Lenore, From There to Here

A few days old, freshly home from the hospital 

(Oh, I still remember what a tired, hormonal mess I was and how much pain I was in...)

 One Month

 Two

 Three

 Four

What a little chunk!

 Five

 Six

 Seven

 Eight

 Nine

 Ten

 Eleven

Twelve

Lenore at One Year!

One Year!!

Her stats (from the pediatrician, percentiles from BabyCenter):
Height: 30 inches [in 75th percentile]
Weight: 23 pounds, 13 ounces [ between 75th and 90th percentiles]
Head Size: 18.74 inches [between 90th and 95th percentiles]

What she's doing this month:

• She is learning to communicate her needs/wants more and more, either with a calm yelp or a loud scream. She is pretty vocal (and always has been), even if she isn't saying many words. She still says Hiiii, Bye-bye, Bubba, Dada, and maybe an occasional Mama. Hi and Bye are the biggest, along with her sweet wave. She'll wave side-to-side, and then she also waves kind of touching her mouth and waving outward, I guess like she's blowing a kiss. (Did we teach her that? I don't know.)
• She still is nursing every 3-4 hours and taking her 4 oz. at bedtime (after she nurses). She can hold the bottle herself and chugs the formula down.
• She is still an enthusiastic, non-discriminating eater. 
• She had started drinking from Lewis' Camelbak water cup, so I bought her a couple of straw cups to try out. She has figured those out, so I'll give her some water at mealtimes, which she seems to enjoy. For her birthday, I've gotten her a couple of non-straw sippy cups so that she can work on tipping the cup up to get a drink.
• She was finally sleeping consistently overnight for a little while there, and then she got a molar! That caused a couple of rough nights (up at 2:30, 3, and 4:30 one night, what what??), but we are through that now. There were some residual wake-ups after the teething nights from busting our routine, but she has been better again the past few nights. Fingers crossed that she'll stay that way. Mama hit a rough patch there for a little while.
• She is napping twice a day, unless we get out of routine, and then it's once a day. She typically goes down around 9:30 or 10am and 2:30 or 3pm, and she will sleep around an hour and a half or two hours each.
• She's walking all over the place!! Last Wednesday (October 21), she started putting around 10 steps together, and she has gotten more steady and ventured further each day. In her attempt to stay balanced, sometimes she almost gallops to get her feet quickly under her body. She's a hoot and is into absolutely everything.
• She also really loves to be carried on my hip, and she always has. Usually in the afternoon after nap, she'll be a little clingy, so I'll throw her on my hip and start dinner or clean or whatever I need to get done. I started thinking back, and I remember her falling asleep in that position when she was really tiny--I'd put her on my hip and walk around and watch her eyes quickly get heavy and close, and I guess that movement is what is comforting to her. (Maybe due to her crazy sideways antics while she was in my belly!?) Even now, she is totally content to just hang out with me while I work. My arms, on the other hand, get a little tired!
• Her hair is starting to get curly in the back where it is the longest.
• She is finally clapping and thinks it's hilarious when we clap for her/at her.
• She is getting into mostly 18 month clothing. There are still a few 12 month pieces that fit, but it won't be long.
• Current Tooth Count: 7 (2 upper middle, 4 lower middle, and 1 molar on lower left)

A few outtakes:

  Hello, old tattered friend.

Lewis the Truest, XXII

We were driving home from a day of running around at an orchard, on a day when Lewis was also overtired from a few nights of later-than-normal bedtimes. He was going on and on in the car, nonstop, as we got to the pizza place to pick up dinner:

Lewis: What's that? Where's the ___? Who's making our pizza? Why?
Me: Lewis.
Lewis: Is that enough?

I usually say, 'Lewis, that's enough.' Apparently, I can get the point across now just by saying his name in a certain tone. 

----------

I was in Lenore's room, feeding her after a nap one day. Lewis was in my/Kevin's room with the dogs, doing who knows what. I heard a loud thud and an actual cry coming from Lewis, so I knew he did something beyond his normal level of bouncing about:

Lewis: (in tears) I hurt... my brain...and...my belly!
Me: (holding back laughter after he said he hurt his brain) You did? What happened?
Lewis: I ran into the door.
Me: Oh, oh dear. 
[I checked him out, and he was fine, but still upset for a few minutes. Then, after calming down...]
Lewis: Or maybe I jumped off the bed and hit the door?? 

Again, I had to stifle the laughter. He so sweetly presented the truth to me as a question.

