Jump!...or just hang out

Charlie has started going into the jumperoo and he likes it, but doesn't seem to quite get it. I'm pretty sure he needs to actually put his feet down in order to jump!

Here's Miss Ellie when she was just a couple weeks older than Charlie is now:

If you had been a fly on the wall today

...you might have heard some gems like this:

Me: "Ellie, Charlie isn't old enough to catch. Stop throwing balls at his head."

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Ellie: "MINE, MINE, MINE. NOOOOO SASSIE [Gracie]. MINE!"
Me: "I'm sorry Ellie, you lost possession of those nuts when you chewed them up, gagged, and spit them out. It's Gracie's turn."

New prized possession

Should our house ever catch fire, I would grab the backup of these videos before anything else (except the kids, of course). If we're under a tornado watch, my computer is coming under the stairs with us. I love these videos. They make me so happy. I just hope the first one doesn't make anyone seasick -- it's a bit shaky because I was laughing so hard. But I'm proud of the fact that I didn't fall on the floor laughing...like I did the last time Damian played the hula hoop game on the Wii.

Daddy's funny too!

Damian has been getting the best belly laughs out of Charlie lately! It reminds me of how he used to make Ellie crack up (of course he still does, but back then, he was the only person who could make her laugh).

Ellie's big day

It's nearly impossible to believe, but Miss Ellie is TWO! In so many ways, I can't believe that two years have passed since this amazing, loving, energetic, funny little girl came into our lives; but in others, it seems like just yesterday that we were bringing her home from the hospital...and then sitting on the couch, looking at her strapped into her big carseat, wondering what in the world we were supposed to do with her.

We had Ellie's birthday party today and despite the fact that a lot of the kiddos couldn't make it due to illness, the birthday girl had a great time! My friend Celena (who was sweet enough to come to the party even though both of her kiddos were home sick) brought a parachute for the kids to play with. They LOVED it! They liked shaking it and watching balls bounce around on it and they really liked running under it and riding around in circles on it. Oh, you might wonder why Jackson is in costume -- apparently, he convinced his mom and dad that Ellie really, really wanted him to come to the party in his Mickey Mouse costume. :-) She loved it!

The big moment...more "cupcakes." Jackson had waited so patiently for cake that we just had to give him a candle too.

After a nice long nap, Ellie opened her presents. She loved the Minnie Mouse nightgown and pajamas that Grandad and Grandma Sue gave her. On a side note, Ellie now points to the picture of Grandad/Papa on our refrigerator and says "cry, cry, cry" -- she loved playing that game with him!

And then came the gift that I may spend a lot of time trying to hide...a drum...with all kinds of other noise-makers! Actually, the headaches will be worth the utter joy that it brings Ellie...and Charlie will probably stop flinching with every bang...eventually. Luckily, it came with a strap so she can chase us all over the house while she plays it. Thanks, Shiny Grandpa and Meme! ;-)

Gaga and Papa gave Ellie a Skippyjon Jones stuffed animal (with whom she has an animated conversation in the next video) and book, and some paint pens. Ellie LOVES painting and always talks about how she painted at school, so she'll be so excited to have some paints of her own...and I'm excited that they're washable. Thanks, Gaga and Papa!

Nana and the Ennis Family got Ellie some pretend food for her kitchen -- and Ellie thought it was lots of fun to make sandwiches and then pretend to eat them.


They also got Ellie a wooden train set, complete with a bridge and a water tower. I can picture the kids playing with it together in a couple of years; and in the meantime, Daddy doesn't seem to mind being a stand-in. Thank you, Nana, Auntie Emma, Uncle Brian, Thomas, and Joseph.

I don't know if you noticed, but Ellie said "Sawah" several times in the other videos. She wasn't saying it because the gifts were from Auntie Sarah, but because she apparently thinks one of the princesses on the wrapping paper looks like Sarah. Anyway, this gift was from Sarah and was a big hit -- thank you, Auntie Sarah!

Auntie Jamie, Uncle Eric and Alex called and sang a beautiful "happy birthday" to Ellie and then Alex recorded a message for Ellie on their blog. Here's Ellie watching it for the first time...we didn't record the other EIGHT times that she insisted watching it. ;-) Thank you for the sweet birthday wishes, Galyons!

The birthday girl with her daddy:

Blowing kisses:

Phew...lots of videos. I'm sure there is some way I could edit and condense them, but I'm not sure how...maybe I'll figure that out before Ellie's third birthday.

Let the celebration begin!

