4 Months

On Joseph's birthday Helen reached the 4-month milestone. 

She started sucking on her fingers and fists and grasping blankets. She loves to hold her muslin swaddling blankets and bring them to her mouth. She struggles to hang onto toys that are handed to her, and she doesn't try to reach out for things yet.

She's now going to bed for the night around 6:30-7:00 pm (hallelujah!) and sleeping until 7 am. She usually wakes up once or twice during that time. During the daytime she follows a pattern of awake for 1.5 hours, asleep for 1.5 hours, repeat until bedtime. She still requires on a tight swaddling and a binkie, and then she puts herself right to sleep.

She's putting up less of a fight with tummy time, and is strong enough to hold herself up for about 10 minutes at a time. Joseph loves to roll her over when she is "done". She just took her first bottle (hated it), as well as a second and third (loved it. Note to self: this little girl requires heated water)

Joseph likes to pinch her hairline. Helen doesn't like this, but usually waits to cry until he's been at it for several (unsupervised) minutes. She is growing lots of long pieces of blonde hair on top. 

 I painted her toenails for the first time this month. It is much easier when she is asleep! For now she and I have a matching color.

Lately the kids and I congregate on our living-room chairs, usually following one of Helen's feedings. First one son, then the other will climb over the arm of the chair and slide into a teeny slot alongside me. We will read, play with Helen, or just talk about what to do next. I love how the next few pictures capture one of those cuddly, close moments in time. 

And this picture, because most of our days are passed half-dressed, or sporting a worn-this-BYU-shirt-4-times-without-washing-it ensemble. 

When left unattended, Joseph is usually tempted to force Helen to "wave" and Ian has to keep reminding Joseph that "if you stand on Helen it will break her organs." They both love her a ton -- Ian cherishes her as something to dote on and and protect, and Joseph enjoys her as a favored plaything. We are all so glad she is here, and judging by her increasing number of laughs and smiles, we think she likes us too.

3 Months Old!

It's not that I didn't love our boys as babies... it's just that this time everything has been such a dream. 

When walking a bundled-up, soundly-sleeping little Helen back to her room one night I thought "she truly is a bundle of joy". 

She is such a sweet, happy infant, but I don't think that is the only factor. Her arrival and the entire process of settling her into our lives and our family has been a joyful experience. 

My two older boys are at such independent, fun stages too. They play constantly with each other, and other than breaking up fights (and trust me, I do a lot of it!) they entertain themselves. They are easy to take places right now (so long as there is nothing breakable and noise is welcome). They dote on Helen and don't react negatively to the time it takes to care for her. They love to help by bringing diapers and finding the swaddling blankets for me when it's naptime. The fact that Helen is so low maintenance so far certainly helps them enjoy her too because it requires so little effort to make her content and satisfied, so we just get to enjoy her the rest of the time she's awake.

 I cannot believe what a complete 180 this experience has been from bringing Joseph home. No offense to Joseph intended -- he was a beautiful newborn, and it was not his fault that I had a horrible recovery and that his acid reflux made him scream all the time, or that Ian was a holy terror and resented being a big brother. I am just so thankful that every one of those factors was different this time around. 

I think it also helps that this time around Scott and I have learned from our mistakes and we -- let's face it, I  -- am not as high strung as when Ian and Joseph were tiny. 

I guess the point of this post is just to record that raising Helen has been a joyful experience. That adding her to our family has been a joyful process. And this whole experience has made me believe that we could actually have more children. I love being Ian, Joseph and Helen's mom!

Galveston

Although the traditional Larson Family Beach Weekend wasn't feasible with a newborn this year, I couldn't let a summer pass without at least a quick trip down to the sea. And as we discovered last year, the end of September is ideal for beach-goers! 

Ian "read" books the entire drive down there. Joseph whined "When are we doing to be there? It takes a loooong time to go to Galveston!" the entire drive down there. Helen slept. 

My boys get some strange enjoyment out of wearing life jackets -- like it's an item of dress-up clothing. 

Joseph declared he was a "sand farmer" and raked a large portion of the beach.

Helen pretended the wind made it impossible to breath, and then, exhausted, slept for the rest of our time at the beach. She stayed swaddled up in the bouncy chair and remained totally un-sandy!

Check out those thighs! I am so proud.

Ian and Joseph switched attitudes from last year, and I wish I had a picture that captured it. Just imagine Scott in the background, standing in the water with Joseph clinging to Scott's neck and screaming to head back to shore, while Ian is in the forefront falling backwards into the waves over and over again, while squealing with glee. It was hilarious.

Isn't this adorable?

Building a huge castle ... 

...and digging the World's Biggest Hole. 

Ian was delighted to climb inside it and "lose" his legs. 

Joseph was delighted to strike a vulnerable target.

Awww... pulling legless-Joseph out.

Such a cute Beach Baby.

We are all smiling (or at least looking pleasant) for a family picture! That alone made the day a success.

We decided at 10 am that day to go to the beach, and just drove along the island until we saw an access point we liked. So especially for a spur-of-the-moment trip, I thought it was a huge success! 

First Day of School!

Ian began preschool at Ms. Karen's back in August, and Joseph and I started a co-op preschool just after Labor Day. So far both boys love it, which has been no big surprise to me!

Here's Ian on his first day. He goes twice a week for 3 hours. I am amazed at all he has learned in just a month -- his letter-writing especially has improved dramatically, as well as sight-words and sounding simple words out.

Here is his class:

Ian always lays out his outfits the night before school. If we forget, he sneaks out of bed and does it in the dark!

A side note: the boys are very opinionated about their school clothing, much to my dismay. This not only includes the attire, but how it is worn -- backwards, tucked in, buttoned up or down, with belts, etc. It takes great effort on my part to not let it turn into a power struggle. But it is great that they dress themselves.

Here is Joseph on his second day of school, the first time he went to preschool at his friend Andrew's house. Four moms take turns hosting the once-weekly preschool. His also meets for 3 hours and overlaps with Ian's almost entirely (Hallelujah for Walmart trips with only a newborn in tow!)

Smile for the camera...

... now just be yourself!

I was a little concerned that Joseph would have a hard time being let on his first day. I realized he has never really been left anywhere without his big brother! But it was immediately obvious that he enjoys having something all his own, without a big brother to boss him around. 

And here is Joseph's little class at our house on the first day. I love having a class of boys! There are also all in nursery together and already have great relationships with each other.

Here's to a great year!