Changes

My goodness!  So much can change in a month!  (By the way, I'm hoping that it isn't another month before I blog again.  That would be a nice change, too!)

I'm going to take a moment out of this laid back morning at home to sneak in a blog post.  The boys are watching Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood on PBS (they both love it, and so do I!), and Caroline is napping.  We're fighting off some colds (a big apology to Daniel's dad if he happened to catch it too while he was here last week - Sorry, Dad!) and Caroline and I seem to be the worst.  She's napping fine in her crib, but is back to not wanting to sleep there at night (my dear friend Nickie says that Caroline has expensive taste already - far preferring Mama and Papa's queen sized bed to her crib).  Having her in bed with us isn't as hard as it was with Lucas or Levi (who both moved much more in their sleep), but when you have a cold, you want a good night's sleep, too, and nursing four or five times during the course of the night for a fussy baby doesn't afford much quality rest.  So, we're skipping our regular Monday grocery trip and we're skipping a day at the YMCA in favor of me trying to get my sinuses cleared out and everybody else having some down time at home.

So, with that, here's our life right now:

Caroline Rose is almost seven months old!!  Can you even believe it??  She is an exceptionally happy, smiley, cooing baby most of the time.  She loves to roll around on the floor and has recently mastered the army crawl.  My baby girl is MOVING.  I'm so proud of her, but have to be honest and say that I wouldn't mind her staying this age for a while longer.  She generally sleeps well, wakes up happy, adores her big brothers, and is the most precious little thing.  She's still exhibiting very extroverted behaviors, as well as LOVING physical touch.  She's a toucher, my girl.  It rarely matters who is holding her - she grabs your face and pulls you in, nuzzling and snuggling and melting your heart.  We've started a few foods with her - oatmeal, sweet potatoes, and carrots so far.  She's getting better at handling them.  She's always been interested in eating like her big brothers - from just a few weeks old, she'd watch me feed Levi with rapt attention, but as she'd never taken a bottle or a pacifier, the swallowing concept was different than nursing and took her a bit to figure it out without gagging.  She's doing much better now, though, and is getting better with each try.

Levi Emry is 15 months old.  We've FINALLY seen his first unassisted steps (yesterday!) and he's been doing much better at standing unassisted, as well.  He's still not saying much, as far as "real" words go, but he's slowly getting better at communicating.  "Aaaaah duh!" is his newest addition when he's "all done" with something.  Usually he says "aaaah duh!" about being in his booster seat at the table much before he's actually "aaaah duh!" eating.  As Lucas was at this age, it seems we have another grazer on our hands. 

Lucas Ryan finished preschool about a month ago already and the poor kiddo was sick with a stomach bug for his last day of school.  He was disappointed to miss his picnic and saying goodbye to his friends, but he's consoled by the fact that a few of his classmates will be in his PreK class in the fall.  He's done very well with us starting to go to the YMCA (all three have, actually) and enjoys playing in the "big kid" section of the room, making block towers or playing with Legos or making an art project. 

I am enjoying the YMCA for the quiet hours of yoga or Pilates, along with being able to go to the bathroom by myself.  *grin*  Seriously, though, I'm quite happy to be back at the Y and beginning on my own fitness/rehab post-baby. 

Daniel is getting ready to leave for school next month.  As the weeks go by, and his departure gets closer, I am finding myself more calm and more stressed, sort of simultaneously.  I know we'll get by, though, and it'll be fall before we know it, and we'll be getting ready to move to Ft. Hood.  I am SO thankful that we've had many wonderful friends reach out to us, telling us how they enjoyed their time and Ft. Hood and Daniel and I are both feeling much more positive about it now. 

Well, the boys are finished with their show, so I need to be finished here.  Hopefully, I'll find another minute to be back soon!