Biped!

Annnnnnd, we have an official walker as of today. Yikes! Will try for video later!

Jonathan is 10 Months Old!

Dear Jonathan,

Today you are ten months old! Double digits!

This month has seen lots of walking practice. You are the king of the "two steps-then-crawl" maneuver. I think your current record is still five or six and we're seeing more and more of that lately. I'm so glad it's summer because it's all bare feet all the time for you. Much easier to learn to walk when you don't have anything encumbering your piggies!

You wave bye bye and I think (though no one has heard it by but me), you sometimes say "bah bah!!" when you do it. In the last two days or so you've definitely started to mimic our intonation when we say things. You grin from ear to ear when we realize this too. You LOVE to be understood. Cracks me up! You recognize all the routine things we always say to you and you babble tons of syllables now including FINALLY (but oh so rarely) MAMA. (heartmelt) You usually do this when you can't get to me too (i.e. trapped behind a gate with someone else) so I'd like to think maybe, just maybe, you are actually saying "mama"? ;)

You still hate to be fenced in our restrained in any way, unless of course, your brothers are fenced in with you. For this reason, I have taken to paying Ben( and sometimes Simon too) a quarter for twenty minutes of entertaining you in your living room corral while I make dinner. This works out well because BOY do you LOVE love love your brothers!!

You seem to be pretty outgoing, though the occasional stranger or person you haven't seen in awhile will still make you cry. Generally though, if you are with mommy or daddy and someone talks to you, you'll give them a big smile. :o)

You've been super crazy hungry lately and eating everything in sight. I'm guessing you are growing a ton right now. If someone walks by you with food, you'll smack your lips together until they let you try some. You definitely prefer what we're eating to baby mush, though I still force baby mush upon you sometimes just to make sure you are filling up. But truly, you will try and eat almost anything as long as it's OUR food. Recent "He likes it!" big people food discoveries include -- avocado, corn, tomatoes, blueberries, green beans, blueberry muffin, roasted potatoes, peanut butter and jelly (oops, guess you don't have a peanut allergy!), and ice cream. (also, oops) Still not a huge fan of any kind of big people meat though. You ALWAYS spit out any and all bits of meat we give you. Gotta work on that.

You have two little bottom teeth and have had them for the last three months. No signs of any new ones incoming, except for some random nighttime fussiness here and there where it seems you might be a bit uncomfortable. I keep sticking my finger in there (and getting bitten in the process) and doing the new tooth sweep but coming up empty.

As your brothers before you (and all babies I've ever come in contact with) you have an affinity for all things electronic and will make a bee-line for anything unattended. You especially like laptops, cell phones, remotes and any chargers associated with these devices. You are not fooled by old cell phones that are no longer operational either, which is annoying. And toy versions of any of these are completely ignored. (sigh)

Sleeping? Well, we just won't discuss that because there hasn't been a TON of improvement in that area. Glimmers of hope here and there but no huge strides. My hope is to maybe get a couple 12-hour nights by your first birthday? Oh how heavenly that would be.

OH! We just took you on your first beach vacation and you had a blast. You LOVE the beach, the sand and the water. (!) You even kept crawling right into the surf yesterday which was a little disconcerting. You are definitely my fearless child. Glad you are my third and not my first. I'm much more well-prepared for you... but still... your utter fearlessness continues to shock me. I sort of wonder if you won't be a completely unaided and proficient swimmer before your oldest brother. LOL. I suspect you will also be the one to ride Tower of Terror with daddy in Disney World while Ben, Simon and I peruse the shops. HA!

Anyway, so that's you in a nutshell at ten months. Can't believe you are this close to one! Guess I better to party planning!!! :)

Love,
Mommy

Stats --
19 pounds
28-3/4 inches
Size 3 diapers
Anywhere between 3-6 months and 6-9 months clothes right now
20-something ounces of milk a day... usually about 24. Thankfully, there were only two days there where I couldn't keep up. I added in a pump and after days I was back to getting 28-30 and keeping pace with him!

