My Little Character

Roland finished up the school year at Boulder Creek Elementary in the speech program preschool. Teacher Julie puts on a cute program at the end of the school year, complete with songs, awards, and even a buffet. I got some video of Roland in the program and will lodge it here, even if no one wants to watch it except his Dad. You better watch it, Aaron. We do love our Ro Ro!

Not Such a Baby Anymore!

My baby is 4. I don't know whether to be elated or cry over this. A little of both I guess. And despite my New Year's resolution to post more about our family here, it's the last day of January and I've done nothing. And we've had a fun month. I might as well start with a tribute to my big boy.

Despite big plans, Roland had a hard, grumpy birthday which started with tears in the morning (mine) and many, many tears the rest of the day (his). I think he's been losing too much sleep in the last week. But he's been planning a "new lego ninjago birthday" for months now, so we went ahead despite the grumpiness. He loves lego ninjago, which is why I was surprised when he hated the new t-shirt I gave him first thing in the morning. We are working on giving gracious thanks whenever you receive a gift from someone. (understatement of the year)

He did okay playing alone in the morning, which he does well every day. Roley is always an independent player and has a harder time interacting well with his brothers. And I sure hope he had a good day at preschool, but I didn't receive any negative feedback, so...      The party was scheduled for after school and I want to thank my mother-in-law and sister-in-law for all their help in setting up and then helping at the party. They are awesome!

We had balloons and dancing, cupcakes and soda, bubbles and swings, games and favor bags. And Roland only had to be taken out three times in 1.5 hours for crying meltdowns. Let's just say it was a lot different than Alden's 4th birthday. Ro is definitely my baby. But I think the three guests from his preschool class had fun and Roley's first friend birthday party is history.

We made Ro's favorite orange chicken for dinner and he had visits from Auntie Candice's crew and Ma'am and Grampa before bedtime, which couldn't come soon enough. Apparently we are in the formidable fours now. The mood swings are amazing.

Here's some details about Roland's personality and life right now:

• I can still convince him to snuggle with me for a few minutes at a time. Especially if I rub his back or his skin somewhere. He likes it when I touch him really light and give him goosebumps. He holds so still. We call him Master of Snuggles, which comes from Lego Ninjago where each ninja is the master of an element.
• He loves preschool, where he now has the same teacher and school as last year. He started the year at a new school and despite how wonderful his new teacher was, I just didn't feel good about it and he is back with Teacher Julie now - he's a Boulder Creek Bulldog! I even got him a school t-shirt for Christmas. He rides the bus (which he enjoys too) and is gone from 11-3 Mon-Thur. Roley's speech is still hard to understand sometimes, but he is making great strides with the therapist at school, Miss Cindy.
• Roland loves to dance, do ninja fighting (pretty much the same as his dancing), and play Lego Hero Factory, Lego Ninjago, Kung Zhu ninja hamsters, and Star Wars light saber fighting. And he loves sticks. Are you sensing a theme here? His choice of toys & television is much older than it should be because of his older brothers - it's pretty hard to separate these things. He is also generally athletic and good with balls, but hasn't shown a distinct preference to a sport. I'm thinking about soccer for the fall as his first team sport but we'll see.
• Roley started as a sunbeam in primary this year - he is the oldest in his class and the tallest too. (he's above the 90th % for height) He is not terrible in primary, but he has a ways to go before we can stop asking his teachers how things went every Sunday.
• He still sleeps every night with his Minky Moo. We have been reading the Book of Mormon (kids comic book-type) as a family every morning early and he loves to bring his Minky downstairs for this. Otherwise we try to keep it up in his bed.
• When Roland gets hurt he cries huge tears that drop all over everything and he needs to hear this: "Oh, Roland! That's awful!" And then he says, "And terrible!" Or we say terrible first and then he says awful - it's hilarious. This is true for everything from imagined hurts from his brothers to serious injuries.
• He loves to take pictures and I often find tons of random shots of the floor, walls, and his toys on my camera. He loves the self-portrait of his feet or legs too.
• When Roland is concentrating on something, especially if he is having a hard time, he will yell at anyone in the room to "Be Twiet!" Even if you aren't talking to him. Even if you aren't talking at all. Mostly this is directed at Mommy, but others too. Today he even told me. "Don't even breathe, Mommy."
• He's a super jumpy kid. He loves trampolines, bouncy houses, jumping on beds or couches, and just seems to hop along through life.
• He has a big gap between his front teeth just like Emmett. I love it and worry it will be gone when his permanent teeth come in.
• He has the cutest buns in the whole world!

