Ellie Stories.

This morning began the same way most mornings began.  Early, and with Curious George.  As I was carrying Isaac out of his bedroom this morning we were singing "5 Little Monkeys" (Jumping on the Bed, vs. the Swing in the Tree version . . . both of which he loves).  When we came in and Ellie had turned on my television to Curious George, and Isaac exclaimed, "George a monkey!"  So we sang about a monkey jumping on the bed again.  "One fell off and broke his head," I sang and Isaac giggled as I grabbed my head dramatically, "Mama called the doctor and the doctor said . . . " I continued, when Ellie loudly interrupted, "DADDY.  Daddy called the doctor."  At first I just assumed that this was just one more example of Ellie's preference for her Dad over Mom, but she clarified, "George doesn't really have a Mom," she explained sadly, "He only has a Dad.  The man with the yellow hat.  So Daddy called the doctor."  Um, that's a good point, Ellie.  I hadn't thought of that.

Another Ellie story -- yesterday I was getting the kids ready and I asked her to get dressed.  She responded, "I can't right now, Mom.  I gotta practice whistling."

And for good measure,  a Bad Mommy moment.  So, I tend to keep my kids off youtube . . . a few of their favorite Sesame Street clips are on there, but I only let them watch the ones we've found on hulu.  It seems like whatever clip you're watching on youtube, you're only one click from a swearing Elmo or foul-mouthed-rapping Dora.  And it makes me angry that the site is littered with children's things made crude, dirty or inappropriate.  Anyway, so typically I don't let them watch much on youtube.  With one exception.  Humphrey the bear singing, "Put it in the Bag" (bump, bump).  Ellie had asked ALL morning yesterday to watch it, so after Annie got home from school I pulled it up and they watched it, twice.  Then a Goofy cartoon started (Ellie kept calling him Doofy or Goofus or Doofus, which was amusing me, she just could not seem to remember the name 'Goofy'.)  Half way into it, the baby started crying.  I'd planned on coming right back down, but there was a diaper to change and an outfit to change, and by the time I came back down, the kids were just finished watching a foul-mouthed Cookie Monster video, and there were a bunch of 'Family Guy' clips set to start next.  Dang it.  Annie looked instantly guilty, and Ellie was laughing hysterically and repeating some line about the doctor telling him to take his pants off.  Stupid internet.  So, we sat down and had a talk about what isn't 'appropriate' for little kids to be watching online, and how 'bad' stuff can come up on the computer, and if Mom's not there, how to shut off the computer or close the current screen and to come tell Mom and we can talk about how it made them feel.  The conversation was mainly for Annie, who seemed a bit concerned about what she'd seen.  Ellie was still giggling about the 'pants off' line and saying, "It was funny!  So funny!"  We extended the conversation to include what we do if we're at a friend's house or somewhere else, and Mom's not around, and we hear of see something that we're not comfortable with.  At this point, Ellie finally gets serious, and responds, "When I was at Kate's house, she said she was the boss of me.  But, she's not the boss of me.  And it made me sad.  And berry un-come-bur-ta-bull."  The last line was so emphatic that I burst out laughing.

And lastly, an Isaac story.  Isaac loves the book "Go Dog Go" and asks for it by name, often. So I laughed when he'd finished reading it with his Dad, and Greg asked, "Do you want to read it again?" Isaac responded, "No. All done now with dogs that go."

Saturday Night at Our House

Saturday nights at our house are pretty exciting.

There's dancing, singing, tickling, giggling, shrieking (Ellie), puzzles, reading and picture taking.

 

 Doing puzzles about fruit.

 

There was tickling.

 The first time Greg tickled Isaac he laughed, then said, "That funny!"  We tried to get him to say it again for the camera ('cause it's adorable), but no luck.

Isaac showing off his dance moves.  Which includes (and is pretty limited to) stomping.

Then no night is complete without singing and dancing from the girls.

(They all picked out their Christmas pajamas to wear, thus the Christmas carols.)

Heard in the Last 20 Minutes at our House . . .

Annie:
Annie and Ellie were excitedly talking about the future.  "You'll be four, and I'll be six!" Annie said, "Then you will ask me, 'Annie, what is the world made of?' and I will say, 'I don't know.'" 

Ellie:
"I'm just like a Daddy!" Ellie exclaimed, telling me about how she was going to take the little trash can in their room and dump it into the bigger trash can.  Then I heard her as she came out of her room, "Annie, I've done this like 12 times -- I'm done, I think it's your turn."  I had no idea she'd taken on (then grown to resent) the trash duties in their room.

