Nora Kate is 4 Months!

Nora Kate is now four months old!  It's a good thing that is so fun and cute to watch babies grow, or else I'd be even more sad at how quickly these first four months of her little life have gone by! 
Her 4 month check up was today.  She weighs 16pounds 10 ounces and is 25 inches long.
Compared to Dawson who weighed 15 pounds 12 ounces and was 26 inches long and Carter who weighed 15 pounds 5 ounces and was 26inches long at this age.  To have started out 13 ounces less than her older brothers, she sure has caught up!  She has the most adorable little rolls and cheeks!!  Her legs have more rolls on them than I thought imaginable, and I just love it!!  So far Nora Kate has only had breastmilk, although this was the age where we started both boys on cereal because they seemed to be absolutely starving.  She, however, doesn't seem to be dissatisfied with her purely liquid diet. When she seems ready for a little more we will begin rice cereal, but I'm not going to rush it since she's content! 
In terms of being content, she's a good sleeper at night other than the fact that she absolutely will not go to bed before 10pm it seems-oh and she wants to be held from 8-10pm.  Now that I've stopped trying to accomplish things during this time, I don't mind it at all.  She and I just have snuggle time on the couch, and she finally gives up and goes to sleep around 10 (sometimes later, a few times earlier).  The wonderful thing about Nora Kate's sleep though, is that after she goes to sleep she sleeps for about 5 (sometimes 6) hours straight!  Then she'll go another couple of hours to get her to around 6:30/7:30 which is the time frame that she usually wakes up.  Although she sleeps fabulously at night, she rarely sleeps during the day?!  This is so surprising to me because the boys were just the opposite-great nappers and poor night-time sleepers.  She's usually content during the day, so I won't complain.  I have not met my goal of trying to get Nora Kate on somewhat of a schedule yet, but, hey, she's only 4 months old, right?!
Nora Kate sits up in her Bumbo seat wonderfully now!  She loves to be in this because she can watch her brothers play in the playroom and be rowdy!  She will just watch them and smile as they talk and play!  She's a lucky girl to have two sweet, sweet older brothers who just cannot get enough of their precious sister! 
In addition to the Bumbo, she still enjoys her swing and bouncy seat too!  We have plans to get her exersaucer out of the attic very soon as I think she'd like something else that helps her be upright a little more! 
I cannot remember if I included this in her three month update, but the night she turned three months old....she rolled over!!  Nora Kate rolls tummy to back regularly, but we've yet to make it back to tummy as that's more difficult. 
She's holding her head and upper body up like a champ when she sits in the Bumbo or on my lap or when she's doing tummy time.
Nora Kate has become increasingly interested in her hands.  I often notice her just holding them in front of her face moving them around looking!  She will reach out to touch a lot of things now...and successfully grasp them!  Nora Kate will take her paci when I offer it, but she really seems to care less about it.  She prefers to suck on two or three of her fingers.
One thing I have to mention...Nora Kate drools more than any 4 month old I've ever seen!  I don't know why, but I have to keep a bib on her just for the drool a lot of the time to keep her shirt dry!  Carter thinks it's funny that she always "blows bubbles."  He will point to her bubbly/drooly mouth and say, "baby! bubbles!  wet! bubbles!!" and just laugh and laugh! 
Nora Kate loves to "chat," and she has become quiet vocal this month!  I love hearing her sweet little baby voice, especially when she squeals with delight!  Nora Kate smiles all the time.  I just love her sweet smile!
One big first for Nora Kate this month was the she started sleeping in her crib in her room.  I kept her in our room until she literal outgrew the bassinet.  Her feet were touching the bottom and her head the top.  John joked that I was going to stunt her growth if I kept her in it much longer. :)  So, we moved her to her crib, and she has done great!
She got a wonderful report at her doctor's visit, and she smiled and cooed for Dr. Booher and all the nurses which got her lots of attention.  My poor baby girl had to get three shots at this visit.  She doesn't go back until she's 6 months old.
I could go on and on about our precious baby girl!  We love our little Nora Kate so very much and could not imagine our family without her!!

Nora Kate at 4 months

Sibling picture.

Dawson 4.5 years.  Carter 20 months.  Nora Kate 4 months.

(Carter was decided-on his own-to try to hold Nora Kate's hand for the picture!)

