Friday, November 30, 2012

A Very Merry Half Birthday!




Taryn,
You turned 6 months old on Monday, 11/19! I can't believe how fast half a year has gone. You have so much personality now. You love when people talk to you. You either smile big and jabber back or you smile bashfully and turn your head away like you are being shy.
You weren't really rolling over much until this week but it clicked now and you can flip yourself from your tummy to back in moments and figured out on Sunday how to go from back to tummy. You were so proud of yourself flipping all over the place to reach your toys! You are getting better everyday at supported sitting. I can almost get you to hold yourself up with your hands. I just know that once you can sit, we will blink and you will be all over the place! I remember how fast things seemed with Zane after that milestone.
You love to watch everything and be around the family. You are beginning to recognize your grandparents and good friends that we see often. You get excited and kick your legs until they pick you up.

We had our first trip to the zoo and first Halloween this month. You were so good natured at the zoo, never fussing , even if we forgot to point the stroller at the animals. You let us dress you up on Halloween and were the cutest little ladybug I ever saw!

You were sick for most of the month, starting at the end of October and still going. We will think you are on the mend and then you get a new wave of something. Nothing serious but you did have to start breathing treatments for bronchiolitis with wheezing 2 weeks ago. We were disappointed to start that with you after all that Zane has been through. We are hopeful that your path will be easier!

Here are some pictures from 5-6 mos:










We took cupcakes to "Great-Pops" (Tommy's grandfather) for his birthday



We went to mommy's 10 year high school reunion



Sweet Ladybug Taryn



Ladybug & Superman



Super Zane!

So the memory on my phone keeps filling up so I don't have as many pictures this month! Maybe Santa will bring me a new phone, or maybe I just need to delete a lot of pictures that are already saved!

Sweet girl, we hope you start feeling much better soon so you can fully enjoy life again! We love you!

With love,

Mommy (Crystal)

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Sunday, October 21, 2012

5 months




Taryn,
You just keep growing even though I tell you to stop! You are 5 months old now. At your 4 month appointment a few weeks ago, you were in about the 50th percentile for weight and height. You are still wearing 3-6 month clothes but you are fully filling them out. Sadly, I think I will be pulling out the next box of clothes very soon. That always makes it feel so much more real that you are growing up!

You are still so sweet and easy-going. You pretty much only fuss if you are hungry or sleepy. You absolutely adore your brother! You belly laugh and squeal with joy when he jumps and dances in front of you. The way that you look at him in complete adoration reminds me of the way that I saw my brothers when I was a little girl. I pray that he will be a good example for you as my brothers were for me because I know that he will be your hero for many years.

You still aren't very mobile but I am really okay with that. You rolled from your belly to your back one time yesterday. This was the first roll over. You sure can scoot around on your back in circles though.

Our new adventure this month has been baby food. It took you a few tries to decide that you liked it. You just weren't very interested at first. Once you caught on, though, you really got into it. Now we have eaten baby oatmeal, pears, and carrots and you like them all. You like to help us by pulling our hand with the spoon to your mouth.

We are just having so much fun with you!

Here are some pics from the past month:



Sweet siblings! Think I can bribe them with this in 14 years?







The Curry cousins all came to visit in September. Everyone had a great time! Foster (2 1/2), Emma (5 1/2), Lylah (2 1/2), Zane (3), & Taryn in front.


Cousin fun!



First time eating!



Happy 3rd birthday to our nephew Noah!



Taryn's first ponytail!



Pigtails! Our new favorite hairdo!

With love,

Mommy (Crystal)


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Friday, September 28, 2012

4 months already!




