Snapshots of our week

We had a good week. Although the busyness of summer is fun and something we look forward to all winter long it's nice to have low-key weekends this fall - down-time is a much valued commodity around our house these days.

Our little doll made a beautiful hat at school this week. Her teachers report that she is as easy going there as she is here. She puts smiles on the faces of everyone that meets her. Today at Target Mike and I thought we'd never get on with our shopping when a couple of workers stopped to admire "what a beautiful baby" she is.
Hads is still sleeping in a crib in our room. She's probably about 12 feet from the foot of our bed. She's so much more aware of her surroundings now that two mornings this week I woke up and looked over at her crib to find that she was cranking her head to peer at me through her crib slats. Her big eyes were just waiting to meet mine.

Here's my little 4 1/2 month old with the "ahh mom - not another picture" expression. How can I resist snapping away when this is my subject? She now handles her pacifier pretty well - juggling it in her hands, guiding it to her mouth and if she can't find it she's happy with her thumb or fingers. Today we had the most perfect fall day. It got to almost 80 degrees this evening. In the morning we went to Excelsior beach - walked along the water, watched the sailboats and played on the playground. The motion of the stroller and the crisp fall air put this girl in a very relaxed state.

Our 2 year old is going on 13 these days. He now will grab my phone and flip it sideways to "text mommy." This morning he was pacing up and down the hallway, talking. I peaked at him and he was on the cell phone. His head was cocked to the side and he was intent in this one-way conversation. The call sounded like this: "Oh...sloppy joes...hi auntie...oh...(smile at mommy)...where my daddy go...ok grandpa." Then the other day I had my work laptop out and he got up on the chair in front of it and said "skype Uncle Matt." It's so cute and funny but also a reflection of how plugged in we are as he is following what he sees.

Here he is at the Linden Hills playground - working hard on the ladder bridge with grandma.

Corey and Miles marched through the leaves for 15 minutes before we had to drag them away for lunch. What's better in the fall then crunching through a big pile of leaves? Between marching back and forth Miles and Corey would stop and stare at the empty pool on the other side of the chain link fence. They remember swimming in it this summer. Here's their conversation:

Miles - "where water go?"

Corey - "water go bye-bye."

Miles - "Corey, where water go?"

Corey - "I don't know."

We're really into boogers, stinky poo-poo and pee-pee talk these days. At about 6:00 am Saturday morning I heard "Daddy, I've got booger. On my thumb!" Miles has also been consistently going pee-pee in the potty before his baths. Today our big boy picked out Thomas the Train underwear and we're going to attempt potty training next weekend. I have a bit of anxiety just thinking about it. It's probably a combination of thinking my baby is getting so big and oh my gosh potty training is going to be an around the clock exercise in parent patience and endurance. Wish us luck!

Our two kiddies like to play together in fits and spurts. Miles mostly goes about his business while Hadley stares at him adoringly but every now and then Miles will stop to play with her. Here he really enjoyed giving her a piggyback ride.

It's hard enough sometimes to separately get a 2 year old and 4 1/2 month old to do what you want in photographs. My attempts at getting good pictures of them together have been more humorous then good quality lately. Here I envisioned these two cuddling on the beach, posing and smiling cutely while I captured the lake and the beautiful fall colors in the background. The reality is this picture. Miles has Hadley in a choke hold during the 1 second that he actually wanted to sit next to her, Mike's shadow is hovering to rescue Hadley at any moment and my shadow is trying to capture the moment and you can't even see the colors in the background. These are parenting moments that we love to laugh at.

We're back

Our girl turned 4 months old!

Everything goes in her mouth these days.
We headed up to the cabin last weekend and dressed to face the cold.

Bundled up with grandma.


Nothing like playing on the beach in your winter coat and hat.

So cute in his new shoes and sporty vest.

Loves the new swing at the cabin.

Best buddies.

New jammies!

Today was so beautiful we headed to the apple orchard.
Hads was thrilled. Miles picked the tiniest apples off of this tree...

...and had a great time driving a tractor.

My 2 cuddlebugs.

Hugs on his own time

Mr. M is a very independent guy these days. He still loves to snuggle and give hugs but only on his own time. He does NOT want mom to just pick him up and hug him any old time. He's too busy!

