Ice cream?

Tonight, Ellie put her sippy cup in her yogurt pot, turned it over and decided that it was an ice cream cone. I did my best to convince her that she was right -- maybe it will buy me a little time before she starts begging for the real thing. ;-)

Saturday

What a nice day! It was finally warm enough to get out of the house, which was a huge relief because cabin fever had definitely set in. So this morning we went for a walk around the neighborhood and for the first time, both kids were in the wagon!

Charlie's first layer...a hat from Nana, the sweater Nana knitted, the Santa socks from Meme and Shiny Grandpa, and Ellie's old leg-warmers. I think it's possible that he will not share my love of hand-me-downs.

Before the walk:
After the walk:

After naps, we headed back outside for some sidewalk chalk fun. I put Charlie is Ellie's old stroller so I could draw with Ellie and Ellie was not impressed. She decided that it was fine once she turned it into a double stroller.

Charlie is really into blowing raspberries these days, but as soon as I turned the camera on, he stopped...of course. Oh well. It's still a cute video of him smiling away.

Superman

I live with Superman. Actually, I'm married to him; I guess that makes me Mrs. Superman, but without any super powers. I don't know where he hides his cape, perhaps under that scarf he's always wearing, but I know he must have one. In the last two weeks, Damian has taken care of me while I was sick twice...and once he was sick himself. First, we both had a stomach bug last week and even though he felt absolutely rotten himself, he kept me fed (when that became an option), hydrated, and as well-rested as possible. He got up with the kids, went to work, picked up Gatorade, apple sauce, etc., and brought it to me in bed. And then this week when I almost died from mastitis (okay, I may not have been near death, but it felt like I was), Damian rushed out to the pharmacy, got Ellie fed and in bed (with the help of Jay, who I called in for reinforcement because the doctor wanted me to go to the ER), got up with the kids, got Ellie to school, came home early, brought me dinner in bed, etc., etc., etc. I am so, so lucky to have such a sweet, caring husband! I don't know how he manages such a demanding business and such a demanding (and lately sickly) wife, but I'm so glad he does. I've never felt so loved as when he put a trashcan next to my bed for me to be sick in and put a bathmat by the toilet to protect my knees -- that's love!. Thank you, Superman. xoxo

The 6 month/2 year check-ups

This morning, Ellie and Charlie both had their well visits. Both kiddos are doing well and are in great health. Charlie has some fluid and redness in one ear, but given his ear-to-ear smile, the doctor was convinced that he's not suffering and the ear doesn't need to be treated. So now the stats...

Charlie weighs 18 lbs., 2 oz., putting him in the 58th percentile (Ellie weighed 20 lbs., 1 oz. and was in the 95th+ percentile); he is 27.25 inches long and in the 76th percentile (Ellie was also exactly 27.25 inches long, but according to that doctor's chart, she was in the 95th percentile); and his head is in the 92nd percentile. So basically he's a lovable little bobble-head doll.

Ellie weighs 31.8 lbs. and is 92nd percentile; she's 37.5 inches tall and in the 99th percentile (really, she's off the charts...by quite a bit); and her head is in the 98th percentile. Not surprising to anyone.

We are so very blessed to have two beautiful, sweet, healthy, happy kiddos!

Sneaky!

Lately, Ellie has started telling me to "stay there" before she goes off to do something naughty. This morning, we were sitting at her little table in the kitchen when she got up, said "Stay there, Mommy. Stay there." and went around the corner and started playing in Gracie's water dish. I had a hard time not laughing as I dragged her out of the bowl and reminded her that we don't play in Gracie's water. So should I be worried that at 2 years old, she's capable of thinking "hhm...I really want to take this xylophone mallet and splash it in Gracie's water but Mom will never go for it. I need to distract her so I can get a head start. She's always saying 'stay there, Ellie. Stay there' when we're in a busy parking lot or something. I'll try that."

Counting

With the help of Mickey Mouse, Ellie has learned to count to 10. It's so sweet listening to her count. We had a couple of hiccups along the way when she thought that "okay, time-out" came after 3, and for some reason, she thought "l, m, n, o, p" came after 8, but now she's got it down! She still occasionally thinks that 6 is a color ("Ellie, what color is this?" "Blue!" "No." "Red!" "No." "Six!"), but that's another issue.