THREE YEARS

Wow! Leif is three years old already! I've been calling him my three-year-old for the last month or so, but I can't believe it's really true.In some ways Leif seems so little to me- probably because I sometimes unconsciously expect him to be at the same level his brother is. But in other ways he seems so grown up to me- probably because he has a big brother to imitate and seems to have met a lot of developmental milestones earlier than is typical. He seems caught between being  little and being a big kid and he tells us so all the time. He goes back and forth between the two many times a day just depending on which suits his purposes for the moment. If he wants to skip his nap, he is big. But if I ask him to sit on the toilet, he is suddenly little. (We are working on the potty training thing, but it's a tricky subject with him).
One of Leif's defining characteristics is his silliness. Leif just loves to be silly- he loves to make up words (including an entire song of made-up words that seems to be the same every time he sings it, but he denies that he knows what any of the words are or that he even sings the song) and he loves to call people names- not when he is angry-just because he thinks its so funny to call someone a name. When Leif is upset (which, lets face it, happens quite a bit :) the fastest way to get him out of it is to be silly with him. Austin figured this out much sooner than I did and is a pro at getting Leif to cheer up or forget about whatever upset him by being silly (this typically involves the word "poop" or some absurd story). Being the mom I am, I'm more likely to try to sooth Leif out being upset or get irritated that he is crying about something so silly, neither of which is a great option for him. I find that when I try to act like Austin would and just be as silly as I can Leif is more likely to get back to being himself (although I refuse to use "poop" to do the trick).
Leif absolutely loves cuties oranges. We bought a box a couple weeks ago only to have them devoured by the next day. Asher helped eat some of them, but Leif ate the majority of them and even opted for an orange over a cookie that Austin offered him. When we go to the store Leif requests a box of cuties every time. A few days ago I decided to buy regular sized oranges instead of cuties because they were on sale at a much better price. I figured getting 7 of them would be plenty and should last a week since the boys would share one and only eat one a day. I was very wrong- Leif ate two of them as soon as we got home (he wanted more but I said no) and the rest disappeared in the next couple days. This boy just loves his citrus!
Another funny little Leif-ism is his tendency to wear his pants backward. Leif has been getting himself dressed most of the time for months now. The boys enjoy going into their room, picking out their own clothes, and getting dressed. Very often Leif comes out with his pants on backward- it happens well over 50% of the time so I have to assume its not just chance. He also often gets upset if Austin or I try to turn his pants around for him. I'm not sure if he feels like its an insult on the way he did it or if he truly does enjoy having his pants backward. Maybe its a little manifestation of his love of silliness.
Leif loves to talk about time- and in a way that makes it obvious he doesn't really understand it. He's always talking about "next day"  or "last day" or asking if something is going to take a certain number of hours. Instead of telling Leif "no" I often tell him that maybe he can have or do something next time, so he has started telling me he will do it next time if I ever deny him. Its really nice for him to reassure himself this way instead of having a fit about it, but there are some things that I'm never going to let him do or have that he is convinced he will get later (although he usually forgets about it by the time 'later' comes around).
Leif loves to hang upside down. Its not hard to catch him with his feet in the air-usually on the couch. I guess this isn't surprising since even as a baby he loved to arch his back and hang his head upside down.
Leif has recently taken to saying "Hello, Mr. Gump" all the time and out of the blue. Sometimes he says it to me with a sly little smile on his face, but other times he doesn't seem to be talking to anyone- he's just saying it for fun. I'm not sure who Mr. Gump is, but I'm guessing he got it from a Dr. Seuss book we read.
We are sure glad that this kid is part of our family! Here are some pictures I got of him-although the one with his "birthday pie" didn't turn out very well. (Poor kid will always get pumpkin pie for his birthday with it being so close to Thanksgiving)

The Incredible, No-Snow-Needed Snowman

The boys, especially Leif, have been eager for it to snow so we could make a snowman. They get really excited when it looks cloudy. We have been teased a few times with a dusting of snow, but nothing substantial enough to even stick to the ground. So, I decided to create a way for the boys to make snowmen without snow- Marshmallows! They loved the idea- you can't eat a real snowman when you are done with it- at least it wouldn't taste nearly as good. We just used a tooth pick to hold three marshmallows together, used broken pretzel sticks for the arms, left over candy corn for the nose, and mini chocolate chips for the eyes (this was Asher's idea). I'm sure we could have thought up more ways to dress up our snowmen, but this made them more than happy. I tried to incorporate a few oreos we had- maybe as part of a top hat, but that idea never got realized and the boys just ate the oreos instead. It was an afternoon snack with a lot more sugar than usual, but the boys were delighted with it :)

