Family Update - February Edition

Miranda started rolling over from back to front during the last week of January, a full week and a

half before she turned 4 months old.  I'm not sure (because I've been terrible not so efficient at keeping

records of such things), but I think that she's our earliest roller. 

She can roll from stomach to back also, but she doesn't do it nearly as much.

Now she's nearly 5 months old. She does mini-push-ups and is incredibly strong. 

She is such a happy baby and while she's not the best sleeper, she makes up for it

by melting our hearts with her laughs and huge smiles. 

Ellia has reached 2 (very important) milestones this past month. 

First, she is now "Tah Tee" free.

Huh?

Oh, "Tah Tee" is her coined term for pacifier.  No idea where she got it. 

Anyways, for many, many months she has insisted on having two pacifiers with her in bed,

one to suck on and one to hold in her hand. 

She would flip out if one of them got lost in the middle of the night.

She has never developed a "lovey" or special stuffed animal, blanket, or dolly - her lovey was

her pacifiers.  Although she was only allowed to have them in her bed, we were dreading taking them away from her for good for months.

Then one of them got broken.  The nipple part was cracked terribly.  She refused to suck on that one

for a few nights, then eventually told me that it was broken and should go in the garbage. 

I agreed and threw it away.

Not long after that, the second one suffered the same fate.  I was so afraid to throw it away,

anticipating huge fits at bedtime because she didn't even have one to hold anymore. 

Nope.

She was very matter-of-fact about it and has never asked for another one. 

Whew. 

Sooooooo glad that's over and was so easy.

Second, and even better, she's now Potty-Trained!!!!

We've been taking her to the potty for months, trying all sorts of training methods,

nothing working.  She liked the potty just fine, would even ask to go, but nothing would ever happen.

Then one day a week and a half ago, she just started going. 

She's had a few accidents, mostly in the first few days, and still wears a pull-up for naps and bedtime,

but other than that, she's thrilled to go to the potty and is even more thrilled

to wear "big girl panties". 

Oh, and she doesn't complain about getting little candies (conversation hearts or m&m's) everytime

she goes.  Now to just wean her off the reward expectation......

Annika was officially invited by Marissa's ballet teacher to join the class for the last 5 sessions.  She was participating on the side-lines anyways.  Now she got her own ballet shoes and gets to dance with 6-9 year olds.  And we didn't even have to pay.  She (and Marissa) couldn't have been happier. 

She does very well, but being 4 years old, she doesn't have quite the coordination of the other girls.....

fortunately she doesn't seem to notice or mind.  She's just happy to be involved. 

Marissa got to go shooting with Grant and Corban for the first time. 

She proved to be quite a good shot and absolutely loved it. 

As for Corban, there weren't any significant events for him last month (ie, I hardly got any pictures of him at all!) but he's been working hard in school and piano, still practices basketball often, rough-houses with anyone and everyone he can talk into it as often as possible, loves taking care of his baby sister, and is a good shoulder to sleep on. 

We had to get a photo of them all asleep in the van....we had a really late night out visiting with some friends and they all were knocked out within minutes of driving....in fact, Grant carried them all to bed in their clothes and not a one of them woke up.  But this is the sort of thing they like to deny....."I never fell asleep", they'll emphatically declare. 

Now we have proof.