Toothless no more!

Six days before his 7 month day Owen finally cut his first tooth. The second one is not far behind. You have to use your imagination, but it's really, really there!

This was my first attempt at capturing the little shiny tooth:

A sad, sad day

I am so sad today. Wendy's dad, Ray McKibben, passed away yesterday. He went to school with my dad, so I'm going to guess that he's the same age - 57. Not that there's ever a perfect age to die, but 57 is way too young.

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Wendy and I met in sixth grade, but didn't become friends until 7th grade. (She had a weird haircut in sixth grade!) Mr. McKibben called me Other Daughter and I called him Other Father. He has been a part of my life for many years. He did an excellent job of grilling Blake before we got married to make sure he was good enough for me!

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He was truly a neat, neat person. He was loud. He was talented. He was brilliant. (He was also often cranky and sometimes downright abrasive, but that's neither here nor there!) The thing I know most about Other Father is that he loved his family beyond measure. He will be greatly missed. My heart goes out to Other Mother, Wendy, Hillary, Jason and their families.

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(By the way, I stole this picture from Wen's facebook page.)

Lots of ground to cover: Landry's 22 month day, Owen's 6 month day, Thanksgiving, Owen's 6 month stats

So, I'm obviously way behind - even more behind than I have been over the past several months. My laptop monitor bit the dust early in November, and I just got it back this week. I can't blame that alone, but it was a contributing factor! So if anyone's still reading this, here's enough to catch us up for the month:

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On November 24th, Landry turned 22 months old. She's still a nutjob! She loves, loves, loves her babies still. I think Santa will be hooking her up with some more gear for her brood. She's still in love with Owen, but doesn't particularly care for it when he reaches out and grabs her clothes or hair. She frequently tries to love on Camden, but when he rejects her (which he usually does) she starts swinging. It's the few times that he embraces the idea of showing her affection that truly melt my heart. They can be so stinking sweet to each other when they want to be. She can say just about anything she wants to, but her voice is so nasal that almost everything that comes out of her mouth sounds the same.

Thanksgiving was a lot of fun. We went to Uncle Bruce's and Aunt Linda's to gorge ourselves this year. It was great, and a lot less tiring than being at Granny's. Aunt Linda has wayyyy fewer knickknacks lying about for our kids to dig in.

The day after Thanksgiving we had Blake's family over. The highlight of the day was surprising Peyton with her new car. She had no clue, and must have said "oh. my. gosh." about a bazillion times after she saw it.

On November 28th, Owen turned 6 months old. He's a very lazy baby! He's reached all of the developmental milestones appropriate for his age, but he doesn't really like to show off his skills very often. It probably has a lot to do with the fact that it's just not safe to leave him lying around on the floor in these parts. We need to be better about that, but I'm not ready to have him squished to bits just yet. Besides, I distinctly remember making the comment that if we had to have three kids, it would be great if the third could be a little slower than the first two. So far so good! He had his 6 month checkup on December 3rd, and the fact that's he's short was confirmed.

Owen's 6 month stats:

Height: 24 inches (3rd percentile)
Weight: 16 pounds, 13 ounces (25th percentile)
Head: 17.5 inches (75th percentile)

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Not that we're counting anymore, but Camden turned 33 months on December 2nd. We are amazed daily at the phrases that come out of his mouth. He and Landry went in for their second round of the flu vaccination, and after the nurse gave Landry her shot he got very upset and asked "did you hurt my sister"? He told me last night (after I had punished Landry for something or another) "you being ugly to my sister". He's very protective of her when he's not trying to beat her up.

He's finally figured out his relationship to Owen. He repeats (often) "Owen's my little brother", or "hey, mister brother Owen". He's super sweet to Owen, but the bigger Owen gets, the less and less careful the bigger kids are around him. I'm surprised the poor guy hasn't suffered a crush injury yet.

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There was also Camden's first movie (with Dee and his boy cousins). We saw Planet 51, and he did pretty well. He wasn't sure about the volume for the first few minutes, but he quickly decided he could handle it. He sat in his seat eating popcorn and drinking Sprite for the first 45 minutes or so, then got ants in his pants and kept going back and forth between me and Dee.

There's lots of laughter, lots of tears, and lots of loudness around these parts. But most of all, there's lots of LOVE! It's not always easy, and might not be everyone's idea of heaven, but to us it's simply perfect!

O's six month pictures

Our little stinker

I'll spare you the picture (although I really did take one the first time), but Landry pooped on the potty today for the second time! We were having potty time this evening and Camden and Landry were both begging for a bath. We kept telling them no. (We really do bathe them, I promise. They had a shower with me earlier in the day, and we felt like that should have been enough for one day.) They kept on and on, so I spouted off "if you make poopy on the potty I'll put you in the bath", knowing that it would never happen. Sure enough, my stubborn baby girl had to show me up by pinching one off! Fortunately for me, Camden couldn't manage a poop, so I didn't have to bathe them. I suck, right?

Our sweet O is 5 months old!

Owen turned five months old on Wednesday. I know I've said it before, but he is SUCH a sweet baby. He doesn't complain about anything except being hungry or sleepy. He chills out in his papasan chair or on his activity mat and soaks in all the craziness of his brother and sister. He LOVES when Camden and/or Landry stop and talk to him or give him hugs and kisses. He's got the sweetest little smile, but laughs like an 85 year old with emphysema! He's rolling over occasionally, but really doesn't seem too interested in reaching his developmental milestones early. I must say that while it's always exciting to watch your kids do something new, I won't be too upset if he does things slower than the other two. He'll be chasing behind them soon enough, and I'm not about to rush it this go 'round!

Landry's 21 months old, and I'm blogtarded

So it's apparent that I have had a very difficult time keeping this blog up properly over the past few months. I'm not sure if having a third kid is to blame for that or if it's the time sucker known as facebook that keeps me preoccupied. It's probably a little bit of both.

The kids are all doing great. Camden and Landry are still using the potty periodically, though neither one has any interest in keeping a dry diaper. We just keep telling ourselves that it'll come . . . one of these days. Owen's still a super happy and super easy baby. He's rolled back to front several times. We haven't actually witnessed these rolls, we just find him in his new position after the fact.

But the reason for this post is because Landry Lu turned 21 months old on Saturday. She's still quite the firecracker. She keeps up with Camden with no problem whatsoever. They seem to be getting along a little better lately. The pushing/shoving has lessened . . . for now. She'll be kicking his rear in no time! The saving grace is that they still like to hug and kiss (which we think is the sweetest thing ever) . . . for now. Only three more months until we celebrate her second birthday!