A late happy St. Pat's Day!
Playing with Mom's purse on a nice spring day.
Taking care of "Jack!"
Jackson still loves his sister and lights up when she is around.
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.
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.
Our boy continues to grow and grow. At his 2 month appointment he weighed in at 16.6 pounds which is off the charts ("over 97th percentile") and his length has caught up a bit and he is in the 50th percentile. And we thought our girl was a big baby. As you can tell from pictures he has a nice extra layer to keep him warm this winter. He has blown by his early clothes and is about out of the 3 month size.Here he is with his teacher on his first day of school. Age: 9 weeks
She continues to have a interest in what Jack is doing and has started mimicking what we do by taking care of her baby. She likes to feed her baby, burp him, and change his diapers over and over and over . . .
And we let her, so that she feels connected to him, despite the petrie dish of germs she comes home from school as everyday. He needs to build his immune system anyway, right?
In his vibrating chair. No vibrations or music needed, just likes to be in there yanking the dangling bunny down from its apparatus.
Nora's biggest hurdle to overcome with her baby brother is in not knowing that she is big and Jack is small. That his limbs do not move like a doll's limbs (she pulls at them in any random angle she pleases). And, that Mommy's and Daddy's attention is better when focused on one child rather than both at the same time.
The last few weeks Eleanor's spoken vocabulary has been increasing daily. She started by trying to repeat words we would say, but recently has started saying new words on her own. For example, in the tub the other day she said "bubbles" without any prompting. Everyday more caveman grunts are replaced with words.
It would be impossible to make a complete list of everything she has said or tried to say, but currently her three favorite words are, "Jack!"(always said with great vigor), "Momma" (usually repeated over and over), and "nooooooo" (said in a sing song fashion with a head shake).
Jackson continues to develop and has started tracking our voices and movement. If he could run I'm sure he would whenever he heard "Jack!" as EKG can be a bit over zealous in her affection for her brother.
