Wednesday, September 28, 2016

September Activities---with amusing commentary

Another September in the history books. This month, in addition to the daily business of eating, sleeping, and laundry--which happens a lot around our house--we've done some home projects, photo shoots, visited the zoo and library, enjoyed nicer weather, and squeezed in a little time for fun.
Playgroup at the YMCA pool. It was nice and empty during the school day and we enjoyed the perfect temperature outside.
Visiting our favorite park.....wished we lived closer!
Over Labor Day I decided to do a low-key scaled back emergency preparedness night where we pretended we didn't have electricity for about 12 hours. Since I was in charge, it conveniently started just as I finished cooking dinner. ;) I know emergencies aren't always convenient, so it gave me a lot to think about in the case that our "emergency" wasn't as convenient.
Ethan slept in our tent in the basement. I set it up with his help and he loved it! My original plan was to sleep in the tent with him, but he wanted to sleep in it "all by himself" so I didn't complain about sleeping in my nice comfortable bed.

Another part of our emergency night was checking to make sure our portable stove was working, so we roasted marshmallows and ate s'mores.

Look at all this yummy goodness!

We also "labored" over the holiday weekend by putting together to sets of shelves. Ethan loves to "help" and use the tools in any way we'll let him. Fortunately these IKEA shelves were pretty simple and he got to help a lot.

We ended our Labor Day adventure with a dinner picnic at a new park. It's always fun to go as a family!


One day we went and picked up Dad from work to have lunch with him at the Riverfront Park. Ethan, as you can see, enjoyed the splash pad!

A little lovin' going on.

In rearranging Ethan's bedroom, we found some great bedding to go along with his jungle theme. Now he can sleep with either jungle animals or Cars. Both great picks!

One weekend we met up with one of Jason's coworkers at the Riverfront park for some more water fun, a ride on the carousel, and a nice lunch at a restaurant with a view of the city. Incidentally, we got the gift certificates for the restaurant because Jason ate a work lunch there one day and while Jason was there they had a fire in the kitchen where they had to use fire extinguishers so Jason never got served his food. That was an interesting work outing!

Pretty in Pink, thanks to the Carters. Both the store and the family. :)

A train ride on a perfect day to visit the zoo. Great weather and not crowded!

Our train ride. Ethan was so thrilled that he couldn't even remember to tell Dad about it later that day, even when prompted.

When you can't find your pacifier....

Later in the month we visited Dad at work again. Ethan had his first experience with a vending machine and this is what he chose...with a little encouragement from Dad. :)  I honestly can't remember the last time I bought something from a vending machine, but I'm sure it was before Ethan was born.

Future Worker of America. He was so adept at using Dad's computer that after we left he had figured out how to mess up the computer so that it did weird things for Dad right before his meeting. Fortunately it got fixed in the nick of time.

First time in a playground swing

Official 3-year-old photo shoot

Official 6 1/2 month photo shoot ---this may have been the only picture she smiled for

Grass is more interesting than the camera....or the jingling keys....or the cooing parents...
"Should we look at the camera?......no," said the conspiring siblings

Thinking.....
Georgie Porgie, Puddin' and Pie,
Kissed the girls and made them cry.

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Ethan and Lydia updates

Wow, I didn't realize how much Lydia has grown in the last month until I started looking back at some pictures I have taken. Just 5 weeks ago she couldn't even roll over by herself, but now she can roll from stomach to back, back to stomach, sit for over a minute without support before toppling over, and has been introduced to solid foods. Lydia is very alert and loves to watch Ethan. She giggles the most at Ethan. She is a pretty good sleeper, although she always fights going down to bed for the night. She must be a night owl like me. She still wakes a couple times and wants a pacifier, but I'm hoping that eventually goes away. She is happy most of the time, although she continues to deal with mild digestive issues that makes her uncomfortable at times. She reaches for everything near her and tries to put it in her mouth. No teeth yet. She just had her 6 month well check and here are the stats:

Weight   16 lbs 6 oz   54%tile
Height    27 1/4 in      91%tile
Head      16 1/2 in      28 %tile
5 months
July 17, 2016

Rolling from tummy to back (5 months)

Getting buried in toys by Ethan

Visit to the Zoo

Pulling down her hat and falling asleep
Tummy time (5 months 3 weeks)

6 months


6 months - she's supposed to be taking a nap :)

First Solids: rice cereal and prunes

The Girls ")

Sitting at 6 months 1 week

Ethan has also had some major changes. He celebrated his 3rd birthday this month! We opened presents at home and invited the Huxel family to our community pool a couple days later for cupcakes and ice cream. They were kind enough to bring a couple of presents as well. A week before Ethan's birthday we decided to try a second round of potty training. Ethan did really well and is now wearing underwear! He loves the movie Cars, so of course that is the underwear he was excited to wear. I'm glad he picked it up so well the second time because cleaning up accidents is not fun! He learned to sing the ABC song more clearly and can identify pretty much all of his uppercase letters. He can also count to 10 pretty consistently. He loves to play outside, dance, jump, sing, and tell other people what to do. :) He is still a great eater and sleeper, but he does stay up later and get up earlier now that he is potty trained. Ethan keeps us smiling with the funny things he says or the words he uses to describe things, especially when he's asking for something and he doesn't remember the name of it. For example, he called my ear buds, "ear bugs" the other day. :) Ethan also just had his 3 year well check and here are his stats:

Weight   39 lbs 9 oz    96%tile
Height   39 1/2 in        89%tile

The Boys making crepes for Mom

Potty Trained! He was excited to finally earn this dump truck I bought for him almost a year ago for potty training.

Happy Birthday! The blue ghostie present is kind of fun because Ethan likes to pretend he's a friendly ghost after bath time when he puts the brown towel on his head and waves his hand.
Pool Time for Ethan's birthday

Opening a few presents

Playing with a miniature construction truck set

Ethan loves to do somersaults while dancing and Lydia loves to watch him.

Swinging at the park near our house

Standing in front of the Ohio River at the park


Trip to the Zoo, I think he kind of looks like Jason did as a little boy in this picture

"Angry faces" with Kerrigan at the zoo
"Laughing faces" with Kerrigan

 Jason and I were also lucky enough to get out on a date without our children. We played Disc Golf at a nearby park. It was quite the course! It was fun and well marked, but kind of intense here where it feels like a humid jungle. :) We're lucky we didn't lose a disc! But it was really nice to be outside doing something fun without the kids. Reminded me of something we would do before we had kids. :)

This is one of the more open holes. Usually we were throwing it through the trees.