We had a great Fourth of July this year! We decided to head out to Grantsville again. The girls loved the parade there last year. It is so much nicer to go to that one than to our local West Jordan one; it is smaller, less crowded, and you don't have to stake out a spot hours or even the day before! They are usually pretty generous with the candy as well, which doesn't hurt! We got dressed up in our red, white, and blue, and headed out!
This was about as good as it got for a picture.
Parade time! Grateful there was some cloud cover, but it was still super hot.
Granny met us at the parade.
We spent the rest of the day hanging out and Granny and Grandpa Ken's, took a trip to the park, and eating! We headed home in the evening to do some fireworks.
Harper is afraid of fireworks, so she decided to stay inside and watch a show.
Reece and Rem made up our small fireworks crew.
Our neighbors got home soon after we started, and we lost Remi to the house to play on tablets, and Reece to playing with her friends. So Josh basically did fireworks for me and my friend who lives across the street. :)
We had a great day with family and friends, all because of the wonderful freedoms we enjoy in our country!
Yet another month, come and gone in what feels like the blink of an eye!
Jabes had a rough week or two this past month because he has decided that naps are not so great most of the time, and has also been teething endlessly (yes, still!) which made for a crabby baby. But he is back to his happy self now, and he is such a delight!
Jabes is crawling now! All over the place and into everything. EVERYTHING. I forget what it's like to have a curious baby underfoot! I think his being able to crawl now has helped with his change of temperament. He is starting to get speedy when he wants something, and has figured out that he can explore the house freely. It's pretty cute to watch his little bum crawling away! He does not love crawling on the laminate, but he is starting to get more used to it now. He is loving his freedom, and we are loving his happiness! He pulls up on to his knees, and keeps trying to get his feet under him. That didn't take long!
First crawl!
Jabes still loves to cluck his tongue, but he has gotten much more vocal this past month. He is starting to make a lot more consonant sounds and loves to babble. I'm trying to get him to say mama but it isn't working so far. He is still clapping his feet, but is also getting a little bit closer to clapping his hands. He loves the sound of hands being clapped and sometimes tries to copy. He is starting to do a bit of a wave every once in awhile, and we get kisses every once in awhile too. Nothing consistent, but it's fun when he does! He also loves to do head 'bonks'. Ouch.
As I said above, naps took a nosedive. I will get an occasional long nap but they still aren't what they were. It is probably partly due to our summer schedule being a bit crazy and inconsistent, but also with his new development, maybe it's messing with things? I'm not sure, but hopefully he starts taking better naps again! At least his night sleep has not been affected. I haven't dropped the 11:00 feeding yet. I realized the other nite that I'm a bit hesitant/sad to do it because I enjoy that time with him when he is still and peaceful and I can just hold him while he nurses. I have started doing it slightly earlier, so I'm sure within this next month we will get rid of it altogether.
Jabren loves eating now! He will eat baby food, but also loves to be included in what we are eating. He is doing a lot better with using his gums to mash things up and chew them, and also able to now pick up smaller pieces of food and put them in his mouth. It's so nice to be able to set some stuff on his tray and let him go for it! He still loves graham crackers, but also was recently introduced to the yogurt melts and loves those. Mac and cheese was a hit too. I try to give him small pieces of anything and everything to expose him to lots of flavors. We haven't really found anything he hasn't liked yet.
Still teething. Still no teeth. Maybe this month?
Jabren had his first haircut this month. He was in desperate need! He looks so cute and so much older to me now.
We just really love this baby. It is so sweet to see how his sisters treat him. They are all so excited to see him every morning, and love to help him and be around him. It makes my heart so happy. Jabes is so much fun right now, and I am loving this stage so much!
At nine months, Jabren likes:
- eating!
- drinking water out of his sippy
- silly sounds
- baths and splashing!
- playing with sisters
- crawling and exploring
- books
- toys
- being tickled
- doing head 'bonks'
- binky
- having back, neck, and face tickled
- being sung to
- cell phones
- chewing on things
- burying his face in blankets/burp cloths/any sort of fabric
- squealing and talking
- clapping feet together
- clucking his tongue
- pulling up on to his knees
- feeling fabrics (he is always rubbing fabrics between his fingers; my shirts, his shirts, his bibs, blankets, etc.)
- rubbing his fingers together (just like above, but no fabric!)
At nine months, Jabren does not like:
- being left alone
- being in his car seat for very long
- being in the stroller for too long (at exercise class)
- having things taken away (how dare we!)
We all just love this sweet boy with our whole hearts!
This baby just continues to be a delight. He is generally SO happy. His smile is the best, and he shares it with everyone freely!
Jabren is so close to crawling! He is constantly going from a sitting position to his knees. He often gets all the way up on his knees from his belly as well. Right now, he usually ends up back on his belly and stretching to reach whatever he is going for. Sometimes he will tripod out a leg and try to push a little bit with his toes. He definitely has the backwards movement down. He is so ready to be on the move, I'm sure it won't be long now! I'm kind of excited for it, but also sad. I'm not ready for him to start thinning out and say goodbye to his chunky dimpled legs!
Exhibit A: Chunky dimpled knee
Exhibit B: Chunky rolly thighs, properly crossed while nursing
Jabren has a couple of tricks now. He likes to cluck his tongue and he 'claps' with his feet. Both are pretty dang cute and I love when he gets going. I'm trying to teach him how to give kisses and to wave. Sometimes he will do it, but a lot of the time he just buries his face into me like he is teasing.
