Easter Part Two

We spent our Easter afternoon at "Nana" Kathy's house with her family for dinner and an Easter egg hunt. Eleanor was a bit shy at first, but soon warmed up and had a good time playing with everyone.


She didn't get the concept of the Easter egg hunt at first. She looked at us like we were crazy for making her pick up colored eggs. Then she saw the M&Ms in the eggs and the light went on for her. After she finished her eggs she grabbed her bucket and went back out in the yard to look for more, unfortunately there were no eggs left as the other kids did a good job finding them.



In other news, I guess you could say we have begun potty training. Eleanor likes her potty and gets the idea you need to sit on it, however she feels the need to get completely naked while sitting. Although she has not done anything on the potty she picked up the idea that reading material is a required aspect.

Happy Easter!

Yup that's right Happy Easter. Our queue has gotten so full of pictures and updates we are running a month or so behind schedule. So the kids look much older than they do in these pictures. For example, Jackson is currently sporting a moustache. Here is a picture of the kids posing in their Easter clothes before going out to eat. They might be a little young for forced posing . . .





The rest of the Easter festivities went better than posing together. EKG loved dying eggs and the only problem came we we ran out of eggs to color.

She got a cool Easter basket that was light on candy and heavy on toys and distractions (thanks dollar store!). Eleanor loved her new hair ties and tried them out with Mama. We have some more Easter pictures that we will try and have posted by Memorial Day.

First Zoo Visit

A few weeks ago we took our first trip to the Columbus Zoo as a family. The zoo was pretty crazy as it was one of the first days they were showing the new baby elephant to the public and by the time we got in the line was already well back of the pachyderm building. As our girl is not to fond of waiting for anything we took off in the opposite direction. Eleanor loved the coral reef exhibit and would giggle whenever a fish or shark would swim close.

Jackson was not so impressed with the animals.

EKG and Mama checking out the koala bears.

She also liked the manatees and made us turn a sleeping Jack around to he could see them.

Off to find more animals.

Brilliant!

So, our girl is brilliant. Of course we knew it already, but today she proved it--3 times before 7 am. Nora is exactly 21 months old and she repeated the alphabet--the whole thing! Until today, she would always stop at the letter "f" but not today, boy, she went right through to "z" three times! Well, I am just so excited and so is she! And yes, we do have Easter pictures! Seriously, we are just so busy at home and the days are over before we even realize it. But, some updates include Eleanor learning about a "naughty spot" and showing great excitement to use her potty. Last night she stripped down completely naked twice to sit on her potty chair. She actually peed next to it, which we consider a step in the right direction. Jack is getting longer every day. He is controlling is neck well and coos at everyone a lot. Here is Jack, happy as a clam, after his sister brought him the doughnut holes last week. She brings him everything, offers him whatever she is eating or drinking or playing with. He can't play with her yet, but I just cant help but think that once he does want to play with her, she won't care one bit. Look at that smile! Wehages, I think he got your cheeks!
Here is Daddy and Nora Kate. She can do a mean lower lip pout and she knows just how to do it too. Jack does it and it breaks our hearts, but Nora doe sit to crack daddy and Mama up!
And here I am playing my new favorite game with Jackson. I kiss him on the cheeks and he moves, usually open-mouthed, to kiss me back. It is very sweet and I just can't resist giving kisses to my babies.

In other news, we are going to start working to get the house in order to sell. We have to do some painting, patching, moving of furniture, yard work, and power washing. Oh yeah, and we gave ourselves a month to do this. Wish us luck! We're pretty sure we are making the move to Grandview, about a mile from where we are now, but into a good school district while staying urban. We'll keep you updated as best we can!

While I'm home sick

I might as well post some pictures.


A late happy St. Pat's Day!



Playing with Mom's purse on a nice spring day.


Taking care of "Jack!"



Uncle Ben stopped by for a visit (from Switzerland) and became Eleanor's best friend for a day.


Jackson still loves his sister and lights up when she is around.

Some Pictures

Mookie helping with the laundry, which is never ending.

Some pictures from a birthday party for some of EKG's older friends.



EKG playing with her doggie carrier.

Update

Has it really been 3 weeks since a post? With both parents working 40+ hours a week; keeping up with two kids; all four of us getting sick; AND having the kitchen remodeled a bit, the blog fell off the family to do list. Well, here we are, alive and well, and it's back on the list. Now, I just have to get my brackets done (note: all THREE of Wendy's alma maters are in the Big Dance this year---first time ever. Go Zags, Vikings, & Zips!).

We really are managing to have loads of fun. Jackson has started to smile and react to us. Eleanor loves it (and demands "more") when he smiles at her. And he complies, like a good little brother, despite the abuse she has heaped on him. Here she is giving him a pacifier, which she has taken up as her major contribution to his life.

Eleanor is making so many strides it is hard to know what to report. She continues to expand her vocabulary and understanding of what we are saying (listening to what we are saying is another matter). She now says "Butt" on a regular basis, plus almost anything her Mama or Daddy says outloud. She also sings along with certain songs (Row Your Boat, ABCs) and enjoys doing hand motions with others (Turtle, Itsy Bitsy Spider).

She likes to say "cheese" with the camera but getting her to look at the camera and say cheese when we are ready with the camera is a different story. Recently, she has asked to "drive," which means she sits behind the wheel of Mama's car and pushes all the radio buttons. She loves it!

Another fun think Nora Kate is doing these days is picking up bags or the camera and putting the strap on her arm, which is how her Mama carries bags, and then she'll call "Bye Bye" over her shoulder as she heads to the door. She even grabs our keys and puts them up to the doorknob. Everything we do, she tries to do.

We picked her up a little bike and with the nice weather, she has taken it for a couple of spins in the backyard. She hasn't gotten the hang of the pedals yet, but moves pretty good pushing herself along. We are hoping by the time we are taking regular family walks, she can ride while Jack occupies the stroller.
Well, that's it for now, we are all having fun doing weekend trips to the park and might head to North Carolina in June. Geoff is heading to Chicago for the opening of the tourney this weekend, which should be fun.