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One weekend recently, we were discussing what to do for the afternoon/evening, and we settled on going to a park to play and have a picnic for dinner:

Me: Ok, so I'll run to Kroger and get food for the picnic.
Lewis: I know what I want!
Me: Ok.
Lewis: Bananas.
             Apples.
             Cucumbers.
             Hot dogs with ketchup and mustard.
             Grilled cheese.
             And spaghetti.
Me: (jotting everything down) Ok, is that all?
Lewis: Yes.

I don't know where he got such a list! First of all, he's never eaten a hot dog, and I'm not sure if he's had cucumber. I'm wondering if he saw a super elaborate picnic on Curious George or something? He was so sure about it, too. So funny.

----------

We are still working on Lewis being a willing participant in our dinners. It is like the last thing I want to do at the end of the day (argue with him about eating what I cooked), but we are trying to be more diligent about it. One night, we had asked him to take 3 bites of his meal. Later, he asked for privacy so that he could go to the bathroom. When Kevin went back to help him clean up:

Lewis: I had 3 poops. 3 poops, 3 bites.

Very matter of fact, our Lewis.

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Sometimes, Lewis fends for himself while I'm putting Lenore down or working on something around the house. I think I was coming downstairs from putting her down for nap one day, and I came upon him sitting at the dining room table:

Lewis: (sitting with a jar of peanut butter, jar of jelly, bread, knife, spoon, and train cookie cutter--for train-shaped PB&Js, of course)
Me: What are you doing?
Lewis: Making a peanut and butter jelly sandwich. I need some help. (And he says sandwich as swam-wich, which I love.)

He had the sweetest tone to his voice, like he was so proud for gathering all of the ingredients himself.

Lewis is a Train

Many months ago, Lewis declared that he wanted to be a train for Halloween. Halloween is still weeks away, but we had a couple of events at the beginning of the month that merited a costume, so I had to get to work on it early.

This is the very intricate/fancy train at the zoo that is his inspiration (there is also an orange one). He also wants a toy version of one for Christmas, which I think I'll have some wiggle room with (as long as there is some orange and some blue on it). I forewarned him that I would do my best to make him a blue and orange train, and so far he has simple tastes (thank goodness).

We already had a couple of train whistles and conductor hats, and, as things have a way of working themselves out, I stumbled across a conductor's jacket in his size at Goodwill for only $1.50. I saved up some diaper boxes in anticipation, and I was able to use duct tape leftover from last year's cardboard airplane costume. The plane just got smashed in our move, so I was able to remove and reuse the webbing (for shoulder straps). We did have to go to Home Depot to pick out spray paint (and primer), which was fun. Lewis wanted an 'orange and blue train' like the train at our zoo--I think it wanted it like half orange and half blue, but I explained that would be challenging to do neatly with spray paint. We settled on a blue train with orange accents. We had looked at some ideas on Pinterest, and he liked one that had a '4' on it because he is 4. Although, eventually, he decided he wanted a 4, 5, and 2 for reasons unknown to me. And he declared that he wanted to wear one blue glow bracelet and one orange one as part of his costume. He had/has it all planned out this year, let me tell you!! We also bought a headlight for the front, which I attached with Command velcro strips and a touch light from Walmart.

 Can you see the vision of the train??

 I scored and bent the box flaps to build the front cylinder (and added a piece of cardboard to the front to enclose it)

Primed

 The steam pipe is an empty duct tape roll tube that happened to come available as I was making it

 I expanded the box flap holes on the sides so that they were big enough for Lewis's arms to go through them to help take the weight off of his shoulders a bit (it's kind of heavy!)

 The conductor with his train :)

 I think he's happy about it!

 #2

 #4

 #5

 Taking it out for a spin at Creasey Mahan's Haunted Hike

We were at the zoo the night before, but the train stayed in the car while we trick-or-treated in raincoats and under umbrellas.

We don't have another event until Halloween weekend--he has a Trunk-or-Treat at his school, plus trick-or-treating around the neighborhood. Hopefully we get good weather for both of those!

Lewis the Truest, Vol. XXI

After throwing a football around with Kevin in the basement for a good five minutes, Lewis proclaimed he wanted to 'take a rest,' as he does when he's tired. Then, after about 15 seconds of resting on the couch beside me:


Lewis: (shrugs) I still have some energy. (in the most defeated tone possible) 
                             Do you still have some energy, Dad? (again, sounding so pooped, but                                                       wanting to get rid of that last little bit of energy he had left)

If only we had as much energy as Lewis does at any given moment of the day. :) (At least that's how I feel.)

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We went to two events last weekend where there was trick-or-treating, so Lewis has amassed a small collection of candy that he keeps sneaking into.


