Wow, it’s been a long time since I posted about little Miss Annabelle (read her last post at 3.25 years here). She is now 4 years old as of March 27!
Size
At her well-child check at the end of March, Annabelle weighed 35 lbs (54%) and was 3′ 4″ tall (52%). She is starting to wear 4T clothing and wears size 8 shoes.
Sleeping
Annabelle and Emma still share a bedroom, and are pretty good these days about going down at the same time (usually between 7:30 and 8). Some nights, they get a little riled up and won’t stop talking, but usually they’re pretty good about just going to sleep after getting “tick” (though we do still stay in the room until at least one of them is sleeping).
Annabelle hasn’t napped since she was about 3.25 years old. She still falls asleep in the car fairly often if we’re driving in the late afternoon (like to pick Emma up from school), and once she falls asleep for a nap, she’s really hard to wake up. She would sleep 2-3 hours if we let her. Then she’s up until 10. We started asking daycare to make sure she doesn’t nap, because she was ping-ponging around her bedroom at bedtime.
Even so, she still fairly hard to get to bed at night. She still likes rough-housing, and can frequently be found using Travis as a slide when we’re reading books before bedtime (or Mommy’s back if Daddy’s not around). Her bedtime shenanigans usually result in her hard noggin hitting someone else. They get hurt; she doesn’t feel a thing.
Annabelle will still put herself to bed if she’s really tired, or sometimes just ask to go to bed. But if she does that, you better be on top of it, because the window is thin. If you don’t catch it, she revives and is up for another several hours.
For a span of a couple weeks, Annabelle started coming into our room at night, usually around 2 AM. She was generally content to just sleep on the floor if we made a little bed for her, but one night, she demanded to sleep in our bed, so Travis was kicked out to the couch. She said it was because “no one is my bed.” When I asked her why that had just started bothering her now (because she’s slept alone in her bed most of her life), she said “Because there are monsters under my bed.”
Annabelle still wears a diaper to bed at night, but is dry about 40 percent of the time. She wants to wear undies to bed but just isn’t quite there. She also still has ezcema pretty bad, and we have to put lotion on her whole body twice a day.
Eating
In general, Annabelle still eats a lot in the beginning of the day, with a peak of snacks right before dinnertime, and then doesn’t want to eat dinner. Ten percent of the time she scarfs down her dinner, but 90 percent of the time, she requires a lot of wrangling and still doesn’t eat much.
She still really likes meat, and has a fairly adventurous palette. She will try foods that Emma won’t. She even tried a bite of a dog biscuit with Travis just to see what it was like.
Her favorite foods are YOGURT, bacon, grape juice, graham crackers, strawberries, blueberries, grapes, egg sandwiches, jello, mandarin oranges, and applesauce. She still seems to prefer water over milk (though prefers juice over water), and doesn’t like the cheese that comes with Lunchables. Her favorite candy is gummies and Hershey kisses. Once, she hid in the bathroom eating chocolate eggs she had stolen from Emma’s backpack. Her favorite restaurants are China Garden (“China Buffet”)and McDonald’s.
She still makes the ‘yum, yum, yum’ noise when she’s eating something that she really likes. And she has started to like cold treats like ice cream and popsicles a lot more. Her lactose intolerance seems to have decreased, as she can eat one serving of regular yogurt a day and be fine. She (we) still drink lactose-free milk though.
Development
Her favorite phrase is Poopy Butt.
She still likes singing in the loudest voice she can.
She has the highest, most ear-piercing shriek, and when talking, she has two volumes: LOUD or inaudible.
She loves her Big Purple Baby and almost always takes the doll shopping and to bed with her.
Around age 3.5, she was obsessed with asking us “What you like today?” and taking our order. She would also set up an ice cream shop and yell, “Ice cream for sale, ice cream for sale.”
She loves playing with and imitating Big Sister, but has become more assertive as she’s gotten older. When Emma does something that frustrates Annabelle, she has two reactions: either melting into a puddle of tears, or fighting back dirty (hitting, biting, scratching). Even so, they play well together most of the time, with their Barbies, baby dolls, Legos, or just water and dirt. Since the snow has melted, Emma and Annabelle have enjoyed playing in the Focus, bringing “presents” for their babies out in old gift bags.
