The Mouse Family Blog

At seven months, Grace is really blossoming into her own. She has lots of personality these days. Lots of people have been telling us that she "misses nothing" or is "really alert". She seems to either be a very quiet baby, or a very loud one. When she's talking she likes to say something that sounds exactly like "hey!" She hears her mom and her sister saying that word a lot. She also loves to "razz" or blow raspberries and make lip smacking noises (Grandma Ann taught her to blow kisses - one of Lauren's favorite things to do when saying good night).

Grace is taking 3 naps and sleeping through the night almost 12 hours. She has started solid foods, but lately seems to not care much for the jar variety baby food. We're not quite sure yet what to do about it. Maybe we'll get a food mill and see if home made stuff suits her tastes. She has no teeth yet. She is wearing 12 month size clothing.

She can roll over from back to front and front to back. She sits up by herself and only topples over if she's really reaching far for a toy. She loves to play with all kinds of toys and they all make it to her mouth immediately. She's got quite a strong grasp and is also strong on her legs. She hasn't made any major advancements toward crawling yet aside from sticking her butt up in the air and pushing up on her hands.

When she smiles, she is the most beautiful baby in the world (apologies to other babies we know).

Labels: Monthly Photos

Wow - time flies by! Beautiful Grace is six months old! In the past month she has started solid food...so far, she is pretty happy with the rice and oatmeal baby cereal, but the debut of carrots got mixed reviews. You should watch the video of her first meal. She is sleeping great - three naps, 12 hours at night (7pm - 7am) with one wake up around 3 or 4 to eat.

We had an interesting visit to her pediatrician this month. Her weight gain was not what our doctor expected to see...so much less so, that the doctor took her to another room to weigh her on another scale. Turns out she only put on 6 ounces since her 4 month visit. Her current weight still puts her in the 75-90%tile so we're not very worried. She still has fat rolls on her legs that go on for days. We are assuming that the introduction of solids will give her to opportunity to eat as much food as she wants. Since she is so happy and sleeps well, we're not worried that she isn't getting enough. We have introduced some formula now and then for ease of babysitting and we give her about 4 ounces at night as a cluster feeding to help her get tanked up for a long night of sound sleeping. She does not have any teeth, but likes to chew fingers (especially moms) and anything else she can get in her mouth.

6 Month Stats:
Weight = 17.6 oz (75-90%)
Height = 27.75 in (95%)

The dress and pants in the photo are Grace's 'classy Minnie Mouse' outfit by Mommy Said Sew (aka Liz). Lauren has a coordinating outfit! Go to www.mommysaidsew.com to see more pics of the girls and their outfits.

Labels: Monthly Photos

Here's our beautiful baby at five months. Grace is a lovely, happy baby! No trip to the doctor this month, so we will have no new stats, but stay tuned to next month when she has her 6 month visit.

Grace is doing great being on a schedule now. She eats 4-5 times during the day and sleeps from 7pm to almost 7am with 2 wakings to eat. She takes 3 naps, and the second one overlaps with Lauren's nap, so it's mommy bliss for 1-2 hours every afternoon.

Grace can roll over from her back to her tummy. She continues to be very strong with her head control...doing what we call baby crunches when we lay her down on her back, she lifes her head and shoulders up to see what's going on. She loves to keep an eye on what Lauren's doing. She is making friends with our dog Indy. She even talks a bit more in baby babble. She hasn't quite mastered sitting yet, but is working on it. She told us that for Christmas she wants world peace. Good girl Grace, good girl.

And a few more pictures with Grace...

Labels: Monthly Photos

Grace is 4 months old and here she is dressed out for the Christmas season. We got a late appointment at the Dr. this month (flu season has them super busy) 1 week past her actual 4 month b-day.

Here are the stats:
Weight is 17 lbs.
Heights is 26 in.
Both are in the 95th percentile

Grace is finally settling into a routine thanks to the work on our house wrapping up. (The above picture was not even taken at home!) She is going to start sleeping in her crib all night...actual 'sleeping' may vary. We'll start with the sleep training as soon as the work is completely done. We'll also be transitioning to a schedule with only three nap periods during the day... the middle nap is even supposed to line up with when Lauren will also be asleep - oh blessed hour of mom time!

