Thursday, March 7, 2024

Our Vivi Kay

It has been quite the year with this girl. There is never a dull moment with the Vivikins.  
She always wants to wear dresses...and not just any dress, she has to pick it out and I never know what she will pick. 
Gabonese dress? 
Slip? And no, she refuses to wear it under a dress. It must be worn alone. I don't let her wear this one in public...have to draw the line somewhere. 
This is a dress up dress that is way too big for her that she insisted on sleeping in. 
And here is just one of the dresses I wore as a toddler that my mom saved all these years. Vivi has totally justified Grammie's hoarding tendencies...at least this once. 
This is another favorite dress. She also loves this bouncy donkey we have and will sometimes take it to bed with her. One morning she came out of her room bouncing on the donkey with the sleepiest face. It was pretty funny. 
She and Porter can actually play together without fighting. They sure are cute. Porter is quite the gentleman with Vivi and she enjoys being treated like a princess. 
She's learning to be nice to Josie and can be when she decides to. She loves to go outside and Josie will just tag along. Vivi calls her "my dog". 
During school she usually likes to see what kind of messes she can make. Here she left half eaten strawberries all over the counter and was so proud of her mess. 
She and Eliza are best buds. The other day I told them that they were best friends like Aunt Tiffy and I were growing up. To which Vivi replied, "I have a best friend named Strawberry". 
Vivi loves to ride her balance bike and has gotten really good at it. She rides it all around the house and leaves it in the most inconvenient places: doorways, closets, in front of the stove...she has a gift. 
We're entering the phase of awkward smiles and they crack me up. 
She loves music and makes sure to practice her piano and violin (for the longest time she would ask where her violin was and we never knew what she was talking about. Until one day she was blowing on the recorder and told me she was practicing the violin.) 
She also loves to play on Mariah's ukulele and came to me and asked me to take her to violin. She so badly wants to be all grown up like "the kids" (which is what she calls her older siblings).

And now for some of the cute things she has said the past year. 
  • She used to call ice "ice cream" 
  • She loves when anyone will chase her, which can be a problem at times. 
  • For the longest time she would randomly say, "oh no, a bear!" and seemed to be legitimately scared. Which probably came from reading Going on a Bear Hunt. 
  • She went through a phase where she would say "I by you", when she wanted someone to sit by her. She also wanted to be sitting by me whenever she ate. 
  • She used to say "OK!" in the sweetest, most enthusiastic way. Sometimes even when she didn't want to do something and was crying she would say "oooookkkkaaayy" with her said little voice. 
  • She used to say "kank you" and it was so cute. 
  • Vivi can be very persistent when she is trying to figure out how to do something/get into something. When she figures it out she'll say, "I did it!" 
  • For the longest time if we told her she couldn't do something or have something she wanted she would say, "awe!" in the most disappointed voice. 
  • "I want Jesus Christ Amen" is how she used to ask to say the prayer. She now will pray for the cows...we're thinking it must be our neighbor's cows that she can sometimes see out of her bedroom window. Don't worry Mark, she's looking out for you. 
  • For a while she would say "oopadaisy" and I was so sad when she stopped that. 
  • "Thank you mom for dinner" and "this is nummy" is something we would hear a lot during dinner. 
  • One day she came to me and said, "I hurt my thumbkin" showing me her thumb. 
  • Vivi loves to wear a crown but she often calls it a "queen" which gets a little confusing sometimes. 
  • One day she was playing with her doll while I was holding Asa and then walked up to me and said, "mom, lets switch babies." She loves Asa, but doesn't quite know how to always show that love. Asa is pretty patient with her. 
  • When Asa woke up sad from a nap: Vivi: Mom, he's sad Me: Yes he is sad, what can we do to help him? Vivi: He needs space...pretty sure she's heard that before...maybe multiple times every day. 
  • One day while snuggling Tanner she said, "Mom, I'm sitting with my dad-girl". And then when Tanner wasn't feeling well she said, "Mom, I'll hold my daddy" and then went and sat on his lap. 
  • Vivi doesn't always love going to bed so I try to get creative to make it less painful. Sometimes we are doggies, or elephants, or her favorite is when she is a wildcat that is scratching me as I frantically carry her to her bed. Or she likes when I pretend that she is super heavy and I can barely lift her. 
  • One morning Josie snuck into the girls' room and woke Vivi up. I asked her, "Did Josie wake you up?" To which she quickly replied, "Yeah, because I'm a doggie". We often have to tell Vivi that she is a doggie that can walk on her hind legs to keep her from crawling around in public. 
  • Every once in a while she'll say, "hey mommy guess what? I love you!" 
  • After playing with a little girl during her siblings' basketball games she went to the little girl's mom and told her she wanted her daughter's backpack of toys for her birthday. No biggie. Vivi doesn't know a stranger and calls random children she sees "my friends". 
  • Vivi is your typical toddler and is either happy happy happy, or furious. She started calling her siblings a name that I do not like, but got confused and started calling them "turtles" instead. Which doesn't bother me one bit so now all our kids say "Don't be a turtle" instead of the other word. Love those happy mistakes. She also calls us "poopy pants" and "booty bums" sometimes. 
We can't wait to see all the funny things Vivi will do and say this year. She is keeping me young, or aging me...depends on the day. But we love this girl! 

