Happy Birthday, Rose!

We got to celebrate Rose’s 3rd birthday twice – in Cincinnati and Des Moines. We celebrated on Holly’s on Friday night and at the Reagens’ on Sunday night. Saturday was her actual birthday, but it was a travel day so her birthday festivities were limited to her birthday cereal and a random singing of Happy Birthday at the winery where we were staying the night. 

Rose is definitely 3. She is developing a strong will and likes to do things herself and she is also still very needy, likes to snuggle, and likes to stick her hands and feet into people’s shirts. She and Lucia still spend a ton of time together and are great playmates. They sleep together at night, sharing a bed in the RV and planning on sharing a bed once we are home. 

Rose’s favorite thing to do for fun is build with Legos. She loves building towers, houses, and cakes. She just has a couple of small duplo lego sets that she uses over and over. 

She is our best napper – she still naps! She consistently naps every afternoon, either at home or in the car if we are not at home. She is OK without a nap, but much better if she has one. Her sleep schedule in general is not that or a normal 3 year-old. She follows the schedule dictated by the big kids, going to bed around 10 at night and sleeping until 8. She does still use her pacifier, but she will be ready to ween from that once we are settled in back home.

Rose’s 2nd Birthday!

Today we celebrated Rose’s 2nd birthday. We celebrated a day early because we have big plans for tomorrow (more to come on that). We had a birthday party at lunch time with the Reagens and Mimi & Papa. Susan made a nice chicken salad lunch and the perfect cake for Rose’s summer birthday. 

Rose at 2 continues to be a sweet, snuggly kid. She is up at around 8, with the other kids, takes a very consistent nap from 1-3, and then goes to bed between 9 and 10, with the other kids. She loves to sing, dance, and play outside. Her favorite song is the O’Reilly’s Autoparts jingle (O-O-O-O’Reilly’s. . . Autoparts). She also loves to sing all of the songs from Bean Sprouts and Hallelujah, and the modified version not to be named. She eats eggs and sausage with me every morning for breakfast and also enjoys yogurt and all varieties of berries. Mari tells me that strawberries are her favorite food.

Rose opening her presents
Rose’s new baby
Rose and her cake

Unititled

As Rose grows up, I am aware that we are passing through many phases of parenting. When Susan and I had our first apartment together we set up one room as a nursery, but within a few days of Andrew being born we realized that room would never be used. All of our kids slept with us in their earliest years, gradually moving from our bed to the mattress beside our bed, eventually moving to another room. 

For the past few weeks Rose has been on the move. She has been nursing less frequently and we decided it was time to night wean her. This means that she can move to the mattress on the floor and when she wakes up at night I cuddle with her to get her back to sleep. We also decided that it is time for her to start going to sleep laying down.

Historically we got her to sleep in the Boba, our carrier. This worked well and we still use this technique for naps. We moved Lucia back into our room and she and Lucia go to sleep at the same time. I lay in between them. Eventually I will move to a chair, to a chair by the door, to a chair in the hallway, to a goodnight kiss. I am ready for this transition, but it is definitely bittersweet. 

Rose’s New Hobby

Rose’s Latest Victim

Rose has been climbing up on stools and chairs lately to access things that were previously out of her reach. Each of the past three days she has climbed up to reach a glass on the table, taken a drink, and then dropped the glass to the floor, breaking it. We have a new policy now where we are not allowed to leave glasses on the table. 

Santa Visit

To this day, Lucia thinks that Santa travels in a fire truck and when we see a fire truck she says, “There’s Santa!”

The Clive Fire Department escorts Santa around town to visit the kids in the neighborhood. The kids all love it. 

Rose’s Halloween Costume

Our Little Pumpkin
Our Little Pumpkin

Rose was not too keen on her costume on Beggars Night, but today she wanted to put it on. She kept it on for about 5 minutes. Maybe she figured out people weren’t handing out candy anymore?

Rose’s First Words

Rose is starting to make more noise that sounds like talking. She has been saying ‘uh-oh’ for a few months, ‘hi’ maybe for a few weeks, and just recently she has started saying ‘baby.’

Rose Walking

Slowly, but surely, Rose is starting to walk. She took her first steps on Susan’s birthday a couple of weeks ago and has been adding a few more each day. We have had a hard time getting a good video, so we combined a few.