Visit with Nana & Guka

The boys were SO excited that Nana & Guka came to visit us last weekend. It was a short visit, but the boys will get another chance to see them in just a bit when we go there for Labor Day weekend. There is a big surprise at their house that we're hoping we'll be ready, but we're excited to see all the new additions at the house either way! Nana & Guka had not seen Anna since a couple weeks after she was born, so we were glad to get a chance to show her off to them! :-)

Anna's Stats

Anna had her 6 months checkup today. She weighed in at 17 pounds even, which put her at 75% for her weight. She is 27 1/2 inches long, which is 95% for height! I used to think it was neat that she was tall, and now I'm just hoping that she's not going to be six feet tall!

She got a clean bill of health, though we are going to see an opthamologist about her eye. The doctor isn't seeing what Jared and I see with her pupil, but he said he'd rather be safe than sorry. Anna will go in and get her pupils dilated, so we can be sure they're perfect.

She handled her shots as well as can be expected. She was so tired after the appointment that she was asleep before we even got out of the parking garage. Once home, I carried her out of the car and straight to the crib, and she went right back to sleep.

Her next appointment is in three more months, but there are no shots at that one!

Anna is SIX months old!

Happy Half Birthday to Anna!

All about Anna now:

1. She continues to be SUCH a sweet and easy baby. She loves to smile, and she does it with her whole body. When she smiles, she throws her arms out and moves her body toward the person that is making her so happy.

2. She is 100% in love with Aidan. He can make her smile at almost any time. In fact, when Anna is extra upset, I will ask Aidan to come over and make her smile. He loves to point out when she "smiles first" at him.

3. Anna smiles big at Austin as well, but there is a certain tentativeness that comes along with him... perhaps because he has shoved her over and made her hit her head, roars in her face when he's trying to scare her, puts blankets over her head because she "likes it", etc. Since Aidan has started school, I have noticed a much better (and sweeter!) relationship developing between Austin and his sister.

4. Anna hates, hates, hates baby food and baby cereal. She absolutely will NOT eat any fruit at all. She clamps her mouth closed so tightly that it is impossible to feed her. If we catch her in the right mood, we can sometimes get about three or four bites of peas, green beans and sometimes carrots into her. Cereal is an even rarer success.

5. Anna is STILL not sleeping through the night. I obviously breed poor sleepers, and I have just accepted that my children do not sleep through the night until they are one.

6. Anna rolls over all the time now. Diaper changes have become that fun "hold her down and change the baby as fast as possible" race.

7. She has recently started getting up on all fours and rocking back and forth. She has learned that if she does that and then throws herself forward, she ends up closer to what it is that she wants. I don't think crawling will be too far down the road.

8. She can sit up unassisted for about ten seconds - if I get her situated and balanced well first.

Her well baby visit is tomorrow, so I will add her six month stats to that then.

Anna's Baptism

Anna was baptised on Saturday, August 15. Her Godparents are John (Jared's brother) and Nicole (my sister). Nikki flew in from Florida on Thursday, so we got to spend several days with her. The boys, especially Austin, were really sad to see her go. Jared's parents were also able to make it in for the baptism after their long journeys to Texas. We were so glad they could make it! We all attended the vigil Mass and then did the baptism after the Mass. After Mass, we changed Anna into her baptismal gown, and that was as long as she could make it. She fell asleep on Guka's shoulder and slept until Father Frank poured the water on her head. She woke up scared and loud, but she quieted down quickly. During the baptism, the boys were running around acting like loons boys - to include Austin getting into a shoving match with one of the siblings of the other child that was also getting baptised. Luckily, Nana was there to step between them - literally! Father Frank asked Jared and me and both of the Godparents to write letters to Anna, and he asked us to save them until her confirmation. He asked us to read one of them aloud at the baptism, so of course we made Nikki do that. :-) Her letter was beautiful, and I am sure Anna will treasure it later in her life.

Thumb v. Pacifier - Anna has chosen

First day of school!

Aidan's first day of school was today. Jared was scheduled later in the morning, so he was able to go with us to take Aidan. Jared and I went in together this morning to wake Aidan up at 6:45 AM. He was a trooper and SO excited once he got his uniform on. He donned his new Wall-E backpack and had a slight nervous face, but he was so brave, which really helped Jared and me! Aidan gave us both hugs and walked right into the classroom to find his friend, Sarah. As the rest of us were walking out of the school without Aidan, Austin asked why we were leaving Aidan at school. He was pretty sad and asked many times today when we were going to go back and pick Aidan up. At one point, he came and told me he had finished all of his lunch and said, "Now can we go get Aidie?" :-( Poor guy is going to have quite a transition.

When Austin, Anna and I went to pick Aidan up today, we were all excited. Aidan got into the car and was all smiles about school. I questioned him every which way I could, and I could get barely anything out of him about his day. Here's what I got (other than a lot of annoyed sighs) over the course of three hours:

1. For lunch, they had "some kind of sandwich" and broccoli and cheese. He didn't eat the broccoli and didn't really eat the sandwich.
(So he was starving and wanted popcorn as a snack.)

2. Someone pushed him down the slide on the playground and made him go "super fast" and skin his hands when he caught himself. (Grrrrr)

3. He did no work at all. He did not use crayons, pencils, scissors or anything. He played and did centers, though I couldn't get anything out of him about what he actually did.

4. He told Jared that the teacher put on a video for them during their mandatory rest time. Incredulously he said, "And some kids fell asleep!"

Happy 5th Birthday, Aidan!

On Aidan's birthday, he picked pancakes for breakfast. He was so excited to get dinosaur pancakes with a candle to blow out. For dinner, he had his choice of anything he wanted. He chose cheeseburgers and macaroni and cheese. I asked (many times) whether he wanted to go somewhere and eat or if he wanted me to cook for him, and each time, he said he wanted me to cook. :-)

Anna's 5 Months Old... like 3 weeks ago

Now that Anna is almost 6 months, here's her five month old picture.