6 months!

Sweet Delali turned 6 months last week. I   LOVE this age! She is so much fun & her personality is really starting to shine!

Delali is full on when it comes to emotions! She laughs & smiles BIG! She also wails with big ol' crocodile tears if she doesn't like something. She's very empathetic...if other babies (or brother) cry, she will start to cry; if other people laugh, so will she; and if Makafui is being whiney, she squaks at him!

She is sitting very well! She'll pull up on my leg when I sit next to her, but thankfully she hasn't pulled up on anything else. She lunges forward & kind of gets on hands & knees, but then just stops.

She wants to eat everything! She still doesn't have any teeth though, so is still pretty limited in her options.

I was hoping she would have outgrown her disdain for the car seat by now. I was wrong. I'm switching to the big convertible seat to see if that helps.

Time in the nursery has gotten a little better. She basically needs her own nursery worker. At church, she gets rocked or walked around & can last for the entire service (if we have timed naps properly). Bible Study is trickier, but we're getting there. When I picked her up last week, she was sitting in a worker's lap in Makafui's room. She was laughing at the big kids & much happier than being in the baby room.

She is still thoroughly a Mama's girl & is held a lot, but I don't mind. She is such a sweet & squishy delight!! 

THREE

I can hardly believe Makafui is THREE!!

I am overwhelmed with gratitude for him everyday! And some days, I am equally overcome with feelings of exasperation & inadequacy to mother him. I recently heard the term "threenager" & it could not be a more perfect term for this chapter.

At three, Makafui is kind, smart, loving, adventurous, talkative, affectionate, musical, observant, curious, active, energetic, funny, sensitive, outgoing & so much more!

He loves preschool & church. Loves them! He is doing great in both areas & plays well with his friends (mostly) & listens to his teachers. Preschool has made him appreciate arts & crafts much more & he now asks to paint or draw at home. He's very good with a glue stick & most of the things he makes at preschool he does without help. He remembers songs very well & is always sharing new lyrics.

He potty trained several months ago & has not looked back. Once he was ready, he was all in!

The boy adores his sister. Sometimes too much. I think he wakes her from a nap at least once a day! He is protective & kind toward her & anxious for her to be able to really play with him. He is very good at sharing with her!

He is a little athlete! I signed him up for soccer at the Y & we are all excited for it to start. He runs, jumps, tumbles & climbs with ease & never seems to tire. We spent a lot of time outside last week & M just kept going & going!

He rarely ever naps. We still have rest time daily, but he doesn't sleep. He fights nighttime sleep as well, but overall, things are okay.

He has become so imaginitive! I love watching him play with toys (or turning random things into toys) & hearing his stories. He is big into playing superheroes & police so he can put people "under arresk".

He has got a mouth & a half!! This is where the threenager thing really comes in. Makafui thinks he's a comedian...& an adult. A lot of times he really is funny, but then he puffs up & gets real punchy & out of hand. His mouth gets ahead of his understanding, so it's hard sometimes to get him to understand why he isn't allowed to talk certain ways. He also has a fabulous vocabulary, some of my favorite things he says are: I need to concentrate; Am I ruining all the fun? Do it quickly; That's hideous; I'm so dizzy!-Why is the room turning around? & my very favorite, You're my best mommy ever!

He is obsessed with waffles & his all time favorite "food" is HEB brand chocolate covered granola bars. I can get him to eat nearly anything with the promise of a chocolate granola bar. Ha! He even tells me, "I ate something healthy, can I have chocolate granola bar with chips in it?"

His memory is insane! He can recall things that happened many months ago in great detail! When he meets a new friend & tells us about it, he includes details like the color of the friend's shirt & what it had on it. He's so observant! He noticed things like haircuts & nail polish, but also more subtle things like attitudes & feelings.

He suddenly seems very grown up! I'm reminding myself to take a deep breath & just enjoy & savor these moments. 

Five & a half months!

I missed the 5 month mark for Delali...by 2 weeks!

The thing is, I want to blog a lot & really remember & document what's going on, but there are a few bumps in the road. One being our laptop is broken. In the midst of those hell months last fall, M wondered what would happen if he closed a Matchbox car in the laptop. Guess what? It breaks the laptop screen. I will get it fixed soon, there were other priorities then. Secondly, my hands are full & Im quite busy with these sweet kiddos. But now, I'm rocking Lalipop in the dark, pecking away on my iPhone.

Back to this 5 month thing...

Delali is so big & has changed so much! The poor thing has had a nasty cold for THREE solid weeks now. She's having a rough go. At her Dr visit yesterday (the one where they couldn't figure out why she's been sick for so long) she weighed in at 16lbs & has the sweetest rolls! Being sick has subdued her normally exuberant personality & she has reached a new level of clingy. I have been wearing her a lot!

She is sitting pretty well.
Tummy time is non-existent as she immediately rolls to her back & stays there.
She puts ALL things in her mouth! I have to be very careful with what M "shares" with her. Still no teeth.
She eats solids about once a day, some days we skip. She likes bland things & won't eat purees that aren't mixed/diluted with oatmeal.
She babbles a lot & has started spitting. M thinks it's awesome & loves to copy her.
When she's feeling well, she's a constant smile...until she's strapped in the carseat! While not a fan of the carseat, she did great on her first trip to Houston!! Woohoo!
She has stayed in the nursery on a several occasions for an hour or more!
She still adores Makafui & absolutely lights up when he's around!
Wonder upon wonders-she likes the swing! M never did, so we are excited!
As long as I'm holding her, she puts up with just about anything.

Can't believe how much she has grown!