Our Cara turns FIVE

Guest post by Mom:

I think every parent cannot believe the passage of time when it comes to their kids. It feels like we all say the phrase "I can't believe she's FIVE!" And sometimes we can't believe it and other times we forget that she isn't the same age as Siena.

One of the things we most often talk about is her size. It's just so diminutive. She reminds me of my mom. Petite. The funny part is that my sister, Angie, was just like her when she was little and now she is at least three inches taller than me.

Her vocabulary is quite flavorful. She says fun things like "apparently" and "horrific" all the time. You can tell she has an older sister and that we let them watch movies that are probably a little too old for them!

One of my favorite things is to watch her in the swimming pool. She gave me the impression at the beginning of the summer that this might be a less adventurous year for her in the water and that she might hang back. Boy, did she change her mind. She loves to swim, goggles on, face down and legs and arms working together. She shows off her floating skills and chases after Siena with gusto. She refuses to go off the diving board however. And if there is a chance that it will be over her head she wants her life jacket on. The best part? She gets frustrated that the life jacket won't let her go under.

She still has a little lisp. Sometimes it's with her "s" sounds, sometimes it's with her "l" sounds. We're not sure if it will stick around, but I think it might have to do with the fact that she's still a thumb sucker. I'm not super concerned because her dentist isn't, but we kind of fight a daily battle. Currently she gets to chew on gum at all hours to try and keep her mouth busy.

I think she is more moody than Siena, but I'd hate to label her as that. If she doesn't want to talk to you, she's not going to do it. She's also a little more pushy than Siena and can be more of the bully even though she's younger. They don't really fight enough to say that though. She has a hard time with her younger cousins and understanding that they are too little to understand sharing or no grabbing.

The other day she had a complete meltdown over Iva getting to sit in her seat on the double stroller. She didn't want to sit in the big seat. She cried and said she didn't want to turn five or get bigger. That same morning she was DEVASTATED that she had grown out of a shirt. Crying, clinging, and telling me how much she loved the shirt and she was going to miss it and she just doesn't want to get bigger. Today she's fine with being bigger. She gets to ride all the fun rides at Disneyland.

She still loves to play by herself. She can have very elaborate games. I love it. She likes other friends over, but values quiet time to herself. I think she can read. She knows quite a few words anyway. I have never pushed it or really tried to teach her. I am holding her out of kindergarten for one more year because school starts in less than two weeks. I think she'll be happier older. Or maybe not. I don't know. The decision still stresses me completely out.

There are a million other things that make Cara...Cara, but I always feel completely inadequate at putting that to paper..er computer screen. I hope she is enjoying her birthday celebration in Disneyland.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CARA MAY!

Edit: 8/19 We took Cara in for her 5 year well check and her final shots for kindergarten. She was 33 lbs and 41.5 inches according to them. I happen to know that at Disneyland she BARELY made the 40 inch standard ride measure so I legitimately believe their ruler is off by about an inch. Oh well. :) She is only in the 7% for weight and 20% for height. Again I think she's smaller than that.

Chelsi's Run

Once again we participated in Chelsi's Run. Daddy was on his business trip which was a bummer, but we all still ran it! 

In fact, Mommy got a bunch of ladies from our neighborhood to do the run with us! There were 14 people representing the Cotton Manor neighborhood. It was AWESOME. (They've even decided to keep walking and running at night together!)

Cara and Mommy ran with Chelsi's mom, Lisa, for a little while. 

Cara did GREAT. She ran a whole lap before needing a piggy back ride. In fact, Aunt Hailey and Cara made it on the news together!

I was a GREAT runner. I left Mommy in the dust on the first lap and ran with her friend, Kathryn, for a little while. We actually left her girls behind! Finally, I waited for Mom on the second lap and she ran with me again.

This was Mommy's view for most of it. I kept up a steady stream of dialogue, waved at all the people, and even ran faster if there was an audience.

This wasn't my exact time, but it wasn't far off. I was somewhere around 45 minutes.

I have now run THREE complete 5k's on my own.

These are some of the awesome ladies that Mom recruited.

Our after pictures. Cara was exhausted and Iva had just woke BACK up.

We love this family tradition.

More swimming, more lake...SUMMER ROCKS

Before Dad left on his business trip, we did our favorite Saturday thing. Picnic of pizza at the pool. We love St. George's pool. Mommy is finally NOT afraid of the dark hydro tube. 

I won the contest of who could go down the slide the most. I went down 29 times. Mommy was close at 27.

We made Iva wear a life jacket the last time we went out to the lake. She did alright for having something on that had to feel like it was trying to swallow her!

Uncle E and I rode out on the tube together.

And then Cara got brave enough to join me.

We LOVED it. Even though at one time, the tube actually lifted off the water because of how strong the wind was and how much we don't weigh. Everyone in the boat was freaking out, but we just laughed!

We even took Iva out for her first little ride. It was awesome. All four ladies together!

And this is a little out of order chronologically speaking but we went BOWLING for the first time. Of course we loved it. I almost beat Mommy!

Grandma's Surgery

Sorry for the pause in blogging. Mom has been busy. Dad went on a business trip and my mom has been teaching a lot of classes at the gym because my Grandma had surgery! She's been in a lot of pain from an impinged nerve caused by a deteriorating discs in her neck. But no more! 

As Cara said "they cut off her head!" Okay only partially true. They made a cut in the front of her neck and she's slowly getting better every day!

