Weston's Words

At 12.5 months, Weston has become quite a talker!

His "words" are...

"Buh" - book 

"Bye" or "buh bye"

"Mama"

"Wow"

"oh oh" or "uhuh" - uhoh

"Baw" - ball

"muh" - milk and more (in a high pitch voice)

"nah! nah!" - "no no"

"tee tee" - tweet tweet / bird

"baaaa" - sheep in his book

"ah ah" - monkey / oo oo ahah

"tititi" - music

"noooo" - as he does something he knows he shouldn't do

I LOVE this stage where he's understanding more every day!!! He is soooo fun!!

Funnies

Sierra: "I want time by myself."

Reid: "But I want to be with Sierra!"

S, in tears: "I've been with him my whole life! I just need a break!"

_______________________

me: "were you guys nice to each other on the long car ride?"

Reid: "yea! we didn't say 'you're a punk!'..."no, you're a punk!"..."you're a punk!" (while making a mean face and pointing his finger back and forth)

________________________

(Overheard in the backseat):

Reid, to Sierra: "I'm going to shrink myself and go in your ear to your brain so I can know what you're thinking!"

----------------------

Playing "would you rather"...

Reid: "would you rather be honey or a bee?

Reid: "I'd rather be honey so I can slither out of here!"

______________

Doing math word problems in the car with Sierra. Then Reid takes a turn and says "If there are 10 cars and 10 trees...how much do the monkeys get?" (Heehee, sweet boy!)

Sierra is reading!

About a month ago, it all really clicked and her reading progress took off! She is reading fluidly, no longer in the slow "robotic" monotone-sound-out-every-letter way. She's even reading chapter books :) It's amazing to witness!

She loves reading to her brothers and by herself quietly. After we close her door at bedtime, she stays up reading for at least 30min before going to sleep.

Yesterday we were in the car for a long time in the afternoon...both boys fell asleep. I never heard a peep from Sierra because she had her nose in a book the whole hour! And a chapter book, at that!

So so proud of her big accomplishment!

Reid is 4 years old!

A glimpse of Reid at 4 years old...he...

* loves building things and is very good at it. All his creations are symetrical and have a purpose. 

* can no longer sit still. He wiggles in his chair, runs/jumps/climbs instead of walks and we call him "ants in your pants"

Funnies

Reid: Look, Mommy! We see the King and Queen ants! And all the kid ants too!

_______________________

Sierra, to me: "Reid and I are brother and sister, but we accidentally got married. We didn't recognize each other and just got married, but now we see each other...sooo...we'll spend the rest of our lives together."

________________________

Reid: See? I remembered! My brain is really working today! ....when I'm in the car, all the energy goes up my body to my brain and then it works. And then, when I don't want to think anymore, it goes back down to my tummy.

______________________

Sierra: "that was awfully close. (Pause) ...what does 'awful' mean?"

____________________

While we were running errands...

Reid: "is this the tooth store?"

Me: "no, this is the office supply store"

Reid: "I know it's the office store. But is it the tooth store?"

Me: "I don't know what you mean, bud.Its not a tooth store"

Reid: "No. The library was the first one, and this is the 2th one."

Me: "ohhhh, you mean the second store?! Yes, this is the 2nd store." :)

_______________________

Reid: "I love watching Weston take a bath. He's so cute. It looks like he's made out of dough"

Weston is 6 months!

It's wild that half his first year has already gone by!

At 6 months, Weston...

* weighs 16lbs. 13oz (34%) - less than he looks! His cheeks and thighs are deceiving!

* is 27 inches long (64%)

* is still such a good baby, with a laid back disposition

* but has also started to cry/protest more to let us know he doesn't like something

* is having more stranger danger, especially if someone walks right up to him and gets very close

* starting separation anxiety if I leave the room or set him down and walk away

* is very grabby! He grabs everything and is very strong

* can be really quiet for long periods and can be a big chatterbox for long periods

* knows how to roll over but doesn't do it much

* laughs the most when big sissy and big bro-y entertain him

* favorite toy is the starfish teether on the exersaucer

* copies us - if you stick out your tongue at him, he does it back. Also if you open and close your hand, he does it too

* still puts everything in his mouth all the time - mostly gumming it on the sides of his mouth, not the front

* started eating sweet potatoes, pears and rice cereal and likes them all

* passed his allergy skin prick test - not allergic to peanuts, eggs or milk!!!!!

* tummy issues got a little better this month but a week ago started up again

* still waking up through the night (mostly with tummy pains) and not napping consistently  

March photos

Sweet words

Reid: "Weston is so precious. He's up to Heaven and back down precious. That's how much precious he is!"

_______________________

Sierra prayed for a scared little tree frog she saw on the deck so that no predators would eat it.

_______________________

Reid saw a $1 bill on the counter and said "we can send this to Phoebe in Africa to buy some rain since they don't have much water! They can give it to God and He'll give them rain! Or you and Daddy can go to Africa and build a pool for them."

Weston is 5 months!

This month, Weston...

* stopped taking a bottle :(

* started rolling from tummy to back (just yesterday! Finally!)

