I can hardly believe my baby is 3. He's such a sweet boy. A passionate, crazy, dramatic, but very sweet little boy. He has really changed the person I am today. I think for the better. At least I hope so.
At 3 Cormac weighs 30 lbs and is 3 ft 3 in. Isn't that fitting? So many 3's. He is in the 35th percentile for weight, and the 87th for height. Takes after his father before him.
Cormac loves trains. Still doesn't speak very clear English, but sure does talk a lot to those he knows well. Otherwise he's pretty quiet. And is into pretty much any type of transportation (but trains are still the favorite).
For his birthday we decided that the night before he could go on a date with Mom and Dad by himself. It's a new birthday tradition we're starting. We went to see "Brave" at the dollar theater. About halfway through he lost interest, and then we got a call from the sitter. Azure was inconsolable, so we decided to ditch early.
The next morning we all went to the zoo. It was truly awesome. Cormac had a blast. We all loved it. It's so much fun to watch your children get so excited and happy about things.
After the zoo we did presents and BYU football. Then a little trip to the park followed by Mac and Cheese for dinner and a train birthday cake (that didn' turn out nearly as cute as I'd envisioned it). Then we tucked our extremely tired little 3 year old down in his bed with his trains all around him. It was a wonderful day. I'm so glad Cormac is mine.
For your viewing pleasure, and because I have such mad skills in movie making, I have made the following to prove we did indeed visit the zoo and do everything else I just claimed. Happy Birthday Cormac!
We do a lot of projects here at the Dahl House. In our defense our house needs a lot of love. Well, less so now, but we still have things to do. I spent so much time making Azure's room nice that I wanted to do Cormac's as well. His room was one that I'd been meaning to get to For.E.Ver. So it was time. I set out to create a fun little boy haven.
Now for those who may or may not have been reading this blog a while back, this is what Cormac's room looked like when we purchased the place:
Sorry about the blurry pictures (can I, too, blame Thelma?). I did love that pink carpet. The closet was a mess. We had to tear it out because of some dry rot problems thanks to some serious issues in the bathroom.
We had the house re-carpeted. But not Cormac's room initially. Not until some repairs could be made on that closet.
For a long time it looked like this:
Our first remodel of the room turned out like this:
A cozy place for a baby. But over time it had evolved. Cormac had taken all the toys off the cute shelf then hung on the shelf until it had nearly come entirely off the wall. It was time to repair that dresser. The bed was new. And the super awesome train blanket had to come down before it was ripped down from over-eager toddlers. And we had to make room for toys!
If you know much about us you know we are good at starting projects, not as awesome at finishing them. So we have yet to get the right tie backs for the curtains. And the awesome dresser that my dear Aunt Harriet gave us (thank so much!) is nearly finished. But I haven't decided on handles yet. Still working on that.
I made the signs for the wall by printing off pictures I liked, distressing canvas, and then modge podging it all together. I love how they turned out (and that they were cheap).
We needed more floor space. So I moved the old bookshelf into the closet to store his various large cars. Then I used these "art display" shelves from Ikea for books. I was worried he wouldn't keep the books up there, but actually he usually just gets down the couple he wants and then puts them right back. He's a good boy.
I painted the frame on the picture white because I was sick of the wood. And then we made the dresser nice and bright. I love color.
The best part of the room, or what I thought would be, is this wall:
I first painted it with magnet paint. Then I went over it with chalk board paint. Ammon made some trim and framed it in nicely, and there you have it. The problem is that the magnet paint is weak. I need to find some much stronger magnets. I had hoped to hang his artwork and stuff up there, but I haven't found any magnets strong enough to do that. But I'll get there. . . maybe.
So there you have it. The new look of the room (pictures as requested Mum:).
I've been remiss in my efforts to keep up this blog. When Cormac was a baby I'd sit him on my lap and type around him. He would stay content for a little while. Long enough that I could usually blog or do other such things. Azure doesn't sit content. She tries to grab the keyboard. She is all over the place. I usually have to hold on to her with 2 hands to keep her from falling forward and smacking her head on the desk. So blogging just doesn't happen as often.
But despite my lack of recording it here, time has continued to march on and this little one has turned 7 months and now 8 months. So here I combine the two (poor second child; she's just not getting as much press as the first did).
At 7 months old Azure was 16 lbs 6 oz and was 26.25 inches long. Her growth has really slowed down. She's still getting long, but she's really not putting on much weight. And at 7 months she was really crawling backward very well, but not so much forward.