Grace is developing according to average...she coos and is actually quite talkative and can even shriek in excitement. Lauren did not shriek. She thinks her sister is the bees knees and even enjoys the exersaucer for a little while, but mostly she still likes to be held.

We think she is beautiful. What a blessing it is to have 2 healthy kids. While we were waiting for the Dr, I popped Lauren on the scale, she's about 35 lbs. She also still likes to be held, but mercifully she also likes to ride in the double stroller, so we are spared the agony of schlepping around a heavy toddler when she gets tired on excursions.

Labels: Monthly Photos

Here's Grace at three months. She is big on smiles and sleeping with mommy. She has yet to sleep "through the night" or sleep in her crib for that matter (all the blame lies on the house renovation for that one). She will be installed in her room and sleep trained the minute we are done with phase I. She likes reaching for toys and often can get a hold of them. She likes chewing on burp cloths. She does not like it when her hood falls over her eyes. She turns her head to see where voices are coming from, especially Laurens. She tries to sit up when she's laying down and can raise her head completely up. She took her first bottle!

No check up with the doctor, so we have to guess on her weight, but I think she is less than Lauren at three months.

Labels: Monthly Photos

Grace is such a joy! She is smiling at us now, and cooing and making some baby babble sounds. She loves to watch her big sister. She can see across the room and follows mom with her eyes. She loves to be held, but unlike Lauren never did take to being swaddled, so she sleeps with arms stretched out above her head. And when it comes to sleeping...

Grace hasn't had the same experience that Lauren did at her age, where, as new parents, we were reading tons of baby books and trying very hard to get everything right when it comes to how often you feed the baby and keep the baby awake and get the baby down to sleep. Grace is our 'roll with the punches' baby. She has been eating and sleeping on the go since her first week. She made the transition from sleeping in just a diaper in sunny Florida to sleeping in a footy pj's and down comforters in chilly Chicago. She (and Lauren too) sleep through every kind of construction noise you can imagine. And Grace is enjoying being babied...she hasn't yet made the move into her own room for sleeping...she thinks mom and dad's room is pretty cozy, and mom likes not having to travel down the hallway to feed her.

As far as eating, Grace is a nursing champ. As far as taking a bottle...which box has the bottles packed in it? And which box has the breast pump packed in it? We'll be getting to that soon.

We went to Grace's two month check up and here are her stats:
Weight: 14lb 4 oz
Length: 24.5in

Both are in the 95th+ percentile. In other words, get Grace in a room with 100 babies her age, and she'd be bigger than all of them. We see it happen in the church nursery every Sunday (just kidding, they haven't quite made it to 100 kids in the nursery...yet).

Labels: Monthly Photos

Please excuse the informal, taken with a flash, photo. I'd have like to have gotten a nice portrait of Grace for her one month posting, but it was not meant to be. We'll try to do better next month.

Grace has her 4 week checkup before we left for Florida. Here are her stats...
Weight: 11 lbs 11.5 oz
Height: 22 in
Both put her in the 95% for girls her age.

To compare to Lauren, scroll back in time through all our Monthly Photos by clicking the "Monthly Photos" link at the bottom of this posting.

Labels: Monthly Photos

Today Grace had her 2 weeks checkup at the Dr's office. She astounded the doctor with her weight gain. I'll admit that I was surprised too, but I guess I shouldn't have been. Lauren was quite the eater when she was a newborn. So let's compare...I suppose we'll be comparing Lauren and Grace to each other their whole lives...

Lauren through 2 weeks:
2 weeks: 9 lbs 13 oz and 21.25 in.
6 days: 8 lbs 8 oz
3 days: 7 lb 13 oz
birth: 8 lb 12 oz and 21 in.

Grace through 2 weeks:
2 weeks: 9 lbs 12 oz and 21.75 in.
5 days: 8 lbs 5 oz
3 days: 8 lb 0 oz
birth: 8 lb 10 oz and 21.5 in.