I just had to include this picture, because when I was trying to take pictures of JUST Nora Kate for this update, Carter absolutely could not leave her alone.  He kept climbing in the chair and sitting as close to her as possible.  So sweet!

Carter at 20 Months

Our sweet, silly, happy Carter is 20 months old today-Friday the 13th!  AND he was born on a Friday the 13th, so these (now) "lucky" days are his! 

There is so much I could say about Carter this month, but what I really want to remember is his happy personality!  He is so, so sweet.  He loves to give hugs, kisses, and snuggles without being asked or prompted.  He is especially sweet with Nora Kate-even when we're not looking.  He really just can't get enough of her.  He kisses her head, hands, and toes...isn't that the sweetest thing?!  He is constantly hugging or patting her.  Sometimes he will sit down next to her or in front of her and just watch her, waiting, like they're going to have a conversation.  He's just so sweet! 

Carter is also super silly!  He loves to be a ham.  He will do silly things and then look at our faces to see if we are going to laugh.  Then he laughs at himself right along with us.  Carter loves to laugh.  He will do something we won't even notice and crack himself up!   So funny!  There is no way to have a bad day when Carter is around. 

As sweet as Carter is to Nora Kate, he looks up to Dawson just as much!  I don't think there is anyone that makes Carter happier than Dawson.  He copies EVERYTHING Dawson does (this is both good and bad!)

It would be impossible to specifically talk about words in Carter's vocabulary now because there are just so many!  However, there are a few things he says or talks about that I want to remember!  His favorite phrase right now is "all aboard!"  He says this 24/7 and with a variety of tones, inflections, and volumes.  The other day the first thing I heard on the monitor when he woke up from nap was "all aboard!" repeated about 15 times before I could get to his room!  If you're in Carter's way, he will look at you and shout, "Move back!"  I'm not sure where this came from, and it honestly doesn't sound super polite (so we're going to work on that), but it makes us laugh every time!  Last week at church, John had Carter trapped in the pew during the service, but Carter wanted out to the aisle to run.  He looked and John and said, "Daddy, move back!!"  If he is looking for anyone or anything he says, "Where are you?" in the sweetest sing-song voice ever!  The other day I asked Carter where his bellybutton was, and he said, "Bellybutton, where are you?"  :)

Carter loves music, and he loves to dance and sing.  His current favorite is Frosty.  I've never sang Frosty so many times in my life as I have in the past 2 weeks!  Any and every snowman is frosty, so every one we see in a Christmas decoration he points out, calls Frosty, and then wants us to sing.  :)  We are always so impressed with how quickly Carter learns things by song-even at this young age-he knows A LOT of words to various songs, and even Frosty which we haven't been singing for too long! 

Carter points out bugs, bees, stinkbugs, and lady bugs EVERYWHERE, and he usually correctly identifies between them.  There is a huge stinkbug problem in East Tennessee (lovely thing to remember on our son's 20 month blog post, right?), but because of this Carter has learned what they are.  Unfortunately now if Carter sees a piece of a leaf or anything on the floor that isn't supposed to be there, he is convinced it is a "stink bug" (which he says with a lot of emphasis).  He points it out, and says stink bug over and over until we come look.  If we tell him it's a leaf, he will say, "stink bug! ew!  shooo! gross! stink bug!"  I want to remember the way he says "no" he draws it out and shakes his head, "noooooo!"  He has started nodding yes, and it's the most dramatic nod you have ever seen...hilarious.

In terms of potty training Carter is doing really well!  We usually have a minimum of one success each day, and a lot of times more!  The days I do a good job taking him frequently, he does great!  If I could stay on him better about asking, he would have it quickly because he is already even telling me when he has to go a lot of the time without me asking. 

Carter is currently cutting A LOT of teeth (finally!) at once!  I'll update next month with how many he actually has, because as of now his top molars are half way through, his bottom molars feel like they're coming through soon.  And he has a couple more knots on his gums in the front where it looks like he could be getting more teeth too!

My sweet Carter!

 

Carter 20 months.

Carter 20 months.

Carter 20 months.

Carter 20 months with his siblings!

Carter 20 months with big brother and little sister.

Isn't this sweet?!  He just loves his sister so much, he had to try to hold her hand...all his own idea!

