It's been a month!

Hi Babycakes!

Well, I think that this is the first time in the entire time I have been blogging that I have gone one whole month without talking to my babies in some way.  I guess back surgery will do that to you!  Luckily, your mommy is fine and daddy is helping by picking you up for me.  But, I have been making notes of what we have been up to & I still have been taking photos!

Well, our days kind of go like this now:  Leave for daycare, home from daycare, dinner, play, bath, bed. Approximately 2 hours after bed, you either start screaming or you come into our room and crawl in our bed.  At 7, you will wake up and yell in my ear for the remote so you can watch cartoons or you will yell in my ear for milk.  Such a lovely way to be woken up.  The good news is that you say "Milk" about half of the time rather than "Nyue-Nyue".  When you are screaming, you aren't even awake.  We are thinking you are sleep walking/having night terrors.  We know we have to get it figured out but we are so exhausted that it is just easier to put you in our bed.  We call you Chucky - from the horror films.  All of a sudden, you will appear lurking in your doorway or in the hall or at the side of our bed.  We don't hear you coming, we just look up and see you like Chucky in the movie  :)

You are talking so much.  You are making sentences.  But, most importantly, mommy is a big word in your vocabulary - FINALLY.  We are working on please & thank you.  We are working on you staying at the table until you are dismissed and putting your dishes in the sink.  Now, if we could only get rid of that HIGH PITCHED scream.  Kills us!

Mary said we are ready for training pants as soon as I am recovered - 12/5.  So, we bought you some undies - you picked out Cars and Toy Story (surprise, surprise).  Ready or not, official, hard knock pottty training, here we come!!

Unfortunately, you are completely addicted to TV and the iPad.  It started out innocent enough - a bit in the morning and a bit before bed.  But, now, it is constant.  Since we are so exhausted and I am still healing, it is easier to give in to you most of the time.  But, that is going to have to stop because it is crazy how obsessed you are with it.

Last night was so FUNNY.  You were laying down on the bed and daddy laid Joey on top of you for one of your famous "BELLY BUMPS."  You freaked out.  Apparently, it is ok for you to lay on Joey but not ok for Joey to lay on you.  You started screaming "joejoe no joejoe no."  Daddy and I got a good laugh at your expense.

So, now, I can go backwards and tell you all about the last month!

In October, we went to Valas.  You loved it!  You fed the animals, played in the park area, watched the bunnies, and we watched the pig races.  It was so cold so you were bundled up really tight.  Next year, I want to go earlier in the season when it is warmer and spend all day there.  We saw only about 25% of the pumpkin patch!

Gramma Debbie took you to the Bellevue Berry Farm too.  You looked at all the animals, picked mommy a sunflower and some pumpkins for you & Joey!

We had quite a bit of Halloween drama.  You loved your horse costume up until the 30th when we tried to put you in it at Gramma Lang's.  You threw a fit.  So, we went to Target and you picked out Elmo.  We continued to make our rounds - Beaty's, Grampa's, Gramma Debbie's and Gramma Debi D's and you were OK as Elmo. 

On Monday, you went to daycare as Elmo and all was well.  But, when it was night time, we went to Gramma Ruth's and you wouldn't put it back on.  Aunt Laura saved the day when she dug out Andrew's decade old Mickey costume.  You would wear that since he is your favorite!

I love this photo of you puckering up your face for the whiskers  :)

You did great Trick Or Treating.  You weren't sure of it at first but then you were all about asking everyone for "CANDY."  They would give it to you and you would ask for more.  Then, you would say trick or treat as we walked away.  It was so fun walking with you & watching you on your first true Halloween.  We only did Sunshine Drive but I can't wait until next year when we do the whole neighborhood.  

So far in November, we have been kind of boring!  Gramma Debbie has been helping us out because Daddy went to football one Sunday, you were sick one day & Daddy had a work event.  You have been getting lots of Gramma Debbie time  :)  She is working really hard on getting you to say Gramma!

You have also been spending lots of time with your cousins after daycare.  You love playing with the boys and daddy says they love having you over there.  Plus, you love all of the animals!

Jake came over and played with you one day.  You were a complete show off just screaming all over.  It was so weird seeing you play with another little boy in the house.  You guys are getting better at playing with each other! It is so fun to see so many hugs and kisses.  Now, you are even saying his name!!  Jake was sick so we blew him a kiss and texted it to his mom to show him.

Miscellaneous photos:

You and your brother will hang out on the pillows in the morning watching cartoons before you go to daycare.  You will put your arm around him or hold his hand if you are in a good mood  :)

I love this bath picture of you!

More bath photos - I love that you appear to be screaming and Joey and the look on his face.  I also love seeing you hold his hand!

