Swimming fun!

The kids have gotten to go swimming a couple of times recently and have really loved it!  With how hot it's been, it's been nice to cool off in any water we can!  I wasn't sure how Gibs would do with a big pool since last year he didn't like it and in little pools this year he just walks through them (doesn't want his head wet), but he LOVED it!  He loved floating around in a tube and even loved the water slide!

We went with Gigi (and Auntie Em, Harper and Gavin) to the marina's pool last week...

 Greta and Harper...

 

Gibs loving it:)...

 And yesterday we went to Joe's aunt and uncle's pool with his family...

 Greta was so comfy lounging by Grandma that she fell asleep:)...

 After this idea of having one person start him going down the slide and another one catch him, Steve and Joe thought it'd be a fun idea to go down with Gibs on their lap.  Gibs went completely under and loved it!  Layla had no interest in going down the slide.  Gibs is such a typical boy (no fear) and Layla is definitely all girl!  And nothing to do with swimming, but I keep meaning to mark down that Gibs is completely pipey free!  He's been only having it while sleeping (naps and bedtime) for a very  long time (no idea how long--maybe last summer??) and I kept putting off having him give it up completely.  Then one day one of his beloved pipey's got a hole in it (from him chewing on it) so I threw it away.  He was then down to 1 left in the drawer (not that there aren't others around in other places in our house, he just doesn't know that).  The next day he choked on a mint (it was a little scary) and then a little while later he was going to go down for his nap and I noticed teeth marks in his other pipey too. I pointed it out and told him that was sad that that one was broken too but that we'd have to throw that one away too.  He didn't want to, so mentioned how he could choke on it if it broke more and since choking on the mint (and hurting his throat) was so fresh in his mind, he agreed to throwing that one out too.  He then cried a little before falling asleep and asked for it a few other times after that, but always went to bed after crying a few minutes and now never asks for it.  Greta only likes her thumb, not a pacifier, so it's a little weird that we're all done having kids give up their pipeys now!

7 Months

Greta is 7 months old already!!  She is still such a sweet girl.  She is, however, getting into more trouble as she started crawling last week.  She's been able to get around by rolling for awhile and then started rocking on all fours maybe a couple of months ago, but it took her until last week to actually figure out the whole crawling thing.  She since then has really started picking up the pace and seems to really enjoy her new ability to travel to wherever she wants to go.  She is very curious about everything and has always been.  Ever since she started rolling, she has rolled over to Harper and just wants to be on her and touch Harper's face and now that she can crawl, she can to her brother and sister easier and loves to try to attack them as well.  Not sure what that shows about her determined personality:).  She loves baby dolls.  Yesterday I thought it was cute that she went over to our shelves under out tv and reached way in the back to get a doll out.  She must think they look like little friends:).  She still doesn't really sit straight up, I think she could probably do it if she practiced, she just doesn't want to.  She'd rather move around on her belly.  She has been able to get herself to a sitting position for awhile now, she just doesn't stay sitting for long (she sits then leaning forward, not all the way up).

Typical...I was trying to get a pic of Greta laying on her back and she didn't want to stay on her back and Gibs wanted to lay right next to her...

 7 Months!  (typical too that Layla's feet are in the  pic--she loves being by her little sis!)

 She now loves baby food and baby cereal and also really loves anything I cut in little pieces for her.  Here she is enjoying blueberry pancakes for breakfast.

 She is quite uncoordinated getting food in her mouth herself, but normally manages to get a few in:).

 Layla and Gibs love eating outside.  Joe and I normally opt to eat inside:).  It makes for a quiet meal for Joe, Greta and me (and often just Joe and me since Greta's evening nap is around dinner time depneding on what time we eat).

 Layla and Gibs love feeding Greta and it's actually very helpful!  Layla does great at feeding her baby food/cereal.  I wouldn't trust that Gibs would feed her neatly so thankfully he doesn't even ask to help, he'd rather do his own thing.