And on a different note, check out this poem I wrote about Leonardo Davinci. I got to go to art camp last week and loved learning about different artists. (My actual favorite was Keith Herring.) However, I had heard of Davinci before from a story I had read. 

And finally on even a DIFFERENT note. We upgraded our stick family on our car! Check out our new bling that was FREE from Disney.

The baby goes mobile...

Guest post by Mommy:

My squishible, edible, delicious and adorable Iva Matilda is now eight months old.

And she is currently tearing apart the one living plant I have in the house...it has really felt the wrath of her mobility for over a month now. Sorry Grandma Sharon! I'm pretty sure you are watching from heaven laughing. Pretty sure. Please don't be scowling.

I don't think a day goes by in this house where we are not exclaiming our love for Iva or squeezing her or kissing her to the point she is annoyed. She's a very happy, cute baby. I'm probably biased, but still. I love cuddling with her. Although I will say, this month brought about the use of her name in a scolding tone. I have found that I kind of get stern when she won't hold still for a diaper change or when she is being particularly naughty during a nursing session.

She is completely mobile now. Right at the end of June she fully figured out how to crawl. She had been getting everywhere anyway, but the pieces all came together. Her downward dog poses have become less frequent and she's getting faster. Plus she is starting to figure out how to pull up on everything. I went back and read about my other girls because I was pretty sure she was my earliest crawler and it turns out she was right on track! Plus I didn't remember Cara or Siena getting into nearly as many naughty things or putting everything on the floor in their mouth. Once again, I was wrong. Apparently Cara's description at eight months included the phrase "if there is anything dangerous, gross or scary I seek after these things" or something like that.

Iva puts anything in her mouth. She loves to fist food in. I think she would still nurse for every meal AND get solids too. I'm trying to slowly wean her and nurse less and less, but somedays I'm just too lazy to feed her any other way! Iva is fairly adventurous in the food department. She doesn't love pureed vegetables, but come on...I don't even  like normal veggies! She will eat baby food, she will eat people food, and is currently learning how to suck out of a straw. She takes water from a sippy cup but mostly dribbles it out.

She LOVES to play with our printer that is on the floor under our computer. She keeps trying to fax things...good thing it isn't hooked up to a phone line!

Iva is still fairly easy going. We lost all but one binki on the fourth of July trip and it seemed like we might be able to get rid of them, but then we needed to drive the four hours home. She has a binki in her mouth right now.

She growls to communicate. Or at least more often than she babbles. She just loves to go guttural. It's hilarious and scary all at the same time. Her big sisters are the funniest people she comes in contact with. I'm able to take her to the gym daycare with no issues. She goes right to all the lovely ladies there.

Anytime I have her at the pool it seems like she loves the water and would choose to stay in there all day. Unless you put me on a tube in shallow water with her on my lap while we try and get over the waves created by the wave pool, then we flip over and I beat up my shoulder and she wants a break OUT of the water. I'm sure somebody saw it that wasn't my hubby (who was terrified and grabbed Iva so I didn't take her all the way under the water) and they were laughing, HARD.

It has been such a joy to be her mom. I can't wait to see what each day brings. Now excuse me, I once again need to go rescue my plant.

The Larsen Family Reunion!!

We made it up to Midway and checked into our condos with the rest of the Gordon Larsen clan...you know all the usual suspects that we hang out with.

Luckily Grandpa got a photo of Iva in her cute get up because Mom sure didn't!

COUSINS!

We loaded back into the cars and headed to Double Grandma and Grandpa's pad to let the festivities begin. There was eating and lots of visiting.

Last year these three girlies were all still in their mommas' bellies! I think they are related...no one has hardly any hair!

Grandpa hitched up the pony cart for us! Boden even got to drive!

We stayed clear until the fireworks show on Memorial Hill which was impressive, but not as impressive as the large brush fires that started! They were very distracting!

The next day almost everybody headed off to the Uintas for a Larsen Family back packing extravaganza. There 25 people going! Iva and Mommy stayed back with Grandma and Marty and Hailey and the boys. We hung out with Double Grandma and Grandpa for a little bit before heading down the mountain to take the twins to the zoo!

I LOVED BACKPACKING. Or at least I loved the part when we got to camp. I played my heart out with Sophia, Savannah, Josie, Boden, Jett and Gideon. We hunted for salamanders and made dirt tacos. Don't forget the delicious smores!

You might notice in this last photo my smile looks a bit pained. Indeed I had been crying, but in my defense I had a pretty dang good reason for it. While Grandpa was doing some climbing, I was playing on the rocks below with my dad and Uncle Eric. Cara was there too. Well there was this AWESOME HUGE boulder that I just had to see if I could get on top. Now it was sheer on three sides so my dad really thought there was no way I could get up it. Turns out he was partially wrong. In about two minutes all three adults thought about checking on me but nobody said anything because they thought I wouldn't go high. NOPE. To their horror, some lady climbing above them suddenly yelled "HEY! Somebody help that kid!" which was quickly followed by my screaming. Uncle Eric got to me, not on the rock, but in the rocks below it. I had fallen head first. He fully expected me to be bleeding from my head at the very least. Dad was pretty sure something was going to be broken or that we would be visiting the ER at least. THANKFULLY none of those things happened. I am scraped up on my torso and arm and we have discovered that my noggin is a bit sore and bruised, but that's it. Not one bandaid needed. I cried a fair amount and kind of kept weeping for the rest of the hike out, but really can you blame me?