 



Some Disney Scrapbook pages - the book is all done except the cover!

 

 It's a Small World Ride

Photos from our Minnesota trip


Our October Calendar

Catch up...

Hi Elijah!
It has been a long time but we have been super busy, haven't we?  You are talking so much more now.  New words everyday and you are stringing more words together.  You heard the garage and you said "Daddy home."

You are obsessed to be outside.  Everyday we get home and you say "Slide."  We have opened the backyard to you.  You love running and playing with the puppies.  You love the neighbors and talking to them.  But, it makes it hard because you hate it when we make you come in.

We sent you up to Minnesota with Auntie Val and Great Gramma.  We got lots of good reports that you are a good traveler.  You spent the night with Brian, Auntie Val and Gramma.  When you woke up, you said "JoeJoe?"  I think you really love your brother and you missed him.  You learned how to say Brian and you played soccer together. I was so excited that you were able to see your Godfather before he moved to Virginia.  We are unable to drive there!

On Saturday, you and I went to the Disney show at the Civic Auditorium.  I was so excited to go with you.  When we walked in, you were kind of shy and looking around.  When the announcer came on, you were so scared I thought we were going to have to leave.  When the lights went down, you were scared again but you would peek from my lap to see Mickey, Minnie, Goofy & Donald.  As time went on, you relaxed a bit and watched some more from my lap.  But, it got a little scary so you were hiding again.  But, you changed when Mickey & Team came out again.  You got so excited.  You were pointing and waving and saying "Hi."  You made me so happy that I could share that with you and once again, it showed me what being a mommy is all about.  You danced a little bit during Cinderella.  You got scared again during Beauty and the Beast.  At the end, I told you to say "GoodBye" and you did.  You started waving, saying "Bye" and blowing kisses.  For some reason, you are now all about Donal Duck.  When they would leave the stage, you would say "Where'd Quack Quack go?"  You kept asking and asking.  I think you had a great time and I had an awesome time!  Thank you for being so much fun.

I love watching you with your brother.  You get too excited sometimes but you treat him so gentle at other times.  You will reach out for no reason and hold his hand.  You will kiss him out of the blue.  I tell you to "watch Joejoe" while I go get a bottle or milk from you.  You will scoot close to him and put your arm around him.  Yesterday, I asked you to hold his bottle and you were so careful.  I went to get you milk and he must have spit the bottle out because I heard you pleading with him to eat.  You kept saying "JoeJoe" in a pleading voice.  It was so cute.

You want to be such a helper.  You helped me dump a bunch of bottles out and you had so much fun.  I asked you to put something in your room and you did.  You are getting better at listening.  Mommy has had to be stern with you a few times & put you in time out.  But, now, you listen better - especially when I say things stern and give you stink eye  :)

We hope to do fun things this week!  We are going to the pumpkin patch - woohoo!  On Friday, I will be having surgery & I will miss you on Friday night.  But, afterwards, I should be feeling so much better and will be able to play with you more.  I won't be able to lift you for awhile but I won't be in so much pain.

I will leave you with some photos  :)

Me & you eating cotton candy at the Disney show.

Your self portrait at the allergist.  You took my phone and just started snapping photos.  You were cleared from all food allergies during that visit.  No more Soy Milk!

Silly Billy in the fall leaves in Minnesota.

You are the soccer game in your soccer tots shirt.

All 4 of the great grandbabies.

You and your brother.  While you love kissing him. you also love to pick on him.

You & Gramma Debi D at downtown Disney.

The lunch with Handy Manny.

Hollywood Studios

Pooh - another character that you hated standing by.

More characters that scared you.  But, I bet Gramma Debi D secretly loved you squeezing her so tight.  :)

Zoo

Hi Baby!
We had a great morning yesterday.  We went to the Zoo for over 2 hours.  You loved the animals, you loved the petting zoo and you were brave enough to go on the carousel and skyfari.  The skyfari killed me because I was too worried about you falling off.  Both your daddy and me really enjoyed ourselves because we loved watching you.

Today, daddy went to KC and you are hanging out at Gramma's.  Until Joey gets a little older, your old mom is scared of having you both for so long.  :)  Later, we are going to go to the gym and maybe you can splash splash a bit.

Some photos/scrapbook pages for you.

You & the polar bear...

You were silly on the carousel.  You wanted to get on, you cried.  You laughed.  Then, you threw a fit when it was time to get off.

Who is this kid?  He sure doesn't look like my little baby Elijah.  He looks like a 5 year old.

Overdue update!!

