Snow Days

Winter makes me really miss California. I'm not really loving the winter when I have 4 little ones to bundle up before we can enjoy it. And Jane turns purple when she gets cold, so we've been mostly indoors this winter. But we have been able to have the opportunity for a little bit of snow fun. 

Last week, for example, Bill and Karen took us to the ice castle in Midway.  It was a warmer day, so Jane did well.  It was fun to have a snow adventure. 

Lily, particularly was a fan. She kept hoping we would see Elsa, and even came prepared in her Anna dress.

All the kiddos (and even Steve!) enjoyed the slide.

We've also had the chance to go skiing, and even help William try out the skis he got for Christmas. Steve has been busy at work and it's tricky for me to go skiing with 4 littles, so we haven't been much, but we are trying to get use out of his gift.

We've had multiple attempts at making snowmen.  The kids are almost to the point where they can do it themselves.

And we've been on a couple of nature walks when the weather was nicer.

I even got out my old dog sled. It's in need of a few minor repairs, and Cricket is in need of training, but it was really fun for the boys, in particular.

And of course, we went sledding. Caleb had a couple of crashes and didn't want to go again, but we were able to get him back on the sled so winter sledding wouldn't be so traumatic.

And speaking of traumatic, I fell on a new layer of snow while on a run and came down hard.  I had bruises and scrapes all up my arm and it was pretty swollen for a few days.  After a quick x-ray, I was lucky that I hadn't broken my arm, but it took weeks to be able to put weight on my arm and do a proper plank again.

For now, though, the snow is almost melted, and the weather is lovely again. We will probably have another big snowstorm or two (boo!). We enjoyed the snow while it was here, but we'll enjoy it more when it's gone away.

Jane: 9 Months

Jane is 9 months! So much has changed the last few months, I'm glad I've been documenting it. 

Size: Jane has been really growing since she discovered that solid foods weren't actually so bad. She went from the 3rd percentile, down the the 1st (due to some potential allergy issues). And at her appointment today, Jane's weight was pretty good, (2nd percentile) though she's still a tiny girl at 15 lbs, 3 oz and 26.5 inches long.

Sleep has stayed good. We're all big fans.

Health wise, Jane has been better. She got a minor cold, nothing serious, though I had a nasty cough that still affects me a little while I run. But Jane has seemed barely bothered. Unfortunately, however, a result of this cold was a double ear infection and what we thought was a ruptured eardrum. Boo! We had just come home from a family dinner and saw blood all over and in her ear, all within a week of her ear infection. Luckily, it turned out that it was just from a small cut on her ear. On the bright side, her clogged tear ducts and labial adhesions have luckily cleared up, so that's good news as well.

Jane is still very content to be held all day, as long as it's by me. Other people are terrifying to her still, though it's getting a tad better when she spends more time with various people. But because she likes to be held a lot, it has put some slow down on her movement . She can roll over both ways, but Jane just usually prefers not to. We are actively working on getting more tummy time when we are at home, but Jane much prefers sitting to laying on her belly. We had to get a referral to a physical therapist to help with some of her gross motor delays.

                                            

Jane has been lovin all the foods now! I was worried when she started out so picky, but don't have hardly any food issues now. Unless you count the fact that she wants to eat everything, choking hazard or not. Jane prefers to feed herself, so we try to do as much finger foods as possible. We're still having to be careful with dairy due to a possible allergy, but hopefully we'll figure it out soon...though it would be easier if she would take a bottle.

Jane has a mostly quiet disposition, though has been babbling more, Mostly Dada and baba, with an occasional Mama when I put her down or give her to Steve. Total Momma's girl and I love it. 

Jane is a very sweet girl and is getting more fun by the minute. She LOVES to snuggle her mom and smile at her siblings. And we love having her around.