Violet can Sit!

So, not long after I posted those pictures of my darling baby last night we caught Violet sitting up all by herself on tape!  She sat alone for the first time earlier in the day, but just for a second or two, then last night we sat her up and let go and she just sat there for about thirty seconds!  It was great!  I have the video of her doing it on my myspace page (myspace.com/ivyclinger).  It was a bitter-sweet moment for me, I'm really happy and excited that she can sit, but that also means she's growing up soooooo fast!  She's really mad right now because I'm not sitting with her and she's tired and can't fall asleep if I'm not with her (who rules the roost in this family...).

Time Flies!

In one week and one day Violet will be five months old!  I can't believe it!  She's getting so big (I'm staying so big...) I don't want her to grow up!  Everyone's doing great, the boys are continuing to be fabulous big brothers, they love to make their sister laugh, Ben's particularly good at it.  He's still got that undying ability to be super repetitive, which is turning out to be a great entertainment factor for the baby.  Before I forget, I want to write about something that happened right after Violet was born.  She was at the most a week old, probably less, and I was laying on my bed with her and she was sleeping.  Sam came in with a sword and imaginary coat of armor and shield and announced,"I am a knight!" (You have to imagine it in his high, breathy little voice though so it's more like "Hi am a knight!")  Of course I responded in disbelief, "You are a knight!?!"  "Yes,  Hi am a knight, and baby Violet is a printheth!"  I have to paraphrase now, but he proceeded to weave a tale right there in front of me about how Violet was a princess in a cage, guarded by a huge purpled dragon and that he, Sammy the knight had to save her.  He acted it all out, fighting the dragon, slaying the dragon, and then running to unlock the cage that held the princess Violet.  He then carried her to safety (pretend carried) and they lived happily ever after.  It was so cute, and so imaginative.  I've always known he had the best imagination of all three of the boys, but that was such a glimpse of what I know goes on inside that head of his all day long.   I guess it's just that this was the first time he'd communicated so well what he's been thinking for so long.  It was so sweet.  I hope he never loses it. Oh, and one more thing before I have to run, I was looking through some old photo albums, and Violet looks a lot more like Joe and Ben than I had thought.  She has a dimple like Sam, and a couple of things like Karl, but she definitely looks a lot like the twins.  I'll have to scan some of the pictures I was looking at and post them.  Gotta go now!

What a Good Week!

So last week was pretty jam packed!  Karl's bio-mom and family came from Texas for a visit and we had a blast!  We pretty much just hung out, took a trip to the beach and to Green Valley Falls, nothing too fancy or anything, just enjoyed each other's company.  All the kids stayed at our place, and the big boys brought their Wii to show the little boys, which was way too cool.  I'm really looking forward to our trip to Austin in July for Katie's wedding now, I can't wait to see them all again. (By the way Rebecca, if you read this, we're coming to  you're neck of the woods in mid-July, so plan on a schlittlerbahn trip, or a least a visit from the Clingers!)  Oh, we also had a birthday party for Sam (4th) combined with a surprise party for Karl's graduation!  It was really fun, Sam got tons of Spiderman stuff (perfect since he is Spiderman), he got so overwhelmed by presents he had to take a break and just play with the stuff he'd already opened and come back later.  Sweet little Violet is getting so big so fast.  I started giving her some rice cereal at the very beginning of the month, and she liked it okay, but last week I gave her some mashed banana and she loved it!  She ate about two inches of mashed banana and didn't spit any of it out!  She's also pinching with her thumb and forefinger already, not actually picking things up with them yet, but still, pretty good for a four month old.  Anyway, Sam wants me to help him with his parachuting G.I. Joe, so I'd better go!

June

So far, this month has been pretty busy. Karl's out of town again, in Virginia this time.  Our exchange student J went back home to Korea on Tuesday.  That was really hard to do.  The boys and I really really miss her.  She was here for a eight, almost nine months.  This Saturday is Tommy and Yessica's wedding reception and I needed to make Violets dress.  It was a difficult little thing to make, but it turned out pretty.  It's a little big on her, but it's fine.  She looks like baby Cinderella in it.

Violets been starting to eat some solid food.  I don't want it to change my milk supply, so she gets a few baby spoonfuls every other day or so.  Just rice cereal for now.  She's very particular about how she likes it though.  It can't be too thick, or mixed with water, it has to be thin and mixed with milk only.  She has been practicing with grahm crackers too, it's more of a distraction thing than a snack or food thing.  She likes eating, it's pretty cute.

Next week Karl's family from Texas is coming to town to visit, and it's Sammy's fourth birthday a week from today.  I can't really think of what else is going on.  I'll probably think of something later.

Dancing Princess

I was trying to get Violet to settle down tonight after dinner so that I could go take a shower in peace so  I put on Barbie's Twelve Dancing Princesses (a really cute movie) on my computer with her swing set up in front of it for her to watch.  It's got really pretty music and dancing in it.  I was holding her in my lap at first and she got sucked right into the movie.  Her eyes got really big and she started cooing and gooing, and then she started to try to stand up and kick her little legs.  It was so cute, she knows she's a dancing princess!  I wish I could have gotten it on video, but I was holding her and talking on the phone to my mom, and I just don't have enough arms, but my mom was a witness to the cooing!  Anyway, it worked, I was able to put her in her swing and take a shower, and when I got out she was sound asleep.  She's such a little angel.

As a side note, my mouth is finally starting to feel much better.  I was able to eat dinner tonight with the family without wanting to die, so that's good.  I'm sure I'll be all better in another week or so.  It's almost too bad, I might have been able to drop all the baby weight if it had gone on for another couple of weeks!  I guess I'll just have to start exercising and do it the hard way.

Only one more day till Karl comes home, I'm so excited.  I miss him so much, but he's doing really well.  He really is a natural teacher, and he enjoys it so much, it makes me happy that he's found a job he can really enjoy.  We keep in touch with Skype, so the boys and me get to see him every day.  It really helps to be able to actually see him  instead of just talking over the phone.  The boys absolutely love it, Sam thinks he's stuck inside the computer.   

Well, I'm gonna go kiss the boys goodnight and hit the sack myself.  All is well in the Clinger home.

My Mouf Hurts!

I had my last wisdom tooth out last Tuesday and my mouth is still killing me!  To compound the situation, I also have a killer canker sore on the same side as well!  I've been on a liquid diet for a week now (and it's actually starting to show, not a terrible consequence)!  I get the stitches out in the morning, hopefully it's healing well.  Karl's gone again, but just for five days this time.  He's in Santa Clara this time.  His boss says it's really rare to have to be gone for two weeks in a row, I hope he's right because this could get really old really fast.  Thankfully the boys are all pretty good, and really good helpers when I need them to be, I just wish they wouldn't push each others buttons so much.  But what can you expect, there's three of them and they'll all pretty much the same age, and they're boys!  I'm grateful to have J here to help me too, I'm really going to miss her when she's gone.  Anyway, nothing really new here, just a little bored and lonely.  If my mouth didn't hurt so bad I'd take the family somewhere tomorrow, but it's really unbearable still.  Oh well, this too shall pass!  Good night!