You know you are a third child when...

You know you are the third child when...

You are sleeping in a pink sleepsack... and you are a boy.

Your mommy forgot to take you to your 4 month well-child check up.

At the tender age of 4 months, your mommy leaves you at home not just one, but 2 nights in a row so she can hang out at the posh Hotel Zaza for girls weekend.





We had the third annual Girls of North Russell Hall getaway weekend! This year the girls all came to Dallas because I couldn't really leave Huck for the whole weekend. I'd miss him too much, so I came home to sleep. The Hubby's friend Tyler hooked us up with some great deals at the Hotel Zaza, one of Dallas's trendiest boutique hotels. We had a fancy dinner on Friday, went to the spa and had a baby shower on Saturday and ate a yummy brunch on Sunday. It was so good to catch up with the girls! Even though we only get together once a year, it is so easy being together it feels like we do it all the time.

Not So Outdoorsy...

We are clearly not a hunting/camping/fishing type family as evidenced by our trip to Bass Pro Shops yesterday. What started as a trip to go blueberry picking near Greenville was aborted when we sat in traffic on I-30 for almost 2 hours. Instead, we exited the Interstate and went to Bass Pro in Garland on Lake Ray Hubbard. This was a first for the kiddos- they kept referring to the lake as the ocean, the guns as shooters, and camouflage as the tree clothes. There was quite a bit to do there for the kids. We ate at the restaurant that has a huge salt water fish tank, did a craft activity, sat through a kids archery workshop (a power point presentation by Don from the archery department), played in the sand "beach" and walked by the lake. Maybe we'll have to go on the fishing vacation with the Grandparents next year...

Fun on the Forth!

While the Hubby is away the family shall play! Maybe a little too much... The Hubby went to Mexico to celebrate America's independence. No, really, it was a trip from his boss to thank him and other employees for jobs well done. The floors in the bar are being refinished so the bar is closed for the week. Al took 10 of them to Playa Del Carmen, where he has another bar. I'm pretending that Mexico is still a happy, carefree place to vacation where bad things don't happen.





Meanwhile, we partied it up on the forth! We went to the Lake Highlands neighborhood parade. Meh, not great but the kids were thrilled with the candy. After the parade the Exchange Club host a carnival in the Rec Center parking lot with free games, a bounce house, a petting zoo, etc. The kids had fun but it was HOT. I know we live in Texas and it is July, but seriously, it was HOT. I was worried about Huck but he seemed happy sleeping in the sling. I did take a break to sit in the shade with him where we both got fire ant bites... I called the pediatrician to see if I could do anything about the bites for him and Mavis the nurse said "keep him off the ground!" But she said there is nothing to do but wait it out. When I finally called it quits on the carnival we came home and rested. Then we headed over to a friends house for fireworks. First the kids played in this awesome water slide while I chatted with the grown-ups. Fireworks were fun and they didn't seem to bother Huck. By the time we got into bed it was 10:30, yikes! And of course, Duch was up at 6:30 the next morning. She is NEVER up that early! Guess that explains the nap this afternoon.



The Hubby comes home tomorrow and things will be back to normal!

New This Week...

New this week for The Duchess:
- She has officially made the switch from liking when she makes people laugh to not liking it when people laugh at her. She told me this morning at the breakfast table, with her eyes cast down and in a tiny little voice, Mommy, I don't like it when you laugh at me." Me: When did I laugh at you? Duch: Yesterday at lunch with Miss Erin. I don't even remember but obviously she did so we'll have to be more careful.
- Her drawings are looking more like what she says they are. She drew a robot that actually looked like a robot. And she can write a letter M.
- She is connecting what she watches on TV with her books. While watching Snow White, she had her story book of Snow White in her lap and turned the pages to match the picture with the movie.
- She cannot wait for her birthday! She has decided to have a Barbie party this year. We hear about her birthday plans every time she looks a the family calendar on the wall and sees pictures from last year's birthday.





New this week for Bubba:
- He lost another tooth! The tooth fairy came again last night. This one is right next to the other so he is missing the two middle bottom teeth. He was in the other room when he pulled it out. He came walking out to the family room and said "Uh,
Guys...look." And he smiled a bloody smile at us :-)
- He is swimming like a fish now. He is doing somersaults with help and is trying to do them alone. He swims underwater, jumps in by himself and is working on floating on his back without help. What a difference a few weeks make!