Love my three precious kids!

November 2013

November was another fun month for our family.  We started the month by visiting Dollywood.  John had to work, so Lolly and Pop came with Dawson, Carter, Nora Kate, and me!  The weather was really perfect...we weren't hot, but we weren't too cold either.  Dollywood was beautifully decorated for Fall.  I envisioned getting several wonderful pictures in front of these displays, but the boys were really just interested in having fun at Dollywood on the rides!  :)  We did have a fun day, and got to do A LOT of rides!!

We did several Thanksgiving crafts this month including decorating Thanksgiving placemats and making these handprint turkey plates.  We made one to keep, and one for each set of grandparents.

 Glitter glue is serious business.

 Carter thinks glitter glue is silly!

In the middle of the month we celebrated Mamaw's 84th birthday!  We had cake and ice cream at her house.  In addition to her gift, the kids took her balloons and flowers.  Dawson was especially excited to give her flowers.  So sweet!

One Friday morning we visited the Alcoa Fire Station with several friends!  The firemen were so good and patient with the kids!  They told them a lot of good information, demonstrated "stop, drop, and roll,"  showed the kids what they look like in their fire suits and how the search for people in a burning house so the kids wouldn't be afraid, and -of course the favorite-let the kids get in the fire truck!  We spent about an hour there, and Dawson and Carter had a blast!  I wore Nora Kate in the carrier and she slept most of the time! :)

 

Dawson continues to absolutely LOVE preschool, and he was beyond thrilled to be invited to his first school friend birthday party!  It was for a little girl he likes to play with named Cheyenne, and it was a pool party at a local indoor pool!  Dawson spent the better part of a morning perfecting her homemade birthday card (so sweet!), and he had fun picking out a girl gift for her of Polly Pockets.  When we got to the party he was excited to get to swim and play with a few other friends from school who were at the party too!  He has since asked to have a playdate with school friends (funny how he makes the distinction of "school friends" on his own).  So sweet how he loves his little friends. 

We celebrated Uncle Logan's 20th birthday this month! 

The Monday before Thanksgiving my friend, Cassandra, drove over from Asheville, North Carolina with her sweet boys, Henry and Thomas, for a playdate!  It was so fun to have them here and get to chat and play with the little ones!  I was glad it worked out for them to get to stay and play with Dawson after he got home from school too!  We all had a great time!!!

 Unfortunately I didn't get a picture until the kids were absolutely exhausted!  (Explains the expressions and the paci in Carter's mouth!)

Then we celebrated my birthday!  I had a fun day with the kids (yay, it wasn't a school day so I got to have time with them all at home!), then that evening Mom, Dad, Logan, Karen, Mike, Emily, Drew, Eric, and Hailey all came over bringing dinner, cake, and ice cream to have a birthday party.  After it was over, John and I slipped out for a movie date, leaving the kids in the care of Nana and Grandad for a few hours.  I had a great birthday! 

 As soon as Carter saw the cake, he couldn't think about anything else.  He kept asking for a piece!

 Family picture on my birthday!

The night of my birthday it started snowing?!  I don't remember it ever snowing on my birthday before!  When I was up with Nora Kate during the night I looked out the window to see a beautiful snow covered yard.  While I'm not a fan of the cold weather in winter, the snow is beautiful!  The boys had a blast playing in the snow!  Carter learned what snow is, and now he likes to talk about it!  I ran Nora Kate outside for a quick "first snow" picture, and she was most definitely not a fan of the cold!

 

The following day was Thanksgiving.  We celebrated with a lot of family (including Mamaw) at Lolly and Pop's house for lunch, went home for the boys, Nora Kate, and John (he worked the previous night) to nap, then went to the Zorio's for Thanksgiving dinner. 

 Daddy's tiniest turkey on Thanksgiving.

 My three sweet Thanksgiving turkies!

 Somehow I missed that Carter was doing this until I uploaded the pictures to the computer!  Looks like he wanted a little sister to eat instead of turkey!  I'm really not sure what he's doing here, but this is SO Carter!  Just being silly.

Dawson is 4 AND A HALF!

