She's up!

1st I found her sitting up in bed, haha it was funny.... now it's full time. And yes, we are so proud but it's not funny because she is dying to crawl now. Babyhood is going by way too fast!

 

5/6 month combo

Natalee is 6 months - I will say that was the fastest 6 months! She is at the best stage of a baby, in my opinion, the golden months of sitting up, non-mobile and so happy. I failed to do a 5 month update, so here we are doing a combo of 5/6 months. 
6 months she weighed in at 15lbs, 12 oz and 26 inches long.
Sitting up - at 5 1/2  months she conquered this feat! she worked hard to get the perfect balance of not falling forward and back. 
Jumper - little lady gets feisty in her jumper! man, you put her in there and she goes to town bouncing and jumping all over.  it's hilarious because once she gets tired, she'll slow down and then eventually "rock" herself, going slowly side to side.
Food - uuuummm not so much! But just this week, Noni whipped up some carrots for her and she liked those.  Loves her bottles.
Rolling - Diaper changes, it's a game... for her. How fast can she turn over while on the changing pad. She grunts and grunts, flips herself over and is so proud.  If you lay her on her back, instantly she rolls to her belly, which leads to my next topic...
Crawling - No, she isn't crawling but kinda.  She gets herself from point A to point B.  Nat will get her knees up under her and launch herself forward, so you can kinda say it's a starting point of a "crawl".
 Smiles - What puts a smile on her face.... the sound of your tongue making a "tock" in your mouth and doing it to make a tune. She loves when I do this or when I sing the Elmo theme song.  Loves for me to hold her and chase brother around, she'll start laughing hysterically.  Really anything Ben does, she laughs at.  She really appreciates a good old fashion episode of Tom and Jerry and also a few shows on the baby first club.  A remote control is usually what she goes after, if it's in her reach.  Also, loves big people cups - she tries to lean forward and drink from your cup if it's in your hands.
Frowns - hello stranger danger.  we've never dealt with this, so it's new territory.  she is wary of men especially.  loud noises will upset her, but over the past month she has gotten better.  not much else.... at this age, she is normally pretty happy and content.
Natalee continues to be a great sleeper. No more teeth but the faucet is still turned on. She starts daycare next week and I know she is going to love it (hopefully).  She'll be in heaven watching the other kids. Natalee is paci-FREE! By no means were we trying to make her quit it (shoot I didn't mind, it kept her quiet :)), she all the sudden said peace out and hello fingers. Woo hoo!

No baby was harmed during this :) She was lovin brother pulling her on the carpet

Uummm, how old am I.... oh yes, 5 months

wwhhoooaa what is this?!

Pillow is not longer needed, this was an initial jumping episode

yep... again, flippin me the bird

Ben is 4

Ben is 4. Really? Ben who came out of the womb silent as can be and literally surveying his surroundings, observing each and everyone's movement in the room is now 4?! He is the same way now as he was the moment he was born, well except for the silent part, he makes his presences know....In a good way, not in a bad boy kind of way. He is the life of the party and doesn't even know he is.  He is hilarious. I am so proud of the little boy he is. He will befriend anyone, which we will have to work on the whole stranger danger subject.  Shy has never been a term to describe him, although he can spell it for you.  I've said it before and I'm saying it again, he is a smart lil booger.  When he got tested for speech last Spring, he scored off the charts.  After one of his speech sessions this summer, his teacher (Miss Kristen, who he loves) came out and says "uuummm he can read books?" Yes he can and thank goodness he can read because it is helping his speech therapy, he can do the speech exercises and knows what to do to correct the stutter.  He loves to use the term "actually" when telling us a story. And when he hopes we aren't being serious about something he responds back to us "only kidding?" John and mine jaw dropped when he told us he knows what a baking potato is... "it's aaaaa compound word!"  Little did we know, Noni had just taught him about compound words but still we are shocked.
Interests currently include... Playing Batman on the Wii and playing Batman on the playstation.  OH and playing Mario Kart on the DS3.... apparently he has too much gaming toys but he does do other things, promise.  He loves to go out and kick the soccer ball, however doesn't get the whole soccer game concept.  He runs with everyone on the field but doesn't want to steal the ball from anyone.  He accidentally knocked a girl down and John and I watched from the sidelines our sweet boy not paying attention to the game because he was so concerned about her.  He loves to do puzzles, draw outside with chalk and pretend play with his superheros.  Favorite show is Phineas and Ferb and he'll throw in Word World every now and then.  Ben has extremely broaden his horizons in the food department. The one food he still doesn't like is spaghetti.  Most everything else he'll try and maybe eat entirely.
Due to his summer obsession with Mario Kart - he wanted a Mario themed party.  So that is what he got :)  Pretty tiring hosting 35 people but worth every minute to see your boy in heaven!

