Eliana turns 5

Almost two months ago now, Eliana turned 5 years old!  What an exciting birthday - a whole handful.  For her birthday, we celebrated by having her best friend Adele and her family over for dinner and cake.  Eliana is not much of a fan of surprises, so she actually helped make the cake with me.

Blowing out her candles

Eating the icing off of the cake

For her birthday, Eliana really wanted a snuggie tale.  For those not in the know, this is a sleeping bag style blanket that looks like the tail of an animal (fish, shark, dolphin, etc).  Eliana is the queen of memorizing commercials and anything she sees on TV she wants.  She was so excited to open her gift and find a mermaid tail snuggie tail.  She said it is perfect for just about anything you want to do - sleep in, watch TV, watch a movie, have a slumber party... Pretty much everything!  I was cracking up when she was telling me this because she was totally a perfect advertisement for this blanket.  I love my sweet little girl!

She of course slept it in that night and has ever since!

So excited.

My little mermaid

She spent the next day kinda hopping/walking around in her tail.  She wore it on the couch while we read books or watched TV.  She wore it to sit at the table.  She wanted to wear it in the car, but found out it was not compatible with a 5 point harness on a carseat, which made her cry a little (side note - she has now officially graduated to a booster seat full time, which she is also excited about - but she has lost interest in wearing her snuggie tail in the car).  She even brought the tail with her to COSI, the children's science museum in town, to wear when we saw a movie in the planetarium!

It's perfect for watching movies!

I should contact the company and tell them about their biggest fan.  Eliana would make the perfect spokesperson for their commercials.  This has to be one of her top favorite things right now.

Eliana also received some money for her birthday.  This is the first time she has really gotten birthday money that was hers to spend (and not meant for a college fund) that she really understood the point of.  Shortly after her birthday, we went to Once Upon A Child to pick up some shoes.  She and William of course found some toys that they wanted, which always happens when we go to Once Upon A Child.  At first I told the kids no to the toys because we were shopping for shops.  However, Eliana asked if she could spend her birthday money and buy the toys herself.  I thought that was a great idea!  She picked out a pony, a little stroller, and a craft book with paper and supplies like glitter.  She even had a little bit of money left over that she used to buy William the large T-Rex dinosaur that he had found.  How sweet!  She spent her own birthday money on buying a gift for her brother.  We often talk about sharing what we have with those in need, and she mentioned that when she got the toy for him.  I was so proud of her!

At her 5 year appointment, Eliana was 45in tall (90th percentile) and weighed 45lbs (82nd percentile).  She passed her hearing and vision screens.  All in all, she is a pretty normal girl.

Love this girl

Laney and I have been in a bit of a battle lately.  She must be growing because all she wants to do is eat, eat, and eat in the evening.  She breastfeeds for a long time then falls asleep.  So, since she is asleep, I have the crazy idea that she should go lay in her crib.  She is in sharp disagreement with this idea.  When I lay her down, Laney realizes that she is starving and needs to eat for another hour or two before going to bed.  At first, I was getting frustrated because I wanted her to go to bed and stay in bed.  However, since that is not working, I have decided to embrace this time together.  Right now I am just counting on my evenings being spent sitting on the couch nursing.  Some of the chores that I usually do in the evenings have been neglected but Laney will only be little for a short, short time.  I can appreciate these snuggle sessions with my little sweetie because they won't last forever.  For now, Laney, you win this battle.  I'm all yours!

Pretty girl

I'm always encouraging Laney to roll over, so her siblings try to help her out any chance they get.

Toes! They are so exciting!

Sleeping beauty.  Look at those lashes!

Ice cream? Who's feeding my baby ice cream?

Love my Laney Lu

Wacky Weather

We have had some really strange weather this winter.  A couple of weeks ago, the temperatures were in the 50s and even hit 60 or more a few days.  My daffodils are starting to peek through the ground!  Those silly flowers don't realize that we have lots of cold weather to come and they shouldn't try to bloom yet.  After the spring weather, we had a little bit of snow (Eliana's favorite) and then the past couple of days have been very cold with a bitter wind chill.  What is going on?  In preschool on Thursday, Eliana learned about Groundhog's Day.  This year Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow which is supposed to mean 6 more weeks of winter.  For some reason though Eliana got things mixed up and thought that meant spring was coming soon. She was in tears because she said we haven't had enough snow yet.  Even though I have enjoyed the warm days outdoors, I would have to agree with her.  What a wacky winter!

50 degree day means we took a walk to the park!  I love how much these two play together better.  Eliana loves to make up games and William loves to follow her lead. (sometimes...)

Then we had a 60+ degree day so another trip to the park.  The kids spent a good 1/2  hour running around the playground but then the rest of the time they were playing in the mud around the playground.  They found some tree branches to haul around.  Then they found a puddle to throw a bunch of rocks in.  Last, they found some mud to tromp through.  We finally had to leave to go home when William got his boots stuck in the mud and fell.  He was covered in mud from head to toe - literally!  When we got to the van, I made him strip down and ride home in just his diaper.  Good thing it was warm!  Then I threw him in the tub when we got home.  That was so much fun!  I was slightly inclined at first to tell the kids not to play in the mud because it was too messy.  I'm so glad I didn't and let them just be kids.  We had a blast and I laughed so hard when I pulled my dirty mess of a son out of the mud.  This is what childhood is for!

