"New" Toys

We finally pulled out the walker and "jump chair". Declan is enjoying sitting in them and staring at the toys in the walker. He likes to turn the chair in the "jump chair", but as he has no real interest in putting toys in his mouth (isn't that strange?), he doesn't really lean into them and go to town yet like the girls did. Give him time.

Four Months Old

Declan turned four months old today. He is rolling, but doesn't enjoy it very much. He can grab and bat things expertly, but so far has shown no interest in putting them in his mouth. He can get his fingers and thumb in his mouth (for forever now - basically since Day 1), but doesn't suck on them! What a goofball. His absolute favorite thing to do is nurse, nurse, nurse, but he also loves being entertained by his sisters. He can't get enough of their songs and dances - it's too bad they are often too busy to share these with him. I truly think he misses Kyrie while she is at school! Most nights Declan sleeps from 7/8pm - 3/4am and then is back down again until 7am. Generally, he takes two 1.5-2 hour naps during the day, but sometimes boycotts them in favor of having gas. That darn gas issue. If only he would enjoy sleeping on his tummy, we probably wouldn't have a problem! I can't wait to find out his stats at his Ped. appt. next week. He is SO big now, it is insane. I call him either "My itty-bitty little big boy" or "My monstrosity". He doesn't seem to mind.

Argh. Catching Up.

Yes. It has been a long time, once again, since I have had a chance to update the blog. Here is what has been going on in the Kons Family Chaos.

(Okay, I ran out of time to add captions. I hope to post those soon!)

Declan enjoying a little tummy time:



Lariska's First Day of Preschool:

First Day of Preschool Breakfast - pigs in a blanket


Lari stylin' in her first day outfit.


Daddy wishes Lari a great first day.


Getting ready to go!


Lari finds her name in front of her carpet square.


Lari had a great time her first day. They read "The Kissing Hand" and she got to know her teacher, Mrs. Hayne a bit. When I picked her up she was all smiles and was excited to show me her project, which was all different sorts of green - her favorite color. The best thing, she said, was playing on the playground. She said she didn't play with anyone, just by herself, but now a few weeks later she comes home every time telling me about what friend she made that day and who she played with. Oh, so much fun!

Random photo of Nana and Declan



Declan is all smiles in his "My Grandma Loves Me" onesie. He started rolling a few days before this photo and we were attempting to get him to perform for us. Apparently, it was just funny.



At the end of Kyrie's first week of school and before Lari started preschool, Lariska went with Gma and Gpa and Will to the Lodge. Kyrie was a bit bummed that she couldn't go, but decided it was okay when we promised her we could roast marshmallows in our backyard. Here are Matt and Kyrie right before the roasting commences:


I very much enjoy Declan's "Daddy's Little All Star" jammies and decided to pair it with his baseball cap this day. This photo was taken on Sept. 4th, and he is now about to grow out of it. Silly child. What is he thinking?!?!



Declan's Baptism:
Declan's baptism was on August 30th. I don't have the energy to put these photos in order, but I can say that it went very well. Declan was a cutie and snuggled in to Pastor Carly when she walked him down the steps to intoroduce him to the church. The girls even behaved well, and Kyrie impressed me with how she put her hands together and head down during the prayer.

Following the baptism, we had brunch at Nana's house. It was great fun to watch the kids run around together - 10 total under the age of 5.5. We gave all of the kids a special treat (push-up sucker) for standing still and taking good pictures at the church! I think they liked them!



















On August 31st, the last day of "summer" (school started on Tuesday, Sept. 1st), we had one last hurrah and went to Monkey Joe's with the Schambows. It was a crazy, crazy, time, but the kids had a lot of fun.




On September 21st, Grandma Kons came over to babysit and afterwards we played some games.


The weekend before school started we went for a little hike with Nana and Pop-Pop in Mequon's Homestead Hollow park. The girls thought it was great fun - especially when we lost Buddy (though we didn't know it), got a phone call from a nearby neighbor who had found him and called the number on his tag, and yelled loudly to bring him back.

High Stakes

High Stakes Roller that is. Yup, Declan is now a roly-poly little baby boy. He rolled from his tummy to his back several times on Sept. 3rd and then would do it every now and then after that. But as of yesterday (Sept. 14), he is consistently rolling from his back to his tummy. Unfortunately, he hasn't quite figured out how to get his hands un-stuck from beneath his tummy in order to put them in front of his head and then roll back onto his back, so he gets stuck, even though he is able to roll from his tummy to his back. Silly boy!

Moments to Remember

1. Kyrie had an early release day today - which means she got home around 2pm instead of the usual 4:15pm. I asked her how her day was and what she had for a snack today. She said, "Some cheesy thing that I didn't like." Then she added, "Typically, Mommy, we have two snacks a day, but today we only had one." Really, Kyrie? Cuz, typically, I am pretty sure five-year olds don't use the word "typically". But, I could be wrong!



2. At dinner tonight Matt overheard the following conversation (I was upstairs nursing a Sunny D/Diesel/Declanator/Decker):
   
   Kyrie: Lari, you know when I am at school I miss you a lot, don't you?
   Lari: Yeah.
   Kyrie: That picture you gave back to me was really important to me. I look at it once every hour and it reminds me of you during the day.



3. Since Kyrie has gone to school all day everyday, Lariska's imaginary friend has made a huge appearance in her life. I knew about Emmy before the past 2 weeks, but I didn't know she was a little girl (sometimes five, sometime ten) that Lari loves to talk to on the phone, have over to play with, etc. She is very cute about her non-existent friend.



4. Finally, I have been noticing lately how when I nurse Declan to sleep we start out with him just lying there closing his eyes, but eventually I look down and realize he is holding my hand. I never really know how it happens, but somewhere in the process, his little hand grabs hold of my finger and we are connected. I love that realization and think it is such a wonderful feeling to get to hold this little boy's finger.

First Day of Kindergarten

I have been working on this "project" all week and have finally completed it. I have so many thoughts to share on Kyrie's first week of Kindergarten, but they are going to have to wait for a bit, still. I am so immersed in dealing with Kyrie being in Kindergarten that I haven't had a chance to process and share it all just yet. But, I will get there soon! In the meantime, I hope this video will give you a sense of what we have been feeling in this house.