Hi Elijah!
It has been quite a long time since I have updated you!  We have just been busy getting through the days.  I know I have told you this before but time goes so fast - you get home, we eat dinner, we play for a bit, we take a bath and it is bed time.  Once you & Joey go to bed, dad and I try to get some stuff done but more often than not, it is a time to unwind.

So, what have we been up to?

We went to your first volleyball game!  We watched Morgan play.  You did good during the first game but then you got a little restless.  Morgan did great - she has an awesome serve.

We have been swimming at Prairie Life.  You love it.  But, then you miss the playroom.  We left you in the playroom and then you cried when we left.  You can't seem to make up your mind.

We went to Bounce U with Jacob and Marcus.  I think you had fun.  You bounced for a bit, played with their baseball and loved the slides.  I didn't know for sure if you would like them but you ended up going by yourself and laughing.

After Bounce U, we went and met your cousin Mila for the first time.  You were very gentle with her and gave her lots of kisses.  But, you were more enraptured with Brandi's cat Gus than Mila.  You definitely know his name!

We played on the swing set a couple of times and you have really changed since we bought it in April.  You can now go up the plank on your own.  You love the swing.  You love the slide and can go on your own.  Our neighbors come play and you love having their company.  I can't wait until you & Joey are playing together.

We went to River City Roundup and you were so fun.  We thought you were going to love the animals and you did but it took you a bit of time to warm up.  We made one trip through and you would not leave the stroller.  We played upstairs for a bit and then came back down to the animals.  This time, you were out of the stroller and petting them all.  We taught you that roosters say cock-a-doodle-doo so you were so excited to seem them up close rather than your puzzles.  You loved hearing the cows go "moo". Surprisingly, the goats were your absolute favorite.  I think you kind of mistook them for dogs.  As we left, we told you the cock-a-doodle-doo had to go night-night.  For 3 days, we heard all about the "doo-doo night night?"

We went back to the orchards with Debbie, Morgan and Dylan.  You picked a few apples but you were more enraptured with the kids than you were with the orchards.  Or, as Debbie said, you may be "one and done."  You liked it the first time and not as much the second.  Something new this time was that the pumpkins were ready.  I was so excited to get some new photos with the pumpkins!

We took a couple walks with our new stroller and you seemed to really like it.  You like being next to Joey and it must be a different angle because you seem content in it.  You are not screaming at us to get you out.

I was putting our Disney photos in a frame.  I showed you a picture of you with Handy & Daddy.  YOU FLIPPED OUT.  All you kept saying was "HANDY. DADDY. HANDY. DADDY."  It was so fun!  I can't wait to take you back when you are a bit older and you will love it even more.  But, that reaction to the photo was worth the trip & the heat!

You are doing a great job of transitioning into your big boy bed.  Since my last update, you have finally started falling asleep in there without us staying with you.  You will cry a bit and sometimes, you will come out but then go right back in.  Our next goal is to get you to sleep all night.  You wake up every night about 1 and wonder into our room.  Some nights, Joey will wake up and you will come in to tell us "JoeJoe" needs us.  One thing at a a time.

The last thing I wanted to share with you is about dinner time.  I have instituted a new rule - no phones or computers at dinner.  We all have to be there and enjoy each other's company.  You have been deciding that you don't want to eat - you want to get down and play.  So, we have resorted to bribing you.  You got a mini-potato head for your birthday from Auntie Susie.  You love it.  You like to play with all the pieces.  So, for each piece, you have to take a bite.  Then, if you want me to assemble it, each piece requires another bite.  It is a win-win situation  :)

I scrapbooked some old photos this past week too!  Unfortunately, you still have a red mark under your nose!  I think this is going to be a scar.

More cooking

Hi Elijah!
We had a great day today, huh?  You had breakfast with Daddy, got a haircut, we went to Morgan's volleyball game, had lunch (you were a PIGGIE - I haven't seen you eat that much in ages) and we cooked in the evening.

Once again, you made my heart ache today.  I was making apple bread.  I had you up on the counter while I was mixing the dry ingredients.  I got a spoon and I showed you how to mix it.  As I would add a new ingredient, I would say "Mix Mix Mix."  At the end, I had to do a few more mixes and you got really mad at me.  You said "me mix mix mix."  Then, we did more apples.  I cut them and you put them in the food processor and pressed the buttons.  You were such a big helper.  Yes, it takes a bit longer when you help but you love the responsibility and I like giving you a bit of independence to help.

Afterwards, we had to take a "splash splash." You were also a big help there too.  You helped wash your body.  You helped wash Joey and finally, you helped rinse Joey.  You really do like to help your little brother.  It is just that you like to pick on him just as much!

