3 Months Old

My sweet Adrienne is 3 months old today already. I feel as though she has really come alive, developmentally speaking, in the past week. New accomplishments include pivoting in supine (see previous post), exploring her hands, blowing raspberries, and beginning to roll from back to tummy. She isn't able to get her arm out from underneath her to technically meet this milestone, but as you can see it is pretty darn close.

Adrienne is sleeping very well for a babe of her age, and was beginning to fall into a nice 8ish hour pattern (approx 10 p.m.-6 a.m.) for a couple of weeks. This week she suddenly decided she needs to eat around 4 a.m., but then promptly falls back asleep until around 8 or so. I suspect this is due to a growth spurt, and hope she'll resume 8+ consecutive hours again soon. She also graduated from sleeping in her bassinet next to our bed to sleeping in her crib in her own room within the last week. It is nice to not have to worry about Matt's alarm (and repeated snooze button pushing) potentially waking her each morning.


Adrienne continues to be relatively laid back and is easily pleased by being held or talked to. I think the zantac we've been using for reflux has really helped her disposition in the evenings, and she seems much more comfortable. She is just about the snuggliest baby I've ever had the pleasure of holding and I cherish the feeling of holding her close as she sleeps peacefully in my arms. Even early in the morning it is sometimes hard for me to put her back into her crib after she falls asleep. To top it off, she is so darn cute I can hardly stand it. See?

 People often ask if we think she and Jillian look alike. Our answer continues to be "yes and no". Many times we think she is looking more and more like Matt every day, with different shaped eyes than Jillian. Other times, especially when asleep and in a profile view, we think she looks exactly like Jillian. I had one of those moments earlier this week when I bundled her up on a chilly morning and experienced a little deja vu. Here is 3 month old Adrienne....

And here is 3 month old Jillian.......

 

Adrienne, you are a true joy and we all adore you. (Yes, even Jillian. She just doesn't always know how to show it appropriately).

Quarter Turns

Adrienne is on the move, or at least is making the first strides in that direction. I put her in her crib yesterday morning to watch her mobile while I dressed, and when I came back a few minutes later, this is what I found

She had completed a 90 degree turn, as her head was originally on the pink sheet saver. She was apparently really happy about her achievement...either that, or about the fact that she had slid her pants/diaper down in the process and managed to poop all over the sheet beneath her.

Today, she did it again, but added a fun new twist to the move....

I think she looks pretty proud of her motor achievements this week, as well she should be. Little does she know, this is only the beginning of the fun that is to come.

Love and Marriage

Jillian is suddenly interested in marriage. This began last week when we were talking about Grammy going home to Grandad. She wanted to know why she was going, and I told her that Grandad was her husband and that she has to live with him. This led to me reminding her that her dad is my husband and that someday she would have a husband, too. Her response to that? "But I want a husband NOW!" I told her to enjoy her uncomplicated life as a single woman as long as she can...
A couple of days later when she and I were at Panera, she randomly asked where her friend Bekah (older sister of her dear buddy Max) was. I told her that Bekah was probably at home with Max. She quickly asked, "Is Max Bekah's husband?" Before I could answer she continued, "No wait, Max is MY husband!" She dropped the subject for a few minutes, and then brought up Max in some other context. I said, "Max is such a good friend, isn't he?" She quickly put me in my place: "NO! Max is my HUSBAND!" OK, I clearly didn't get it the first time.
So, this brings us to today. Jillian spent the day at Mayo Back-Up daycare, and was proud to show me all her "crafts" when I picked her up. The teacher informed me that they made family trees today, and that Jillian sure had a lot of people in her family. I thought that was an odd comment, considering a family of four is pretty common these days. I looked down at her project and my heart melted into a mush of goo.

Jillian's tree was comprised of Mommy, Daddy, Jillian, Baby Sister......and Max. I guess she is serious about this husband business!

Little Pirates

Jillian attended the birthday party of her friend, Isaac, over the weekend and she loved the opportunity to play at the RAC. This girl truly is excited about birthdays, and when they brought the cake out I thought she might burst with glee. The staff asked who was going to sing the loudest, and she quickly shouted, "ME!!!"

The party was pirate-themed, so the kids all got a goody bag full of pirate gear. Pretty cute to see a bunch of 3ish year olds running around as pirates...

Adrienne got to go to the party, too. She was pretty content to be carried around and observe all the action.

The event stirred up lots of birthday excitement in our house....someone is very much looking forward to celebrating her 3rd birthday very soon!

