Happy Monthday to Me!

Guess who turned 3 months a week and a half ago? 

 

Me!

(Mommy claims that the outfit in the above picture looked much more masculine on the hanger at the store.  And, yes, it was in the boy's section.  She's promised that I'll never have to wear it again.)

 

Here's what you should know about me at 3 months:

 

I have become quite the talker.  My vocabulary consists of mostly vowel sounds, but occassionally I'll throw in a quick consonant.

 

I can lift my head up sooooo high when I'm playing on my belly.

 

 

The vast majority of the time, you'll only catch me crying if I'm tired or hungry.  I'll also cry if I feel like no one is paying attention to me.

 

My bedtime is 7:00.  I usually wake around 2 or 4 to eat, then go back to sleep until around 6:30.  I did sleep completely through the night twice this month...but then I decided it was more fun to see Mommy in the middle of the night.

 

 

I take a paci quite a bit at school, but next to never at home.

 

I'm still a little spitmeister if Mommy attempts to eat dairy.  She was bummed when she realized that her favorite granola cereal and English muffins both contain milk derivatives.

 

I like to put my hands on my head when I'm nursing or sleeping.  This also means that Mommy has to be super vigilant about clipping my nails. Because if she's not, I end up looking like a cat got to my head.

 

I visited my fist pumpkin patch and had my first trip to the State Fair of Texas (pre Big Tex flame up).

 

I've started laughing!  And my parents love it.

 

 Mommy and Daddy say that I am the most chillaxed baby they've ever seen!

They're Married!

Just thought I'd let you know that Auntie and Dan tied the knot this weekend! 

 

 

 

I plan to share more pictures later, but wanted to get this one to you right away! It was taken at the beginning of the reception by our friend Tiff.

 

It was a beautiful day (in more ways than one) and I contributed to it by throwing flower petals, throwing a fit during the ceremony, and throwing my moves down on the dance floor.

 

 

Sweet Sorrow (a backtrack post)

This is a post Mommy drafted back in April.  She was wanting to get a few more pictures before posting, but that never happened.  So this info is a little (or a lot) outdated, but I wanted to share it now because it will give clarity to a post I'm planning for later in the week.

We have been dealing with a lot of parting-is-such-sweet sorrow in our home over the last month or so.  That's because our best friends, the Ortiz clan, are moving to Oklahoma. 

"Uncle" Oscar took a position as a full time worship pastor there.  It's exactly the job he was created to do: lots of song writing, training multiple worship teams, recording worship albums...so from that perspective we are super over-the-top excited for the whole family.

On the other hand, we are going to miss our friends so much.  Truely, everyone in our family is "losing" a best friend.  We sure are comforted by the fact that they aren't going too terribly far!

We got to celebrate Ian and Preston's birthdays with them last month (as in March), which was a ton of fun.  The boys just went crazy for the Cowboys helmets and jerseys they got. 

See?  They're even wearing them during the pinata fun.  I think they both went to bed with them that night, and I know at least one of them wore the helmet on the car ride to church the next morning.

A week or so later, we had a formal farewell service for them at church.  We ate lots of great food, heard funny/silly/sweet/encouraging words about Oscar's 18 and Tara's 14 years at our church, and spent some time praying for them as they embark on this new chapter in their lives.

We also had a more personal get together with their family at Mimi and Poppy's house one night. 

Ortiz Fam- You will forever be part of our family.  Mommy likes the way another member of our church worded this transition: You're not leaving...you're just moving further up the street than we would like.

My 2nd Monthday...19 Days Late

I've been two months old for 19 days now!

(Mommy went back to work 21 days ago, so things have been a little crazy around here.) 

 

 

Here's what you should know about me at 2 months:

 

I eat every 3 hours during the day, but once Mommy and I reconnect in the evening I like to squeeze two feedings into a two hour block.

 

My bedtime is 7:00.  Most nights I wake up to eat around 2:00, then go back to sleep until Mommy wakes me for the day at 6:45.

 

 

I love bath time!

 

I'm getting pretty good at holding my head up during tummy time.

 

A month ago my family was really worried about my head and neck.  I had a very strong preference for looking to the left, and my skull was becoming a little asymmetrical because of it.  Auntie was also concerned that I may develop torticollis.  After lots of intervention from my parents, Auntie, and my daycare teacher, though, it looks like I'm on my way to a healthy range of motion!