Taryn,
You turned 4 months old last week! This has been kind of a tough one for me. I was pretty comfortable with 3 months. :-) you are just getting more personality each day. You smile and laugh at us just almost any time we talk to you. You love getting attention but can get a bit overwhelmed if we are in strange surroundings or large groups. Otherwise, you are pretty content all day long. We just made the transition to see if you could go 4 hours instead of 3 between feeds and you were such a champ. You caught on quickly and went with the flow. I wish I could get you to nap a bit longer at once but we have kind of figured out a new eat, play, sleep, play, sleep, start over routine which seems to work better for you. We will keep working toward the longer naps but this works.
You aren't quite rolling over yet but I think we are close. You roll easily to your sides and you hold your feet all the time. You have also been tolerating tummy time a little better if I catch you in the right mood.
At your 4 month checkup, you weighed 13 lbs, 4 oz and were 26 inches long. You check out completely healthy!
Your favorite things right now include your feet, playing with daddy or Zane, watching Z's cartoons, and your lovie toys. You are reaching and grasping for toys now We think you may be starting to teethe because you always want something in your mouth.
We did your baby dedication this past Sunday. I feel bad because I did a whole post for Zane's dedication about specific things that we were committing to do for his spiritual development. Please know that we also are committed to yours. We pray for you daily, for protection and health, and also for your future. We pray for your future friends and possibly husband. Mostly I pray that God will be glorified by your life and that He will mold you into the woman He has created you to be. It is our goal to help guide those 2 purposes.
We love you so much!
Here are a few pics from this past month:










Zane's first day of preschool in 3's






With a new BFF, Elyanah (3 weeks old)







"ROCK!"



Sweet now.... bribery material later?

YouTube Video

Laughing with Daddy

We love you precious girl!

Mommy

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Sunday, September 2, 2012

Zane is 3!




Zane Now


Zane 1 year ago!

Our little man is turning 3 years old! He had a growth spurt this summer and I feel like he looks like a preschooler now and not a baby. He has stretched out and lost his baby cheeks.
I've been reflecting this week on what I most want to remember about Zane at 3. He has really developed his personality this year and is definitely his own little person. So here are a few things we have learned about Zane in these 3 short years...

Zane is INTENSE. No matter what he decides to do, good, bad, or whatever, he is doing it loudly and with all of himself. He doesn't really half do things. He wakes up this way and stays at that level until he falls asleep. It is part of who he is. At his birthday party last week, he was super excited about EVERY present. Even a box with just clothes, he pulled them out and said, "Check it out!"

Zane is INDEPENDENT. He wants to get and do things for himself most of the time. He can go in the kitchen and get his own water or a spoon for his yogurt. Sometimes he even gets in trouble for trying (& sometimes succeeding) to get his own snack out of the pantry. Recently, when a nursery volunteer at the church offered to help him in the bathroom, he said "I've got it," and he did. This has been pretty helpful to mommy now that I've got another baby to juggle.

Zane is AFFECTIONATE. We figured out this summer that Zane's primary love language, at least for now, is physical touch. This has become very obvious! He wants to hug, wrestle, kiss, sit in my lap, or attack me all day long. He practically mauls Taryn to try and kiss and hold her any opportunity that he gets. The intensity plays into all this as well. He can't just give me a sweet hug or a small pat on the back. No, his hugs are often more like tackles or wrestling matches. He is intending to be sweet most of the time but just doesn't even realize how rough he is being. He is really great about giving hugs and fist bumps to our family and friends, and I truly appreciate that. We are having to teach him that not all of his friends want to be hugged all the time. Recently, we were saying good night to some friends we had eaten dinner with who have a very pretty 3 year old girl. As we were leaving, Zane gave the little girl a hug and said, "Can I kiss you?" He immediately turned and kissed her cheek before she could answer. Hey, at least he asked! He tells us he loves us and will even volunteer those sweet words to our extended family and friends. Nothing sweeter than a child looking up at you and saying, "I love you." I really love this about him! Recently, I was laying down with him at bedtime and he said to me, "Mommy, I love you at the park. I love you at McDonalds." While it is not exactly the full concept of love, it was cute and it gave me a chance to list off places and times that I love him, some of them fun and others not, like "I love you in time out." Teachable moments!

Zane is ALL BOY. He loves sports, superheroes, cowboy boots, and wrestling. He is super active and barely sits still, even for movies lately. The other day, he went outside to play wearing an iron man helmet, cowboy boots, holding 8 checkers in his pocket, and carrying a baseball bat. He gets his Legos out and builds "giant robots." Silly boy!