Greta enjoys playing with the big kids' toys, so now that she's on the move more, we need to be a lot more careful with what she can get to!

 This is how Gibs kisses:)...

Greta is still doing well with her helmet. She went in last week and her head had grown 3 mm.  The lady said that was average growth so hopefully she grows a lot this coming month.  She still is not bothered at all by her helmet and now we are so used to seeing her in it that when she doesn't wear it, she looks really different:).  Funny how you get used to things.  She is in size 2 diapers and 6-12/9 month clothing. 

She loves her new ability to get herself where she wants to go and loves to visit the slider to see out:).

Her schedule is about the same as it has been for the past couple of months. She wakes up around 8:30 (sometimes 9, every once in awhile 10 if she's behind on sleep), has a bottle and some cereal, naps from around 10-11 or just gets a cat nap if we're out, has a lunch bottle and some food around 11:30/12 and then naps in the afternoon around 1/1:30 (same time as Gibs (except I don't like him napping more than 1 1/2 hours or he's up earlier int he morning) and Layla then has rest time in her room).  She naps anywhere from 2-4 hours.  She then has a late afternoon bottle and then naps for about an hour around 6.  She then has her supper bottle (and food somewheres in there depending on the day) and then goes to bed around 8.  Gibs has always been my early riser, but thankfully lately has been better at sleeping in.  A time or two a week he is still up at 7:30ish, but most days lately he sleept until around 8:30 which is nice and Layla sleeps until around 9.  All 3 kids normally go to bed at the same time.  Seeing that the girls especially like to sleep, I think it'll be an adjustment having to get out of the house on time for preschool next year!  We normally now don't get out of the house until 9:30/10.  Good thing they ease kids into school and next year is only 2 mornings that Layla will have to wake up early. 

We love our little Gretsygoo and can't wait to see her little personality keep developing!

Swimming Lessons

This obviously isn't from swimming lessons, I just thought it was cute of Gibs and Grets hanging out.

 I can't believe how big she's getting!  She's not crawling yet, but gets up on all fours all the time.  She can also put herself into a sitting position, although she can't sit straight up on her own yet.  She gets around by rolling and scooting--often backwards. She just wants to be wherever her big siblings are:).  Her helmet is still going really well--it doesn't bother her at all.  She was taking her 1 hour break from it in these pictures:).

The girlies had fun watching their big sibs play the other day...

 Last week Layla and Gavin took swimming lessons and Sabrina and Anabelle's (and baby Emeline's) house.  They both really liked it and are getting more comfortable in the water which is great.  It's amazing each year now how they keep liking the water better and better!

 This was from one of the days later in the day last week.

 Layla, Payton and Gavin...

 Gibs did great just hanging out and playing during the lesson.

 Layla with Miss Jen on the last day--parent watch day...

 Anabelle, Layla and Gavin waiting for their turn...

Father's Day

The kids are so blessed to have such a great father!  We had a great day showing how thankful we are for him!

Joe's famiily came over for lunch.  Grandpa had fun being silly with the kids:)...

 Joe with a full lap:)...

 Layla and Gavin made these Disney pins for their daddy's.  Joe wore his proudly:).

 This isn't on Father's Day, I just thought it was cute of Gibs helping Greta eat.

 And one of my two loving little ladies together...

 This picture is very typical Layla.  She LOVES being a mommy to her dolls and often packs them up ready to go and makes sure to bring along a diaper bag and her "pump bag":).

 The kids got a new Lightenin McQueen car, but unfortunately it doesn't run well at all on the grass:(.  They are very disappointed.  They were so excited about it when we got it, especially Gibs.  We'll see if calling and complaining does anything.  It was from Disney Store online, so I assumed it would have worked well!

Helmet/6 months!

