The Gorsh House: August, September and October 2012

We are finding that time management is even more key when you have 2 children and when we do have what feels like only a couple of minutes of free time the last thing I feel like doing it sitting down and blogging. But we are due for an update! We have been so busy and have SO many changes going on in the Gorsh house it is hard to decide where to start!

Carter

Turned 3 in September (I cannot believe it)! We had a small gathering at our house. The weather was perfect and Carter had a great time. He really understood this year that his birthday was a special day just for HIM. Now anything that he wants he says "can I get that for my birthday"? It is going to be such a joy to watch him at Christmas.
At his 3 month wellness appointment he weighed 32 lbs (still my little peanut) and was 37 3/4 inches (he is above average for his height). He is a tall skinny kid who has to wear the pants with the adjustable waist because he needs the length but is too skinny to hold them up.
Carter also started a new "school" in August. We were ready for him to have more structure to prepare him for pre-school next year and found the perfect place for him - Villa Maria. He LOVES it there and is making so many friends and the teachers just adore Carter and can't get over how smart he is.
I am proud to say that Carter is 100% potty trained!!!! I can't even tell you the last time he had an accident (in August maybe?). The only time we put a diaper on him is for bedtime (he doesn't wear one at nap time anymore and stays dry). He tells US when he has to go and we don't even have to ask him anymore. So proud of him.
Of course Carter continues to amaze us. He is on the go all the time and loves being outside in the back yard - riding his John Deere or playing with the neighbor kids. We love taking him to the pond (right in our neighborhood) to fish, feed the fish or build sandcastles. His new obsession is Batman (he totally picked this up from his school friends). If he could he would wear his Batman shirt & cape to school everyday. And of course he was Batman for Halloween. Carter is learning how to count in Spanish at school and they are teaching him Spanish words as well. Carter is really starting to get an imagination which is so fun to observe (when he is playing in the toy room I will stand outside the door and just watch and listen to him). He is so good at entertaining himself! He loves his baby sister and is such a good little helper. It just melts my heart watching Carter and Stella interact. Stella's face just lights up when she sees her big brother and he knows how to get her going. Carter even has a special song he made up just for his sister

Stella

Stella Ann turned 4 months on October 23 (hard to believe). She of course is growing like a weed and seriously changing everyday! She has survived 2 rounds of shots at 2 months and 4 months (getting 4 shots at each check up).
2 month stats - 13 lbs 1oz (1 more oz than her brother at this age) and 22 3/4 inches long( 1/4 inch shorter)
4 month stats - 16lbs 1oz - 84% and 25 3/4 inches - 90%
As you can see Stella is one healthy girl - she has almost gained 9lbs since she was born and has grown 7 1/4 inches. She is wearing pretty much 6 month clothing and probably 9 months really soon!
She also started rolling from back to tummy right at 3 months. She loves kicking her legs and will seriously move across the entire rug by rocking her body. I set her down on her playmat and will come back seconds later and she will be across the rug. She also is pulling her knees up when she is on her tummy and looks like the is trying to crawl... we might have a early crawler if she figures out what to do with her arms. Of course she is smiling ALL the time. She can grab her toys and hold them in her hand and move them from one hand to the other. Her favorite thing to do is to "talk" to us. She just cracks us up and "talks" all the time. She loves just looking at her brother and watching him play. She is happy just hanging out on the ground, in her bouncy seat or swing playing with her friends
Stella is a GREAT baby. She is so laid back and goes with the flow. She hardly ever cries - only if she is hungry or tired and that is always a quick fix. She also loves her paci... if she isn't hungry but cries the paci usually does the trick. She is such a great sleeper (so different than her brother). She only gets up 1x a night and some nights not at all. She has a really good schedule that she kind of put herself on and we are just sticking with that for now.
When she was going to aunt Mollie's for daycare she did great. Aunt Mollie even said she was the best kid she had. Unlike her brother she takes a bottle like a champ.
We just started transiting Stella to her crib this week (she has been sleeping in the pack-n-play in our room). She has a cold right now so she has been waking up more than usual at night but is doing pretty good. The hard part is if that paci falls out - she wakes up and wants it soI have to get up and give it to her... so any advice on how to get it to stay in or how to take a paci away from a baby at night would be greatly appreciated.
We think Stella is teething right now (Carter started getting teeth at 4 months). Her hands are constantly in her mouth, drool is flowing 24/7 and I have to change her outfits because her tops are so wet from drool.

You really forget how fast babies grow and how much they change and do in 1 year. So we are really just trying to enjoy every second. It really is SO different the second time around. Plus it helps that Stella is such a good baby.

Family Recap

We went to Minneapolis in September for a family wedding and had a great weekend. The kids were both awesome travelers and we only had to stop one time each way. The hotel had an indoor water park that Carter would of slept in if it would of been allowed. It was nice to get away as a family.

Jordan and I were able to go to Iowa City for the Penn state game a couple of weeks ago. I love my kiddos but it was so nice to get away for more than a couple hours with Jordan and have some long over due adult fun! Thanks so much to my MOM for having the kids for 14 hours. I know she had a blast with the kids and they were perfect for her.

We have already had a busy week and had fun having my parents and The Petersen's over for trick or treat on 10/30 and enjoyed trick or treating at the Petersen's last night. Carter was Batman and Stella was a cupcake.

Hard to believe the holidays are right around the corner!