He thinks he's so big.

It's funny that I already have 2 kids and I still forget when babies are supposed to "do" certain things. So I decided to bust out the Bumbo and see how he did, not remembering if he was old enough yet. It was kind of like a baby on crack. He was spazzing out all over the place. His little spirit is still trying to figure out how to control this new body. He thought he was pretty cool. And so did I.

Turning a corner.

I think we may be entering better days with Carter. The late night, 5 hour scream fests have died down. He's much happier during the day and actually lets me put him down for more than 5 seconds. He's more alert. Still spazzy with his body, but is trying to swat his mobile and likes to hold onto and chew on washcloths. I can't quite give him a rattle because he'll smack himself in the head.

I think part of his progress is his age. He'll be 3 months tomorrow. I also think it has to do with the liquid gold my doctor prescribed that seems to help his tummy quite a bit. And I quit drinking milk (not diet coke, but milk). I notice a definite difference in the amount of spitting up when I drink milk. So goodbye leche for now.

I'm not gonna lie. The last 3 months have been rough. He hasn't been an easy baby. But hopefully he got it out of his system and now he'll be a dream. (Positive energy/thinking around here).

I love, love, love the next few months of baby phase. Alert, interactive, but unable to get anywhere on their own.

The pics below. Very endearing. He holds the strings of my hoodie when he falls asleep. He can scream and scream and then grabs onto those and falls asleep.

Homework....

There's rage. Pent up rage. And sometimes it gets let out. With a fury.

Jaida. The past little while I've noticed she can become angry. Very angry. Ball up your fists, face turns red, yelling, screaming angry.

Sometimes it's fueled by something. Sometimes it comes unexpectedly. It's odd. And I still haven't figured out the best way to handle it. Right now I'm trying patience, but that won't last forever.

The latest battle (that goes along with all the others we have with her i.e. hair--oh hair how I hate you, bedtime--she's never tired, playing with friends all hours of the day, clothes, shoes, meals, etc., etc.)...but the latest battle--homework.

I use the word homework liberally. Reading a 5 page book with 5 words on each page and writing 1 sentence isn't exactly grueling homework.

But she resists (because that's what she does best). And she cries. And she carries on. And her arm hurts. And her hand hurts. And she just. can't. do it.

Solution--homework has to be done before she can play with friends. It shouldn't take more than 5 minutes. Yesterday, it took 45. Yes, 45 minutes. I try not to feed into it. But she's very good at sucking you in. And within the 45 minutes, she lost the privilege to play with friends (because that's the only thing that matters to her).

For 45 minutes she insisted that I do her homework. She wanted me to read the book and me to write the sentence.

"Homework is for YOU to learn Jaida, not me."

"No. You do it. I want it to be in good hand writing. You write it."

"I'm pretty sure your teacher would know that I wrote the sentence."

"No she won't. Just do it. I'll tell her it was me. Just sign it off, mom."

Cheating. And lying. And she's 5. Awesome.

Carter's first buddy.

I have a feeling these two may cause a lot of trouble together.

"House"

Should I be concerned when my girls play "house" they often pretend the mom is dead.....

They don't come cooler than this.

At least my kids don't suffer from lack of personality. Or sweet outfits and hair.

Mr. C

They grow WAY too fast.

Snowmen

One of the many activities Mike orchestrated to keep the girls busy right after Carter was born.

The whole family in snowmen form. Jaida's holding Carter the snowman.

Thatta boy.

I knew all he needed was a little direction. Carter woke up once last night. Once. He nearly slept through the night. I was actually sore from being in the same position for too long when I woke up to feed him. And today he's been asleep for 4 hours. A four hour nap. What a champ. Guess I need to write him letters more often. :)

Christmas 2009

Christmas wasn't quite what we expected or planned for as Carter came 2 weeks early. Thankfully I had all my shopping done and wrapped before he was born. And we even had some presents for him, as if he cared.

Jaida wanted a "DS" for Christmas. She got a V-tech that we call a DS. And Mya wanted an i-pod. She got a Hello Kitty MP3 player which she is still quite pleased with. She loves to listen to "All the single ladies" on it.

Obviously our best Christmas gift was Carter. He slept through Christmas. And the two of us lounged on the couch while the girls tore through gifts and Mike played photographer for the day.

Addendum

Lest I paint our sweet baby as a complete monster, I need to clarify. He's not a monster. Just a booger sometimes. He's sleeping fairly well at night, only waking to eat. He gives me a big smile when he wakes up in the morning and sometimes a shriek of excitement. He loves the big light box (otherwise known as the TV). And he's VERY tolerant of his sometimes over-excited sisters. He doesn't cry when Mya is close enough to climb up his nose and he lets Jaida hold him occasionally. And he makes us all smile every time we see him.

Don't get a complex Carter. We love you.

A letter.

Dear Carter,

You're new around here, so I thought I'd help you out by giving you a few tips:

--Crying is every childs weapon. A manipulation tool, if you will. The less you use that weapon, the more effective it becomes. The more you use it, the less effect it has. So if you cry all day, it lessens the effect. And instead of being sensitive to it, we become un/de/in-sensitive to it. So please, use it wisely. If you cry, you need to mean it. From the wise words of my father "Quit your crying or I'll give you something to cry about."

--Crying in the car is not aloud. Ever. Screaming in the car is completely unacceptable. You're a baby. You're supposed to LOVE the car. You're supposed to SLEEP in the car.

--Dad's arms are just as good as moms. Please do not try to differentiate between the two. Preference at your age isn't really allowed.

--Drinking from a bottle will be necessary at times. Learn this quickly or there will be some ugly days ahead.

--Mya means well. I'm sorry.

--I am not a binky. Enough said.

In case that sounded negative, we love you. We really do. And if the worst thing I have to do is hold you all day (and all night) so be it. We'll take you as you are. Because you're awesome and we love you no matter what.

With love,

Mom

Tilby cabin

My sisters in-laws have a cabin (that they built themselves) that we go to about once a year. This time the entire family made it up there for a sleepover. This was last July. Looking through the pictures made me excited for all the fun things I have planned for this summer. :)

The entire John Thueson family (minus Carter...well, he's in my belly). Quite a crew. If only I had videotaped the agony that was this picture. My family is a real gem to photograph. Mean, mean, mean. :)