Weekly Gems

Before I forget them (I know I already have lost some), here are a few more gems that came from the mouth of Jillian this week:

-After breaking part of one of her games, I told her I would fix it. She looked at me, stroked my arm reassuringly and said, "It's OK, Mom. You don't need to fix this. Only dads can fix stuff. My daddy will do it"

-As I loaded her into her car seat yesterday morning for a Jilly/Mommy Panera date, she looked over at Adrienne's car seat base and said, "I used to sit there, Mom. You 'member that? And I didn't have no hair then!"

-More Biblical "wisdom" after preschool on Wednesday....
Me: "What did you learn about today?"
J: "We talked about Noah"
Me: "Oh yeah, what did he do?"
J: "He built a boat"
Me: "Yep, then what?"
J: "God made it rain."
Me: "How long did it rain?"
J: "About 2 hours"

And in other news...Adrienne found her hands this week. She is fascinated by them, and will marvel at their wonder for long periods of time (where 12 week olds are concerned, that is). I also noticed she is batting at objects with purpose, mostly her bassinet mobile and my hair. Finally, she had one night where she slept for 9.5 hours straight! 10 pm-7:30 am. I would have wept with joy except I was too busy feeling irritated by the fact that Jillian was up at 1 am telling me "Mom, I'm awake!", and then ready to greet the day with full-force at 5:20. Thank goodness for strong coffee, a sense of humor...and for the help of Grammy who was staying with us while Matt was out of town.

Interpretations

Yesterday, I heard what I'm sure is only the beginning of Jillian's religious interpretations. Being that she is at a Christian preschool, part of her morning includes Bible stories, verses, and songs. I am still giggling about what she told me about yesterday's lesson.

J: "We had a new Bible story today, Mom."
Me: "Great, what did you learn about?"
J: "Eve"
Me: "What did you learn about Eve?"
J: "She forgot God."
Me: "Oh, really?"
J: "Yeah, and she can't live in the garden anymore"
Me: "OK, what else? What was the man's name?"
J: "It's about Addison and Eve, Mom"
Me: (stifled laughter) "Are you sure that was his name?"
J: "Yep. Addison"
Me: "I'm pretty sure his name was Adam. Did you learn anything else about them?"
J: "Mom, God had to get a consequence. He needs a time out"

Oh dear...

Dr. Jekyll and Miss Hyde

I am perplexed by Jillian's apparent double personality. To put it delicately, we have been struggling with some difficult behaviors at home. I am sure they are mostly normal almost 3 year old behaviors, compounded by the fact that she is still probably adjusting to Adrienne's arrival, and intensified by her "spirited" personality. In any case, Matt and I are at a loss for how to discipline her. Nothing we try seems to produce lasting behavior changes, and the kid is just plain smart--most always a step (and sometimes 2) ahead of us. I began to worry about her in preschool when she continued to tell me she "got in trouble" each day upon pickup for the entire first week. I still hadn't gotten any notes from her teacher notifying me of any problems, but I thought I should just check in with her. So, I sent her the following e mail....

Hi Mrs M.--Hope your school year is off to a good start. I just wanted to check in and see how Jillian is doing? She has told me several times that she "got in trouble", but I assume she's had no big offenses since there's been no note from you. She does not seem to mind getting reprimanded from us, but I've noticed she is very sensitive to simple redirection from other adults, so I speculate she's just referring to something like that. We have been dealing with an increase in difficult behaviors and a general sassy tone here at home (perhaps still adjusting to new baby, or her age, or just her spirited personality...or a combo of all!) so I just want to know if there's anything that carries over to the classroom that you'd like us to address/work on. Thanks much! Malia

About 24 hours later, I got the following reply:

Malia,

Thank you for your note.  Jillian has been great!  She has not gotten "in trouble", but has seen others have time outs, so that could be where it comes from.  Her behavior has been perfect and she has been a joy to see each day!  I will let you know if anything changes. :)

 

On Friday, Mrs M. greeted me at the door when I dropped Jillian off and said the following:

 "I laughed out loud when I got your e mail, because I thought there was no way we could be talking about the same kid! Jillian is our star student, and her behavior is just great!!"

I admit that I walked away feeling completely relieved, and will fervently pray that this continues to be the case. I'm just not sure how to elicit more of this cherub-like behavior at home. So, I guess Matt and I will just go back to the drawing board and plan our next strategy of defense against the willful mind of a 3 year old. Maybe by the time Adrienne is this age we'll have all the answers...ha!

Hats On

A blast of chilly air arrived suddenly this morning, and necessitated the use of warmer clothes and outerwear. Though I am feeling sad about it, Adrienne apparently is not. She was all smiles as I loaded her in her car seat wearing a warm, handmade hat from Great Grandma Helen.

