December 09, 2013
Luke (3 years, 5 months):
- Luke's 3 year stats: 41 inches tall (>97%), 40 lbs (>97%)
- When describing Luke a lot of 'S' words immediately come to mind: sweet, smart, sensitive, silly, strong ...
- 'Shy' might have also made that list a while back, but it doesn't anymore! Sure, Luke acts a little bashful sometimes when strangers give him attention, but most of the time it's literally about 2 seconds before he is treating them like his new best friend! And it's more often instantaneous, like Oh hey, you want to talk to me? Check out this thing I have in my hand or this cool trick I can do! He loves showing off! And he's gotten pretty good at approaching and befriending other children in public places.
- If I were to tally up the adjectives used by people, myself included, to describe Luke, I'm pretty certain the most commonly used word would be "sweet." Although he does get "cute" a lot too. This boy just has such a good heart and is so sensitive to the feelings of others'. He loves his brother and sister and it is very apparent how deeply he cares about them and how much it upsets him if they are sad or hurt. He is SO gentle with both of them, but he has accidentally hurt them once or twice and when that has happened, he instantly hugs them and says sorry over and over and cries a few silent tears himself. I could go on and on about how sweet and sensitive Luke is. It's probably my favorite thing about him! But I will just have to sum it up like this: He does at least one thing a day that completely melts my heart: kind words and actions that make me so indescribably grateful that he's mine. "Mommy, I'm so happy you're my mommy." Heart melted.
- Luke is so smart! His comprehension is particularly impressive. He is constantly asking questions and he really listens to the answers and understands them. He even remembers the explanations well enough to accurately explain them to you later! It's really amazing how well he understands things that he only hears once and how he is able to apply things that he learns to other situations. For example, Luke has a really big vocabulary (although he does have some difficulty with pronunciation. He has a tendency to slur his words a little). When we talk to him and read him stories, he very frequently asks what unfamiliar words mean, and then, a few days later, he will amaze us by using the word correctly himself!
- Luke is and always has been kind of freakishly strong. I'm sure it has something to do with his size, but even considering that, his legs are ridiculously powerful! Luke's an awesome jumper and I'm amazed at how hard a time I have physically overtaking him when he's trying to tackle me or keep me from picking him up (he thinks it's hilarious to grip whatever he can with his legs/feet to keep me from carrying him away)! I wouldn't be surprised if he's stronger than me by the time he's 8!
- Cars are still Luke's "thing." He's obsessed! He wants to know anything and everything there is to know about real cars and how they work. He wants to know where the engine is, what every button and switch does, where the gas goes, etc. And he will even listen to and remember explanations for what things like the alternator does! Playing with his toy cars is also always his go-to activity when we're home. He asks me several times a day, "Mom, do you want to play with me?" "Yeah, Luke, what are we playing?" "Cars!" EVERY. TIME. And I mean that literally. That is his response 99.9% of the time! Playing cars is probably my least favorite kid activity, but I do it A LOT because I love my little guy a whole lot!
- Luke was the easiest kid ever to potty train! I just put him in underwear one day and he just ran with it! He had maybe 2 accidents in the first day or two, and then never again, and he only wore pull-ups to bed for a couple of weeks. He was 100% out of pull-ups and having virtually no night-time accidents by a few days before his 3rd birthday. We recently had a little set-back thanks to some terrible never-ending tummy issues (turned out it was strep throat!), but we are finally getting back to normal. Thank goodness, because having accidents he couldn't control totally broke my poor little proudly potty-trained boy's heart.
- Luke loves tools and "fixing" and building things, and learning how things work. He has a little engineer's mind.
- This past summer, Luke made some great progress with swimming. In the weeks surrounding his 3rd birthday, he did a lot of practice swimming without his floaties, and was able to swim a good 15 or 20 feet on his own, spending most, if not all of that time holding his breath with his face under water. Weirdo.
