Cousin Bonding Time

My sister, Talina, and I got the coolest Christmas presents this year from my Mom.  Thanksgiving Point passes for our families.  Now that the babies are a bit bigger, and the weather is nice, we went today to go activate our memberships.  Unfortunately, pseudo-hurricane-force winds kept us from our original plan of going to the Farm area to check out baby animals, but we had a blast going to the Dinosaur Museum with the kiddos.

Bailey cracks me up around Owen -- these two are gonna be SO much fun to watch grow up together!

Here's our Bailey Boo hanging out in our frontroom . . . Annie & Ellie found her this hat, and insisted she wear it.

Two Months

On March 1st (due to the lack of a Feb. 30th, my baby boy turned 2 months old. 
Already?!

Out of all my kids, he seems the most 'newborn-ish' for the longest amount of time.  He still seems to spend all of his time eating, then being cute and happy for a few minutes, then being angry at the feeling of tiredness, then sleeping.  When he's awake and alert, he's so adorable and happy.  But then it's not long before he's fussy and crying and wanting to go back to sleep.  He also seems to be the 'floppiest' still -- he just wants to lie around in my arms (or my lap, he LOVES lying in my lap while I'm sitting cross legged), and unlike his other siblings, doesn't want to be held up in standing, or even sitting, position for very long.  Add to that he has a little cousin only two and a half months older, who practically came out of the womb as a two month old (she was the smiliest, most alert, bright eyed newborn I have EVER seen.  She never seemed floppy or sleepy, it's like she was just up and ready to go since birth) . . . and Owen just seems so young to me.  Which isn't a bad thing by any means, I like having my sleepy newborn.  (Less thrilled by the fussy, overly tired, crying thing -- but, you take the good with the bad.)   He doesn't cry anywhere near what Annie did, but he's fussier than Isaac was . . . I am now convinced though that I was just never destined to have a laid back, chill baby.  :-)  

Now for the two month stats:

Weight:  11.9 lbs. (55%)

Height: 23.62" (75%)

And the shocker --

Head: 15.4" (26%)
(Although I think this was possibly measured a bit smaller, and at his last appointment he was 37%).

That is miles away from my other kids.  I remember Ellie at times having a 90%+ head circumference and being 2% in weight.  Greg and I used to joke that we didn't know how our kids didn't look like bobble heads, since all three older ones have always been higher than 85% on the charts (Isaac was 98% at his 18 month appointment.)  

I think Owen will be the Talina of our family.  (My family will get that.)

And just for fun, to compare to his big (and I do mean BIG) brother:

Isaac at this age:

Weight: 14.66 lbs. (96%)

Height: 66%

So Owen was taller, but Isaac was much heftier.  (Seriously, over 14 and a half pounds at only TWO MONTHS old?!  Ellie was 13lbs. 9oz. at SIX MONTHS old.)  The funny thing about Isaac was that he actually looked thinner than the girls at this age -- who both had chipmunk cheeks and chunky thighs.  Isaac didn't look like he had any 'extra' weight on him, he was just so freakingly solid.  Of course, all my kids shoot up on the charts for the first four months.  Then they stop growing for awhile, maybe getting a bit taller and putting on a bit of weight, but the spend the next 8 months slowing dropping back down the charts.  Our gigantic baby, Isaac, had slimmed down to less than 21 pounds at a year old, at 19% on the charts, and at just over 29" was at 29% on the charts.  But now at a year and a half, he's quickly climbing the charts again.   I find it so interesting that all three older kids, despite being very different sizes and weights from each other, followed very, very similar growth patterns.  

And lastly, some pictures from the day he turned 'two months old'.  I'd taken Ellie and Isaac to the doctors, so Aunt Talina and cousin Bailey came over to play with Owen and Annie.

Like Mother, Like Daughter

I heard the girls yelling at each other downstairs.  Then Greg putting Annie in time out.  Greg came upstairs, into the room where I was nursing the baby and sighed, exasperated, "She is so much like her mother!"  I laughed, "What did Annie do?"

"She told Ellie that her teeth were going to fall out.  Ellie was freaking out and crying about it, I told Annie to drop it, but she wouldn't.  I told Ellie it was fine, her teeth wouldn't fall out, but she was too worked up . . ."
"But . . . her teeth will fall out."  Greg's eyes rolled, as I proved his 'like Mother/like Daughter' point.  "She had a point," I said, "why didn't you just tell Ellie it's normal and that's what's supposed to happen to teeth?" 
"I was just trying to get her to calm down . . . but Annie wouldn't drop it!"
"I don't get why you'd tell her that her teeth wouldn't fall out . . . baby teeth do fall out . . . "  I think at this point he just walked out of the room, since he couldn't put me in time out too :-)