New this week for Huck:
- He rolled over from back to tummy for the first time on Sat July 2nd! And does it every time you put him down on his back. He's not crazy about being on his tummy but if you turn him over he rolls right back again.
- He has discovered his hands and feet and studies them quite intently. I've seen him hit himself in the face a few times when he was bringing them in for a closer look :-)
- He has been reaching for toys! It is not very coordinated yet, but he is getting better at it.
- He can sit in his Bumbo chair for short periods of time. His head control is getting better and better.
- He is definitely getting chunky! I have not weighed him since his 2 month visit, but you can see it on him. He has cute little chubby cheeks and big 'ol rolls on his thighs. The cloth diapers are getting a little small around the thighs. So good to see him filling out!






The whole family has been swimming a lot lately. We have been checking out various city pools in search of the best. So far the City of Richardson pools are the best. We went to a Dallas pool yesterday because it is close to us and and cheaper than the others. I was hopeful because it is at the rec center that is very nice and it has a very nice Sprayground/park. It was not as well maintained, there were not many chairs and I was very unimpressed by the lifeguards. I would not trust them to keep my kids safe at all. One sat in a lifeguard chair, one in the entrance booth and 5 sat in the shade talking to each other leaving 2 other lifeguard chairs empty. I think we'll stick with the Richardson pools where the lifeguards seem to be on top of things- I see them checking the pool water every hour, there are at least 2 lifeguards watching the pool at all times and they require a swim test for kids under 10 to go in the deep water, on the slide or off the diving board. Even though I am with them all the time they are in the water I just feel safer there.
I got my water sling and love it! Huck seems to like the water. As soon as I took him in the water yesterday I was surrounded by little Hispanic girls cooing over him and telling me about the babies at their house. He was not very impressed by the attention.






We had a family trip to the movies to see Cars 2. It was cute, but not as good as the first. About 20 minutes in Duchess turned to me and said she was ready to go home. I kept covering Huck's ears with a burp cloth- why do they have to have kids movies so loud???

On Friday we had a Child Life playdate. So much fun to have all of us "old" child lifers together again. We had 20 kids (and 1 on the way) between the 10 of us. We even managed to get some pictures of everyone- amazing!

Grandparents

The kiddos got lots of love from Grandparents this past weekend. Mom Mom came to town for a long weekend and we were finally able to do some fun things! The past three times she had been here we were pretty much house-bound due to sickness, bedrest and a newborn. So this time we got to have fun- the girls went to the nail salon, Mom Mom and I had a day of shopping and a crab cake lunch at Nordstrom's Bistro and we got to search for some pretty house decorations at HomeGoods and a few consignment shops. Mom Mom couldn't believe how much little Huck has grown! He is getting some pretty good rolls on him these days... I had to teach one day while she was here and Huck missed his Mommy :-) I guess he was not a happy guy while I was gone.
On Sunday Grandpa and Grandma Nancy (not to be confused with Grandma with the spiky hair)stopped for the night on their way to Iowa. It was Father's Day, so the Hubby made fish and I made scalloped potatoes, squash and salad and we had a nice dinner. The next morning we went out to breakfast and had some yummy beer biscuits before they had to get on the road again. The kids were thrilled to have so much attention and the grandparents were thrilled to meet Huck.
I promised the kids we could go swimming tomorrow. A friend made me an awesome sling that I can wear in the water and I can't wait to try it out. We are taking a break from swimming lessons this session and I want the kids to continue to practice. Bubba will move up to the next level and become a Guppy but Duchess will repeat the Pike class. Until she can jump off the side of the pool without holding onto the teacher's hand she will stay a the same level. Bubba has taken to wearing his goggles in the tub :-) There is a slide at the community pool that Bubba really wants to go down, but he'll have to pass a swim test with a lifeguard first. To pass he'll have to swim across the deep end twice! He hopes to be brave enough to try by the end of the summer. I did take Huck swimming once. He seemed pretty confused by the whole thing and made his serious face the whole time. We'll see what he thinks of the water sling.