Labels: Monthly Photos

Since our condo is on the market, we have lots of Lauren's stuff in storage and therefore this update doesn't have Lauren pictured with her heifer. Since I'm 29 weeks along, I'm feeling like a cow, so mommy will have to do as a stand-in for the heifer :) This picture is from Easter.

Lauren turned 2 on May 2nd (her golden birthday!) We had her doctor visit a few days later. Here are the stats (75-95%):
Height: 3 feet
Weight: 30 lbs

At two years, Lauren is completely a little person and no where near a baby anymore (except when she pretends to be a baby). She enjoys pretending. Lately her favorite pretend games involve animals. We checked out a few penguin books from the library and she enjoys being the baby penguin while mommy or daddy penguin walk around with her standing on the tops of our feet. She likes being a bear or a lion or anything that roars. She also learned to pretend to serve ice cream from a friend we see at the park. She'll ask if you want vanilla, chocolate or strawberry. She also will pretend to be at the beach playing with pretend buckets, shovels, sand and sea shells. It really makes mommy miss Florida.

Lauren is above all else vocal. She talks in complete sentences so it makes it fun to have conversations with her. The downside is that she can also tell you exactly what she wants and doesn't want... to eat, to wear, to go, to do. We find ourselves trying to reason with her despite the fact that toddlers having a tantrum or engaging in a battle of the wills are not the least bit reasonable. I wish I had a hand held tape recorder to capture all the crazy things she says. Sometimes she even says I love you, please and thank you without being prompted.

Her favorite things are candy and TV (oh wait, I'm not supposed to admit that). Her favorite things are the library and tofu. We try to limit the candy and TV. She likes most foods, especially fruits and cheese. She'll eat veggies and meats and still puts away corn on the cob like it's going out of style. She is not allergic to peanuts, so peanut butter has recently entered the mix.

She loves the new kiddy pool we bought for the deck regardless of the temperature of the water. She likes piggy back rides and would prefer to push her stroller than to ride in it. She can identify several stores by name as we pull into the parking lot...among them Costco and Home Depot. Any orange truck driving by is identified as a Home Depot Truck. She continues to love Thomas the Train above all other toys.

She sleeps well but gets no ribbons for being the longest sleeper. She has all of her teeth except the last 4 "2 year" molars. She goes to the bathroom on the potty sometimes, but we're not really training yet since we assume having a new baby sister will throw any training we might accomplish down the toilet (so to say). She has graduated into the 2 year old class at church and on occasion she declares that some of her little playmates are her "friends." Although she is hard pressed to share her toys with them. We made it a whole year without visiting Children's Memorial hospital.

We look forward to this next year with eagerness and prayer... and with the candy hidden.

Labels: Monthly Photos

Here is Lauren with her heifer at 18 months. We go for our checkup on the 12th, so you'll have to stay tuned for height and weight stats. She has remained a great eater, so we expect to be in the upper percentiles as usual!

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Stats Update (11/12/08):
Height - 34" (95%)
Weight - 27 1/4lbs (75-90%)
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Lauren is so much fun these days...have we said that before?! She talks up a storm, even in mostly complete sentences from time to time. She loves giving orders such as "Mommy go away" when she wants you to get out of the chair that she would like to sit in. She tells you what she wants to eat "More pancake please" and then bangs on her tray with an open hand and says "here" to indicate exactly where the pancake should be delivered.

She remains a pretty good sleeper, taking about 10-11 hrs at night an one 2 hour afternoon nap. She has progressed from walking to running and now is into climbing up...onto the couch and kitchen chairs. She is interested lately in the tall bar stools at the island, oh dear. She went through a brief phase of minor separation anxiety and some general fear of men (she hated our last checkup with a male doctor) but is over all of that now. She has developed some memory for her playmates from my moms group and our friends kids...she remembers their names and asks for them when they are not around, or asks to go see them. She also has been allowed to watch some tv shows and asks for her favorite, Kipper the dog, as well as Thomas the Train and Mickey Mouse (obviously). Her favorite toy right now is a tickle me Cookie Monster. We adults find his very deep voice slightly creepy.