As he gets older his vocabulary is ever expanding. It's amazing to watch someone learn a language right before your eyes. He is in a phase now where he narrates everything - he has this constant external dialogue going on which is often hilarious because everything he is thinking he says.

He's also going through a period of needing either mommy or daddy. This weekend in particular he was my constant companion (aka if we weren't together he was calling for me and wanted me to carry him around). He imitates everything I do. This morning, before Miles and I left for church, I squeezed Hadley's cheeks between my hands and gave her a kiss. Then Miles did the same. Jokingly, I gave Hadley pounds, Miles did the same. I then marched down the hall saying something goofy - and there my little buddy was - doing exactly what I did.

Other new things he does include: counting to 13 on a regular basis, "reading" his books (he has many memorized), saying prayers and wanting to know "where Jesus go?," and he tried walleye for the first time this weekend and LOVED it.

Laughter

The other day I was reading in one of my parenting books about everything a 4 month old should do at this age. Hadley was right on track with everything EXCEPT she hadn't laughed yet and at this age most babies "chuckle softly." This perturbed me a bit because she's such a happy baby and smiles easily and often. Are we just not that funny? Well, it finally happened. You can see the big moment on the video but Miles finally made her laugh this week. The video speaks for itself. She has now since laughed more and my face physically hurt today from laughing with her so much.

She is also rolling - both from back to front and front to back. Her main objective is usually to see what Brother is doing so she'll wiggle around until she has a prime view of him. She is very talkative and can be loud. We say everyday how lucky we are to have the cutest, sweetest daughter.

Hadley turned 4 months old! Overall, she's a very healthy girl but has had a cough for the past 3 weeks. After a couple of doctor's visits she's now on amoxicillin and is doing better. Here are her stats:

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  Height: 24 1/4 inches (50%)
  



• 
  
  
  Weight: 14 lbs 5 oz (70%)
  



• 
  
  
  Head: 16.14 inches (55%)

Hanging on to summer

We recently got Had's 3 month pictures professionally taken. Trying to wrangle a 3 month old and 2 year old to sit nicely and smile cutely for pictures was exhausting but we got some good photos. The next 5 pictures are just a few of my favorites and they are all courtesy of Sally Gruman Photography. MB is sleeping soundly in bed right now after a busy weekend. He keeps us thoroughly entertained these days by doing things like singing like a choir boy (holding one of his board books up as if he's reading it and singing loud and proud), singing his ABC's and counting objects up to 11. Most nights he compliments me on dinner saying "nice dinner mommy" or good cooking mommy." He also enjoys asking us to "clap your hands everybody" and play follow the leader. This week when I asked him where he lived he replied "Minnesota" and when asked how old he is he replies "2 more minutes." Ok, I guess we need to work on that one a little more but at least the number is right!

Here he is at Centential Lakes Park on Saturday walking through the maze. We've noticed that when he's nervous (not sure why he was nervous at the park) he sticks his hand in his mouth. (A nervous habit that is slightly better then mine - biting fingernails.)

Until I had to teach a 2 year old how to hit a ball off a T I didn't think about how coordinated you actually have to be to do it. MB did well but enjoyed fielding the ball (running after it as it rolled down the driveway) better then hitting.
This boy got new shoes this weekend and now wears an 8 wide! He also has been loving the first fall apples of the season. Yum - Zestar!HR, otherwise known by me these days as Rosie Lu, Rose Marie or Haddy Rose, is snoozing next to me on the couch right now, dressed in the sweetest pink rosebud pajamas courtesy of Great-Aunt Nancy. These days she is drooling buckets and chewing on anything she can get her little hands on - toys, pacifier and her fists. It's so amazing how she holds and handles her toys now. Mike felt 2 little nubs on her lower gums, hence the excessive drooling. Soon our little bunny will have her first 2 teeth.
She continues to primarily nurse but gets 3 bottles during the week at daycare. She's up to 7 ounce bottles now. She also sleeps through the night most nights. Here she is - bored with mom taking MORE pictures.
I'm thinking that I don't take quite as many pictures of Hadley as I did of Miles so I'm trying harder lately. I realized that part of the problem is she's not out and about on her own like Miles. So here she is at the park with mom and dad.
This girl is almost sitting up these days and she likes nothing more then to look around at all of the action. She also is rolling and will often sleep on her side in the crib. I love peaking at her in the morning. She will have rolled around in her crib so she's laying horizontally, snoozing on her side with her little feet up on the crib slats.
So, not to end on a downer but I watched some of the 9/11 coverage this week and it seemed to affect me more now then when the events actually happened. Ten years ago i was in my early 20s and wasn't a wife and mother. Having children I now realize more profoundly what a miracle life is yet how fragile at the same time. Watching the stories of families
saying goodbye to their loved ones lost on that day makes me so sad. I never want my children to feel this kind of pain, sadness, or loss but know that this is a part of life. Today we took some time to remember the events of this date 10 years ago. Like most things, life goes on and we also have celebrated happy times on this date - like Matt and Janelle's wedding. Happy 1 year anniversary!

