Balance

The little guy is getting pretty good at riding his balance bike-- except he holds his legs out absurdly far.

We went around the entire block tonight, and eventually it was just too much for him. What a ham! Don't you love how completely unconcerned Beau is?

DIY Dinner

The little guy has enjoyed assembling dinner lately, so we had build-your-own fajitas tonight. The little guy filled his tortilla with cheese and corn. Apparently it was delicious!

Meanwhile, the baby gave herself an avocado spa treatment. Mashed avocado was in her hair, her ears, all over her face... She took a bath before bed.

Out Maneuvered?

First of all, I ended up taking the baby to the doctor this afternoon because she was tugging on her ears and crying-- but the doctor said it's just teething combined with a head cold. We're going to try school again tomorrow, but maybe with some ibuprofen first.

The little guy and I fed the baby some applesauce tonight since her appetite is back (yay!). He kept asking if he could have the rest of her food. I kept saying no, because seriously, what a mooch!

Next thing you know, he sneezed and sprayed sneeze-juice (gross!) all over her food. I let him eat the rest of that applesauce and got the baby a sneeze-free serving. Was I outwitted by a three-year-old or did he just get lucky?

Sick Baby

She's finally feeling better, but this is what she looked like this morning:

I tried to give her bananas this morning, but she just cried and wanted to cuddle. She did eat some peaches for dinner, though, and is sleeping peacefully now.

Weekend Update?

We spent a lot of time playing what the little guy calls "Hide and Seek." His version involves hiding followed by hysterical laughter and hollering for somebody to say they can't see you. Bet you can't find us!

The little guy also helped feed the baby. He's actually pretty careful with her (for the most part). She's now eating banana, zucchini, sweet potatoes, applesauce, oatmeal, and peaches.

Eric and the kids spent some time watching baseball (on a phone) on the screened-in porch today. I took the baby for a six-mile hike with a friend and the boys took a nap.

I hope your Memorial Day was as relaxing as ours!

We have a winner!

He might not look like he's paying attention, but he won a prize for SCIENCE today!

Being this smart is exhausting!

Every month or so, the kids' school posts a science question by the door. Each child can fill out a piece of paper with their name, class, and answer. If they get the right answer, they are entered into a drawing to win a prize. The little guy won! Here's his entry form:

He likes to switch up the order of the letters in his name.

He correctly answered the question "How long does it take to make a 1 inch layer of soil?" with choice D, which was 500 years. And then he won a lunchbox!

He's been wearing it on his head. What can I say? He's a genius.

Bravo, little guy, bravo!

Sitting and Sock Updates

First, the sock update. The little dude took off his socks at school, his teacher found them, and she gave them to him. The socks are now gone, but his teacher didn't throw them away.

The baby is working on crawling. Apparently she was pushing with her toes some this evening, but her technique is all wrong. Here's what she does:
1. She pushes up on her arms and looks around.
2. She lays down on her belly and kicks her legs in the air while holding her arms up.
3. She pushes up on her arms and looks around, disappointed.
4. She starts fussing because she hasn't moved.
Rinse and repeat.

Sitting, though, that she can do. Hooray!

Churchy Stuff

The little dude continues to be ridiculous with his praying. Tonight he thanked God for the food and then let God know that his teachers threw his socks in the trash today. (We're not clear on what happened-- he went to school with socks and came home without... but I'm sure if they're in the trash it's for a good reason.) Yesterday he prayed "Dear God, Thank you for butter. It's good." I think we could all add a sincere Amen to that.

Here's an unrelated picture of him looking sad while eating ice cream:

Yummy

I made two new batches of baby food today-- zucchini and peaches. Despite appearances, she really did like the zucchini.

Her little storkbite always makes her look so worried! She was in a bit of a snuggly mood after dinner, so I got this picture while she grabbed a fistful of my hair.

Sandal Season!

It's officially sandal season, which means that I was painting my toenails before church on Sunday when somebody wanted a pedicure...

That kid looks like his daddy but he sure got my feet.

Anyway, the baby has been blowing spit bubbles, and the little dude thinks it is hilarious. He's starting to get into potty humor (yes!) so the spit-bubble noises make him laugh.

All Dressed Up!

We were basically on time (ish) to Sunday School this morning. The little guy picked out his own outfit for church today, including the sweater vest. I asked him if I could take his picture after he told me he looked "so sharp" and he wanted to take a picture with the baby. She's all dressed up, too!

