Milestones

This has been a month of some great milestones for my youngest 2 children. First, we decided to get Kelsey's hair cut short again last week. This decision came after many long days of screaming and crying while we brushed her hair. We use detangling spray - liberally - but she's just the kind of girl that tangles her hair badly without much effort. I'm sure that the fact her hair was often hanging in her food didn't help, either. So after spending several days with her hair in numerous ponytails, off we went to Great Clips. She ended up with a really cute haircut, reminiscent of her Aunt Kristi - an a-line stacked bob. These pictures really don't do it justice, but here they are. It was so cute the next morning as I got Kelsey ready for school. She looked in the mirror and said, "I finally look like a Kelsey again!" Now, what she looked like before I never got her to say, but she's glad to have short hair again. And so are Ben and I. There's a whole lot less drama during grooming every day.

Our other Kelsey milestone has to do with Kelsey's eating habits. As many of you know, Kelsey went through a year or so where the only fruits she liked were grapes, bananas, and grapefruit. And veggies were out of the question. So were all meats except for chicken nuggets or hot dogs. After being chastised by her doctor last April, Ben and I decided it was time to put our collective foot down and stop making her peanut butter sandwiches at dinnertime. And so, the drama ensued. After trying several things, we ultimately found the most success just putting a few bites of whatever we had for dinner on her plate, and making sure there was at least one thing at dinner she would eat - such as whole wheat bread and butter. This has resulted it greater happiness for me and Ben because we now plan our meals based on what we would like to have and what is nutritious, and NOT on "what the kids will eat". And then we stopped fighting with both kids on whether they ate what was on their plate. We keep gum or little suckers in the house, and if they want dessert, they need to eat whatever we put on their plate. If they don't eat it, no dessert and it doesn't matter to us. They only get in trouble if they complain. So anyway, Olivia's been a great eater for months, but we've been making progress slowly with Kelsey. Then Sunday night we had homemade spaghetti. She informed Ben and me that she loved spaghetti and she wanted a big plate of it. We told her to eat what was in her bowl, and if she ate well, she could have more next time. She cleaned her bowl, and even ate her salad without complaining! So yesterday at lunch time, Kelsey and I opened a dish of leftover spaghetti, stuck it on a plate and shared it for lunch. She loved it! And this is great, because do you know how many veggies I can sneak into a spaghetti sauce?? Here's a picture showing how much she enjoyed it. Why she wanted to eat with her thumb stuck to her forehead, I'll never know...

So now onto our youngest child. He's been rolling over for a few weeks now, but not easily. And sitting up has been slow coming as well. I'm sure it has nothing to do with his older sisters wanting to hold him all the time. But here's a funny picture I took this morning of him sitting up. He's doing fabulous.


Then a few minutes later he fell over. He doesn't like that part.


Finally, I wanted to show you the video I took of him a week and a half ago. He was sitting up propped with a boppy pillow and couch cushion, and he tipped over onto his stomach. He HATES being on his stomach. But like any good mom, I left him and made him roll over on his own. This is what he did. As you watch it, just know that last Saturday he showed that he can now roll over in about 5 seconds flat if we put him on his stomach. Daddy did it over and over again to give him good practice!