- Luke is a little bossy sometimes. I think no one understands this quite like his cousin, Becca. Just because she is half his size, Luke seems to think he has authority over her and tries to tell her what to do, and if she doesn't listen, he can just pull or pick up the poor itty bitty girl against her will! I think as the babies' get older, he will have no problem filling the bossy older brother role. Jeff and I also occasionally see this little gremlin inside Luke come out when he gets frustrated with the reality we are not his servants and he can't tell us what to do. Sometimes when we refuse his demands, he will repeat them in this kind of deep, crazed, through-gritted teeth voice and Jeff and I have to try not to laugh.
- Luke LOVES his baby brother and sister. He calls them "my babies." And when they were really tiny, he used to fancy himself quite the baby expert and would tell me exactly what the babies wanted or didn't want at all times and he was completely confident in his assessment. He is starting to realize now that sometimes the babies cry and he has NO power to fix it. He'll always try making them laugh or giving them a toy, but if that doesn't work, he calls in the parents.
- Luke favors Jade over Blake. She is just so cute and tiny, and Luke LOVES tiny things, like really, really loves tiny things. But I still feel bad every time he asks me to move Blake, so he can sit by Jade! Of course, he adores Blake too, but he totally plays favorites.
- To further elaborate on Luke's love for tiny things, he is constantly picking up little bits that most people would consider trash from parking lots, stores, the church building, everywhere! Things like a tiny piece of star-shaped confetti, an itty bitty flower, a bead, a tiny rock, or a little styrofoam ball that fell off of a fake floral arrangement at Michael's. And he gets super attached to them and claims they are "very special." It's super fun trying to keep track of these things so he doesn't burst into tears when they go missing!
- Luke sings to the babies when they cry, or to prevent them from crying. It's so sweet! I came downstairs a couple of months ago to find him kneeling next to Jade in her bouncer singing a song that went something like this, "Close your eyes, go to sleep, and I'll be here when you wake up ..." He told me she woke up, while I was upstairs and he didn't want her to be sad, so he sang her a song. He claims he learned the song from Grandma Lamb, but she has no recollection of this.
- Luke loves being silly and cracking jokes. He laughs at himself. Adorable.
- He Never. Stops. Talking. He is an expert at describing things so you know exactly what he's talking about and he uses about a zillion words to do it! (Hmm.. wonder where he gets that from.. ). And he asks questions non-stop, and then brainstorms possible answers out loud if he isn't given an exact answer. I love the way his cute, brilliant little mind works, but it takes effort to listen well enough to understand everything he is saying and to answer all of his questions to his satisfaction (he asks some tough ones!). I LOVE that he asks questions and wants to learn. It is so fun to watch and be a part of that process! So I try my very best to answer every question, but it can be exhausting sometimes! Whew!
- Luke loves wrestling -- especially with his daddy, but any willing participant will do.
- Luke knows every one of his toys, and usually knows where they are. A few months ago, he got a pretty generic-looking purple Hot Wheels car (added to his already giant collection), and he immediately said, "I have a yellow one of these!" And he was right! He went and hunted down another hot-wheels car in his toy chest that was identical to the new one, except for the fact that it was yellow, not purple!
- Luke also recognizes subtleties in the differences between real cars. He can tell the difference between different models of Honda Accord and can correctly identify the 2007 model that Jeff has (this has been true for about a year!). He's even interested in knowing the makes and models of every car he sees!
- Luke likes some really unexpected things for a 3 year old: lemons, mushrooms, pickles, salmon, salsa - lots of sour and spicy things.
- Since the babies have been around, Luke has started referring to all of his stuffed animals as his "babies" and he takes very careful care of them, wrapping them in blankets, rocking them, feeding them, snuggling them, and making sure they are properly secured in the car.
- Luke LOVES his cousins! No matter how often he sees them, he is always excited about it! And he is always trying to hold their hands everywhere they go.
- Luke can sing the ABC's and recognizes all of the upper-case versions of each letter and about half of the lower-case versions.
- He counts to 20, but he never get's it quite right. He mixes up/skips a lot of the teens from 13-16 and almost always skips 12, but he has perfected 1-11 and 17-20.
- For the most part, Luke listens and follows rules VERY well. Sometimes even when we don't expect him to: offered a treat, but before he takes it, asks, "Mom, have I had dinner yet?"
