Beautiful (& silly) Babies

Reese's Epic Singletrack Adventure

Last weekend I asked Momma if I could go for a "trail bike ride" with her - how could she say no! I took off out of the starting gate like lightning and unfortunately hit a hill too quickly... I figure this video gives Mom a leg up on the Mother of the Year award..... To her surprise, after she quickly pulled me out of the sagebrush I jumped up with no tears and said, "get my bike!" She pulled the bike out of the bush and I immediately jumped back on. Classic! Later I hit another small hill - after we discussed checking your speed when you get to a hill - and I picked up my feet to glide and said, "weeeeee!"

Santa's Garden

A couple weeks ago we visited Santa's Garden (a.k.a. "Winter Garden aGlow" at the Idaho Botanical Gardens). There were thousands of beautiful Christmas lights. I even got to meet and pet Prancer! But my favorite part of the garden was watching and listening to some of the high school choirs sing carols in front of the fire pits. Santa was there too and we watched him from a very safe distance. Such a fun night, thank you Baby Nash for being such a trooper and staying up after your bedtime so that I could enjoy Santa's Garden - even though I know it wasn't your favorite idea.

Little Mommy

Before I say anything, just look at these beautiful babies...
We've been busy since my last post - loving my new gymnastics class with the 3-year olds (& Mr. Greg, of course), getting my first haircut (more than just my bangs), getting ready for Christmas, and playing with babies.

I take my job as Mommy to Baby very seriously these days. I watch how Mama cares for Nash very closely and do all the same things with my Baby. I feed her, talk to her, put her in her sleepsack, rock her, carry her in a front carrier, and change her diaper several times a day. Lately I've noticed that Mama nap nurses with Baby Nash during naptime and early in the morning, so I've started to feed my Baby while I sleep. I'm so dedicated to feeding Baby that I've been nursing Baby all night long - fortunately Mama stops in before she go to bed at night and pulls Baby out from under my shirt so that I can get a better nights sleep.

A Day in My Life

I think I've mentioned that Nash is a big boy, but check out this photo. Three months and change, already pushing 17 lbs, and such a happy boy (even with only one sock!). This week Mama and Dada ordered Nash's chair because next month he's going to try rice cereal. I'm so excited to help feed him - especially since so far I haven't been able to help with bottle-feeding because Nash is a connoisseur of milk and prefers it au naturale. For now I'm just excited that Baby and Gabby have a nice seat at the table.
Momma says that I say "potty" in the sweetest voice ever....don't you agree?

Here's a video of Mr. Nash. He's quite the prankster and I think he's SO funny when he plays peek-a-boo with us.

3-Year Milestones

Height: 38" (60th percentile)
Weight: 32.5 pounds (50th percentile)
Sleep Routine: At nighttime Reese generally sleeps from 8-7, although the past couple weeks have been 8-8. Over the past 6 months she has been testing the bedtime limits with stall tactics (one more trip to the potty, one more drink of water, one more tissue, need some lotion, etc.) and in the last month we've made progress with this behavior by simplifying the bedtime routine. As she's grown, the stories have become longer, bath time has become more elaborate, and night-time cuddles got longer by recapping stories of the day with her increased vocabulary. This drawn out 45-60 minute bed time routine seemed to lead to 'escapes' into the hallway to spy on Mom and Dad.

The Fix: Now, the last time she goes potty is before bath (which works because the kid's got a bladder like a camel and can hold it for 12+ hours on most nights), no more water cup before bed, only 1-2 stories, and no more night time snuggles reminiscing about the day. We're back to 30 minutes at bedtime, which based on a discipline book that we've read is good because if it's more than that, you're trying too hard. The result is that the night time games have been eliminated. It also helps that Baby Nash now goes to bed around 7, and she's much happier going to bed AFTER he does.

We recently learned that Reese hasn't taken a nap at school in 3 weeks so we were somewhat worried that she may be ready to drop the afternoon nap. But so far, since she's able to stay up longer we now let her stay up until Nash goes down for his post-lunch nap which she seems to be OK with. So now, she goes down for a nap anywhere from 12:30 to 2 and has been sleeping for 1.5-2+ hours. So, so far, she's still napping and Mom and Dad are happy.

Favorite/Funny Phrases:

• Yes, you may! - Reese has excellent manners. If you ask her if you can help her do something, she responds, "Yes, you may." Or, "Yes. Thank you for asking."
  
• It's not at the table yet - When we are preparing Reese's meals in the kitchen, we will say, "Reese, your breakfast/lunch/dinner is ready." Reese will be playing in the living room and she'll look over at the empty table and say, "It's not on the table yet." So, before telling Reese that her meals are ready, they had better be on the table.
  