Annie and I really are a lot of like.  And not just our attachment to logic and being right all the time. :-) I think that's the reason that her drama doesn't really get to me, while Ellie's freak outs get to me.  (Whereas all of Ellie's drama rolls right off Greg like water on duck feathers, but Annie frustrates him to no end.  I don't know if I should be worried about that, when he's comparing the two of us.)  :-)  Anyway, I 'get' Annie.  Not just our 'oldest child' tendencies (like torturing younger siblings with true and less-than-true 'facts' . . . like when my sisters and I told our youngest sister Lacy that we were all adopted, but she was actually Mom and Dad's biological child.  This upset her greatly.  Then she pointed out that she looked just like the rest of us, and we told her that Mom and Dad had her genetically altered to look like us so she wouldn't get suspicious.  We were good siblings.)  It's not just her bookish, teacher's pet, show off for adults, precociousness that reminds everyone of me when she was a kid.  But the one similarity that makes me the happiest is this . . .

The reading late at night by flashlight until Mom & Dad threaten to take it away.  And sometimes even after that.  I don't know if this sight will ever not make me smile.  :-)

In fact we've worked nighttime reading-by-flashlight into her bedtime routine. She was really getting to where she didn't need to go to bed as early as Ellie.  But I wasn't ready to give up the simultaneous, early, bedtimes.  So, we made a deal.  After they were both in bed, she could read with her flashlight for about 30 minutes once lights were out.  She's so freaking cute about it -- she has a little digital watch, and you tell her a time to quit, and she's really usually pretty good about stopping on time. Sometimes, you just get wrapped up in a good book though, and she woke up the other morning and told me, "Mom, you said I could read 'til 8:15 . . . but last night I was reading, and before I knew it, it was 8:20!  Sorry about that!"

(Oh, later today, Annie upped the tooth thing.  When Ellie came running in to my room crying, "I don't want to die one day!  Annie says I'm going to die . . . probably when I am old!  But I want to be 10 or 11!"  Sigh.)

In other child news, Isaac had his 18 (almost 19) month appointment today.  The doctor was totally blown away by his verbal skills, as he informed her at one point that the exam was over by taking her hand, moving it off him and saying, "All done now" and telling her, "Baby Owen sleep carseat" and pointing at his sleeping little brother in the carseat.  He also told her, "Sisser Annie, Sisser Ellie, at school."  She was very impressed by his vocabulary, and he really spent half our time there just crying, so she didn't even really get to see how awesome he is. The other day, I was picking up some dirty clothes in the kids' rooms, and Idaac pointed out to the washer and dryer and said, "Start laundry now, Mom."  When did my 18 month old start telling me what to do around the house . . . in complete sentences!?  He's such a little mimic, and we're pretty used to him rambling off long sentences he hears, but when he comes up with them completely unprompted, it still surprises me!  (You have to remember too, Ellie was in speech therapy at two years old 'cause she would only use about 10 words regularly -- so this is a whole new world!)  Anyway, besides milestones, the big focus was obviously growth.  And this kid is growing!  He's really shot up recently, which makes me feel better about the food I prepare and serve ALL day long . . . he's much taller on the charts than he was at a year, and heavier too.  At 27.2 pounds he's less than three pounds smaller than Ellie.  And his head size was at 94% on the charts . . . I told his doctor, "Wow, that's all?  I actually kinda thought it would be off the charts now." She responded, "No, 94% is on the charts . . . we don't consider them off the charts until they hit the 95th percentile . . . " and we both started laughing.  His height went from 29% on the charts at a year, to 53% now.  His weight went from 19% in weight at a year old, to 63%.  That is a big jump!  So it wasn't just his younger brother being born that made Isaac suddenly seem ginormous . . . it was the fact he's now ginormous.  :-)   

Since we were leaving the house and all, I got the boys dressed in one of their matching outfits.  They're so cute . . . 

That same day I took a picture of Owen that reminded me of an expression that Isaac would make as a baby.  So, I had to pull it up and compare them, and it amused me how similar the expressions were.

 

 Aunt Talina was over watching the girls while I took the boys to the doctor's office.  With all five grandkids in one place, we took some pictures for Grandma and to send to Uncle Cody on his mission, since he's never seen these two little ones in person . . .

Happy Birthday Connor!

My oldest nephew, Connor, turns five today!

The girls could not be more excited for his birthday, even if he is several states away.   They happily made videos for him this morning (Annie practically cut her phone call off with him this morning so she could get back to video making).  :-)

(Also, Annie's eye is all red and puffy due to some kind of allergic reaction to something this morning.  We're not sure what it was, but it's really bugging her, the poor thing.  Benadryl and allergy eye drops both on board, and hopefully it looks better soon, or we may just be heading in to the doctor's office.  It has been almost two weeks since we were there last, so it kinda makes sense . . . )

(I apologize for the craptacular video quality -- my normal camera is at my sister's house, and we attempted to just get by this morning using my old Mac's PhotoBooth.  It kinda worked :-).)

