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.