One of my favorite things to read in my old blog posts are the lengthy snapshots about each girl at whatever age they were. I used to do them monthly, then maybe every four or five months, and now, who can keep track?! ๐ I thought it would be fun to do snapshots of the girls at their current ages all together, I know I love following along with a lot of you who had babies the same times as me, so I hope you will enjoy reading these as well!
Let’s start with our big girl!
Harper // 4 years
The sweetest, most kind hearted four year old we have ever met. Curious, smart & has the best imagination. She loves to play house, dress up & cook in her play kitchen. Always watches out for her little sisters, she cares so much about their feelings & does her best to make sure they don’t get in any trouble (if Eloise goes to time out, she has to sit down right there with her). She loves art, but gets really frustrated with herself when she can’t draw as good as she wants to. She is obsessed with board games, Hi-Ho-Cherry-O and Candyland are her favorites.
Almost always dresses herself, loves to make her bed & rambles on all day long about plans for things, our camping trip, her next night to stay at grandmas, or even what we are going to make for dinner. So sweet. Favorite foods are chicken noodle soup, blueberry pancakes & carrots + hummus. Favorite movies are Little Mermaid & Tangled, and loves watching Sofia the First & Fixer Upper! She recently asked us how many marshmallows could be roasted on an erupting volcano, because probably a lot! ๐
Almost always dresses herself, loves to make her bed & rambles on all day long about plans for things, our camping trip, her next night to stay at grandmas, or even what we are going to make for dinner. So sweet. Favorite foods are chicken noodle soup, blueberry pancakes & carrots + hummus. Favorite movies are Little Mermaid & Tangled, and loves watching Sofia the First & Fixer Upper! She recently asked us how many marshmallows could be roasted on an erupting volcano, because probably a lot! ๐
Eloise // 22 months
Wild wild weezy. This girl is the definition of a toddler tornado, I feel like I spent 70% of my day taking things that she brings to me that she isn’t supposed to have (silverware, markers, snacks that she digs out of the pantry, shoes that she pulls out of the closet, etc. you get the point). She also is one of those kids who you just cannot help but laugh at everything they do because they are just so innocent & cute. She really has the best of intentions (most of the time) and just loves to make us all smile. She knows shes funny, and most of her mischief can be immediately forgiven after she leaps into your arms for a hug.
She loves being read to, she wants to know colors and numbers, her favorite books are Goodnight Moon & Pajama Time (and knows all the words). She loves her baby dolls, blankies & wearing her rainboots on the wrong feet. Her favorite things are puppies, ketchup & basketball, in that order. ๐ Her new favorite expression is “oh goodness!” and I hope that stays forever.
Wild wild weezy. This girl is the definition of a toddler tornado, I feel like I spent 70% of my day taking things that she brings to me that she isn’t supposed to have (silverware, markers, snacks that she digs out of the pantry, shoes that she pulls out of the closet, etc. you get the point). She also is one of those kids who you just cannot help but laugh at everything they do because they are just so innocent & cute. She really has the best of intentions (most of the time) and just loves to make us all smile. She knows shes funny, and most of her mischief can be immediately forgiven after she leaps into your arms for a hug.
She loves being read to, she wants to know colors and numbers, her favorite books are Goodnight Moon & Pajama Time (and knows all the words). She loves her baby dolls, blankies & wearing her rainboots on the wrong feet. Her favorite things are puppies, ketchup & basketball, in that order. ๐ Her new favorite expression is “oh goodness!” and I hope that stays forever.
Claire // 8 months
Sweet baby Claire. Still the worlds worst sleeper, or at least most inconsistent. There are weeks that she will sleep through the night, then for seven days straight she is up screaming all night long. We have tried every sleep training method, she puts herself to sleep on her own every night, she isn’t teething, isn’t hungry (literally won’t even finish a bottle when I do try to feed her), girlfriend just wants to hang out. Wants to be held & rocked & stay awake. I know it can probably be so much worse, but I just cannot believe we are still going through this at eight months, bleh!
Other than that, she is a pretty easy baby, she looooooves to eat, we have gone the total baby led weaning route with her & it has been wonderful. She loves peaches, bananas, mashed potatoes, broccoli, green beans, waffles, carrots & sweet potatoes. She is almost crawling, has no teeth & loves to babble and blow bubbles.
7
These three girls, if I could freeze this moment in time, I would. Starting with the middle of the night when Claire is sleeping! ๐
Eloise sounds EXACTLY like our Huck. We call him our little terrorist. Lovingly, of course! ๐ Your little ladies are so cute!
My 10 month old is very inconsistent also. She does great for a few nights then wakes up wanting to be held/rocked.
I love reading your updates on your babies. They inspired me to start that for my baby girl who is now 4 months old. I already forget what she was like as a little month old baby and I want to go back and read about it. Your descriptions of Eloise always make me smile!
Simplykimberly1.blogspot.com
I absolutely loved reading this. I relate so much to you and your girls. I have two little girls around the same age and so funny all the little similarities I see between them. You will be so thankful you wrote this years from now and you can look back at this moment in time with your girls. Thanks for sharing!