We'll see if she is still smiling when the snow is blowing and the windchills are sub-zero for months and months and months.

Preschool Begins!

Today was a very big day in the life of Miss Jillian Howe....the very first day of preschool! Jillian is now attending Kingdom Kids Christian Preschool on MWF mornings from 9-11:30, and is staying for the Lunch Buddies program until 12:30. This gives her the opportunity to eat lunch with other students of varying ages and an additional 30 minutes of gross motor play time. She has been looking forward to this day for a long time, and to say she was excited upon waking this morning is a huge understatement. She was up bright and early and barely touched her breakfast because she was so busy being excited!

 Daddy got to wish his big girl well before he headed off to work for the day

 The happy preschooler decked out with her backpack and lunch box, ready to roll! She looks incredibly grown up to me. in the photos below. I should back up and say that we had a big back to school shopping outing on Labor Day. Jillian and I started our first annual mother/daughter school shopping tradition, and we had quite the time at the mall together. She was very opinionated about the clothes she selected and was quite proud of these new pink tennis shoes (she chose them over the more expensive purple ones and saved her 'ol dad $15 on that purchase!)

 I wanted to take a picture with my big girl before school, but forgot to have Matt take one before he left. Guess this will have to do!

Look out, Kingdom Kids, Jillian is about to enter the building!

 Jillian was literally jumping up and down with excitement as she was about to enter the classroom. She changed her tune dramatically, however, once it was time to say goodbye and stuck to me like glue. The teacher had to pry her off of me to get her in the classroom. She never cried or protested verbally, and did just great once she was inside.

Jillian got to bring an item for sharing time today that corresponded with the themes of the week (red, circle, numbers 1 and 2). She chose her red Kansas Jayhawk teddy bear and did her parents proud!
When I picked her up after Lunch Buddies she was pretty quiet and looked VERY tired. She didn't say much except to tell me she had a good time, but also to tell me "I had a hard day, Mom". Later she revealed she got in trouble, but couldn't tell me why or what happened. I know for a fact that I would have gotten a note in her binder if she had in fact been in trouble and there was nothing there. Matt and I speculate that she may have been redirected or verbally reprimanded by a teacher and took it to heart. Though she doesn't bat an eye when we do so, she is very sensitive about getting reprimanded by another adult. In any case, she is pumped to go back and Friday and is so proud that she is now in school. We are proud of you, too, Jilly Bean!

Included

I think Adrienne is beginning to feel left out of our dinner table interactions. Most of the time she is in her bouncy seat or swing fussing as I try to inhale my food, or on some occasions she decides she has to eat too, which results in some crazy mad multi-tasking skills on my part. Tonight, Matt decided he had the solution to the problem. He has been insisting that she is strong enough to sit in the Bumbo seat, while I have argued the opposite. I decided to humor him just this once and went along with his idea to try her in the seat during dinner when she so predictably started "acting up".  The result?

A happier, alert baby who kept eye-balling my delicious steak throughout the meal. She certainly has the head control and strength to sit in the seat for short periods of time.  I guess father really does know best.

Cousin Time

We were so excited to have Aunt Meggie, Uncle D, and cousin Baby Jack (9 months) come to visit us over Labor Day weekend! I remember so many fun times with my cousins growing up, and I look forward to our children experiencing the same. The weather was less than desirable, which meant a lot of time stuck indoors with small children, but we still managed to have a great time just being together. Aunt Meggie and I escaped for pedicures and a lunch out, and Matt and Uncle D had a couple of outings sans children as well. As usual, I didn't capture nearly enough moments in picture, but I did get a few.....

 Bath time! Jillian was so excited to have a bath partner. Unfortunately, Jack was a bit tired from the trek and wasn't sure what to think of his crazy, older cousin

Jack had to check out Adrienne, who is exactly 7 months younger than him. I think she liked the attention, and he seemed to like the stuffed bee on her bouncy seat

Check out this beautiful baby boy. Those eyes are incredible.

Jack wasn't feeling too smiley when I was trying to take the above photo, so Uncle Matt stepped in to try and elicit one. Pretty sure I wouldn't smile at this scary creature either....

Jack and his favorite Aunt....oops, wasn't supposed to tell anyone! Sorry Mal and Kristi :)

 Aunt Meggie and I sent Matt and Uncle D out on a "man date" Saturday night. They went to eat wings then came back to drink beer, eat sunflower seeds, and play Wii in the basement.  Uncle D so kindly left the remaining snacks with Matt. This picture is pointless, but it makes me laugh.

And last but not least, Aunt Meggie did her best to try and get a silly Jilly to pose for a shot with her. 

Thanks for making the trip, Widmers! We love you all.