Ben at 7 and 1/4....

Placeholder post -- should have done it yesterday! Will come back to this later!

Ben Shoulda Been a Duggar....

While walking down to the beach yesterday, I had the following conversation with Ben.

Ben: I want two more babies.

Me: Say what now?

Ben: Two more babies. Maybe two sisters so I'd have two brothers and two sisters.

Me: Sorry. No more babies. We're done.

Ben: But we need two more.

Me: No. Shop's closed.

Ben: But wouldn't it be nice to have more babies?

Me: No. Not at all.

Ben: What if you have one now and you just don't know it? What would you do?

Me: Well, then we'd have another baby. But I DON'T have one now and never will. Moot point.

Ben: HAHAHAHAHAHA.... but you might.

Me: I don't. No more babies in my belly EVER. Besides, don't you get tired of us always telling you we can't do things because we have Jonathan? No we can't go to the playground right now, Jonathan needs to nap. No we can't stay up late to watch the fireworks in Disneyworld because Jonathan needs to go to bed. Won't it be nice when we can start doing all those fun things because Jonathan has gotten older and we don't have any more babies?

Ben: Hrm.... I guess. I like being the oldest. But I'd still like two baby sisters.

Me: You have cousins. That will have to do.

(conversation continued on in a one-sided manner with him babbling on about how many cousins he has and how many cousins he might eventually have and how squishy and jolly his cousin Alek is... LOL!)

Just Beachy....

We are at the beach... actually have been for two days now. Haven't actually seen the beach yet though! We did the little boardwalk though and the outlets and the boys have done a LOT of playing with their uncle Brandon. Hoping to do the beach for a bit today if it doesn't rain... it's just that it requires a lot of advanced planning when there is a baby involved. Seems like he's always going down for a nap or getting tired or hungry. LOL. I forgot about this part. (sigh) It has been nice to just be together and relax though! Ben actually announced a bit ago -- "I am not doing ANYTHING right now... not a single thing."

Simon, however, is itching to actually do the beach. We took them to some little toy shops along the boardwalk yesterday and he kept saying LOUDLY, "I do NOT want to go to this store. I do not like this store. I want to go to the beach and I want to go to the beach RIGHT NOW." Oh my.

The boys are REALLY thrilled to see Uncle B. Simon, in particular does not like to let him out of his sight... last night at dinner, he kept him at arm's reach. Literally.


Brandon has introduced them to the comedic stylings of Mr. Bean. They are addicted....



At any rate, we're having fun. Lots of pics coming soon... especially the traditional annual pics!! Can't wait for those. :)

4-Year Well Visit....

Simon had his 4-year checkup on Thursday... I don't have the paper in front of me, but I think he weighed in at 42 pounds and was something like 42 or 43 inches tall. According to the pediatrician, he's actually fairly average across the board... he just seems so HUGE to me because Ben was NOWHERE NEAR clearing 40 pounds at age four... in fact, I'm not even sure he consistently hits it NOW at 7... but anyway, I digress. Simon is super healthy. LOL.

The doctor spent the first 10 minutes or so just talking to Simon, asking him questions about what he likes to do and about school and friends and what he likes to eat. I had a "whew!" mommy moment when he asked him about veggies and Simon replied, "Oh! I LOVE brussells sprouts and broccoli and baby carrots and red potatoes and peas!" He made me look GOOD!!! ;) "No eating issues with this one, eh?" the doc said, looking over at me. I shook my head... staying mum about Simon's ridiculous sweet tooth that causes him to request "buzzert" after breakfast. (which he doesn't get... but he still tries!)

All checked out well, except for his excema, which is in full-on flareup mode right now. We got a new prescription to try and orders to come back in a month for a recheck. Yeah, it's that bad. :( (sigh) Poor kid.