Last fall, Emma got mad at Annabelle and cut a section out of the back of her, so both girls got 5 inches or so trimmed off their hair. (Emma wanted her hair cut short like Annabelle’s.)
Annabelle sporting her new shorter ‘do:
Annabelle loves her baby brother Corbin, and plays with him a lot. She has enjoyed pushing him around in her doll stroller, or pulling him around in the Mega Bloks wagon. She will also stop to squeeze or tickle his cheek as she walks by (one of her main expressions of affection). If Corbin is crying, Annabelle will go find him a toy to play with, and if he wakes up from his nap while I’m busy doing something, she’ll climb into his crib and entertain him. Lately, though, Annabelle will just walk up to Corbin and tip him over, which he of course doesn’t like. Not sure why she does that?
Annabelle flip-flops between demanding independence (No, I do it!) and acting like a wet noodle. She *can* get dressed on her own, go to the bathroom on her own, get on her jacket and shoes on her own, but she often acts like she can’t, or doesn’t even try. And then she makes you chase her when you try to help. ::sigh:: Though I will admit that when Annabelle puts her own shoes on, 90 percent of the time, they are on the wrong feet. She’ll ask “Is this the right foot?” When we go shopping, she either wants to push the cart, or ride in the cart.
She has started to be much more detail-oriented when she’s coloring, and has mastered writing the letters A, E, N, L, and T. She can’t pronounce compound sounds, like cr-, tr-, gr-… Crown in cown. Tree is tee. Grinch is ginch.
Annabelle is pretty adventurous – she loves snowmobiling, went down a zipline and big kid water slides with almost not a second thought, learned to ride a bike (with training wheels) last summer at age 3.5 (and will now ride her bike down the hill of our driveway almost as fast as she can possibly go), and loves boat rides. Last summer and this winter, she has been able to “swim” around in the pool with her PuddleJumper life jacket on. Her favorite is floating around a lazy river in her life jacket or a baby float.
One time this past winter, we had been at our neighbor’s house and Annabelle didn’t have the energy to walk home. So I left her on their driveway and told her I’d have Travis come back and get her on the snowmobile (we have a very quiet neighborhood). By the time he was on his way over, he discovered that she had ended up walking home on her own.
In the past year, Annabelle has gotten stung by a wasp on her upper lip; got road rash on her chin from falling off a sled on the driveway; got strep throat, Influenza A, and an ear infection all at the same time; split her chin open on the floor at Walmart and got it super-glued shut; fallen down a whole flight of stairs; and fallen over more times than we can count. Sometimes her tumbles are actually quite comical (when she doesn’t actually get hurt) and when I kind of chuckle, she’ll say, “It isn’t funny!”
Annabelle is naughtier than Emma was, and back in January, I came downstairs after making dinner in the crockpot to find Emma and Annabelle, completely naked, throwing wet paper towels and wads of toilet paper around Travis’ office and hallway (which we had just refinished with engineered hardwood) and sliding around in the water. Just, wow. Emma informed that Annabelle had been the instigator, and she tried to tell Annabelle that they shouldn’t do it, but then she got sucked into doing it too because it looked so fun.
Annabelle also drew on the walls of our bedroom with a whiteboard marker; on our old couch and Corbin’s wall with a pen; on our kitchen table with a pencil; and on our coffee table and inside of our minivan with a crayon. “That little duck!” is what we always say. (Her nickname has been Duke, and then Travis started calling her Fon Duck Duke, now it’s shortened to Duck.)
And that’s Annabelle at 4 years!
Size
Sleeping
Eating
Development
He also figured out how to really crawl, so now he alternates between that and the army crawl. He’s learning how to crawl up the stairs too.
Corbin is definitely a Mama’s Boy. Often, he’ll be crying, but once he gets me, he stops. He’s also been having a hard time in the Nursery at church, but I think that’s more because it’s during his naptime. So we’re going to try keeping him home for a nap during the 9 AM service, and just take him to the 10:45 service. 
And that’s Corbin at 1 YEAR!
Size
The one nice thing about him being sick was all the baby snuggles. I got to rock him to sleep several nights, which he’s never allowed. 
