Outside!

We finally have beautiful weather! We have been trying to go outside as much as possible, both Ethan and Lillie love it. Ethan will be ready to run a marathon the way he runs around the yard. This morning during Lillie's nap, Ethan and I were all over the yard. We went from the way back by the creek, to the driveway to the wet swampy side and everywhere in between. He just can't stay in one spot! I finally brought out some chalk. He wasn't too interested in it so I decided to write the alphabet all over the driveway.

I was finally able to sit and soak up some sun for a couple of minutes while calling out letters. He loved running and jumping on the correct one. Next time I will have to write lower case letters, he is too smart and knows his upper case letters!

After Lillie woke up, we came back outside. She loves to chew on my phone and gets very upset when I take it away.  I dread the days when all she wants to do is talk on the phone!  However it was useful to have occupied with my phone while I chased down Ethan two doors away.   Ethan couldn't stay by Lillie and me so we headed back inside where Ethan can be contained with the gates. We spent more time putting together puzzles.  He has a 48 piece fish puzzle that he loves to do. I tried to keep it out of sight until he was older, thinking he would just end up losing all the pieces. But he can do it all by himself, we constantly amazed by our smart little boy!   On the upside of our outdoor adventures, this afternoon Lillie slept for over 3 hours and Ethan for over 4!

Once Ryan got home, we headed back out.  They love playing with Daddy. Tonight he and Lillie chased Ethan all over the yard.  Both kiddos were laughing like crazy. We are grateful for a Daddy who works hard all day and then jumps into play time with the kids as soon as he gets home!

The end of the world and a playground

Since the world is supposedly ending tomorrow, we decided a little rain wouldn't stop our what could be our last trip to the playground!!  Ethan had been asking all morning to go to the "graygroun" so when Ryan got home we decided to head out. Its been raining all week so we were glad to finally have some sunshine.  However, it started to sprinkle on our way over.  We lucked out, the rain never came and as a bonus we had the whole place to ourselves!

 We had been to the playground before for playgroup and Ethan knew right where to go to get to the big slide.

 Ethan and Lillie had fun banging on the drums. Silly kids were making each other laugh!

Ethan is very good now at climbing on all the different ways to get up to the slide.

He was very intrigued by the 6 year olds at their lacrosse practice.  Only 4 more years until he can join in!

Daddy and Lillie enjoying the swing.  Ethan did not want to swing at all!

Ethan was not thrilled to try the see saw either.

Lillie enjoyed it though!

We are continuing to give Lillie new foods to try. She makes a mess but loves it! 



Lillie's first food

Today we gave Lillie her first food, avocado. We've been going back and forth over whether or not to start her on solids yet. She's been showing us signs that she was ready, able to pick up objects, putting things in her mouth, chewing on her tongue and able to sit up by herself. We decided to skip rice cereal and  pureed foods altogether. Instead we will be slowly introducing her to regular foods and letting her self-feed.  Her main nutrition is still coming from nursing, this is mostly for fun and to get used to new tastes. Lillie also gets vitamin drops every day now with fluoride and iron, poor girl does not like it at all!

She was quick when we gave her the first slice of avocado.

At first she wasn't sure about it.

She played with it for about 5 minutes before finally putting it into her mouth.  She liked it!

She ate a few more bites.

Then she made even more of a mess.  We took her straight to the bath at the end!

Her first food was a success! We are especially excited to give her veggies from our garden soon!

Ethan's Escapades

What is wrong with this picture?

Ethan loves the fish tank. As you can see he loves to throw things in it, this time it was a toothbrush and the fish food jar. In the past its been credit cards, Lillie's toys and pens.

Earlier this week, Ethan and I made cookies while Lillie was napping. While mixing the cookies, I realized I needed to call Ryan before he headed home.  I unplugged the kitchenaid and made the call. When I turned around, Ethan had unlatched the sugar jar and was pouring more in there!  I thought I was being smart by unplugging it, but I forgot to check if he had turned it on so after I got out as much sugar as I could and added some flour, I plugged it back on and it whirred to life at full speed.  We were covered in flour!  The cookies turned out great and Ethan loved them.  He even showed us that he knows what two means.  Each time I gave him a cookie, I said "one cookie". One time, he said, "no two cookies" and put out both hands! He was so cute, that I had to give him two.

We have not found anything to keep Ethan out of the fridge. We finally bought a tall gate on amazon that is working out. He has broken numerous eggs and pulled out all sorts of things.  One day Lillie woke up from her nap before Ethan, I decided to go outside sit on a blanket with her.  The only shade is towards the back of the yard so I took the baby monitor with me.  Even though its not in Ethan's room, I figured I'd still be able to hear him. our house isn't that big.  We were outside for about 25 minutes when I decided I better check on him. When I got inside, I found Ethan sitting on the floor in front of the fridge in a huge pile of yeast.  He had pushed down one of the gates in his bedroom, climbed over the small gate into the dining room and made his way to the kitchen.  He took the jar of yeast, poured half of on the floor, latched the jar and put it back on the shelf.  He probably thought it was sand the way he was playing in it.

This morning after Ryan let Ethan out of his room, Ethan went downstairs.  Again he climbed over the smaller gate (don't worry we have another tall gate on its way!) even though we had piled up boxes, the extra car seat and a few other things to deter him.  He went into the kitchen, grabbed a gallon of milk and his cup, made his way back over the small gate, and then up the stairs.  I'm surprised he didn't spill any of the milk!

Before we got the first tall gate, I was nursing Lillie and he came into the living room with gallon of milk and his cup.  I told him to put it back because it was unopened and I knew I wouldn't be able to pour it until Lillie was done. He put it on the floor and then laid on top of it and started rolling over it! Luckily it didn't burst open.

Yesterday I made him pancakes. He has been obsessed with M&Ms so I decided to put some in his pancakes.  He watched me put them on the pancake and got excited until Ryan flipped the pancake over. Then he started crying because he thought they were gone. Even after Ryan put the pancake on his pink plate (his favorite one!) so the he could see them, he still wasn't happy. He did like it once he started eating them!

While Ethan definitely keeps us on our toes, we sure do love our little boy!

Lillian is 6 months old!

Yesterday our little girl became a 6 month old! How did half a year go by already? With only 6 months until her first birthday I've already started looking for the perfect cake for Matthew to make her.

At her 6 month check up earlier this week, she weighed 14lb 3oz and was 26 3/8 in long. She barely cried with her first two shots but had had it by the third. She is doing wonderfully.  Everyone now comments on what a happy baby she is.  She has outgrown the acid reflux and we stopped giving her zantac a couple of weeks ago.  We went through a really rough patch with naptime which ended with a sleep-deprived baby and an unhappy momma. No matter what I did, she would wake as soon as I laid her down in the crib. One day I gave up and just let her scream.  Magically she fell asleep in 15 minutes.  Since then she has been going to sleep on her own in the crib within 5 minutes. Fortunately she has started taking 2 long naps every day.  Its been fun to have some one-on-one time with Ethan every morning.

Lillie is rolling over like a champ and can easily make it from one side of the room to the other.She is sitting up on her own.  She's quick too-she grabs everything in reach and even tries to get our food.  She has yet to have anything other than breast milk but we will probably start something soon seeing as she is so tiny. The doctor really wants us to start solids and fatten her up. She nurses every 2-3 hours during the day and once at night so she is getting plenty. I'm holding off for now, she is finally so happy and content, I don't want to mess it up!