Cooper's Monthly photo
Aribelle's Monthly photo
We left the last week of May and continued our vacation into the first week of June. Our drive landed us from MO to TN to VA to NC and then home again. Despite all of the driving, we had a blast seeing family. Unfortunately, I didn't take as many pictures on our trip as I wanted to. I guess that just means we were having too much fun to stop and shoot pictures!! :)
All about Addie
Big sis - We post about how helpful Addie is all of the time. She was extremely helpful on our vacation though. If Aribelle was angry in the car, without even being prompted, Addie would reach her hand over to Aribelle and it would instantly calm her down. Addie unbuckles Cooper for us when we get to our destinations and buckles him when we are getting ready to leave. She also helped mommy get him dressed while I was trying to change Aribelle! We are so very lucky to have such a great big helper!! :)
Hotel - After vacation, Addie and Cooper would routinely remind us about different ventures from our trip. One of the most memorable, oddly enough, was our last night away from home where we spontaneously booked a "luxury suite" downtown Owensboro. Of course it was one of the biggest highlights because of the floor to ceiling windows and the sheer size of the room. Addie would ask us if we are going back soon. Once we got home, any time we went anywhere, Cooper would ask "are we going back to our hotel"? LOL
Sleepover - We've always been really good about making the kids sleep in their own rooms. The only exception (up until recently) has been on the weekends or when we have company. After a little bit of discussion, Shane and I realized that getting the kids used to sleeping alone was not necessarily a huge objective for us any longer now that we have plans on the kids sharing rooms once they get a little older (girls in the girls room and boys in the boys room). This month was the first time we decided to try out letting them sleep in each other's rooms (Addie & Cooper). It seems to be working out okay and gives both kids a sense of security. Our rule is, if there's talking or goofing, they are split up and sleep alone. I think that threat is plenty because they know we will follow through with it. So far we haven't had a problem getting them to follow directions. Hopefully we can stick with our regular routine and let the kids continue to share a room.
All about Cooper
Sun Sensitive - Cooper has shown signs in the past of "burning" easily in the sun. Both Nana and Mommy have used every sunscreen possible on him but he still somehow will end up getting red. Sometimes way more than other times. We're talking 15 min in the sun and he will be red. I don't necessarily think it's always a burn though. Sometimes I think it's that he maybe overheats. One of my sisters-in-law is a nurse practitioner and she mentioned that perhaps he doesn't sweat as much as he should and it can cause skin irritation/redness. We keep a close eye on him and put long sleeve UV protected shirts on him as an extra precaution now.
Biting - Almost EVERY toddler goes through some sort of biting stage at some point in their lives.... Well I can't really remember Addie going through a stage I guess. It was more like "don't ever do that again Addie" and she listened. Cooper doesn't do it frequently, but often enough that it's still too much. We are trying to nip it by reminding him that we bite food and not people. On the occasions where he and Addie fight or he gets rough playing with his sisters and he decides to bite, we have decided to take away snacks for the remainder of his day. It has deterred the actions for the most part but it's still a work in progress.
Getting up after bed - It's not all of the time, but he hit about a week or two this month where he was getting up almost every night right after laying down and saying he needed to pee (even though we make the kids pee even before getting into bed). Once we realized it was becoming a habit, we would follow him to the bathroom and see that he wasn't actually peeing. Finally we stopped him from doing it altogether. It's a difficult move because you don't want your child thinking they can't get up when they really do need to go but also don't want to condone "excuses" to to keep getting up. Towards the end of the month, we didn't see many (if any) times of him getting out of bed. Hopefully it was just a short phase and it's gone :)
All about Aribelle
Vocab -
"Caca" - She says this now for cookies or crackers. And I'm pretty sure she puts them in the same category ;)
"Pappo" - This is how she says Cooper
"Addie" - She says Addie pretty clearly
"Bubble" - She LOVES bubbles and balls of any sort. LOVES to tell you when she sees them!! :)
Slapping/Hitting/Kicking - Aribelle is one of the sweetest, happiest babies ever. Get on her bad side though.... she has started a new phase of hitting, slapping, and kicking, when she's upset. Wether one of the kids are harassing her or taking her toy, she will let them know... physically!
Standing by self - 6/12 - While playing on the floor with mommy, she was standing in front of me and holding on to my shoulders. She sort of pushed off and went into an upright position. Once there, she stood with her arms out like "WHOA" and then plopped to the ground. I was so excited that I think it almost scared her!! ha ha She repeated her actions several times again and by the end of the week, she was standing for much longer periods. We might have a little walker on our hands soon!! :)
All about Baby #4
Movement - I started feeling movement outside of my belly around week 20. Conner doesn't seem to be cooperating when I try to let daddy feel the movements but I'm sure as time progresses, the movements will be a little more pronounced. By the end of the month though, Addie felt him move several times. I love seeing her face when she feels the baby move :)
More photos from the month:
At our cabin in TN
Grandma Jenny and Cooper
A really awesome aquarium we went to in TN
Visiting uncle Tim in VA.
Addie just adores uncle Tim. He's awesome with kids.
Playing on the beach in VA
The water was pretty cold so we didn't venture
too far in, but the kids liked looking for seashells.
Visiting with Gma in NC. We went to
a farmers market and the kids at fresh strawberries. YUM!!
Coop & Aine were so sweet together.... most of the time anyway ;)
Paige is such a sweetheart and really good with the kids.
Grandma and her grandbabies and GREAT grandbabies.
Uncle Chris and Addie. Checking out their reflections.
Cooper and Grandma relaxing after a big day
This was before our trip. We went to the mall in
Springfield where mama & Addie rode the train
INSIDE the mall. Was super fun!!! :)
They just adore their daddy
Boo and her Nana. She loves her nana for sure
On our road trip
More road trip pics
At the aquarium in TN. My lil cutie
I think it's safe to say they're worn out from the trip
Paige and Aribelle. To little fishies ;)
Cody and Paige are two of the sweetest kids ever.
I couldn't believe how awesome they were with their
little cousins. It was heartwarming to see them all playing.