Eating
Development
He is still army crawling. He gets up on his hands and knees a lot, and tries to crawl, but ends up giving up. He can move his hands just fine; I think he’s having a hard time figuring out what to do with his legs.
He enjoys standing at his activity table and at the edge of the tub watching his sisters take a bath, but he is still pretty wobbly and needs supervision in case he falls over. He hasn’t quite figured out how to get down from a standing position, but a few times he has looked down at his feet while standing and fallen onto his bottom by accident.
Size
Sleeping
Eating
He doesn’t pull up on anything yet, though there have been a few times when it seems like he wants/tries to. I think a main problem is a lack of surfaces for him to practice on. He is getting more stable standing on his own (while holding on to something), but he curls his toes under just like Annabelle used to do. If he hasn’t progressed by 11 months, we might have the physical therapist who worked with Annabelle come out and assess Corbin. It’s free and they come to your house! #winwin
He also played with his sisters:
And he had his first Christmas!
Size
Eating
Development
Corbin still likes to squawk and squeal but hasn’t made any consonant noises like mama or dada.
Corbin loves to hit/throw things against the floor to make noise. One evening, he was sitting in his high chair hitting the end of a plastic baby spoon against the tray. Every once in a while, he’d accidentally hit his other hand with the spoon, and start crying. It was hilarious.
Corbin still loves going outside, and our usual routine in the winter now is to walk down the driveway to get the mail (we have a long driveway), and then swing for 5-10 minutes on our swing set. If we ever get some snow (!), I’ll be able to take him sledding a bit too. He liked it before our snow melted!
Size
Eating
I’m still nursing, though taking a much more lax approach to it these days. I only pump once a day at work, meaning Corbin frequently drinks formula on the days I work, at bedtime if Travis puts him down, and when we check him into the church nursery. I never pump at home anymore either. I’m just over it.
Sleeping
Development
Corbin is a smiley little boy.
He loves to shriek and talk, but it is really hard to get him to laugh. He only laughs if he finds something absolutely hilarious. Emma is usually the one to get him to laugh, and usually it’s when she’s doing something that I wouldn’t think he’d even like, like hold him still in his outdoor infant swing up in the air facing down toward the ground. He thought that was hilarious. She also put these cone-shaped Christmas trees on her hands and Corbin laughed for almost 10 minutes.
Corbin’s favorite thing to do these days is be outside. He can be crabby and whiny, even while we get his snowsuit on, but the minute he’s outside, he doesn’t make a peep. Since he loves it so much, my goal is to get outside with him every day for at least 10 minutes. (Doesn’t sound like much, but it will be a challenge when it’s -20 outside!) He also still loves swinging, but doesn’t really like jumping in his jumperoo anymore. When he’s inside, he’s happiest lying on the floor, rolling around, chewing on toys.
Size
Eating
Sleeping
Development
Corbin is also doing really well sitting up on his own, and doesn’t fall over at all unless he reaches for a toy and loses his balance.
He is a talker and sometimes is super loud. Thankfully, most people seem to think he’s adorable instead of annoying, but the girls sometimes complain about not being able to hear when he’s screeching.
Corbin LOVES being outside. He can be super fussy and seemingly ready for a nap, but then you take him outside and he’s happy as a clam. He loves swinging in our infant swing on the swingset, and enjoys walks in the stroller as well. At the end of September, we took him on a “hike” in Crow Wing State Park, and he didn’t make a peep the entire time!
Size
And he’s still in size 4 diapers.
He’s almost always happy when he’s awake (though if he is really tired, he’s only happy being held), but man, having a baby who doesn’t nap plus two other kids who no longer nap is EXHAUSTING. This momma doesn’t get anything done without letting the girls watch iPad for hours on end. (And since I don’t want to let them watch iPad for hours on end, I get nothing done.)
Eating
Corbin has now tried avocado and banana in addition to rice cereal. He loves avocado, but could take or leave the banana. My plan is to start feeding him two meals a day, one in the morning right after he wakes up, and another right before dinner. It always takes me a while to get into the swing of a new habit, and this is no different, so I haven’t been consistent on this yet (especially when I’m getting 7,389 snacks for my other two children each day). But this could help him sleep more during the night too. Right?