Monday, March 4, 2024

Seven Months

This boy just keeps growing and I can barely keep up with it! 
  • Has his top teeth, which are adorable, but he likes to grind them together which is not my favorite sound. He also will chomp down on anyone's finger if given the chance.
Look at those toofers! The gap kills me. Also he loved his first time in a swing. 
  • He loves to scratch things, especially his momma
  • Austin described his build perfectly one night while Asa was in the bath-a frog: skinny arms and legs with a chubby torso. 
If he's ever nakey he will usually start sucking on his bicep...cracks us up. 
  • We started the month out with oat cereal, and Asa is not a fan. I even tried mixing it with breastmilk and he still wasn't sold on it. Also hasn't been a fan of avocado either. So I'm not pushing food too much right now. 
  • He loves being with his momma, during the day and night. I'm so grateful for my carrier so I can get things done. And we still spend our nights on a mattress on the ground in the guest room. He's only rolled off the bed twice...

  • The poor boy has continued the trend of a new sickness or teething every week. But he is pretty happy through it all, just a little more clingy and a lot less sleeping. 
  • He's a pro at rolling onto his tummy, and is pretty content pushing himself up and kicking around, until he isn't; and then he screams until someone comes and rolls him over. He then rolls right over again and repeats the whole thing. 
  • He also has been learning how to sit up but is still pretty tippy. 

This little dude is getting quite the personality and we are all his adoring fan club. 

Thursday, February 29, 2024

February

We were so happy that it warmed up in February; it softened the blow of the stomach flu and head colds that have been cycling through the family this month. Will we ever all be healthy?! 
Austin got to launch his rocket and it was a success, shooting up way higher than we thought it would. The only downer was that the parachute didn't deploy either time they launched it. We'll have to get some more blasters (not their technical name) and try to pack the parachute differently. 

We went on multiple walks/bike rides. Vivi even took her balance bike and did pretty well. 

My brother Tyler was going to be leaving for his year-long assignment through the Airforce to South Korea and I was able to go visit him and Emily. Amanda came too. Two days before I was supposed to leave, Asa got the stomach flu. I was so devastated thinking I wouldn't get to go and was praying so hard. The night before I was supposed to leave he threw up at three in the morning. But he didn't throw up anymore after that and I decided we were just going to go and he didn't throw up anymore. Which was such a tender mercy. 

I took Vivi and Asa and after flying multiple times with babies, with four children by myself, five children and now just two, I've decided that flying with a two year old and infant is the hardest. But Vivi and Asa did pretty well and we sat by such a sweet girl on the way to Atlanta. She let Vivi climb right on her lap to look out the window. 

Asa loved my garbage, but he didn't love when we descended to land, it hurt his ears and he screamed for the last 20 minutes. Poor little fellar. 

I had so much fun being at Emily's house. It's crazy to think that my baby sister has a family of her own, and she is such a good mom. Vivi and Sofia thought it was really funny cramming in the bottom of the stroller on our walk. 

We got to celebrate the Chinese New Year with Tyler's girlfriend Shanny. She and her roommate took us to a Din Sum place that was so amazing. We were all brave and tried chicken feet, even the kids! My favorite was the roast duck wrapped in rice paper. So good. 



Then we went to a Chinese New Year festival. We got to watch traditional dances, the lion dance, and a dragon was there. 