I NOT TREE, I TWO

For about a month before his birthday we asked Roland daily how old he was. Which he knew. But when we would talk about his birthday coming up and how he would turn three, he was always angry and said, "I not tree, I two!" But by the time the big day rolled around, we had finally convinced him.

The day before, Papa Carpenter had a big birthday party, which he graciously shared with Roley. We took Spiderman cupcakes with bright blue frosting and Nana gave Roley his own Spiderman! Can you tell he's obsessed? His preschool teachers tell us he also talks of Spiderman constantly at school. At least he can pronounce it fairly well now, for the last six months it's been my-a-man.

He woke up the morning of his birthday in his Spidey jammies, holding his new Spiderman. I made him a cute pin to wear to church over his fancy corduroy suit. He's like a little man.

We had the Blasnek family over for cake, ice cream & presents. Ma'am & Grampa got him a canopy for his new loft bed and we gave him some Toy Story Legos. Buzz & his Alien friend still get in a little playing time with Roley, especially since Spidey is too noisy to take to church.

The last year with Roland has been fabulous - he is a sweet and fun boy. He will give Mama loves and kisses anytime and runs bawling to me 10 times a day after "Emmett hurt me!" Yet he's the tough one who jumps his brothers constantly and loves to wrestle. He is more and more interested in book and reading stories and can sit still for a movie at the theater now. He is going to be a star soccer player next year, and wants to play golf too. We can't wait to see how he develops in the next year. We love our Ro Ro!

My Baby Started School!

After a fairly quick and pain-free round of testing as soon as he turned the required 2 years and nine months old, Roland was accepted for the special needs preschool. His class is pretty much like a regular preschool, but extra focused on speech, which is the ONLY thing wrong with my perfect baby. (You get the sarcasm there, right?) This all means that on January 3rd Roland started preschool! He attends four days a week, for two and a half hours, but with the bus (which comes to our front door), he is gone from 8am until noon, Monday through Thursday. I have spent time in his class, which has about a dozen kids ages 3-5, a teacher, a full-time aide, and a speech therapist who is there one day a week. Roley LOVES it and also enjoys riding the bus every day. We are noticing small changes in his speech already, and anticipate big improvements in the next couple years. Barring unusually fast progress, we anticipate he will continue in this program until he starts kindergarten in two and a half years. I am so thankful for this free service from our school district.



A little shy posing for pictures on the 1st day



He is a Boulder Creek Bulldog and this is Teacher Julie



First day riding the bus all by himself


In far more important news - between Roland & Emmett's overlapping schedules, I now have a blissful 2.5 hours to myself, two days a week. One of those days I use for volunteering in Alden's classroom, but that other day... I can totally take a morning nap if I want!

Those Things are Sharp!

I have been meaning to mention that Roland's top two teeth have come in. It was a couple weeks ago; I'm gonna go with Oct. 12th and 14th for the official baby book dates. We had three or four nights of much more crying in the middle of the night, then those pearly whites were making their appearance. And once again he's a happy boy. Until Mama tries to take a picture of them. Try to ignore the boogery nose.

Waving Goodbye to Babyhood

My baby waved for the first time yesterday, Aug. 30th (his 7 month b-day). Someone please mark it in his baby book, which seems to be in danger of being replaced by this blog. He waved at Jeanna & Jason who stopped by for a little visit while in town for the blessing of Baby Carter.