This cutie took a little nap in my lap in the sun.

When she woke up, we tried out the swing for the first time ever.

I think she liked it!

Looking for rocks to throw in the puddle.  This was a little before the great mud fall.

 A mere five days later, we were playing in the snow in our front yard!

First snowman of the season.

Eliana was so excited and so proud! Note William playing in the dirt in the background.  Typical Will.

Snowball fight.

Hopefully we get some more snow before spring.  We love it in this household!

Hanging with her brother

Laney is probably slow on the moving and rolling action because it is often not safe to leave her on the ground.  She is so loved by her big siblings that it can literally be smothering. 

Trying out some tummy time.  She tires of this quickly and asks (loudly) to be placed on her back.

She actually really likes her play mat and will reach for her toys and try to eat time.

...or eat her fingers

Hey! William's come to play! He starts kicking the play mat

After this he likes to try to roll her up in the mat.

It is so sweet how much William and Eliana like playing with Laney.  Sometimes they don't realize that she isn't as strong as them though and it gets a little rough.  That's when I swoop in and pick Laney up.  I love those little kids!

Laney at 2, 3 and 4 months old

Since Magdalena is now over 4 months old, it seems only fair that I finally post her monthly updates.

2 Months
Laney weighed in at 12lbs 12.5 ounces (75%) and 22.75 in (50%) - she finally grew taller.  At one month, she was 29th percentile for height, so I am glad to see that she is getting a little longer.  I suspect she will be our littlest child.  By comparison, at two months, Eliana was 13lbs and 23.5 in long  while William was 13 lbs 14.5 ounces (!!) and also 23.5in long.  Laney did great at her two month check up with her shots.  She continues to have great head control.

She really started smiling socially around 7 weeks.

3 Months
At three months, we did not have a check up, so I am not quite sure on her stats.  According to the very technical process of standing on the scale and then standing on the scale with Laney and finding the difference, I weighed her at around 14lbs.  Then, according to Eliana's Doc McStuffins' growth chart, she was around 24in long.  Her big event for three months was getting baptized! At three months, Laney is sleeping a little better - usually she starts with a good six hour chunk of sleep.

Looks like I didn't get any great pictures for the three month shot.  Probably because I had too many helpers. 

She has a big scratch on her nose from me - I'm a bad mom!  Poor thing cried so hard when I scratched her with my nail.

Poor Laney.  She can't hardly get a moment to herself.

4 Months
Time for another check up.  Laney was 14lbs 12 oz (60%) and 24.5in long (48%).  She is hanging right around average.  In comparison, Eliana was 15lbs 7 oz and 26in long while William was 16lb 12 oz and 25.5in long. Can you believe how big my other kids were? Little Laney Lu is so petite in comparison.  All went well with her check up.  She rolled over for the first time this month!  Belly to back, three times in a row.  But then she hasn't done it since, silly girl.  I have yet to see her roll from her back to her belly, but she does roll on her side.  She recently discovered her tongue and really thinks it is awesome.  She like to suck on it all the time (in fact, she almost prefers that over the pacifier).  She also started to hold things in her hands and really likes to bring them to her mouth to suck on.  She has several sets of baby keys and LOVES to chew and suck on those.  She also has a big rattle that we carry around a lot.  Last Sunday at church she was holding it.  She started waving her arm around and ended up whacking herself in the face, which made her pretty mad.  I couldn't help but laugh a little because she was just so surprised that she had done that.

More photo help

I only got two pictures on the chair before my "helpers" were throwing blankets over Laney's face and laughing.  In the pictures below, I am literally sitting on William with Eliana climbing on my back, trying to get some shots with just little Miss here.  At least the craziness got some smiles out of her.

Classic Laney half smile.

See that cute dimple?

Another Laney classic - sucking on her bottom lip.

Sucking on her tongue that she loves.

 I feel like Laney's sleep has gotten a little worse lately.  We are back to a lot of crying in the evening with lots and lots of nursing.  She typically eats non stop from 8pm to 11pm or midnight.  She has very little interest in her pacifier.  Nothing seems to comfort her at that time except nursing.  If you try to hold her and rock her, she just spits out her paci and throws her head back crying.  David calls her the "Daddy Slayer" because we get so very little sleep.  She amazes me because she is so happy and smiley at times but then just cries so much at other times.  I love when I come home from work because she greats me with the biggest smile that just melts my heart.  It spreads across her whole face.  Who wouldn't want to come home to a greeting like that?  But then she just loses it and starts screaming like we are trying to murder her.  Laney is a very emotional girl and likes to express her opinions.  But just when we are on the brink of death from exhaustion, Laney will sleep 10 hours at night, totally out of the blue.  Sometimes she is our worst sleeper and sometimes she is the best.  This girl is crazy.