Sleeping is going much better overall! I feed him sometime between 10:45-11:00 every nite, and then for the most part, he doesn't get up until 5:30 or 6:30. I can do that! And even after that feeding, he will go back down for 2-3 more hours. I can tell that I was really needing some more sleep because I feel so much better! Once we get a week or two more down with this new sleeping, then we will work on dropping that 11:00 feeding. He will often take one good nap every day and one not so good nap. It seems like all of our babies end up dropping their morning nap earlier than most babies, so it doesn't really surprise me. Jabes is definitely staying up for longer periods of time and is not so quick to sleep in his car seat anymore.
Still no teeth! Seriously! I don't understand how there are no teeth yet. I'm wondering if he is just going to end up getting a ton all at once or something. It has honestly been months of teething, and so many people comment on how much he is gnawing on things because of his teething, so I know it's not just me thinking it!
Jabes is definitely enjoying food more now. Before he used to get through one third of a jar of baby food at each feeding, but now he will eat a full jar. I also give him bites of everything that I'm eating. He can pick up smaller pieces of food now, but it's more fisting it and he still isn't great at getting it into his mouth. I can't wait until he can do that more. It is going to make feeding times much easier! He will eat pretty much anything! He hasn't showed any distaste for any baby foods so far, and he really really loves graham crackers. Don't blame him!
I feel like Jabes is starting to experience a little bit of separation anxiety. He gets a little upset when I leave him, even if he can still see me! I hope it doesn't develop into more, it was rough when Rem went through that bad!
Jabes is just our cute, happy little guy and we're all still super enamored with him!
At eight months, Jabren likes:
- baths & splashing in the water
- books
- food!
- binky
- being tickled
- being changed
- clapping feet
- clucking tongue
- having face, back, neck tickled
- chewing on anything
- standing in laps
- being held
- rocking on knees
- silly sounds
- squealing and talking
- being sung to
- banging toys together
- seahorse
- covering face
At eight months, Jabren does not like:
- getting legs stuck in crib slats
- being in the car seat or stroller for too long
- being left alone
Everytime I have to switch out his clothes, it is a little bittersweet. I love watching Jabes grow and develop, but it is so hard to keep having our last firsts of everything and know we'll never use the little clothes again. Slow down Jabey man!
Reece had such a fun year in kindergarten. She absolutely loved her teacher, Mrs. Bruin, and was always sad when there were breaks from school and didn't get to go. Mrs. Bruin also really loved Reece a lot too; she was always commenting about how helpful Reece was in the classroom, and how she really helped make her first year of teaching kindergarten go more smoothly. She learned tons, and ended the school year a few levels above grade level in reading, though I think math is her favorite!
They always do a fun field day towards the end of school. I volunteered at it, and it was fun to see her class come through my station. (It was also so stinking hot that day!)
Last day of school!
With Mrs. Bruin
Reece made a really fun little group of close buddies at school this year. At the beginning of the year I was a little sad that she wasn't in class with some of the kids she already knew pretty well, but she easily made friends with everyone in her class and really clicked with these cute kids.
Remi had such a great year at pre-school this year! She loved Miss Alanna and learned so much! We were treated to a delightful little pre-school graduation program with Remi's classmates. It was so fun to watch them recite poems and sing songs. We really saw Remi come into her own this year!
Reece and Remi have both been in dance classes this year; ballet/jazz combination classes. They have both had a fun year! Each of them had friends in their classes, which of course made it more fun. It took awhile for Rem to get into it; mostly because she gets so tired in the afternoon, and her class was in the afternoon. And we all know that typically, Rem is not going to do what she does not want to do! But we worked hard on getting her participating, and I'm really proud of how she finished out the last four months or so.
These two beauties loved getting all dressed up with makeup on for their performances!
Sweet sisters!
We loved Miss Michelle, who taught Reece's class. She was a great teacher and Reece adored her!
Reece had a bunch of buddies in her class this year.
Sassy girls!
One of Reece's good friends from school, Emeri, also takes dance at the same studio.
And a picture with her buddy Emerson, too!
Reece's class did their jazz dance this time, and it was super fun to watch. Reece did a great job, I was really proud of her performance skills! She is a natural on stage, and I had people tell me that she was the one they were drawn to. She sure knows how to shake it, and really feels the beat!
Reece was awarded a scholarship to go towards her dance tuition next year. It was a surprise, and I almost didn't make it to see it! I had ben taking Remi to her holding room, and figured I would just go grab Reece. Luckily I saw my friend Sarah in the hall and she had noticed that Reece was waiting to go on stage. I was able to dash inside and catch a bit of video of what her teacher was saying. I may have teared up a bit. But who am I kidding, I tear up just watching them both dance!
We had to leave quickly after Remi's performance, so I didn't have a chance to snap any pictures with her friends. Mom fail! My piano recital was that afternoon (with pre-school graduation later that evening) so we had a full, busy day. But I still feel badly about that! Luckily I was able to get a great video of her performance! Remi did awesome! Her class did a ballet dance to a song from Mulan, and I could tell that she knew the choreography; she was always ready for what was coming next! I was so proud of her for getting on stage and not being afraid to perform. Her dancing is so sweet!
Reece had a kindergarten program a couple of weeks ago. I can't believe she is almost done with kindergarten! She has loved it SO much. It has been really neat to see her grow academically, but also socially. She didn't start the year in a class with her usual group of friends, and I have loved seeing her blossom on her own and meet new people. She has found some darling little friends in her class. I have loved volunteering and getting to know some of the other kids.
All of the kindergarten classes learned some poems and songs, and invited families to come and watch them perform. It was super cute and made me miss my days of teaching choir and theater.
Reece with her buddy Braxton. He lives across the street, is in her Primary class, and they even have the exact same birthday!
Reece and her friend Brylie
Reece and her friend Lucy
And a couple of other fun recent kindergarten pictures.
