Mamazen

11 months

 

My sweet Mabel June,

You are now 11 months old. How is it even possible that it's almost your birthday? it seems like just yesterday you were barely able to keep your eyes open and couldn't take any food by mouth and now here you are downing an entire half of an avocado without batting an eye. 

 

You love your sisters, but are also not always enthralled with their antics, like when they jump all over you, try to make you laugh or sing really loud in your face. You have also started singing, LALALALA and humming/singing yourself to sleep. Its amazing and adorable. (now go to sleep!)

 

The weather is still fantastic here, so you are taking the opportunity to crawl around naked as much as possible. Your butt is pretty much the cutest butt in all of butt-town. 

 

You LOVE the playground. Well, you love watching big kids and the swing. A LOT.

Lucy loves to take you down the slide. You don't always love it but you tolerate it. 

 

Your smile is this amazing thing that can make any rough day wonderful. You are SUCH a happy kid (unless you are tired, or hungry or your sisters are annoying you), and you share your love freely with many people. If someone smiles at you, you are very likely to smile back. 

 

This series of photos perfectly explains our entire family unit as it exists currently.  Sorry kid, you're the baby of the family and sometimes you get a little smushed. But we love you more than you'll ever know. 

 

Lucy tried to teach you how to play ball.  You were thrilled with the idea but you didn't get it. You have started clapping (and actually getting to make a sound with your hands, not just flail them together) and your sisters are so excited trying to get you to do it!

Your mom is a complete dork. But your eyes in this photo are perfection. 

 

You had your first pumpkin patch trip! You wore the pumpkin hat that I made for Ruby for HER first pumpkin patch trip and it was pretty awesome. 

You sat on some huge tires

 

 

And ate some of a HUGE apple

And saw a huge view of a beautiful valley

And had lots of milk. As per usual. 

 

This month you started standing unassisted for a few seconds at a time. You don't do it often so I suspect that walking is a few months away still but you are slowly testing the waters of what you can do with your body. You've also started using some sign language. "More" and "all done" are the two you have thrown out there, and again you don't use them all the time, but when you do we all get pretty excited!

 

Some days you only want to be held by mama, and so does your sister… so those days we do this. It's as uncomfortable as it looks. 

 

My darling baby, you are the light of my every day. It's hard to remember life without you as part of our family, and yet you haven't' even been here an entire year yet. Every one who knows you can't get enough of you, and I am at the top of that list. 

Thank you for joining our family, all my love, Mama

37 months

My dear Lucy Mae,

You are 37 months old, you're a pretty cool kid, I must say!

  

You've recently taken an interest in your hair, You like to be edgy, the funkier the better.

You also have an interesting take on fashion. 

 

You are quite inventive, here you've come up with a new type of pillow. It didn't go over well. 

 

You like building with legos. It's either a castle or a robot. Either way, it's cool. 

 

 

You are concerned for everyone's safety, just like a good middle child.  You are also really into tormenting your big and little sisters… just like a good middle child. 

 

 

 

School started! Just like last year, you accompanied Ruby to her first day of class. You were (again) bummed that you didn't get to stay but don't worry, your time is coming!

 

You love making your baby sister laugh (or cry, but that's another story) She thinks you are fantastic (or a terror)

 

You and Ruby do lots of 'projects' together. Sometimes you both do the same thing but usually you're both just crafting at the same table. It's incredibly awesome, and messy and perfect. 

 

You love the park, you would go every day if we could! Swings and slides and running and climbing, you love all of it!

You also love being silly. 

Bathtime is another favorite part of your day. We put food coloring in the bath and have pool toys and you guys have a blast. Not sure how clean you actually get but whatever, childhood isn't about being clean. 

 

You're still sleeping with Mabel and I. As much as I wish you were back in bed with Ruby, I know this is where you need to be right now. Most nights you spend half the night smashed up against me, *sluggling" I don't really sleep well, but that's ok, cause you were pretty traumatized when I spent a month in the hospital with your baby sister. I have the rest of my life to sleep alone (ok i probably won't for several years to come) and I know you'll choose to sleep somewhere else when you are good and ready. 

