Just like cartoons!

I was telling Xander about how his grandparents lived as children and I said, "In the summer, Poppas didn't have air conditioning in his house." Xander gasped- "What did they do?!" I said that they opened their windows. He said, "Wow! That's just like in cartoons!!"

Well Checks

Last week Marie had her 9month well check on Monday and Grace and Greta had their 4yr well check Tuesday.

Marie is doing great! She is 13lbs 9oz and supposedly 26in but I have my doubts on the height. When I measure her at home I can't stretch her any longer than 25in. Her iron is a little low so we are giving her drops. She comes in on the 0th percentile and is actually a full pound lighter than Greta and almost a pound lighter than Grace was at 9months! Her Dr is not concerned at all because she is growing steadily and she looks very healthy. I think it is obvious that she is so small because she never stops moving! Marie is very busy and is crawling, pulling up and taking steps while holding onto things.

She has also started saying some words. She uses Momma, Dada, Kitty, and Book consistently in the right context and has repeated Baby and Bye Bye when we've told her to say it but I'm not sure if she really knows those yet. She still doesn't have any teeth although one is starting to come up but she loves to eat! Unfortunately, the past few days she hasn't been wanting much baby food and is more interested in table food and especially food she can pick up. Considering she has no teeth, the amount and variety of finger foods she can eat isn't that great. Hopefully it is just because she has a runny nose and just isn't feeling much like eating right now.

Look at my big girl- learning her letters and reading books already!




Now for Grace and Greta-
This was a big check up for them! They were to have their blood pressure, hearing, and vision screened for the first time, had their iron re-checked, and got 4 shots! Unfortunately, we have to go back in 6 months and try again with the blood pressure, hearing, and vision screenings because the girls would not cooperate. They said the blood pressure cuff hurt. They couldn't get the hearing test results because they were crying too loudly because they didn't like the thing in their ears. After the blood pressure and hearing meltdowns, they would not talk to say what they could see on the vision test. They were both about 37in and 30lbs which is the 7th percentile and really good for them. Greta's iron is also low so she is getting drops too. They had a little fever and seemed a little sick for a couple days after the shots but it is hard to tell if it was a reaction to the shots or not because Marie and I had the same symptoms and we didn't get any shots.

Happy Birthday Grace and Greta!

Grace and Greta have had a great birthday! First, we went to the Children's Museum on their birthday and Nathan and Kelly surprised them by coming in town.




Then, we had a small family party with pizza and the girls had picked a Barbie cake.


Last Sunday (the week after their birthday) we held a small tea party for Grace and Greta at Brooke's salon. Grandma Sandy and boyd came in town, we invited a couple friends, and the girls had a tea party with fancy cookies, fresh fruit, and "tea" (flavored water) with their new tea sets that their friend, Bella, gave them. Brooke let them use her wine glasses too but most of them preferred the tea cups. Then, the girls got the finger and toe nails painted, their hair and makeup done by Brooke, and my friend Jennifer took everyone's pictures! It was so much fun! Brooke even put on the old prom dress that she has on display in the salon as decoration for the girls! It was so cute and so much fun!! Even Xander, the only boy there had fun "getting married" to all the girls. The cutest moment came after Xander "married" Bella, then Jillian stole off with him and he came back apparently married to her now. When Bella saw this, she threw herself on the ground. Xander- "Bella, what's wrong?" Bella- "I don't know you!!!"








I still can't believe they are already 4!

Another Intruder

Earlier this week, Xander said he saw a lizard under the refrigerator. I didn't think much of it until I came downstairs the next day and screamed when I saw Mr Lizard run in front of the stairs and under the entertainment center! He is a very fast little guy! Today, Xander found him under the computer desk. He was cornered with the 3 kids around him so I was able to get some pictures of the little beady eyed intruder. We tried to chase him out the front door but he went under the couch instead. I think he's a Six-Lined Racerunner or maybe some kind of skink.





Later on, Grace went to the bathroom and starts screaming frantically! The lizard had been hiding behind the door and there was no way out of the bathroom except to walk past him. Apparently, looking at the lizard when you have him cornered is cool, but looking at the lizard when he has you cornered is not cool! I went in and picked Grace up and carried her to the upstairs bathroom and she said, "I hope the lizard doesn't get me here!" Poor Grace...not to mention she fell in the potty earlier today, so this was a bad day for her and bathrooms!

Back downstairs, Xander and Greta were keeping watch on the lizard. When I came back down he was still there. I opened the front door and strategically placed the kids so they blocked alternative exits, and took a piece of heavy paper and tried to push him out towards the front door. Eventually, we got him out!! Everyone can sleep better tonight!