4 months

our baby girl is growing so fast. we went to her 4 month check up today and she weighed 15 lbs 6 oz which is in the 86th percentile. she measured in the 98th percentile for length, but those are just numbers. the fun growth is watching her little personality come out and watching her learn so many new things.

zoe is...

...having a lot of fun discovering her voice: cooing, squealing, babbling and giggling
...happiest when comforted by her mama
...learning that it's a lot of fun to be on her belly where she can look around
...pushing herself up with her arms quite well and is learning how to push with her feet
...scooting her way toward toys, though it takes her a little while :)
...interested in watching her brother no matter what he is doing
...happy to sit with malachi and i when we're reading
...grabbing at anything and everything she can and puts everything into her mouth
...sucking on a pacifier to help her go to sleep but prefers to suck on her fingers when she is awake
...attaching herself to a little blanket that was given to her from some friends of ours
...adorable when she sleeps. she has one arm covering her face, the other is usually holding the blanket
...still waking at night, which i think is fine for a 4 month old, call me crazy
...loves to cuddle, during the day or night ;)
...a beautiful girl with big blue eyes (dark blue, but still blue for now, we'll see if they change), cheeks that call to be kissed a thousand times a day and a full head of hair, still dark brown in color but seems to be getting lighter
...showing interest in what goes on at meals, though i have no need to start her on solids any time soon (you just can't beat the convenience and nutrition of mama's milk, not to mention at 15+ lbs she is obviously getting plenty)
...very content laying on the floor or 'standing' in her exersaucer
...an amazing BLESSING!

earthquake

did you feel it? we did. the kids didn't seem to notice, they were both sitting in the stroller (our fabulous, most wonderful new BOB duallie revolution that we got THE most amazing deal on, but that should be another post but it won't be...you can ask me about it if you are interested) annnywaay...
earthquakes have never seemed to bother me much in the past but i think this is the first one of any significance that i have felt since having kids, it actually shook me up a little bit.

during the few seconds it lasted all i could think about was, where can i go to make sure my kids don't get hurt. do i stay put (under this patio roof) or do i push the stroller out onto the sidewalk (closer to a large tree) or do i make a run for the empty lot across the street?

what are the 'rules' about earthquake safety? i think i'd better freshen up on them before the next one hits.

First for this summer

tonight we met some of our good friends at a park to listen to some wonderful music. our city puts on free concerts in the park during the summer and this was the first one we had a chance to go to this year. it was zoe's first time, she spent it sucking/chewing on her hands. malachi enjoyed running around with his friends, dancing and applauding at the end of each piece and kurtis and i enjoyed relaxing and catching up with old friends. we did bring some dessert to enjoy together but next time we plan on packing a yummy dinner as well. can't wait 'till next weekend!

talking our ears off

updates on the little ones

malachi finished his swimming lessons yesterday. can't really say he graduated from level 1 but he at least learned to be a little more comfortable in the water, specifically going under water. he even went off the diving board yesterday with his instructor. of course it was the one day i forgot to bring my camera, so i failed at capturing the moment. hopefully i will get a picture the first time he jumps by himself. watching the lessons gave us some ideas of what to do with him in the water, so hopefully we will get many opportunities to swim the rest of the summer.he continues to love playing with his cars. he loves jumping and playing in the sand and dirt. we'd be rich if i had a penny for every time i heard someone say "he is all boy." he continues to enjoy testing all the boundaries and can be very challenging at times, but then again he is a 2 year old. :) he is very talkative and communicates quite well and he makes us laugh with the comments that he comes up with. he is a ton of fun!

and for zoe...our beautiful girl with a smile that lights up a room, her content soul makes it a joy and relatively easy to have two kids. she is coming up on 4 months and weighs in at about 16 pounds already (according to our scale). she can roll both ways, though she doesn't roll from back to front too often. she grabs and plays with her toes which is adorable, grabs and hits at toys, coos and talks a lot and loves to watch her brother as he plays. she is also working on her first two teeth already. we can see the white spots on her bottom gums, we'll see how long it takes for them to cut all the way through.

she continues to amaze me with her sleeping. she is not really on a strict schedule with sleeping but she goes down easy. she usually has about 3 or 4 naps a day an hour each. she goes down at night at the same time as malachi and wakes a couple times at night. laying her down awake and having her go to sleep on her own (with a pacifier) is something i am very grateful for.

Swimming Lessons

yesterday malachi started swimming lessons
...he cried the entire 30 minutes.
this is a picture of him after the lesson, trying his best to smile.
when asked if he had fun and wanted to come back, he actually replied "yes."
we're hoping today goes a little better. :)

3 Months Old