YOU STARTED PRESCHOOL!!! You are going to an amazing school called Runabouts. It's all about the important things you need to learn when you are three… 

feeding chickens with friends, getting dirty, climbing stuff and building stuff

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making tea for friends, singing songs, and navigating new relationships. (I kinda wish I could go there)

 

This month you figured out how to pedal your bike and actually start moving. Then you were instantly uninterested. Go figure. 

 

This picture is entitled "The Rasmussen Kids album cover #1: the coral years"

 

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The most exciting development in your whole life this month was riding the MAX TRAIN. We went out on the trains for the opening of the orange line that goes across the Tilikum bridge. Your mind was BLOWN.  

You sat with Ruby and your Nana and watched everything go by, and you wanted to transfer to every train you saw. 

It was a fantastic adventure.

You even made a new friend, in true Lucy fashion. 

 

We went on a mama date to the Children's Museum. You LOVE this place so much. Your favorite thing is to go to the grocery store and buy groceries and ring them up.  You also love going to the grown up grocery store and doing the same, mostly because you like to push the cart or ride in the car-cart. 

We finally checked out the new outdoor exhibit at the museum

You did exactly what a 3 year old should do there… you jumped in mud puddles. 

My darling Lu, you are a quintessential 3 year old. You are loud and demanding and rigid and whiny. You are delightful and funny and charming and sweet. You are learning how to push and set boundaries. You are equally amazing and exhausting. In one moment you can be hilarious and coy and then next you are screaming to get your way. You are exactly how you should be at 3, and I am trying to be exactly the mother you need right now, flexible and firm, loving and forgiving, creative and reliable. I don't always meet all those needs but I'm learning and trying every day. Since the day you were born you have taught me how to be a different mother than your big sister needed and likely different than your little sister will need. You are your own amazing person and I could not love you more. 

All of my heart, Mama

10 months

 

 

My darling Mabel June, 

How can you possibly be 10 months old? You are 8.5 months adjusted and doing amazingly well. You've also had a busy and exciting month. 

Lucy had a birthday party, she's 3 now and you think she's pretty awesome when she's not trying to kill you. (just kidding, she just want to squish you a lot, not actually kill you.)  

We all wore matching pigeon shirts, it was a pigeon themed party. You didn't get to eat any cake, but you are *just* getting interested in solid food so you'll get your cake on later. 

 

Lately these are one of your favorite toys, you don't stack them up just yet… you mainly just throw them across the room. You're classy like that. 

 

Lucy loves playing in the closet, and often hangs out in there whilst I attempt to get you to sleep. Some times when you don't go to sleep she will try to entice you to follow her in (hasn't happened yet) or she will play peek-a-boo with you from there. You think it's HILARIOUS.

 

You are RIDICULOUSLY cute. 

 

You think your sisters are so awesome (well we all do). They make you laugh big belly laughs and you try to do everything they do. 

 

Shortly after you started crawling in earnest, you decided to start pulling up to a stand. Yikes. 

 

This month you took up drumming. You're not very good. 

 

You like helping with the laundry. Helping to pull it out of the basket and drag it all over the not so clean floor. Thanks kid. 

 

This is your first time in the tunnel. 

You were a bit apprehensive

but your sisters cheered you through. It was pretty much the best moment of the week. 

One of your other favorite things to do with your sisters is go down the slide (I usually hold on to you in case they let go). You are mostly excited to do it, but usually after 2 or 3 slides you're done. 

 

This month you finally REALLY took an interest in solid food. You're not eating much of it at a time, but you certainly are trying. 

 

Some nights things like this happen and I realize my heart is so very full. 

 

Speaking of solid foods… you like beans. You're a good (1/4)Mexican like that. 

 

Rasmussen Kid's album cover #1. The coral years. 

 

You took your first (and not last) Max Train ride. Lucy fell in LOVE with the trains and wants to ride them every day, so you'll get plenty of opportunities to ride more. 

But this time you mostly wanted milk, as per usual. 

And you charmed some people you met, as per usual. 

 

You are such a charming and sweet baby, you sleep well, you eat well and you are (almost) always happy.

You're pretty much a dream come true. 

All my love, Mama