Happy 5 Months Juliet!!

This month we got to celebrate Juliet's 5 month birthday, and for an extra special present, she got a brand new cousin on that day--Michael Collier Sloan, Jr. born to Bryan's brother Michael and his wife Ali, so we spent the afternoon/evening in Waco visiting them. I will have pics from that day to put on the blog soon.

Juliet continues to be such a joy in our lives. She is truly a happy baby, and she loves nothing more than just to hang out with us. She has started to really show an interest in Robby, which is something that I have been looking forward to for a while. He can make her laugh out loud just by hearing him laugh, and she follows very closely whatever he is doing.


This week my mom came to visit, and I took the opportunity to bust out the jean skirt that I got her before she was born. It is just such a cute piece :).


Juliet was showing off all of her best tricks for tah, including standing up (with help), squawking, making fish mouth faces, and having huge smiles. She also did some good hair pulling.

SueSue had four of her grandchildren all at once with her in the hospital this week from the oldest grandchild (Robby) to the newest (Collier). Juliet did not hold the status for youngest grandchild in the Sloan family for very long--she was just four months old when Sloan was born. Then, Sloan only got to be the youngest for one month before Collier was born. And then this August, we will welcome another new addition--and by that I mean a new cousin, so don't go getting any ideas!

Don't tell Dr. Audrey, but a big step we moved to this month was eating cereal. Robby did not start this until 6 months, but Juliet was just fascinated with food. She just seemed to need more than milk to really satisfy her, so last week we tried cereal. It was a huge and resounding success. She has a big bowl every night, and she always just chomps down the whole thing. Sometimes we even have seconds.

Another one of my favorite firsts happened this month--Juliet's first time to swing at the park! I still remember the first day we did this with Robby, and I will always remember Juliet's first time as well. Robby was a little taken aback by this new development and strongly felt that his territory was being encroached upon at first, but then he seemed to kind of get used to it.

When Robby was this little, I was always in a hurry for him to get big and hit the next milestone. Now I know just how fast it really goes, so part of me just wants to hold on to these sweet times a little longer. I know that within my next few month updates, I will be reporting on a mobile baby and a talking baby. Now, don't get me wrong, when she says Mama, I will absolutely and totally melt, but just for a little while longer, I am loving having my sweet little baby girl.

Mommy's New Administrative Assistant

Job Description and General Daily Duties:

• Chief resident drooler
• Senior hair puller
• Junior assistant in charge of gumming teething rings
• First lieutenant of the back to stomach roll
• Primary finger and thumb sucker
• General squawker for the household
• House sweetie and winner of this year's beautiful baby award

Fort Worth Museum of Science and History

Last weekend we went to the FW Museum of Science and History for the first time since it was remodeled. It was actually the first trip to the museum for both of our kids. We had a great time, and I recommend it to anyone with children :). They have tons of interactive and tactile displays and toys for children to learn basic concepts of science, and really just of life.

Robby showed off his jumping skills in the great mouth of the alligator. It was super funny to watch him try to touch the alligator tooth. Finally some poor museum volunteer had had enough of our torturing him and thus pointed out that he could easily reach the bottom teeth. Where's the learning in that?

Another big hit was Robby's stint as an ambulence driver. Though he might cause more chaos than he helped to prevent, he would have fun doing it!

We got tickets to the planetarium, which was the perfect opportunity for Juliet's short nap. Robby loved the pictures on the ceiling.

Mommy and Robby went for a quick trip on a trolley from the turn of the 19th century. What made the trip most fun was hide and seek from Daddy and Juliet.

Last stop was lunch in the museum cafe. We all shared a hot dog and pizza, and Robby decided to go native by painting his war face on with Nacho Dorito cheese fingers. It was a good look for him.

Haircut

We have been talking about how Robby needed a hair cut, for well, much longer than we should have, as you can see from this picture:


So, I sent my guys on a mission to get a haircut today. I should have known what I was in for:

Obviously, they both think it is awesome. I am sure, as my friend KC mentioned, that this new 'do will have the ladies lining up to share their crayons with him at school.

The Machinations of a Two Year Old

Three blogs in one week--I think this might be a new world record (at least, for me), but I had to share this story because it keeps making me laugh.

So, I never knew until I had a child of my own just how young we are when we learn the fine art of manipulation. Robby has been developing and fine-tuning a manipulation technique for a few weeks now, and at first, I was pretty oblivious and maybe even impressed with his grown-up behavior (you will see why when I explain it in a second). Now that I have caught on to his strategy, it is all I can do not to laugh when I catch him at it.

