it's the little things...

And you’re 6! And I’m late at writing this! I have no excuse (but plenty of excuses). While your birthday was on Tuesday, we celebrated this past Sunday with a pool party in the neighborhood. That was your first choice of venue. And after some discussion, I convinced you NOT to do a Mario party for the second year in a row. Unfortunately for me, you chose Kirby. A theme that has absolutely nothing premade. As someone on Pinterest said, it was a whole lot of me drawing Kirby on things. It was a cute theme, though. Lots of pink. And folks had fun so that was good. You again didn’t want cake but doughnuts. There’s a place near here that makes them decorated more like cookies so you even had Kirby doughnuts. You’re about to start 1st grade in a few weeks. Kindergarten just flew by. You did great! You have an excellent accent when you speak Spanish. Your reading level is at least a year ahead of where you need to be. You’re good at math. You are in GT. Absolutely no wor...

Oh, my tiny love.  You are five!  Technically, you'll be 5 in a few hours but still...  You celebrated yesterday with a Super Mario party at the jumping place.  It was a good time that was low stress for your poor mommy.  And today you're at space camp.  I'm so excited to hear how the day went! It's a time for changes right now. You had your last day of daycare last Thursday.  Then you start kindergarten in 3 weeks!  I can't believe it.  I'm actually pretty thrilled that you and your sister will be in the same place again.  You're going to be in the dual-language program, and I'm so jealous.  Maybe I'll go through elementary school with you.  I'm sure you won't mind.  I'm looking forward to see how much you learn and how you change.  You've done so well at daycare this past year.  You can sound out some words and know a few sight words.  You're a pretty smart kid. You're also a great friend.  We had...

Buddy Bear, you're finally 4!  I feel like we've been leading up to this birthday for quite some time.  You wanted to go with Transformers this year, and it was pretty fun.  Because there are a TON of kids in your class, we stuck with a kid party this year.  You wanted to have it at the splash pad, and that worked out well.  In order for us old folks not to die at an outdoor party in Texas in July, we had it at 9am.  That meant breakfast foods!  It was fun.  You had a doughnut tower instead of a cake (which was your decision).  You still have lots of nicknames.  Buddy, Buddy Bear, Mojo Jojo, Jojo, Joji (for when you say "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy").  You're not really Buns anymore.  Funny how that happens.  You're still my tiny guy.  I think you're in size 3 usually.  Skinny minny.  We won't have official measurements from your well check until September since I totally missed your appointment last year and no...

Hey, Buddy!  You're 3!  I can't believe my baby is three.  Sigh.  These days you go by a lot of different names other than your own--Buddy, Buddy Bear, Buns, Jojo, Joj. I think Jojo came from the Power Puff girls' Mojo Jojo.  I'd change it to [your name] Jojo.  And then dropped your name altogether.  Daddy calls you Super Son sometimes.  So, Jojo, what are you like these days?  Mostly awesome with a little bit of the whole "threenager" thing sprinkled in.  Oh my, speaking of sprinkles I guess I should start with a story from when we went on vacation in the Hill Country a few weeks ago.  You met your first love.  It was so funny; as soon as we got to the campground, we went to the pool.  You quickly found an age-appropriate little girl to woo.  After we changed, we went to the playground.  There you flirted with 3 sisters.  The oldest one (who turned 14 while we were there) is the person you say you're g...

Buns! A year and a half! You are my favorite son ever. I'm surprised I haven't suffocated you with snuggles. I'm not sure if it's because you let me more than your sister did at this age or because you're a boy or because you're the baby. Whatever. I'm taking full advantage. So other than super cuddly, what are you like at 18 months? You still have a really deep voice but you say words now! Some are pretty clear to others but some only I understand. Off the top of my head: Mommy, Daddy, doggie, plane, nudie, no, bye bye, cheese, all done, help, armie (for arm), book, Maggie (garbled), Daisy, Tessa, milk, mummy (for gummy), and Scarlett (it varies but kind of like "Carleh"). I know I'm forgetting some. You can tell me what sounds most animals make. You know what we're saying now and respond to commands. You know some body parts. You still love water and baths. You really love reading these days. You were a little slower t...

