He's Got a Point

As we're passing Lake Abilene the other day:

Daniel: Look! There's the ocean!
Me: That's not the ocean.  That's just a lake.  The ocean is much, much bigger.  Some day we'll go to the ocean, and you'll be able to see how much bigger it is.
Daniel: How much bigger is it?
Me: Well, when you're standing there looking at the ocean, you won't even be able to see land.  Just ocean as far as you can see.
Daniel: Will I be standing on the land?
Me: Yeah, but standing there on the land, as far as you can see will be ocean.
Daniel: Well, if I look behind me though - I'll see the land.

Don't you hope he'll be your defense lawyer someday?

All Grown Up

Conversation with Daniel last night:

Daniel: Mommy, how old do I have to be to be a grown-up?
Me: 18.
(pause)
Daniel: When I'm 18, could I go out in the front yard by myself?
Me: Yes, you can.
Daniel: Ohhhh, because I'll be tall enough that the cars will see me!

Polar Express

Abuelo & Abuela gave us an early Christmas present and sent us on the Polar Express (or the Polar Bear Express as Daniel calls it)!  Norma, Daniel, Catherine, and I all went on Friday night, and Daniel had the time of his life.  Not exaggerating - he was the most excited kid there, waiting to get on that train.  He could not stop jumping up and down and was giggling with excitement!  He LOVED the train and spent a lot of time looking out the window at the trucks passing by (he logically reasoned that they were 18-wheelers filled with toys that the elves had made)!  He got to have cookies and hot chocolate while riding to the North Pole.  At the North Pole, Santa Claus and a few of his elves hopped aboard the train.  Daniel was excited to see Santa (in his funny little quiet way).  He kept watching Santa as he made his way closer, then he turned to me and said quietly with a little smile, "This is my first time!"  Santa gave him and Catherine a little silver bell each (which Catherine loved more than anything else on the trip).  Santa also signed Daniel's Polar Express book.  It was incredibly sweet to see Daniel so excited about such a magical evening!  It really did bring tears to my eyes.  Thank you to Abuelo & Abuela for the nice present!

Catherine's Milestones

I think we can say that Catherine is officially taking those "first steps!"  She's not necessarily "walking" because she will only take about 5-6 steps at a time, but I've seen her do as many as eight without falling!

She's also recently learned how to give high-fives and how to wave bye-bye.

The other big news is that she's got a mouth full of teeth.  Just within the last week, there were three that popped through on the top, so she's got a total of five now.  Sheesh!  So stinkin' grown up!

The Lion King

We had told Daniel that when the blister on his thumb finally disappeared (from his thumb-sucking days), he could watch a movie. 

That day finally happened!  It took two months for that blister to disappear!  So on Saturday we rented The Lion King, per his request.  We popped a bowl of popcorn, Daniel got to stay up past his bed-time, and the three of us watched the movie together. 

This was the first movie we'd ever done, and Daniel was uber-excited!  You know how Daniel talks non-stop most of the time?  Yeah, that doesn't change during a movie.  :)  He asked a question about every 15 seconds - literally, and the most popular question (by far) was, "Where are the hyenas now?"

Those hyenas were definitely a little scary for him, and we fast-forwarded through several parts.

All in all - big success! 

Avocado

This is how the girl looks all. the. time.

The good thing is that she'll eat almost anything.

In the last few weeks she's eaten coconut curry chicken soup and gingery pork meatballs with rice noodles without skipping a beat.

Halloween

Daniel dressed up as "Captain Lightning" this year, and Catherine was a pumpkin.  When we got Daniel all dressed for the night, he stood up and said, "I'm ready to go fight some crime!"  We first walked to a small festival at a nearby church where we met some neighbors.  We then trick-or-treated around our neighborhood.  Daniel loved trick-or-treating the most and is super excited about all the candy.  We were ultra proud that he volunteered to give up almost half of it to Ms. Marcy without us even asking!  He had fun with Ms. Marcy that day too, who came to our house dressed as a witch!  All in all - a successful Halloween!