Here is how it generally goes down: Robby sets his heart on something that he knows will not be allowed. For example, this could be a cookie before breakfast, watching a movie, a glass of milk, staying up late, etc. He then brings up the object of his desire by coming up to either Bryan or myself and letting us know that he does not want or need the object in question. It goes like this:

Robby spies Mommy filling cups full of chocolate to send to his teachers for his Valentine's Day party tomorrow. He walks up to Mommy very solemnly and says, "No chocolate Mommy. No chocolate for Robby." I will generally agree with him, saying "That's right," or "sounds good." He repeats his statements about his lack of desire for the chocolate until I repeat it back to him--"That's right, no chocolate for Robby." It is at this moment that I have fallen into his well-laid trap, and he wastes no time springing it. He then perks up with a big smile on his face and says, "Chocolate for Robby!"

Apparently, he believes that if he can get me to say his name and the object of his desire in the same sentence, then I have been tricked into offering him whatever it is that he wants. He then acts surprised but willing to accept whatever it is that I have now offered him.

I have yet to see this ruse work, but I will give him props for his general persistance in attempting the technique. He has done it well over a dozen times at this point. And, while he may not get the object of his desire, I am impressed with his ability to create plans that involve multiple steps and then work to execute each step in his plan.

On another funny side note about Robby, yesterday as I was fixing lunch, Robby had climbed into his chair at the table in anticipation of eating. I had set Juliet's bumbo on the table for her to join us as well. The next thing I knew, the bumbo was on the floor face down. I asked Robby what happened to Juliet's chair, and he looked around and shrugged and uttered one word--Barneby. I said, "what happened?" and he told me again "Barneby did it." (Barneby is our cat).

I can see that Bryan and I have entered into a new stage of parenting, whether we are ready for it or not...

The Great Snow In of 2010

We like everyone else have lived a life interrupted of late on account of the weather. Thursday was not too bad, though our electricity flickered in and out for much of the evening.

At about midnight, Bryan and I went to play in the snow, and it was amazing. The whole world appeared to be blanketed in the snow, and an amazing hush had descended on our street. We also got some pretty sweet pics.

(Yep--that's me in my PJs in the snow :)

We then lost electricity some time around 1:00am, and we did not get it back until after lunch. We have a gas fireplace and stove luckily, so we were able to huddle by the fire under blankets. We had hot chocolate and oatmeal for breakfast and soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch. It was a fun day that we will remember fondly.

After we got power back and knew we would be able to warm up, Robby and Bryan went to play outside and had a great time making snowmen.

We did not venture out of the house until today, when we went to get an amazing list of groceries. Here are some pics of us getting ready to venture out for the first time:

Happy 4 Months Juliet!!

Juliet's party dress for Lucy's Birthday Party!!! Happy 2 Years Lucy :)

Today my sweet baby girl turned 4 months old. I honestly cannot believe how quickly time has flown by. She has truly grown out of being an infant at this point (in fact, now that her cousin Sloan is here, she is not even the youngest grandbaby on the Sloan side).

(Juliet saying good morning to Daddy this morning)

In honor of her four month birthday today, she decided to go for the gold and hit a major milestone. So, this afternoon she rolled over from her back to her front. I set her on the couch on her back and then went into the dining room to talk to Bryan. When I looked over to check on her, she was lying completely on her tummy as if for tummy time. The only difference was that she had her arm still under her. She seemed to be completely surprised by this turn of events (remember that she hates tummy time)

Finally, I put her back on her back and decided to call it a victorious roll even though her arm did not make it out from under her. Then, all of a sudden, she was back on her tummy, and this time she was able to pull her arm out :). Then, just for good measure, she rolled one more time before bedtime.

(Juliet wondering why in the world she is on her tummy all of a sudden)

Bedtime has become a sweet tradition for Juliet and me. We lay on her furry pink rug and read stories together (well, I read, she tries to eat the pages). It is one of my favorite times of the day as she laughs and coos just for me.

(Juliet wondering why Daddy does not want to wake up)

Then after bedtime with Juliet it is time to put my big boy to bed. We also have a story time with him each night. The two most likely books are "How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight" by Jane Yolen or "Hug" by Jez Alborough. He continues to do very well in his big boy bed, and he really is a great big brother to Juliet.

(This camera smile just cracks me up!)