Favorite/Sweet Moments:

• Halloween Treats - Reese hasn't been exposed to much candy so she's still very innocent and sweet in the 'sweets' department. She was thrilled to have her pot of snacks, but more so that she could line up her stuffed animals and place a treat next to all of them. I (Mom) swiped at least half of the treats while she was in bed the first night - which mostly worked as she only noticed (or cared) that her sucker stash had been depleted...I quickly put a few back as not to blow my cover. She was left with about a dozen pieces and was very patient the next few days and waited until dinner-time when I said she could have a special treat. Not only did she wait until dinner, but she neatly placed one piece on each of our napkins and happily shared her treasures with us. I imagine candy-greed will kick-in by next year, so we'll savor the sweetness this year.
• Breastfeeding her Dolls - Prior to Nash's birth, we had read some New Big Sister type stories to help prepare Reese for what to expect. The books usually mentioned something about how Mommy would probably be spending a great deal of time nursing the baby, as that's how babies got milk to eat. Well, after Nash was born, she became fascinated with the breastfeeding process. One day Mom looked over at Reese and there she was on the chair with her shirt up breastfeeding her baby doll just like Momma and Nash. (See picture at the bottom of this post.)
• Saturday Market - This summer we started going to the Saturday farmer's market in Eagle. They had a water fountain at the center of the market. After shopping, Reese would have the best time running through the fountain. We also started going to the Griddle restaurant for brunch. Reese devours a giant banana pancake.
  
• Morning Snuggles with Baby Nash - Reese loves Baby Nash. When he's waking up in the morning, Momma will set him on the bed to stretch. Reese will hop into bed, pull up the covers and nuzzle noses and cuddle with Nash.
• Newfound Confidence at the Park - Reese has always been fairly shy (though we hate to use the word shy) and until about a month ago still needed to have us with her when meeting new friends at our park. But a couple weeks ago that suddenly changed. Perhaps because Mom has become increasingly boring at the park while caring for Baby Nash? She saw some "girlie girls" and I suggested that she take her two soccer balls and see if they wanted to play. She took off, shared the soccer balls, and has been approaching new kids and introducing herself ever since. Even on days when the kids are too big to really want to play with her, she still tries. Tough for me to watch as I just want to shake the bigger kids, 'cause how could they possibly NOT want to play with my beautiful child?! One of my favorite moments was the day she watched older kids play hide-and-seek. They totally didn't include her - but she watched them, ran around screaming (as if someone was chasing her, which they were not), and closed her eyes and counted to 20 (as if someone was hiding from her, which they were not). The innocence of her side-by-side play was hilarious and sweet.
  

With the Good, Comes Some Bad, and Ugly -

Being the parent of a three year old has been far more challenging than we ever imagined. Several friends have shared that they too struggled with terrible three's more than terrible two's and other friends have assured me that, "it's just the age." We can only hope so but are not holding our breath as another friend confessed, "I'd love to tell you it gets better, but three is just when it [the mis-behavior] starts."

So although we'd like to say that our Miss Reese is always sweet as evidenced by her blog, it's only fair that we remember some of the current challenges. Both to keep it real, and remind us of the challenges three years from now when Mr. Nash is testing our limits.

Un-Favorite Moments:

• Runaway Toddler - Reese has recently started to run from us on occasion in public. This week I took Reese & Nash to the Discovery Center only to have her disappear in the maze of rooms - not long after a nice stranger (yes, stranger) walked her back to find an embarrassed mother. More important than a little embarrassment though, is just how dangerous this can be especially around cars/streets. Kiddo is on a very short leash these days...
• Nag! - The days when we tell her "no", "don't do that", "be careful", "be gentle", etc. more than anything else. Exhausting... nuf said.
• Tough Girl - In the past couple months Reese's play has become increasingly rough. Jumping, throwing, batting, etc. Not so bad at the park or the gym, but agitating in a small house with an infant.
• Clingy - We keep thinking this will diminish as she gets older, but for now she still needs lots on one-on-one attention when playing. Frustrating now, but we try to remind ourselves to get over it because it won't be long and she won't want to play with us.
  

But sometimes even the annoying moments can have a silver lining that helps us remember just how sweet she is and that being 3 can be tough. Yesterday on our way to the park she insisted on bringing Baby (we don't normally take her dolls to the park) and I gave in. When we got to the park there were several little girls playing (ages 3 to 7) and of course they were interested in Baby. When asked if they could hold Baby, Reese happily, and proudly, said yes and shared with them. But it didn't take long and a couple of the older girls started to run with Baby which immediately upset Reese and ultimately resulted in meltdown after meltdown for the remainder of the time at the park. We got home and later that evening I explained to her why maybe it would be a good idea to leave Baby at home next time.

Mom: "Maybe next time we'll leave Baby at home so that the other girls don't get sad that they don't have their babies at the park."
Reese: [long pause, and starting to tear up] "Maybe Monkey and Baby Kitty could watch her next time."
Mom: "Is that why you wanted to bring her, because you were worried she wouldn't be taken care of?"
Reese: [sadly] "Yeah, because I love her."