- Luke loves going to nursery at church, and going to preschool. He also likes to come home from both and inform me if any of the other kids were misbehaving.
- Luke loves thrill rides. Whenever we go to an amusement park, the ride he is BARELY tall enough to ride is usually his favorite.
- He sometimes goes into fits of growly frustrated rage when he can't do something that he is trying so hard to do. It's obvious that he wants to hit something (or someone), but he knows he'll get in trouble if he does, so he settles for loud, over-dramatic, frustrated noises and maybe a few air kicks or punches. Jeff and I have to try so hard to contain our laughter.
- Luke loves the samples at HEB, ALL of them - even the weird cheeses.
- Luke's favorite movies include Cars, Planes, and Despicable Me.
- His favorite shows include Kipper the Dog, Thomas the Train, Dora the Explorer, and old Disney cartoons.
- He LOVES his Grandma Lamb and asks to Skype with her several times a week.
- When he is sad or hurt, a nice long hug goes a long way. And if another kid or baby cries, he hugs them right away.
- Luke makes sounds like he is calling a horse or a dog when he wants your attention and you don't give it to him right away (*kiss, kiss, kiss*/clicking his tongue). It drives me a little crazy sometimes!
- We just got a bunch of awesome learning games from some friends in our ward at church, which included a couple of books of "Brain Quest" trivia for 4-5 year-olds, and Luke answered every question on the first several pages correctly! Smart boy!
- Blake's stats so far...
- Weight:
- Birth: 5 lbs. 4 oz.
- 4 Weeks: 7 lbs. 3.5 oz. (5%; adjusted 55%)
- 10 Weeks: 10 lbs. 14 oz. (23%; adjusted 90%)
- 18 Weeks: 14.8 lbs. (38%; adjusted 90%)
- 5 Months: 16.625 lbs. (55%; adjusted 90%)
- Length:
- Birth: 19 in. (18.4%)
- 4 Weeks: 20.5 in. (24%; adjusted >97%)
- 10 Weeks: 23.5 in. (61%; adjusted >97%)
- 18 Weeks: 26 in. (90%; adjusted >97%)
- 5 Months: 27.35 in. (93%; adjusted >97%)
- Head Circumference
- Birth: 13 in.
- 4 Weeks: 13.8 in. (7%; adjusted 50%)
- 10 Weeks: 15.25 in. (17%; adjusted 75%)
- 5 Months: 16.5 in. (22%; adjusted 52%) *I watched them take this measurement - almost positive they didn't get the measuring tape around the right part of his head. I was holding him and he was moving. I think this would have been a bigger measurement.
- Blake. Is. A. Spaz. The boy NEVER stops moving! He is constantly flailing all four limbs and when he is being held on someones lap, he tenses up and straightens his whole body like he's trying to stand up! As a result of all this exercise, he is SUPER strong! And yet somehow, he retains his adorable chubby thighs and cheeks. Bonus!
- Kissing him on the cheek -- especially quickly and all over -- produces instant smiles and giggles.
- Blake has made the cutest little happy noises while he sleeps and eats from the beginning. I love it! Although I've noticed he is doing it less and less in the past few weeks. Sad.
- From the time he was a newborn until a month or two ago, it was pretty much a guarantee that Blake would immediately calm down and go to sleep if someone gently massaged his head at the hairline. He still loves that, and it still helps in the sleeping process if needed, but it's not the magical instant-sleep-inducing weapon that it used to be!
- Blake is very quick to smile and to laugh. He is such a happy boy! But his usual cheery demeanor can disappear pretty quickly when he's over-tired. Fortunately, his fussiness doesn't usually last long because he is snoozing within minutes.
- He loves his crib mobile! He smiles and laughs at it, and it is great for distracting him when he's fussy.
- Blake is very ticklish and laughs every time I change his clothes.
- When he cries, he often sounds like he's saying, "Mom" and it makes his crying so much cuter.
- Another great way to get a giant grin out of this boy is to put a bottle in his mouth when he's hungry. That was what got the BIGGEST smiles out of him when he was 2 or 3 months old. He loves his food!