Isaac:
My 19 month old and I had a bit of a miscommunication issue earlier.  He came up to me with a box of crayons.  He pulled one out and exclaimed, "Owens crayon!"  "It's Owen's crayon?" I asked.  "Isaac's crayon," he firmly shot back.  "Oh, Isaac's crayon."  He held up the crayon again and said, "Owens crayon!"  "So, it's Owen's crayon?" If the boy knew how to roll his eyes he would've, "ISAAC'S crayon," he reaffirmed.  "Isaac's crayon," I agreed.  He pulled out a new crayon, held it up, and this time I heard the ever so subtle difference, "Owans crayon."  I looked at the orange and orange-red crayons he was holding in his hands, "OH! ORANGE crayon! Gotcha!" Smart boy.  Not so smart Mom.  :-)

Owen:

He doesn't actually contribute much to the conversation yet.  But he's recently discovered he is very amused by the cow-print bar above his bouncy chair . . .

Completely unrelated:

This is what my walls look like several times a week . . . thanks, Isaac.

Grandpa Robert babysat the other day while Talina and I ditched him with four of our five children.

Brocolli! Celery!

Isaac LOVES VeggieTales.  Really, really, REALLY, loves it.  He happily bellows loud, "Bom, bom, bom, bom," along with the opening notes of the theme song, and lately has been singing more and more of the words of the song.  In particular, he yells, "Brocolli! Celery! VeggieTales!" while marching around the house.  I've tried a couple times to get some video of him singing along, but so far, this is the best I've gotten (as he usually clams up when the camera comes out) . . .
(Annie is singing in the background)

 Other randomness from the last week:

Annie left these little notes around the house on Valentine's Day.

Six Weeks Old (last Friday)

So last Friday Owen was six weeks old (wow, already!?)

I took these pictures last Thursday (so, when he was almost six weeks old).

And I'm posting them now (almost a week later).

Time is an interesting thing with a newborn around. :-)

Random Valentine's Snippets

We had heart shaped pink pancakes and pink milk for breakfast this morning.  I felt a bit guilty about the amount of red food coloring being ingested.  :-)  The girls were so excited, and Annie kept trying to coach Ellie, "1 - 2 - 3 . . . Best Valentine's Day EVER!!!"  Ellie usually caught on in time to triumphantly yell, "EVER!" a split second after Annie did.  They were so giggly and excited -- and hungry!  I've never seen those two girls finish off a plate of pancakes so quickly.  Apparently I should start dyeing everything pink!

The girls got their next Valentine's surprise, matching dresses.  Complete with matching doll dresses.  (I got them both on clearance super cheap last year at Kohl's and have been waiting ever since to give 'em to them!)  They were even more excited than they were about the pink pancakes.  We did a little photo shoot in their new dresses.

Isaac made out with Elmo.  (Everyone needs a Valentine.)

While Ellie was off at school, Annie finished writing all the kids names on our Valentine's posters we'd made for all the grandparents the night before for Family Home Evening.  (It involved hands and feet and red paint.  It was messy and stressed me out, but turned out to be worth it.)  Once Ellie came home, we went on a walk around the block to drop off Valentine's for some friends.  I had the baby in the sling, pushing the double stroller with Isaac and Ellie loaded in, and Annie walked along side us.  Oh, what I wouldn't give for Annie to be big enough to push the stroller :-)  Then we grabbed the Valentine's we made for Aunt Star, and drove to her work where she got to show off her adorable nieces and nephews to her team and the class she's currently training.  They were so cute and friendly, and Star assured me everyone gushed about them once we left.  Then we came home, had sugar cookies, Grandma Karine stopped by with stuffed animals for all the kids and Dad got home.  Ellie came up while I was holding Owen and he started to cry, she leaned in and in a high, sweet voice cooed, "It's OK baby, I won't eat you."  Um, OK.  :-)  After dinner the girls got their final surprise -- Cinderella pens, filled with candy.  That turned out to have a stamp in the top part AND it lights up!  Annie kept shrieking things like, "This day just keeps getting BETTER AND BETTER!" and, my personal favorite, "This is COOL!  This is freaking darn cool!"  (It's the first time I've heard her use the words freaking and darn -- I've so raised a Mormon.)  :-)  Then Annie brought up a tiny piece of paper, slid it under my mouse pad while I typed this blog post and said, "Mom, I left a surprise for you!" I pulled it out and read, "I Love You Mom.  Happy Valentine's Day!" 

