6, 7 & 8 months

So.  Um. Hi. Happy New Year?  I guess it has been a while. Life with three kids is no joke! Have I mentioned that? Now that Kyalo's in school (and I'm driving him to and fro) and I have a part time job, there's so little time for blogging.  So we have a lot to catch up on.

In January, Kioko turned six months.  Six months is maybe my favorite -- babies are sitting, or at least more independent, able to grab at things, more engaged, etc.  Kioko wasn't sitting, but he would happily sit in the Bumbo ("bum-mo" as Malaikah says) as long as one of his big siblings wasn't in it.

 Kyalo wore this (probably Maliakah, too, but I can't remember!).  This is extra special to me as it is from a friend who died in January.

Happy to be in the deli line at Hannaford

In January, Malaikah figured out that she could hold Kioko.  She would say, "Sit Kioko's lap" when she really meant he wanted her to sit in his lap.  I love that she's wearing her Halloween costume here.

He also got a check up in January:

27 1/4 inches

17 lbs 1 oz

(growing 2 inches and gaining 2 pounds from November!)

February was 7 months (and Dexter's birthday & our 8 year anniversary!!)

Look how happy he is in Kyalo's arms!

 a little unsure of broccoli 

finally sitting without falling!  

Just a week after turning 7 months, later than the other two.  (M was the earliest at 5 1/2 months).

We are only just barely getting into solid food with him. He doesn't seem overly interested, and I am not pushing it yet.  Breastfeeding is still going so well, and this is my last baby, so....why rush it?  :)

And today, finally!  8 months.  Oh, my heart.  

first swim -- wearing Kyalo's old bathing suit -- he liked it.

my typical view

those cheeks! (and eyes!)

He isn't sleeping through the night yet, but gives me four + hour stretches sometimes, so it isn't awful. No teeth yet, either. I am not complaining about that one.  I love the toothless grin!

He has a funny little growl that really sounds like a puppy tearing into food sometimes.  

He has a ready smile, especially for Kyalo and Malaikah.  And follows them around with his eyes (and scoots around on the floor) adoringly.  Not long till he's chasing after them.  

I leave you with this...

nothing better than a baby's full-body laugh!

Let's hope I am back on track now!  

four and five months

So...I never made it to blog last month. Trying to think about doing two blogs this month seemed unlikely, so we're going to try to catch up.

November Kioko was four months:

 November 1 || 4 months

chomping on his hand, working on a grin

Part of the reason I didn't blog was because I wanted to get his stats:

November 8:

14 lbs 15 oz

25 1/4 inches

He grew an inch and a quarter from his appointment in September!  Now, maybe that's average, but it seems gigantic compared to my other kids.  

At the doctor's appointment that day, the doctor suggested that Kioko should be sleeping 12 hours which is, of course, no where close to happening (even now, at 5 months). She said the longer you wait to get the kid to sleep through the night, the harder it will get.  Yeah.  I know.  But I can't bear to listen to him cry in the middle of the night.  So, that's still a work in progress.  He cries a lot. And it isn't just a cry. It is a screech/scream thing that is so piercing.  

After that doctor's appointment we went and did our civic duty:

cutest voters 

And then, the next day, we woke up to the strange news that Trump had won the presidency. Oh! And my birthday. Happy birthday to me?  

These guys didn't seem fazed, though:

And I'll cling tight to them and their sweetness and hope that the future is not as dark as I fear it could be.

The days are getting colder so we're bundling up around here.

it isn't really that cold in my house, he's just so snuggly in this I hate to take it off.

trying out the high chair ( we could, technically, start food next month!)

Malaikah reading to Kioko. The best!

November 30

rolls!

December 1, 2016 || 5 months

a little bit of Christmas cheer there

grin.

So he's still not sleeping through the night. And sometimes he's up every two hours.  I'm trying to break that down a bit.  Suddenly a four hour stretch sounds amazing.  Hoping to get even that consistently.  

He has a gorgeous smile and a spectacular laugh.  He loves Kyalo and Malaikah.  It is so fun to watch him laughing at them, to see those relationships already starting in small ways.  When he's not crying, he's really very easy going -- will go to any one, will jump in the jump up for long stretched.  But his favorite thing is definitely to be held, which is hard when I'm trying to make dinner or wrangle the other kids.  Parenting is a 4 person job, am I right?

A few other things from the last few months:

I've been going to a Wednesday Eucharist service for over a year at the Episcopal church here in Norway.  I started because Dexter didn't work on Wednesdays (the glory days!) but have continued even since he started working Wednesdays earlier this year.  So Malaikah (and sometimes Kyalo, when not in school) has been tagging along with me.  The priest, Nancy, is so wonderful and welcoming.  And instead of shushing a busy toddler, incorporates her into the blessing of the bread.  There is nothing sweeter, I think, than seeing Malaikah's arms raised or her hands folded in prayer, or hearing her say "Amen" in anticipation of it coming.  Also, she loves to say 'Hal-ye-uh-ya' which is just the best.  Maybe she'll end up being a priest?!  Even if not, I will always cherish these tender memories. 

