A Splash of Blue

After what felt like forever, we finally added some blue to our pink-heavy household.  Quintin James Anderson was born April 9, 2012 at 7:08 pm.  He weighed in at a healthy 7 lb. 15 oz. and was a tall baby at 21 inches long.  it's a good thing he came a week before his due date or he could have been one huge little guy.  His birth was a lot faster than his sisters' births.  I only pushed for about 20 minutes before he came popping out.  We're pretty sure it had a lot to do with me not having an epidural this time around.  I shared the story on my other blog, but haven't ruled out the possibility of rewriting it here to see how my perception of things changes over the course of a few weeks.

Just after birth

Quintin has been a really good sleeper for the past few days.  Almost too good a sleeper.  I have to wake him up at night to eat sometimes.  He's still getting the hang of nursing.  Quintin is also a very gassy boy.  I think he swallows a lot of air.  And boy does it smell when he passes it.  Hopefully my milk will be in fully before too long.

Angel baby boy

Ellie and Maya are just loving Quintin to death.  Maya would probably smother him for real with kisses if I weren't there to curb her enthusiasm.  He seems to be fairly patient with everything.  Quintin may also be the first of our kids to voluntarily take a binky.  We can hope.  For now that's all there is.  We love this little dude and look forward to integrating him into our lives.  Now I just need to think of a new name for the blog...

Update of the Girly-pies

As my due date for our little boy approaches I figure I should record some things that the girls are saying/ doing before I get completely overwhelmed with #3.

First day of Primary

Eliana is now 3 1/2 years old.  Our biggest project at the moment is potty training.  We've been working on that for over a year now.  I really don't want three kids in diapers, but it's looking like it will be that way for a while.  My mom told me I was Ellie's age before I potty trained and that makes me a little less discouraged with the process.  She knows how, she just doesn't consistently choose to go on the potty.  We got her a potty watch to help remind her.  It's probably a better reminder for me so I can make sure Ellie goes.  The novelty is wearing off, though I think she still likes it.  She just doesn't insist on always having it on her wrist anymore.

We certainly have a little performer in Ellie.  We gave talks in church a few weeks ago and Ellie was also able to participate.  She loved it.  She's asked when it's her turn to speak in church again.  The same holds true for singing and, well,  pretty much everything she does.  We were at my parents house recently and the girls were enjoying playing on the slide.  Out of the blue she started calling out, "Ladies and gentlemen, is you ready for a show?"  Then she went down the slide on her tummy.  For another ten minutes after that she announced every time she, her sister, or her cousin were about to go down the slide with, "Is you ready for a show again?"  It was funny.

Another of Ellie's favorite activities is jumping.  Always has been, probably always will be.  New activities include bike riding, wanting to help with EVERYTHING, running around like a demon, and playing with my makeup.

Ellie is also our little comedian.  She doesn't know it, but we find her rather hilarious.  My favorite gem that's come out of her mouth was when she told me, "I'm being a princess.  I dancing and singing and shaking my bottom."  Ellie also remains convinced that we will go to the dentist to get her baby brother out.  She has a dentist appointment yesterday and that didn't happen.  I think the dentist was pretty happy about that.

Playing at Discovery Gateway

Maya just turned 18 months old a couple of weeks ago.  My joy that she is now in Nursery is unparalleled.  She's been there twice.  It's nice to be able to pay attention in my classes.  It seems that she's done well, though I have heard her give her signature I've-been-betrayed cry when she realizes I've left the room.  No one has ever brought her back to me, so that's something.  I used to be so sad that she was growing up so quickly, but I think with the baby's imminent birth I've been wanting her to grow up (read: be more independent) a bit faster.  She's going to have a rude awakening when baby brother comes on the scene.  Her favorite place to be in either in my arms or on my lap.  Sorry kiddo, that space is going to be reserved for a nursing baby.  But I do like the snuggles she so readily gives.

Painting the table with Ellie's extra milk and cereal

Where Maya used to be a really mellow and somber-faced baby, she is now a ball of happiness.  I love the way she smiles with her whole face.  I hope that's something she will keep as she grows.  Smiles are abundant, but she saves her real laughs for when she's really amused.  Eric and Ellie are both pretty good at getting them out of her.

"Helping" with the laundry

Favorite activities for Maya include drawing, climbing, taking books off of shelves, sitting on my lap, sabotaging the computer, and getting up at least twice in the night so she can sleep in my arms.  That's another habit that will have to go.  Maya's favorite thing, though, really is drawing.  She's learning that the walls are unacceptable drawing places and thinks that her skin is a suitable replacement.  She's our little tattoo artist.  Hopefully she gets that out of her system before too long.