 

Speaking of daycare, I am doing a great job at my "school".  Currently, I am the youngest baby in my class.  All the other kiddos are mobile, so my teacher has to run interference all day long to make sure no one is attacking me with curiosity.  Here's a picture of my on my first day of school:

 

 "Pat-a-Cake" and "Itsy Bitsy Spider" are two of my favorite songs.

 

I like to track people as they move across the room.

 

My nicknames are LL, Buddy, Little Man, and ElMo.

 

My sissy is still the most entertaining person I know!

 

 

I still have a strong dislike for clothing being pulled over my head.

 

I constantly hear my parents refer to me as the best, easiest, most content baby in the world.

 

 

 

My 3rd monthday is in 11 days, so I'll see ya again then...maybe!

 

Road Trip

We took our very first family of 4 road trip last weekend.  Daddy took an extra day off work aaaand took Sunday off (gasp!), so we were able to get away for a few days to see our Hill Country family.

 

And we had a great time!

 

Elliot and I played and played and played and played with our cousins, McB and SLiM.

 

 

McB and I enjoyed kayaking with our daddies.

 

We visited SeaWorld...

 where Mommy was thrilled to discover nursing stations! She'll take nursing in a quiet, air conditioned, private room over a noisy, stiffling, crowded seating area any day.

 

And we ate lots of good food. (Thanks, Aunt Becky!)

 

Mommy and Daddy spent a good deal of the trip juxtaposing this experience with the Hill Country visit we made when I was about Elliot's age.  We are all happy to tell you that 7 week old Elliot was a much better road tripper than 10 week old Katelyn!  Just look at how chillaxed the little guy was at SeaWorld.

The Most Creative Mom Around

Nope, I'm not talking about my mom.  It's actually one of her friends.

 

Brooke is a friend of Mommy's.  They taught at the same school for one year and paired their students up as reading buddies.  Mommy used to love taking her class into Brooke's classroom and snooping on her organizational skills.  She (Brooke) was one of those teachers who had all of the pieces to the puzzle: classroom management, top notch instruction, organization, creativity...you name it, Brooke had it!

 

And she still does.  But this year she's getting to stay home with her 3 precious boys.  And she's channeling all of her teacher awesomeness into clever and creative activities with those boys.

 

So if you've got a preschool aged kiddo you may want to hop on over to eduperry.com and check out all of the great ideas she's posting.

 

Please be forewarned, though.  You will likely be both amazed (at all she is doing with her kids) and embarassed (because you feel proud of yourself for singing a few songs and slapping a sticker chart on the side of the fridge).

 

If you're like Mommy, though, you'll be super thankful that Brooke makes her creations available to her readers through Teachers Pay Teachers.  She also posts lots of freebies...so you just may want to follow her blog!

Obey Right Away

It turns out that getting a new baby brother can bring out both the best and the worst in a 3.5 year old. 

 

A few days after Mommy and Daddy brought Elliot home from the hospital they were scratching their heads and wondering who the obstinate red head running around was and what she had done with their sweet Katie Bug.

 

After lots of tears, time outs, and tantrums + advice seeking, praying, and reflecting Mommy came to a few conclusions:

1.  What we were doing wasn't working.

2.  She was spending a whole lot of time disciplining me and not a lot of time encouraging me.

3.  She needed to trust God for the patience and grace she would need to parent me through this transitionl time.

 

And then, seemingly out of the blue, the idea for an "Obey Right Away" chart came to Mommy's mind.  It's similar to the behavior plans she would create for students in her class who were having a particularly hard time following the rules.  Every* time I immediately obey Mommy and Daddy without whining or fussing I get to put a sticker in a box.  When all of the boxes are full I earn a reward that we have previously agreed upon.

 

The chart was (almost) magic.

 

I have something positive to work towards.  Mommy and Daddy are focused on encouraging me to make the right choice (although I am certainly still the recipient of discipline when I need it).  Everyone is happier and our house is running smoother.

 

So far I have earned something from my Treat Basket, a Berenstein Bear book, and Goldilicious (which Mommy thinks is a huge literary waste). 

 

*Well, I started out getting a sticker every time I obeyed right away.  Now the stickers come more occasionally.  I think it's some sort of sneaky weaning process.