Last week, we signed up for 1 month at Prairie Life.  We went on Tuesday and we went swimming.  You were so brave, I was shocked.  You were holding on to the wall and moving all by yourself.  You were putting your face in the water up to your nose.  You were jumping in.  I love that you are getting so comfortable but it does make me a bit nervous if you are that brave and I am not there to catch you.

On Thursday, I took you & Joey to the daycare center while I walked on the treadmill.  You were scared to go in there and were mad at me that we weren't going splash splash.  After a few minutes, I think you adapted.  When I picked you up, they took Joey in the corner to put him in his car seat.  You were so upset because you couldn't find him.  You kept saying "Joe Joe" and looking everywhere.  When you finally saw him, you were so relieved that you tried to carry his car seat  :)  I hope that we go a few times this week and I will have to take you swimming again.

I think that is about it!  You look so darn cute with your short hair cut.  I hope we go to the orchards again next weekend.  Other than that, I think our week is pretty open!

Weekend update

Hi Elijah....
I am going to start with the bad and we will end happy with the good.  Let's just be blunt.  You are rotten.  Everything is "NO", you throw fits where you hit and bite, you don't listen and you are mean.  A friend of mine told me that it will last until you are 3.5.  Holy schmoly baby, that is a long time.

You started school this week.  You have brought home papers everyday!  You made an apple on a lid for A day and painted a ball for B day.  Unfortunately, you thought that paint was for eating and ate two brush fulls!

We have started training you with your money.  Instead of eating it, I am trying to teach you to put it in your bank.  You will run around the house screaming for money.  You will go up to your daddy (at my prompting) screaming "MoneyMoneyMoney."  You saw Gramma Faiman and she gave you a few dollars.  You came home and were so excited to show me your money.  Maybe we can teach you to be tight with your money  :)

Now, let's recap the good that helps to erase all that bad.  Today, you came upstairs and handed me an empty bottle.  I asked your dad if Joey needed a bottle and he said yes.  I made the bottle and I showed you how I shake, shake, shake.  You took it from me, said "shakeshakeshake" and shook it a bit.  Next thing I hear is your daddy telling me to come look at you.  I was in the middle of something so I couldn't come down but he told me you went on the lovesac and started feeding Joey.  You even had a burp cloth and would stop feeding him to wipe his mouth every once and awhile.  I was so proud of you that I could cry  :)  You are so smart - you watch and mimic everything and sometimes I forget that!  Quite often, you will go up to Joey and kiss him for no reason.  I guess that makes up for your rotten behavior when you are mean to him.

Yesterday, we went to the orchards.  I was so worried about finding an orchard that had lots of kid activities. We ended up deciding to go to Kimmel orchards and just getting some apples whether or not they had stuff for you to do.  We took the hay rack ride out to the orchards.  You didn't really like all those bumps!  But, as soon as we got you down to the ground, you were off to pull all the apples off the tree.  We bought a 5 lb bag to fill because I figured you would pick a couple, I would take some photos and it would be time to go.  You LOVED filling the bag!!  I was so sad we didn't buy the bigger bag.  You were so cute pulling an apple, putting it in your bag and carrying the bag to the next apple.  You did much better on the hayrack ride back.  We can't wait to go again!!

On the way home, Joey was a bit fussy because mom and dad forgot his formula.  You started screaming at him "LOLO, NO".  You were tired of the crying and you call him LoLo because you just can't bring yourself to say JoeJoe.  :)  He listened for a few minutes and I swear you two had a conversation.  You would yell at him, he would stop.  Then he would cry again and you would yell at him.

This morning, we got to work on those apples.  I had you help me unload the dishwasher.  You put all of Joey's bottles and nipples on his rack.  Then, I stood you on the counter and started handing you bowls and plates.  You did such a good job and you really liked the responsibility.  Then, we started washing the apples.  I put you in the big side of the sink and you "helped" me wash.  Mostly, you liked throwing the apples in the water to make a splash.  Finally, you were in charge of putting the apples in the food processor and pushing the button.  You did great!

I don't think we have a ton going on this week.  We did a great job last week of eating at home.  I have also got everything planned out for this week.  Today, we are going to go play with Jake for a bit at Great Gramma's.  Daddy has 2 nights this week where he is going to be gone and I don't think we have any plans for this weekend!

Here are some photos from our weekend ....

You were supposed to be in this photo with me and "LoLo" but you wouldn't pose.  You were just too busy with apples. 

Look how cute you were in your overalls.

You carried the bag up until the point it was about 5 lbs.  Then, the handle ripped and you were done  :)

A couple high apples with daddy just for photos!

At the end, we polished off an apple and all of us shared it.  It was TASTY.

 You really look like you are washing here.  In reality, you like playing with the water  :)

You and your favorite kitchen tool - the food processor.  All the apples were done.