The 2017-2018 school year honestly felt like ten thousand years for all of us. When the kids started E was deployed, Finnegan had just turned one, and things were so crazy I barely remember the fall. The last 2 months have felt like an entirely new decade. I’m hoping summer doesn’t fly by too fast, we could all use a little laziness.

All three kids big kids ended the school year on high notes. Caroline won an award for best second grader (based both on behavior and grades), Evan won an award for musical achievement, and Lincoln got accepted to a full day pre-k program for next year, where he’ll continue to get speech services. They all adjusted to school well and are a tiny bit sad it’s over now, because they’ll miss their friends and fun stuff like music and recess during the summer. I will miss school breakfast and lunch, as well as the 2 hours of quiet every afternoon while Finn napped. But we have a ton of stuff on our calendar for the summer, plus plenty of lazy days to spend at the lake, so we are ready. Bring on the summer!

Caroline is Seven!

Her favorite things are: cheer, dance, fashion, drawing, writing, reading, Wonder Woman, cooking, baking, her brothers, her friends, unicorns, glitter, Hamilton and making videos.

She is very, very smart, a wonderful friend, kind to everyone and makes me coffee in the morning. Caroline plans to have a streak of purple added to her hair over winter vacation. She cannot wait until she is old enough to officially babysit.

Happy birthday, my beautiful daughter.

(Lincoln 11 months, Caroline 11 months, Evan 11 months)

I have a great big talky, walky baby. Well, not really talking. He makes a lot of talking noises and babbles non-stop. But the walking is ridiculous. Caroline got him to walk the full lap around the first floor, up and down the transition step and everything. He cannot be stopped. He gets into everything, touches everything, reaches everything, spills everything. I have to pin him down for diaper changes and won’t even sit down to nurse – he stands up.

Finnegan is still pretty bald, so it’s hard to tell if he’s going to be Team Blonde or Team Ginger. The bald look makes him seem babyish still, which is fine with me. He can look like a chubby little baby as long as he wants. I’m not ready for him to be a toddler, even if he spends most of his time toddling around.

Finn takes one nap a day, usually around noon, but will take a second one later if we are in the car for any reason. He goes to bed about 8 pm and sleeps until about 8 am, which means I am finally getting 7 hours of sleep a night and my stress level is significantly lower. If I went to be right after the kids there’s a chance I could get TEN HOURS in a row. I’m not even sure that’s physically possible.

He’s wearing 12-18 month clothes (or 2T shorts if they’re not stretchy) but 6-12 month shoes, because he has tiny feet and huge thighs. It’s truly amazing he can even stand up, let along walk. He still isn’t a fan of things on his head but he will sometimes let me tie on a hat if it’s really sunny outside. He loves being outside, especially on my back in a baby carrier. Once the weather cools down I’m looking forward to wrapping him instead of always using the buckle carrier. I’ll be down to just Finnegan in the mornings, so  we’ll have lots of time to practice using our woven wraps and just wandering around the neighborhood. Or Target. Probably Target.

We’re celebrating both Finnegan turning 1 and Lincoln turning 3 with a joint birthday in mid-August. Our summer schedule was too busy for me to commit to 2 separate parties, but I couldn’t bring myself to not throw any party at all. The themes is children’s books. Finnegan is also having a children’s book smash cake photo session done by our awesome photographer who did his newborn pics. Considering how much he loves eating, I’m hopeful he loves the smash cake with his whole face.

Likes include food, more food, any food, all the food, cuddles, being upside down, nursies, tickles, his brothers, his sister, walking, the trash can, stealing things, chewing on crayons, climbing stuff, doing gymnastics, his blankie, naps, sand, grass, smiling, the cat, the dog, and mama.

Dislikes include being very tired, sitting in the car if it’s not moving, when I leave the room and when people won’t share their food.

11 Month Milestones 

Mastered Skills (most kids can do)
Says “mama” or “dada” to the correct parent – Calls me mama sometimes, Says dadadadada.
Plays patty-cake and peek-a-boo – Peek-a-boo yes, and it’s hilarious
Stands alone for a couple of seconds – Walks.
Cruises – Walks.

Emerging Skills (half of kids can do)
Understands “no” and simple instructions – Understands no, does not obey no.
Puts objects into a container – Only to be annoying. Like throwing the same block into my lap 50 times or trash in my coffee.