Summer Days

The summer days are coming to an end but we're determined to enjoy every last moment of sunshine before the long winter sets in. As true Minnesotans, we headed to the State Fair on Friday. I love the animal barns, the people watching and there is just something wholesome about strolling along, looking at tractors and eating ice cream. This is Miles' 2nd fair and Hadley's first. One of the highlights was our first trip to the Little Farm Hands exhibit where Miles and Corey fed the animals, drove tractors, planted seeds and took their goods to sell at market.
Miss Hadley was not left out of any of the fun and sported a John Deere hat just like the boys.

I don't know if Rachel and I are brave or crazy for taking 3 kids ages 2 and under to the fair but we had a blast. With stroller, double stroller and baby bjorn we were ready for many fair adventures and maneuvered through the crowds like professional moms (because we are!).

Miles favorite parts of the fair were seeing and petting a lamb, calf, piglet and Zip the horse. He also enjoyed his burger and ice cream cone. In other fair news, we live with a blue ribbon winner. Mike won first prize in the craft beer competition for his brown ale home brew. Congratulations daddy!

Fair fun is exhausting. I guess that's the reason my son decided to take a break in the dirt amongst the garbage. Oh, my two-year old!

In other exciting news we had a visit from some of our relatives from Luxembourg! A couple of years ago, as my dad was working on his family's genealogy, he discovered that his ancestors weren't German (as we always thought) but actually came from Luxembourg. He's a very enthusiastic genealogist and in attempt to get to the bottom of his roots he sent out 50+ letters to Nickolays he found in the phone book in Luxembourg. He actually received responses and since then my parents have actually visited Luxembourg and met many of our relatives. So we were so excited when Gust and Annette, two of these relatives, came to MN this week to visit. Saturday evening my parents hosted a party so they could meet everyone. Here Hadley's great-aunts Carol and Sue enjoy baby snuggles.

How many people can actually say that they have met their relatives from their home country? It's pretty cool! Gust and Annette were extremely nice and fit right in with the American-side of the family. Annette was even teaching Hadley some Letzebuergesch. I am actually Gust's third cousin, twice removed (I think that this means we share great-great-great-great grandparents). Miles and Hadley are his third cousins, three times removed. Here we are with Gust and Annette (back row, 2nd and 3rd from the left).

Gust and Annette were not only very nice people but also so generous. They brought gifts for the kids - t-shirts and cute picture frames. C'etait tellement agreable de vous rencontrer. Merci beaucoup pour les cadeaux. Nous esperons que vous avez des vacances merveilleuses.

To end our long holiday weekend we headed up to the cabin on Sunday. Although the weather was brisk Miles and Corey had fun eating lots of snacks together, having a dance party and pushing each other in circles in the chairs.

Here we are enjoying the sunshine with the babies. Earlier this weekend Hadley developed a cough which we thought was croup but now think is just her first cold. This girl is so good natured that she would smile up at me immediately after a coughing spell. She's feeling much better now.

We also celebrated Mike's birthday with a grilled steak and salmon dinner and homemade chocolate pecan pie. Happy birthday daddy!

It's never too cold to play with a squirt bottle outside!

We ended the Labor Day holiday at home, laboring. We cleaned, did 5 loads of laundry, made refrigerator pickles, grated and froze 9 cups of zucchini, went for a walk and took the kids to the park. What a fun family weekend!