Four Months Old!

Will turned four month old this past Friday. At the doctor today, he weighed 18 pounds, 13 ounces, and is 27.5 inches, making him the size of the average eight month old. He's an active little guy...rolling over, trying to sit up, smiling, grabbing toys. We are so thankful for him!

Phoebe loves her little brother. She comforts him, teaches him words, and finds books and toys for him to play with...

 Our three blessings...

 First time sitting up in the tub...

 Our smiley little guy!

To see the girls' 4 month posts, click on their names: Phoebe and Joanna.

Music Time

A fun activity that we like to do about once a week these days is what we call "Music Time." Over the past three plus years, we have accumulated a full and rich playlist of children's songs...and it's still growing! We have also been blessed to have participated in wonderful programs like the local library's story time, our church's music program, and Kindermusik, which have given me the ideas for this time. It's a great activity for a rainy or snowy day that involves all ages.

So, here's how we do our music time. Feel free to take the idea and adapt it to your family! Again, none of these ideas are original...I have been taught all of these by others much more experienced than I!

1. Create a music time playlist. This takes a little time for creating and adjusting. I like to start our music time out slowly, then build the energy and then calm it back down at the end. To pick songs that match the mood, I use categories and pick one to three songs per category. Here's our current line-up...I'm sure songs you love will come to mind as you read through the list:

• A calm "welcome song" that communicates that it's time to begin.
• Shaking songs: we sit and shake our egg shakers, play our instruments, or clap to the beat. These songs are usually instrumental with a steady beat. These are great for lap time with babies...tap the rhythm on their legs.
• Movement songs: these songs either tell the kids which movements to do or we have movements that go with them. Our current favorites: "Father Abraham" and "Shake My Sillies Out"
• Basket song: the kids get in the basket. I only have one song for this category and I put it on repeat: "Row Row Row Your Boat"
• Dancing songs which we do around our kitchen island: songs that you can march to, twirl to, boogie to. These are good for picking up the kids and moving with them to the beat. Current favorites: "The B-I-B-L-E" and "Skinnamarink"
• Roll the ball songs: we roll the ball back and forth...that simple!
• Rocking songs: slow, soft songs when we sit together and rock back and forth. I use a German lullaby, "Schlaf, Kindchen, Schlaf" for this time.

2. Pick a time of day when all the kids can do it together.
3. Gather all musical instruments in the house (wooden spoons and pie pans qualify!).
4. Gather any other props: a laundry basket filled with a blanket, animals to dance with, etc. My girls love having a favorite stuffed animal for when I am holding Will. They are also a lot easier to push around in the basket!
5. Go for it!
6. End the time with a hug for each child.

A few things I love about our music time: it's a great time to practice listening to and following directions in a fun setting, it's a great way to teach new songs and reinforce ones they are learning, and it gives the kiddos a time of expressing themselves in a different way. And, on days we don't have 20-30 to all sit down together, we turn on the music, dance hard to one song and get back to whatever we're doing.

Shaking songs...

 Basket songs...

 Movement songs (with guest participants Kitty and Princess Teddy)...

 Dancing songs...

Three Months Old!

Will is three months old! Here he is as a loyal Purdue fan, despite the rough season so far. He continues to grow. Six months sized clothes are getting too small. The infant sling in the bath tub barely holds him. When I weighed him on our scale at home, he weighed 17 pounds (though that scale has know to be a pound or two off). But, even with his size, he is still our little baby boy. His skills now include holding his little hands together and rolling over! He's rolled from his belly to back four times so far. He coos and makes the "ah-goo" sound that you read about in parenting books. He smiles a lot, and has started crying when the girls are crying. From time to time, he sleeps for 7-8 hour stretches at night. My goals in my time with him right now include reading to him before nap times (he has 5 daily) and including him in music time (a post to come soon on that). Last night I was reminded that just getting on the floor together as a family can be so much fun! Click on the girls' names for their three month posts: Phoebe and Joanna (Phoebe didn't have a three month post, but the link is the post closest to her 3 month birthday.).

 

Anga and Angela (and Phoebe) wanted to be part of the photo shoot, too...



Two Months Old!

Our little man is two months old, and growing like a weed. At his doctor's appointment, he weighed 15 pounds, 5 ounces, and measured 25 and three quarter inches long. That makes him as long as the average five and a half month old. Tonight he is filling out pajamas that Phoebe wore when she was six months old. Click here for Phoebe's two month picture. Joanna's picture is here. Joanna loves to give baby Will kisses multiple times a day, and also likes to sing to him when he goes down for his naps. Phoebe likes to just lay next to Will on his playmat. It is very sweet.

Will is finding out that his hand and feet do stuff, like kick and fence, and he started sucking on his fist today. He smiles a lot when talked to, and has started to coo. He is still a champ at tummy time, and some days seems to like that better than laying on his back.

A note on Joanna: she is becoming very articulate. Last night after we had put her to bed, we heard her say in her crib: "I wanna talk to Phoebe in the bed."

Phoebe and Will holding hands...

 Phoebe doing tummy time with Will...

 The girls reading to Will...

 The tummy time champ...

 Joanna showing Will his tummy time book...

Apple Picking

Thanks to the help of my parents, the kids and I were able to go with the Mom's Club that I'm a part of for a preschool tour of Lynd's Fruit Farm. The girls got to pick Pixie Crisp apples (appropriate for our little pixies), learn about how apples grow on a felt board tree, and try cider. Phoebe got to hold hands with a little friend on their way to the apple trees and pick lots of apples. Joanna was not interested in picking...instead, she bit into the first apple she got and would not let go. Because of this, she was a little bee magnet and got stung...as did I when I went to pick her up after the sting. Fortunately, after the intial shock of the sting, she didn't seem bothered at all. We then went to the Farm's store, and the girls got to ride in a wagon. It was a great day for it! Thanks again, Mom and Dad!

The next two pictures are thanks to my Dad...

Who are those cute kids? Thank you, Lord!

Getting Braver...

Joanna is not as adventerous as her sister (yet), but she likes to go down slides. Here's a little video of her at a park we visited in Indiana.

Our Little Climber

Phoebe loves to climb. She seems almost fearless on playground equipment, not retreating from the tall slides but seeing them as goals to accomplish. Here are a few pictures from our visits to two parks while visiting my Mom and Dad...

Climbing "the mountain"...

To get an idea how high she climbed, that is my Mom, Joanna and me at the bottom...

"This playground is a breeze!"

 So busy!!