She spends most of her time trying to get away from mommy who insists that she try on new handmade clothes and then pose for pictures. As you can see in the picture here, she has plenty of hair that is usually a bit messy, but sometimes gets wrangled into ponytails and then adorned with barrettes which she is playing with in the photo. All in all, she is such a joy and gets plenty of hugs and kisses (even some from Indy).

Labels: Monthly Photos

Well, we missed the usual 15 month appointment at the doctor due to our busy travel schedule in August, so we went today. Lauren turned 16 months on Sept 2. She measured in the 90th percentile for height and weight.

Her stats are:
26 pounds
32 inches

As for a general update on Lauren, we continue to be amazed at how verbal she is. This past weekend in Oklahoma, so entertained family with her ability to make animal sounds. If you say "What does a sheep say?" she responds with "Baaa!" She makes the sounds for cat, dog, horse, pig, monkey, cow, sheep, duck and elephant (usually with a raised arm like a trunk), she sometimes even gives you a goat or chicken sound. When you ask her "What does momma say?" she responds with a loud "no no" - she knows how to get a laugh. She knows the names of most of her foods and friends (stuffed and human). She puts words together, for example she says "hi momma" "hi daddy" "go outside" "all done" "momma hold you" "daddy's shoe on "no Indy"(haha, she hears that too much). If my phone rings she says "mamma's phone." It's hard to capture here, but she really knows what we're saying and communicates back to us - it's awesome. The other day she found her sand shovel in the toy box and carried it to the front door and looked at me and said "car go beach umm hmm" "umm hmm" is her way of saying yes. I was amazed. Sadly, it was not nice enough weather to hop in the car and go to the beach.

In motor development, she is pretty normal for a kid her age. She climbs up and down our stairs (with mommy or daddy there to spot her). She is pretty much running and she can walk backwards. She also is able to climb down off the couch but not up onto it yet. She is working on her shape sorter, usually getting all the shapes in with a few encouragements to turn it or try it in a different hole. She can stack up several blocks and is working on drinking from an open cup without totally dousing the front of her shirt. She needs more practice with a spoon and fork, but that's really more mommy's fault for not offering enough chances - Lauren is still an excellent eater with her hands and puts away a good amount and variety of foods. Fruits are her favorites.

In social skills, she is doing pretty good. She finally showed signs of separation anxiety, but they are really mild. She quickly gets comfortable around most people, even ones she meets for the first time. She even let the flight attendant hold her and take her for a walk several seats up the aisle on our most recent flight. She takes longer to warm up to men. She usually doesn't mind getting dropped off with a babysitter or at the church nursery and if she does act clingy, all it takes is to get her interested in some toys and then get out of eye sight.

She has 4 front teeth on top and 4 on bottom as well as 4 molars (one in each quadrant). The first week of cutting the molars was tough but she seemed to adjust and the rest came through without interrupting sleep. She sleeps from 8pm to about 6:30am and still takes 2 naps for a total of 3 hrs sleep in the daytime. Mommy is not in any hurry to drop that morning nap, that's mommy's coffee time :) Oh, and in case you haven't noticed in the pictures, she has the most beautiful curls in the back of her hair, which is finally long enough for ponytails!

As I'm sure it is for most parents of a 16 month old, these months since she turned one have been amazing. Her ability to walk and communicate with us has made our ways of relating more complex and rewarding. I know that introducing discipline is coming up soon and after that potty training, so we'll just try to enjoy life now while everything seems perfect.

Labels: Monthly Photos

Wow! Lauren is an entire year old! We don't have stats from the doctor yet, but we have a strong suspicion that our little peanut is not wanting in the healthy weight-gain department.
Stats added as of 5/7/07: weight 22.4 lbs. Height 30 1/4 in. Both 75th%.

These days are a ton of fun. Every day brings a new set of discoveries, and usually a new word or two as well. Lauren's interest in reading has subsided a bit in favor of exploring new things and learning the complex aspects of of her toys. She's also learning to play more independently, which is a blessing.