Greta got her helmet today!  She got measured for it over a month ago, but then due to insurance issues and then not being able to make any of their available sppointments last week work for us, we couldn't go in until today. I assumed this was for a remeasure since her head would have grown in over a month, but when we got there I learned that they had already made her helmet shortly after her last appointment.  The lady then said that she was afraid that it wouldn't fit and that we'd most likely have to remeasure and then they'd have to make a new one.  However, when she measure her head today she found that Greta's head had only grown by about 4mm which she said is not much head growth.  That is good in two ways--first, that we didn't have to get remeasured and then come back in a week to get it, and second, that since she didn't have much head growth last month, hopefully that means that the next next month or two will be very large head growth times for her which would then mean not having the helmet on too long.  The duration for which they have to have the helmet on all just depends on how fast their head grows.  So hopefully her head will grow a lot coming up so that she won't need it on all that long (2-4 months is normal, hopefully 2-3).  So far she's only worn it for an hour this morning and then 2 more times today she needs to wear it for an hour.  Then the length of time that she needs to wear it will gradually keep increasing until she can wear it for 23 hours a day.  We just need to look for spots that it's rubbing her head too much.  We would then need to take her back in to get it readjusted.  So far she didn't seem to mind, just made her head super sweaty:).  She'll now need daily baths (which she hates) and you need to wash the helmet at least once a day.  It's a slight inconvenience, but worth it to make her head nicely shaped:).

I need to take a 6 month pic, but she did have her 6 month appointment last week so for now I'll just post her stats.  And then hopefully remember to do her pic later:).  While at her appointment, the doctor noticed that she had a rash on her throat.  He said it may have been the start of hand foot and mouth (Harper had just had it) or it could be an infection called Herpangina.  With both you get a sore throat and a fever.  She never ended up getting sores on her hands or feet (or anywhere else) so I'm assuming her infection that she got from Harper just turned into Herpangina instead of hand foot and mouth.  Either way, there's nothing you can do about it and now she's fine.  Layla had a fever and threw up Friday night (which is like the second or third time in her life), but I think the throwing up was from working herself up about sores in her mouth (I could hardly see them, she just said she had them, so I guess she also had hand foot and mouth).  We were afraid we'd have to cancel her birthday party Saturday night, but she was basically back to herself by then.  Gibs normally catches things a lot more often than Layla, but he seemed okay thankfully. 

The doctor said that Greta looks great and is doing all the things she should be doing.  She can't sit alone yet but is getting herself into a crawling position at times and still rolling all over the place.  She is still such a happy little girl and sleeps well at night (besides when she was sick) and naps well too.  She hadn't done very well with the baby food I had tried so far, but last night I tried some carrots and she ate those okay.  We love her to pieces and love watching her grow (although I'd wish she'd slow down a bit--doesn't every mom say that?? :) )!

Weight: 15 lbs 7.5 oz - between 25th and 50th% (Harper was 16 lbs 9 oz the day before Gret'a appointment!  Pretty good for a preemie and seeing that Harper was born 1 week before Greta and over 2 lbs smaller)

Height: 25.75" - 50th% (exactly the same as Harper)

Head: 41.6 cm - 25th%

Memorial Day Part 2

Last night we went to my dad and Joyce's for a delicious meal and fun times for the kids.

The kid table...

 My littlest love and me in our polka dots...

 Natalie had fun catching frogs and teaching the other kids how to catch them:)...

 "Little Miss Independant" or at least that's what her shirt says:)...

Layla is very much a girly girl and does NOT like  bugs.  Either does Gibs.  We have been working on getting them used to it and it does seem to be helping (as it is a little ridiculous how she won't even shoe a fly away), but getting this close to a frog was definitely a big step for her!  Although is she's like her mother, little creatures like this aren't nearly as frightening as a spider:).

 After a bit, the kids went from catching things out of the creek, to walking in the creek.  They were dirty, but had fun and that's what counts, right? :)

 Natalie very much takes on the mother duckling role as the oldest and the little ducklings happily follow behind:)...

 Gibs was a very dirty and tired kiddo at the end of then night!

 We got home and gave them baths right away.  Here they are all clean and tuckered out from their big day.