Friday, May 11, 2012
The Great Outdoors
Recently, Barry and I have been discussing our commitment to making sure our family maintains a healthy, active lifestyle. We both grew up spending lots of time outdoors, playing sports and enjoying nature, and it's important to us that our kids do also. This is part of the reason we (a bit impulsively) bought a camper last fall...so far we've been on only two camping trips with the kids, but they were two of the most memorable weekends we've had as a family and I'm looking forward to many more in the years to come.
It's hard, though, to find ways to spend time outdoors on a day-to-day basis when you live in the city. It's always a struggle. We do walk our neighborhood a lot, but, well, we pretty much live in an office park, and the route gets old...so we're always looking for other options. Last week, it occurred to me that we haven't been to one of our favorite Nashville spots since Eleanor was born. Radnor Lake is a state-owned and run natural area and wildlife refuge, and it is a treasure. Barry and I used to go there some before the kids were born, but I think we had been a grand total of twice since Henry joined the family. Until this week. The kids and I loaded up after breakfast on Monday and spent an hour and a half walking the main road...we went back today and spent two hours and even branched out onto one of the trails. The kids LOVE it, and I am really looking forward to spending more time there this spring and summer.
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Catching up
Hard to believe, but our baby girl is 15 months old. And walking! And talking! Among the words she uses regularly: ball, "bubba," milk, dog, shoe, mama, dada, "gaga" (granny), thank you, cookie. Some of these can probably be understood only by Barry and me, but she definitely knows what she's saying. She's way ahead of the verbal game compared to Henry, and we thought he was a pretty early talker. She started walking at about 14 months and hasn't slowed down since. She's very active, loves to play with her toys and bullies her big brother. She is definitely our feisty one. Not as good an eater as Henry was at this age, she is not a fan of fruit and veggies. A carb lover, like her mom and dad. Neither one of my kids eats cheese. Crazy. Overall she is just not a big eater and most of her food ends up on the floor, a picnic for Lucy. She does, however, LOVE her millk and drinks about 20-25 oz a day. She has six teeth. She weighs 25 lbs. She has no hair, much to my chagrin...I am DYING to put a bow on her. She's not really into tv, but has recently shown an interest in Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, but ONLY the intro. She's a fairly good sleeper in general, but we have had our rough patches. She is incrediby attached to her "bun-bun," the Jellycat bunny she got in her Christmas stocking. Crazy obsessed with that thing, which is sometimes a good thing and sometimes a bad thing. Overall, she is a happy and healthy little girl, although a bit opinionated. :)
Henry is such a little boy now. No baby left, really. Sad. But exciting, at the same time. He is really into cars, trucks, trains, pretty much anything that moves, but particularly construction equipment: diggers, graders, cement trucks...he knows and loves them all! He has requested a dinosaur party for his 3rd birthday. His best friends are his classmates at MDO: Teague, Maggie, Logan, Lane. He is good buddies with Cecilia, our neighbor's daughter, and, of course, Calvin, Evelyn, Anna and Tyler. He carries on very thoughtful conversations with us, and is both affectionate and aggressive with his little sister. His favorite tv shows are Caillou and Chuggington.He is not at all interested in potty training. He can count to 10 and identify most colors easily. His favorite song is "Jesus Loves the Little Children." My favorite moments with him are at bedtime, after stories have been read and teeth have been brushed and he says, "Sing to me, mama"...and we sit in the old rocking chair in his room and I sing at his request. He would sit there all night if I let him...and some nights it seems that we will, but I eventually stop, say prayers and put him in his crib. Where he goes to sleep surrounded by 5,235 of his favorite stuffed animals.
I'm really hoping to keep this blog more up to date. The last year has passed in a blur of illnesses, sleepless nights, diaper changes, endless refills of sippy cups and walks around the neighborhood. But this is such a great way to record the ins and outs of our family life for us to look back on later, so I'm going to make it a priority!
Henry is such a little boy now. No baby left, really. Sad. But exciting, at the same time. He is really into cars, trucks, trains, pretty much anything that moves, but particularly construction equipment: diggers, graders, cement trucks...he knows and loves them all! He has requested a dinosaur party for his 3rd birthday. His best friends are his classmates at MDO: Teague, Maggie, Logan, Lane. He is good buddies with Cecilia, our neighbor's daughter, and, of course, Calvin, Evelyn, Anna and Tyler. He carries on very thoughtful conversations with us, and is both affectionate and aggressive with his little sister. His favorite tv shows are Caillou and Chuggington.He is not at all interested in potty training. He can count to 10 and identify most colors easily. His favorite song is "Jesus Loves the Little Children." My favorite moments with him are at bedtime, after stories have been read and teeth have been brushed and he says, "Sing to me, mama"...and we sit in the old rocking chair in his room and I sing at his request. He would sit there all night if I let him...and some nights it seems that we will, but I eventually stop, say prayers and put him in his crib. Where he goes to sleep surrounded by 5,235 of his favorite stuffed animals.
I'm really hoping to keep this blog more up to date. The last year has passed in a blur of illnesses, sleepless nights, diaper changes, endless refills of sippy cups and walks around the neighborhood. But this is such a great way to record the ins and outs of our family life for us to look back on later, so I'm going to make it a priority!
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Feet and Other News
I'm starting off this entry with a couple of photos intended only to document Eleanor's "strawberry" birthmark (aka hemangioma). Our pediatrician tells us that it will start to fade in the next couple months and will eventually go away completely, so I want to make sure to remember it as it is now. I know that sounds kind of strange, but it's been so much a part of her life for the first few months...people stop us when we're out to ask about it (nosy people). It's very much a part of who she's been as a newborn/infant.
It started out as a very pale purple-ish spot on her leg. The nurses at the hospital thought it was a bruise caused by the security monitor worn on her leg, but the pedi told us it was a birthmark and would get darker and "raised" before starting to fade around six month.
Here it is:


