Holding Hands

Sadie has grown out of her baby carrier so we did some rearranging of carseats. Eli got a big-boy booster seat and Sadie moved into Eli's convertible carseat. In order to fit both of them into the car with one rear-facing we had to put them next to each other. I'm sure the novelty will wear off soon, but for now they are both enjoying being so close to each other. I'm sure Sadie will get a foot in her mouth soon. But, on their first car ride in their new seats, this is what I caught them doing:

Ahhhhhhhh... So sweet!

Summer Is Almost Here: Watermelon and Swings!!

Ahhh, summer... Long, lazy days filled with nothing to do but play! Eli has been enjoying his first watermelon of the season. Sadie's been enjoying the swing. I posted lots because she was being so silly. Her face was so animated. Plus, it shows the phase she's in: the I-grab-everything-and-usually-put-it-in-my-mouth phase. I was trying to get a good picture of her teeth (yes, teeth. She now has two!) but her mouth wasn't cooperating.

Notice how she spreads her fingers, I'm going to post just about that one of these days.

TRUCKS!!!!

Saturday was Touch-A-Truck day at a local park. Boy, was Eli excited. I had told him that we were going to see trucks in the morning and he asked about it saying "Truck? Truck?" (Actually, Eli cannot say truck. He usually calls them an expletive used to refer to roosters.) constantly until we got to the park to see them. He not only touched every truck, but he got to "drive" every truck. Each truck was just as exciting as the last and each truck got a giant "WOW!" It was a very good day for an almost 2 year old boy.

Focused on the road.


The tractor.


The army truck. (Actually, this was taken the next day at a blood drive for soldiers.)


The carrier.


The dump truck.


In front of the fire truck.


The semi.

What's Eli Eating?

Chicken drumstick.


Asparagus.


Peanutbutter and jelly.


Gyro (with a rubberband holding it together).

Sleeping Issues

It's no secret, Sadie is an absolutely horrible napper. (I refuse to write about her nighttime sleep as I'll probably jinx myself.) I truly think she's a cat. She usually naps for about 20 minutes, if I'm lucky it'll be 30 and wakes up ready to go only to want to nap again an hour later! We currently have a very elaborate napping routine. First, I rock Sadie to sleep and put her down, she sleeps 15-20 minutes. Then, she coos and plays for 5-45 minutes. Followed by crying for 1-30 minutes. Then maybe sleeping for another 15-20 minutes. Sometimes, she's awake for an hour, so then I'll just go and get her. Today, this is what I caught her doing instead of taking a nap:

Sadie's Getting A Little Red

I think Sadie's hair is getting a little red to it, just like Eli's. In fact, Sadie's hair is doing exactly what Eli's hair was doing at this age: getting lighter and lighter and lighter. She doesn't have as much as he did at 6 months, but her hair seems to be filling in quickly.

In other news, Sadie got her first tooth last week. It was a very trying week and it seems to be continuing this week as the tooth next to it seems to be wanting to pop up too. And we're a long, long way from the 20 she's going to end up with! But, when you look into these big, brown eyes, all is forgiven.


Kind of starting to scoot. Actually, she likes to roll from place to place.


My little hippie.

Why I Love Craigslist

For those of you who don't know, Craigslist has on-line classifieds listed by city and state and further broken down into categories and sub-categories. I frequent the "for-sale baby + kids" section everyday and my children's wardrobe, toy box, and our storage unit is all the better because of it. Recently, there was an ad posted for a 6 month old baby needed for a budding photographer to take pictures of. I volunteered Sadie and her brother, of course. It turned out to be a great deal. The photographer spent over two hours with us, taking hundreds of pictures for free and gave me the rights to them so I can post them all over the internet and not worry about copyright infringements!! Here are some of my favorites:

Another Trip to Hocking Hills

How could we not enjoy the beautiful spring weather and spend the day at Old Man's Cave? We had a great time exploring the gorge and the waterfalls. Our pace is a lot slower than it used to be, but much more enjoyable especially when Eli shouts "Wow!" at every turn.

Sadie in the sling.


Eli in the carrier. We need to get one of these for Sadie.


Eli enjoying his favorite pasttime: throwing things in the water and saying "Splash!".


Peek! Just waking up from a nap in the cool of the shade with dad.

Happy Half Birthday, Sadie!

Awwwww......

More of Big Brother and Little Sister

Most of the time Eli loves his little sister and wants to play with her and have her do things whenever he's doing things. He also likes to help whenever he can. He gives her baths, hugs, pushes on the swings. He feeds her, helps change her diapers and get her shoes so we can go out and play. Sadie loves him too. She smiles at him and watches every move he makes. Lately he's been patting her on the head and saying "nice". It's so great that they are growing up together.


Eli going in for the hug.


Eli teaching Sadie how to dance. And Eli is a really good dancer, he learned all of his moves from me. You should see his one finger dance.


In one of the playgroups that we go to babies are popping out left and right. It's great that the first set of kids are so close in age and that the second set of kids are so close in age too. It's going to be hard to leave Columbus!

Happy Easter

Dennis and I used to have an Easter tradition of going on a picnic. However, since we've lived in Ohio our picnic plans have been foiled. Last year they were foiled by a break-in to our storage unit and we spent the day waiting for the police and filing a police report and this year mother nature had other plans: snow! We ended up having a nice warm meal sitting at our table with Grandma and Grandpa before they headed back to ND.

Oh, the joy of a first Easter Egg Hunt. Eli got the hang of it pretty early, but got distracted easily. It's really easy making an Easter Egg Hunt hard for toddlers. You just have to throw them out in the yard and they still can't seem to find them.


Eli with his basket full decided he should mow the lawn instead.

Eli loved dying eggs. His favorite part was throwing the eggs in the cup and yelling, "Splash!".

On Sunday morning, Eli woke to find that the Easter Bunny had hidden plastic eggs all over the living room. Eli knew it was going to be a good day when he got to eat jelly beans for breakfast.

The Easter Bunny also left a tee-ball set in Eli's Easter Basket.

He has really bad form (this is a good shot), but has the general idea of how to get the ball off the tee. And don't try to help him; he can do it all by himself.

I can't believe I didn't take any pictures of Sadie in her Easter Dress. Oh, my, gah... she was too cute. Maybe grandma will be a dear and send one to me and I can post one later (hint, hint). I'm just adding this so Sadie doesn't feel left out with all the pics and talk of Eli. She has been working really hard on sitting up straight. Her balance has really improved and I think she will be erect by the end of the week. Go, Sadie, Go!

Playing With Grandma and Grandpa

Grandma and Grandpa have been visiting for over a week and are staying until after Easter. I'm not sure who enjoys who more. Grandma and Grandpa sure get a kick out of Eli and Sadie, but Eli and Sadie sure do love having their Grandma and Grandpa around. Every morning when they walk in the door from spending the night in the hotel, Eli does this happy little dance where he kicks his feet, twirls in circles, points his fingers in the air, and says something that only he understands.

Eli and Grandpa monkeying around.


Eli cooking for Grandpa.


Sadie and Grandma at the Easter Egg Hunt.


Sadie and Grandpa enjoying each others company.