Daddy's standing ovation

The man of the house had a birthday yesterday. Our happy Daddy had a great day. The family celebrated after dinner with presents and raspberry sheet cake. There's nothing like iTunes and Taco Bell hot sauce to make Garry smile!



Instead of lighting 34 candles, we lit 7 -- three in the tens column and four in the ones column. For the guy who loves lucky number 7, this was the perfect solution.



The cake was fantastic -- just ask Lexi and Gavin.



Gavin offered a delightful rendition of the "Happy Birthday" song. He entertained us with his singing throughout the evening, which you can see in the first video at the end of this post (for some reason I can't move it).

Lexi, however, stole the show. As we were preparing dinner, she wowed us all by standing up on her own in the middle of a room. She repeated the feat a dozen times over the next hour. We caught her on camera (the second video below). Our little girl is growing up so quickly!

Lexi Lou

Lexi is nine months old today. Wow! She has officially been outside my body as long as she was inside. I can't decide which time period felt longer.

We followed tradition and took some pictures with her little bunny. I put pigtails in her hair for the first time today. I never could understand why other moms would go for the insect look on their darling children, but I now realize that playing with baby girl hair is hard to resist! I'm glad that Lexi has a little bit to work with, and that she's reasonably tolerant of my inexperience. So, silly or not, Lexi will likely have many pigtails in her lifetime.

Lexi is a fast-n-furious crawler and likes to stand up to whatever she can. She is definitely a girl on the move! I am pleased with her progress, but also quite happy that she won't be walking in two weeks like all of her brothers did! I hope she waits a while...

Lexi also adores nursing, and despite my efforts to begin the weaning process, she steadfastly refuses to give up a milky meal. She nurses every three hours around the clock. Just this week she has offered 6-8-hour stretches at night again (remember, she did sleep through the night from about 9-20 weeks old), which has restored a bit of my sanity. Lexi gave up the binky before Christmas and won't take a bottle anymore. Her message rings loud and clear: "Mommy, I want YOU and only you. I won't settle for anything less. Please treasure my infancy and don't make me grow up too fast." I'm finally listening.

Lexi is working on her first four top teeth, and her middle two on the bottom seem fully grown in. The teething process has been rough (with an ear infection and bronchiolitis thrown in), but with steady doses of painkillers, she is a much happier girl.

Lexi does an adorable twist-and-shake dance move that cracks me up. I have yet to get it on video, so I will attempt a description. She can rotate her abdomen without moving her head or her legs, and she can rotate her hips (thus swinging her legs) while holding her upper body still. The result is this crazy wiggly maneuver that appears when she is happy, excited, or really trying to get out of a diaper change.

Lexi has figured out how to remove her socks. She hates shoes. And because we are (apparently) cold freaks around here (with a winter thermostat set at 65), Lexi's feet are always cold. I decided the other day that I just need to invest in tights -- lots of them. She can't pull them off her feet, and the extra layer on her legs will add to her warmth. This won't be a great solution in the Arizona summer, but hey, the cold won't be an issue then!

Lexi babbles a lot -- much more than her brothers did at this stage. (I know I'm terrible to compare so much, but I can hardly help myself!) She says "mama," which I find completely charming. I know she doesn't attach that word to me yet, but I love it anyway!

When I downloaded this picture of Lexi, it immediately reminded me of one of my baby pictures. The resemblance between us isn't as strong as I had remembered (plus I was about six months older when this picture was taken), but I do think that Lexi inherited some of my features. The expression and pose is pretty similar, too!

I also adore this photo of Lexi and Gavin together. He is always a part of our monthly photo shoots, but I never post the Lexi-Gavin pictures. This one was too cute to resist. Lexi lights up when Gavin is in the room. Even though he frequently picks her up by the head, she adores him. They have such a great time splashing and laughing in the tub together. They are destined to be great friends.

Eight months

Lexi turned eight months old yesterday. Eight. That seems like a big number.

To show that she's really growing up, Lexi got her first two teeth this week. They are both on the bottom, and they made her miserable. To celebrate her 2/3-of-a-year birthday, Lexi also got a wicked cold, complete with a green, goopy nose and a raspy cough. Her little voice is pretty hoarse. Poor baby. If you look closely at these pictures, you'll see that her nose is all red. We have rubbed it raw with tissues.

Sweet Lexi is generally happy and mellow. She loves to move these days, and can navigate quite well from a seated position on the floor! She has begun pulling herself up to things (mostly just to her knees) but has stood up to laundry baskets and her crib rail. No crawling yet.

We discovered this week that Lexi won't take a bottle anymore. What a bummer! This limits my evening freedom quite a bit, so I hope her refusal is temporary. I have started spreading out her feedings with my eye on weaning in May. Lexi's sleep training is going well. She usually only wakes once a night now and falls asleep on her own. What a good baby!

Pass the wipes

It isn't a day in my life if these two kids aren't poopy at the same time. It's inevitable. I've come to accept it. But on days like today, when Gavin grabs a size one, a size five, and the Kirkland wipes, then gets down on the floor next to his sister and sticks his legs in the air, I don't mind it so much.

They've got pretty cute bums, anyway.

Gavin & Lexi

They're known as "the babies," or "the Littles," but Gavin and Lexi definitely take the largest slice of the pie when it comes to energy, effort, and involvement! Here is an update on their corner of the world.

Lexi Lou is growing. Though she is still dainty, I've definitely noticed that her legs and tummy are plumping up a bit, and she is getting too long for her tiniest clothes. Lexi is almost seven weeks old, and she's giving us some very fun smiles and occasionally a little coo. What a delight! We love every tiny part of this little girl, including toes that poke out of blankets.

Lexi is not a huge fan of her car seat (especially at the grocery store, as seen below). She absolutely hates dirty diapers. Other than those things, Lexi is really a content, happy baby. This has been her fussiest week to date, but I still can't complain about her temperament at all. I'm finding that holding my baby is a whole lot more fun than getting things done, anyway! Lexi loves to be swaddled, and to have a blanket touching her face, especially when she is sad. The cocoon seems very calming!

Gavin is extremely busy, as always. Just today he tipped his booster chair (while strapped into it) backward onto the ground; spilled milk all over my bed; and escaped out the front door and into the neighbor's back yard. A mess on the floor like the one pictured below happens at least once a day, whether I am sitting next to him or not. I spend half my life cleaning the floor.

Gavin's latest interest is his little sister. He wants to hold her, take her places, bring her things, wrap her up, soothe her cries, make her laugh. Will his affection last? I sure hope so! I get glimpses of those two kiddos being great friends.

Gavin also has some fun words:
Lelli = Lexi
ho = hold (with arms outstretched, palms up -- he wants to hold Lexi)
mow saw = more song (at bedtime)
ticky = sticky
kinky = stinky
poppy = potty (he wants to use it)
ah-sah = outside

Gavin has an obsession with dressing up. He is especially fond of shoes, hats, and belts. His bedtime loveys also remain: the pillow, the blanket, and Russell the bear. Gavin is going through a phase where bedtime is harder. We have found that a "farewell tour," in which he is allowed to say "nigh-nigh" to everyone in the family, significantly reduces the bedtime drama. But he is also learning some stalling tactics -- "more song" and "drink" are frequent requests!

Lovin' Little Lexi!!!

She's here!



We'll post more details and pictures in the next couple of days but we wanted to get this out ASAP! Stay tuned.