In other news, Eleanor has discovered her feet! Soon to be followed, I'm sure, by chewing on her toes.

On Sunday we celebrated Barry's second Father's Day, and for the second year in a row we kicked off the celebration at his favorite restaraunt, Waffle House (aka Wawa House, thanks to Henry).
Henry loves it there because he can stand up in the booth and watch them cook his breakfast. Except this time he embarassed his mama by impatiently screaming "wawa!! wawa!!" at the line cook when she wasn't cooking his waffle fast enough for his liking.


(Barry's first Father's Day as a dad of two!)
Later in the day we hosted a family dinner with Granny Diane and Aunt Lisa (and Aunt Lisa's new "friend"). Dad was put to work at the grill and there was homemade chocolate cake and homemade ice cream at his request.
The next day Big Brother had his ear tubes inserted. Hopefully this is the end of the torturous ear infections.
Everyone in this household is crossing their fingers.
It started out as a very pale purple-ish spot on her leg. The nurses at the hospital thought it was a bruise caused by the security monitor worn on her leg, but the pedi told us it was a birthmark and would get darker and "raised" before starting to fade around six month.
Here it is:
In other news, Eleanor has discovered her feet! Soon to be followed, I'm sure, by chewing on her toes.
On Sunday we celebrated Barry's second Father's Day, and for the second year in a row we kicked off the celebration at his favorite restaraunt, Waffle House (aka Wawa House, thanks to Henry).
Henry loves it there because he can stand up in the booth and watch them cook his breakfast. Except this time he embarassed his mama by impatiently screaming "wawa!! wawa!!" at the line cook when she wasn't cooking his waffle fast enough for his liking.
(Barry's first Father's Day as a dad of two!)
Later in the day we hosted a family dinner with Granny Diane and Aunt Lisa (and Aunt Lisa's new "friend"). Dad was put to work at the grill and there was homemade chocolate cake and homemade ice cream at his request.
The next day Big Brother had his ear tubes inserted. Hopefully this is the end of the torturous ear infections.
Everyone in this household is crossing their fingers.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Daddy's Boy
My sweet boy is all about Daddy these days and Mama is chopped liver. If Daddy is in the house I'm not even allowed to serve him his food. I know maybe I should be a little hurt, but truthfully I love it. I love that they're so close and have so much fun together.
Lately, Eleanor has been watching them when they play together on the living room floor...I know soon she'll be right in the middle.
Four Months Old!
Sweet Baby Eleanor is four months old! It's so hard to believe. While it seems like just yesterday she was born, it also seems as though she's been part of our family all along.
She's a beauty, that one.

And an unfailingly happy baby.

Although there's still a lot of this going on:

Really hoping she outgrows that soon!
She's a beauty, that one.
And an unfailingly happy baby.
Although there's still a lot of this going on:
Really hoping she outgrows that soon!
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Big Boy!
We moved Henry into his new big-boy room Monday night.
This was a night I had been dreading for months, for many reasons (my baby is growing up too fast!), not the least of which is that several weeks ago we tried to put him down for a nap there and he screamed his bloody head off for 30 mins until we went and got him out.
But it had to be done. And we've been talking it up and talking it up ("Henry! I can't wait until you move into your big-boy room! Isn't this exciting? ::big grin::). And the time finally came, and Barry read him his stories and said his prayers and into the crib he went. And he fell asleep, just like that.
Relief!
Eleanor's Four Month Stats
14 lbs 10 oz
24.75 inches
75th percentile for both
90th percentile for head circumfrence...big noggin, just like her mama. :)
24.75 inches
75th percentile for both
90th percentile for head circumfrence...big noggin, just like her mama. :)
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