June So Far: So good!

The record pace at which life seems to be moving around here these days has not afforded me the liberty to slack off with the blog.  And yet three weeks packed with milestone events have gone by relatively undocumented.

Hence the Cliff's Notes version of June 2012, thus far (including the tail end of May, too):

Major Milestone No. 1: Pre-School Graduation

Kindergarten, here I come!!

Major Milestone No. 2: Remy -- The Three Month Anniversary

Remy gets propped up for another monthly photo shoot

1 month old

2 months old

3 months old

Major Milestone No. 3: Remy Exersauces

Remy's response to being seated in the Exersaucer is something other than confusion, terror and/or indifference...

...at least for a few minutes.

Major Milestone No. 4: Our kitchen got a table

After living in our house for four years, Mom and Dad finally committed to a kitchen table.  Rowan found it to be an excellent platform for her comedic readings of such classics as "Baby Signs," the cloth edition. 

Clearly the humor is lost on Remy.

Major Milestone No. 5: Wormy wins over another heart

After serving as my constant companion in Year One, Wormy reported back for another round of active duty.  Sadly, the bib prevents you from appreciating the fact that we're incidentally wearing the same outfit in these pictures.  You'll have to take my word for it.

Me (2007)

Remy (last week)

Major Milestone No. 6: Remy Realized she is a Third Child

Although everyone told us that third kids "go with the flow," for her first two months on the job as Associate Third Baby, Remy denied any knowledge of "a flow" or the skill set to "go with it."  But age has mellowed my little friend, who now refrains from screaming while we torture her with our big sister ways.  Like constantly begging to (awkwardly) hold her in our laps.  She sometimes even pretends to enjoy it.

Major Milestone No. 7: iBaby

Remy discovered modern technology.

Father's Day in full Force

Next weekend, I am attending a "Star Wars" themed birthday party, featuring people from the movie and Jedi robes for every kid!  This all registered as truly exciting, despite the fact that I'd never heard of "Star Wars."

Without the detailed knowledge to explain exactly what a Jedi was, my mom suggested a couple weeks ago that perhaps I ask my dad if I was old enough to watch the movie.  A question to which he paused, then responded, "This is one of my proudest moments as a father."

Happy Father's Day to you, Daddy!  I'll count that night that you, me and Rowan watched "Star Wars Episode IV" as the first part of your gift this year. 

The other part? 

The next day when Rowan and I fought over which episode we would watch next.

 

Sucker

I'm told that a pacifist is someone who believes in peace, which I suppose makes my mom a pacifierist -- someone who believes in peace and quiet.

This is why, when we were very small, if we weren't eating, we were loving on our pacifiers.

And there was peace.

me - 1 mos

Rowan - 2 mos

So, earlier this year, while some parents were taping "NO PACIFIER!" notes to the isolettes in the hospital nursery, before my mom was even wheeled to her room she encouraged the nursery staff to hook Remy up with the Nuk. 

But despite weeks upon weeks of effort and a bowl overflowing with every kind of newborn pacifier on the market, Remy passed on the binks in favor of thumbsucking.  Which wouldn't be an issue but for the fact that apparently thumbsucking is an acquired skill that requires months upon months of failed attempts to successfully insert the thumb.

How many months, you ask?  I'll have to get back to you on that.

Remy - 3 mos. and 3,000 failed attempts to suck the thumb.  Make that 3,001.

Although all these failed attempts never seemed to make Remy's spirits any damper, they also didn't really further the goal of bringing peace to a baby who seemed to find an awful lot of things to cry about.

Despite continually trying to push the plastic, at Remy's check-up last month the pediatrician told my mom that she should probably abandon hope.

So it was, indeed, a very surprising turn of events last week when Remy suddenly reconsidered her stance on pacifiers and deemed them acceptable under all circumstances, including lounging on the couch with Mom, hanging in the infant carrier and -- most importantly -- sleeping in her crib.

In fact, the blessed paci was the key to getting Remy to sleep through the night!

Not content to be labeled a quitter, however, Remy wants it noted for the record that she is still attempting to master thumbsucking -- sometimes with the pacifier in her mouth.

I wouldn't hold your breath, folks.

Yard work

Shortly after Remy was born, my mom searched for creative ways to entertain us around the house, out of which was born a riveting contest of who could collect the most pine cones from the backyard.  The winner was crowned Lord of the Yard, or some such nonsense.

Of course the game was a HIT.  Not to mention potentially a huge moneysaver from a maintenance perspective.

Given that we were already contractually committed with the landscapers to paying for a spring clean-up, however, my mom insisted that, when we were done, we put those pine cones right back where we found them.