Ahhhh . . . summer at last!

The summer heat has come and the Arceos set out for a picnic at Blackwell. Here are some pictures from a wonderful day at play.

Doesn't everyone bring their rice cooker on a picnic?

Even Bailey came to enjoy some sun.

Sometimes brothers just love too much . . .

Emie is much happier when not being held down.

It was a little windy, so when we stood out on the dock, we had the sensation of movement and Nathan thought we were on a boat.

Emie enjoyed her new crawling surface, although I won't tell you the variety of things I fished out of her mouth that day.

Emie is getting pretty solid with her standing. . . crazy how fast this first year is going!

Hope you all had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend too! Thank you to all of those who have served our country - we are incredibly grateful!

9 months

Emie turned 9 months last Saturday and had her well-baby visit today! Mainly for my own record keeping, here are some updates on what our little girl is doing these days:

• weighs 15 lbs 6.5 oz, 28 inches tall, 17 inch head
• crawling, pulling up to stand, cruising, standing without holding on to something for around 30 seconds, gets in and out of sitting with ease, got into standing without holding onto anything once, climbing stairs
• says "babababababa", "dadadadada", "mamamamama", but no real words yet
• screams in a very high-pitched, rather blood-curdling tone frequently
• giggles at pretty much anything daddy or Kuya Nathan do
  
• feeds herself a variety of table foods - favorites are banana, avocado, pasta, rice, cheese, pears, peas, broccoli, and potato
• eats pureed versions of what we're eating - loves daddy's tamarind soup with rice!
• also eats stage II baby food at her baby sitter's house
• still has NO teeth!
  
• will give high-five sometimes, waves sometimes
• steals Kuya Nathan's toys relentlessly and is capable of out-wrestling him
  
• LOVES the bath
• loves to play with her little piano, Nathan's trucks/trains, and her nesting blocks
  
• not a fan of diaper/clothes changes - why would she want to sit still for that?
• no longer likes her exersaucer, it's far too restrictive
  
• has earned the nickname "rubber-baby" from her babysitter as she is quite the contortionist
• nurses 5 times a day
• sleeps 12 hours at night, takes 2 naps
  

We love you so much baby girl and can't wait to see what you'll do over the next few months!

Diggers and dresses

This past weekend was full of things for boys and girls alike. We are in the middle of a project to change out the sidewalk leading up to our house for one made of pavers. When we were checking out with some supplies at Home Depot we saw this little shovel, perfect for our digging boy. He has loved helping Daddy and Tito Dong with the "project".

Yes, that is my minivan in the background. Shoot, I'm caught! I'm a Mom through and through now! The worst part is that I love that van :)

While the boys were digging, I was photographing my sweet girl in her sweet little butterfly dress. Truth be told, both this tomboy Mama and her rough and tumble girl would thoroughly enjoy getting our hands in that dirt out there. And once she starts walking, we'll be out there for sure, but this day was about a girl and her dress.

Doesn't she look like such a big girl here?

Don't you just love these sweet little feet!?

"Mommy, that digging looks like a lot more fun than our little photo shoot." "Can I get in on that?"

Next time baby girl. Mommy will be happy to dig with you anytime you want!

Sick day!

Unfortunately I spent the greater part of last week with a nasty stomach virus. It was miserable! But somehow these little people still brought me some joy as I parented from the couch. (Not an easy task with these two!)

Emie did a puzzle or two.

Okay, Okay, she chewed on a puzzle or two!

Nathan preferred to play playdoh in a crocheted hat.

Why? Because it is his pwaydough hat of course!


Actually, a dear friend made a few of these hats for my Mom. She will be having surgery in June to have a deep brain stimulator placed to help control her Parkinson's symptoms. She'll have to have half of her head shaved and I'm hoping these hats will make that a little more enjoyable. What a gift from this precious friend!

Good, Bad, Ugly

Good: Biked 10 miles yesterday with the kids in the trailer.

Bad: Thought I was going to puke halfway . . . seriously.

Ugly: Only 2 months until my triathlon :( Hoping that pulling that trailer will have some sort of training effect.

Easter!

Despite Emie and I both feeling a bit under the weather, we had a wonderful Easter!

The kids apparently found the car seat to be more fascinating than their baskets. Guess I better take it up a notch next year!

Emie had fun wrestling with Grandma's bear "Barney".

"Ha! I've got you now Barney!" I guess she's learned some pretty efficient moves from her big brother.

Seeing Papa during tax season is always a treat!

This kid has enthusiasm in every bone in his body.

Emie crawled under the dining table while we ate a wonderful brunch. Don't be fooled though, she did enjoy her fair share of said brunch.

Nathan watched out the window as the neighbors' daughter brought her new baby for a visit. He certainly has the nosy neighbor thing down.

But, by far, my favorite part of Easter was my boy proclaiming loudly "HE IS RISEN!". And knowing that by God's grace he will learn to know what that means in the Easters ahead.

Big days for our big girl!

Ahhhh! It seems like Emie is growing up so fast! On Friday, we had her ears pierced. She is such a tough cookie and barely cried at all. They are very cute and I think she wears them well.






She sported a very cute hat that I've been so excited for her to wear. She wore it for one of our first outdoor walks since the fall. She wore it while she went for her first ride on the swings and she loved it! I'm not sure how I ended up with two fearless children, but I did. I had to run back and forth between them to keep both swings going as they apparently do not like to be motionless. I wish I had gotten a better picture on the swing, but I did not :( So, I thought at least I'd post one of the hat.





She started army crawling a few weeks ago and now she is moving to crawling on all fours, or "creeping" in PT language. She's not too fast yet, but I'm sure I'll be running soon! She's also starting to pull up to stand, but that activity has resulted in a few near head injuries and would not be suitable for video taping.