Annie's right, this day just keeps getting better and better.  :-)

Here's some videos we made today too:

 Isaac's favorite book is called "Rainbow Rob".  Except Isaac calls him "Penguin Bob"

Isaac turning off his guitar, then declaring it broken.

The girls making up impromptu Valentine's songs.  Ellie kinda drowns Annie out.

Them making Valentine's videos for their out-of-state cousins.

Early Planning . . .

A few months ago, we couldn't get the girls to provide us with a Christmas list to save our lives.  For well over a month, all we could get out of them was, "Gum."  That eventually got more specific, as they both clearly wanted Bubble Tape, in Santa packaging.  We got as far as Annie asking for roller skates, and Ellie falling in line with her big sister. 
So I was a bit surprised when Ellie burst into my room and enthusiastically cried out, "Mom, I want a doll for Christmas!"  "Um, okay."  "And a race car!  With buttons!  Girl ones!  That you can push!"  "Um, a race car?"  "Yeah. With a driver with red hair!  Like Strawberry Shortcake.  And another girl in the car!  But with two steering wheels, so they both have one.  But I have the buttons, so I'm really driving."  "Um, I don't know if . . ."  "And I want a thing that turns around [as she swirls her hand in a tight rapid circle], but not that turns around [much wider hand circles].  I wanna one that doesn't go by itself.  I have to help it."  "Um, are we still talking about a remote control car?"  "Yeah.  I wanna help it.  Pushing buttons.  I don't want it to go by itself, I want to help it."  "Um . . . "  "I think that's all for now."  She turns abruptly and starts to walk out of the room, then gets to the door, turns around and fist pumps in the air, "I can't WAIT for Christmas!"


Um . . .

Isaac's been his usual talkative self this morning, but a few things have stuck out to me and made me laugh.

This morning he climbed up into my bed, asked for the "Mote" (remote) and pointed it at the TV then said, "Ah-tch Super Why."  I turned to Greg and was like, "Our little boy is growing up!  He's asking to watch "Super Why" first thing in the morning, instead of Elmo!"  I don't know why, but it really stuck out to me that he's now requesting Super Why instead of Sesame Street.  Greg just kinda looked at me funny.  :-)  But Isaac was quite disappointed that I couldn't just make Super Why appear on the television, and was not really happy about settling for some random Saturday morning cartoon he didn't recognize.  Until he saw a cat on the show!  "Cat!" he exclaimed and pointed at the screen, "Kitty cat!"  Then, to his utter delight, another cat walked on screen, "ANOTHER CAT!" He was so excited and kept pointing at the 'cat' and the 'another cat'.  I'd never heard him use the word 'another' before, and it was just so cute and sounded so big coming out of his little self, that it amused me.

Later he came in my room playing Ellie's Dora guitar, and he'd push a button and exclaim, "On!  Working!"  Then he turned it over and patted the back panel and said, "Good batteries."  Then he turned switch to off and said, "No batteries now."  He's almost got it.  :-)  Anytime a toy isn't working I tell the kids we need new batteries.  When Dad gets home. :-)  I don't know why, I'm perfectly capable of changing batteries, but in my head it's Dad's job.

Then Aunt Star came over to play.  Isaac kept showing of his "Isaac boots" that he'd just gotten, and Star was making him laugh.  He kept giggling and saying, "That is funny. That is funny." 

Speaking of Isaac's new boots, late last night I went to Kohl's with my Mom and sister (who knew it was open 'til 11pm?!)  We'd gone late when we'd heard that all their clearance was just marked down an additional 40% off that evening.  Who can resist a deal like that?!  Add to that some other coupons we had on hand and we did well.  Really well. 

I spent $89.04.  On $995.21 worth of merchandise.  (Of course, that's at Kohl's, which I tend to find a bit outrageously priced, and I wouldn't buy anything at Kohl's not at least 50% off.)

Not too shabby :-)  Five pairs of winter boots (three pairs of those for the boys were Toy Story 3 light up boots in sizes 5, 7 and 9 . . . I'm hoping this gets us through several Winters with both of them.  Especially since I was getting 'em for like $3 a pair!)  Two pair of dress shoes in the next two sizes Annie'll grow into, a pair of tennis shoes and some cute brown casual shoes for Annie in the next size.  Seven pair of pants in the next two sizes Annie will wear.  A Christmas outfit for Annie next year.  A three piece outfit (sweater vest) for Isaac for Church, and I think it was 9 long sleeve shirts for Isaac, two jackets, two complete outfits and five pairs of pants that all range from 2T-4T.  Also, three bras that aren't pictured. :-)

Isaac modeling one of his new outfits.

