A Day Off School

Sorta...because I'm a mean mom and I made them do their math and phonics before we left for a field trip.

We hadn't been to Cox Farm since two years ago, and I wasn't sure that I could manage it this year with four of them, one being an infant.  But we decided to give it a shot, and it worked out ok after all.

Caroline slept a good bit in her seat on the stroller, and the big kids had fun sliding down big slides and swinging on rope swings.  And I got some sunshine.

Baby Laura came along in her Ergo and got to slide too.

Big brother Cade came to the rescue
when Elsa was scared to go through
the pyramid with walls closing in.

Elsa enjoying the hayride

October in Pictures

Cade is our builder.  He loves Legos.  Luke loves Legos too, but Cade's interest is more of a creative one.  He is always building new forts and devices and even animals.  Just today he came downstairs toting a saber-tooth tiger, an antelope, and a lion that he had created out of Legos.  The tiger was especially cool.  I'll have to remember to get a picture of it before it's taken apart.

Below he is showing us his aged castle.  This is my math and science kid, folks.

 On Sunday it was a lovely fall day, so we made a late afternoon/early evening jaunt to the local Civil War battlefield.  We've been there plenty of times before, but every time we suggest it, the kids all shout, "Yeah!!"  Caroline now enjoys being in the Ergo carrier which made it much easier to bring her along.

Speaking of Caroline...she is growing so fast!  She will be five months later this week.  She can roll now, though she doesn't much like to be on the floor.  She much prefers to be upright where she can see what is going on.  So she spends lots of time in the exerciser, some time in the Bumbo seat, and some time in her bouncy seat (though she looks as though she might fling herself right out of there sometimes!).

She has a big smile that melts my heart...

...and beautiful eyes which may be brown or may be hazel...we're not sure yet.

She is loving her thumb more and more...

...and she happens to be a big fan of our kitty Sabrina, too.

I can't say that her sleeping is much improved except that yesterday she took her first nap that was longer than 45 minutes in about three weeks.  I'm hoping and praying that she will make progress in this area soon for the sake of everyone in our house!

School is certainly a challenge with this baby who doesn't nap too well.  But we're pounding away at the basics and leaving the extras for another year.  All in good time, I keep telling myself.

Hope you're enjoying this wonderful weather!  I have to admit that fall is my favorite time of year - love the leaves and the crisp air!  And the yummy, comfort foods are pretty sweet, too.  I can't wait to get my ovens back in working order so we can indulge in some more sweet treats...hopefully this week!

Quiet

That's quiet, as in, lack of activity.  As in, I haven't had time to blog recently.  It certainly doesn't mean that our house is quiet.  

In all actuality, our house isn't quiet often enough...as in, the baby is a really poor napper.  Therefore, I have little time for blogging because there is a little person hanging out with us all.day.long. Ok, most of the day.  She does take about three forty-five minute naps.  But forty-five minutes isn't long to get much done, and it certainly doesn't leave much time for blogging.   It also means that, in desperation, I have resorted to holding her in order to accomplish a longer nap most afternoons - just so she can get the sleep she really needs.  The big kids have even learned that opening the door to her room while I'm holding her for a nap will lead to dire consequences, and they now steer clear.  As I've told them, there had better be blood to show if they disturb the baby's precious sleep.  (The reason used to be blood or a lack of breathing until my precocious three year old daughter one day opened the door widely and loudly to inform me that she was having trouble breathing.  Hmmm.  She wasn't.  And she now understands that her brother is the only one permitted to open the door, unless he is the one not breathing. Ha.)    

I guess I had never really thought much about a baby's sleep cycle in comparison to an adult's because I never had a baby where it much mattered.  The others took long enough naps that it didn't occur to me that some babies might not.  But now I've read a-plenty, and we've figured out that she sleeps for just one sleep cycle and then is unable to get herself back to sleep during that brief waking between cycles.  Boo.  (Thankfully, this doesn't seem to affect her nighttime sleep!)  So we're just waiting now...waiting for her little body to grow and for her sleep cycles to lengthen.  I understand this happens somewhere between 6 and 9 months.  We're at 4.5 now.  So I guess we have a ways to go yet.  

In the meantime, she's still as cute as a button!  And her eyes certainly aren't going blue like the others.  I'm still not sure if they're brown or just a dark hazel, but it's fun to look into darker eyes this time around.

Snuggles with Daddy after a rough
day; she never made it out of her
jammies that day!

She enjoys the exersaucer now - big girl!

The girls wearing their new, matching cupcake
jammies...Elsa loves being "twins" with Caroline.