SIX MONTHS

It's hard to believe that our baby is already half a year old! Time goes by so fast and it only seems to be speeding by faster all the time. Heidi is still the sweetest little girl- happy to be around people and easily entertained. She has had a cough and stuffy nose for the last several weeks and not been sleeping well, so I've been remembering what it's like to have a baby that wakes up a lot. She does still love her sleep though and is very happy when bedtime comes around. Austin is usually in charge of swaddling her before she goes to sleep for the night because he has always done a better job at it than I do. When Heidi sees Dad coming she gets happy and gives him huge smiles when he lays her on her swaddling blanket and starts wrapping her up. I've never seen a baby so happy to know that she is being put to bed. 
Heidi is almost able to sit up on her own. If I let her hold onto my fingers she is quite pleased to try to keep her balance sitting up, but can only do it on her own for 30-60 seconds at a time
. She does sit at a high chair at the kitchen counter, which is nice because I can do work around the kitchen while she watches me or the boys can sit next to her on their stools and entertain her.
Heidi is starting to get really wiggly and needs constant entertainment. She grabs anything that comes near her, especially if it is something she hasn't seen before. She wants to explore and learn about everything. I have to be really careful when she is sitting on my lap at the dinner table because she will grab anything on my plate that is close enough. She ended up with a handful of hot rice the other night and didn't know how to let it go. I had to peel her fingers open while Austin wiped the rice out. Luckily it wasn't hot enough to burn her, but we could tell she didn't like it. She also squirms all over the place while I'm changing her diaper. Obviously her changing table is nothing new or exciting to her, so she has no interest in just lying there while I get a clean diaper on her. She twists her body while she tries to get a new view and whenever she spots her bare feet (they are usually covered by whatever clothes or socks she has on) she grabs them like they are some new toy to explore.
We have found that Heidi really loves when we make clicking or kissy noises with our mouth. I use this trick especially when she is tired and grumpy. I'm not always quite ready to but her to bed when she wants to go, but if I click or kiss at her, she will cheer up, smile, and giggle which buys me a little time to get everything ready to put her to bed. She really is such a happy baby and easy to please.
A little problem we're having with Little Miss is that she is now refusing to take a bottle while I'm at work. She was never super happy to have a bottle, but she would take it when she got hungry. Now, she just refuses to eat more than a little bit and prefers to be hungry and grumpy until I get there to nurse her. Of course I can't just let her go hungry and be a grump for whoever is watching her (either her Aunt Renee or her dad) so I've had to take off work in the middle of the day to come feed her. Luckily I have a really flexible job and I haven't been as busy as usual lately so this has worked out. I'm especially glad I only work 2 days a week and can be with her the rest of the time, but I sure hope she gets over this soon. We have introduced her to solid food which she seems to love, so that can help a bit. I made her sweet potatoes and acorn squash baby food and she seemed to like both, but had a difficult time trying to figure out how to eat it- like most babies.The first time I made rice cereal for her, I only made a little bit because I wasn't sure how she would take to it, but when she finished it she started crying while I hurried to make more. I'd say this is her preferred solid food for now, so we'll stick to it for awhile.
I think I say this about every age, but I really love this stage and don't want it to pass. Heidi is getting a little  independent in that she plays by herself with toys for a little while, but she is still my little baby that would rather snuggle me than do anything else. I love seeing how eager she is to take in every new sight, sound, or experience that she encounters. Most of all I just love the sunshine that she brings into our family. Every member of our family is head over heels for Little Miss and is happy just to be around her!
Here are pictures of our little girl on her 1/2 birthday:

Halloween

We have been looking forward to Halloween and trick-or-treating all month! We have been practicing knocking and saying "trick-or-treat" and "thank you" with stuffed animals for weeks. We have been preparing and wearing our costumes for even longer. The boys (and mom)were very excited for it to finally arrive. The boys kept talking all day about when it would get dark and it seemed to take forever, but it finally happened :) Since the pumpkins we carved a few weeks ago were rotten and we had two left over, we decided to carve them. The boys helped me clean them and picked out what they wanted on them, then I carved. We went trick-or-treating at Grandma and Grandpa's house in the afternoon, then came home for dinner and to get ready. I was anticipating that Austin and I would have to take the boys separately while one of us stayed home with Heidi, but she was very happy to go with us in my baby carrier and just fell asleep without much fuss when she got tired. We went around our neighborhood for a couple hours (we only got about 2 streets covered though) then came home because everyone was tired. The boys picked a few treats and Austin popped the popcorn one neighbor gave them and they enjoyed their treats while they watched 'Its the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown'. After we finally got them into bed, Leif played a trick on us by throwing up all over their room several times throughout the night. Poor little guy either ate too much candy or had a stomach bug. We aren't sure which. Here are some photos to capture the day: