Week 59

Dear Kids, 

This week the weather dipped down and winter has officially arrived. We started the weekend off with a birthday party at locomotion. 

 And then afterwards we went to AMD's annual fall festival where we had lots of yummy food, played games participated in the craziest pinata game I've ever witnessed.

 We probably spent the most time playing mini golf. You guys ran around from hole to hole.

 while Hailey just hung out in the stroller as snug as a bug.

 On Sunday our neighborhood held a chili cook-off and vendor fair. Nathan you decided to sell your perler bead creation and Hannah, you were insistent on selling cookies and lemonade. Nathan made $25 in sales and Hannah made $1.00 from the 1 glass of lemonade that you sold to Nathan. I mean it was pretty tough to compete with free cookies that were offered at the chili cook off. It started to drizzle and it was cold. Of course the sun started to shine when the event was over.

 Nathan, you picked out 2 lego sets to buy with your hard earned money.

 Hailey, you are getting around lately and surprisingly you are not much of a trouble maker. When I sense that it is too quiet and start to look for you, I can almost always find you with a book in your hand flipping and looking at the pics. You are actually really good with the books and you hardly ever rip any of the pages!

 You are getting more expressive as you figure out more ways to communicate. You have mastered nodding and shaking your head. You are also a pro at pointing.

You love riding the bouncy horse and the frozen ATV. You are getting pretty good at pushing the button yourself and riding around the play room.

 You are also becoming more interested in cruising/pushing things around. You can stand on your own for about 5 seconds but so far not too many independent steps.

We are now down to 1 pouch a day, 4-5 breastfeeding sessions, 12 oz whole milk, and solid foods. You are very interested in using utensils and sometimes will only take a bit out of a spoon or a fork. Sometimes you are even so ambitious that you want to use chopsticks!

You are a true toddler because one day you will eat a bunch of beans and then the next day you won't even touch one. I have found that you love hummus, particularly one with roasted onions and Basalmic vinegar. You have eaten that stuff 4 days in a row.

You are sometimes waking up at around 11 or 12, but I've not been responding to you then. You usually will complain for about 15 minutes and then sleep until 5ish. I'll nurse you once and then you'll sleep until 7:30ish. You take a nap at around 10:15 for about an hour and then 2:30 for another hour. You are put down each night and at naps awake and you fall asleep on your own. I'm just not sure why you can't sleep through the night. I keep telling myself that this is just a phase. This is just a phase.

Monday evening Hannah started to cough a croupy cough. I'm only documenting this because it seems like this time each year, you get the same thing. Is it allergies? I don't know. But every time you get this cough, you just cough non-stop to the point you gag and vomit.

I talked with another mom whose kid does the same thing and she mentioned that he has large tonsils which affect him. We go to the dentist on Monday so maybe we can check out if large tonsils are also affecting you.

Overall, I'm so glad that your cough is sounding better and you have been able to get a decent amount of sleep. Hopefully you are on the mend and can resume regular activities soon.

Originally when I first found out that you were sick, I was a bit bitter about losing my mornings and the ability to go to the gym; however, once I shifted my perspective and saw this as a great opportunity to bond with you I found it to be so pleasant. We crafted, played games, cleaned, we practiced Chinese and I really found the time with you to be so pleasant. You are very logical, thoughtful, and reasonable, very different from the obstinate and mischievous girl that I knew from before. Hello fabulous 4!

 Thanksgiving is coming up and we have  a surprise for you guys next week. It'll be fun.

Until next week,
Love,
Mommy