pm. His nap starts arounf 1:15 or 1:30 and he must stay in bed a minimum of 1.5 hours but often I am waking him after 2.5 hours. He is in bed for 12 hours at night, but much like Addison at his age, he is talking for a while before falling asleep. It is a phase.

Potty: We trained him in late march and while it was a little early in my opinion, with a new baby coming and Matthew being gone for 2 months we wanted it tackled before all that. He struggled a little in the beginning but I am thrilled he is all successes all the time! We do not night/nap train. I follow their lead totally. So that will come eventually.

Eating: This continues to be a challenge; he has texture aversions much like his daddy. We have NEVER enforced a "clean plate" notion so we ask he try two bites of everything. Generally he complies after a little dilly dallying. Should he request seconds on something, he has to take a few more bites of the lesser desirable item. While I prefer he be eating everything with ease, I am proud he at least meets the minimum expectations each meal. It is sort of amazing he weighs as much as he does----especially considering his milk has 1/3 the calories of the milk most boys his age drink!

Learning: This is a slow going process for Caleb....he wants to be on the move rather than sit and learn colors or numbers or letter sounds. I am discovering even more ways to incorporate learning into the mundane moments throughout the day and how to make learning ACTIVE. His imagination is astounding though. He prefers to play using his imagination and be active--that is his jam and that is perfectly fine!!! I am SO glad he will be old for his grade---this gives him a chance to be totally ready for school!

Vocabulary: Caleb, much like Addison, is very articulate and always has been. This is surprising considering he is 1) a boy and 2) second born. He strings together complicated sentences with a variety of tenses and pluralization (sometimes correctly, sometimes incorrectly).

Disposition: BIG. That is how I always have and always will describe him. Everything about him is big....BIG happy, BIG smiles, BIG tantrums, BIG hugs, BIG crying, BIG falls, BIG love....BIG! Caleb has a very loving nature about him but definetly has a strong will. The threes are in full swing with lots of "opportunities" for boundary and virtue training. Everything is "but I want this instead of this" or "I want to do this instead of this" or "no" or whinning or emotional outbursts. All typical threes behavior. But when this boy is sweet MAN he is DARLING.

And interview with Caleb.....

I am Free years old...
The best show on TV is....Veggies Tales
My favorite thing about school is....playing outside
The thing I am best at is...playing on the Ipad
If I could change my name it would be....Olaf
My favorite color is...black
My favorite toy is...jack in the box at our home
When I grow up I want to be...teacher
I like to take these to bed with me at night...teddy bear
My favorite book is...Junior Battles to do his Best with Veggietales
My favorite movie is...Frozen
My favorite season is...summer
A food I really like is...crackers
My favorite animal is...monkey
My favorite sport is...roll down the hill
My best friend is...Addison
My favorite thing to do ever of all times ever...play ipad
My favorite thing I did this year was...watch a movie on the airplane.
What does daddy do for work? Plays freeze ball
What does mommy do for work? Get in a workshop
How old old is Daddy? Three
How old is Mommy? Four

My Darling Caleb,
My heart is so full each time I think of you; a smile is creeping up on my face as I type this. I am so proud of the little boy you are becoming. Blythe is so well loved because of the hugs and kisses and stories and toys you shower her with each day. You know how to love and even protect your baby sister--you will make a wonderful husband one day, much like your daddy. You even comfort and protect your big sister too. Any time she is feeling anxious about anything, you give her sweet reassuring words. Your comforting words seem to speak to her heart in a special way. I see you trying so hard to do all the things your big sister does and I can imagine that not keeping up gets frustrating at times. You do so many things so well though, I hope you see that soon. For example, you have an amazing imagination that draws in AJ; that is one area where you really excel!!!! Caleb my dear, I hope you forgive me when I lose my patience with your lack of listening. I am working on it baby, I promise. Thank you for teaching me too, Caleb. You have taught me how to love well; you are so good at loving others. I also love your excitement...you get excited about everything. I love surprising you because you LIGHT UP every time. I am thankful for you Caleb. So thankful. I am thankful that EVERYDAY I have the honor to be your mother. I am thankful that I spend my days with you. I am thankful that I get to catch your contagious laugh and smile all day long. Thank you for being my Darling Caleb. To quote you: "I love you......actually I love you too much".

Pictures and Videos