On November 14th, Dawson turned 4.5!  You know, when you're 4, the half is a big deal! :)  We talked about how it means he's halfway to 5, and he told me that it means he's halfway to his party! 
Dawson really seems like such a big kid all the sudden.  He's such a good big boy!!  He really is a wonderful help to me.  He knows the rules and generally obeys them.  Dawson loves to show Carter new things, and he gets excited when Carter actually learns them from him.  Dawson and Carter are starting to play together more and more, and they both love it!
I've blogged a lot about Dawson lately with his school and soccer updates, so I won't touch on those any more than just to say that he loves both.  He just can't get enough of preschool and talks about it constantly!
Some of Dawson's friends he plays with at 4.5 are Charlie and Colt.  Here are a few of his favorite things:
Favorite Shows:  Veggie Tales, Bananas in Pajamas
Favorite Toys:  John Deere Gator, anything art related, books
Favorites Outings: Loves going to the zoo, Dollywood, Nana and Grandad's house, Lolly and Pop's house, and walks or bike rides in the neighborhood down to a house on the corner to see the cat named "Keelie" or the other corner to see the dog named "Riley" (I'm sure that these neighbors don't know who were are much less that we remember their pets from one-time interactions, but these pets are regular parts of our conversations, haha!)
Favorite Topics of Conversation:  "What are we planning to do tomorrow," "Why does Carter (insert anything Carter has just done that a 1 year old would do that a 4 year old would not)," "When can I spend the night at (either Lolly and Pop or Nana and Grandad)'s house?," loves telling us ALL about school and all kinds of things his friends at school say.
Other things I want to remember about Dawson at 4.5:
-He makes his bed like a champ! Each day Dawson has 4 chores to do (because he's 4).  He has to make his bed each morning, take his water cup from his nightstand to the kitchen counter, and put his pajamas in the hamper.  His fourth chore is in the evenings, and we have to pick up EVERYTHING in the playroom.  He is such a wonderful boy about his chores.  Many mornings he does the morning chores without me reminding him.  We started working with him to make his bed last November, and over the past year he has gotten REALLY good at it!!! And he knows it looks good because he is always proud of how he's made it.  (A year ago, I really wondered how much improvement a preschooler would be able to make on making their bed, but I'm SO glad I kept making him do it on his own with no real help from me, because now he gets most all the bumps out and squares the blankets and comforter up to my satisfaction nearly every time!  I'm always impressed!)
-Dawson is an excellent helper!  He will help me or John with ANYTHING we ask him to and he's happy to do it!  He prefers to help John though because John's chores are more exciting to him...for example, he gets excited that more and more leaves keep falling because that means he gets to help John work in the yard getting to the curb numerous times! 
-Dawson loves his Daddy, Grandad, and Pop!  I'm not trying to say that he doesn't love the females in his life, but Dawson just especially loves being with the guys! :)  On John's days off work, Dawson is right with John nonstop!

Dawson is such a wonderful big boy! I cannot believe that our oldest is already 4.5!! He is such a kind-hearted boy, and we love him so very much!!

I love this sweet boy and his sweet smile so much!

Dawson at 4.5!

 

Dawson at 4.5 with his two younger siblings!

Dawson at 4.5 with his two younger siblings!

(Look at his smile...that kind of a smile is just for Daddy who was standing behind me!)

Dawson at 4.5 with his two younger siblings.  He is a wonderful big brother!

Nora Kate 3 Months

Nora Kate's third month has been a wonderful one!  I finally feel like we're starting to get in the swing of things with her (as much as you ever can with kids), and we have really, really been able to enjoy this month!  The biggest part of this has been that her reflux is GONE!  About a week after she hit the 2 month mark, she suddenly just stopped having reflux issues.  It was really odd, but we are most definitely not complaining!!  She hasn't had reflux meds in over three weeks!  She still spits up a lot, but she doesn't seem uncomfortable, have the hiccups ALL THE TIME, or just have long spells of crying.  It is SO wonderful! 

