Halloween

I have been imagining this Rodeo Queen costume for many, many years and it was exciting to see it finally come together this year.  It came together even better than we imagined.  Jane and Peter weren't exactly thrilled to be a cowboy and cowgirl, but we already had most of the pieces so it just made sense.  Besides, they were adorable and I don't apologize.  Sometimes you have to sacrifice for the greater good, kids.  We wore our rodeo costumes to the Ward Trunk or Treat, but we let the kids pick whatever they wanted for Halloween night.  Jane went with a princess dress and a pink super hero cape, and Peter wore his batman costume with a red superhero cape.  In the end we all had a very happy Halloween.

Fall in Indy

Fall is just the best.  I mean, really, who doesn't love fall?  But fall colors in full force AND 80 degree weather, well that calls for celebration and absolute mandatory outdoor time.  We've had several beautiful days like this and many wonderful trips to the park.  I love going for walks with these kiddos.  This day it was Potters Bridge Park in Noblesville.  

Peter (Almost 3)

Peter is just two months shy of 3 years old, and I often find myself at a loss for word to describe him.  He's just so Peter.  In many ways, he's our easiest child.  He's the best sleeper, best sharer, best helper, best at leaving mommy alone... He's just the sweetest... except when he's not, then he's absolutely inconsolable, unreasonable, and incoherent.
I just adore him, though.  He's my little buddy.
He has a special bond with his baby (one of Jane's old baby dolls that never got any love from her).  He takes her to bed with him every night and drags her around during the day.  I'm not sure if I would call it "nurturing", but he certainly is quite attached.  We lost "baby" for a few days and bed time was a little rough for Pete.  One night he said, "Mommy, tomorrow I will get my super hero cape on and I will FLLLLYYYY all over the house until I find my baby and I will save her."  He's going to be a great dad some day.  Jane eventually found Baby in the play kitchen cupboard and brought her to me saying, "The baby has been crying and crying all days long because she has no daddy."  It was a sweet reunion.
Despite all of his love for his little baby, he doesn't care a lick for Alice.  She is just someone that takes his cars or slobbers on his blanket (the very worst offense).  Otherwise, he really doesn't acknowledge her at all.

He loves cars and it often seems that's all he thinks about.  I was asking him the other day what we should get daddy for Christmas.  Jane quickly piped in "A jackhammer" (and I have no idea where that one came from), but Peter decided on "a race car."  "What should we get for Jane."  "A pink race car."  "And what should we get for Alice?"  "I think she would like a little baby race car."  He'll be easy to buy presents for.

He calls balloons "balloonies" and spoons "spoonies".

He is constantly tripping or bumping his head or falling down.  It necessitates a few kisses or maybe being held, and the really bad ones require his blanket with which he is very much attached.  He can't go to bed without it.  Although, when the blanket was out of commission after a night time potty accident, I discovered the kitty hooded towel, is the best blankie back-up.  (Peter seems to have a thing for kittens... at least he's often pretending to be one.)

Peter was a rockstar at potty training.  He had been showing signs of readiness almost a year ago, but with the coming baby, I wasn't ready.  When the pediatrician found out at Peter's two year check up that he knew all his colors and shapes and could count to 10, he warned me not to wait to long with a kid that smart or I would lose my optimal window.  But I was dreading potty training.  Jane took nearly a year to start going potty without any help at all, and Peter, well he's a wild card.  He could be the best or worst, but not likely in the middle.   Fortunately, he was awesome.  Beyond awesome.  That first day I loaded him full of juice and snacks so he was peeing every 10 minutes.  He had an accident on the first go (naturally), but after just one accident, he figured it out and would go sprinting off to the toilet by himself on the first day.  I didn't even have to remind him to go try all the time.  I was fully prepared to have him in pull-ups at night for a year if need be, but he surprised me and woke up to go potty in the night right from the start.  He's doing great.  He can go to the bathroom completely by himself and he's quite independent.  When we're in public restrooms, he wants to go in the stall by himself.  He just has a couple pairs of jeans that he can't pull up by himself, because, as he always says, "jeans are tricky."

He has the BEST giggles and for some reason, pretending to push out poop leads to fits of contagious giggles.  I can't help but laugh along with him.
Now that he's potty trained, he's a lot more aware of his penis, he holds it and frequently comments, "My penis is so long."  Sorry if that's too much information, but potty training a boy has been so different and often very amusing.

Alice (8.5 months)

A month or so ago, Alice started pulling herself up to things.  Boy was that a game changer.  We finally got her into a good sleeping pattern and then everything changed.  Now, if she wakes up in the night, she crawls over to the corner closest to the door, pulls herself up in her crib and just cries.  I know she can get down now, but to date, she hasn't laid back down after crying there ever.  I'll go in now and then and lay her back down and rub her back for a bit, but that has gone on for hours without her being able to put herself back to sleep.  She went for three hours like that once.  She'll figure it out again eventually... right?