He got four shots, which he was not pleased about but recovered quickly when I said I'd take him for a frozen hot chocolate at Dunkin Donuts. ;)

Glad that's over with for another year! Always dread those well visits that include shots!!!

End of First Grade!

Ben had his very last day of first grade on Friday. It's so bittersweet... he had a fantastic year this year and a teacher he and I both adored. I was sad to see it end. On the other hand, I was quite ready (as was he) to be finished with having to be somewhere every weekday. The break will be nice, for sure. :o)

He finished off the year with a near-perfect report card (still couldn't budge past that "P" in handwriting and he and the music teacher never quite saw eye-to-eye on how much music should be appreciated, so he got a "2" every quarter in that...but everything else was "CDs"! (the top mark!)

The teacher also included a page about how he had completed the first grade P.A.C.E. program, which is an advanced reading enrichment program. She said they will place him accordingly in his new school next year based on this. I'm SO thrilled about this because I felt like he wasn't bored this year at all, which meant WAY less complaining about school and math was especially great for him. (they were doing multiplication at the end of the year!) and he'll continue with that level next year... so yay!

All in all, a GREAT year and a good end to it. Ready for a long, summer break and a new beginning at a new school for second grade! :)

Love at Firt Sihgt...

Ben's friend Zac has a twin sister, Emily, who is in another first grade class. Ben apparently has a little crush on Emily. I've been finding bits of paper around his room with "I love Emily" written on them and he asked me if, when we have his friend Zac over for a playdate in July if Emily could come too. LOL! Zac and Emily's mom emailed this to me yesterday afternoon. Emily arrived home from school with it and it was given to her by another little girl in Ben and Zac's class. Jen also said Zac told her Ben has been chasing Emily around the playground. GAH!!!

And it Finally Happened....

...had to tap into the freezer stash of milk. Jonathan is apparently going through some kind of growth spurt. Couple that with the fact that my supply has gone down slightly since the drop to three pumps a day and yeah, barely keeping up with him over here! I've only had to use one bag so far and defrosted another overnight in case he woke up again, but now the supply has officially been tapped. ;) That's why it's there, I know... but it's kind of weird! Also, I'm now wondering what to do when we leave for vacation next week. Do I take a handful of frozen bags? Will it be enough? Should I tote the can of formula I've been hanging onto too? Gah. Wish this had started happening just a week or two later! LOL!

Gr.

Dear Pine Grove Elementary School,

There needs to be a better system for if I choose to pick my child up on field day other than, "Oh he's out on the field somewhere. You can just go ahead out and find him."

Really? It's like a Where's Waldo book out there! There are 100 first graders at field day and a bunch of older kids having picnics and recess.... about 95% of them are wearing green PGE shirts. Also? It's field day, so it's not like they are staying in one place. Also? I am carrying a baby and toting a four-year-old. Also? The school shouldn't be called Pine Grove, it should be called Pine Hills.

That's all.

Sincerely,
Erin Graff

Bullets...

Jonathan -
Opting to take 1-3 steps at a time now before either falling forward onto his hands or diving into the nearest person or piece of somewhat stable furniture. I kinda wish he'd just GET it already now so he'd stop doing the latter. This morning he took a record FIVE steps across his bedroom. Yikes!

Simon -
Just in the last week has started to become a somewhat more rational human being. Could it be the miracle of turning four has struck my second child as it did my first? I'll give you an example.

Old Simon, upon dropping something on the floor of the car while I was driving, would immediately let out an ear piercing screech, burst into tears and, when you finally discerned that he wasn's stung by a bee or his crotch was being pinched by the car seat buckle, would scream and cry forEVER you to pick up said dropped item... even though we have never once pulled over to the side of the road to do this. New Simon?

New Simon actually said to me today after dropping his Mr. Potato Head, "I dropped my Mr. Potato Head. But that's okay. I will wait until we stop and then you will pick it up for me, right mommy?"

