Eliza

Poor third child. I always swore as a second that I would do EVERYTHING the same with my younger children that I did with my first. HA! Oh well, we all say things that we never follow through on, right? And above is proof that she exists and that there are even sometimes photos with just her in them (even if my mom is the one who took it)!
*My third child is a happy little girl. She smiles all the time and has found a new happiness since she is able to crawl. She turned 9 months on February 11th and learned to crawl just days after that. Now she is a full fledged hands and knees crawler. She decided not to mess with that army stuff.... I mean... she is a girl!

*She is remarkably able to entertain herself. And this skill has increased as she has become more mobile. Yet she rarely has to entertain herself, as she always has the chaos of two older brothers running around her.

*She is VERY social (I have no idea of where she got that from?). As long as she can see other people who are talking to her (or not) she is generally happy.

*As a third, she has learned to go with the flow. Her naps and eating schedule are not set in stone. But I will say that at about 8 months she has became much more regular. She naps two times a day and eats 3 times a day. She generally falls asleep between 6-6:30.... and if I were firmer she would sleep through the night. My "suckerness" is directly proportional to her sickness level.

*She puts pretty much everything in her mouth. I finally bought her a set of "real" keys to chew on in order to save my own. She loves them.

*She has 6 teeth. Four on top and two on bottom, and I must say in female fashion... you know when they're coming in! She is plenty vocal about it.

*She LOVES to eat. She eats and amazing amount. Sweet potatoes are always a huge hit, but apple sauce and yogurt are not far behind. We have been slow to introduce foods to her as I think she may end up having some allergies.

*She just had tubes put in her ears this morning. She has gone from one ear infection to another and I am hopeful this will help her in lots of ways. Based on the report from the Dr. afterwards, it was very necessary!

*She is right at 20 pounds.... which means she has plenty of rolls to go around. She seems to be around 90% in weight and pretty big in height too.

*She is generally in a good mood, but when you make her mad (heaven forbid we clean her nose or face) it is hard to recover. This could make for some impressive tantrums as she grows. I find that every marriage has one parent who is willing to suffer the screaming for the result....I am not that parent.


And here are her brothers. They LOVE her and are nothing but glad that she is a part of our lives. They are a year and a half apart and have the same shoe size..... sigh.... so much for passing clothes down. Steven will be 5 in April and Sam is just over 3. They are good buddies most of the time, but when it goes wrong..... watch out..... fists are flying. They love creative play, LEGOS, climbing, riding bikes, reading, and pretty much anything that involves imagination.

On the days I'm actually paying attention..... I am very aware of how great my kids are and in turn how great my life is. My boys are incredibly enjoyable to be around and my daughter is pure smiles. Some days I'm ready to let them grow and head off to school, but on most days I can't believe my oldest will be in Kindergarten next year and it is hard to wrap my mind around letting him go. I'm sure I'll say that sooner than I think about Eliza. How quickly it passes. I'm trying to find peace in the chaos and joy in the moment, but that ability is a gift from God and one I've not completely received or perfected.

Thanks for reading. Happy Friday.