Free Dog!

So, not to be blunt about poop, but that is the topic of this post. Nathan has always had some of the nastiest diapers imaginable. I always thought they were unusually nasty, but now that I have a second child who is eating solids, I can without a doubt say that they are in their own league of nastiness. Anyways, this morning, my poor boy had a full blowout, funky poop. And naturally, it did not happen on the potty this time. And naturally, he was wearing a cloth diaper. So, I swiftly de-diaper my poor little boy and realize that a full bath is in order. I wrap the funkified diaper in his funkified jammies and place it near the basement stairs while I get him into the bath. As I'm cleaning him up and filling the bath, I hear a licking sound coming from that very spot where the diaper was left. Yes, Bailey had decided to take the cleaning of the funkified diaper into her own paws.

Okay, so she's not really up for grabs. I do love that disgusting pup. But she has been on crate arrest for most of the day and has had a very thorough brushing of her teeth.

Good, Bad, Ugly

The good: I've had a few days with nothing pressing to do. Great times with the kids and time to start spring cleaning (planning on that process taking a long time with two mobile kiddos!)

The bad: Haven't showered for those few days. Two days, I think, maybe three!

The ugly: I've worked out all of those days. Okay, I think that's more than ugly. Better go shower!

Six months

Emie turned six months on February 8th!

Who needs fancy teething toys when your older brother keeps you supplied with duplo train tracks to chew on!

Okay, once in a while Mommy gives me my own toys to play with.

I'm one content, smiley girl . . . don't see much reason to get upset.

Hi Mommy! Wanna play?

Emie is, in fact, a very happy girl. She rarely gets upset and usually only cries when she's tired. She's grown up a lot since four months!

• She started solid foods! She's had a lot of different foods and so far has liked nearly everything I've tried. I think her favorites are bananas, peas, apples and squash. She wasn't a huge fan of avocado, but ate a decent amount.
• She rolls all over the place, just started sitting on her own, can get up on all fours, scoots backwards on her tummy, stands with little support, plays with toys, and chews on her feet all the time.
• She's a thumb sucker and tummy sleeper.
  
• She loves her exersaucer. I can't really put her in her bouncy chair or bumbo anymore because she finds a way to get out of both. Quite the little escape artist! The exercise mat is out too as she collapses it on herself all the time.
• She loves to hang out in my sling. She's very content to be close to Mommy.
• She sleeps 10-12 hours a night and takes 2 naps. Yay!
• She is not very verbal right now, mainly just squeals and says "mmm" when you feed her.
• She doesn't really giggle yet either, but she has such a sweet smile, especially right after she's done nursing.
  
• She loves a good bath! She kicks her feet and splashes with her hands. I can't wait to take her swimming this summer. I'm not sure how I'll do it with both kiddos though - any suggestions?

Well, that's my Emie girl! Thanks for humoring me as I record some thoughts about my kiddos. I'm terrible at baby books, so hopefully this will at least give me some records of their development.

Two

Nathan turned two on December 29th (yes, I'm a bit late on this one!). I thought I'd give a little update on what he is up to now. With this little boy it is more a question of what isn't he up to as he is always on the go. Here are a few of his favorites and his tricks.

• He loves all things with wheels - trucks, cars, trains, etc. Whenever I'm driving alone and I see a firetruck or a bus or a construction site I get a little sad because I know that if my little boy were with me, he'd be beside himself with excitement.
  
• He loves all types of sensorimotor play - clay, sand, paint, snow, helping me beat eggs or mix pancake batter, etc.
• He has gotten very verbal in the last few months and now speaks in sentences. One funny little quirk is that when he's working on a new word, he tends to say it in a British accent at first. We have no idea why. I was mummy for a long time until he perfected mommy.
• He loves to read books with Mommy. Recently though, he prefers to read them himself :(
• He runs, climbs, jumps, can go up stairs by himself without a rail and is working on his somersault (I've nearly vomited several times demonstrating this one for him!).
• He has started liking TV or movies in the last few months. His favorite cartoons are Bob the Builder, Mickey Mouse and Handy Manny. Whenever he persuades me to let him watch Handy Manny he goes and gets his wooden toolbox toy and baseball cap.
• He knows his colors, shapes, and most of his letters and numbers
• He is still very attached to his sock monkey named "monkey" (we're really creative here!) and sucks his first finger to fall asleep.
• He's going "potty" some of the time, but still wears diapers all of the time.
• He is very dramatic and can throw some of the best tantrums I've ever seen (we're talking 45 mins!), but thankfully they are becoming fewer and farther between these days.
• He sleeps 11-12 hours at night and takes a 2-4 hour nap in the afternoon.
• He's a decent eater some of the time and a really picky eater some of the time. Favorite foods are chicken nuggets, hotdogs, string cheese, yogurt, carrots, grapes, toast, avocado, rice, soup, and anything sweet or chocolate.
• He loves to pray. He wants to pray constantly and will list off the people he loves.
  
• He's still a peanut according to "the chart". He weighs 24lbs and is 34.5 inches tall. I don't know how I'll manage to keep his pants from falling down once he gives up diapers.
  

Well, I think that about covers it. Here are some recent pictures of fun with modeling clay. Yes, I've decided to be the kind of Mom that allows him to mix his colors once in a while!

Fun Winter Days

Entertaining a toddler in the winter is always a challenge. This winter we've tried out a few of the children's museums in the area. Nathan and I went to the DuPage museum as a special Mommy and Natey date for his birthday and I took both of the kids to the Kohl's museum to burn some energy. We had a great time!

Emie slept peacefully in my sling.

Nathan painted,

made me a sandwich at Potbellies,

wrote me a beautiful song,

played with a rhythm wheel,

did some grocery shopping,

and splish splashed the winter blues away!