- He holds on when he is being held. He grips upper arms by wrapping his whole arm tightly around them and sometimes even grabs hair. I don't know if he's worried about being dropped or he's just snuggly, but he's been doing this almost since he was brand new!
- Blake has been lifting his head super high during tummy time almost from the beginning. As you can see, Jade is the opposite!
- He rolled front to back at 5.5 weeks and back to front at about 4.5 months. Now he is constantly twisting and rolling and spinning all over the place!
- He is Luke's little clone! Sometimes, it really feels like having the same baby all over again because he is also VERY VERY similar to Luke in personality and mannerisms so far!
- Blake and Jade shared a crib up until a couple of weeks ago, and when they did, Blake would gravitate toward Jade -- even in his sleep! Although they would start out separated by about a foot, I would often find Blake with his face nuzzled up against Jade in the middle of the night or first thing in the morning. He's a pretty cuddly little guy when he wants to be. I think the difference between he and Jade is, when he wants to, Blake cuddles you, while Jade lets you cuddle her, but doesn't really cuddle back.
- Blake is constantly moving and tensing up all of his muscles. It's hilarious how often we catch him with his arms out in front of him like he's going to box someone! Before he started rolling from his back to his belly a couple of weeks ago, I'd say it was the position we most often found him in! When Jeff sees him like that, he says, "Put 'em up! Put 'em up!" and hits both of Blake's hands over and over really quickly. Blake cracks up every time!
- Speaking of Blake cracking up, no one can get him to laugh as hard as Jeff can! Pretty much anyone can get Blake to laugh. It's not hard. But Jeff gets the BIGGEST belly laughs out of him!
- When I stand Blake up on my lap, holding him under his arms, he walks from my lap, all the way up to my face!
- He wakes up screaming for food before he even opens his eyes. It's as if he expects me to anticipate the exact moment he is going to wake up and have a bottle ready and waiting for him!
- He's not doing it as much now, but Blake used to get so upset and cry whenever Jade would cry. He started reacting with concern to Luke's crying too, but he never reacted to strange babies crying in public. Jade only reciprocated one time: when Blake got his vaccination shots. She burst into tears when he did. But she usually just ignored his hungry cries.
- Blake used to sleep pretty well. He and Jade would only wake up once or twice a night most of the time, but for the past 3 nights, he has woken up at least 4-5 times, starving and eating a bunch every time! I'm hoping it's just a growth spurt and he'll go back to once or twice a night soon, but I'm worried this is the start of him doing this until he's 2 years old, like Luke did! [UPDATE: It turns out the poor little guy has a double ear infection! No wonder he can't sleep! We'll fix him right up, and hopefully we'll all be sleeping better soon!]
- Blake can sit up on his own for a few seconds at a time before he loses his balance and falls over.
- Blake manages to hold his own bottle sometimes! He has done it for a good 30 seconds straight recently!
- Jade's stats so far...
- Weight:
- Birth: 3 lbs. 10oz.
- 4 Weeks: 5lbs. 1oz. (nowhere near the chart; adjusted 5%)
- 10 Weeks: 7 lbs. 10.5 oz. (getting closer to the chart; adjusted 23%)
- 18 Weeks: 11.6 lbs. (5.5%; adjusted )
- 5 Months: 11.875 lbs. (4%; adjusted 24%)
- Length:
- Birth: 15 in.
- 4 Weeks: 18.5 in. (0.3%; adjusted 50%)
- 10 Weeks: 20.75 in. (2%; adjusted 50%)
- 18 Weeks 23.6 in. (28%; adjusted 73%)
- 5 Months: 24.75 in. (38%; adjusted 82%)
- Head Circumference:
- Birth: 11.5 in.
- 4 Weeks: 12.5 in. (nowhere near the chart; adjusted 25%)
- 10 Weeks: 14.25 in. (almost on the chart; adjusted 48%)
- 5 Months: 15.75 in. (7%; adjusted 36%)
- Jade started smiling regularly at about 2.5 months (ditto for Blake) and hasn't stopped since! She is the sweetest, happiest baby I have ever met! She smiles ALL the time! Even when she is woken up by cold hands strapping her into a cold car seat! I used to expect her to cry a little in situations like that, but she just opens her eyes, sees me standing over her and gives me a giant grin!
