Wordless Wednesday

So THIS is how it works...

Dear Noelle,

As I'm sure any two year old mom does, I have been working a lot with you on sharing. Ty is getting to the age where he is interested in toys and every now and then he gets ahold of one of yours. Without fail, you immediately want whatever it is he has. Even if it's a toy that hasn't made it's way out of the bottom of the toy basket in over a year. Doesn't matter. Then a nice long talk ensues on how you have to share with Ty, etc. etc. We usually end the battle with you finding another toy to exchange with Ty's cool one.

So, today, I was getting some of the old baby toys I had packed up from when you were itty-bitty and cleaning them off for Ty. I gave him this ball popper thing and once you noticed a "new" toy in the room, came over to me and said, "Hey mom, can I share with Ty?".

A breakthrough! Great! Finally, all the sharing talk we've been doing has finally paid off. Now you and your little brother are starting to co-exist peacefully and they can just mail me my mother of the year medal!

Or not.

Once I said, "Noelle, that's a great idea! Sharing with Ty is a very nice thing to do!" You walked right over to him, snatched the toy from his hand and proceeded to ball pop around the house while poor Ty was still trying to process what happened.

Ah, so this is how your little mind thinks sharing works. Guess we have some more work to do, huh?

Love,
Mommy

Wordless Wednesday - A day late!!

SO COOL

Dear Noelle and Ty,

When your Uncle Dave and I get together, we usually end up laughing hysterically at some point. It doesn't take much to get us going, be it a one-line zinger from him, remembering a funny old story, or just recalling bits of our favorite movie, Dumb and Dumber. Whatever the case, a dose of laugh-so-hard-your-abs-hurt always leaves me thankful for such an awesome brother. In fact, just the other day we were talking on the phone about his internship and he made some off-hand comment which had me in tears. Neither one of us was talking, just laughing and he has the type of laugh that is contagious....you just keep laughing harder and longer until you can get yourself under control (kinda drives your Grandma nuts, lol).

Anyways, the point of this post.

You two can get each other laughing the same way. The best is in the car, Noelle starts making funny faces or funny noises, and the next thing you know, Ty is laughing and soon enough you are just laughing at each other laughing, kinda like me and uncle Dave. It's the coolest thing to watch and even though some days it gets a little crazy around here, I love knowing that you two have each other and are going to be the best of friends!!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Love,
Mommy

Thursday's Playlist

So, a blog I check out from time to time ( http://knowingnorrah.blogspot.com/) does "Thursday's Play List" and this week's theme is Children's Songs. This couldn't have come at a better time because Noelle's favorite song of the week has changed to a new tune on her Baby Boogie CD. I don't know the name, but it's one we love to sing in the car. It goes like this: My mom mom mommy is a bumble beeShe goes buzz buzz and she tickles meMy dad dad daddy is a rolly polly bughe wraps his arms around and goes hug hugthat's buzz buzz and hugs hugsmommy and daddy and love love love Noelle loves it and I always reach back to try and tickle her, which makes her laugh hysterically. I googled it and found a sound clip so you can hear how catchy it is.... My Mom, Mom, Mommy, My only question is, what the heck does a child of a bumble bee and a rolly polly look like?!

The Next American Idol

Dear Noelle,

Did you know you have the most beautiful voice? You have been singing since March, but you get so camera shy every time I try to record you. Your favorite song to sing is Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. I love how soft your voice gets and the way I can tell you are really thinking about what it is you are singing. You always make me smile and I especially like the way your tone fluctuates. You have a few kid CD's in the car and know all the words to the songs. The ABC's, Goodnight - Sleep tight, Baa Baa Black Sheep, Mulberry Bush, and I Like to Bounce are just a few of your current favorites....sometimes you even like to blend two songs together. Here you are in action, singing the ABC's and Twinkle Twinkle. Oh, and the best is when you get to the L-M-N-O-P part....

(Note to Readers: Make sure you turn off the Blog Music on the right so you can hear the sweetest voice!)

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I love you baby girl!

Mommy

Sittin' on the dock of the bay...

...literally. It's about time for a family pic, eh? Here we are at the Grand Traverse Bay...

A Month of Firsts

Dear Ty,

My little sweetie, this has been quite the months of firsts!! You turned six months while we were on vacation and you have been a busy little boy.

Let's see, we kicked off the beginning of the month by you finding your toesies....

You are now able to sit up on your own (and have been since July 17th!!)....

You started rice cereal on July 23rd and while you LOVED it, it did not love you. You puked and then were up half the night crying and having stomach pains. So, we waited a bit longer and re-introduced it with smaller amounts and you've handled it fine so far. You are also eating bananas, applesauce and peaches right now. We tried carrots, but they didn't love you either. I can hardly get any pictures of you eating because you start yelling and fussing if the food isn't coming at a rapid rate. Here is a video clip:

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

We also had our first positive park experience. You've been before but have not enjoyed it until now. The swings used to scare you, now you love them! You are so stinkin' cute....

