The Party at the End of the Rainbow

I planned so much for Josie's 3rd birthday party (want to see my Pinterest?) and then I forgot to take pictures of the big day. Ah, well, here are the details.

I decided on a rainbow theme for the party. For some reason, having a theme has become more and more important to me. Josie was enthusiastic about any theme I suggested so I decided to go with the easiest.

Decorations included a rainbow of streamers hung from the front porch. They were supposed to just dangle but it was gusty so it ended up that people walked under the rainbow instead of through it. Then we hung up two strings across the back yard with balloons to make a rainbow. I thought it looked really cool. Unfortunately, some combination of heat and wind kept making balloons pop, so only partial rainbows still hung up by the time guests arrived.

I made rainbow jello. I do wish I'd gotten a picture of it as it was dished out. And I made a rainbow cake! I did get some pictures of Josie with her cake. I made a little pendant instead of writing on the cake this time (which is now hanging in her room). It was too bad the gusty wind kept blowing out the candles before Josie did, so no wishes this year.

For the kids who visited, Xander helped me draw rainbows and suns on brown bags for favors. Inside included Skittles (taste the rainbow), a straw, a beach ball and rainbow stickers.

Josie had a great time with everyone that visited. She was so fun to watch open her gifts. Every one she had something fun to say like "I love it!" Most of the clothes she wanted to try on right then as well as the jewelry. She'd wander off holding a present and we'd have to call her back to open some more. It's nice that she isn't the type to open a present and throw it aside if she doesn't like it.

By the end of the party only the neighbors were left. So the adults chatted and we broke out the new Hello, Kitty sprinkler for the kids to run in.

The next morning we spent quality time trying on all of the clothes, shoes and jewelry before racing off to play with the toys.

Hannah at 4 Months

Hannah will be 5 months in two days, so here are the 4 month stats!

Weight: 15 lbs, 12 oz.
Height: 26 inches

Usually the doctor gives me a fancy handout with that data along with fun reminders about not giving an infant a hunk of apple with peanut butter on it. This time I didn't get one, probably due to talking about my possibly broken foot (it's not, by the way). I do recall that Hannah's statistics, including her head circumference, are all normal. So even though she seems like she is growing fast, it's just my mommy perspective.

I mentioned last time all of the things she is doing now. I have three things to add. Drool! This girl is a drool machine. No sign of teeth yet but I'm sure they are coming. The drool adds a certain dramatic flair to the raspberries she blows for everyone.

And she loves, loves, loves the jumperoo. If we aren't at home, someone needs to bounce her. Not constantly, mind you, just enough to keep her happy.

She also loves Peek-A-Boo. She isn't playing yet but loves it when I (or anyone) plays it with her. I spent some quality time playing it with her when we were stuck in traffic during vacation. It was much better than listening to her scream when she became tired of being buckled up.

We Have a Roller

Hannah is growing so fast. I keep thinking of Xander and how he seemed to take longer to get to each milestone. However, with Xander I was home full time and did not have any other children to look after. With Hannah, I returned to my part time job to finish off the school year and spend lots of time with her two older siblings. With other things vying for my attention, I suppose it is only natural for things to fly by.

In the past couple weeks Hannah has become very good at a few things.

First, grabbing. All of the necklines of my shirts are stretched out and the only reason I don't have a bald spot on my head is that I keep my hair in a ponytail. (True story: I had my hair cut yesterday and I specifically said to leave it long enough to keep in ponytail for when I hold my baby.)

Second, laughing. Hannah has been a smiley baby and now she has the loud baby laugh to go with it. Sometimes it takes tickling her, sometimes it takes Xander and Josie making funny faces, sometimes it just takes someone laughing. Then she lets out her guffaw which makes us laugh which makes her laugh more. It's a viciously cute cycle.

Third, finding her toes. This goes with grabbing but I figure bending her legs up and grabbing her feet are two skills combined. Anyway, I think it is one of the cutest stages of babydom. I could watch her wiggling around, rolling her legs up and trying to fit those little toes in her mouth all day.

Finally, she started rolling. This weekend she made a few good attempts to roll from her back to her belly but she couldn't get her arm out from under her and ended up falling back. This morning I put her on her mat and walked away to say good bye to Chris and help Xander and Josie finish getting ready. When I came back a few minutes later, this is how I found her.

Hey, Mom, in two minutes I'll get tired of my belly and yell for help.

Nobody was there to witness it, so there is a small chance that one of the cats rolled her over.