Our baby-proofing efforts have also increased of late. Our little Ro-Ro is now a-Go-Go. He crawls, he sits, he even pulls himself up! We've had to clean the floors more often, shut the doors more carefully, put away the big brothers' toys, and lower his crib mattress.

Roley Poley Pictures

Somebody is Mama's big laundry helper. Roley can feed himself, which is a necessary skill for a third child - they don't get much attention.

My monkey sleeps on his monkey. So cute.

Roland's first time in the tub with his brothers. It was kind of scary for Mom. He loved splashing in more than two inches of water though; I couldn't even get him to look up at the camera.

All dressed up for church, but headed for Daddy's modem & router. Cords are such fun to chew on.

My Baby's Birthday!

Roland is six months old today! I can hardly believe it's been half a year, but considering the first three months were kind of a blur I guess I shouldn't be suprised. He is a happy baby most of the time and is reaching a lot of milestones. He is pushing up onto his hands and knees all the time and rocking back and forth. Crawling could be coming soon. He sits up pretty well, but still needs some help. He doesn't like to bend his legs and usually just flexes and falls over backwards. He loves to play with toys and can scoot around in a circle during tummy time to find toys or his brothers.


We started him on solid foods about two weeks ago and he loves it. I'm still not sure how much is actually getting to his tummy since most of it seems to end up on his hands/bib/shirt/hair/table. He sticks his thumb in his mouth after every bite. Maybe it helps him slurp it down. We've just done cereal so far but I might try some peas or something this afternoon. He loves the flavored puffs and cheerios though. I have some books on hold at the library about making you own babyfood and hopefully we can get through this stage without bankrupting us. Aaron and I were just saying that in five years or so our grocery bill will probably be astronomical! Three boys eating us out of house and home.


Roley takes a bottle well and doesn't seem to care if it's formula or breast milk, or what kind of formula. He even holds his own bottle on the floor which is nice while I'm making dinner. He still nurses at night and a tiny bit during the day and I try to pump but am not diligent enough about it. I average once a day. But he seems to be gaining weight and I doubt he will starve.



Alden and Emmett love our Ro-Ro and give him more than enough love and attention. Aaron & I are equally grateful for our sweet boy - Happy Birthday Roley!

At Least He's Happy

Remember how I posted about Roland dropping to the 25th percentile for weight at his four month well-visit? I've been a bit paranoid since then because it just doesn't seem like he eats very much. And he's sooo skinny! I never know if I'm not making enough milk, or if he doesn't like my milk, or if he just doesn't like nursing and would rather drink from a bottle. I finally decided to get my hands on a pump to help out (thanks, Missy!) and found a baby scale to weigh Roland again now that he's five months old.

When I discovered he had only gained 12 ounces I was quite worried and called our pediatrician. He had us go in the same day (Wed) to check Roley out. Worse than I thought, he had only gained nine ounces in 32 days, which only far below the 1/2 ounce a day MINIMUM the doctor said is necessary. It's barely half. Good thing I got that pump, because I'm going to be using it, in addition to supplementing with formula. Also good that Aaron took Alden & Emmett out of town this weekend, because it's been pretty crazy trying to figure out how to nurse, supplement, pump, etc. It will be even more fun with everyone back tomorrow. Heaven help us! I just hope something works and when we go back for the six month check up Roley will have bulked up and made it to 15 pounds.

Other than being too skinny, our sweet Ro-Ro is happy & healthy. He scoots all over the house in his walker, loves playing with toys or his own toes, and has certainly found his voice. He goes to bed at 5:30 or 6pm and sleeps until 7:30 in the morning (minus 2-4 feedings during that time). He even takes two naps a day, which are getting pretty regular. It's much easier to plan our day now. He can almost sit up by himself and seems to have a pretty strong trunk. I put him in the front of the grocery cart yesterday for the first time (will take a picture soon), which was fun but will be a rare treat because that is definitely Emmett's spot. Emmy always has to be strapped in the stroller/cart or he gets into too much trouble. And Roley ends up crying and wanting to be held anyway, so I usually just keep him in the Baby Bjorn. Such is life with three little ones. But we try to enjoy it.