Happy Birthday Connor!

We wish we were there with you today!

My In-Laws are the Luckiest People in the World . . .

'Cause they have six of the most ADORABLE grandchildren on earth!

Nathan, Annie holding Isaac, Ellie (happy in this picture, 'cause Grandpa said he'd give her ice cream if she stopped crying (see first picture where she's screaming like a banshee)), and Ian being held by Connor.

(And I don't think I'd really ever noticed this before -- but all of my children have remarkably similar eyes -- look at all those under-eye circles!)  :-)

Thomas the Train

I already posted pictures of the two baby boys on the train pulling hair and kissing . . . but here's the other pictures from the day of the kids and their cousins.  Greg's brother Chris, his wife Liz and their kids, unfortunately (for us, I'm sure they'll be glad to be home again) are headed back home after spending several weeks here in Utah.  It's going to be weird adjusting to not just seeing the boys whenever we want!  (If anyone knows of any amazing job opportunities for a genius patent attorney, let me know . . . the right job could get them back out here!)

My nephew, Connor, LOVES Thomas the Train . . . he's like a walking Thomas dictionary.  But when we came up to the first poster to stand in front of, he wanted nothing to do with it . . . apparently Diesel 10 (the middle one) is mean, and there was no way Connor was gonna stand by him . . .

 Thomas on the other hand . . .

Here's the four older cousins.  Most of the time both Liz and I have kids that are the exact same ages.  Like, when Liz and the boys first came out to Utah in May, we each had a four year old, a two year old, and a baby under one.  But, with both girls' birthdays in May, they're currently different ages for awhile . . . and for a brief period in July, the cousins will be 5 (Annie), 4 (Connor), 3 (Ellie), 2 (Nathan), 1 (Isaac), 0 (Ian).  But, by the end of October, it'll be back to two 5 year olds, two three year olds and two one year olds.  I went and threw everything off by getting pregnant and having another one so soon -- and (selfish, selfish) Liz, refuses to have another one with me, just so we have another set of same aged children next year.  Can you believe it?  :-) 

 Here's Grandma and Grandpa with five of their six grandchildren.  And Sir Topham Hat.  

The kids loved playing with the train sets.  And then there's adorable Ian with his equally adorable Aunt Andrea, watching the kids play with the trains.

 Ellie, very seriously, shaking her groove thing alongside the percussion artist who was playing.

Then we actually boarded the train -- here's Grandpa and Connor.  Probably the groups' two biggest train aficionados.

 Ellie, Annie, Nathan (looking out the window, 'cause that's way cooler than mugging for a camera) and Aunt Andrea.

 The mamas and the babies -- Nathan and Liz, sharing a tiny cramped bench with Isaac and me.

 Connor and Grandma.

 Andrea amused by Nathan's uncertainty about wearing Ellie's flower in his hair.

 Ellie spent the entire train ride with her head out the window like this.  I think out of all the kids, surprisingly, she seemed the most into the train ride and just taking it all in.

 Annie & Nathan with Grandma.

 Aunt Andrea got Ian to sleep!  Three cheers for sleeping babies!  (Isaac never did sleep while we were there.  And it showed . . . that kid got grumpy.)

 Annie and Daddy with their balloon hats -- Annie's face is a bit red and splotchy, 'cause her balloon animal (elephant?!) had just popped . . . so Dad came to the rescue and went and got her and him matching balloon hats.

It was fun.  It's just sinking in now that I can't just call up Liz and say, "Hey let's go to the park/make s'mores/go to a movie/play in our backyard," now that they're on their way back home.  It was a lot of fun while it lasted though.  And if y'all just find a good enough patent attorney position to bribe Chris out here with, we can return to our charmed life of spending time with cousins whenever we want (and one or more kids isn't sick) . . .

Cousins

Yesterday, we spent the day up in Heber City, to go see Thomas the Train.  We went with Greg's family, as there's only a few more days where my cute nephews are still in town.  The kids all had a lot of fun (until they all began to systematically melt down from over-stimulation and exhaustion.  :-) You should see an overly tired Annie when her animal balloon pops . . . you do not want to be in her wake!) 

I have a ton of pictures, but a few of the two little boys on the train had to be my very favorite.

First, it's Isaac kissing his cousin Ian :-)

Then below that is Isaac saying 'hi' to Ian . . . by pulling his hair (I think he was just so shocked to find that other babies have hair!)

Ian looks so happy, then upset, hurt and confused by his treatment.  :-)

Isaac just seems to be enjoying himself immensely.  :-)  The last picture is just like, "That was cool, Mom!" And Ian's little face is like, "What the crap just happened to me?"