7 Months!

Once again I am a little late in posting Daphne's 7 month update!! Oops! I can't believe she is 7 months - this year is going by MUCH too quickly!! We are trying to give/get lots of snuggles and squeezes, knowing that it won't be long before she doesn't want them anymore!! I even find it difficult to be frustrated when she is awake in the night (which is happening again - due to the fact that my milk is drying up), I am just trying to enjoy any extra time I get with her!!

Highlights for this month:

She is sitting up! She can get herself from the crawling positions to sitting and back again.

She still isn't actually "crawling," but can still get wherever she wants too. She is fast too!

She usually heads straight for the TV stand with the video game and dvd player!

Daphne shakes her head no - she doesn't seem to know what it means. She just shakes it over and over and over.

She babbles constantly! If Norah or Lucy is trying to tell us something, if I'm on the phone, or if Kevin and I are talking, Daphne tries to be louder than whoever is talking. Funny! Poor Kevin - this is not going to be a quiet household!!

Daphne LOVES to be outside - we often take her outside if she is

getting fussy and that does the trick every time!!

She screams in the nursery at church. Nice, I know. We are usually there during her naptime, but she won't sleep there. Sundays tend to be LONG days since she doesn't get a very good nap!!

She knows her name for sure. If I am talking to someone else, Daphne will keep busy scooting and playing, but as soon as you say, "Daphne," she stops and looks.

She is drinking mostly bottles, but doesn't get overly excited about them. She does like her food, though!!

This last month has been crazy for us. Thankfully, Daphne is a pretty happy, go-lucky baby. She is learning to just go with the flow - although she probably doesn't have much of a choice as the third!!

This is a new favorite position! Daphne gets on her hands and knees and then puts her forehead to the ground. We are still trying to figure out what she is trying to do!

School!

We started school this week!! We have been very anxious to start since all of Norah's friends are back in school already. The girls were getting excited to see/use some of the new homeschool stuff! We started out day by going to breakfast with Kevin.

Then the girls and I headed home, put Daphne down for a nap and started our schoolwork. Norah cracked me up because she kept telling me "This is too easy, Mom." I guess she expected everything to be difficult. We accomplished everything on my list and then some!!

We were finished with school by 10:30 and at the park by 11! How's that for a first day of school?

Triathlon

Well, I did it! I finished my first triathlon! I'm not sure that I will do it again, but it was a great experience! I did think I might die during the swim - it didn't help that is was only 60 degrees in August in Missouri. At one point as I see the buoy off in the distance, I contemplated flagging down one of the canoes. I convinced myself that I probably wasn't going to drown and I should be tired - I mean, hello, I'm in a race!! I did flip over to my back a couple of time - mostly to make sure I wasn't the very last swimmer (our heat was the last to enter the water - I was convinced I would be the VERY last swimmer out of the water and everyone would be staring at me. I even thought someone might announce over the loud speaker that I was the very last swimmer. Ha!). Thankfully, there were a number of people behind me.

I booked it to the transition area and somewhat slowly put my sock, shoes, helmet and gloves on. You couldn't get on your bike until you were on the street - most people probably ran, but not me. I walked that part. The ride went better than I expected. I don't pace myself well, so I kind of needed someone to set the pace for me. I was able to find a couple of people (one being a friend's sister). My goal in the bike was to stay on my bike. I saw a number of people walking their bikes up the big hills and I did not want to do that. I succeeded and feel like I did pretty well.

When I got back to the transition area, I couldn't find my spot - totally new I would do this! Next time I need a balloon to mark my spot. Oh, wait, I just said that I don't know if I will do it again. I must be forgetting the pain. Don't worry, as soon as I move - I will remember. Ha! My transition time before the run was actually not too bad.

The run was KILLER and running is my strength. My legs totally felt like jello and I seriously didn't think I could go any faster. The run was also very hilly - not fun. I was able to kick it into gear for the last hill and book it to the finish line.

My total time, including transitions, was 1 hour 34 minutes. My goal was to finish somewhere between 1 1/2 hour to 1 hour and 40 minutes. Totally pleased with my time. I thought my run might be a little faster and I am disappointed that my swim was kind of slow, but seriously, I just had a baby a few months ago and turned 30. I think finishing a triathlon is a big deal!!

As I said, not sure if I will do it again. Maybe once I forgot the pain, I will consider it. Actually, I would sort of like to try one where the swim is in a pool instead of a lake. Wait. . . I'm not really contemplating doing another one, am I?

A Castle Near Our House

As we were driving across the Missouri River the other day, Norah says, "Look Lucy! A Castle! Oh, I love castles. I wish I could live in that castle!"

I turn my head to see what she is talking about because I didn't think there were any castles in our city. I realize she was talking about the casino. Wow, she has HIGH hopes for herself - living in a casino. Ha!

A First

We had a major first at our house tonight - all 3 girls cried/screamed at the exact same time. It was sort of like a domino effect, Lucy started crying which startled Norah (I know, you would think at 5 she wouldn't be startled by her 3 year old sister) and Norah's crying startled Daphne who also started screaming. LOVELY.

My Buddy

I have to give some background before I give you Lucy's quote of the weekend. We went to visit my parents this weekend for Contessa's birthday party. Since the whole family was there, Kevin, the girls and I stayed at my grandma's - which is down the street from my parents. The girls and I went up on Wednesday and Kevin came on Friday night.

When we sleep at my grandma's we spread out and take advantage of all the beds. Usually Kevin sleeps with one of the girls in one bedroom and I sleep with the other in the apartment that is attached to the house - but all the way on the opposite side of the other bedroom. Daphne sleeps in the living room of the apartment in the pack 'n play.

I was putting Lucy to bed on Friday night - before Kevin got to town - I told Lucy that I was going to sleep with her when it was my bedtime. She replies, "NO!! I want my buddy to sleep with me!"

I said, "Your buddy?"

She says, "Daddy is my buddy!"

I came back awhile later to check on her after I put Norah down for bed. Lucy said (while pointing her finger at me), "Don't forget to tell daddy that he is sleeping with me!"