Lewis: (whispering) Mom, I have a surprise for you.
Me: Oh, you DO?
Lewis: Yeah, it's in my pocket.
Me: Okaaay.
Lewis: (hands me a candy bar)
Me: Oh, thanks, buddy!
Lewis: No, it's mine. OPEN IT!

He must have sensed that I was mildly disappointed about the candy, he said, 'Oh, let me get another one for you!' and quickly ran into the other room and grabbed another. I was not his first thought, but that's okay. ;) It was sweet, even after the fact.

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We have a behavior chart on the fridge that we have not been very consistent with. It started out of Lewis wanting a toy at the store--I was getting sick of him throwing a fit and wanting a toy every time we went to Target, so I told him maybe we could 'earn' a toy through good behavior. 

Again, we haven't been consistent with it, so I'm sure the point will be lost on him. Regardless, we have a chart, and he has been working towards a Piston Peak Air Attack Training Set (from Planes: Fire and Rescue) for months now. He has to earn 15 stickers from having a good dinner (staying in his seat, eating well without a fight, etc.).


Lewis: Can I get the Piston Peak Air Attack Training Set?
Me: Have you earned all of your stickers?
Lewis: No.
Me: You need two more stickers, right?
Lewis: Yeah, let's go put those on there (in a really sneaky whisper of a voice).

Like, your point, Mom? Let's just put the stickers on, and BAM, the toy is mine. It's as simple as that, Mom.

----------

I put Lenore to bed while Kevin puts Lewis to bed, and Kevin has very sweetly started to have an end-of-the-day conversation with Lewis to recap their days. Like, 'How was your day?' and 'What did you do?' Kevin said Lewis is slowly starting to give more information. Tonight was the best yet:

Kevin: Did you get to play outside?
Lewis: I played on the playground with Koko.
Kevin: Oh, yea? What did you play?
Lewis: Married.
Kevin: Oh yea? (cracking up on the inside) Did you hold hands?
Lewis: Yea.

I can just imagine the tone in his voice. Part serious contemplation/part mild defeat (like she made him play). Koko and Lewis have been in the same class for two years now, and I guess they are getting closer. Last year, he was pretty close with Lily, but she's in a different class this year.

Lenore at 11 Months

11 Months Old
(The best I could get because she was squirrely and the camera was acting up...)

Her stats this month (percentiles from BabyCenter):
Height: 30 inches [between 75th and 90th percentiles]
Weight: 23 pounds [between 75th and 90th percentiles]
Head Size: 19 inches [above 95th percentile]

What she's doing this month:

• She is walking (if a few steps at a time can be considered walking)! Only a few times a day and not great distances, but she is figuring it out. Her first steps were just this past Friday, September 25. 
• Lewis took a few steps December 7 and 15, which was right before/at 10 months, so he was a little ahead of her.
• She is sleeping better, overall. She takes two naps a day, usually around an hour and a half each. She is usually sleeping all night for me (around 11 hours), but there have still been a few nights with middle-of-the-night feedings.
• She nurses every 3-4 hours during the day, but I feel my supply starting to wane as she eats more solids. At bedtime, especially, she was having a hard time falling asleep after 'just' nursing, so I decided to make a 4 oz. bottle of formula a regular thing at bedtime after she nurses. There was one night she refused me, which was a pretty strange feeling (Lewis never refused me, ever), but that has only happened once. 
• Related to that, she does the sweetest thing after her bottle. Well, before her bottle, too. Once she's done nursing, she sits up and peeks over the side of the recliner to see if it's sitting down on the floor. I learned quickly that I needed to keep it out of sight because she gets so excited about it. So AFTER she's done with her bottle, I stand up and sway with her on my shoulder and burp her. She has started giving me the sweetest pats on my back as I pat her on her back. And she rubs my back in big circles like I rub hers to help her burp. She's going to be a good mommy one day. :)
• On that note, she so sweetly and quickly learned how to wave. We were sitting at the table one day, and I waved to her and said, 'Hi!' She laughed at me, and then she figured out how to say 'Hiiiiiii!' in the sweetest Southern accent, using every muscle in her little mouth, and she practically whacked herself in face, waving excitedly.
• She isn't saying much else new since last month. Just Hiiiii, Bye-bye, Bubba, and sparingly, Mama. She did notice a dog at the playground the other day and was saying something, like she was trying to say Dog, but it didn't sound like Dog just yet.
• She is still an eating machine! She has had a few meals where she's eaten more than Lewis has (granted, Lew eats like a bird at times). She still hasn't refused a food we've put in front of her, for now (I know that can/will change!). The pediatrician said (at her 9 month appointment, I forget if I've already said this...) we could try peanut butter since we don't have a family history of a peanut allergy, so she's had PB&J a few times with Lewis. She prefers to feed herself by hand, but she will accept food on a spoon, of course. I forget when they start feeding themselves by spoon, but she has shown no interest in it for now.
• She's getting into books. Kevin said she'll scream if he stops reading to her in the bath. [My sweet baby girl, scream? Never. ;)] I don't read to her yet as part of her bedtime routine, but I might start trying to see how she does. She likes the Touch and Feel books, which we have quite a few of from when Lewis was little.
• She is still a happy girl most of the time--if she's NOT happy, it's from the time she wakes up from her afternoon nap until bedtime. On those days, she will melt down unless I'm holding her on my hip, so there have been some nights when I'm making dinner one-handed. Overall, though, she is sweet.
• We haven't had any teeth for a while, so I feel like we're in for it soon!
• Current Tooth Count: still 6
• She is wearing size 12 months, but I'm noticing some things are getting snug. I think I've finally gone through and sorted all of Juniper's clothes that have been handed down. We won't need to buy anything for a few years! :)