Now at 8 months old Azure has actually lost a few ounces. She's 16 lbs 2 oz (which puts her in the 14th percentile for weight), and she is 27 inches long (the 45th percentile for height, if you are wondering about the proportions I'll introduce you to her father sometime).
So now at this time some fun things about Azure.
~She has finally figured out moving forward. It was actually on October 11th. We were over at a friends house so I could do some Visiting Teaching and she finally started going forward. Despite having figured it out then, she really hasn't been on the move as much as I'd expected until about this last week. She finally is venturing around more.
~ With that venturing she has been discovering cords. She really loves to get into them. I have to keep a sharp eye on her.
~ She never stops moving. Still. Even in the middle of the night when I feed her, she moves the whole time even though she's mostly asleep.
~ She does not like cooked carrots, sweet potato, yams, or broccoli.
~ Azure has a very sensitive gag reflex. And she throws up a lot. Not so fun for Mom.
~ She is super curious and loves to see everything going on around her.
~ Azure will not be deterred. If there is something she sees that she wants, she will fight to get at it. And distraction does not work on this girl.
~ This little miss is a ham. She cracks me up. She'll purposely bonk her head on the back of her high chair and then pause and look at me waiting for the reaction. She fake coughs all the time and watches for my reaction as well.
~ She's almost always in a good mood. But when she's not she is really not. And nothing can calm her but Mom. Heaven help the world if something ever happens to me.
~ Azure likes to make fun noises which I have yet to capture on camera. I'm determined to get it though. She sometimes gets laughing hard, but mostly just gives a courtesy half laugh.
~ This girl still adores her brother, but has discovered that he's more fun at a distance most of the time. Cormac likes to wrestle, and she is not in favor 95% of the time.
~ When Ammon gets home from work she wants to watch his every move. She doesn't necessarily want him to hold her (unless Mommy won't and then she's okay with it), but she loves to see what he's doing.
~ So far the toys she's most interested in are Cormac's matchbox cars and his trains. I've tried to interest her in stuffed animals and dolls. She would prefer a car any day. Oh, and she loves squirty tub toys (they are excellent for little teethers).
~ I can feel 4 teeth that are close, but so far none have broken skin.
~ "Snuggling" is not a word that Azure identifies with. At all. In any way shape or form. And don't you dare try to restrain her arms or legs. Ever. When I feed her she has to be positioned so that she can still move. She's a fireball this one.
~ And really, I just can't imagine life without my sweet little baby.
During our 7 month "photo shoot" she was really hamming it up. I got some fun photos. So I wanted to share a ton of them. But I wasn't sure most people were that devoted. So I decided to make a little 8 month recap of her life with mostly pictures from her little monthly shots. I hope you enjoy.
To send out the last of September Ammon and I went to a BYU Football game. Well, it wasn't really planned, but about 2 hours before the game a good friend offered us some amazing tickets. We were on the 5th row at the south endzone. It was awesome. Finding a babysitter was difficult, but it worked out. It was the first time I'd left Azure for that long. But she did great. I guess it's time for us to start having regular date nights.
Then to ring in the Fall we went up to Bridal Veil Falls this past Sunday. It was a gorgeous day.
We are ready for autumn. And soon our little man with be 3 years old. How time flies.
Just a few pictures I wanted to share to sum up our September.
At the beginning of September we were able to go out to Starr Valley to see the our newest nephew, Omar, blessed. The Cobians were very good to us while we were there. They let us invade their home. It was very sweet of them.
While we were out there Cormac was rarely seen. He loved being one of the 6 boys roaming around the Cobian home. Even now as I type this he is looking at these pictures saying, "trains, go trains, go trains." Just to help you interpret that, whenever Cormac wants something he says "go" followed by whatever it is he wants, "go drink," "go sush a teesh (brush my teeth)," "go side (go outside)." Azure was the bell of the ball. She was admired by one and all.
And enjoyed napping with anyone willing to offer a soft arm. I think Robert is getting a bit of a nap in too. They were a good pair.
Later in September we were able to host a Fisher-Price House Party. It was awesome. Fisher-Price sent us a bunch of new toys. Then we had a bunch of friends over to help us enjoy the toys.
Azure's favorite part was the paper that wrapped up the toys. It made tons of noise, ripped, and was light weight for throwing around. She loved it.
I made these cute little critters for the party. Everyone loves an edible caterpillar.
She was pretty tired at the party, but she loved watching the kids run around. September was a lovely month, but I'm so excited that October is here.