Life Without Kids

The other day we were all sitting at the table, the kids were screaming for more food/milk/etc., and David said something to me like, "Can you imagine what we could be doing right now if we didn't have kids?  We could be vacationing in Italy."

Before I could respond, Daniel butted in and said, "If we didn't have kids, we could get a dog!"

David said, "Who could get a dog if they didn't have kids?"
Daniel replied, "You, Mommy, me, and Catherine!"

Pumpkin Patch

We went to the pumpkin patch a few weeks ago.  Here are a few of the best pics:

Racecar Surprise

David and Daniel are at the Abilene Speedway right now to attend Daniel's first car race!  David wanted to keep it a surprise, and this is how the conversation went down:

David: Daniel, I have a surprise for you tomorrow night.
Daniel: What is it?
David: Well, it's a surprise!  It's something really good though.
Daniel:  Is it a tea party!!!???
David: A tea party???
Daniel: Yeah!
David: No, it's not a tea party!
Daniel: Hmm.....is it a slumber party!!!???

Hope our "manly" little guy isn't disappointed in the race.  :)

What's in a Name?

Daniel uses a lot of nicknames for Catherine.  I can't even think of all of them - he just calls her random silly things that come to mind.  Sometimes he calls her bunny, snuggle buns, and paper monster, but the two that get the most use: Munchy Bunny and Big Belly Monster.

Teething

Catherine is teething.  She's not one of those horrible teethers that you hear about, but she's obviously teething because she's biting down on things really hard, including my shoulder - yikes! 

Today she found the ultimate teether.  I was vacuuming, and she crawled up to the vacuum, yelled at it loudly, then bit down on the front (while it was running!).  Apparently the vibrations or something felt good because she proceeded to follow me all over the living room, doing whatever she could to bite down on that thing!  Goofy girl.  :)  Vacuuming took a little longer than usual today.

Thumb Update

Daniel has been a hardcore thumb sucker for a long, long, long time.  We had been talking to him about quitting the habit once he hit four years old.  We weren't exactly sure how we were going to accomplish this, but we figured it would be a long process, considering how long he's been addicted. 

We forgot that Daniel is really good with deadlines.

For example, when Daniel turned three, he started pooping in the potty.  He had refused to do this for the previous eight months (even disregarding bribes such as trips to the zoo, cupcakes, toys, etc.), but when he turned three, he turned a magical corner in his mind and just did it.

The same thing happened with his thumb and turning four.  He just quit the day he turned four.  Just like that.  He's asked a few times to put a bandaid on his thumb to "help him remember," and there are occasional nights that we hear him sucking it long after he's fallen asleep.  I'm assuming that will go away on its own as he doesn't need it to fall asleep anymore.  Overall, he's doing amazingly well!

Tonight we treated him to frozen yogurt - the same prize we used for potty training.  The kid loves it!  He had cookies 'n' cream yogurt with Reese's, M&M's, Nerds, gummy bears, and colored sprinkles.  Sounds kinda nasty to me, but he loved it.  When we got in the car, he said, "When will we come to the yogurt shop again?"  I said, "I don't know.  When do you think?"  He said, "Well, I guess I need to learn to wipe myself all by myself all the time, and then we can come back to the yogurt shop."  Agreed!  Glad we have a new goal! 

Catherine's 8 Month Update

Catherine turned eight months old the same day that Daniel turned four years old!

She has really been changing a lot and is not so much of a baby anymore! 

• She can crawl everywhere and gets pretty quick sometimes. 
• She pulls up on everything and anything that she can. 
• She follows Daniel everywhere. 
• She eats a variety of foods and doesn't seem to be bothered by any of them.
• She is starting to feed herself finger foods, though most of it falls on her lap.
• She still has just two bottom teeth, no uppers.
• She follows Daniel everywhere.
• She sleeps through most nights (8ish to 6ish) and takes 2-3 naps.
• Her hair is silly long, and I realize it needs to be trimmed, but can't make myself do it yet.
• She likes to "dance" to music, particularly when she pushes the buttons on the keyboard.
• She follows Daniel everywhere.
• She loves to be outside on the back patio and is frequently covered in sidewalk chalk.
• She loves to play in the water - either tub or pool.
• She makes silly panting and raspberry noises.
• She follows Daniel everywhere.