- Jade has a double elbow crease (as in two separate creases about a half an inch apart) just like her Grandma Lamb! I've never met anyone else that has that. So weird!
- She also has just one dimple on her right cheek.
- Like Blake, massaging her head at the hairline calms her down and helps put her to sleep, but covering her in a soft blanket and rubbing her arms and legs works even better.
- Jade is so floppy! Most of the time, she doesn't even try to lift her head during tummy time. She just folds right in half when you try and sit her up, and until the past couple of weeks, she hardly moved her limbs around at all. Thank goodness, these days, she is starting to kick her legs and flail her arms a lot more, and she even arches her back like she is going to roll over onto her belly, but she's never actually done it. She actually rolled from her belly to her back for the first time at 9.5 weeks! She did it several times, but I think she forgot how a long time ago! haha She is just so laid back and relaxed and "just happy to be here."
- Up until about a month ago, Jade was CONSTANTLY mistaken for or compared to a doll! She really did look a lot like a baby doll you might find at Toys R' Us, especially from the back! Something about her tiny little figure and proportions, I guess. Someone even thought she was a prop to go along with Jeff's Halloween costume when he was holding her at our ward trunk-or-treat.
- Jade is so patient! She lets us know she's hungry by chewing on her hands or pursing her lips and moving her tongue like she's sucking on something, but unless she's REALLY hungry, she doesn't usually cry (when she IS really hungry, she's got some pipes on her!). In fact, for the first few weeks after we brought her home from the hospital, she just lay silently in the crib chewing on her hands until Blake started screaming for food, and we'd realize she had been awake and hungry and she just wasn't telling us! Even now, I often don't realize how hungry she really is until I put a bottle in her mouth and her eyes go wide and she starts sucking frantically. When she was just smiling and cooing in between chewing on her hands the moment before, it's kind of hard to tell! Thankfully, I'm the type to start making a bottle at the first sign of hunger! haha
- Jade is a water baby! She loves her baths! Even back when she barely kicked or waved her arms, she would do it in the bath. These days, she gets so excited and just goes to town kicking and splashing. I get soaked!
- Jade is and always has been a Daddy's girl. She adores him. He doesn't even have to make the tiniest effort to get the biggest smiles out of her. He doesn't even have to look at her! If she sees him, she grins.
- It is the easiest thing in the world to get Jade to smile. She smiles at family, friends, strangers, anyone who will talk to her! But it's surprisingly hard to get her to laugh! I've gotten a couple of tiny giggles out of her; Jeff has managed to get some real laughs, but even he has a hard time getting her to do it!
- Jade LOVES music! When she was in the NICU, she would smile the instant my mom or I started singing to her, and she still loves when I sing primary songs to her at night (Blake is a fan too). When she realizes I'm singing, her face breaks into a grin and it's not long before she starts drifting off to sleep. And I'm not even a good singer! She really needs her Aunt Ashley or her Aunt Debi to live closer!
- Jade loves when her daddy holds her upside down, and when we touch her toes to her cheeks and nose.
- She does the cutest, flirtiest little smile sometimes. She will give a hug grin, followed by an adorable little scrunch of her nose, and finally a bashful look away. It's a A-DORABLE.
- Jade is always sticking her tongue out, especially when she smiles.
- For some reason, Jade is constantly lifting up her shirt to reveal her cute little belly!
- Both she and Blake smile so big when they end up sitting next to Luke in the car and they look up and notice him there (Luke sits on the right side, so only one baby sits next to him at a time).
- Jade is the cutest little crier. The face she makes when she cries, combined with her cute little voice somehow makes her adorable when she is crying. This was especially true between the ages of about 2 and 4 months. I sometimes wanted to delay getting her a bottle for a little longer just to ooh and aww over her cute little self.
- Jade is constantly "talking!" She babbles, coos, and let's out happy little yells and squeals non-stop and smiles away the whole time.
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