Zane is IMAGINATIVE. He is not super artistic at the moment, but that may be an attention span thing, but he is creative in other ways. His favorite toys are usually simple things that he decides are something else entirely. He stacks markers together and says they are a golf club or baseball bat or just a stick to poke things with. He plays with these plastic "cocktail" type cups we have and they are musical horns. Almost anything can become a horn, drum stick, or hat. He loves music and playing his toy guitars or drums or anything else he can make music with. We got into a routine this summer that we would sing songs together before his nap everyday. He loves this and it has been fun to teach him fun songs from my childhood.

Zane's favorite things- He loves his baby sister and playing with his daddy. He loves playing with his cousins (5 w/ 3 on the way!) Since his birthday party last weekend, he has worn his cowboy boots everywhere. He loves his superhero masks and iron man helmet. He has been carrying a baseball bat all over the house. He loves looking at pictures on people's phones and playing games on his phone (an old one that was Tommy's). He loves watching VeggieTales and superhero cartoons. He went through a Muppets obsession earlier this year but lately he wants to watch The Incredibles. He also loves Fresh Beat Band. His favorite color is purple. Favorite foods are pizza, chicken nuggets, bread, and golden Oreos Does ketchup count as a food? He also loves yogurt, applesauce, and a lot of fruits. We are finally getting him to branch into chicken that is not fried and a few other things. Maybe one day he will try a vegetable again. :-)

This age is a challenging one in a lot of ways but it is also a lot of fun. You never can be sure what he will do or say next! I am so grateful that I got to spend this past summer at home with him while on maternity leave. I think it really helped us to re-bond after a rough pregnancy had kept me off my feet for a while.

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the past year:




With his pal, Woody, in October



Breakfast with baby Jesus on Christmas morning



Ice cream date with Mommy!




Mother's Day with Mommy





Welcoming his baby sister in May








Sweet brother




Zane and his Pops




Enjoying a day at home with mommy




Checking on his sister




Zane loved swimming in Pops' pool this summer!







Super Zane













I can't imagine how much he will grow and change this next year! Such a big boy already! We love every bit of you Zane!

With love,

Crystal

Friday, August 24, 2012

3 months of Sweetness!




Taryn,
You are 3 months old now. You have such a sweet nature. We all just adore you! Your favorite thing is just for anyone to talk to you. You smile and laugh and coo at anyone who gives you some attention. You are usually content wherever we put you but you especially love your activity gym with the toys hanging down in front of you. You have mastered the backwards scoot, so I have to keep an eye on you when I lay you down because you will scoot yourself off the mat in a matter of minutes and then get frustrated that you can't reach the toys anymore. Your favorite toys are your "lovies" (animal head with a little blanket body) that you like to hold and put in your mouth and Greg the giraffe who was also good friends with your brother as a baby.

You started sleeping 10-12 hours at night right before mommy went back to work. On my days off, you often sleep until 8 but on work days I have to wake you "early" at 7. What a good girl! You usually take about 4 naps during the day 30-90 minutes at a time. You sometimes fuss a little more about those but not too much.

Our big change this month is that mommy returned to work on August 13, but it is just part time! The part time schedule makes the transition so much easier than when I went back to work after Zane was born. You and Zane go to an in-home daycare in the neighborhood across from ours. You have adjusted well and don't seem to be bothered at all by the new routine. You did smile at me a lot on my first day off though!

Zane still thinks the world of you! We spend a lot of our day trying to keep him off of you because he wants to hug and kiss you all day long. He calls you "Spritty Girl" instead of pretty girl. You love to watch him play and be wild.

Here are some pictures from the past month:

We went to the lake for a Curry family reunion. You were not a fan of the heat...









Taryn with my MawMaw



Zane hanging out with cousin Justus






















We tried the bumbo!



Mommy got a bow to stay in your hair! Big day!


I can't believe how fast time goes!

With love,

Mommy (Crystal)

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