Can you tell she loves her big brother?  It drives him a bit crazy at times!

Daniel's Birthday

Daniel is officially four!  I think he measured in at 41".  His actual birthday was a little quieter than his birthday party.  He started the morning with muffins, and then he went to his first day of RE.  He's in my pre-K class this year, and he did well!  The rest of the day was spent opening various gifts, playing with Grandma, and visiting the zoo.  He had a pretty special day! 

He'd also had a big week as his favorite babysitter, Ms. Marcy, spoiled him all week long!  She bought him a big roll of butcher paper, new math, reading, and geography workbooks, and a cake mix.  On Friday they made a Whopper cake together.  He's eaten a piece every day since!

He received even more presents.....
Aunt Cristi & Uncle Brian - cape with lightning bolt
Aunt Pam, Uncle Josh, & Bryson - Thomas the Train circus set and bulldozer
Aunt Heather, Uncle Brian, & Henry - Cars bouncy balls, Cars color wonder set, Cars Beanz, and Percy train
Grandma & Grandpa - Cars crashing racetrack
Mrs. Gonzalez - Thomas the Train drawing board and book
Grandma Fox - money
Mommy & Daddy - scissors, tape, construction paper, pipe cleaners, googly eyes, pom pom balls, glue sticks, paint, and glitter glue (No glitter party this year, but at least we did glitter glue!)

Daniel's 4th Birthday Party

We had Daniel's birthday party last weekend, September 1st.  This was the first year we've done it at our house, and though we only invited a few families, it turned out to be a big celebration!  There were 14 adults, 7 "big" kids, and 4 babies there! 

We had planned to do a wild animal themed party, but a few days before the party, I showed a picture of the proposed lion cake to Daniel, and he got the saddest look on his face.  When I asked him what was wrong, he said, "I don't want to do an animal party!"  So, since we hadn't actually done a whole lot of planning (nothing like the last minute!), we switched everything to a "cars" theme.  We attempted to play red light/green light and one other musical chairs type game, but only the few biggest kids could understand, so we gave up.  The kids ran around the yard, playing in the sprinkler, throwing water balloons, jumping in the inflatable pool, and playing on the water-filled tarp.  They also loved having David pull them around in the wagon!  Overall, I think it was a success.  Daniel seemed happy, and that's what matters most at a birthday party!  He loved his cake and is excited to turn four in a few days!  He doesn't understand that there won't be another party on his actual birthday, and we'll see how that turns out!

Just so I can remember twenty years from now.......

In attendance were:

Abuelo & Abuela - Crazy Creatures gears toy
Uncle Luis - car racetrack

RJ, Wendy, Riley, Aubrey, Lily, and Maddie Calvo- play-doh kitchen set

Stephen, Lindi, and Vaughn Berry - Brown Bear What Do You See books and game

Raymond, Tina, Noah, Christian, and Wyatt - board book kit and Batman truck

Jackie and Linda - take apart ATV kit with tools

Kenia and Lila - board tool kit

 David with Vaughn, Wyatt, Riley, and Daniel

Noah, Lila, Vaughn, Wyatt, Riley, and Daniel 

 Daniel with his birthday cake

Riley, Vaughn, Lindi, Stephen, Christian, Wyatt, and Daniel

All that Glitters is not Gold

Daniel's already been thinking about his upcoming birthday.  He's requested a Reese's Pieces M&M chocolate cake with a cherry on top.  He's also requested a "glitter party" where "everyone gets covered in glitter."  I told him that he'd have to take that one up with Daddy.  I'm not sure he'll want his son hosting a glitter party.  ;)

Shark!