This morning, I brought some birthday treats up to Ellie's school. After saying a pre-treat prayer, her whole class sang "happy birthday" to her and then they enjoyed (yes, enjoyed) some "cupcakes" -- they were whole wheat banana nut muffins, sweetened with apple juice, but the kids didn't seem to notice. It's hard to believe that my baby is going to be 2 on Saturday!

Prunes, prunes, the musical fruit

Oatmeal is having some undesired consequences on sweet Charlie's system, so his next food is prunes. As you can see, he wasn't sure about the first bite, but he quickly decided they were pretty tasty. And he is definitely taking after his sister -- he cries when the food runs out.

Sisters are so funny!

Ellie is by far, and without competition, Charlie's favorite person in the world. He just loves her and he thinks she's hilarious!

It's on

Let the sibling rivalry begin! Ellie has tolerated Charlie and been amazing at sharing our attention with him, but that all changed yesterday when she was expected to share her highchair AND food (technically, it wasn't her food, but she did not seem concerned with technicalities). Charlie had his first solid food yesterday and the excitement of the event was totally lost on Ellie! "Mine chair, mine chair, mine chair" was pretty much the only thing I could make out between the wails, tearing of clothes, and gnashing of teeth, but we definitely got the point. She could not be consoled with reminders that she had just finished eating, that Charlie was eating yucky baby oatmeal, not something delicious, or that she would get two more meals later that day while Charlie would have to wait until tomorrow to eat again. I turned up both of their monitors last night because I was a bit worried that Ellie might try to escape her crib and eliminate the competition for her highchair and her food!

Here's the big boy!

And his sister 19 months ago

This is a video from today's meal. Ellie tolerated it a little better and Charlie still made some great faces:

Charlie's favorite place

Charlie is loving his exersaucer...and I love having somewhere to "stick him" so I can get a few things done!

Riding in style, part II

We took advantage of the fantastic weather yesterday afternoon by playing in the backyard. Ellie had fun using sidewalk chalk and riding her plasma car. And then we took the wagon for a spin. Charlie isn't sitting up well enough to sit in the wagon on his own, but it worked perfectly to put him in the Bumbo -- he loved it! Thank you Shiny Grandpa and Meme!

I love these pictures -- they show just how much Charlie loves his big sister!

Where's Ellie?

This afternoon, I told Ellie that I needed to change her diaper and then chatted with Hillary (who was over watching Ellie while I took Charlie to the doctor -- THANK YOU, Hillary) while I waited for Ellie to come over to me. After a few minutes, I realized that she had gotten awfully quiet. Turns out that she found a new hiding spot:

Ridin' in style

Charlie has finally graduated to a seat, rather than a bassinet, in the double stroller. Despite the chilly temperatures, he seemed to really enjoy watching the world go by.

My personal cheerleader

Ellie's really a boost to the ego these days.

I change her diaper. "Good job, Mommy!"

I turn on the TV. "Good job, Mommy!"

I put her shoes on. "Good job, Mommy!"

Toddler deception

Last night, as I was getting Ellie ready for bed, she tooted and then we had the following conversation.

Ellie: Charlie toot.
Me: Charlie's asleep.
Ellie: Daddy toot.
Me: Daddy's at work.
Ellie: Mouse toot.
Me: The mouse tooted?
Ellie: Stinky.

Charlie's "well" visit

Charlie had his four month check-up today but it didn't end up being much of a well visit. The poor little guy has bronchiolitis (the smoking dinosaur is back), two ear infections, and thrush. We're holding off on treating the ear infections right now, which is good since there just isn't enough time in the day to do 3-4 breathing treatments, 4 doses of thrush medication, 2 doses of reflux medicine AND 2 doses of antibiotics each day! I need a personal assistant just to keep up with all of it.

Considering everything he has going on, Charlie is doing okay, but he's definitely not feeling well. His cough sounds horrible and his nose doesn't stop running. It's horrible not being able to do anything to make him feel better or to prevent him from getting all of these nasty bugs (short of locking us all up in the house until cold and flu season is over). The doctor said that it's normal for a second child to have cold after cold, but knowing it's normal doesn't make it much easier for him. I'm just praying that he'll get over this nasty cold and be well for a good stretch of time -- otherwise, we'll be sitting in an ENT's office very soon (the doc said that if he gets another ear infection before 6 months, we'll need to go see one and he'll probably recommend tubes -- YUCK!).

So other than the numerous illnesses, Charlie is actually doing very well -- he weighs 16 pounds (60th percentile -- up from the 40th at 4 months), is 26.25 inches long (82nd percentile) and his head is in the 80th percentile. His stats are probably slightly inflated since he's actually 4.5 months old, but I'm thrilled with them -- I'll never understand how he's able to gain weight when he seems to spit up everything he eats, but he does and that's what's important!