In the past week, Lauren has really taken to walking. She still prefer to crawl most of the time, but is equally content to walk when the situation calls for it -- like when her hands are too full of toys to crawl.

Here is a special Cinco de Mayo version of our monthly photos. Party plans are in full swing here at the Mouse House. Lauren is going to have a "but-tye" (butterfly) cake. Kids are going to have a nacho station and adults are going to have fajitas.

Labels: Monthly Photos

Look at those teeth! Lauren has been an eruption of teething these last few weeks. She broke ground with her bottom two front teeth at the tender age of 5 months. And then we didn't have anymore until just a few weeks ago, the top right one came in. It's next door neighbor (also on the right) came along a week later. On the plane ride home from Florida I discovered another one on the bottom, and today we have the just barely through the gum appearance of two more on top (left front and it's lefty neighbor). That brings her teeth count to 7!!

Other development news is her increase in mobility and verbal skills. She has fully emerged into a the baby babble stage...where it seems like she talks in her own language. She says several words with meaning: mama, dada, woof, duck and ducky, hat, papa, book and plop. She understands several commands like "hug" "give me - " "where's -" and you insert the name of an object she knows like blue puppy, Tigger, block, giraffe, etc. She knows what we mean when we say "no touch" but she usually doesn't comply ;) She will try to parrot back words, especially ones she hasn't heard before.

She is such a good eater. She eats anything we put in front of her and is getting better at her dexterity. She likes to "walk" holding onto the sofa, chairs and fingers. We wish she was a better sleeper. It seems like she only wants to sleep 9 hours at night, which is cramping my (Liz's) style. My style being the one where I want to sleep until 7am. I didn't even get up before 7am when I had a paid job. Oh well, it's not much of a burden since Lauren is so much fun to play with these days. The next update will be the big one-year-old! It's shocking how fast the first year has gone. But Lauren is certainly a huge blessing and we are so thankful she is happy and healthy.

Labels: Monthly Photos

Here's Lauren at 10 months.

This month has been a busy one. She's crawling and cruising everywhere these days, getting into lots of trouble in the process. Fortunately, bumps and bruises have been minor.

Her latest fascination is books. She loves to pull all her books off the shelf. She has gotten very good at turning the pages, which seems to be more fun than hearing the actual story. We usually make it through about 10 pages before she looses interest, which is enough to finish most of her books.

At meal time, she is really packing-away the food. Bread is still a favorite, but pasta is a very close second. So far, she's yet to refuse anything we've fed her, including a wide assortment of vegetables and even some tofu.

Lauren has (once again and for good this time) given up the pacifier. Mom and Dad helped. She first gave it up around 4 months, when she was still sleeping on her back and had learned to spit the pacifier out but had not learned how to find it again. Later, it kind of crept back into the mix. But with her new-found ability to stand in her crib and throw it out, her pacifier got to be a major problem. Lauren took it all in stride, though. We quit cold turkey and it basically only took one day and she was none the worse for wear.

Lauren has finally started to cut some upper teeth. Her bottom teeth came so early -- in her fifth month -- we were starting to get a little worried when her uppers didn't follow soon after. That's all changed now -- much to Lauren's dismay -- since the pain has been interfering with her sleeping and play time.

As you might imagine, getting an active baby to sit for a photo can be a challenge. So here's a fun reel of outtakes from the latest shoot.

A word of warning about the outtakes...the file is very large. It will take a while to download (about 30 seconds) and you'll probably need to click on it again when it loads in a new screen to see them in full size.

Labels: Monthly Photos

Here is another photo of Lauren.

She had her doctor's visit today. She got two shots, but handled them well.
We updated her latest monthly photo with some stats about her development.

Labels: Monthly Photos

Labels: Monthly Photos

Lauren turned 8 months old today. Here she is with her heifer...getting bigger, getting more hair. She has her first cold (nose is runny - even in this picture), but she is eating and sleeping just fine. Her latest developmental feat is trying to crawl. She goes from sitting, to hands and knees to belly flopping on her tummy (followed very closely by crying). She really only moves backwards, especially on hardwood floors. On the carpet, she can accomplish 360 degree turns on her stomach. She likes to stand up holding onto things...mommy, the couch, the ottoman.