So, Catherine got her other bottom front tooth last Wednesday.  They're still pretty itty bitty.  On Thursday, she bit me while eating - three times.  Now Daniel had never really done that when he was a baby, so I had no earthly idea how much that could hurt!  Ridiculous!  I sternly told her "No," and I haven't had her bite me again since that day.  Here's hoping she's learned that that is not okay.  Unfortunately, I'm now officially afraid of when my baby girl gets her top teeth.  And then my sister went and put the idea in my head that with top and bottom teeth, my baby girl will be quite capable of actually biting something off.....Talk about nerve-wracking!  Good thing I've got those 75 bottles of milk in the freezer.....

Playmates

Daniel is so eager to play with Catherine, even though she can't do much yet.  He likes to read books to her and is good about remembering to bring her toys when he gets something new out for himself to play with.  He insisted she join him in his "tent" the other day.  Luckily, she's a good sport most of the time and just follows along.

Catherine's Six Month Check-Up

Catherine is six months old already - well, six and a half months old really!  She's grown a lot in the last month.  We had her 6-month check-up on Tuesday, and she weighed 14 lb., 14 oz. (19.68 %ile)) and measured 25.5 inches in length (30.38 %ile).  She is sitting up by herself and working really hard to learn how to crawl.  She can get up on her hands and knees by herself, but she can't get any further than that.  She usually gets on her knees and then lunges toward an object she wants, only reaching it half the time.  She is eating more and more foods and likes a lot of things, including peas, plums, sweet potatoes, potatoes, green beans, zucchini, oatmeal, apples, and chicken.  She's finally got the hang of eating from a spoon and opens her mouth readily.  The big news is that she finally learned how to take a bottle!  Hooray!  After 3-4 months of trying, she got it!  This has been a nice break for me - I was having way too much stress trying to time everything right with work so that I could be home to feed her.  Now maybe we'll get to use those 75 packages of milk I have stored in the freezer!  She continues to squeal a lot rather than coo and has recently begun making a "monster" noise in which she grunts loudly.  Daniel gets a kick out of that one.  She's sleeping okay.  She typically wakes up once during the night to eat, but there are other nights that she sleeps through.  She then takes three naps during the day, ranging from 30 minutes to 2 hours.  The hard part is that you never know what kind of nap it will be!  She also recently got a tooth!  How's that for not feeling like a baby anymore?!

Zens Grandkids' Extravaganza

Last weekend we had all four Zens grandkids together for the first time.  My sister and her son, Bryson (20 months), my sister-in-law and her son, Henry (5 months), and my mom all came to visit.  We had so much fun seeing all the kids together.  It was a wild and tiring weekend!  I'm so thankful that they all made the long trip to come see us!  We didn't do anything special - it's hard to get out of the house with four kids on different schedules.  There were some meltdowns and plenty of crying, but a lot of laughter too!  Here are a few pics, including our many takes at trying to get all four in one photo!



Flattery

I got a haircut today, including new bangs.  I got home, and Daniel said, "Mommy, why is your hair like that?  You look cray-cray!"

Thanks.

Peach Orchard

On Saturday morning, David saw an ad in the paper for a peach orchard where you could pick your own peaches.  We thought it sounded like fun and jumped in the car to drive about 30 minutes to the farm.  It was really pretty out there, even though it was ridiculously hot.  We picked a half bushel of peaches and ate quite a few while we were there.  We had to make Daniel stop after two whole peaches in less than 15 minutes!  I froze most of them, and we made a peach pie with some of the others.  While peeling, slicing, and bagging peaches to freeze, I have never felt more like my mother.  It seems like my mom was always putting up a fruit or vegetable in the freezer, and I can remember watching her slice up peaches with juice all over her hands, being amazed that she didn't slice her fingers while working so quickly.  I hope that my kids will some day remember me in the same way.