The Second Haircut

It has, shockingly, been over a year and a half since Josie had her first haircut. We've all had so much fun watching the blond curls grow, why cut it? Well, it's finally gotten to a point of looking unruly and a little unmanageable. When her hair was wet it reached nearly halfway down her back but dry it came to her shoulders. Every morning was getting to be a fight to get through the tangles. And the back had drastically different lengths to the curls, it couldn't even pass for layering. Josie was even asking to get her hair cut.

I tried to take a 'before' picture but Josie was dancing and could not seem to stand still, so here's a video.

We have been cutting Xander's hair at home but I was not going to attempt trimming Josie's hair. I made a few phone calls and decided to go to Cookie Cutters. Surprisingly, I had to make an appointment but I'm glad I did. When we arrived Xander took off to the slide (they have a small indoor play area). Josie was immediately brought back for her cut and offered the choice of where to sit. She decided she wanted the airplane where Tangled was playing. When I checked on Xander, he had found Lego Star Wars and was happily playing away. So I sat down with Hannah where I could keep an eye on Xander and Josie.

Josie's hair was sprayed down and trimmed to even it out followed by getting her hair dried. She didn't didn't seem to mind any of it. The stylist said Josie did a good job of following directions and other clients and stylists were complimenting her hair. As easy as that, we were back in the van heading home.

Her hair looks nearly the same, just a little shorter and a lot curlier. Hopefully she won't get as hot running around outside since the back is off of her shoulders and neck. It's definitely easier to comb through in the morning!

Magic Isotope Ball Bounce

Chris, along with Xander and Josie, invented a new game called "Magic Isotope Ball Bounce." It began when Xander and Josie received pink rubber balls from friends. Somehow Chris channeled Calvin (of Calvin and Hobbes) to create this game.

It begins with someone holding the ball. Then someone else yells "Magic Isotope Ball Bounce!" The person with the ball then runs and throws the ball at the slide.

 

Remember, this is a children's game.
 

 Then there is a mad scramble to catch the ball. The person who does catch it needs to run around with their arms up in the air until someone else yells "Magic Isotope Ball Bounce!"

Xander and Josie love this game but every once in a while there were some complaints. They did have to come up with a rule for a tie when two people grabbed the ball at the same time.

 Overall, everyone got a kick out of it.

(sorry the formatting is wonky, I can't quite figure out what is wrong)

Baptism Time

Hannah was baptized a couple weekends ago, April 22. It was a little more low key than previous baptisms because a lot of people were not able to make it. Here's the events.

We decided to go to the mass at noon followed by the baptism at 1:30. Mistake! While Xander and Josie did okay, Hannah was not happy. By 1:30, she was hungry and tired. And she let everyone know that she was not happy. We couldn't hear almost anything that the deacon said because she just screamed and screamed. That's what I get for carrying on about what a happy, easy baby Hannah is.

 Why am I wearing my sister's old dress and who are all of these people?

She's a little confused as to why oil is getting smeared on her chest .

 

Getting holy water in her eyes may have been what set off the screaming.

  

Ah, the happy parents and godparents and unhappy baby.

 

Josie wasn't very entertained by the proceedings.

  

Uncle Mark is her godfather, Mandy is her godmother.

 

Okay, I was lazy and bought a cake instead of making one. But it was delicious!

Thanks to everyone for helping us celebrate!

Two Months

I'm running a little behind, so hopefully I can kick out a few blogs to update everyone. Hannah had her two month well check two weeks ago. She turned two months three weeks ago. So that makes Hannah....11 weeks old now.

According to the doctor here are Hannah's stats:

Weight: 12 pounds, 4 ounces (81 percentile)
Height: 24 inches (93 percentile)
Head circumference: 15.25 inches

When we returned from California we had to find a new family doctor. I'm still getting used to it. This doctor remembers us, he even asked about Josie and how she is doing after the glass eating incident. The nurses measure Hannah's height by laying her down on the table and marking her head and feet on the paper. This seems so much smarter that trying to line up a tape measure next to a squirming baby. And they have a special head measuring tape that is already looped so it fits better.

Anyway, Hannah was declared a healthy baby and was given her first round of vaccinations. One was oral and two were shots in her thighs. I could handle Hannah crying but I was worried about Xander and Josie (who were along) getting upset. I gave them a warning that Hannah would probably cry and they could cover their ears. They did fine and earned stickers when we left.

Hannah had a few rough days after the shots but since then she has become her happy self again. In fact, in the past ten days I'd say she has slept through the night four times (getting at least eight and a half hours of sleep in a row). The rest of the nights she'll only get up once. This has helped me immensely with taking care of three kids and returning to my part time job. I'm not always sunshine and rainbows but at least I'm not using the television as a full time babysitter anymore.