You also started working on drinking from the sippy cup....

You went to your first baseball game on August 2nd. We were up in Traverse City, MI and went to see the Beach Bums. You had fun at the game.....

...but not as much fun as your sister....

You ended your fifth month just like you started...playing with your feet, except now you like to suck on your big toe. YUM.

Some favorites: you love to watch your big sister Noelle and laugh at her when she makes funny faces. You are working hard at trying to crawl and you love to grab anything you can get your hands on, including mine and Noelle's hair. You are quite the demanding baby and like to "yell" when you are not happy, mostly around feeding time if I'm not shoveling in the food fast enough. You have had an aversion to your crib this month and prefer Daddy's chest as your new bed. I have a feeling I'm going to have to give you some tough love with a cry it out session. Either that or your Dad's going to go to the looney bin for lack of sleep. You continue to drool incredible amounts, yet no tooth has popped through.

You are so chunk-a-licious! You are up to 17 lbs, 14.5 oz and are 27.75 inches tall. I can't wait to see what your 6th month holds....

I love you bunches!

Mommy

My Little Acrobat

Dear Ty,

Daddy has taught you the balancing act trick. It's been something the Hunt's have been doing since Grandpa was a baby, so naturally Daddy had to get you and Noelle to do the same. This picture is from the end of June; you were about 4.5 months old. Unlike your sister, you seem to enjoy doing the balancing act because you always smile and sometimes even start to giggle. I can't wait until it's time to start you at Little Gym- I know you will have a blast!

I'll have to try and see if I can get my hands on a copy of Daddy doing this when he was a baby. In the meantime, I thought it'd be fitting to post a pic of Noelle doing the same trick. I think she is about 4 months here and you can see the look of terror on her face....she definitely did not enjoy it as much as you!

I love you sweet boy,

Mommy

Time keeps on tickin'....

...and we've been doing and learning all sorts of fun stuff...here's a catch-up....Let's start with the 4th of July, well, I guess the 5th since we were rained out on the 4th. Noelle got to wear her red, white and blue dress and liked the sparklers and pop-its we got for her. We headed out to see the local fireworks and both kids loved them!! Ty just kept staring and jibber-jabbing away. Here are the pics:

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

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Noelle and I have been doing a lot of work with our garden, or "gar-yen" as she says. We have gotten 15 super long cucumbers, about 5 green peppers and a handful of cherry tomatos. Noelle loves to go out each morning and pick whatever is ready to eat. She loves the cucumbers the most and eats them like candy bars! Daddy's cayenne peppers are growing really quickly and we had tie the plant to a stake since the weight of the peppers were knocking it over. We are waiting for Noelle's peppers to turn red and we are still waiting to see if the beans will grow. The rabbits around here keep munching on the leaves :-( despite our many attempts to keep them out.

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We also went down to the lake with Grandpa over the 4th weekend and Noelle had the time of her life! She loved to drive the boat and had fun jumping and splashing in the lake. She hasn't stopped talking about it and we can't wait to go back!

I can't believe August is just around the corner. Yes, it's true, time keeps on tickin' and we keep on making the most of each day, having fun and making memories!

Coming soon...

Oh my, we have been so BUSY but I'm hoping to post some pics of what we've been up to tomorrow. Ty has learned lots of new stuff and Noelle is just as sassy as ever.

For now, I'm headed to pump and hit the sack before one of our beloved children gets up for one of the countless reasons...nursing, tylenol, diaper change, covering back up, going potty, a drink of water, a bite of cracker, nigh-nigh falling down, or just plain wanting to hang out in the middle of the night. Yes, that is about par for course these days. What happened to my two babies who slept through the night? If you find them, let them know I'd LOVE to have them back!

"EE-ALL"

Dear Noelle,

You are so funny! Tonight we had a wonderful family night of a good dinner, playing at your favorite park, and then going for ice cream with sprinkles! On the way home you told Daddy that you "ee-all"- referencing your ice cream. What you were trying to say was "eat it all" and so Daddy and I started laughing and repeating your little condensed one word version, all in good fun, of course.

You got so MAD at us, and yelled from the back "Don't say that!!! DRIVE THE CAR!!!"


Ahh, yes. Our bossy little sweatheart. We love you too!

Love,

Mommy

Wordless Wednesday

"I Pooped Obama"

Dear Noelle,

The first time you pooped on the big girl potty, you got up, looked at the toilet and said "I pooped a frog". As I went to flush, I happened to notice that your poop really did resemble a frog. Since then you've pooped a lion, a snake, an elephant, a cat, a dog, a monkey, and I think a giraffe.

Last night, you took a look and said, "I pooped Obama." Dad and I couldn't help but chuckle at the irony of your statement.

One night Dad and I were talking about your personality and how unique you are. Dad said something like "She's either going to be a bleeding heart liberal or a cut-throat business woman. I hope it's not the first one because she'll break my heart."

