Leo 4-6 Months

Our sweet Leo is loving life at 6 months old.  He's getting into everything and always on the move.  Since this blog is my best attempt at a baby book, here's a recap of months 4, 5 and 6 with Leo.  Favorite baby picture overload :)

Leo // 4 Months

You are loving your toes, your toys and rolling all around.  Sometimes you get stuck on your side and need a little assistance.  Standing is your favorite and the 4 month sleep regression hit us all hard.  You're still taking 3-4 naps a day and you had a slumber party with Mimi for several nights because I had surgery.  Sometimes you catch a nap in the Ergo while we're on the go.

Your hair is coming in fuzzy brown.  It gets a little curly when you get hot.  You weight 18.5lbs and you are getting good at pinching, grabbing and drooling.  You get easily frustrated because it seems as though you are always wanting to do MORE to keep up with Olive and Fletcher.

You are so loved.  Olive and Fletcher fight over you and are eager to hold you all the time.

Leo // 5 Months

You are paying more attention to food and watch our every bite.  You're loving the vantage point from your high chair.  It keeps you up high with all the action.  I load your tray with toys and frozen teethers which makes you happy.  Your paci and your blanket are your favorite.  We keep trying to introduce you to your giraffe, but you are indifferent about it.  You talk the most to Olive.  She gets you babbling like crazy and we tease that she speak your language.  You babble off to sleep.  We call it your sleepy song.  It's very loud, wordy and it's our signal that you're ready to sleep. 

You just noticed that we have cats.  You think they're very funny.  We added two kitten to the family - Penny & Pearl.  You just want to squeeze them.  You're on the move big time.  You rolled off the couch and we all felt terrible.  You found yourself aboard your first train ride this year at our Fall Festival with friends.  You still seem to love Mama the most and people often say that you look like me.  You mastered the fake cough which is a little unfortunate with all the COVID drama running rampant.

Leo // 6 Months

Most exciting news of the month is that you decided MAMA should be your first word.  At first we thought you were just babbling, but then you'd say Mama and flash a giant smile at me.  We all heard it.  You're the first Jordan kiddo to say mom before dad.  You are getting grabby.  Pinching everything in your path.  You love to play with empty PEZ containers.  Rolling around the room is your favorite.  You hit the milestone of getting stuck under chairs and desks this month.  You are very strong.  Everyone who holds you comments your size and strength.  We lovingly call you Big Chunk, Tank or Boss Baby.  

We got our first family pictures taken as a family of 5.  You were pretty serious, but adorable nonetheless.  We think you may be teething despite the fact that we have yet to see any chompers pop through.  You're hungry 24/7 and growing like crazy.  You're wearing 12 month clothing and size 3 diapers.  I took you to help me vote for president in 2020.  We'll be anxiously watching next week to see if our votes were winners.  

You had two colds this month thanks to germs from the big kids I assume.  You rallied pretty quickly and still smiled most of the time.  We trick or treated the golf course.  You were the cutest little pumpkin.  

 

 

I can't believe we are already half way to your first birthday!!  We love you, Leo!

Adventuring with Mom (4 Tips)

My kids love to play outside year round.

As they are getting older, they are better about bundling up, keeping moving and enjoying the seasons.  This year we have started hiking and adventuring together.  Most of the time it's just me and the kids going on outings during the day while Kevin is at work.

I've learned a few things that make my motto #adventureawaits doable with 3 kids.  

I first started thinking about that idea of looking for adventures to do with the kids everyday when Olive was little.  It's easy to stay home and stick to your routine, but I knew we were missing out on adventures.  I pride myself in being able to find really affordable or free things to do with the kids.  This hike is totally free at a public park.  It's become part of our routine to look for new things to do or to try and call them adventures.  The kids will ask - what adventure are we going on today and I love it.  I'm hoping this is something we can start doing now and continue doing as they get older.  Olive is asking to do some camping so we'll see where that goes.