Advanced Skills (a few kids can do)
Says one word besides “mama” or “dada” – Bababababa but that’s not a word.
Stoops from standing position – He practices he squats like it’s leg day every day.

I wasn’t going to do a birthday video for Lincoln because of his speech delay. He’s very hard to understand – even his siblings and I have trouble with his language on a daily basis and we “speak Lincoln”. He also doesn’t have words for a lot of things he might want to say, and I didn’t want him to get frustrated and have a break down because he couldn’t communicate. I didn’t want to make him cry just so I could have a video of him answering questions.

But Linc has made HUGE progress with his speech, thanks to months of Birth to Three services and our amazing therapist Jill. He’s had his hearing checked (perfect), a physical (nothing wrong), and he’s been accepted into the early pre school program this fall so he can continue getting direct speech services as well as work on some of his sensory stuff and be ready for regular pre school when he’s 4. I know that in the next 12 months he’s going to grow and improve SO MUCH and eventually I’m going to miss the days when every new word was a celebration and hearing him say “happy burse day” makes me jump for joy.

So we made the video. I shortened my list of questions a little, he asked to have Evan sit with him, and I did a lot of translating. You probably won’t understand what he’s saying. But turning three is a big deal and milestone that we won’t let a speech delay stop us from documenting.

Evan 10 months, Caroline 10 months, Lincoln 10 months

This is almost 2 full weeks late, but at least I’m getting it done before he officially starts walking, which I am pretty sure is going to happen in the next week. Maybe once that happens he’ll thin out a little bit, because right now he’s one big solid chunk and carrying him with my arms is terrible. I HAVE to wear him in the Tula even if we’re just running into Target because he can climb out of carts and I’m too weak to haul him around. It’s a real problem. Being an enormous squish is adorable though, so it’s hard to complain.

The fact that he eats ANYTHING is definitely contributing to his size. Meat, vegetables, snacks, seafood, cheese, dessert, anything he can put in his mouth he will eat. He’s got a whole mouthful of teeth too, so he can handle even crunchy stuff (he loves Cheetos) or chewy stuff (today he ate clam strips). I’m not super worried about keeping him away from junk food or sugar because, well, fourth baby. I’m more worried about keeping him from eating the soot in the fireplace or bird seed (both things he tried to eat today).

He’s in 12-18 month clothes at the smallest and 24 months/2T for coming months. I have no idea what size his feet are because he never wears shoes. He still does this funny half-crawl half-scoot thing to get around super fast, but he’s getting quicker with cruising. I’m hoping by the time it’s cold enough for shoes he can walk for real and I can just buy him some tiny Bogs, since those have been perfect for Lincoln.

After we got home from vacation, we moved Finnegan down to his own room. Well, Linc’s room, which Linc doesn’t use and it has the crib so now it’s Finn’s room. After just a couple nights he got the hang of it and now he’s sleeping through the night. He also lets E put him down for the night or for naps. It’s delightful. I love my baby 10x more now that I am getting sleep in blocks greater than 3 hours at a time. He likes napping too, although that’s less reliable with our summer schedules. Luckily he also likes being worn still, so I’ve been practicing my baby-as-a-backpack skills and hopefully he starts napping that way.

Likes include water, sand, grass, his siblings, eating food, eating things that aren’t food, the dog, the cat, animals, nursing, sleeping, cruising, biting things, making a mess, trying to fall on his head, mommy, daddy, strangers, smiling, and hitting me.

Dislikes include being buckled into his car seat, being too hot, being too tired, being told no, and being hungry.

10 Month Milestones 

Mastered Skills (most kids can do)
Waves goodbye – He can clap. I’ve never seen any intentional waving.
Picks things up with pincer grasp – Yes.
Crawls well, with belly off the ground – Nope. He crawls like my other babies have, scooting on one leg.

Emerging Skills (half of kids can do)
Says “mama” or “dada” to the correct parent – Meh. He says both things, but never really to anyone.
Indicates wants with gestures – Mostly just by screeching.

Advanced Skills (a few kids can do)
Stands alone for a couple of seconds – Yes.
Puts objects into a container – Sometimes. If he wants to. Mostly he likes making a mess.