Solid Foods

We started Catherine on solids three weeks ago.  So far she's done rice, oatmeal, carrots, and apples.  She liked the rice the most and the carrots the least.  She's still getting the hang of it and gags sometimes when it's not quite smooth enough....or when it tastes like carrots!  Despite that, she's doing fairly well - far superior to her use of a bottle! 

Brotherly Love

This pic cracked me up, so I thought I'd share with everyone.  These two really can't get enough of each other.  I know that's going to change (probably sooner rather than later), so I'm trying to enjoy it while I can. 

Daniel loves to go lie down next to Catherine, wherever she may be.  He sometimes brings her toys or talks to her, but usually he just lies next to her.  He also loves to go to her crib when she wakes up from her naps.  He runs in there with his stool so he can peek in to the crib.  He talks to her in his high-pitched motherese speech, saying things like, "Hey, you!  What are you doin' in there?  Did you have a good nap?  Do you feel good?"  Then he gives her a toy or two and just watches her. 


One of the most popular statements I hear every day from Daniel is "Let's see what Catherine does."  Then he just sits and stares at his sister.  Luckily, she loves staring right back at him.

Picking a Fight

Sometimes I think Daniel's like his father in that he just likes to argue for argue's sake.

I was breaking down the lunch meat box to get it ready for recycling when Daniel saw me.

Daniel (in the most whiny, sad voice you can imagine): I wanted a ham sandwich for lunch tomorrow!
Me: That's fine.  You can have a ham sandwich tomorrow.
Daniel: Do we still have ham?
Me: Yes, there's ham in the fridge.
Daniel: Well, then what was that box?
Me: That was from the turkey.
(pause)
Daniel (still using the sad, whiny voice): I didn't want ham.  I wanted a turkey sandwich for lunch tomorrow!
Me: That's fine.  You can have a turkey sandwich tomorrow.
Daniel: No, no, no.....because you ate all the turkey!
Me: There's another box in the fridge.
Daniel: Oh.

Got Sleep?

Shortly after Catherine turned four months old, she started waking up a lot during the night - like 5-6 times sometimes.  She had previously been sleeping through the night, so this was a big problem, especially because it wasn't like she would just go right back to sleep.  We'd have to pat her on the back for ages - sometimes as long as an hour - before she'd stay asleep for any length of time.  Annoying to say the least.

So we decided to "sleep train" her like we did Daniel, using the Ferber method (basically letting her learn to fall asleep on her own with no patting/rocking by allowing her to cry, comforting her at different intervals).  With Daniel, he cried for an hour and forty-five minutes the first night and continued to cry a significant amount of time for about a week, finally learning to fall asleep with no crying on night #12.  Not fun.  So we were prepared for Catherine.  We waited until things were 'stable' in our lives and prepped for long hours of crying.  We started the sleep training about a week and a half ago.  She cried 15 minutes the first night, and since then she's been rock solid, crying maybe 1-2 minutes, if at all, and only waking once per night to eat.  So wonderful!

Crazy to see the differences between the two kids. 

Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep

When I hear a little voice saying this:

"beep beep beep beep beep beep beep"

and it's coming from the bathroom........

There's only one thing it can be. 

Daniel's "timer" has gone off. 

And when Daniel's timer goes off.......

It means he's ready to be wiped.......

after I've turned off the timer by bopping him on the head.

Am I a lucky mom or what?

Mother's Day

Daniel made me a card for Mother's Day, and with the help of Daddy and Aunt Cristi, made a video and completed a questionnaire.  Here are his answers from the questionnaire as well as a sweet pic of my kids and me from that day!

I really love it when my mom washes the dishes, because she makes them clean

My mom likes to wear pretty things

My mom always tells me not to do wrong things. To get dressed

The best thing she does is play with me and read books to me

It makes her happy when I do right things, when I unload the dishwasher

I like it when she play and read books and play trains

The best thing she cooks is pizza doughs, pasta

When my mom shops she likes to buy eggplant, baba ganoush

I love my mom because… she does right things, she does silly things

Moustaches

Grandpa & Grandma brought moustaches when they visited.....