4 Tips for Adventuring with Kids:

1. Take care of yourself.

Make sure everyone uses the restroom, has a snack and has a water bottle to go.  I have snacks and water in the car for after our hike.  I can't carry all of that plus the baby so they know they fill up before we start our hike.

2. Weather check.

Good walking shoes for everyone (crocs in the Summer and socks/shoes in the cold months) & the Ergo carrier for the baby.  Also do a weather check to ensure that everyone has the right clothes - hats, hoodies, socks/tennis shoes, a blanket for the baby, etc.

3. Share the game plan ahead of time.  

We are going to hike, explore, stay together and then we can swing by the playground at the end if we are all having fun.  We also usually do a pep talk on the way to our adventure.  I'll say things like I need your help with... reading the signs along the path, reading the story for our story walk, let's look for leaves or let's be sure to explore a new trail.

4. Let the kids be the guide.  

Ask them to point out things they want to do along the way - check out a new trail, climb on a fallen tree, find the biggest leaf or look for walking sticks.  I'm obviously the guide and in charge of keeping us safe, but as long as I know where we are, it's fun to let them make decisions about our hike.

This past weekend I took the kids to one of our favorite local parks.  It's just a few minutes from our house and the kids adore the place.  My mom's group is in charge of maintaining a story walk here.  There are signs along the path and one of our board members posts a story each month for you to hike and read through.  Now that Olive is old enough she reads the story to us when we stop at each sign.

We spend 60-90 minutes here and always enjoy ourselves.  The forest is always a little different, new things to see, new things to check out and the leaves are super pretty right now.

Here's how we like to hike:

Leo is happy to ride in the Ergo as long as I have his paci and keep him warm.  Sometimes he'll even nap as we hike.

The most asked question of this hike - Mom, would this be a good walking stick??

The quest for the biggest leaf.

These two love to climb.  They are getting better at tree climbing and usually just need a little help from me.  I gave them each a boost.  Look at these proud smiles.

It's really interesting to me to see their navigating skills improve.  I've got a great sense of direction so it cracks me up when they try to talk me into going the right way back in the opposite direction.  They're getting better at looking for clues and paying attention to their surroundings along the trails.  Only one was right about how to get back...

Would your kids enjoy something like this?? 

Halloween Weekending

Hey, friends!  How was your weekend?  We had a fun Halloween weekend!  Keeping true to ourselves - we edited our Halloween plans and refused to cancel them.  We made some changes to be outdoors, keep our distance, but we still saw friends and had a blast.  

We trick or treated the golf course at the country club, ate smores and had dinner outside.  It was my dream weather - cold enough to wear a flannel and jackets.  We watched some football (Notre Dame & IU won - yay!) and the kids got flu shots.  The kittens also got lots of play time.  The weather has been so nice.  October in Indiana is really lovely.

Peal & Penny getting ready to trick or treat :)  Fitting them into things is getting a little trickier since they are A. getting bigger and B. getting friskier.  

  The leaves are looking beautiful out of every window.

Trick or Treat the golf course.  We've been doing this since 2015 and love this tradition.  Fletcher loved being a dragon - he breathed fire any chance he got.  Olive was a good witch just like she'd planned and Leo is the cutest pumpkin (just like Olive & Fletcher were their first Halloweens).  The weather was perfect and we had a blast.  Half the fun is zooming around the golf course on a golf cart and then getting candy at all the stops is super sweet.

Lovely day!

The kids got a generous amount of candy.  They were thrilled to to come home to check out their loot.  I'm thankful that none of them like Twizzlers so I got them all.  Kevin got the Snickers and the kids decided the Whoppers, Tootsie Rolls and Air Heads were their favorites.

We're planning to trick or treat on Saturday, too.  We just stick to our neighborhood and so many of our neighbors have told the kids they have candy stocked up for them and can't wait to see them in costume.  I love our neighborhood.  What are your Halloween plans?