Skinny Minnies

So, we're raising a bunch of beanpole boys over here. Roland's four month well visit was great - he was even cute with the doctor and smiled and laughed. Not so much for the two nurses giving him bunches of shots. They have the worst job! Our little Ro Ro is 13 lbs and 6 oz, which only puts him in the 25th%. Which is okay, but two months ago he was in the 50th%. Our pediatrician said not to worry though, he seems to be growing just fine. He has gained about two pounds in the last two months. He is 26 inches tall, which is like 80-85%. I'm always a little bit skeptical about height measurements with babies. One of the boys shrunk once, which seems a little fishy to me. Babies are just too wiggly. So, for a little comparison:

I can see that Roley is falling a little bit behind - I'll have to be less resentful about feeding him three times a night.

A Little Catch Up

Daily my boys grow and change, and I just try to keep up with the beautiful chaos. I find less and less time for my own interests, including blogging, but don't want to let our family blog slide too much.

Alden Bear
Alden is anxious to be four and start preschool in the fall. He loves playing on the computer and watching shows on TiVo, both of which he can run completely on his own. He always shows our babysitters how to work the tv. We're trying to establish some better routines with him, including some chores. He wipes the table for me and helps unload the dishwasher. He's getting into a pretty independent phase though, and we have problems with disobedience, talking back, and some dishonesty. Just normal three year old stuff though. When he gets angry and frustrated he hits the couch, table, or wall and says, "I'm just gonna break our house!" I try not to laugh and only discipline him when he says he's going to break me or Emmett. Alden doesn't pay a lot of attention to Roland, but enough to show his brotherly love. Most people think Roley looks like Alden - we'll see as the baby grows up. Alden loves to take pictures with my "real camera" and I sometimes find some suprise shots when I go through them. The other day he was left alone while I took a shower and when I came back he told me he took some pictures of Calliou. When I checked the camera, there were about 30 shots of our tv, progressing from far away, showing the entertainment center, to closer up of just the tv, to bunches of screen shots of one of our favorite shows. They turned out suprisingly well, good to know for the future.

Change of Room Situations
As I've listed before, Emmett is our wild child. He can tear a room apart faster than a tornado. After months of anticipating moving Roley into the boys' room, we realized that we can't trust Emmett and finally moved the crib into our office, along with a spare dresser. Which means that Emmett sleeps in a big boy bed now - he started right at his birthday, motivated by the new sports ball sheets that Ma'am (my mom) got him. He didn't really have any transition issues, but he does sleep all over the place and has fallen out once. It's low though. We also took the bunkbeds apart, after the boys fell off a couple times during their jumping and wrestling sessions up there. Then, last Saturday I pulled the closet doors down from the attic. We had taken them off as soon as we moved back from Florida, to avoid pinched fingers. But Emmett's favorite thing to do is pull ALL the clothes from the hangers and scatter them, along with all the dirty clothes, hangers, shoes, toys, and anything else he could reach. So, tired of picking up everything three times a day, we put the closet doors back up and found a lock for them. Very inconvenient for us, but worth it for now. We also bought two big MDF boards and covered the windows in the boys' room. Aaron was tired of getting up at 5am with them because the sun shines in (he is so sweet and let's me sleep in the majority of the time). All sunblocking items we have installed, drapes, blinds, and shades, have been destroyed by the boys in record time. So it pretty much looks like a prison in there, and it echoes a lot. We have plans to disguise and decorate the boards, but I'm sure it will take some time. First we have to find some kind of moveable brackets that would let an adult move the boards fairly quickly in case of a fire or something. I know the boys couldn't do it, but not like they can get out the windows on their own anyway.