Buns' birthday video featuring "Home" by the unfortunately named Phillip Phillips. I dorkily liked this song when I first heard it on the AI finale. Then my buddy was born during the Olympics, when it was all over the US women's gymnastics coverage. But what really sealed the deal on picking this one is that Chicken's first birthday video was also set to a song called "Home." What are the odds? Enjoy. bday video

Well, baby boy. You did it. You've been in this world every day of the year. You are a complete joy. Well, minus the times you are pitchin' the biggest fits. You are definitely worth all the trouble you caused me during pregnancy and all the sleep deprivation and all the diaper fails (um, including this morning's). You've had a pretty big month. You now know lots of tricks--waving, clapping, giving high fives, blowing raspberries, blowing bubbles in the pool. You can stand on your own, stand up from the squatting position and vice versa, cruise like nobody's business. You have mastered the stairs. Up, anyway. You climb off the furniture on your own. You get into and out of the kid-sized chairs all by yourself. You've actually taken a few steps here and there over the last week. Very exciting! But I think it will be awhile before you're proficient. No rush. Over the last week, we've started the switch to milk. Once the formula is gone in all your var...

Buns, we've nearly made it an entire year.  Not sure how that's possible.  Plans are in full swing for your first birthday.  I think it's going to be fun! This month you've made a lot of progress physically.  You are a champ at crawling.  Sometimes you crawl with one knee and one foot.  Your cousin did that, too.  And you get up and down easily.  You cruise A LOT (on the furniture).  If I sit you down on your feet you can stand on your own for just a bit.  The other day I did that (in the middle of the room) and you just squatted down.  On your own.  Not holding onto anything.  Not falling.  You have been able to hang onto moving things and walk a little bit--like the giant toy car that's outside. You love water and putting your hand in the stream coming from the hose.  You enjoy being outside and swinging and making messes.  You are chatting more and sometimes say "mamamama" but I don't think y...

This month just flew by.  It started out with Daddy and me leaving you and your sister for the first time.  We went to New York and y'all stayed with Grandma and Granddad.  I think you did fine, and we definitely enjoyed our adult time. You're still sleeping well, thank goodness.  Mama decided y'all needed earlier bedtimes so you go to sleep around 8:30 now.  Yea!  And you still take two naps everyday--one usually longer than the other. You eat pretty well but are kind of picky.  Your sister would eat whatever baby food I made for her but you don't.  I stopped making any probably a month ago.  You like to feed yourself finger foods (you have 5 teeth now!) and you eat baby food in those squeeze pouches.  Sometimes you like throwing food off your high chair tray.  We started you with a sippy cup this month and you're pretty good at it now.  I'm excited that we're getting close to a year so we can phase out formula and you...

Nine months. You've been out as long as you were in. Longer, actually, since you were early. And you didn't really make your presence known until almost halfway through the pregnancy (when you then more than made up for it). So, yeah.  You've been here awhile and I can't believe how time has flown. You'll be one before we know it. You now sleep pretty well. You've stayed in your crib (no backtracking).  You occasionally still wake up in the middle of the night but get yourself back to sleep faster. When Daddy was out of town for two consecutive bedtimes, I decided to have you cry it out to get yourself to sleep initially. Lots of tears and screaming that first night but much better from then on. Now you rarely cry more than just one really emphatic burst. It's awesome. We continue to have issues with you having diaper fails. And now you seem to dislike diaper changes so you lock your legs straight. That is a very difficult position for you to be in w...

My goodness this was a busy month, Buns!  Yesterday especially.  We took so many pictures and had so many wardrobe changes.  But more on that later. You have gotten so big!  I think you're around 20 pounds now.  Still a good 10 pounds lighter than your sister (which makes a world of difference) but you're so squirmy that you're hard to hold sometimes.  You still love being held, though.  You're in 9-month clothes.  We had to buy some the other day since Mama was still trying to squeeze you into some 3-6 month stuff. You've gotten better at eating solids and have 3 meals a day.  You've tried yogurt now and had meat once (chicken).  We've tried to give you finger foods (peas, puffs, bread) a few times and it's hit-n-miss.  You have managed to squeak out 2 teeth, though!  I swear, they've looked ready to pop through for months now.  You're still on the bottle.  Mama wants to try to get you started on a sippy c...