Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Aislinn At 6 Months


1) She is still a very happy and "easy" baby, her temperament is fairly laid back and she is more than happy to go with the chaotic flow of her daily large family life. She is exclusively breast fed, is rarely offered a bottle and even more rarely accepting of a bottle, so it's still basically me and her. BFF's. We'll start introducing some solids soon, but there is no rush. For now she is still "mine" when it comes to this aspect of life and I wouldn't trade it for the world.

2) Our nights vary but are easy enough. We're still using the Rock N Play. She nurses to sleep between 9-10pm and is usually down until 3am. Some nights she'll go all the way until 5 or 6 without a peep, but most nights lately she wants to nurse and cuddle and be brought into bed next to me. She nurses and goes right back to sleep and on these nights we wind up co-sleeping because that's what works best for us. She's still swaddled at least 90% of nights and for about 50% of naps.

3) Teeth. Ugh. There are two of them now and they've finally wiggled free and cut through her gums. She is learning new meal time etiquette accordingly.

4) She sits up and is still very wobbly and tentative but extremely proud nonetheless. She loves to hang out in the living room and watch the older kids. Actually she loves to watch them pretty much everywhere, with perhaps the exception of Oisin who has been extra rough lately and needs constant reminders to be gentle with her.

5) The Jumperoo is one her favorite activities and it's so cute to watch her workout in it. She knows how to circle around in the seat and loves to jump up and down. We keep a stationary exersaucer in the kitchen for when we need to set her down in there, but she doesn't like it nearly as much as the jumper. We still have the activity mat with the piano for her to kick (I can't lie, the batteries died and were never replaced) and a little bouncy seat that is still occasionally put to use, but honestly she's really outgrown them both and I should probably pack them up and send them on their way. We already said goodbye to one swing a few weeks ago and I'm once again reminded just how fast babies grow.

6) She's in 6-12 month clothing, with 9M being the sweet spot right now. Our 6 month check up isn't until the end of October but I'm guessing she's around 18 pounds.

7) Just like Oisin, her hair is falling out and she's nearly bald at this point. Ah well, it'll grow back! My own postpartum hair loss just began so I figure we can be bald together.

8) She adores Brendan, despite the fact that he cannot feed her, he somehow managed to worm his way into her heart. He's a baby charmer ya'll. Case closed.

9) Stranger danger just kicked in this past week and she doesn't want to be held by anyone unfamiliar, nope don't even think about it.

10) She's the baby and this is the last time I will go through these milestones and because of that I'm in no hurry whatsoever to rush things. She is lovely just the way she is right now, even when she wakes me up at 3am. As is the case with all my babies, I am totally head over heels in love with her and feel as if she's been here much longer than 6 short months.








Friday, October 17, 2014

Floors Of Flour

We made biscuits and the little girls did nearly all of the work. There was flour all over the place and we may have burned a batch, but they were so proud of their work and the biscuits were enjoyed by everyone so the mess was well worth it. I really need to let them make a mess in the kitchen more often because it's a lovely way to learn and grow. A little flour on the floor never hurt anyone. I'm about to get two little babes out of their jammies and brave the DMV to renew my license, I'd rather just spill more flour though.
















Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Boo Ogah







Dear Mom, thank you for giving Oisin and I a room together. Oisin sometimes is really funny in the middle of the night. He says, "boo Ogah", meaning he wants me to peek out from the tiny mountain of stuffed animals hiding me from him. Love, Oscar.





 The little girls finally moved upstairs to Finn's old room and so Oisin moved in with Oscar, and really Aislinn sleeps with them too, in her Rock-N-Play, but not until they're already asleep. Sometimes I feel guilty about so many kids sharing rooms, but this little letter reminded me that it's all ok. Better than ok.

Monday, October 13, 2014

A List



Hi. Is anyone even out there anymore? I haven't been here in forever, but I figured it was time to jump back in. It's not like we've been busy or anything, I mean you haven't missed much. Not really. Here's a quick list to get us all caught up….

1) Finn left for college. It was crazy and surreal. We loaded him, four bags and one baby into the car and drove him to his dorm and LEFT HIM THERE. It was exciting and totally bizarre and a little sad, but mostly just bizarre. The sadness didn't really hit until after the fact. After we got home and all the little details of him being gone really started to sink in. He's doing great though and is very sweet about face-timing and texting and we even got him to come home one weekend for a quick overnight visit. The fact that he's only about an hour away has helped to make the entire transition much more manageable indeed.

2) Everyone else started school (except Oisin and Aislinn of course~slackers). Ruari started high school and the twins switched from their Montessori school to Micah's school, but then 2 weeks later Nuala switched back to the Montessori school. So it's pretty much just craziness. Mine.

3) Oisin turned 2.

4) Aislinn got a tooth and bit the crap out of me.

And there you have it, I think that's about it. Love you guys, all two of you (hi mom).