Week of September 21st 2009

Louie – I took Louie for his 2 month check up and he weighs 12lbs 3 oz and is the 75th percentile for weight, 24 inches for height and is in the 89th percentile, 39 ½ cm for his head and is in the 50th percentile. I was really happy with these results because he is growing so well. Nothing makes a mom more happier than when her baby is healthy and growing. He is still smiling and cooing away and I still have a hard time putting him down. He outgrew all of his 0-3 month clothes and I had to move the next size in. We decided he’s going to be a cow for Halloween to go well with his brother and sisters costumes.

Avabelle – Avabelle loved her dance class this week she was the only little girl that kept trying to follow exactly what her teacher was doing. This week she decided to tell all of us when we don’t do something she wants “I don’t like you.” This really has fazed Anthony but not us. She really looks for a response from us. Hopefully she grows out of this soon. Ava says whatever she’s thinking at the time no matter what it is(now I know how people feel around me ). It’s super sweet most of the time. All of us always laugh at her choice of words. She changes her clothes three times a day(I just can’t figure out why I’m doing so much laundry ). Ava is going to be a cowgirl for Halloween and is super excited because she get’s to wear a hat like brother.

Anthony – Anthony keeps building his reading vocabulary weekly he is so smart and focused. He spent a little time over Grammer’s last weekend for a day and cousin Diazon was over too. Anthony came home saying Whaaaaaat just like cousin Diazaon. He doesn’t repeat what we say that often probably because we’re not as cool. Ahhh it starts already at 4 or maybe it’s because we really aren’t that cool . He observes so much and doesn’t say what he’s thinking all the time like sister but he’ll say some off the wall things that we really can’t believe he remembers. For example we got a new bed last summer and he told us “Dad I liked the other bed better because it had a light.” He’s never said anything about it before. He amazes me a lot with his memory I guess it’s because we are so used to hearing every thought that Ava has. Anthony is going to be a Cowboy for Halloween. Grammer and Papa bought him a hat and boots last year for Christmas. He wasn’t a huge fan of the boots but now likes them so I exchanged them for a bigger size since he never wore them. He was so excited when I woke him up from his nap and I put them on.

Tony and I canned green chili and salsa this week, we used grandpa Rudy’s pressure cooker. We bought three bushels of chili. It was a lot of work because we’ve never canned anything before in our lives. But we had a great time doing it. It was nice that we figured it out together. We did keep laughing and saying this is why people just buy their stuff at the store. Also, we were saying we hope that we don’t give our family botulism. We also drove to Golden and bought the sibling rivalry book at the Love and Logic store(we wanted to save the money on shipping but ended up spending more on gas ). It was a nice drive and Tony showed me where his dads tool shop was when he was a young boy. I’ve always wanted him to show me where it was because I like seeing the place where he had so many memories growing up. We read the sibling book to each other in a couple of hours and hopefully we absorbed enough to use the strategies on the kids. They get along 95% of the time but that 5% could drain your energy.

Schedule week

I typed up a schedule and showed the kids what is expected of all of us everyday. Anthony always asks what's next on the list. I love it because a schedule always kept my class when I was teaching in order. Hee hee we'll see how it works with a preschooler, toddler and infant. Louie turned 8 weeks this week he is going for his first set of shots next week. I recorded Oprah's season opener which had the Black Eyed Peas singing "Tonights going to be a good night" Louie loves to dance with me to that song in the living room. I get scared that maybe I'm shaking him too much when we dance but he smiles and coos. Ahhhh and he doesn't think I'm weird yet. Avabelle went to dance this week we bought her a pink leotard which she loves to dance around the house. I saved a taping of a chorographed dance on the Ellen show and Ava could almost do the the whole dance...well a 2-year-old version of it. She's not interested in taking a nap by me on the couch anymore. She decided she wanted to take a nap on her own matress upstairs. I thought she would never leave her brother alone but 2 days in a row she did it and has slept a lot longer. Anthony had a great week I started to teach him how to read last year a little bit but have started teaching him again and he's doing amazing. He's had his phonics down for some time but is doing a great job reading beginner books. I try not to pick him up and twirl him around but I can't help to get super excited for him. He's such a great kid. We'll contiue working on decoding. I never force him he just loves to read. He's been asking all week for meatballs(which we've never had) so I finally made him some with cheese in the middle of them. He was really happy especially because I told him that there was a surprise in the middle of the meatball. I think he really thought a car would be in the middle. He said "Mama where is my surprise?" I said it was the the cheese cube in the middle. He got super excited and said "Oh I love cheese." I said I know you do that's why I made them special for you and now we'll call them Runk Runk meatballs. He liked that but of course was only impressed for a minute. Could he at least be a little bit more excited they took me a long time to make :-) Part of their schedule everyday is to make their beds well Anthony really liked doing this he even made Ava's a couple days. .I told Ava this morning let's go make your bed and she told me "No thank you, Anthony will make it." I told her no she had to make her bed herself. She was happy with herself once she did it. This was the last week of summer and I'm going to miss it. The kids love playing outside and I love sitting on the patio with the baby so he can absorb some vitamin D. Finally, last but not least I made Tony go get a physical. I scheduled his flu shot but figured he might as well get the works. He went after work one day and everything seems to be fine. I hope so because he keeps us all together. He decided to do a photo shoot in the dining room with the kids. It's a lot of work organizing the kids but it's nice to see the pictures after.

Baby Louie

Baby Louie you were born on July 24th, 2009 @ 9:37. And were 7lbs 10oz and 21 inches long. You were by far my easiest labor. They started inducing me at 6:30 and you came out 3 hours later. You got a 8.9 on your APGAR score. You were born on Anthony's birthday which was super special because Anthony would always ask if hisbrother would come on his birthday. He did and now you will always share your birthday with your brother which dad and I think is pretty special.

What I notice most about you my baby Louie is how long you are. You have super long legs during my last ultrasound the doctor had to measure your leg a couple times because it was so long. She said it was in the 97th percentile and sure enough you came out with really long legs. I hold you all day long, I can't help it you are so beautiful. You're so perfect and cuddly. I am so in love with you. What I love most about you is that you started smiling right away. When you smile I can't help but kiss you all over your face. The way you look at me melts my heart. I love you so much and I can't wait until I get to see what your personality is like. You are my baby boy and will always be special.

Staying Home

I decided to take off the school year to stay home with the kids. I have taken a lot of time off when the kids were babies. Grandma Rita took care of Anthony while I finished my student teaching a total of 10 weeks. He was in day care part-time my first year. With Ava I took off until she was 6 months and Grandma took care of her for 6 months and then I had off the summer. I worked part-time last year so Anthony and Ava would go to daycare for two days and grandma Rita watched them a half day on Wednesdays.

I've always had the summers off and all the school vacations which has made it very nice. But now it will be nice to stay home this year with all of them. Maybe not for Anthony anytime we go over the grandparents he always asks me to leave. He always says "Are you leaving mom?" I tell him I'm staying and he says "Why Mom?" "Why Mom?" I said he's the only kid who wants his mom to leave. Ahhhhhh! He's so smothered! I smother them all! They probably aren't happy with me staying home but I am. I can squeeze them and love them all day. Now they know what their dad feels like. I'm actually really lucky that dad provides for us to stay home. He's a great husband and a great dad I try to always tell him how grateful I am for him.
Anthony is 4 now, Ava 2 and Louie 8 weeks old today.