Finally, Corbin is done taking his acid reflux meds. Soon after he turned 5 months, I just kind of stopped giving it to him and he was fine. So we’re done with that, hallelujah. We have been giving him some infant Tylenol for his teething pain, and he HATES it. He didn’t like the taste of his acid reflux meds either, but you can tell that he hates the Tylenol even more. He also doesn’t drool or spit up as much now either.
Corbin loves toys, especially ones he can chew on. His favorites are Mortimer the Moose; a half fabric, half plastic ring with a bird on it; a jingly ball that reminds me of a cat toy; a pink dog that has a wooden ring on one end; and a plastic circular rattle in the shape of a fish.
He still likes his playmat, and loves the jumperoo. He enjoys stroller rides and facing out in the Baby Bjorn (he actually does still fit in it–turns out I had the straps adjusted too tight). 
And a new thing–Corbin loves swinging. He still for the most part needs to be propped up with thin blankets in our swing at home so that he doesn’t end up slouching, but he can sit up in the baby swings at parks too. And he loves it! 
Those cheeks ❤
We also braved the Minnesota State Fair this year with all three kids (plus two of my brothers and their wives, their two babies, and my dad), and it wasn’t a disaster!
And that’s Corbin at 6 months!
He turned 5 months on August 22, so I’m late on this update like usual. It just takes so much time to write the post, download photos from Google, upload them to WordPress, and then proof everything. I’ve also started uploading all the photos from these posts to Walmart Photo Center, so that I can easily print physical copies 3-4 times a year. One of my BHAGs for the next year is to get all my digital photos of the kids (from the past 5.5 years) printed and in physical albums.
Sleeping
Overall, he still usually goes to bed around 7:30/8 PM, and wakes up once between 3 and 5 AM. Whether or not he goes back to sleep after he eats depends on the day. Sometimes he’s just wide awake, and is really hard to get back to sleep. Other times, he goes right back to sleep from nursing, and I can put him right back down without bouncing him at all. (The way I usually get him to sleep is I nurse him and then bounce him on the exercise ball for 10 minutes to get him down.)
Eating
Development
Corbin LOVES facing out in the Baby Bjorn and kicks his little legs in excitement. (But sad day–I just discovered yesterday that he no longer fits in the Baby Bjorn. That seriously happened overnight. One day he fit. The next day he didn’t.) He does pretty well on stroller rides too, and we’ve started taking family walks with him in the stroller and the girls on their bikes.
This month, he also took his first ride in Daddy’s pickup to the laundromat and bike shop:
Corbin also got to hang out in the garage while we painted a dresser and at the splash pad while the girls played:
The last thing I’ll mention is how much I thoroughly enjoy cuddling with this little guy. I feel like with each progressive kid, I can enjoy them more, because I’m not as strung-out. 
One of Corbin’s other nicknames is Little Chubs. We just love this little guy so much!!
Corbin’s nicknames so far are Corb Man, Little Man, Mister Man, Little Guy Guy, and Little Bud.
Sleeping
Eating
Development
He can bring his hands to his mouth when he wants, and loves to suck on them. He can also reach for and grab dangling toys and bring them to his mouth. (A new skill in just the past couple of days! They change so fast!!) He also still loves his pacifier, and needs it to go to sleep. We give him his pacifier when he’s going down for a nap, in the carseat, or in the Baby Bjorn (when he’s tired).
Tummy time is still not a favorite activity, but a couple times, he has tolerated it for probably 3-4 minutes, and actually lifted his head up off the floor, so progress! I plan to do more tummy time with him now that he doesn’t absolutely hate it.
I’ve taken him on a few short stroller rides (with him reclined in our jogging stroller), but the girls are the limiting factor there (they’d rather do other things instead of going on walks, though that’s changing now that they can both ride their bikes).
As a parent, it’s nice to have other people to entertain the baby if I need to get something done. The other day, I was just finishing painting my toenails when Corbin woke up, and I sent Emma in to his room to entertain him while I finished. And she did…by putting makeup on his face to make him look beautiful. 😉
A few milestones for Corbin this month were his first trip to the cabin on Lake Namakan (which also means first boat ride, since you can’t drive to the cabin), first time meeting all 4 of his cousins (on my side), and first time swimming in a pool (which he actually enjoyed!).
And that’s Corbin at 4 months!
Life, Really Blog 