14

It's funny how a time in your life can seem like ages ago and yesterday all at once. 

Today my sweet little artist, this beautiful little face, turns fourteen.

What a joy it's been to see this tiny girl blossom in to such a beautiful, talented, intelligent, and hilarious young woman. 

Happy birthday, my beautiful daughter.

I love you.

xo

Mom

One

Two years ago, the day after my birthday, I received one of the biggest surprises of my life.

Twelve months ago, I came face to face with that surprise.

And today, that sweet surprise celebrates his first birthday.

 

Sweet August Huxley,

You have brought so much joy and laughter to our lives in just one short year. 

Happy birthday, little boy.

I love you so.

xo

Mommy

Recap

I might of, sort of dropped the ball when it came to monthly updates of my littlest, but since August will turn one in a couple of days, I thought I better finish these posts. Here's a recap of the last few months...

The 9th month was full of firsts...first tooth, first plane ride, first dance moves, first claps, first steps. You surprised us when you just turned one day and took a couple of steps away from the ottoman. You have a confidence that I'm pretty sure has been inherited from your daddy's side of the family. You can also click your tongue better than anyone I've ever seen, and you absolutely love to dance. Every time you hear music, or something close to music, you start to wiggle. You weighed in at almost 24 lbs., but your height still exceeds your weight in terms of percentile. 

At 10 months, you took off walking, and you haven't slowed down yet. You added quite a few new tricks to your bag, including waving, howling like a dog, giving kisses [complete with fish lips], blowing kisses, talking on the phone, brushing your hair, and rolling your R's. Sometimes you sound like a mini Chewbacca. Your dance moves keep getting better and better. You love to lean over, squat down, and start shaking your booty in what we call the "Boom Boom: dance. Your favorite book is Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?, and you smile so big if I start to recite it.

At 11 months, you continue to learn new things almost daily it seems.You now wink at us [with both eyes...which I think is known as blinking, but it's intentionally nonetheless]. You try to sing along to Old MacDonald, but you only manage to say EEEE-OOOOH. You and the dog have a little alliance when it comes to mealtimes. She sits below your highchair, and you sneak all of your food to her, all the while staring at me as if I don't know what you're doing. You've learned to open the dishwasher and you'll stand on the door and proceed to dance atop your stage. I just hope my dishwasher makes it through the rest of the year. You'll sweep our floors, and throw everything you can find into my bathtub. You love to swim, but hate to be in your float. You prefer the dive-right-in approach to water. Your favorite book now is The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and we point out the caterpillar on each page.

You continue to make us laugh each and every day, sweet boy. I can't believe you're almost one. You've brought so much joy to our lives.

I'll eat you up. 

I love you so.

xo

Mommy

8 months

Just a few days before August was due to arrive, I was in a store, taking advantage of a sale. I was getting all of the usual stares one gets when they are so great with child that people think they are going to have the baby  right in the store. One lady, who had an 8 month old boy, asked me when I was due, what was I having, etc. Then she told me she felt for me... the fact that I was just about to start on a journey she'd been trudging through for the past 8 months. You see, her child was just starting to sleep through the night. She had been fighting sleep deprivation for two-thirds of a year, and she knew what I was about to go through. But I smiled politely while thinking, that won't be me...my baby will be a good sleeper.
And now that August is nearing nine months old, I smile just thinking about that poor lady, and then cry a little inside because my baby is still not close to sleeping through the night. It's my fault, really. I got into some bad habits early on and I've been too exhausted to remedy them.
I had such big plans before this baby was born, of what we were going to do as a family of five, how my life wasn't going to slow down one bit, and how this baby raising was going to be super easy because, after all, this is my third child. I think the pregnancy hormones were making me delirious. First child, third child, 15th child, raising a baby is tough. While some things are easier because of experience gained, other things become harder. Each new child brings a new dynamic, and new challenges. But, then again, with each new child, your heart, which already felt so full that it could burst, somehow, amazingly expands to encompass the joy and love that you feel for this new little person, and you can't imagine life without them. You feel as though they've always been a part of your life; and planned or not planned, they are meant to be.

August, at 8 months old you are keeping us on our toes. You are walking with your baby walker, climbing stairs, opening cabinets and drawers, talking so that the whole neighborhood can hear. You are also keeping us entertained. You can clap, spit on cue, give high-fives, and show us how big you are. You love food, and try to eat anything I'm eating, but you still don't have any chompers to chew with. You love to mimic, and play games, pull the dog's hair, and distract your brother and sister from doing their schoolwork.

You are a joy, little boy, a busy, busy joy. 

I'll eat you up, I love you so.

xo

Mommy

7 months

That familiar feeling is back, the one that creeps up and settles in the pit of your stomach when your precious little baby has the new found freedom of mobility and no real sense of danger or depth perception. I know it will ease over time as August's strength and stability build, but until then, worry will be my constant companion.

Mr. August, you are a busy boy. You started crawling right before you turned 7 months, and already you've been pulling up to standing, trying to climb the stairs, and getting into everything. You love food, and you want a taste of everything I put in my mouth. Just the other day, I wasn't paying attention and you gummed the Rice Krispie treat in my hand. You love to play pat-a-cake and read your books. If I start reciting Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?, you get the biggest smile on your face. You'll try to drop things on the floor so I will say uh-oh, but sometimes you forget how to let go of the toy. You are a fake coughing champ. If I ask you Where's the doggie?, you'll look around until you spot Trixie. You've even figured out how to play tug of war with the dog, and will chase her down with a dog toy in hand to give to her. I love watching you grow and learn, August. It makes my heart happy.