Scootching

The baby can turn herself around and she's trying to crawl. She kicks her legs in the air and looks at stuff intently... it's kind of hilarious. Anyway, here's a video of her trying to get somewhere until the little guy and the dog decided to join her.

Babies

The little guy has been pretending to be a baby since, well, since we had another baby. It drives Eric nuts, but I think it's kind of funny-- mostly because it's always short-lived. ("Can I please have a cookie?" "Babies can't eat cookies." "I'm not a baby anymore!") Anyway, the little dude insisted on getting a bath tonight (just like a baby), and I was able to sneak in some snuggles before plopping him in the tub.

The actual baby got a couple of vaccines today, so she's sacked out in her crib with a low fever, poor little thing. It can be hard being a baby!

Halfway to One!

The baby turned six whole months old today. Tonight, she looked like this:

Six months ago, she looked like this:

Huh. Now that I'm really looking at them, she doesn't actually look that different!

Sports Nut

The little guy went to his ice-skating lesson on Saturday, so he was inspired to play indoor hockey first thing Sunday morning.

Matching pajamas are for suckers.

Then he played baseball at the beach all afternoon! Here's a video:
No wonder he slept so well last night!

Life's a Beach!

We played hookey from church today and went to the beach. It was definitely a good decision, especially since we can watch the sermon online tonight before bed (that counts, right?). At the beach, we ate a picnic lunch and then dipped our toes in the water,

the boys played baseball,

the baby played in the sand,

and I caught some rays with the little guy.

It was a wonderful day!

Sitting!

The baby has been working on sitting this week-- apparently she threw a fit when her teachers tried to lay her down on Thursday. (She's a pretty chill baby in general, but when she's not happy, she's really not happy.) Anyway, here's a video of her sitting this morning. The little guy is basically narrating stream-of-conciousness style... this is what it's like at our house. All the time.

We have a similar video of the little guy learning how to sit (she's almost a month older now than he was then).

Stuffing his face

The boy might be heading for a growth spurt soon. He's been eating us out of house and home. I think we're gonna have a rough time when he's a teenager. Sometimes, though, we have to spice it up. Tonight we counted the green beans as we ate them. Notice his fingers; this is his seventh green bean.

 I think he has a whole plate of green beans in his mouth here.

 The girl baby wanted to eat too, but I don't think the plastic tasted as good as Emily's green beans.

It was so nice out tonight after several days of unseasonably cool, cloudy weather that the boy requested dinner outside. After dinner we had a quick softball game in the back yard and then off to bed. These kiddos are lots of fun.

Yikes!

Guess who pushed the stroller for a (very little and closely supervised) bit on our walk tonight?

He's about as responsible with the stroller than he is with those little grocery carts. That boy is a menace.

They're Close...

These two are so close to each other.

Literally...

 Incredibly close.

Summertime?

It's been unseasonable dreary the past week-- the baby had to wear tights and long sleeves to church under her summer romper it was so chilly.

To celebrate the beginning of hot weather (any day now!) I chopped my hair off today! The little guy posed with me for a quick (blurry) photo in the kitchen after dinner.

Three Things

1. We got to see a real train up close and personal this weekend. It was pretty amazing! And loud! The little guy covered his ears, but the baby didn't seem to mind at all.

2. I was singing Rock-a-bye Baby to the little dude while holding him in my arms and it was kind of painful and awkward. When did he get to be so long and bony?

3. To end things on a sweet note, the two kiddos continue to enjoy their floor gym.

Quiet!

For a brief (and glorious?) moment tonight, our house was filled with peace and quiet even though everyone was awake! The baby was playing by herself,

the boy was watching a train video,

and even Beau was contentedly chewing on a rawhide.

Then the heavens opened and angels sang. (Well, it felt like it...)

Bathtime!

The baby got a bath tonight, and she's big enough now to like sitting up in the tub.

This probably isn't the appropriate post to mention this, but the baby looks SO much like my mom sometimes that it's kind of freaky.

 Anyway, here are the boys! (Speaking of look-a-likes...)

Mama's Boy

Even though it may seem like the little guy doesn't listen, he's listening. On the way home tonight we got stuck in traffic and he piped up from the backseat: "Moooove! Come on! Let's GOOOOO!!! What's the PROBLEM?!??!" Um, I think the problem might be too many mornings stuck in traffic with me. Yikes! I was literally weeping I was laughing so hard. I fail so hard at being a role model.

Here's our smiley little girl to distract you from the terrible things I'm teaching my son.