Beautiful Weather (and a Date with Aunt Jamie)!

Although it's taken a bit of a turn the past few days, the weather for pretty much the whole month of September has been amazing, so I've been dragging my kids outside at every opportunity. One day, we went to Willowbrook Wildlife Center. The kids had fun looking at the animals, but I think they had more fun taking selfies and doing the Nae Nae on the wooden stage.

We've spent a ton of time outside with our neighbors. I've said it before, but I really love our culdesac. The slide in the tot lot is the first thing that motivated Paige to climb up stairs!

I think I've also mentioned this before, but Brooke is on a soccer team with all girls from her school and she is really enjoying it. It's really fun to see her enthusiasm.

Matt helped coach one of their games. Let's just say I'm not sure he'll be asked back.

(Thanks to Grammie Deb for the great photos!)

My kids really have the cutest cousins!

Aunt Jamie took Brooke out for a back-to-school dinner a couple of weeks ago. Brooke requested sushi and they compromised on burgers.

I took Miles and Paige to Cosley Zoo the other day while Brooke was at school. We haven't gone in awhile as Brooke is "over it," so it was fun to rediscover it with these two. Of course, Miles' favorite thing their was the train car with games inside.

Feeding the ducks!

We've also rediscovered bubble baths. Paige was legitimately frightened the first time I put her in, but quickly changed her tune.

Bring on October!

The Lost Photos

Every couple of months, I ask Matt to load the pictures from his phone onto the computer - so enjoy these pics from the end of the summer.

Jeff and Michelle were so generous to take us out on their boat. It was a chilly, rainy day, so Paige and I stayed back, but Matt and the kids had a blast. They talked about it for days after.

Matt also took the kids to the pool by himself (I can't even remember why, now) for one of their last swims of the summer.

#chillin

Paige wasn't super-impressed with Matt's selfie face.

...but Brooke was!

Miles is quite the entertaining sleeper these days.

Obligatory clock pic. If any of my kids get married at Medinah I want to get a picture like this with them as grown-ups.

 

 

September Randoms

Since it's been so long since I last posted, I have a couple of random photos from many different occasions, so I'm just going to lump them all into one post. There was that night that we had dinner with Niall from One Direction and our Alley Family text strand got into the triple digits.

The kids and I got to have lunch with Grandma Audie after school a couple of weeks ago.

Miles went through a stage where he would wake up in the middle of the night, and because we'd told him not to come into our room unless he was scared or hurt, he'd lay in our doorway. Kind of sweet, kind of creepy. I've implemented a chart system and he hasn't done that in awhile. And he's generally been much happier and alert during the day - I'm going to assume because he's not spending half the night sleeping on the floor. (And in our defense, he was super-quiet about it! As soon as one of us realized he was there, we'd take him back to bed.)

He's rarely napping these days, but when he does, it usually looks like this.

We recently enjoyed a family afternoon at the Arboretum.

I'm having fun spending time with just these two on MWF mornings. It's crazy how the dynamic changes with one less kid. Miles seems more talkative and also more interested in engaging Paige.

Paige's first time "shotgun" in the Target super cart. I think she liked it.

Thank you, God, for the amazing weather we've been having lately. This was after the pool had closed, so we got really classy and turned on the sprinkler in the backyard.

We play outside after rest time almost daily. I'll say again how thankful I am for our cul-de-sac full of kids and great families. And I'll throw some Debbie Downer in there and say how much I'm NOT looking forward to winter. *shudder*

This little guy is so special. He cracks us up everyday. While he has some stinker in him, he's generally very sweet and thoughtful. His speech is getting more and more intelligible, which I think is also boosting his confidence.

Brooke continues love kindergarten and school in general. She's spoiling me in her eagerness and willingness to do her homework and get to school in the morning. (Sidenote: While it's not always practical, I LOVE that we can walk to school in the morning.) She also continues to make questionable wardrobe decisions during rest time that become more apparent when we go outside to play.

I'll leave you with a gallery of Alley Girls' Selfies:

I promise it won't be a month before I post again!

Paige is Seventeen Months!

Paige turned seventeen months a few days ago and I'm in a little bit of denial about it, which is evidenced by how I baby her. I think that I'm starting to understand the psyche of the youngest child a little better. Because I feel badly for having to cart her around all the time, or for the roughhousing she gets from her brother and sister, or just because I want her dependent on me, I'm quick to pick her up or give her what she needs when she cries without pushing her to communicate or attempt things herself the way I did with her siblings.

And she's lazy easygoing. so she's happy to oblige me. But now that summer is over and we're back into a routine, it's Baby Bootcamp around her. We've started classes at My Gym and not only does she seem to enjoy it, it's causing her to try things I've never seen her try before. I'm also going to request PT for her. As an OT, I feel like I should have better ideas for motivating her to move, but I've accepted that as her mom, I just am not able to push her the way she needs - at least not without some guidance.

All that being said, here's some info about Paige at seventeen months: She's evolved into an awesome sleeper, usually sleeping from around 6:30 PM to 7:30 AM, and then she'll talk and play in her bed until I get her around 8. She naps for around 2-3 hours each day, either broken into 2 naps if we're home in the morning, or one long afternoon nap. She always wakes up happy and jabbering.

Despite her awkward butt-scoot, she is pretty speedy getting around and definitely enjoys getting into whatever she can. Thankfully, she's also relatively cautious and doesn't put much in her mouth that she shouldn't. She also likes to clean up. I've been calling her "bag lady" because anytime she finds something with a handle, she'll fill it and cart it around with her.

She's into imitating her siblings. I tried to get a shot of her attempting to use the duck whistle that the big kids use, but she was too fast. "Brooke" and "Oz" are the words she says the most. She was on a "MATT"! kick for awhile, but hasn't said that lately. She loves to say "hi" and "bye" and "My" (for Miles). She's said, "uh-oh" and "hot." We're still waiting for consistent "Mama" and "Dada." Right now, we most often get "Hi!" and a point. She's surprised me with other words here and there. She's shaking her head for "no" and loves to give high fives. She signs "more" and "all done." She'd probably sign more if I'd taught her any others.

She also enjoys playing outside, although the bottoms of her pants do not. She's been very into the cozy coupe and sliding. In fact, a slide is what motivated her to climb up her first legitimate step. She'll do swings, but they usually aren't her favorite. She's pretty ticklish in her legs and loves other babies. She continues to take some time to warm up to most adults.

She continues to be my most fickle eater. I can usually find some fruit or veggie that she'll eat, but it varies by the day. Thankfully, she also likes squeeze packs (what did people do before those things?!). She a big fan of carbs. I think she has 10 teeth (I'm not going to wake her up to check, but it's close to that), but I still need to keep the food pretty small because she likes to stuff her face. She's at a bad stage for high chairs and carts, and likes to arch her back and try to climb out when I put her in.

She loves being around me if it's an option, but overall continues to be a sweet and contented girl. Hopefully Baby Bootcamp and increased mobility and communication will help keep her that way.

Thanks for continuing to be the perfect addition to our family, Paigey-poo!