They Say No One's Ever Beaten The Van Wyck

I love that face. "Now Mother, how many times have I had to ask you not to photograph me while I'm still in my robe?" She's nigh edible. Except at 3am when I'm dragging into her room for the third time and she's smiling up at me from her crib like, "Hey Mom, missed ya! I think I need another snack, and maybe let's rock a bit, too. Oh, and a diaper change! Sound good to you?" Actually, she's nigh edible then too, it's just my weary, weary eyes can't take in all the cuteness at that particular moment.

last week I decided to go crazy and try to get my Nibblet to take her morning nap in her crib. Just her morning nap, mind you ... the rest I still had her swinging away. Not only did she have me waving the white flag by the end of the week, she decided to make sure any such notions were fully banished to the depths by waking up 3-4 times per night on top of it all until I finally stuck her in the swing during the night as well.

Last night I tried putting her to sleep unswaddled, wondering if having her wee arms free would be a comforting and happy thing, but the tired lass could only think of clawing out her eyes, thus the free, flailing wee arms went back into the swaddling blanket. So this is how my girl is spending a great deal of her time these days:

But other than the whole sleep thing, she's been so happy and sweet! And big! At her 4 month appointment a couple weeks ago, she weighed 14 lb. 5 oz. (75th percentile)and 25.25 in. (50th percentile). She is tracking right where Andrew was as this age. It also appears she and I are losing our hair together. The hair right down the middle of her head and at the back is holding fast, but the sides are getting thin, creating what Phil calls her "mo-mullet." I, on the other hand, am losing fist-fulls every day from all over my head. It looks like the Yeti has been using my shower. Good thing I like wigs!

Precious is still complaining about his tummy, I'm sorry to say. For the last 2 weeks I've taken gluten out of his diet, but that doesn't appear to be the answer either. It did amuse me, however, when Andrew asked this morning if his plum had gluten in it. "No, no gluten in your plum." "So you could say it's gluten-free?" he replies. He's taken the removal of dairy, then gluten from his diet in stride, but does get excited when favorite foods are re-introduced. And other than his fairly mild complaints (and his runny nose this morning), he seems to be feeling fine. Diapers are still questionable, but I don't know at this point if I should continue to explore other possibilities or assume he's OK and perhaps just uncomfortable when he needs to go but doesn't want to.

I made him a little job chart on Monday and he loves it! He now helps with breakfast dishes, waters the plants, picks up his toys before bed, and puts his clothes in the hamper. I think I'll re-do the chart next week to include mopping the kitchen floor and ironing clothes since he's so excited about housework.

Our weather has been super nice for August in Georgia, so we've had a few fun playground days. Marjorie Stewart-Baxter was there this last time, which made it all the more fun.

He was even inspired to ride this sea-saw (is that how you spell that?) and loved it, which is unusual for him. Miss Cutie Stewart-Baxter can be very convincing.

And here's a little snippet of dinner conversation with the boy for the grandparents and aunties who miss his little voice.

Be not alarmed that I put off his deep, spiritual question (Phil was offended). I have answered it - best I could - several times before, and tried again that night. It's funny to me how he still sounds so young with those lisped S's and L's that sound like W's, but then I'll find myself trying to explain what "the glory of God" means or listening to him explain that the glass door to the deck is transparent while the door to the pantry is opaque. Because of him, I now know the proper definition of "translucent." I imagine I'll learn a lot from this little guy over the years.