The poor girl is also teething.  Her fourth is just barely about to break through.  Maybe that's why she doesn't like anyone else right now.  Our smiley girl, has developed a little stranger danger.
Also, while we're ragging on Ali, she bites... ALL. THE. TIME.  And she slaps me when she nurses.   It's only when she nurses on the right side, but she does it almost every time.  She slaps my chest hard over and over the whole time she's drinking.  If I want her to nurse to sleep, I usually nurse her on the left side, so she doesn't keep herself awake with all the slapping.

She's good at feeding herself cheerios or bananas, and that is a HUGE help.  She eats everything we give her and I often wonder how much she would eat if we just kept handing it to her.

She's a handful at church now and a busy little baby at home.  I frequently catch her grabbing handfuls of dirt from the plant, climbing the stairs, throwing things in the toilet or unraveling the toilet paper.  She might be a little stinker these days, but we're so crazy about her.  She's absolutely adorable, ultra-smiley, and gives me the best hugs when I rescue her from whatever she's gotten herself into.  We just adore her.

Jane (4 years old)

Our little four year old is so aware of her age now.  For months leading up to turning four, she made all kinds of promises.
"When I am four, I won't wake up daddy, ever again."
"When I am four, I will like to eat my carrots."
"When I am four I will never hit Peter."
None of those have come true and I feel so betrayed.

In all fairness, she isn't hitting Peter near as much.  I really can see a difference in her 4 year old maturity.  She's a little more helpful (a little), mostly when it comes to Alice.  She pays so much attention to her and loves to make her laugh.  She keeps her occupied when I need it and that can be SO helpful.   She likes to feed her and get her toys and help her down from things when she stands up and panics because she can't get down.  I really love how much she genuinely loves her sister.
When I ever so gently comb Jane's hair, she cries and yells at me, but when Ali grabs a fistful and rips it out by the root, Jane just grimaces and then says with a smile, "She's a grabber!"  I guess that's just the relationship they have.
Jane is constantly writing lullabies for Alice.  "I just made a new song for Alice," she'll say and then launch into some off-key crooning.  "Alice it's ok, you don't have to feel so bad. It's ok, it's ok, it's ok Aaaaaaaaaaaliiiiiiiiiiiii...."

She's not always so sweet, though.  She's become a little more defiant also and she and I butt heads frequently.  She's started saying "No way!" or "Never!" in a stubborn four-year-old way that drives me nuts or she completely ignores me and that really gets my goat.

But our real struggle with Jane is that she is still waking up all through the night and wandering into our room to get daddy.  We are at a loss with what to do.  Sometimes it's bad dreams, sometimes needing to go potty and sometimes no reason but sleepy autopilot.  Peter wakes up occasionally to go to the bathroom too, so between the three of them, we are getting no sleep.

Jane loves to giggle and when something strikes her funny bone, she wants to recreate that moment over and over.  "Mom, let's play a game, it's called: Run around the table and slip on the towel and say 'Uh-Oh'.  Can we play that game?"  It's always forced laughs after that, but she still wants to do it over and over.

When we leave Church, we race daddy home and it's a BIG deal to Jane and Peter.  They always want to make sure we're going the "fastest way".  They count to the biggest numbers they can think of, (which for Peter, always ends in "twenty-one hundred").  They picked that trick up from one of their shows where counting makes the car go faster.  They want me to use "Blazing Speed" at strategic moments (another show), and ever since Chris managed to beat us by taking advantage of a left turn light, Jane always wants me to "turn left at the ice cream picture" even when it's not in our best interest to do so. (And yes, she gets left and right correct a surprising amount of the time).

Jane's getting pretty good on her bike with training wheels.  She loves to ride and goes pretty fast on the straightways, but is VERY cautious with curbs or hills.  She's the one that wants to be outside the most.

Jane needs sunglasses the way I do.  I get headaches if I'm in the sun without shades on.  I'm not sure if Jane get's headaches, but she complains that it's too bright even for a moment and keeps her sunglasses on whenever it's bright out.

We've had a pass the Children's Museum for the last year, but I haven't decided yet if I want to renew it, or go for another venue.  Jane asks all the time if we can go, and I've had to explain the situation several time.  Now when Chris goes to work, she says things like "Daddy can you go to work now, so you can make lots of money and that's a pass so we can go to the Children's Museum."

I sure love her and all of her quirks.  She's our little Jane.

We were having a fun little moment sharing cookies and chocolate milk while the others were taking naps, but when I gave her the go-ahead to blow bubbles as hard and long as she could, I may have achieved favorite parent status in that moment... just that little moment, though.