She Said

I'm using this post to pass along a couple of recent Princess #3 "isms" that were just too cute to forget.

"It seems to me that it's time to watch a little t.v.", she casually says after dinner.

"Can you pass me the Prince's cell phone machine that he just got from Nora?"
(A bit of a generation gap there, seems to me! :-) )

"Mama, what do you call it when your tummy is rumbly? Oh yeah, hungry!"

Did you ever think there would come a day that you would see this gal in jeans. Denim.Jeans.
Will wonders ever cease?? :)
Of course, this has been a one-time sighting mind you!!

Patience Has Ceased to be a Virtue

Princess #3 is in full-on Christmas mode! She is loving all there is about Christmas in the castle, but in her mind (and limited grasp of time concepts), it is taking a very, long time to get to that big day!

Today I caught her under the tree inspecting presents because she thought she smelled peanut butter and was checking to see if any of her gifts was squishy, "like a sandwich, Mama".

And yesterday when informed by the countdown calendar that there were 10 whole days til Christmas, put her hands on her little hips and proclaimed with intense disgust, "Why couldn't Jesus have been born early, like I was???"

Why indeed sweet girl, why indeed.

10 Months with Our Boy

At 10 months old, our sweet Prince is quite the guy! We are enjoying seeing even more girl vs. boy differences in how he interacts with his world! It's fun!

So without further ado, at 10 months old the Prince . . .

. . . wears 18-24 month size clothes and size 4.5 shoes.

. . . has 8 teeth.

. . . can squat down to inspect something (while holding on to something)

. . . walks while pushing chairs, stools, trucks, etc.

. . . loves the pot drawer.

. . . has an unhealthy obsession with chewing on shoes.

. . . wears size 4 diapers.

. . . loves to feed himself.

. . . tolerates being spoon fed, some of the time.

. . . is a great kitten/cat catcher.

. . . loves his little daily routine.

. . . clicks his tongue when he sees you eating or is hungry.

. . . stills loves those squeaky toys and making sniffing sounds.

. . . likes to crawl around with a toy in his mouth or in his hand.

. . . loves Christmas lights!!

. . . love, love, LOVES his big sisters.

. . . love, love, LOVES his mama and daddy.

and they all love him back!!

Overheard from the Family Room . . .

. . . "No, no, I'm the mom! And that means I don't need any rest. I do everything that the family needs. I do NOT need to rest. I do NOT need to go to the doctor. OKAY??? I am the MOM!", Princess #3 says to "dad" aka Princess #1, who was also moonlighting as a doctor.



Is that really her perception of me? Me, the enforcer of the hated daily rest time. Explained to her daily, as "I know you don't need any rest, but Mama needs rest time, so choose to show Mama love by having a cheerful heart and being quiet!!!! Thank you in advance for your cooperation." Very interesting . . .

Potato, Potahto

On our way home in the dark early evening last night, I tried to engage Princess #3 in a little Christmas fun, spotting Christmas lights. Here is the result:

Queen: Princess #3!! Look at that huge tree covered in lights!! Wow, isn't it amazing??
(Now I shudder to think how much I must have sounded like my own mother did when she pointed out the Oregon Trail marks along Hwy 97 during every childhood trip to Bend, OR :)!!)

Princess #3 (in a completely disinterested voice): Oh, you mean that giant mushroom with Christmas lights?

Hey, in my defense, is it every day you get to see a giant lighted mushroom???

Ham Please

This face right here says it all. I love it a little more each day.

Little By Little

As most of you know, I am a Christmas junkie. I love this time of the year! Usually by now my decorations would be up, the tree up, cookies a-baking, but this year I am apparently taking the bit by bit approach to the holiday. Which is fine. It is allowing the girls to help decorate more (read that as: do the dusting-hee!) and have more say in what snowman goes where, and that is fun!