A First, a Last, and Once Again

Big week for Bubba!
He lost his first tooth! For months (a year?) he has been asking when he would loose a tooth. I got the message that it was loose while I was in Chicago and thankfully it did not fall out until I got home. I'd have hated to miss that milestone! It was very un-dramatic. He bit his spoon at dinner and it hurt quite a bit. I looked at it, said it looked pretty loose to me and he reached in and pulled it out. Just like that! I'm not sure his feet touched the floor for the rest of the night. The Tooth Fairy came and left a $2 bill. There were lots of questions about her- How does she get in the house? Down the chimney? Through the front door? How does she carry all those teeth? Is "it" really a girl or could "it" be a boy? Luckily an "I don't know" was a good enough answer.





That First came just before the Last Day of School, so he was able to get his name up on the Tooth Chart. Apparently this is a Very Important Part of Kindergarten. He had a great year and has already mentioned several times that he "misses that old place." His words, seriously. He made some good friends and we met some great families. He got to celebrate his birthday at school along with all the other summer birthday kiddos. Another Very Important Part of Kindergarten.



We celebrated his 6th birthday by going to the new Legoland Discovery Center in Grapevine Mills Mall. I think he could live there and never get bored. Then, Once Again, we had his birthday party at the splash park. It was his choice and I am happy to do it. It is easy for me- just buy cupcakes, drinks, watermelon and sunblock and show up at he park. The kids run around, the grown-ups chat (and sweat), we sing Happy Birthday and have one happy little boy.




This week both kiddos started swimming lessons, Once Again, at the Y. It is almost like starting over since it has been 9 months since they have been in a pool. Bubba is doing well. Duchess, well, that remains to be seen. She would be happy to play on the steps, but I am not paying for her to play on the steps. There were many tears today, but she did well despite the wailing. She swam from one teacher to the other underwater for about 4 feet. She said she is ready to go back tomorrow.

Huck is doing great. He has little rolls and dimples on his arms and legs. He is sleeping well (knock on wood). He is often a bit fussy in the evening, but sitting on the front porch calms him quickly. Too bad for the stinking mosquitoes!

Chicago!

Huck and I went to Chicago last week for the Child Life Conference. We went because I was presenting about working in the Emergency Department. We went with a group of 6 others from the department, all of whom were presenting except our director. We left Thurs morning and because we took Southwest we had to stop over in Kansas City. Huck did great on the plane, either slept or just looked around and smiled at the girls. We all went out to lunch/dinner since it was almost 4 by the time we ate and walked on Michigan Avenue a bit. The weather was not great- cold and rainy- but Huck was happy and cozy in the Moby wrap.






Friday the conference started. Huck went with me to my sessions. He did good- it was fine when he was asleep- but I had to leave one session because he was happy "talking." All over conference people were smiling at me and I wasn't sure if it was just because of Huck in the wrap or if I was supposed to know them! Over my almost 12 years at Children's I've had lots of interns and I know I wouldn't recognize them all!




Saturday Grandma took the train in to the city to help me watch Huck and to get some snuggles in. It was nice to go to sessions without worrying about Huck bothering anyone. Huck welcomed Grandma within 30 minutes with a great big blow-out diaper! He must have been impressed with her diaper changing skills because 20 minutes after I left after lunch he did it again! Thanks, Grandma! Our presentation went well. It was based on a presentation I did 8 years ago. We had somewhere between 170-200 people there. It is hard to judge how it went with that large of a crowd but we didn't see anyone sleeping :-) We have heard from several people that they really enjoyed it and we'll get official comments from the Child Life Council sometime in the next few months. We are talking about submitting another proposal for next year that will take it to the next level. Saturday night we went to Navy Pier and had dinner at Harry Karry's restaurant. It was good but we waited forever! Huck slept through it all like a champ.



We headed home on Sunday after one more session in the morning. Huck slept and/or nursed through it all and didn't make a peep. Our flight was delayed because of weather and we sat on the ground for almost 1 1/2 hours in Chicago. Huck and I slept for a bit and once again he did great the whole way.
The rest of my family had a great adventure in Waco so stay tuned for more on that!