Uhh... I almost didn't know what to do with this statement. I eventually came around and said, "That's right! Very good job staying calm!" Then, about ten minutes later, I noticed in the rear-view mirror that he was all leaned over to one side leaning into the passenger door. I asked him what he was doing and he replied, "I'm just keeping an eye on my Mr. Potato Head."

LOL!

Benjamin
He is SO ready for school to be over it's not even funny. Still as serious as ever. Also has become quite moody in his old age. He complains a lot... definitely not a glass half full kinda kid. We are working on trying to get him to be a little more optimistic about things. I have to confess he gets this from me. I almost always jump to the negative of a situation before I come around and see the positive. Tom finds it very annoying.

Not much going on around here, honestly!

9-Month Well Visit...

Uneventful. One hepatitis B shot = worn out, napping baby = ahhhh....

J is healthy and on track, so all good stuff. He's 19 pounds even and 28-inches long, interestingly, pretty much the exact same size as Ben at the same age. Too weird. (only off by 2 ounces and a quarter of an inch)

The doc was all "oh la la look at his balance and oh what a climber!" to which I replied that yes, he's quite the little danger-seeker, which prompted many questions about my baby-proofing strategies. I'm starting to think duct tape is the best baby proofing strategy, actually... doctor recommended I get new gates that he can't stick his toes through. I asked him if instead of paying HIM I could use the money to put toward new gates. HA!

Oh, and he has to get a lead test, which is annoying because we FINALLY moved into a zip code that isn't considered high-risk, yet this pediatrician just does them as a matter of course. Argh!

Graff Dairy... HUGE MIlestone.

As of last night, finally, finally finally finally finally, and did I mention FINALLY, got rid of the pumping session in the middle of the night. Still had to get up with Jonathan once last night for about ten minutes... but otherwise? Slept reallllllllly well. Oh glorious, happy day!!!

Three times a day now! WOOHOO!

Maybe, Just Maybe We'll Sell it After All?

We had a showing at the townhouse on Memorial Day. I didn't have any expectations, gotta say... though it was kind of exciting to finally get one after three weeks of completely no action on that front. The next day, we got another another showing and when I logged onto the showings site, I could see it was a second showing with the same realtor. First time in the two months we've have the house up for sale that we've gotten a second showing.

Later that night, after the second showing, we got a feedback response, which I actually thought meant it was another "thanks but no thanks" because people who put in offers generally don't leave feedback. (because why would they?! It can only hurt their position, right?) Anyway... the feedback was pretty average, just like the last one. (sad, vacant house) :( But at the bottom, under "other comments" were the words, "My buyer will be making an offer."

!

!

!

We got a call from our realtor two days ago giving us the lowdown on the potential buyers' situation. Her house had JUST gone under contract the day before she saw our house and she was just waiting on the inspection repair requests from her buyers before making us her offer. Our realtor warned us it would be a few days.

It's been three and we're still waiting, but I did get an update yesterday that the buyer's realtor asked if we could settle at the end of June and that it looked like the inspection stuff on her end was almost worked out. So we're expecting something VERY soon. I just hope it's reasonable and something we can work with.

Among my many awesome neighbors in that neighborhood is the man across the street, Mr. Jon, who, I have since learned is actually a realtor. He stopped me at the bus stop yesterday to ask me how it was going and to tell me that the potential buyer and her realtor had stopped him on Tuesday and talked to him at LENGTH about my house! APparently, they were concerned about the kitchen not being updated, but he told them he thought that even without a total update, it was still a beautiful kitchen.

He also told them my house should be selling for easily 10-15K more than we are asking and that they'd be getting a fantastic deal at the price we're asking. (love that man, LOVE him!) He also told me their other concerns were the steps (they need to be repoured because over the years settlement has taken its toll on them... it's been the latest neighborhood project next to roofs and windows) and the sidewalk in front of the house (but that's county's problem).

