How fast it flies....

...time that is. And how fast my little Grasshopper is growing!
He is three months old! Three months old!
Look here, how completly different he looks in such a short amount of time:

{About one week old} 

{And three months old}

He doesn't even look like the same little guy! But I love that he still sleeps like that with his hand by his face. Is there anything more angelic??

Let's see, three months old...he is in the 85th percentile for weight and 75th percentile for height. I don't know why, but my babies get big fast when they are youngins. {A recent height predictor told me that Squirrel would probably be 5'11"...not likely given her parentage. I think we just peak really early...}While my parents were here, Dad kept saying, "I swear he's grown an inch since we've been here." Which turned out to be true. I think he actually grew two inches in the month they were here, and gained close to four pounds. This kid ain't messing around. 

He is cutting his first tooth, I'm pretty sure. I am not crazy about this at three months, and it's a lot earlier than the other two did, but what'ya gonna do? He's been snotty and snuffly for days, is drooling like Squirrel did when she had her cavities filled, and is generally a bit more cranky than he usually is. We'd gotten to the point where he finally started sleeping a little more reliably, but now that's all gone to pot again. I used to say about Squirrel, "She fights naps like a ninja," and I must say, this guy is the same! He even gets the little purple bags under his eyes that she would get from fighting sleep until the point of utter exhaustion. I am very grateful that like his siblings, he sleeps through the night pretty well--waking to eat a couple times, but then going right back down.

My little Grasshopper is not much a fan of baby-wearing like my other two were, but in the last week or so has softened up to it. That's a relief, because it really makes life SO much easier.

He still loves his hands best, and has started the habit of chomping desperately on any blanket that might be near him--another thing that makes me think he is teething. He loves having his feet rubbed in the evening. I really do think that a little lavender oil foot rub helps him settle down for bed in the evenings. He wakes up each morning as happy as can be--he'll just coo and purr and smile at me for as long as I can stand it, or until his belly decides it needs filling! He's also started to giggle. Rob loves to tickle him to get belly laughs out of him, and they are becoming bigger and more delightful each day. As for me, my favorite thing to do is talk to him and nibble on his little squishy ears and the scruff on the back of his neck and his little bald head. (Is that weird? Do other moms do that?) 

I'm continually amazed at how much Little Bird adores him. To be honest, I thought Little Bird would have a tough time, but he is just as sweet and gentle with his baby brother as any child could be. He loves to be a helper and takes a lot of personal pride in pitching in, especially when it comes to baby. Surprisingly, Squirrel is a little less helpful. She's much more interested in the playing side of things--trying to make him giggle, wanting to dress him up like a doll or read him a story. She'll turn her nose up and run out of the room if I suggest she toss out a diaper or go fetch me an item. But that's okay, it means he'll have a well-rounded, though separate, relationship with each of them. :) 

I'm already looking forward to seeing who this little guy will turn into. I compare him to his siblings, and think he looks more like Squirrel did at this age, but not exactly. And sometimes I laugh because I think he looks SO much like Rob...but doesn't look like Rob's baby pictures. This guessing game is really half the fun of having a child--one part is enjoying who they are now, at any given moment; the other part is guessing who they will turn out to be and watching as that person emerges. Either way, I'm enjoying the journey with this little hunk of love! 

Thanks, as always, for stopping by! 

Recharge

Poor Little Bird.

The last couple of months have been a bit of a whirlwind for him--since May, he's gotten a new baby brother, had to move (again), had non-stop house guests, and had his sister start Kindergarten. Everything has been topsy-turvy for my already sensitive little guy. I know that Squirrel going to Kindergarten has been hard for him. He likes to tell me all about his "Kindergarten"--this usually consists of him repeating the stories that he's heard Squirrel tell. Or he will sometimes interrupt Squirrel's play-by-play of her day on the ride home to tell me something really important. ("Mom. Mom. I havva tell you sumping!") When it's time to load up to take her to Kinder, he often drags his feet and takes his sweet time. On the way to pick her up, he'll usually hop right up from any activity and beat me out the door. He loves his big sister fiercely, and has ALWAYS had her by his side. This school thing is messing with his groove.

However, in the past week or so since Squirrel started Kindergarten, I have realized a couple of things:

1) He really enjoys the time to himself.

2) He's never had any!

It's fun to see how he spends the couple of hours he gets alone now--he goes in his room and plays and plays. He talks to himself; I like to listen to him acting out big scenarios between his cars and his dinosaurs, his two very favorite types of toys. He makes different voices for each one and finds new ways for them to interact, weaving long tales into his play. To be honest, I don't even think I realized that he liked to do that enough to spend hours a week doing it. His play has always been much shorter; but then, he's always had a big sister who could interrupt. Now, he finally has the freedom to do exactly what he wants to in that time. And I have to admit, I feel a level of guilt realizing that it is something he has wanted but not gotten in the three years of his life. Something *I* know that I need to have in my life, but which I never even gave a thought to when it came to him: alone time. Quiet, individual activity is something I really value. It's why I'm a night owl (hmm...maybe why he's one too...), because staying up late after everyone goes to bed gives me the time I need to have my own thoughts and time to relax without having to play by anyone else's rules.

I've been reading a book suggested to me by a friend called Raising Your Spirited Child, and must say it has been eye opening for me as it relates to Little Bird. I'll probably go into it more in later posts, but one thing it discusses is how being an extravert or introvert affects us because it is how we "recharge our batteries." Extraverts (like Rob and Squirrel) are energized by being in company and playing and talking with others. Introverts (like me and Little Bird) are energized through alone time and reflection. So, even though I know that Little Bird misses his sister and feels pretty left out whenever she gets to go to Kindergarten, I also know that he is getting something that his little soul needs: a little more time to be at peace, look inside himself and recharge his mind and spirit.