I'm loving how each daughter's personality is revealed by how she chooses how to decorate. Princess #1 is a traditionalist, this snowman goes there, because that's where he's been since I can remember. Princess #2 is a flyin'-by-the-seat-of-her-pants kind of gal, this snowman goes here because it looks fabulous (a Fancy Nancy reference there, in case you missed it!). While Princess #3 is all about staging (read that as: quantity, as in I want them all here!), she very carefully groups her decorations all in one location. The Prince obviously is a bit young to get in on the action, but does notice the different things popping up in his line of sight and is especially appreciative of any put in his reach.

So as December begins, I hope each of you is enjoying getting ready to celebrate the Christ-child's birth in your own special way. I know I am!

Nine Months!

As is my tradition on this blog, here is the latest and greatest about the Prince as he reaches his 9th month:

. . . has 7 teeth, number 8 should be with us shortly.

. . . wears size 3 or 4 diapers.

. . . wears 12-24 month size clothes and size 15-18 month size shoes.

. . . crawls everywhere, very quickly, very stealthily.

. . . craves the excited squeal that he gets after getting into a sister's stuff.

. . . snorts like a pig.

. . . loves to snort like a pig at the dinner table and then pauses for his people to laugh.

. . . loves to sniff.very.loudly.and.often.

. . . plays with Mama's hair very gently, especially after naps.

. . . loves to be outside.

. . . pulls up to standing on anything that will stay still long enough.

. . . is obsessed with Jackson's (the doxi-beagle) tags. Sorry Jack.

. . . cruises along the furniture or bath tub or anything else that is long enough.

. . . love, love, loves his sisters.

. . . love, love, loves his mama and daddy.

. . . and they all love, love, love him too!

Reassurance

Princess #1: Mama, would you just drop us off instead of coming in too?

Queen: long silent pause

Princess #1 (hurriedly interrupting long silent pause): It's not that I'm embarrassed by you or anything, it's just so much faster if you just drop us off.

Good thing she clarified, else I might have been forced to come in just on account of needing to do my "motherly" duty and embarrass my child simply by existing. :)

Happiness Is . . .

. . . having daughters who totally dig the fact that you knit. And in fact, will find something that has been knit in a catalog and ask if you will make it for them.In their specified colors.Starting as soon as possible. Because they love what you make them. And because they love what you make them, you want to make what they want!!

{Next up: Felted iPod cozy for Princess #1. Can't wait to start in on it!!}

Good Medicine

Do you know the Proverb that says, "A cheerful heart is good medicine."? If you need a dose of happiness please feel free to watch this little video as often as you need. I know it gets me smiling every time I do. There is something irresistible about a good baby belly laugh!!

Semantics

A real life conversation taken from real life at the castle.

Queen: Okay, tell my why you've been crying.

Princess #2: Princess #1 punched me in the nose.

Queen: Why did she punch you in the nose?

Princess #2: I don't know, I guess she was mad at me.

Queen: (thinking to herself: you think?), instead saying:
Why did you punch your sister in the nose?

Princess #1: I didn't know that I would hit her in the nose.

Five Little Kittens

I'll take this post to more formally introduce you to the castle's brood . . . we think three of them are girls and 2 are boys, but I'm no expert!!

We call these two little gals "the twins"

or Mrs. Sarah's babies, since they already have a home.
This guy is my favorite, black nose, dark ears and stripey tail.
This guy has so many names and he's the biggest, so it's either Mr. Fatso, Mr. Bombastic, or Moto Moto. He's got a black nose, darker ears and a stripey tail.

This one we lovingly call Miss Screampot. If we need Willow to come back to the box we just pick her up and her mews call that mama back super quick!!

We still have the little girl above and a little boy left . . . which little boy I don't know yet either Mr. F or my fav. And of course if you want an older kitty, Willow needs a good home too. Hint hint!! They are awfully sweet and oh so cute!! Please . . .