So at least we have a heads up as to what they are going to use as their leverage with their offer. They did say on the feedback form that they felt my house was "priced about right", so their offer can't be too far off from our asking price... I'm hoping, anyway... we'll see!

Eating an Elephant One Bite at a Time...

Ugh. I am so overwhelmed these days. Trying not to be, because there isn't anything in my life that is particular pressing or important to anyone but me that it gets done. It's just my own need to be organized and together that is making me crazy.

We're all moved into the new house, but the garage is still an utter disaster. There's a pile of things from our attic at the old house that ended up there that still need permanent homes somewhere other than the garage, the whole place still needs to be organized in some way (it's been my last priority) and the trash from all the moving seems to keep regenerating itself. This wouldn't be SUCH an annoying issue for me except that where our garage is makes it the natural main entrance to the house -- we don't ever use the front door and neither does anyone else... so it's in my face all day, every day. I am doing my best to just deal with one box/category at a time in the hopes that chipping away at it will someday yield results I can actually see. Someday... someday...

Similar issues in the basement and playroom that I wont' bore you with. My OCD and need for organization is my worst enemy, I tell you.

Oh and the cat? Just this past week, something about the basement has made him angry and he keeps peeing on the kids' astronaut costume in the playroom and leaving little piles of poo in the corners of the main basement room. WTH? This is when I'm annoyed I ever decided to have another cat. Just one more mess for me to deal with. Why can't he just go chase the stinkbugs?

I feel like there is no time in my day for anything other than taking care of people and cleaning up their messes. I can never get ahead. I realize this is my lot in life right now and I'm not complaining... I'm just tired. And I'd really like a hot bath and a full night of sleep. And a date with my husband. That'd be nice too.
(yawn)

"REAL" Real Estate....

When we were shopping for our townhouse and my husband dragged me to a zillion fixer uppers with the lure of "Let's go see why it's in our price range!", I thought of an idea for a business where you'd send out agents to visit open houses and then update a website that would tip buyers off to the negatives of a property that they couldn't see from the listing. One house we saw was fanTASTIC, in our price range, in a great neighborhood and we walked all the way through it scratching our heads until we got to the backyard and saw a big wall. "What's that?" I asked. "Oh." said our realtor. THAT's why it's so cheap... that's the sound barrier for I-695. And I'm sure that would be fine with someone... but not me. So why not save me the time and just give me that info up front. I get why a listing agent wouldn't (duh), but an independent website? Ah ha!

Anyway, then we found our house and I forgot about my idea.

Now I'm back to pondering it. Tom thinks there are legal issuess, but I still say, it's a grand idea... if not, kind of amusing to consider.

Take for instance, THIS house we went to see during our oh so brief house hunt. Go look at the pics... I'll wait...


Back?

Nice house, right? Looks updated and on a great lot... kinda cute, maybe just needs a little decluttering and paint.

(record scratch)

Want the real story on that one?

See that kitchen? That beautiful, big, open updated kitchen? They didn't leave room for the fridge so the fridge? It's in the foyer. No joke. There is an opening built for the fridge about ten steps into the front hallway OUTSIDE of the kitchen. (head scratch)

Also, see those 2nd and 3rd bedrooms? You have to walk THROUGH one to get to the other one. Uh....

Also? They have carpet in their bathrooms.

Also? And this may not be a deterrent to some people, in fact, it's probably a selling point, but not to people with small children. That photo of the golf hole? It's ACTUALLY IN THE BACKYARD. Like, you step out of the kitchen and hello 15th hole of Hunt Valley Golf Club.

So yeah... wouldn't it be great if you could know all these kinds of things BEFORE you waste your time going to see a house? You could weigh whether any of that mattered. (and maybe some of it wouldn't!)

Wish I could figure out how to work this idea!!! Anyone want to ponder it with me? I'll split the profits with you! ;)