Can't take credit for this cake... it was so darn good!

Front of his yearly shutterfly book

party favors... tin Wii remotes with candy inside

the kids raiding the playroom

Dad teaching kids about potato sack races

not the easiest with us 6 moms and our children for picture taking

Uncle Seth taught him this "game face" look

Batmans and Iron not leaving his side

Sister tried to "borrow Golden Batman"... Ben replied with a "no you can't have that one, it's mine"... the only time I've heard him not share.

The Little Rumbles!

The Little Rumbles took on The Tiger Kitties in the season opener!  The Little Rumbles, well, lets just say it was evident none of these babies had ever set foot in a soccer game.  It was HILARIOUS! At one point, Ben was in the middle of the field (while everyone else was down at the goal trying to score) picking his nose, like a good digging for gold pick. Then when the other team (I mean the lone superstar on the other team) would score, Ben thought he scored and would cheer.  But hey, he was having an absolute blast and that's all that matters!

 

 

And here HE is, the recruit. The kid that was groomed to destroy our babies. This is a 3-4 age group, but I think he was nearing 5. He was dribbling the ball like a freak (for the age of 4) and clearly my son was trying to take him out but instead got burned! hahahah

yay! go rumbles!

watch out opponents.... talent maybe, but adorable, YES!

the all important after game snacks with his Uncles

hustling on the field

pep talk from coach Drew

And the best for last... Ben and Elle sharing a giggle over who knows what!

and now back the other way!

Yep,  just as I posted she couldn't roll back to her belly, she did it! Not sure who is more excited, me or her in this video :) So proud of my super star, it's hard work rolling over.  And now she constantly is trying to roll on her changing table.  Love our little rolly polly!

 

Gets it from his mom

Bless his heart, he tries to harmonize, just can't quite get there :) Sadly, I have passed on my horrible singing trait to my son. Lately, music is a MUST in the car.  He request specific songs - knows the names by reading the screen from our dashboards. Few of his favorites are:

1. Broken Jaw by Foster the People (as performed below)

2. Houdini by FTP

3. Hey Baby by DJ Otzi

4. Carwash by Rose Royale

5. Baby by Justin Bieber

6. We found Love by Rihanna

7. Tongue Tied by Grouplove

 

Tardy for the (4 mo) party

I kept telling myself to do this blog post so I have it down in history for Nat, don't want to cut her short on her baby'hood stats.  So better late than never.....
By the ripe ole age of 4 months, little miss is .....
13 pounds 10 oz.
A child with teeth. Momma knows best. How I knew (besides her mouth becoming a faucet), the back of her head was always warm. No fever, just warm back of head. This same symptom occurred with Ben, wasn't really sure if it was Ben specific and maybe it's just our children specific.  Either way, it's a signal for us teeth are coming.  Natalee now has 2 bottom teeth!
A roller.  She rolled one night right before I got home from work, which Ben and Noni witnessed.  I didn't see it, so that doesn't count.  A few days later, I had the video camera out after a bath and what are the odds I captured her rolling on tape?! I couldn't believe it.  That was early August and she rolled a few times after that and now she is rolling herself over in bed.  She sleeps on her belly. gasp. yes she has since she was a newborn. And now will scream bloody murder because she can't roll herself back to her belly.  It's pretty funny and pretty not funny when you want some peace and quiet.
A giggler.  Likes to watch mommy make a fool of herself making the Teddy Grahams dance.  She was laughing and laughing at these "dancing" chocolate Teddies.  She is also amused when I hold her and we chase Ben around the house.
A toe lover.  She found her toes and hasn't let go since.  She also likes a good set of fingers in her mouth.  With this teething business, she loves to gnaw on her (or anyone else's) fingers.
A good eater.  Moving on up from 3oz to 4oz to 5oz and now at 6 oz. 
Unfortunately it appears she will not let these teeth come in easy.  As it was with Ben, teething totally throws her for a loop and our sanity leaves the house. Phew, it's rough and we have so many more to go. I have to remind myself, be thankful she is healthy and there are MUCH worse things we could be dealing with.

near impossible to get shot of the teeth, this was the 1st tooth

sadly she has outgrown the puj tub, loved that tub

on the biddy belly.... i'm talking to you giraffe!