 

4 Month Status

Catherine turned 4 months old on the 9th.  She's an amazing sleeper - especially compared to Daniel at this age.  She sleeps through the night about 2/3 of the time, and on other nights, she doesn't usually wake up until 4 or 5 am after going to sleep at 8 or 8:30 the night before.  Her naps are kind of sporadic.  I never really know how long they'll last (anywhere from 30 minutes to 3 hours), but she typically gets tired after being up for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.  She recently started playing with toys.  She reached out for her first toy (a giraffe taggie) on April 29th - 2 days after spending an entire day watching her more advanced (by 3 months) triplet friends.  She typically eats 5 times a day, though she'd probably be content with 4 times.  She doesn't cry a lot, but she does do this whiny noise when she wants to be held.  She loves to be held and rocked and patted.  She loves to watch Daniel.  She still loves to be in the bathtub.  She doesn't mind being passed to new adults, which is good because she's so stinkin' cute that a lot of people want to hold her!  She smiles a lot and coos, but she hasn't really laughed yet.  She rolls over from her tummy to her back and scootches around a lot in the crib.  Sometimes we find her clear on the other side from where we laid her down.  She's incredibly strong and can lift herself really high off her tummy.  She still won't take a bottle, and we've tried for about 6-8 weeks now.  Any suggestions?! 

She weighed in at 12 pounds, 6 ounces (22nd %ile) and measured 23 3/4 inches (30th %ile) at her appointment yesterday.  Her head circumference was 16.5 inches.  She screamed - I mean crazy screamed - the second I laid her down on the examining table.  Our pediatrician said, "You'll have to tell me later if she's got a good memory.  She sure seems to remember getting her shots here last time!" 

Identity Crisis

Daniel: Uh-oh!!!  Oh, no!
Me: What?  What happened!?
Daniel: I forgot to put on my makeup this morning!
Me: You're a boy.
Daniel: Well....boy makeup.
Me: Boys don't wear makeup. 
Daniel: Well, I do. 

Good News & Bad News

I have good news and bad news.  Strangely enough, it's the same news:  Daniel loves our new babysitter, Ms. Marcy.  I started back to work at the beginning of April - well, I started working about three hours per day on MWF.  Ms. Marcy comes to our house and watches Daniel and Catherine on these days.

The good news is that Daniel loves playing with Ms. Marcy.  She's a theater major and has such a great imagination.  She and Daniel always go to some amazing places while I'm gone - Jupiter, the rainforest, even jail once!

The bad news is that Daniel loves our babysitter so much that he threw a great, big tantrum the other morning when I told him that I didn't have to go to work.  During this tantrum, he yelled such fun things as "Mommy, you go to work right now!"

Easter

We celebrated Easter in Lubbock with Abuelo, Abuela, and Uncle Luis. Daniel had a lot of fun as the Easter bunny sent him on a "treasure hunt" to find his basket. He liked looking for the clues so much that I don't think he realized the basket was the end-goal. He was throwing out the things in the Easter basket, just looking for another clue! The Easter bunny brought him several good things, but his favorite has been a pack of plastic bugs. We've been playing a lot of "bugs" this week. He also received a kite, and David enjoyed showing him how to use it a few days ago. Daniel had more fun with the cascarones this year and even cracked one or two on people's heads. He still preferred to stomp on them or throw them at the ground though.

Grandparent Week

My parents came to visit a few weeks ago (3/28-3/31), and then we went to Lubbock to see David's parents right after they left (3/31-4/1), so we had a good, solid 5 days worth of spoiling (both us and the kids). During my parents' visit, we snuck in a trip to the Abilene zoo as well as a trip to Dairy Queen for mint Oreo blizzards. Plus there was plenty of cars/trucks/trains, playing outside, and reading of books. During our trip to Lubbock, Daniel experienced his first rodeo. He loved seeing everything, though I think he liked wearing his cowboy hat and bandana the best! I don't have any pics from the rodeo - I still need to get those from my in-laws, but here are a few pics from my parents' visit.