Another good use for Pull-Ups: helmets

Ellie is finally starting to progress a little with potty training.  I don't relish the idea of three kids in diapers so this is a blessed change.  There's a lot she still needs to work on, but any forward movement is good.  It's been a long, frustrating time in coming.  I think the real trick was getting her a potty watch and rewarding her with chocolate Robin Eggs.  Ellie is very excited whenever she earns "a widdle tiny chocwat egg."  Maya is also really fascinated with the potty, but she's not ready to train yet.  She just likes to sit on it.

Both of the girls are looking forward to having a baby brother.  Ellie can't quite pronounce his name and people think we're naming him Gordon.  His name will be Quintin.  Both of the girls kiss my tummy frequently.  Maya likes to lift my shirt for better access and to see "Bee-bee!"  Ellie frequently predicts when he will be born, but I think that's mostly because there are things she knows will happen after he's born.  It's a treat to be mommy to these sweet little girls.  I may get frustrated quite a bit (what mom doesn't?) but I wouldn't trade them for anything.

Big girls at the dentist's office.

Maya in Christmas dress and coat

Ten Months (Maya)

It's been a while since I've updated about either of the girls.  Now that they are both so close to their birthdays it's time to start again.

Maya is such a sweet baby.  She still likes to cuddle me every now and again and I just LOVE it.  Sleeping at night has gotten a little better.  That endears children to their parents.  Maya has been going to sleep a little later and we need to work on that.

I'm hoping Maya's hair is starting to show signs of curling.  We'll see.  If not, it will be nice to have baby hair that is easier to comb through than curly hair is.  There rest of Maya is growing up pretty well.  She hasn't yet taken her first unassisted steps, but she does enjoy cruising along on the furniture or on a lounging parent: whichever is more available.  Her steps are getting a little faster and her valance a bit more steady.  I'm actually kind of excited for her to learn to walk.  I just don't want her to grow up.  I'm loving her babyness.

A favorite game of Maya's is what I call Climb and Drop.  She'll climb up the arm of the couch then fling herself down to the cushions we sit on.  It entertains her to no end.  Maya also enjoys spending time in the water.  Baths are great and she also loves the dishwasher.  I have no idea what the appeal is, but maybe it will mean she'll want to do dishes in the future.  I can dream, right?

Maya's Baby Contest

The Giggle!

I've been trying to capture Maya's giggle on video for a while now.  I wanted a record before it disappears.  I know it's probably cuter to me because I'm the mom.  That's okay.  It still makes me laugh every time.  It's a full nine seconds of joy for me.

As a matter of explanation, this is a favorite game of Ellie's to make Maya laugh.  I don't know how Ellie came up with it but it's pretty messy.  She bites off a piece of paper and spits it on the floor.  Maya proceeds to laugh hysterically.  This is the first I've been able to catch it on video.  I'm sure the laughing would have continued if she hadn't fallen over.  It always does.

Who Looks Like Whom?

Quite a while back I did one of the look alike things with the picture of the baby and the parents. Ellie looked equally like Eric and me.

I decided to try it with Maya to see how it worked with her.

Maya also looks equally like Mommy and Daddy. I love to hear people's opinions because it always fairly equal about who she looks like.

Because children's faces change over time I decided to see how Ellie compares to us now. The face detector they have is apparently really bad at finding Ellie's face in a picture, so the first one I could get to recognize her face is almost a year old.

Now she looks 6% more like Eric. Maybe I'll have to try it again if I can find a more recent picture of her that the site will accept.

Eight Months (Maya)

This month has been a really fun one with Maya.  She's getting up on her knees quite a bit more to try crawling, she's very vocal, and she's happy as can be.  Recently she's learned how to play peek-a-boo and that is endless fun for both of us.  It's about the cutest thing I've ever seen.  I'll post a video of it at the bottom.

Maya is measuring 28 inches long (about 83rd percentile).

Crawling is still of the army variety, but Maya keeps on trying to get onto her knees for real crawling.  She can get one little knee move out before she just starts pulling herself along again.  She's getting really fast.  Maya is also just starting to take notice that she can pull up on things.  It's mostly me so far.  Right now Maya can't get up very high.  She still struggles with putting herself in a sitting position on her own, so I'm not sure that she has the strength to really pull herself up just yet.  As soon as that happens I'll need to look out for her to start walking.  Yikes.

We're kind of wondering if Maya is differentiating between when she says "mamama" or "dadada".  Most of the time she says the latter.  It's just funny to watch her saying one or the other while looking at the corresponding parent.

Maya got her third tooth the day after she turned eight months.  Looking inside her mouth I can see the line of the jagged edge that will be her fourth tooth.  It's really close.  I expect it in the next day or two.  it should make nursing interesting.  I'm hoping she doesn't figure out the bite-and-pull trick that her older sister did. Ouch.