* still drools like crazy

* puts everything in his mouth and gums it as hard as he can

* loves grabbing his feet and even sucking his big toe

* belly laughs when Sierra and Reid talk to him and are silly

* loves standing, laying on his back, the exersaucer, anything shiny, changing clothes (it makes him laugh!), warm baths

* does not like sudden loud noises, bottles, pacifiers

* has had a handful of stranger danger freak outs, including a quivering lower lip

* has been waking up a lot at night and still having lots of tummy issues

* started taking one long nap some/most days

February photo catch up

Funnies

Sierra: "I just want to help you. Daddy said 'happy wife, happy life. And you're the wife, so if I help you it will make you happy and I'll have a happy life!"

----------

Sierra, talking about the weather: "I don't like hot days or cold days. I like in between but it never comes!" (Texas problems)

-----------

Reid: what did Mommy say?

Sierra: I don't know, she always says so much, I don't remember

------------

Reid drew a picture with Jesus, Daddy, Sierra and Reid ...then he realized there was no room for me, so he turned the paper over and said to me "you're not in the picture since you're at Costco. So I'll draw you on the back with food since you're getting groceries."

(Front, upside down)

Me, on the back, upside down

--------------

Any time we talk about how something isn't real (monsters, dragons, etc), Reid follows it up with "monsters aren't real, but dinosaurs are. They just aren't alive anymore. We don't know if they're in Heaven but when we go there, we'll see if they are or not. Maybe they're in a dinosaur heaven." (he says this often!)

Weston is 4 months!

At 4 months, Weston:

- 15lbs 9oz (51%), 26 in (83%), 43 cm (86%)

- can grab his toes

- is ticklish on his feet, arms, neck, thighs and laughs every time I change his clothes and socks

- "talks" loudly and often

- his favorite toy is his hands - watching them open and close

- plays in the exert saucer now!

- loves touching faces, pulling hair, being held, watching his wild big siblings, and standing

- does not like wind in his face, cold hands touching him, and pacifiers

- not at all interested in rolling over

- still lots of tummy pains (crying in his sleep and waking with tummy pains and inconsolable crying in the night), so so sad!

- still sleeping swaddled in the rock n play

His smiles melt your heart and his laughing is contagious. He is soooo loved and we are blessed and thankful for his life.

Wrong words

At ages 3 and 5, Reid and Sierra can say most words correctly. But there are still a few that they don't...and they make me smile :)

* binocliers (binoculars)

* calcliator (calculator)

* ridiclious (ridiculous)

Nicknames

Sierra and Reid call Weston "Cutie" and "My Cutie". ...as in "where's Cutie?! There's my Cutie! Hey Cutie!" It's sweet :)

Weston's other nicknames:

- Chubs

- Westony and Westony Destiny and Westony Bo Bestony (Reid came up with these and he's the only one who uses them!)

- sweet boy

- buddy and bud

- cutesie wootsie

Sierra calls herself "Sissy" and Reid is "Bro-y" :)

Weston, 3 months

3 months seems like the first big age milestone. It's the end of the 4th trimester!

This past month, Weston......

- found his hands and constantly has them in his mouth

- started grabbing and pulling the toys that hang from the play mat and bouncer

- has lost a lot of hair...but still has a lot

- went two weeks of sleeping 8-11hrs (and then back to waking up again)

- is laughing more

- got his first hair trim (by me), around his ears, side burns and at base of his neck. It was crazy long for a 3 mo old boy!

- is a drooling fool

- has become a cat napper

- still having tummy and poop issues :(

We can't get enough of him! He gets so many hugs and kisses every day from all of us. He loves watching the big kids dance!! When I hum while I'm rocking him, he coos sweet "humming" sounds with me :)

Sierra is FIVE

I can't believe we have a 5 year old!!! How did that happen?!

She has grown up so much in the last year. She is still just as spirited as she was as a newborn - but with more sass! She is smart, silly, beautiful, sweet, sassy, strong-willed and so much fun! We love you so much, baby girl!

Some of her favorite things:

* all things crafty - drawing, coloring, beads, creative projects

* math - she loves learning addition and subtraction!

* playing pretend with buddies - stuffed animals are still her favorite toys

* eating breakfast foods at any time of day, especially cereal

* sun butter and honey sandwiches - she would eat 2 a day if we let her

* her brothers- she loves playing with Reid all day and trying to get Weston to laugh

* watching anything on TV/movies

* school and playing with her friends

* dresses - it's all she wears and she has her own sense of "matching" style!

* dates with Daddy

* cuddling

* her love languages are definitely quality time and touch...and food :)

Girly drawings

Sierra is getting so good with her drawing and coloring! I LOVE to see her artwork!

Everything about her drawings is so girly :)

She did this at school. They go to a playroom and can either play with toys or draw. She draws every time. She knows the colors of the rainbow in the correct order :)

Ariel! She was looking at a picture of Ariel and did pretty good copying it!

The birthday card she made me. Daddy cut the heart and she did the rest. She couldn't spell "Happy Birthday" by herself, but knew the first letter of each word, so she wrote "HB"

Upside down but that's Elsa with one braid and Anna with two

Oops, another one upside down. This is our house with a window for each kid's room. I love how she was testing colors on the side - I used to do that too!

Siblings

Oh my how Sierra and Reid love their Weston!!! All day I am telling them to be gentle, don't poke, dont lean on him, use quiet voices, give him some space, etc etc. They adore him!! It's so fun now that they can get him to smile and laugh too! He loves when they sing and dance for him :) Sierra just can't wait until he is big enough to play with them. I pray that all three are good friends for life!!!