3 month Penelope

I forgot to put the little flower wreath around the 3 for the first few pics... Mark-up to the rescue!

We plopped this on her head just to be silly post-photo shoot, and she struck the cutest little angelic pose. I feel like she should have wings photoshopped behind her :-D

She's been sucking her fingers a lot lately, especially her forefinger and middle together. I'm wondering if this will be a thing for her. Our last finger-sucker was Opal, and we are just starting the multi-year braces process.

The past three months have flown by with this little sweetie. She really is such a laid-back baby. Her sleep has been great for the most part. A few nights in the last week, she got up to 7.5 and 8 hours straight- I will take it! She still sleeps in a co-sleeper basinette by our bed, and while I've moved some of the others into their own rooms/cribs by three months, I'm content to have her stay put for a while longer. Lately, she's been finding her fingers and has even used them some to self-sooth to sleep (her forefinger and middle are her fingers of choice, just like me when I was little).

This past month, she's been showing more interest in kicking on her activity mat, interacting with the hanging toys. She can roll from belly to back (and does this often, as she dislikes tummy-time (who doesn't?). She's always ready with a smile for her many adoring fans. She loves being outside, kicking in the grass and watching the trees or being wheeled around in the stroller. Bathtime is also still a favorite.

I am grateful to have made it to three months with her only having tried a bottle (she didn't do great with it, and I'm totally fine with that). By this time with most of the others, we had switched to pumped bottles with just nursing at night. She's on the smaller side compared to our others (from what I observe from pictures and past weight records), but she's still gaining plenty of weight.

I'm anxious to see how she'll do on our upcoming trip out east in a couple of weeks. We're going to split up the driving there and back over a couple of days, so it won't be so monotonous. She currently does well in the car, so we will see...

Zeke is two!

For Zeke's second birthday, we went to the Stoughton Fair with our friends/his godparents, just like we did last year on his first birthday :-) Once we had walked around to visit all of the animals and looked through the 4-H projects indoors, his godmama treated us all to $1 ice creams. In the afternoon, the big kids and Penny and I sneaked away to the pool of some friends while Zeke napped (Grandma and Grandpa stayed with him), but in the evening we celebrated some more with family. He was so excited about the cake and everyone singing happy birthday to him and all of his gifts. In fact, he's been singing happy birthday to himself quite a bit lately.

. I can’t picture our life without this boy's sweet and spicy antics. He gives new meaning to the phrase “you’ve got your hands full” in ways I never even considered until this one came along (just this week he’s learned to open exterior doors 🥴). He can now climb over baby gates, and both of his cribs (we've been trying out having him in the boys' room occasionally) have crib tents, which we've got to clasp closed. He's also been taking off all of his clothes (including often dirty diapers), cluing us in that he's ready to be potty trained (Pray for us next week as we attempt it while the big kids are gone... Mike took off work :-)). He loves cars and trucks, trains and tracks, and anything outdoors, especially riding on his "bike-ickle" with JoJo. I’m so grateful he’s part of our crew! Happy birthday, Zeke!

Sugar River and Stewart Lake

The middle four have been at summer school, so in the mornings, it's just me and the big two ad the little two, which is kind of fun. One morning last week Jack, Zeke, Penny, and I went to Exeter Park, very close to our house to meet up with some friends for some water play in the Sugar River. This is also the spot that the kids and Mike have either ended or started out when Mike takes them kayaking (which they've done a few times this summer) .

Last Thursday, I picked up Joel and TOby at noon from summer school (I usually pick up Joel then, but the big kids have lunch then followed by two more classes), and we headed to Stewart Lake to meet some other friends for an afternoon of playing in the sand, kayaking, paddleboarding and swimming. I'm always so exhausted after these outings, but I'm so grateful when we can get them in. These days of summer are too short.