I'll eat you up. I love you so.

xo

mom

6 Months

Technically, August is six and a half months now that I'm finally getting around to posting these. Life flies by, especially with littles. Anyone with children knows this all too well. I just emptied a box of Finn's old clothes to get them washed and ready for August to inherit, but the funny thing was it seemed I'd only packed those clothes up a few months ago. I can't believe that it has really been five years since Finn used those clothes, and that my baby baby is now big enough to use them [ in part because he's a giant for his age]. Slow down, please...I'm still trying to get used to the fact that you're here!

It still boggles my mind that I am now a mom to three kids. I have to remind myself of that fact quite often...not that I forget to bring the baby places, but that this little life, this extension of my hip is really mine. I know he's here. I know I carried him in my womb for nine long months. I know I felt the pains of giving birth to him. But I still look at him and think Where'd you come from? It's amazing. And he's amazing. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed watching my babies learn and discover even the smallest of things.

[Don't you just want to eat those rolls?]

Little boy, you are so much fun! I love watching you grow. You are still big. You are filling up your 12  month clothes and even venturing up to some 18 month sizes. Needless to say, my arms are quite tired. You are very strong, and you make it hard to hold you and do anything else, like typing this post. You are so very curious, and you'll crane your neck and twist your body so far towards an unusual object or funny sound. Then, you always look back at me with a quizzical expression as if asking me What is that? 

you are in constant motion. Do you know how hard it is to keep you on your quilt for pictures? Most of them are blurry because you have to move, or they're of your back...

You haven't mastered crawling yet, though you're close...

You're really not in any hurry to learn because you can roll just as fast as any seasoned crawler, and you can get to most any place you want. Every once in a while you'll get stuck next to a wall or chair, but most often you can figure out how to get around the obstacle...

or under it...

This is your centerfold pose...you do it all the time...

It makes us laugh.

Perhaps you'll be a model one day.

Wherever life takes you, though,  if you're as happy as you are now...

I'll be happy.

I'll eat you up. 

I love you so.

xo

mommy

5 Months

I finally got my pics uploaded, so I'm posting these now that he's almost six months old. 

[You love your quilt. It's hard to get you to look at the camera if you're laying on it.]

Oh sweet August boy. What a joy you are! At 5 months old you are a bundle of energy. You still move constantly, and I don't think that's going to change. I'm already tired thinking about chasing you around. You found out that rolling can get you places, and you can be across a room before I know it. I can't leave you alone anymore because the house isn't quite ready to handle a baby. You've been testing the waters of crawling [too soon in my opinion], and I'm a nervous wreck. Please slow down a bit! You love watching your brother and sister play, and Finn just walking into a room makes you giggle, which makes us giggle. You love drinking the last drops of water from my cup. You get so excited when I fill my water bottle up that you almost kick yourself out of my arms. You're still growing like a weed. You weighed just under 19 lbs. and were 28 in. at 4 months, so I'm assuming you're around 20 lbs./ 29 in. now. You talk all the time, dadada being your favorite phrase.You sing to yourself when you're sleepy. It's more of a monotone growl, but it's sweet and funny all the same.

You are happy and smiley, which makes me happy and smiley!

I just want to eat you up. I love you so.

xo

mommy

4 Months

Sweet August, last week you turned 4 months old on the 3rd anniversary of my 29th birthday. Each day, week, month with you is flying by. Can I just pause life for a bit and keep you at each stage for just a little while longer?

Precious boy, you are all smiles when you're content. Your smile reminds me of your sister's when she was little: big and bright. That happy face can cheer up even the worst of moods, and your chuckle, well, if we could bottle that up and sell it we'd be billionaires. You love what you can do with your hands now, especially grabbing those little toes. I can't just set you anywhere because you are rolling all over the place. [You almost toppled out of the chair when I was taking your picture.] I love how you can raise one eyebrow [it's a family trait], and you give me those looks sometimes like I'm completely insane. I'm not, I promise. You are LOUD. I had to leave a store the other day because you were yelling so loudly...not upset...just talking. You are BIG. I have a hard time gauging just how big, but you started wearing some of your 12 month outfits this week. It's hard to snuggle with you when you're awake because you have stuff to do and things to see and hair to grab. I have to wait until that magic moment of time between awake and asleep when you're calm. You nuzzle your head in the crook of my neck, hug my arm, and sing sweet little baby songs to me.

I love it so much. 

I love you so much.

xo

Mommy

3 Months

 

Sweet August boy! That smile melts my heart. 

At three months, you are growing steady and strong. 

You smile all the time, and you have the sweetest belly laugh.

You love to be held [all the time] facing out so you can see the world. And what a world it is!

You are discovering new things everyday because you've learned how to put those hands of yours to work. Everything is going in the mouth now, so I have to watch what I give you to play with. 

You can almost roll from your back to your tummy, it's just getting over those broad, muscular shoulders that'll take a little work.

I'm not sure how much you weigh, but I'm guessing it's over 17 lbs. You're still growing out of all of your clothes at super speed [wearing 6-12months size]; you're definitely going to be tall like your daddy.

Sweet boy, I can just eat you up, I love you so.

xo

Mommy