"Cha-Low! See? See? Dis? 'no!!"

We got a nice dusting of snow the week of Thanksgiving.  Malaikah was so excited about it -- hoping we have a white Christmas this year because she's at that perfect age.

too cool

Like a true Mainer, Kyalo helping to make crab quiche for breakfast the day after Thanksgiving.

There we are - all caught up. 

Three months

Here I am, finally getting around to the three month post and we're more than half way to four!  Needless to say, life is too busy for blogging much these days. Poor third child, let's hope I can keep up until he hits one, at least!

These three (and a half) months have been good.  Challenging, but good.   There were (are!) days I'm not sure I'm going to make it, but it is definitely getting better.  Kioko cries a LOT.  Of course, babies do cry, but he seems to cry excessively.  At his two month appointment his doctor said he has colic which is why he cries so much, needs to be held all the time, hates his car seat, etc.   Babies generally grow out of it by 3 or 4 months, and I'm happy to report it has already gotten so much better.  She also said that colicky babies are often the ones to fly the nest early and to do very interesting things in life.  So, we have that to look forward to.

Some pictures/videos from the last few weeks.

9.28.2016

wearing fleece for fall (he's already out grown it!)

won't smile for camera.  Serious. Always serious.  At least Kyalo smiles!

9.25.2016

Three Months || Oct 1 2016 || Chubby

at his 2 month appointment (Sept 19) was weighed and measured:

24 inches (65 %tile)

12 pounds 9 oz (31 %)

Our first baby who is in a higher height percentile than weight!  (For comparison, Malaiakah is 2% for height!)

A perfect, spectacular fall day warranted a trip to the park.  Obligatory photos followed.  They did not go as hoped.

 Oct 12 || working on his Elvis snarl.

Malaikah was not pleased to be plopped down into the leaves.  Where's her sense of fun? 

Malaikah really loves Kioko.  She likes to give us full reports on him. "Koko WAKE!"  "Koko CRIES!" " Where Koko?" She loves to take care of him and give him kisses (which are generally big clonking head butts to his forehead, but I captured a video of her giving a genuine kiss!)

Then there was the hand holding during songs in Music Together recently.

And then she began working on her babysitting skills this week.  Keeping the kid from crying?  Win. Crashing into walls?  Fail.  But she can only go up!

 sharing her baby. he's not so sure.

proof he sleeps. occasionally.

So that takes care of the last few weeks.  Here's hoping I'm not so late next month.

{ * T W O * }

Well, our little spitfire has gone and done it...she turned two this month.  Life is busy busy busy, and thus the lack of posts.  Let's see if I can get this out quickly.

Oh, Malaikah girl.  You bring so much color and life to our days!

Labor Day Weekend, 2016.  Essex.

Too cool.

She's a bright spot between two boys, for sure.  And she LOVES her brothers.  Does EVERYTHING that Kyalo does.  Follows him around the whole day long -- which doesn't, of course, mean they never fight -- like a little shadow.  She's tough, though, and won't let him push her around. She definitely holds her own.  I've seen her push him down or knock him off a chair!  As for Kioko, she loves to give him her little head butt kisses. Lately, she's wanted to give him lots of 'hug-gies' which is sweet.

Her speech has really taken often, and she has a lot of 2 word sentences. "Dat Mines"  "My turn!" "No, MY"  (are you sensing a theme here?)  My favorite is how she says 'Peas' so sweetly when asking for something.  Just recently she has started saying her name "Mika! Mika" (sounds more like she's trying to say 'marker').  She still doesn't call Kyalo anything.  

For some reason, she calls sunglasses, "guys guys".  So here's a little selfie with most of us...

Here are a whole bunch of photos from her 2-year photo shoot.  I couldn't come up with an original idea, so just got the letters for TWO and balloons much like we did last year when she turned one. 

took a while to get her to warm up.

sweet face

The picture taking didn't go exactly as planned, but we had a pretty good time.

The best part though, is that Kyalo wanted to get in on it, and so went and put this outfit on.

Love them.

Kioko slept through the whole event.

We had her 2-year check up last week, and all is well.  She's only grown 3/4 of an inch since March and is now in the 2nd percentile for height.   She is now 31 inches tall and 26 pounds, 8 ounces.  The doctor doesn't seem worried about her height.  I am :) I hope she has a growth spurt one of these days.

She is happy and loves life.  And we love her!