Nora Kate is now a wonderfully easy baby!  Every night she goes to bed around 10:30 (we call her our little owl), and she will sleep until sleep until around 3:30 or 4...yes, that's right!  5 or 6 hours of straight sleep!!  It is amazing!  After both non-sleeping boys, I do not take this for granted for a minute!  I guess if we have enough kids we were bound to get a better sleeper...and it looks like we did! hah!  After she wakes up then, gets changed, eats, she goes right back to sleep and sleeps until anywhere between 6:30 or 7:30.  She is not on a schedule during the day just yet, but she eats about every 3-3.5 maybe 4 hours during the day.  As it gets later in the afternoon/evening she does a few "cluster feedings" which I think is what helps her go such a long stretch at night.  She has what we've called her "hold me time" each night.  She gets clingy/a little fussy/just crying to be held around 8:30 and basically just wants to be held from 8:30-10:30.  This is the time period John leaves for work so I usually just hang out with Nora Kate until she finally starts acting sleep around 10:30.  Now I don't plan to get anything done after the boys go to bed (like I used to), instead I just plan to hold, play with, and talk to Nora Kate because when I do she's happy.

This month Nora Kate has changed SO much!  She doesn't hate tummy time, and she will actually do it for long periods of time.  She also enjoys laying on her back time gym and has started swatting at the toys hanging down.  A couple of times she's even managed to grab the toys!!  The day before her 3 month birthday I sat her in the Bumbo Seat for the first time expecting her to be REALLY wobbly, but to my surprise she sat there really well for about 12-15 minutes before starting to lean.  The boys thought it was HILARIOUS to see her sitting up!  You should have heard the laughter! So sweet.  Carter kept trying to sit beside her, but he just couldn't get close enough.  Finally I got worried he might actually be trying to sit on her he was so close! :)

Also in developments this month, Nora Kate has started talking EVEN more!  I love to hear her sweet voice.  Precious!  On the day she turned 3 months, we had spread a huge quilt in the living room and were all lounging on it with the tv on.  Nora Kate was on her tummy, and she just rolled right over like it was no big deal!  So her first official roll was on November 14 from her tummy to back. 

The boys are SO sweet with their little sister.  They love to check on her, pat her, and hug and kiss her...but seriously, who wouldn't love to do that?!

She has changed a lot in her appearance this month too.  Everything about our sweet girl is round right now!  I love this baby stage.  Little leg rolls, double chin, love it!  Clearly she's getting plenty to eat and is healthy!

She has still been sleeping in the bassinet in our bedroom, but we moved both boys to their rooms when they were 3 months so we are (unfortunately) about to begin this with Nora Kate too.  I say unfortunately because I just cannot believe these first three months have gone so fast that it could already be time to move her to the crib at night. 

My other "goal" for Nora Kate (any myself) for this next month, is to get her on some sort of a (flexible) schedule.  By this age, Carter had fallen into a schedule on his own and it was wonderful!  I'm not talking about a feeding schedule, but a sleeping schedule.  I will feed her whenever she's hungry, but I would like to be able to rely on the fact that she will sleep at three set times each day.  Also, I would LOVE it if we could get her to start going to sleep for the night even just an hour early...but I'm not going to set my goals too high! :)

We love our sweet baby Nora Kate so very much, and John and I both have discussed how we cannot really remember what it was like before we had a baby girl in our lives...isn't that crazy?!

Now for some pictures...

 

 

Nora Kate wearing out at tummy time, but willing to lift her head just a little longer for her sweet brother Carter!

I NEVER pose these pictures.  Both brothers just love to take part in tummy time!

Seriously, I have a TON of pictures of the boys laying on the floor with Nora Kate!  They just can't get enough of her!

Nothing startles Nora Kate. Wonder why? Probably because she's used to having loud tractors, trucks, and in this case a Weebles camper driven by her at all times by her rowdy brothers.

Nora Kate's first successful grab of a toy!!

(Check out our little night owl's owl pajamas from her Nana and Grandad...sweet and warm pajamas for these cold temps!)

This was during naptime, so she's dressed (not in pajamas), but she really is outgrowing her bassinet.  One foot is touching at the bottom and her head is almost touching at the top in this picture.  Makes me remember how tiny she looked in this bassinet just 3 months ago. 

Nora Kate is 3 months.

Monthly sibling photo

Monthly sibling photo

Both of Nora Kate's big brothers love her...Carter just had to sneak his sister a kiss while I was taking the pictures!  Totally unprompted...sweetest!  Love these sweet kids!

Monthly sibling photo

Nora Kate 3 months.

Nora Kate 3 months

Nora Kate 3 months