the week before vacation

We took some pics of the kids on Saturday morning - this was the best we could get...  Caleigh was too interested in Andrew to look at the camera.

The other day Caleigh started bringing me all the bows she could find and saying "wanna wear dis" which means, "I want to wear this."  So I put in all the bows.  This picture makes me laugh out loud every time I look at it.  She is holding diapers which must be somewhat heavy to her (but you can't see them in the picture) and so she looks like she is slumped over in a classic first day of school pose or something like that.  I can just see her saying, "But mom..."

And from the looks of this bath picture we are getting to the age of the posed 'smile.'  So much less cute than a real smile but it will do...

Who knew those bath letters stick to people too?

milestones

I am updating the blog from vacation at Lake Keowee in South Carolina with some exciting milestones that little A has achieved.   On Thursday before we left (8/20) Andrew rolled over from front to back! He did it twice that day at separate times and has rolled over several times since then. Yay little A - he is much earlier at 9 weeks and 4 days than Caleigh was at 15 weeks when she rolled over. Also he is sleeping through the night! Before we left we were trying to let him cry it out at night which was not going so well - he was up so much just fussing and naturally I thought that when we left for vacation he was going to do horrible with sleeping (new place, not his bed, etc.) but he has done great! On Saturday night (8/22) he went to bed at 8 pm, I woke him up at 10 pm for a dreamfeed, and then I put him right back to sleep and he didn't wake up again until 7:15 am!  Since then he has not looked back from sleeping through the night - he had a couple of earlier mornings - one at 6:15 and one at 6:25 but otherwise he is waking at 7 on the dot.  Here's to hoping this sleeping trend continues.  I forgot how much I love sleeping.  So happy vacation to us!

no is her favorite word

Adam captured this funny clip the other day when he turned on the camera to snap a quick picture of Caleigh and didn't realize it was on video mode.  Caleigh did not want to be filmed (she is in an anti-camera phase right now) and told Adam all about it.  No really is the word that she says the most, all the time...

little A is 2 months

On Friday Andrew turned 2 months old!  In some ways I can't believe he has only been with us for two months - he seems like he has always been a part of our family.  And in other ways it has been a hard two months!  People have asked often what was the hardest transition - 0 to 1 or 1 to 2 kids.  When someone asked us a couple of days ago Adam adamantly answered 1 to 2 and I answered 0 to 1.  It has been hard in different ways. 

0 to 1 was really emotionally difficult whereas 1 to 2 has been physically exhausting (one always needs something - especially with both so young) and Caleigh has had a difficult time adjusting and has been extra whiny and needy.  She is getting a little better with that but it is still just a hard age.  Our little A is just as sweet as can be - his medical issues have been fine this month (although he is so sensitive to what I eat... Chinese is not his friend) and we are enjoying him being more and more awake.

Andrew has this curious birthmark on the back of his head (and a big red one on his neck too)... there is some debate as to what it looks like so I will leave that up to debate.  Hopefully it will fade in time but his hair looks to be very white-blond so it may still be visible.

As far as differences between our kids - Andrew seems to be incredible social - more social than Caleigh was at this age.  He is extremely interested in people and voices (like all babies) and upon hearing voices he quickly starts cooing and gooing right back.  Going along with that he has a harder time going down for naps and to sleep at night because he much prefers to be in our company than to be in his lonely boring crib in a dark room.  Caleigh always preferred her crib to being held or rocked to sleep but Andrew would prefer to be held all day long.  Also Andrew is always starving!  I think this might be a boy but it seems he needs to eat all the time (and I know he is getting plenty of milk) - he can't make it more than 2.5 hours during the day.  Thankfully he is finally only waking up once at night to eat; I feed him at 10, he goes right to sleep, and then he will usually wake up once between 4 and 6 am to eat.  It is so exhausting to have not had a full night of sleep in 9 weeks and we are looking forward to the day he will sleep through the night.  Caleigh was sleeping through the night at 6.5 weeks so we were spoiled in that department.  One of the other differences we notice (which might also be a boy versus a girl) is that Andrew is so strong!  It took Caleigh until 4 months to be able to hold her head up the way Andrew is in these pictures - he even seems like he may roll over any day now. Andrew's 2 month stats: 

• weight: 12 lb. 1 oz. (61st%)
• length: 23 in. (55th%)
• head circumference: 15.5 in. (37th%)

He is definitely a growing boy (up to closer to the 55-60th percentiles from the 30-40th percentiles) and brings us so much joy!  Also just to document we (I) have a little lullaby I like to sing him: Sweetest baby Andrew has eyes as blue as sky, sweetest baby Andrew likes to cry and cry, sweetest baby Andrew has a button toes, sweetest baby Andrew has his daddy's toes, sweetest baby Andrew is mama's only son, with sweetest baby Andrew the fun has just begun, sweetest baby Andrew is our little boy, sweetest baby Andrew is sister's favorite toy... the verses get more and more random from here but you get the idea.

pics of the week

my two handsome men - 

and one sweet nosy little goose - 

a little sassafrass

Already obsessed with shoes - that must be an inheritable quality.

little picassos

Last Thursday Carrie had us over to paint their new sandbox.  We stripped down the kiddos and let them loose to work their magic.

Caleigh was hard at work with the green paint - until she got too curious, touched her paintbrush, and then freaked out because her hands were dirty.  That's our little priss. Maggie did a fabulous job with the red. Sam showed us how boys paint - look at that yellow masterpiece. (and Will - in the background - showed us his fabulous new walking skills) Ta-da... the finished product.  The kids did a great job and the sandbox looks awesome and very kid friendly.  Thanks Dirks for a fun morning!

pool time with pop-pop and gigi

Another Friday morning adventure with the grandparents...

pure bliss

Caleigh reading at 20 months

Caleigh is 20 months old and her language is developing so rapidly.  My favorite thing she has been saying lately is "wanna read this?" - she says it over and over and it sounds more like "wanna-re-dis, wanna-re-dis, wanna-re-dis."  She will bring us books all the time asking us - "wanna-re-dis." Her favorite word continues to be "no" and she continues to talk to us all the time as if we know exactly what she is saying.  We don't often know what Caleigh is saying but find ourselves making up what she might be saying and repeating it back to her - if we don't, she will keep saying the same sentence over and over.  She must think that we don't hear her unless we repeat something back.  Here is a video of Caleigh reading on a Saturday morning - 

We have tried to get a video of Caleigh's 'tricks' - all she can say and do - but she is very camera-shy - as soon as we get out the camera she won't perform.  Looks like we have an introvert on our hands.

awesome kabobs

We had these bad boys for dinner last night.  Of course Caleigh would only eat the rice but Adam and I ate at least 3 kabobs each.  Adam did a great job grilling them and though the prep took a while (but was done during naptime) there was basically no cooking by me between 5 and 6 which is a rarity.  These are officially my new favorite dinner.

summer Sunday picnics in the park

Several Sunday nights this summer we have had picnics at Freedom Park with friends.  It has been a blast enjoying each others company, each others kids, and especially cupcakes...

Maggie - 

Henry wishing he could eat Maggie's cupcake -  Sam -  And our sweet Caleigh Grace -