It's so easy when you have Uncle Tyler and Aunt Mandy there to entertain Vivi the whole time. 

Vivi did not want to sit for a picture so this was as good as we could get. 
Vivi had so much fun with her cousins but by Sunday morning, when we were going to be leaving, she did not want to wear the clothes I had picked out for her. I was resigned to her just wearing a diaper to the airport but right before leaving she decided to get dressed. 
Oh look, now Vivi wants to be in a picture...and she wants her dress on. I love these people so very much and wish we could have had Dan, Tiff and Boo there. 
This leash was the best...yep, I was that mom. I didn't want to bring a stroller because I wouldn't have been able to carry our luggage and push a stroller so the leash helped me to not lose Vivi. She did grab some false lashes and an earplug off the ground...and she really wanted to pet the airport security dogs but we were able to get through that without any tears.
The Atlanta airport is huge and our gate was at the very end of the terminal, and after getting there I saw that the gate had been changed, at the end of a completely different terminal. But we eventually made it and we were early so it didn't matter if we walked super slow. We sat next to another kind woman who was so sweet to Vivi, another tender mercy. 

The weekend I was gone, Tanner took the boys to a Penguins hockey game and met up with a friend from Pittsburgh. He ended up getting the stomach flu on the way to the game, but didn't let that slow him down. The man is dedicated. And then Austin threw up that night...we sure know how to have a good time. 

Eliza and Mariah went down to Brittany's and had lots of fun with the cousins. But they brought home a new illness, fevers and runny noses. Still worth it though. 

We did something new this year for Valentine's Day. We all wrote love letters to each other and read our letters during our "fancy dinner". The kids had fun decorating for it and I thought it was such a special way to celebrate love. I'm hoping it can become a yearly tradition. We did it a day early because youth activities were on Valentine's day. But we dipped strawberries earlier in the day. 

Austin finished The Book of Mormon for the first time so we had an ice cream party. 

Josie was so good at comforting all the sickies. She would snuggle up to them and be so calm. 

We are learning about cells in science right now so the kids made "cell sugar cookies". They were thrilled with all the different candy used for their organelles. 

Nothing like sugar to help something stick in your head. 


Maybe Josie wasn't really comforting the sick, I think she just loves blankets. She kept following Eliza around and anytime she stopped, Josie would plop down on the blanket. 

This month went by so fast but we're excited for what next month is going to bring. 

Saturday, February 3, 2024

Six Months!

This boy...is just so delightful. He is a happy baby who wants to be a part of the action. 
He started sticking his tongue out at the beginning of the month which made us all laugh. He loves to laugh and his siblings try their hardest to be the one to make it happen. He always thinks it's funny when Eliza or Vivi are crying. 
And he still isn't a great sleeper, but after we treated him for an ear infection, he has started to take some good naps again, which helps so much. I usually spend my nights in our guest bedroom with him because he sleeps best when I am with him. I went without dairy for two weeks and he still didn't sleep well, so I decided I might as well have cheese and ice cream again. 
I'm usually only able to get him to nap in his carseat...
And this is how we found him after a nap. He was happy though. And yes...I know that it isn't recommended to have your baby sleep in a carseat or in your bed with you...but sleep is definitely recommended and this seems to be the only way we are getting sleep. We've just started buckling him in his seat now.

I am Asa's favorite, with Tanner a close second. He gets so excited when he sees either of us. He loves me so much that he sometimes bites me...so sweet. He's started saying mamama, dadada and blowing raspberries. 

He keeps his siblings entertained. At one point I thought maybe he wasn't sleeping well because he wasn't getting enough stimulation during the day...but that thought didn't last long. His siblings are almost always in his face or doing something with him. The boy probably needs less stimulation. 
He is starting to grab onto things; his favorite thing to grab onto is his sisters' hair. 

He hasn't rolled again, I think he dislikes being on his stomach so much that he doesn't want to roll over. But he does scoot around by pushing his feet on the floor and arching his back. 
He's getting more hair which is fun to play with. I was trying to get rid of his cradle cap and the vaseline in his hair made it easy to stick it up. 
I'm pretty sure his top two teeth are coming in. Which probably explains the extra clinginess at night. He'll start sleeping better...eventually. That has been my mantra for the past six months.