Labels: Monthly Photos

It's hard to believe that Lauren is seven months already. Here she is, all decked out in front of her Christmas tree with her heifer.

Lauren has become a pro a sitting up and playing with her toys. Now she's moving-on to rolling over to find toys that are out of reach, and she's working her way up onto all fours.

Labels: Monthly Photos

Lauren sure has been impressing us this past month. She has teeth, can sit up by herself and is pretty much a barrel of fun. We had her 6-month appointment at the pediatrician's office today.

Official 6 month stats:
Weight = 18lb 10 oz (90%)
Height = 27 1/2" (95%)

Her weight is slowing down but she keeps getting taller! Looks like she might have more of a future at basketball than women's shotput.

Labels: Monthly Photos

Here is our Lauren. Five Months old. She is amazing every day. Lately we've been enjoying all the new sounds she is making. She is also very inquisitive about everything around her. She loves to see Indy and looks for him every morning after we get her out of her crib. She will follow us around the room with her eyes. She reaches out for everything, especially her toys and mom's coffee mugs. She has found her feet, but can't get them in her mouth yet. Estimated weight on the home scale is 18.5 pounds. She sleeps 12 hours at night with one (and sometimes 2) wakings to eat. She is still a 30 minute cat napper, but her disposition during the day is cheery, so we've stopped worrying about that.

Daddy got her this onesie with cute trick-or-treat ghosties and "Baby's 1st Boo" on the sleeve. We think the orange sets off her beautiful black heifer for this lovely fall picture. She was talking to her heifer during the photo shoot so I took some video too. The last two days her voice has sounded a bit hoarse.



Liz has a growth chart that shows the weights of her and her brothers, Andy and Mike. Lauren is currently 22 weeks old and weighs 18.5lbs. At 22 weeks Liz weighed 16lbs; Andy weighed 17.5lbs and Mike weighed 15.5lbs.

Click the Monthly Photos link below to compare all five monthly pictures of Lauren.

Labels: Monthly Photos, Movies

Lauren turned 4 months old on Sept.2 We were in Oklahoma and didn't get to take her picture with her heifer until today. She did however get to meet some real beef. There were about 2 dozen bulls at the Mouse Ranch...and some dogs and cats and a pony! Pony pictures coming up soon.

Lauren went to the doctor yesterday so her 4 months stats are as follows... weight: 17 lbs 9 oz, height: 26 in. Both measurements are above 95%. Lauren continues to be her own kind of Mouse beef. Liz needs a massage.

Labels: Monthly Photos

Yesterday (Aug 2) Lauren turned three months. Here she is, pictured with her heifer. There is no doctor appointment this month, so we weighed her on our home scale. We estimate that she weighs about 16 pounds!

Labels: Monthly Photos

Time flies. Lauren is now two months old. To commemorate the occasion, Lauren had a visit to the doctor to get FOUR immunizations! At any rate, here she is with her heifer.

The doctor also took her measurements. She's now dropped to the 95th percentile -- 14lbs 10oz, and 24.5 inches.

Labels: Monthly Photos

Time flies -- Lauren celebrated a milestone of one month today!

Our little girl is shown here, paying homage to her cowgirl roots. She is pictured here with her Black Angus heifer that we got for Christmas from Greg, Christie, Taylor, and Garrett. We plan to take a new picture with it each month, so we can watch as she grows (thanks Andy and Mara Gieseke for the idea).

Feel free to leave comments for Lauren along the way. Each posting has a "Comments" link at the bottom of it. Just click the link and type away. You don't need an account -- when asked for an Identity, just choose "Anonymous."

One month stats: 12 lbs 14.5 oz and 23.5 in.
Previous stats...
2 weeks: 9 lbs 13 oz and 21.25 in.
6 days: 8lbs 8 oz
3 days: 7 lb 13 oz
birth: 8 lb 12 oz and 21 in.

Labels: Monthly Photos