Gratuitous Knitting Post

Bought this yarn from Jill, for the Prince. See who claimed it? On account of the red being too pink. Hmmm, never had this problem before. Always before it was a sizing issue. Guess I better put in a new order for the boy.

If you are a knitter or crocheter and you love to make hats or other soft squishy things you really should get some yarn from Jill. Her yarn is handspun, hand-dyed, and absolutely unbelievably beautiful!!!! I have yet to be anything but stunned over her yarns.

When the Pacifier Quits

So ever since the nasty sinus infection/cold/teething the Prince had going on in September, the pacifier doesn't pacify. Which is sad. Well, for the Queen that is! However, the Prince has figured out other means to put himself to sleep . . . like wadding up mama's shirt or his blankie and stuffing those into his mouth to fall to sleep. Personally, I say whatever works.

Using the blankie a.k.a. pacifier

And the Queen's shirt a.k.a. pacifier

Happiness Is . . .

Here Comes Trouble

He's mobile. He may be slow, but what he lacks in speed he makes up in determination. Our little guy has decided that forward motion is much better than backward-ruh roh! Time to start cleaning daily, well okay, vacuuming. Time to do Barbie, Polly Pocket, LPS, Lego sweeps every half hour!! Time for the Prince to get where he wants to when he wants to. I'm just not sure that I'm ready for him to be mobile.

"Ah-ha," he says, "the diapering basket all to my self!!"

" Found what I wanted. I'll clean it up later, Mama, I promise."

"When I shake it, it makes noise!! Happy happy day!"

Soccer Season

All three Princess' played soccer this year. The older two loved it and had great experiences on both of their teams. Princess #3 isn't quite as enamored, but the goal she scored at her last game did help to give the season a positive spin. Not that her team and coaches weren't excellent and fun, it's that you have to wear certain clothes and mama would prefer that your hair was swooped up and styled instead of her current "Violet Parr" look when playing soccer. Regardless it was fun to watch all three expand on their skills and learn some new ones!
Here are some pictures from the season:

Princess #3 far left

Princess #1 in center (white jersey)

Princess #2 far left and she's open-hello!

Did I Mention We Have Cats??

Like 6 new cats. Like we're crazy cat people now. A stray (now we know for sure!) mama cat adopted us about a month ago. And last Wednesday in the early am, made us the proud adopters-by-default of 5 baby kitties. To make it even harder to turn her away, since we wouldn't let her in the castle, she had her babies in an abandoned dollhouse in the garage. Cats anyone???? Please.

Proud mama, that the girls have named Willow-pelt. Willow for short.

She chose to have the babies in the living room, with easy access to the kitchen above for those late night munchies.

5 little kitties all in a pile. Couldn't have asked for a better science-unit this fall!!

Eight Months Old-No Fooling!

Our sweet boy is 8 months old today. Yikes! Time is a-flyin' by. Not that I am complaining, ahem, too loudly that is. Let's see what he's up to this month shall we?

At 8 months the Prince . . .

. . . loves to eat finger foods, like graham crackers and bits of fruit.

. . . wears 12-18 mo. size clothes, size 3 diapers during the day, size 4 at night, and size 12-24 mo. shoes/socks.

. . . claps his hands, but not when you ask.

. . . clicks his tongue.alot.

. . . has 4 teeth, with 4 more on the verge of coming through.

. . . plays peek-a-boo by holding his bib or blanket over his face. Very cute!

. . . loves to be outside, especially on walks around the block.

. . . raises both his arms when you ask him, "How big is baby?"

. . . crawls backwards.

. . . G.I. Joe's forwards.

. . . can go from crawl position to sitting.

. . . loves to feed the dogs aka throw food on the floor and watch the dogs hoover it up.

. . . has decided to be done with the pacifiers.

. . . loves bedtime and bath time, but mostly bedtime.

. . . gives the best post-nap hugs.ever.

. . . love, love, LOVES his sisters.

. . . love, love, LOVES his mama and daddy.

and they all love, love, LOVE him back.