Fat Baby in a Tub

Homeschool corner

The baby found the homeschool corner tonight and has been busy emptying the bottom shelf. 

Seven month comparison

Ephraim at 7 months

Selah at 7 months

Kinsley at 7 months 

K still looks a lot like Selah, but I see a lot of Ephraim in her too.   

Latest trick

January 16

I haven't been able to get a very of picture of Kinsley's latest antics, but she just started to push up on her toes.  

Still no crawling, but this latest trick propels her forward into a face plant which has ended with a bruise on her forehead. I'm not sure this is an improvement from scooting herself backwards and then getting frustrated because she is farther away from what she wants.  However I am sure she will be crawling sooner than I am ready. 

Museum of Flight

During NFL playoffs, the Museum of Flight was running a 50% off admission deal for those wearing Seahawks gear.  The kids and I decided it would be fun to go last Friday.  

We took the kids to the museum when Selah was a baby, but haven't been back since.  I really enjoyed it, and the kids had fun, but I will enjoy it more when I an read about the planes instead of chasing kids from plane to plane. 

The kids are in a replica of a part of the space station and are looking out a window at Earth.  

Playing in the kid zone. They had so much fun we had to come back at the very end too. 

The Museum got the trainer space shuttle that they used in Texas to train the astronauts for their missions.  We also walked through a Concorde airplane and the Airforce One used by Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon. 

The WWI and WWII exhibits are really cool.  The kids are standing in front of a Navy Corsair - just like Skipper in the movie Planes. 

We had a rather long potty break, so Mommy tried to keep Kinsley occuppied and happy.  

Outside the museum is this giant 12th man flag. Seeing as it was Blue Friday and the kids were wearing their jerseys, we had to take a picture. They are yelling "Go Seahawks!"  

Beard hat

Swim lessons

In early November, we put Ephraim in swim lessons at the local pool. He had been in swim lessons the summer he was three but we hadn't done them since then.  That first four week session was rough. He was afraid to put his head under water and wouldn't attempt to float unassisted. The other kids in his combined preschool level class were light years ahead of him. He finished that first session still in preschool level one.

The first lesson of that second session was more of the same.  Forrest and I are adamant that our kids need to be strong swimmers and kept trying to encourage him to do the things his teacher was asking.  In a moment of genius, or desperation we showed him You Tube videos of Olympic swim races.  The next lesson was amazing. He did everything his teacher asked.  Bobbed under water, did his floats unassisted, and started trying to swim. 

By the end of that session (middle of December) he had progressed enough that he passed preschool level one, two, and three.  Amazing!  His instructor said she has never seen anyone progress that fast. 

(He is the kid on the left)

He is now in his third session of swim lessons and is in Learn to Swim level two.  (His whole class went from preschool level three to learn to swim two).  He can swim the length of the pool unassisted, can tread water for 15 seconds, and can jump in and then swim to the side. His class is also learning how to side breathe while doing the crawl stroke.

It is pretty fun to watch your child gain confidence as they learn new skills.  It is also reassuring to know that if he were to fall into water, (like the river at my moms house) that he won't sink to the bottom right away. :)  Selah has been taking private lessons for the last month, and will start preschool level one next week while Eph continues in learn to swim level two.  Hopefully we will have two confident swimmers soon!  And in case anyone was wondering: the kids have been told that they have to stay in swim lessons until they can do races and then they can choose if they want to continue.  

10 on 10 January

My friend Sara is a professional photographer and does a 10 on 10 challenge every month.  Taking 10 photos in the course of the day.  Here are mine.  

7 AM.  Baby is sound asleep in my bed.  

8 AM.  Baby shows signs of waking which means the bigs think they have the right to start attacking.  

9 AM. School  Math is his favorite subject. 

11 AM  Selah has swim lessons

12 A trip to Freddie's. 

1:30 After her second nap of the day Kinsley is enjoying floor time. 

2:30 finishing school.  He is measuring the length of the couch with "Ephraim feet"

4 PM  rest time. A bit later than usual today 

During rest time Kins found my yarn 

5:30 the bigs thought it was a good idea to empty out every single item of clothing on their floor. And spent the next 45 minutes cleaning.  

7:30 a bit of pre bedtime dancing 

It was fun to document our day, but a bit exhausting to remember to keep taking pictures.  Looking forward to trying again next month. 

Kinsley at 7 months

Kinsley continues to be a super sweet, go with the flow type of baby.  She gets dragged along to lots of places and handles it all like a pro.

Eating: She is still breastfeeding every 3 - 4 hours.  It is usually closer to 3, but I know she can go longer, she just wants to comfort nurse.  She has yet to try any solid foods.  I have attempted to give her small pieces of rice, mashed potatoes, etc and she just spits everything out.  If she does accidentally swallow something she then vomits.  I am taking that as a sign she is not ready and will just follow her lead.

Sleeping:  She is still sleeping on me for most naps.  She takes 4 plus naps a day.  Kinsley goes down for the night around 8 and if she had her way, could sleep until after 9AM.  That never happens though - because her siblings are really good at waking her up.  She is still sleeping in bed with us - but I have been working really hard on getting her in her own bed.  So far - complete failure.  The longest she has ever stayed asleep in her bed is 15 minutes.  I will keep trying and someday in the future look back at this and laugh because she will be sleeping through the night in her own bed.  I would really like Kinsley to be down to three naps, but if she is woken up before 8AM - her day is just thrown upside down.  She then needs a nap within an hour of waking up and it just throws her schedule off.  I'm not sure how to remedy that.

Moving:  Kinsley can roll anywhere she wants to go, and is quite good at reaching and grabbing things.  In the last week she has become proficient at getting on her hands and knees and rocking.  This usually makes her scoot backwards and she then becomes stuck.  Then frustrated.  She cannot push herself into a sitting position yet, but is really close.  If you start her sitting up, she can balance for a long time and then usually falls forward.

Talking: Kinsley loves to make herself known.  She will screech at the top of her lungs just for the fun of it.  She hasn't put many sounds together, but occasionally will say "ba ba ba ba"  She loves to make trumpet sounds with her lips.  She also groans herself to sleep.  It is really funny when we are in public and I have her in the carrier.  She will have her head on my chest, eyes closed, and be groaning.  Loudly.  I get some really funny looks.

Dislikes:  Kinsley does not like to be squished, or choked, or laid on.  Guess who does that?  She does not like to have me out of her eyesight - she starts to cry.  It has made accomplishing things very difficult.  She also hates it when I take showers.  I put her in the exersaucer in my bathroom and she cries the entire time.  She is also afraid of the dark.  Which makes driving anytime after 4:30 difficult.  

Likes: Kinsley loves to be sung to.  She enjoys riding in her baby carrier.  She loves Sophie the Giraffe and balls.