Tucker 4 Months Old

I am a BIG boy! Here are my stats: I weigh 17 lb 7 oz (97%), I am 26" long (95%), and my head is 16.25" round (50%). I am doing well on the growth chart. My head circumference percentile actually decreased from 75% to 50%, but the doc. said that that measurement is ok to fluctuate a bit at my age. "It's ok," she says. My doctor also checked my ears and I have some fluid in them (especially the right one), she said to just watch me. If I start acting different, then my mommy should call into the office to get me some medicine (my sister has ear infection problems). I am kind of congested a little bit, which may be the reason for the fluid in my ears. I hope that my body can just get rid of it itself and that I won't get an infection.

I am a VERY HAPPY baby. My mommy use to say that if I were half as happy as my cousin Orin, she'd be thrilled. I think that I am. I love to smile, love to coo, love to giggle at my siblings. It doesn't take much to make me happy. As long as I am fed and have a clean diaper I am good to go.

Sorry, my mommy didn't have time to get my red eye out

Here are some other facts about me at my age:

• I love to play under my playmat
• I love to suck on my fingers (I may be teething a little bit)
• I wear 6-9 month clothes
• I just switched to wearing size 3 diapers all of the time (not just at night), I started blowing my size 2 out--sorry mommy
• I still love my pacifier
• My mommy is letting me cry it out in the middle of the night if I wake up (I don't get my pacifier again if I spit it out)
• I use to bunk with my sister but since mommy is letting me cry in the night, I sleep in their room or the office until I learn not to wake up--I don't want to wake Lilly up with my crying
• I drink 7-8 oz of formula every 4 hours
• I take 2 good naps during the day and sometimes need a 3rd in the evening
• I am getting too big for my carseat bunting so mommy needs to find something else to keep me warm in this weather

My really cute birth mark on my tummy

That's about all that's going on with me at 4 months old. Enjoy the pictures that my mommy thinks she always has to take:-)

Our Little Ballerina

(I finally got a picture of Lilly in her dance leotard and tights. I will take more when it's not raining outside.)



This is my first year in dance, at Robin's School of Dance, in Sioux Center. I absolutely LOVE it. I have met some really great friends. I don't tell mommy and daddy everything that I learn because I finally get to keep something to myself. I often say "well, maybe you should just come and watch me then if you want to know." It's a pre-dance class that I am in. I learn tumbling, basic dance (ballet) movements, sing songs, and have a lot of fun.

Thanks Grandpa and Grandma Kollasch for this great gift. I love you!

It's Working--slow but sure

Our life has been pretty crazy lately. Adam's busy with the fall rush of construction, trying to meet a deadline for the house they're building, putting plans together for a new spec house to build yet this fall, Butlers, Converge, so on and so forth. I just have to keep reminding myself that this season too shall pass, even if it's a couple years down the road, it too shall pass.

I have been so blessed to be able to stay at home all the while with not only my own kids, but as of late, my nephew Orin-while his mommy does some subbing at the local middle school. It has been so great getting to spend time with Orin and seeing my own kids interact with him. Lilly is such a mommy.

This brings me to my main topic. Lilly. She is going through some major changes right now. She's trying to adapt to 2 little siblings and discovering her own will. Adam and I have had to really bare down and be extra consistent with her, in lots of areas of her life-general schedule, naptime, bedtime, discipline, how she talks, how she acts.

I feel like we have always found it crucial to be consistent but as she's gotten older and gained siblings, it's so much MORE important. When she directly disobeys us, she is not only disobeying us and the Lord, she is showing her siblings how to disobey. This is so dangerous, especially when Thatcher is in super copy mode. It seems like Adam & I could be kind of lenient before we would simply verbally correct her and go on. Now, once Lilly is disobedient or disrespectful she is verbally corrected and if it continues a spanking is necessary. She knows what we expect out of her and the second she deviates from those expectations, a verbal talk is needed, we can no longer shrug it off. (Her and I have had numerous heart to heart talks in her bedroom) It will only get worse and worse if the situation is not taken care of right away. I definitely feel like we are breaking her spirit--not breaking as in ruining it, but breaking as in breaking a wild horse. Does that make sense??

Now, when her attitude starts to turn negative or she starts bullying her brother, all I have to do is look at her because she knows what I expect of her. I will catch her correcting herself now. Instead of "Mommy, help me." She'll say, "Mommy, may you help me?" (even though it s/b will you help me, but I will correct that later). If she doesn't correct herself, we will say, "Lilly, try again" and she knows what we mean.

She's to the point now that she really needs meaningful attention from daddy AND mommy. We can no more just go through the day without making Lilly time. Bedtime is a disaster if we don't have this special time for her.

Those are the 2 areas where we've had to concentrate a lot of time, 1)her spirit and 2)her quality time

Lilly, we love you dearly and love the little girl who you have become. Stay strong, stay energetic and stay close to us. We love everything about you!! ~Mom & Dad