Squirrel is a Kindergartener!

So, mommy heartbreak:
My little girl, my sweet little Squirrel, is in Kindergarten!

{First Day of Kindergarten! 8/22/2012}

I'm grateful she has done preschool the last couple of years, or I would have been a tremendous mess. She, however, was out of her mind excited.
The night before, she told me, "I am SO excited to go to Kindergarten, I might cry. In fact, my eyes are watering right now thinking about it!" She seriously is a-DOR-able. And she really was that happy, just giddy with anticipation and bubbling over.

{Here she is, demonstrating her excitement right before line up.}

While I am endlessly grateful to have a child that is just joyful about pretty much everything, a teeny tiny part of my heart was a bit broken that she didn't have any trepidation marching off to school, hopping in line, and happily entering public education with barely a kiss goodbye. I'm so happy she's happy...but there's something about wanting a bit of reliance on me too.

I will say, she pays me back every day at the end of school when she comes running at me with enough force to cause injury, calls "MOMMY!!!!" and jumps into my arms, usually full of things to tell me, with great detail, about her day. She is making friends, learning songs, and enjoying every minute of it, and for that I am truly grateful.

She's also working hard. The second day of school, she came home EXHAUSTED. She barely made it home without falling asleep and just crashed on the couch. She told me, "School is hard. It made me tired. All we did was walk around looking for the Gingerbread Man." (Apparently, this was some kind of get-to-know-the-school activity.) We talked about how school is sometimes hard because it helps our brains grow. I'm hoping to instill a love of that brain exercise. I'm not sure how I got it, but I sure hope I can pass it on to her.

This week, she also turned in her first homework assignment--a poster board sheet that could be filled however she wanted for an "About Me" display. She worked really hard on it--she wrote a list of things she likes or that are important and then she drew pictures or colored ones she looked on the internet for of the things on her list. She did a great job and was SO proud of it. But, when I picked her up, she frantically and emphatically informed me that we HAD to make another as SOON as we got home...this one for keeps. I guess I failed to explain that homework--especially the kind that you put a lot of effort into--usually gets kept by the teacher. It's funny, the lessons they learn that we take for granted. I wonder when I learned that lesson, and if it affected me, but there isn't a lot I remember from then.

My only real memories of Kindergarten are these:
1) Learning how to round corners with scissors when making a bear's face out of brown construction paper. And I must say, rounding corners with scissors is a valuable skill I still use and am thankful for.

2) Frantically working to finish a 26-letter project that required cutting pictures out of magazines that start with each letter. I guess I was supposed to have been doing one each week all year and pretty much didn't. If my memory serves me (doubtful), I think it was a requirement to pass on to 1st grade. Thankfully, I got it done and quite well. I am still skilled in the art of procrastination and tell myself that "I work best under pressure."

3) Sitting in a circle for show-and-tell when this one kid brought in a stapler. Though probably not in my vocabulary at the time, I'm pretty sure my thoughts amounted to the equivalent of "lame" while he explained its use and began to pass it around. I feigned interest and passed it along. Then another kid put the stapler on the ground, inserted his finger, and STAPLED HIS FINGER--the staple went right through the nail. I remember watching him as he was about to do it, knowing exactly what the outcome would be, and thinking what an idiot he was. And then, when he began screaming bloody murder and Mrs. Wamsley, my teacher, took him into the bathroom to remove the staple and clean him up, again thinking what an idiot he was. Apparently, I understood cause and effect better than some of my peers, and maintained a high degree of skepticism even then, something I still value about my personality.

I wonder what memories Squirrel will carry with her from this experience? Hopefully, she'll take away a few valuable lessons--perhaps some more meaningful than mine. Either way, she's having a blast, and I'm grateful we live in such a wonderful area with a great school so I have less apprehension about sending her off. And besides, how can you worry too much when they are THIS excited to be learning?

The Baby Grasshopper Gets Blessed!

We were so grateful to have so much family in town for Grasshopper's blessing! My parents came into town and spent about a month with us, and that weekend, we were also joined by Rob's parents and several siblings, as well as his Aunt Ellen. It felt like we were introducing half the congregation at church that Sunday!

Rob gave the little Grasshopper a really beautiful blessing.
Some of the things he was blessed with:
to be a comfort to others, to love them and provide comfort
to be a leader of men
to know the gospel and understand it
to be married in the temple and serve a mission
with the power of discernment and to know the truth of what people tell him
to live a long life full of mysteries and adventure
to know his parents and siblings love him

I really appreciated especially the blessing that he would be a comfort to others. Already I have seen this true for me. Given all the excitement of his pregnancy, he has indeed been a comfort to me. Even now, his sweet little smiles and delightfulness bring me back to myself and ground me. He just warms my heart so much. Even in utero, when I would really focus on him and handing over my worries to the Lord, I was so comforted. I love that he has been blessed to carry that with him through his life. And gee whiz, isn't he the cutest little thing you've ever seen?

Other pictures taken:

{Our little family--we got Little Bird to smile, but only if he showed his belly. Goofball}

 {All our parents! LOVE THEM!}

{Aunt Ellen--I call her one of my favorite "wedding presents"--I didn't know her before we married, but am SO grateful for her and her wonderfulness! I actually got a lot of these amazing relatives when I married Rob. It's pretty awesome.}

 {Look at him, sucking on his bottom lip. Does this all the time!}

The only thing I wish I'd thought to do was take a photo with all of our famiy that was there for the event. But, silly me, I didn't... :(

Anyway, it was such a great day with a wonderful spirit and I was so grateful to have it in our lives!