Hattie at 6 weeks old . . .

. . . weighs 10 lbs, 7 oz and measures 22 1/4 inches.

. . . is finnicky about sleep.  But we're not great about a consistent schedule so that's probably our fault as much as hers.  We're still grasping for routine here.

. . . has not slept a single night away from us.  Her brothers and sister slept in their own rooms from the start, but their rooms were just down the hall from us.  Our bedrooms are a lot more spread out in this house so she sleeps right next to me.  I'm wondering if that's going to come back to bite us.

. . . sleeps well at night (relatively speaking) but has trouble getting back to sleep after she eats.

. . . spends way more time crying for her Mama than her siblings did.  Claire is, well, challenging these days and I often have to put Hattie down to attend to her or her brothers.  It breaks my heart, and usually only lasts for a minute or two, but she'll get so worked up that it sometimes feels like an hour.

. . . has the sweetest smiles.  They just melt my heart.  Sometimes she smiles at me and I wonder if I'll ever be able to put her in a time out.  It just seems impossible.

. . . has her big sister wrapped around her little finger.  Her brothers, too, for that matter.  Every so often, they'll get frustrated when she cries in the car, but for the most part, they're very loving and attentive.  Claire gets the most one on one time with her.  I spend a lot of time protecting her from Claire's love.

. . . seems to poop way more than her siblings.  Maybe it just seems that way, but holy cow.  I feel like I'm constantly changing her diaper.

. . . is always in pajamas.  It's just easier that way now that the weather is cool.  I have some really cute warm weather clothes that she'll never get a chance to wear, and that's a bummer.  I feel bad for not putting her in cute clothes, but that's a lot of work.

. . . had a harder time holding her head up from the beginning.  It's getting better now, but Kyle and I were both a little worried at first because she was a lot "floppier" than the other three.  At her check-up, we found out that her head is the same size as her siblings was, but her height and weight are much smaller.  The doctor said it's probably because her head was so much bigger proportionally, but that she seemed to be developing fine.

. . . does not like tummy time.  Who does, really?

. . . leaves the house every day to go to pick up or drop off siblings, her brothers' games, to the store with mom . . . she's on the go.  She rarely leaves my arms or her car seat though.  It is flu season, after all.

. . . is starting to raise her hands to try and bat at toys dangling above her.  She mostly just lays there and stares at them intensely, though.

Big shoes to fill

Do you notice anything weird about this picture? The size 12 shoes, perhaps?

This is the second of this exact same pair that I've purchased for Jack since September. Did he outgrow the first pair? Nope. Were they ruined? We're not quite sure.

You see, Ben likes to wear Jack's shoes around the house. The last time we saw Jack's first pair of these was about a month ago . . . on Ben's feet. We've searched the house high and low for those shoes and cannot find them anywhere. So today, I broke down and bought another pair.

Ben, of course, had them on his feet within minutes of me walking in the door.

Best friends

More of this . . .

Technically speaking, this picture isn't all that remarkable.

Emotionally speaking, it's the best picture I've taken all month.

We've been seeing a lot more of this at our house. Laughing together. Playing together. Brotherly love. Granted, with it comes more fighting, hitting and shoving, but we're working through it.

I'm certain this brotherly love will also lead to more mischief and scheming. Earlier this week, I found the two of them at the top of the basement stairs with a couch cushion perched precariously at the top. When I asked what they were doing, Jack replied, "Sledding."

Oh, sure . . . sledding down the stairs on a couch cushion? No problem. Later I'll give you a pair of scissors to run with and a book of matches to play with.

They play games that I don't understand. They laugh at jokes that I don't get. They race in circles around the house and Bennett doesn't care yet that Jack is always the winner. They're bonding, and that makes me happy.

Jack's imagination, much like any three-year old's imagination, is CRAZY right now. He makes up these scenarios and stories and acts them out. He regularly asks if I can come watch the football or baseball games he's playing with all of his friends in the living room.

He's also become quite the negotiator. I know that whenever he says, "Mom, I really like your hair today" or "That's a great shirt" or "I love you so much, Mom" that he's getting ready to ask for something . . . usually to watch a show.

Bennett tries to repeat everything that we say, sometimes successfully. I heard him use his first two-word phrase this wee:"ree book?" In case you don't speak baby, the translation is: "Read a book?"

Ben's also trying to take the stairs like a big boy, which scares me. He's so much faster and it's so much safer when he crawls down, but I don't want to prevent him from trying something that he's ready to do. So every trip up and down stairs is a little bit longer.

It's trite, but true . . . they're growing up so fast.

It wasn't even posed

I was sitting on the couch two weeks ago and looked over to see this . . . so I told them to stay there while I grabbed my camera. It's not properly exposed, and the focus was a little off, but I don't even care. I still think it's one of the best photos ever.

Come back for a Christmas book giveaway tomorrow!

Who's who?

Can you tell which one is Bennett and which one is Jackson?



If you're a facebook friend or flickr contact, you'll probably know by looking at which one I uploaded today! I was going to delete this photo of Ben because I wasn't crazy about how it came out, but it looked so much like one I had of Jack sitting in the same seat playing with the same toy! They each definitely have their own look, but there's no question that they're brothers.

Just in case you can't tell, Jack's first and Ben's second.