Leah, Emma and Claire (and Jen and John)

The ultrasound pics on Flickr are of Claire!

Alicia had a fit this morning but managed to work it out by the dates on the pictures.  

To say the girls are excited about their party on Sunday would be an understatement. They can’t stop talking about it and they’ve been playing birthday party all week. We go over the guest list pretty much hourly and each time they are just as excited about each and every person that is coming to their party.

My mom has been here for a week now and my dad arrives today. It’s been nice having my mom around but as usual John and I have chosen to do things around the house rather than going out for dinner or a movie. We almost went to Pirates of the Carribean on Saturday night but then I found out it was 3 hours long and we wouldn’t be home til 1am. Poor John has such a boring wife. In my defense, I did say I would go see it at the drive in so I could sleep in the car.

Leah and Emma are really enjoying the nice weather. Our park has a splash pad and they turned on the water last week. All was well until Leah got caught in the crossfire of the spitting hippos. Now she is terrified. I think Emma will go in once we meet her 8 year old ‘friends’ at the park. We’ll see. It might be another year before they aren’t such whiners about cold water.

The park also has a little soccer field. I never knew they had mini fields. The older little kids play full field and the little ones play across so the field is really short. They don’t start soccer til they’re 4 and I am really looking forward to it. Last week Emma declared she wanted to be a baseball player and then a soccer player when she grew up. It was a proud moment since I am pretty set on not having girly girls. The next day she said she wanted to be a princess. We were in the car and John and I both choked in unison. Leah said she wanted to be a mommy and have three babies. Help us

Claire is doing well. I had some supply issues and I’ve given up exercisinig (and I’m devastated!) to see if I can’t get it sorted out. I think maybe it was a combination of the heat and her teething but I’m not taking any chances. She seems to be getting enough now but last week I was 5 feet away from buying her some formula. I really don’t care if she has formula but I think giving it to her is a good way to cause me all sorts of supply problems.

Claire has also found her feet. She just sits and stares at them. She thinks it’s really funny when the girls tickle them as well.

I’ve got some pictures on John’s computer that I need to put up on Flickr.

Claire is in the process of cutting her first tooth. She’s such a good girl - even when she’s teething. She had been pooping a lot and a bit fussy but I wasn’t feeling well and I thought she was just a bit off too. Yesterday I finally checked her gums and one of her bottom teeth has cut through.

It seems really early but the girls started when they were 6 months and if you adjust it Claire is pretty much bang on. I am going to miss her big gummy giggles!

This past weekend was a long one here and we made the most of it. We accomplished quite a few things on our list including taking down the xmas lights and painting one coat on one wall of the powder room. Yes, buying paint, taping, and  painting a 8×6 wall over the course of 3 days is something to be proud of! It was only actually possible because you can lock the bathroom door and fend off offers of help from 3 year olds.

We also managed to do a few fun things for the girls. The weather was nice and we spent a ton of time outside. The girls (or rather our spacious front lawn) are very popular with the neighbourhood kids and there is always someone for them to play with. The girls are now obsessed with going outside and playing with their ‘friends’. Yesterday we packed up a picnic and took them to the park down by the lake. They are really into the whole picnic thing and it’s fun.

Napping is also going really well. I’ve started separating them for naps right from the start and it’s going much better. They are staying up later at night but they play happily which I can deal with.

What else did we do this weekend…oh right…I sat and  anxiously watched the Senators not choke. GO SENS GO!!

Claire had her appt on Monday. She is 13lbs 11 ozs. She’s dropped a bit on the curve but is still well within average. I knew she had thinned out a bit although the camera doesn’t seem to be capturing it

The nurse measured her at nearly 27 inches. I know she’s long but that’s grown out of infant carrier long and I think it’s wrong. I am going to measure her myself. Her feet are no where near the end of the bucket. She is really long in the torso though so it could be right. I am not ready for her to be out of the bucket!

She screamed with the shots but only for a minute. Leah and Emma were with us and they comforted her. Leah also kept telling the doctor she was sick and I am happy that she is over her doctor drama. She even offered up that her face was sore, not her bum!

Pre kids, when I only had Jackson to dote on, John used to say that I was going to put the mother in smother. He’s a funny guy. This year is my third Mother’s Day as a mom. It’s still pretty crazy I have three kids…daughters at that.

I’ve been treated to a very nice weekend. John took Friday off and he’s been spoiling me with time to myself, chocolate, coffee, and two little girls saying “Happy Mommy Day Mommy - I love you so much.” on command. He even managed to convince Claire to sleep for 8 hours last night!

I hadn’t thought of the smothering jokes for awhile, but it’s on days like today where I realize how wrong John was. Maybe if I was working it would be different, but I find on days where I am entitled to the royal treatment all I ever ask for is that I have to do absolutely nothing child related. I am happy to enjoy them and play with them but when it comes to meals, baths and the daily grind I am more than happy to go upstairs and read my book! I am very lucky to have a husband who can handle the monkeys without me but I will leave all that for my Father’s Day post.

I hadn’t realized it had been so long since I’d updated. Since my last post of any substance, my parents got back from Florida. They stayed with us for just over a week and it was very nice to have them back. We were out doing things pretty much every day and we spent one day at the Toronto Zoo. I am actually excited (which will be surprising to those of you who read the previous paragraph and wondered why I had kids) to do different things with them this summer. They got such a kick out of the zoo and we didn’t have to worry about naps or behaviour. They were happy, excited and curious to see everything. Claire is still easy so I think this summer is going to be all about Leah and Emma. I can’t believe they are going to be 3 in just a few weeks.

The weather has been fantastic for at least 2 weeks now. The girls are out of their early spring clothes and right into their summer stuff. I don’t know if it is the lack of diaper or bulky clothes but all of a sudden they both look so tall and grown up.  

Claire is doing well. She’s starting to get really fussy when she’s tired and I think her days of napping amongst all of the commotion are nearly done. I have started putting her up in her crib for naps and she’s sleeping a lot better. She is so much more aware of her surroundings these past couple of weeks and I think she fights off sleep because she’s scared she’s going to miss something. I’ll update after her appt tomorrow. Everyone keeps on telling me how big she is so it will be interesting to see the weigh in results.

I hope everyone is having a nice Mother’s Day - especially those of you that are celebrating your first.

She’s figured it out. She can now roll from her back to her belly. The “only 2 can move’ honeymoon is nearly over!

It feels like I just wrote her 3 month update!

Hair/Eyes:
Her hair is thinning out quite a bit. She has a bald patch across the back of her head and it is growing. If she’s anything like her sisters, she’s going to have to go through a bald look before her real hair comes in. Eyes are still a very dark blue. Mixed opinions on what their final colour will be but they are definitely no where near as light as Leah and Emma’s were at 4 months.

Size:
She will get weighed next Monday but I’m guessing she’s around 15lbs. She seems to be growing so quickly. She is thinning out through the face and torso but she still has chubby little arms and legs. I can’t get over how quickly she outgrows clothes. The girls took forever to move up a size but here Claire is already fitting into some 6 month clothes and size 2 diapers!

Sleep:
This month we have been making more of an effort to start Claire off for the night in the co-sleeper. Some nights she does really well and other nights she was downstairs enjoying playoff basketball and hockey with us. For the most part she is still getting up once a night but there were quite a few nights this month were she was up 2 or 3 times as well. She is a great napper and thankfully can nap anywhere or at anytime but she seems to be getting into a pattern of 2 solid naps a day.

I am trying really hard not to let her sleeping with us stress me out. Pre girls I would have been adamant about not having your baby in the same room. With Claire, I have decided that I have to do what works so I can function the rest of the day. I get quite a few comments about letting her in bed with me and people aren’t telling me anything I don’t know. The days are just so hectic with the girls that nighttime is the only time Claire really has our undivided attention.

Eating:
Breastfeeding is still going really well. She eats when she’s hungry. Not much change from last month. I am going to wait and start her on solids until she’s 6 months. She’s still taking a bottle no problem and this month I left her for over 12 hours and she did very well.

Getting around:
Claire can roll from her tummy to her back. She is also trying with all her might to get back over. She’s just got to get over her arm. I don’t think it will be long.

Personality:
Oh boy is she a sweet baby girl. Seriously, I’m not biased. I sometime feel guilty because as soon as you so much as look at her you get a big gummy smile. It’s like she’s been waiting there patiently for someone to forget about her go go go sisters and just look at her! I am definitely her favourite (you appreciate that when you have two daddy centric girls) but she will sit with anyone.

She still rarely cries or fusses unless she is hungry or tired. She doesn’t even complain if she’s sitting in a dirty diaper. She is easily amused by dangling rings and her rattle blanket. During meal times I put her in her bouncer and let her watch her sisters eat. She loves watching them…let’s hope she’s only taking the good stuff in! She is very curious and likes to touch and chew whatever she can get. She still loves he mobile and this past weekend my parents got her a new jumper that she really seems to like.

This month I took a mother and baby exercise class with her. She has been really good. She either naps or sits at the back and watches me. I’ve only had to nurse her once so I’ve been able to get the most out of the classes.

Hmmm…what else? Right now she has her second cold. She was really upset last night but we managed to settle her down. She still does this cute little yell before she sneezes. She hates getting her nose wiped. She loves the bath and her new jogger stroller. She’s really pretty easy going.

That’s all I can think of for now.

This picture makes me laugh

Stuck on the arm

Claire - 4 months