Because I love her. I couldn't agree more.

It's Fun to Stay at the Y-M-C-A

We're working on our new Momma-Reese-Nash weekly routine now that we're all home Monday thru Friday. I have become increasingly more social and LOVE to play with other kids, and as winter fast approaches our afternoon park friends seem to dwindle. Doesn't anyone own a winter jacket? So we've been going to the YMCA 2-3 days per week in the mornings. Baby Nash goes to the "Baby Room", I go to the big gym with other 3-6 year old kids, and Momma exercises with other Mommies.

So far I seem to be enjoying the new morning adventure and have even asked Momma if we could go to the YMCA. On Thursday's they even have a bounce house! It, of course, doesn't compare to the organized, constructive, and supervised play at Shana's, but it does give me the opportunity to play with and around other kids on a regular basis. It also helps me to have more confidence with separating from Mom - I was a little uncertain the first day but the nice "girl" (actually a nice boy named AJ with long dreadlocks) quickly sweeped me up to play and I was fine by the time Momma spied from the window. Anyways, we'll see how it goes. I'm sure there will be new challenges that arise from the Y (more colds, bad habits from other kids with less supervision, etc.), but for now it's a good break in the day for all of us especially as it gets colder and we're more housebound.

Per his usual disposition, Baby Nash seems to be taking the trip to the Y in stride and the care-providers have commented on what a happy baby he is. As a drop-in care center, there are fewer care-providers to babies than a dedicated daycare, but since it's only for an hour or so he should be fine. Plus, since he's so little he doesn't yet have any separation anxiety so we're hoping that the regular "stranger-care" will help when he eventually goes to school.

No pictures of the Y, but here is a video of me doing Zumba. Last month Momma and I took a tour of the Y and she showed me where she would be exercising with other Momma's. There was a Zumba class going on and although we only watched for a few minutes, I immediately felt the groove and danced in the window of the class. We came home and I demonstrated Zumba for Dada.

Happy 3-month Birthday Baby Nash

Happy 3-month Birthday, Sweet Boy! Among all the chaos at our house, Nash continues to be sweet, easygoing and a very happy baby. It's a good thing one of us likes to go-with-the-flow. ;-)

Just like I was, Nash is a very good night sleeper but prefers to catnap during the day. His catnaps are slightly longer than my 30-minute siesta's (45- to 60-minutes), and just like when I was a baby my desperate Mom has her ways of getting us to take ONE long nap per day. On most days while I'm taking my afternoon nap, she'll nurse Baby Nash back to sleep after he first wakes which gives us all (except poor Daddy) a nice 2-3 hr rest. She clearly breaks all the "Babywise-type" rules with her spoiling antics, but I know it's one of her favorite parts of the day to snuggle with Sweet Nash and something that she'll never forget.

Party Girl

Ever since I turned two, one of my favorite activities has been hosting parties. Parties for Baby, Baby Kitty, Gabby, Elephante', Purple, etc. So this year I was so excited to invite a few of my favorite (real) friends for my third birthday party. I was so excited to have party plates, napkins, and was SO excited to give my friends the party favors. It was a beautiful late October day (mid 60's, sunny) and we had a wonderful time.

Of course, the most special thing about my party was the guest of honor - Baby Nash.

Family Photos or Bardenay?

On Saturday we went down to the Boise River for our third annual Boise River photo shoot. This year proved to be the most difficult shoot as I was more interested in going to Bardenay afterwards, but we got a couple good shots (out of more than 100). Just wait until next year when Baby Nash is mobile!
And P.S., Happy (belated) 10th Wedding Anniversary Momma and Dada. Love you and love you.

The Only Thing Bad About Turning Three Is...

...you graduate from East Foothills Toddler Care. For almost two years I've spent my Tuesday's and Thursday's with Shana, Candice, Krista, Xanthy, Caitlin and Riley when Momma went back to work. I put up a very good fight when I first met them, but after a few weeks I came to realize how special they are and now love them very much. Thank you so much for all the stories, songs, dancing, lessons, snuggles, and love.
As a final farewell we all went to the annual Halloween parade. I had so much fun being a crazy girlie girl with my favorite friend Fiona (a.k.a Purple Monster)! Baby Nash (a.k.a Yoda) and baby Carys (a.k.a. Baby Ladybug) were there too.
I hope you enjoyed a preview of my Halloween costume. More to come on Halloween when I get the final touch to my costume (darn slow mailman...).

The Pumpkin Patch

Today we went to the Pumpkin Patch. How many pumpkins did we get? Zero!! There were way too many other fun things to do.
My very patient Baby Brother. I love him.
And my very patient, tired Baby Brother. I love him and his sweet cheeks.