April 2010 Archives
Henry's bear portrait is a few days late because we didn't do it on the day of our house-warming but here he is in all of his cuteness. He is such a sweet-heart and he loves to go to the park and swing, watch people when we're out-and-about, and he seems more outgoing/social than the girls were at this age. I'm guessing that is because he's the third child and he's used to things being a little crazy and will take any undivided attention he can get! A few times now I have thought he has signed "train" but it doesn't seem consistent so I won't proclaim it yet. He doesn't babble as much as I remember the girls doing but his hearing seems fine so I'm not worried about it yet; I'll ask about it at his 1-year exam if he hasn't started talking yet by then.
I didn't take a single picture of the house or the party today! We invited our old friends and our new neighbors over to our house today for a house-warming party. It was great to see everyone but we didn't get to talk to everyone enough, either. Henry was great in that he went to anyone who was willing to hang out with him (Lyn and Kate, mostly) so I actually got to chat with a few people and he actually got to crawl around. The girls had fun even though it was totally crazy here. I think they were mostly excited about the food but they had fun meeting all of our friends and seeing some of the people we used to see in Okpo, too.
After the party Craig & I tried out a new babysittter who happens to live down the street from us. Anna really liked her and even talked to her right away which was really surprising to witness. We took it easy on the sitter for her first time and had Henry & Sarah in bed already.
Anna's 5 Year stats:
39.25 lbs (25-50th percentile)
42.5 inches tall (50th percentile)
Sarah 3 Year stats:
34.5 lbs (75-90th percentile)
36 inches tall (25th percentile)
19.75 inch head circumference (75-90th percentile)
Henry's 9 month stats:
20.2 lbs (75-90th percentile)
28.5 inches tall (75-90th percentile)
18 inch head circumference (95th percentile)
Sarah was a little jealous that she didn't get a vaccination today even after she watched her brother and sister get theirs (Anna was strong and held herself together and Henry didn't even notice his). Anna actually responded to a few of the doctor's questions and otherwise the kids did a great job waiting for and during the appointment. I had to put up a bit of a fuss to get all three kids' appointments back-to-back and I think I spent about as much time there as I did when we went for just Sarah the last two times so I'm glad I did it.
Henry is going to be nine months old at the end of this week! He is pulling up on things (that step-down we have in our house has been the best thing for practicing that) and trying to climb up the stairs. He puts everything into his mouth and is a really fast crawler (still doing the army-crawl). He doesn't say or sign anything but I think this is because he can't get a word in with his sisters constantly talking. He loves to watch them and thinks they are so cool and funny.
Sarah has had some issues lately with staying in bed (not just at bedtime but in the middle of the night as well—and I thought we'd be done with this now that Henry is sleeping through the night?!). Tonight she woke up in the middle of the night and said, "it's so dark outside you can't even see a lizard!"
I took the girls to Bryan's (5) and Allie's (3) Pirate & Princess birthday party today. They both had fun but were both really shy. Anna did take a turn with the pinata but Sarah wasn't bold enough for that. It was a little strange going to a party in the US after three years overseas! I didn't know what the typical price-limit was, was overwhelmed by the choices of gifts I could give, etc.
My mom left this morning and I'm thankful to her for all that we got done this week while she was here! Tonight we got the bikes out of the garage and strapped on the girls new bike helmets and took a short trip around the neighborhood. Sarah was pushed most of the way but did a pretty good job pedaling on her own for some of the way. Henry really seemed to enjoy getting out and seeing the trees and things on the path.
It didn't take long for the girls to ask Grandma to sew them something when she got the machine out for a quick alteration I needed the hanging bar in Anna's closet!
Anna asked for a "baby" star to go with the others my mom & I had made her and Sarah wanted an elephant.
I got out the tunnel for Henry and he had a blast crawling back and forth through it!
Anna is so sweet giving her sister a push on the swingset.
The girls are still having so much fun playing outside and I love that they can go out there on their own while I unpack during Henry's naps. My mom is busy lining all of my shelves in the pantry and kitchen and is being a great help with childcare!
My mom came to town last night and I had promised the girls we would take the trolley around town when Grandma got here... so we did and it was fun. We parked at the grocery store and took the trolley to lunch and back to our car. Next they want to go on the water taxi but we'll wait until Grandma comes again, I think!
Everyone loved their Easter baskets and had fun hunting for eggs. Henry's were filled with "puffs" and the girls got a variety of candy. Anna had left a note for the Easter Bunny by her door the night before and when she got up in the morning it was gone. We can only guess that the Easter Bunny took the note with him when he left our house this morning!
All of our eggs are finished (Anna spilled on her shirt and didn't want to be in the picture because she took it off already!).
Henry didn't help color the eggs but he did enjoy some bread at snack-time.
These little berries/flowers (?) are growing in the "grass" of our backyard. I don't know what it is but they are cute.
We're still getting our house set up but we had to color Easter eggs so we made a quick run to the store for eggs and vinegar (I already had the dye and amazingly knew right where it was in this mess!).
Our sea shipment from Korea was delivered today. This delivery was much more comforting for the girls since this is the stuff they have been living with. Tonight when I put Sarah to bed she said, "My room is like the Berenstain Bears tree house!" I think because there are so many trees outside her room and she is on the second floor (so up high like the bear family).
The girls are having a blast in our yard and I have gotten quite a bit of unpacking and organizing done while they play outside. I still have a long way to go though!