I came home so pumped up from our shopping trip, that it took 'til midnight before I was ready to fall asleep.  Then Owen was fussy, so I got him up and fed him.  Then we had what was quite possibly the WORST night sleep we've had since he was born.  I'm kinda kicking myself that I was up 'til midnight . . . but when I see all the stuff I got for less than $100, I feel a bit better :-)

Favorites

Annie & Ellie are all packed and ready to sleep over at Grandma Ruth's house tonight. They started packing yesterday.  I think we're up to two bags and a sleeping bag each.  I have not been allowed to help with or inspect any of the packing.  I'm assuming with two bags each though, they'll have enough to get by 'til tomorrow morning.  Of course, every time I mention something like 'tooth brush' or 'change of underwear', they both get wide eyed and run back upstairs to bring back additional items to their bags.

I've been a bit worried about Ellie though, since she's not feeling great and has a nasty cough that brought her into our bed no less than three times last night. I'd thought about calling off the slumber party, but they won't hear of it. There were tears. Grandma and Grandpa said that if the girls are up to it though, they'll still take them tonight.  So, I explained, "Ellie, you can sleep over if you want, but if you're coughing during the night, you won't be able to come in and cuddle with Mom and Dad . . ." She thought about it for a second then said, "That's OK. I'll just cuddle with Annie. I like her more anyway."

(By the way, Greg's response to this was, "Whatever.  She totally loves me more than anyone else in the world."  Which is true.)

My Morning . . . Every Morning

Every morning I walk into Isaac's room, where he's awake and sitting up in bed.  He lights up when he sees me, "Momma!"  He starts gathering his various blankets and a stuffed animal or two and with his arms stuffed to capacity, and starts to hand me things one at a time, naming each one.  "Boo banket."  "Blue blanket, OK."  "Bear banket?"  "OK, bear blanket."  "Pooh?"  "Winnie the Pooh, check."  "Today bear?"  "Cody bear."  (It's a Build a Bear in a Missionary outfit, with my little brother Cody's voice saying, "Hi Isaac!  This is Cody.  You don't know this yet, but I'm your FAVORITE Uncle.  I love you!"  "Ehmo banket?"  "OK, Elmo blanket. You ready, Bug?"  He grins, then he finally reaches his little hands in my direction, "Out!"

As we leave his room, he asks, "Ere Daddy?"  "Daddy's at work, Bug."  "Daddy at wort?"  "Yep, Dad's at work."  "Daddy at wort," he says firmly and moves on to his next question.  "Baby Owen?"  "Baby Owen is asleep."  "Baby Owen seeping?"  "Yep, he's asleep."  "Baby Owen seep," he confirms definitively.  We walk into my room, where Ellie's sitting in bed, watching "Sesame Street" (or "Curious George" if I was lucky enough to have Isaac sleep past 7AM.  I'm pretty much never lucky enough to have Ellie sleep past 7.)  I set him on the bed, he turns and exclaims, "Wow! It Eh-yee!  Eh-yee Momma!"  "Yep, Ellie's already up."  "An' 'ere Daddy?"  "He's at work, kiddo."  "An' Owen seeping?"  "Yep, Owen's still sleeping."  "Eh-yee watch Ehmo/Cat?"  "Yep, Ellie's watching TV."  "An' An-yee?"  "Annie's still in bed."  "In bed?"  "Yep."  "An' Daddy? At wort?" . . . .

I think we spent the first 10-15 minutes of Isaac's day establishing where the whole family is at that particular moment.  And it's one of my favorite parts of my day.

And yes, Dad is still at work.  

Smiles

Are there anything better than baby smiles?!  Owen has been especially happy and smiley today, and I've loved it.  The best moment by far was when we was nursing this morning and suddenly smiled up at me, a big wet milky smile that caused him to unlatch.  It is by far one of my favorite parts of nursing!

I took a few pictures of him later that afternoon practicing his baby smiles . . .

 

Here's Owen & Annie comparison pictures . . .

Here's Owen & Ellie comparison pictures . . .

all of my kids have their 'own look', but I swear Ellie's the least like the rest.

And then some comparison pictures of Owen & Isaac both making goofy or happy faces . . . 

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 . . .