Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Monkey Antics

Milly rolled from her belly to her back twice yesterday. She's sleeping pretty consistently through the night. She goes to bed sometime between 9:00 and 10:00 and will usually sleep until 7:00 AM. We just switched her to a thickened formula that is supposed to prevent spitting up and it has the added bonus of making her feel fuller longer. She is such a HAPPY HAPPY JOY JOY baby and is always smiling. I no longer call her Murray and now call her Buddy the Elf. ("Smiling's my favorite!) She was just under 12 pounds when we went to the doctor earlier this month and is 23 inches long. She is such a chunky little thing and loves to be cuddled. She also loves to talk, talk, talk, talk, TALK, TALK, TALK, OMG WHERE IS THE OFF SWITCH ON THIS KID?! She is a delight to be around when she's not demanding to be held until she falls asleep at 2 AM. I could really do with less of that behavior.

Gideon is getting molars and they are coming in S-L-O-W-L-Y. Poor buddy just keeps drooling and gnawing on everything. It looks like we live with beavers. All of the corners on the TV cabinet are chewed and every edge on the end tables are nibbled. All of the wooden blocks look like we've run them through a dull wood chipper. He runs random fevers and cries when he hurts. He pulls at his ears and cheeks. Those big brown eyes fill with tears and look at me as if to say "Fix it, Mama!" I wish I had a way to make it all go away. All I can do is offer cold drinks, soft food and ibuprofen when it gets really bad. Then I just cuddle him to me and sing his favorite lullabye. He's also become addicted to his Daddy. I think he looked around and realized just how many girls are in this house and is now clinging to the other testosterone-riddled body that actually knows the right way to play with cars.

Sophie is flourishing at Mother's Day Out. (In my opinion.) She's getting into a routine and knows her teachers. She doesn't cry until she gets up to the door of her classroom. Instead, she gets a determined look on her little face and marches right into that church. She ignores all greetings and goes straight to her classroom and lifts her arms to her teacher. The tears bubble up a bit until the teacher reminds her that she can go color. Then she calms down and goes over to the craft table. (After a kiss goodbye to Mama.) She's still very quiet in MDO and at Sunday School. She doesn't speak around those she doesn't know. However, she's been chatty at home. She's learned her colors and likes to identify everything around her. She still throws some pretty epic tantrums but I'm trying to be patient and get to the core of what's really wrong. It's hard because she still doesn't communicate well. It's frustrating for both of us but she's more than worth it.

So that's the latest with the Dyer Monkeys. Hopefully I can figure out how to do a picture post next.