A few outtakes from this morning:

We had a crazier-than-usual morning because it is Picture Day at school and it's pouring down rain. Lenore is only there Thursdays, so I took her in this morning with Lewis to try to get their pictures taken together. We'll see how they turn out--neither one of them were giving up many smiles for the photographer, but maybe we'll get lucky. :)

Lewis the Truest, Vol. XX

I was feeding Lenore one day in her room, and Lewis was sitting in there with us, chatting it up:

Lewis: Why does her milk come out of your body?
Me: Because we are mammals. All mammal mamas make milk for their babies.
Lewis: Oh!
Me: Elephant mamas make milk for their elephant babies. Goat mamas make milk for their goat babies. Doggy mamas make milk for their doggy babies. 
Lewis: Oh!
Me: Did you know Hattie used to be a mama?
Lewis: Yea.
Me: Can you believe she had three puppies that she cared for?

[She was taken in by a rescue as a stray, and all three of her puppies died of parvo soon after they were born. She was very depressed afterwards, until we met her and brought her home to be a companion, mother, boss, etc. to Peter and the rest of us. The rest is history.]

Lewis: Yea! Did they look like little Hatties??
Me: I don't know, I never met them, but I bet they did! Can you imagine--I bet they were so cute!
Lewis: What were their names? Gloodly?? (Or something made-up off the top of his head like that.)
Me: I don't know, buddy, I never knew them. What do YOU think their names were?
Lewis: Hmm. (long pause) Sun, Cloud, and Rain.

It made me smile on many levels. I was touched that he was so sweet about Hattie's long-forgotten puppies.

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Lewis tends to wake up early (5:30-6ish), and then will fall back asleep until his normal awakening time (around 7-7:30). He usually just needs to be covered up or reassured, and, as I am still on nighttime-Lenore-duty, Kevin takes care of Lewis duty.

One day, I *happened* to already be up with Lenore (lucky me!), so I slipped out of her room and into Lewis' room and laid with him. I wouldn't normally lay with him (he sleeps in a twin bed, after all, and he twirls my hair so that I can't fall back asleep), but I must have been extra tired that morning. I was in and out of sleep, but at one point, Lewis was saying, in a trance-like state (while twirling my hair):

Lew: Don't eat cows. Eat more chicken. Don't eat cows. Eat more chicken. Don't eat cows. Eat more chicken. (On and on...)

Over and over and over again. I thought I was in and out of a trippy dream, and I didn't even remember it until a few days later. I'm not even sure where he got that--he has a little stuffed cow from Chick-Fil-A that Grandma Sharon gave him, but I didn't know he even knew their slogan. Proves once again that he is ALWAYS LISTENING. :)

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I'd written this down on the notebook I keep in my car, and I just found it the other day. I vaguely remember it from earlier in the summer:

Lewis (totally out of the blue, staring out of the window): When I get older, I'm going to ride the Wing Coaster, ride The Beast, and get a John Deere lawn mower.

:) It made me smile. The boy has plans for his future!! He and Kevin sometimes watch roller coaster videos at bedtime, so Lew is very excited about being big enough to ride the big ones. There were lots of commercials earlier in the summer for The Thunderbird (aka the Wing Coaster) at Holiday World. And I'm not sure how The Beast came into the picture, other than Kevin and I agreeing that it's the best roller coaster we've ridden.

And then there's the John Deere lawn mower. He has said a few times now that he wants a JD Gator for Christmas (like one of the big Power Wheel ones that costs $400+). Either that or a blue train and an orange train, JUST like the blue and orange trains at the zoo--separately, but equally as difficult for me to make happen.