I'm hoping your "I pooped Obama" statement has you leaning towards the business woman.

Love you funny girl,
Mommy

"I'm not playin' games with you"

Um, yeah, that's what Noelle just said to me. Naturally, this lead me to wonder where she picked up this nice little phrase. Leave it to Jeremy to gently remind me that a few mornings ago as I was chasing Little Miss around the house trying to get her hair in a decent looking pony, I happened to say I'm not playin' games with you, get over here!

Oops.

Wordless Wednesday

148.9

That's how many ounces of breast milk I just donated.

One goal I had for myself during maternity leave was to stock pile frozen milk so that when I went back to work, or Ty went through a growth spurt, I wouldn't have to stress out about having enough to give him. I went through that whole mess with Noelle and it's an awful feeling when you realize you might not have enough milk. I had a low supply with her and was constantly eating oatmeal, drinking fluids and pumping around the clock to have enough. I did end up having a frozen stash for her at one point but some days we cut it pretty close.

Needless to say, I wasn't going to mess around this time. My goal was to have 200 oz by the time I went back to work and so you can imagine my devastation when I realized that Ty couldn't have any of the milk I had saved because it had the dairy protein he was allergic to. I was just shy of 150 oz and my grand total plummeted back to the big ZERO with only 4 weeks left until I went back to work.

Just in case you were wondering how much 148.9 ounces really is, think water bottles. Think 9 of those water bottles filled to the brim. Ya, it's a freaking lot and I was sick to my stomach knowing that I couldn't use a single drop of it.

There was no chance in hell I was just going to toss it. It's called Liquid Gold for a reason and so I just kept it in the freezer. Part of me secretly hoped Ty's results would come back negative and he would be able to use it. Time marched on and there the milk sat, taking up half the of the freezer and pissing Jeremy off every time he had to dig through the frozen goods we had to pack and cram into the other part. Breast milk is only good for 3 months in a regular freezer mind you, so as the 3 month mark started creeping up, I was getting pretty panicked.

Then one night I was online at a great breast feeding support group and this article got posted

http://www.oprah.com/article/omagazine/200903_omag_milk_bank/

It's long, but probably the most beautiful, heartfelt article I've read on breast feeding. After I stopped bawling, I googled breast milk donation and found out that Indianapolis had a donation center, called Indiana Mother's Milk Bank http://www.immilkbank.org/ I called the next day and after several months of being screened, blood tested, false HTLV positives and more, I was approved to donate.

What an awesome feeling to donate Liquid Gold to a baby in need. Oh yes, and the hubs is happy now with all the new found freezer space :-)

Happy Soggy 4th!

Dear Noelle and Ty,

Boo! Our fireworks have been cancelled for tonight. I was really looking forward seeing your reactions to them, but it will have to wait until tomorrow night. It's been a chilly, rainy day and we all spent the afternoon napping in the best sleeping weather we've had in a while. Since I'm saving your special 4th of July outfits for tomorrow, I decided to take a trip down memory lane with some pictures of your first two fourths and hopefully I'll have the new ones to post after tomorrow. The pic to the left is from our trip to St. Louis over the 4th last year. The 2007 pics are from our local fireworks show and the 2008 one is from a rest stop on our way down to St. Louis.

Noelle 2007

Noelle 2008

5 months

Dear Ty,

Today you are 5 months and we spent the entire day having lots of fun. We went to Pee-Wee Farmers with Daddy and Noelle and had a good time looking at all the animals. We then spent the rest of the day out on Grandpa's boat and you loved it!

Let's see, at 5 months you are still Mr. Serious, but smile A LOT more now. Your smiles are extra fun because you get really into it....you dig your little chin into your chest and squint your eyes and squeal. Your favorite place to be is in the exersaucer, where you spin round and round checking out all your exciting toys. You reach out and try to grab everything and chew on pretty much everything too. When you start to grab stuff, you put your arms out in the "so big" position and slowly bring in both arms until your hand get a grip on what you want. You try to grab the water from the tub faucet and your babysitter says you can hold your own bottle now When I nurse you, you like to hold the boob like a bottle too. Daddy thinks it's weird but I think it's so cute!!!

We haven't had any luck with your first tooth, but it's coming soon I'm sure. You continue to drool like a maniac and on extra tough days, we break out the Tylenol or Motrin to help you with your tooth. I have been slowly introducing dairy back into my diet and you've done pretty well with it so far. I'm hoping you have out grown your allergy. I'd really like to start you on rice cereal today, but we're going to wait another month or so for you to work on growing out of your allergy. I know you are just going to LOVE big boy food.

You can push up with your arms, and can get up on your knees, but haven't been able to do them simultaneously. I'm not sure you really need to crawl because you roll to whatever it is that you want. You especially like Noelle's toys that make noise and we've had to work on the concept of sharing big time. While she's trying to grab her toys back, you give her attitude....ahhhhh sibling rivalry starting already.

I love you,

Mommy

Wordless Wednesday