It's so sweet to hear the stories of these girls growing up. It sounds like you have a delightful little mix of personalities!
Also, how on God's green earth do all three of these beauties stand still for a photo? I'm convinced you have some sort of super power.
My 8mo old is exactly the same with sleep. Just when you think she figured this sleeping through the night thing out, she reverts back to waking.
Did you ever try the Merlin Magic suit with Claire? We just started using it with my own little one (she is a Claire too!) and it has been life changing!
Ok, I totally thought you were announcing a pregnancy! This picture reminded me of the announcement about Claire. Oh I got SO excited there for a second!! Love this post though, and I need to do this with my 3 little ones as well. I too wish I could freeze time!
I love reading the monthly updates! And how is Claire 8 months already?! Oh how I wish time would stand still once in a while.
'Tis Our Life Blog
My first baby is six months old and I'm so curious — how do you do baby led weaning when they don't have teeth or a pincer grip? We just gave her her first food — avocado — on Sunday and she seems to have no interest in eating it! My mom suggested it might be because it's not as watery as the store bought baby food, but I really want to make my own food! Maybe she's just not ready yet?
This is SO great that you do this!!!!!! I was awful at writing everything down, and now it has all left my brain! You will cherish these posts FOREVER!
Girl my first didn't sleep through the night until 11 months. My second is 5 months and still going strong nursing all night and expect him to take longer bc we ended up co sleeping ๏ฟฝ๏ฟฝ๏ฟฝ๏ฟฝ
I just love your sweet little family and your girls are all so beautiful. I've been following your blog since you were pregnant with Harper and boy is it amazing how things have changed over the past 4 years! This new post of each girl will definitely be a special one to look back on ๐
Your girls are darling! We went through the same sleeping issues with Rowan, it is no fun! He is doing much better now, just hang in there momma!
Will you do a post about led weaning?
I tried purees at 6 months and my daughter just wasn't interested. We mixed avocado with a little bit of breastmilk. You can use formula or water. We tried again at 8 months and she was much more interested around that age. We let her play with small toys (100% supervised) so that she could grasp with her pincer grasp you can use pompoms and have her put them in a clean egg carton and that will help build her dexterity. You'll see in no time she'll get it.
Claire sounds JUST like my Nora June (our third kid).. we have tried everything to get her to sleep through the night and at 11 months the longest stretch we get is 6 hours…I have no idea what to do anymore. LOL.
I would like for you to do a post about this as well! My son will be 6 months old tomorrow so I'm very curious!
I would love a post about blw too! ๐ Our little girl is turning 6 months old in 2 days, so we're right at the start of introducing solids. And while I'm actually commenting on here (for once, haha), I just wanted to say I love your blog! It's been a fun little thing to look forward to during some difficult times. Thank you! ๐ (I've been following since before Harper)
Why does it always seem that the dynamic is a cautious and kind older sibling and a wild and crazy second sibling? Harper and Eloise could not sound more like our Jacob and Olivia. Especially Eloise and Olivia… I mean, right down to the "bain boots" (rain boots) and everything!
Separation anxiety, 8 month regression & crawling are all super common factors that wake children around this age ๐ You can always let me know too if you'd like help, I would be happy to! Lauren with Sleep & the City
http://Www.satcconsulting.com or satcconsulting@gmail.com xo
I'd like to say the horrible sleeping thing gets better, but sadly I don't think it does!! My 10 month old I swear is be worlds worst sleeper. At least 3 to 4 nights a week, since 4ish months old she has woken at anytime between 1 am and 5 am and is up!! It used to be so much worse, she would scream and wouldn't sleep no matter how much rocking or nursing. Just last night she was up from 1:20 to 3:20 for no reason at all! Not fussing and not wanting anything than to just hang out. We have a 3 year old too who is now a rockstar sleeper and it's so exhausting!!!!
When do you begin baby led weaning? My little man will be 4 months next week and I am just thinking ahead for when we do introduce foods. Any suggestions or interesting tid bits would help. Love reading your blog and the pictures you post of your family! ๐
Not sure if you've already seen this, but if not you should check out this video of Jennifer Garner reading the book "Go the Fuck to Sleep" (http://www.popsugar.com/moms/Jennifer-Garner-Reads-Go-Fuck-Sleep-40400513)
I vaguely remember you referencing the book way back in the Harper baby days. Sounds like it might be applicable to Miss Claire now! ๐
My son is an inconsistent sleeper. I think it stems from his ear infections early on. He goes to sleep great but anywhere between 11-3 he'll wake up. He's a month younger than Eloise and will still sometimes wake up multiple times a night. We think it's more due to nightmares now. I feel your pain though.
I realize this is weeks later, but my daughter is just a few weeks younger than yours, and has been a very inconsistent sleeper too!! Recently though we mixed a few drops of lavender essential oil with coconut oil out of desperation (I've never been an oil user) and it has made a HUGE difference. She still wakes some occasionally, but after I reapply it to her feet, she's typically out in ten minutes. It could be worth a shot!!