Our Ro-Ro
Roland is getting big - he will be four months this Friday and seems to be progressing well. He has a well visit on Friday and I will list his stats. He still eats several times in the night, but is only up for about 15 minutes at a time and goes to bed around 5:30 or 6. Naps are getting longer and more consistent. He smiles and laughs a lot and seems happy to be around his family. Roley loves to be held though and doesn't last very long on his own. He still spends some time in his bouncer, and does lots of short stints in the red chair we got from Candice, and now his walker. Turns out his feet actually touch the ground and he is able to move himself around a bit in it. I have to keep a close watch because Emmett loves to climb in the walker on top of him, but Ro Ro is sure cute in there. He usually lasts about 5 minutes. But it gives me a little break. I still have to carry him in the Baby Bjorn while we are out at the store or zoo, and occasionally at home. He breaks my back but stays quiet and his soft little head is right at kissing level.

Roland is Growing!

A little catch-up here. Roley started being a roley-poley (rolling over) on Saturday, May 4th. We find him on his stomach after a nap about every 3rd or 4th time. Now he immediately curls up into a little ball on his side when you put him down to sleep. Very cute. He loves his thumb and can pretty much get it in his mouth whenever he wants now. He's very drooley, but we love him despite the wet shirts and dripping hands. His and ours. His naps are getting a bit longer and he usually goes down for the night around 7, although sometimes it's 5:30. He still wakes up a lot at night to eat, but is quick and goes right back down. At 3 months, he is happy - smiling, laughing and cooing all the time. He still doesn't enjoy tummy time, but loves to sit up and watch the world around him. He has started noticing toys, like on the tray of his little red chair (thanks Candice!) and uses his hands to play with it.

He is Risen!

Even though I am a couple days late - I need to post about our eventful Easter Sunday. But first I want to make a few comments. I love Easter and the chance to remind myself about the two most important events in the history of the world - the Atonement and the Resurrection. Jesus Christ made both of these possible because of His love for us. At church on Sunday, someone said that some Christian sects don't believe in the literal resurrection of the Savior, just that His spirit lives on forever or something. How sad. Just wanted to blog to the whole world that I know that Christ literally rose from the dead and that all men will be resurrected someday. But of course our resurrection would be pointless without the Atonement. I can't even explain how thankful I am for these blessings, but I don't think we mortals come anywhere near to understanding the scope anyway. Easter is a wonderful time to remind us of new beginnings and fresh starts. I feel like I'm at the beginning of my family life now - since my family is complete now. Love this shot of Baby Roland - fresh from his Heavenly Father.

Okay, on to the happenings of our Sunday. The Easter bunny made a stop at our house. Emmett had half his candy eaten before the rest of us woke up. The Johnsons stood us up for breakfast but we headed over to my parents early for a few family photos.

Sacrament meeting was nice, what I could catch of it anyway. The musical numbers were beautiful. In primary, Alden gave his first talk! He's all of three and a half now, so I guess they thought he was ready to have his mom feed him a talk line by line. He did great and everyone seemed to love him. We all tried to relax a bit in the afternoon. Then Shannon cleaned up my whole house while I made dinner. We managed to stuff everyone back into their Sunday clothes in time for our guests at 6. We blessed Baby Roland! It went very well - the rest of the pictures are from the blessing. Roley is the third blessing we've had at home. Aaron thinks it should be a family affair and I say, hey - if we have refreshments then okay by me.

Then, we all cried as the Johnsons packed up and headed back up north. Here's Alden attempting to stow away in the mini-van. He sure misses those girls! These last shots are after everyone from the blessing had left. Finally Roley had something to smile about.

First Smiles

Roland smiled at me for the first time on Wed. March 5th! I even had witnesses. Jo & Forrest Humble stopped by to visit and bring a cute gift for Roley - they saw the whole thing. I love little fake baby smiles, while they are sleeping or passing gas, but this was a real smile just for Mom. He gave me a few more last night and graced Aaron with his first Daddy smile this morning. This was the closest picture I could get. Isn't that a cute blanket? My Mom made it for Roland - the first blanket just for him rather than a hand-me-down. She crocheted all the cute trim. Thanks Mom!