Category Archives: growing up

Birthday Interview Prep

It’s May 1st and you know what that means!

Oh you don’t? Well, it means Little Miss Rylee will be turning 5 years old in 17 more days.

FIVE years old.

ONE WHOLE HAND!

This is a big deal, folks.

Back when Rylee was two, I started a “birthday interview” tradition that has been really fun to look back on and see how she’s changed over the years. I have a list of “standard questions” that remain constant and then I always open it up for suggestions. So, this is your chance…if you’ve got any questions you’d like to ask Rylee, leave me a comment here and I’ll include it in her 5 year interview.

And, for funsies, here’s links to her previous interviews. Seriously…her voice at her two year interview kills me dead.

Ry’s 2 year interview.

Three Years. An Interview.

4 Years. Her Interview.

This is something I hope my crazy girl lets me do for years to come!

{And oh yes you better believe I will be doing the same thing with Reese!}

9 Month Check Up!

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As of April 19th we’ve had a 9 month old on our hands! I know I’ve said it before, but I still can’t believe how fast this last year has been flying by. We had Reese’s 9 month well-check this morning so, here’s a snapshot of Reese at 9 months old.

Weight: 18 lbs, 3 oz. – 30th percentile
Height: 28.5 inches – 75th percentile
Head: 25th percentile

Teeth: At 6 months, she had 2 teeth. In the last 3 months she’s popped out 6 more for a total of 8. 4 on top and 4 on bottom so it’s nice and equal. Though for a while she was rocking the vampire look because her top two eye teeth came in before the top two middle ones.

Food: Homegirl still loves her groceries. She’s still nursing well and perfectly content with her purées, though we are starting to give her more finger foods like black beans, broccoli and even tortellini noodles and pancakes. She’s gone from loving avocado (her first food) to hating it. I’ve started getting more adventurous in what I make for her…last time I made baby food I puréed up some strawberries and spinach. She didn’t like it by itself but will eat it when mixed with mashed banana or pear purée.

Movement: At 6 months she wasn’t crawling yet. Well, holy crap she’s come a long way in three months. She officially started crawling on February 12. A day I happened to be home from work because Ry was sick. She hasn’t stopped moving since. In fact, the day she started crawling, she also started climbing and was getting stuck on the bottom part of our coffee table within hours. She pulled herself to standing at the beginning of march and just last weekend started walking behind her walker thing. She even pivoted and tried to take a step completely on her own on Saturday morning. She can stand completely on her own for 5-10 seconds at a time. I’m sure before our next well-check update she’ll be walking.

Other: Let’s see…what else…she started waving at the beginning of April followed closely by clapping. She loves peek-a-boo. She’s started throwing fits…she definitely has her opinions. She’s a total troublemaker and she knows it. If she’s headed for something shes not supposed to have, she stop, just inches away from it and look at you and smile, then go for it. She loves her binkie, but uses it less throughout the day than when she first started taking one. She loves to stand at the screen door and watch out the window. She hates baths. I’ve finally given up on trying to get her to like them so for now she showers with me. She loves showers. She still has fiery eyes and a smile that will light up a room.

Second kids do almost everything faster.

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Sometimes I feel like these last nine months have been a whirlwind. Time is going by so fast. I looked down at my sleeping baby last night and thought how un-baby-like she seemed to me all of a sudden.

I started thinking about it and it seems like she is doing everything before Rylee was when she was a baby.

I often joke that Reese will be the one to keep me on my toes. Give me premature grey hair.

Her teeth for example, at 9 months of, Ry had 2 teeth. Reese? 8. EIGHT.

She started crawling earlier. She was pulling herself up to standing earlier. She was interested in food at an earlier age. Opening drawers earlier. She started climbing on the coffee table the day she started crawling.

See? On.My.Toes.

So far pretty much the only thing she didn’t do earlier was sleep though the night.

The latest thing she’s doing earlier than her older sister? Throwing fits.

Yup.

This was this morning. When I had the audacity to put her down so I could pack up our stuff to leave. {Excuse the blurryness. I may or may not have been laughing at my baby.}

I’m not even kidding, at one point she lay down completely, including gently setting her head on the floor, and just wailed.

That’s one thing I definitely could have done without for a while longer.

I think I feel my grey hairs starting to grow.

Rylee’s First Haircut!

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Even though I know it’s bound to happen {it’s in the kid rule book or something} I don’t ever want to be accused of favoring one child over the other. Posting more photos of one, or missing major milestones…like I said, it’s bounty happen BUT remember that time a few months back Rylee had her first haircut? Well…official haircut, because I don’t count me trimming her bangs when she was 2 as counting. I took her to my hair stylist. We talked it up for a couple of weeks prior. She totally loved it. {For the record, if you live in my area and need a great recommendation for a new stylist? Go see Amanda at Bloom Hair Studio!}

Anyway…photo proof! {only two-ish months late}

Before…

It tickles!!

She did such a great job of sitting still and listening to Amanda.Reese & Mama Cheesin’ it up…

All done!!

Up next? Ear piercing for her 5th birthday!

CRAZINESS!!!

Hard things for my almost 5 year old

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Holy crap you guys…what the heck is going on this week!? It’s been one thing after another. It’s been one hard thing after another.

The other night I was with Rylee in our bathroom getting her ready for bed when I topic of her impending birthday came up. Five is a big deal, folks. {side note: how is it possible that my little monster is going to be five!?}

Well anyway, she’s been talking about her 5th birthday plans since…well since before her 4th birthday was over, actually, but a lot more lately. For a while she was stuck on the idea of having a Dora the Explorer birthday complete with going on an adventure in our backyard. Tell you what, the planning possibilities with that kind of birthday theme are endless but, maybe Dora is a little too “young” for a 5 year old?

Then more recently she’s been really into Angry Birds so I suggested maybe having an angry birds style party instead. We could even make a big life size course and let her and her friends throw stuff at it to try and kill the pigs, or whatever. Throw in some food, a piñata and boom. Done. She was totally down with that idea.

So, there we are, talking more about the different ideas and I realize she thinks she’s getting BOTH parties and not choosing one theme. So I clarified that she had to choose one. A Dora party or an Angry Bird party.

Oh my gosh, I may have well just kicked a puppy. Her head fell, her posture drooped and she got the saddest looks her face. She kept making these troubled noises and big heavy sighs. Pretty sure I had crushed her spirit. I finally asked her what was wrong and in the saddest, most distraught voice you can even imagine she said…

“I just can’t decided between and Angry Birds party and a Dora party.”

In light of this weeks events I couldn’t help but smile a little. I kissed her forehead and gave her a big, warm hug and said, ” I love you so much. We’ll figure it out.”

I am so glad that is the worst she is worried about right now.

Somewhere In The Middle

Mostly Average Accounts of the World's Okayest Mom.