Will-style

Ok, last post of the day. Just a couple funny pictures of Will. The first is "playing golf" in the kitchen. Generally, not a good idea. But this actually more closely resembles floor hockey. The second is him getting ready to go on a walk. We were not going that far, but he seems prepared for a hike!



Isn't he a handsome little boy? Can't believe how quickly he's growing up.

4th of July

We had a fun (though rainy) 4th of July weekend. We were so glad to get to see some friends visiting from Texas. Cooper & Will are about 5 months apart - they had a great time.


Getting a picture of this many kids is tricky...


Ryan got a turn helping Ellie Kate walk - it seems that's all she wants to do sometimes!


Isn't Jackson so cute?!


We spent the fourth with Justin's family. Again, getting a picture of kids is not easy...

Elle kept a little ponytail in for the first time that day - hooray!



It ended up being too rainy for fireworks, but we saw a great rainbow on the way back home. It was so bright!


Can you see the second rainbow just to the left? It's fainter, but still there! Will thought it was pretty cool.

15 months

I'm a little late posting this, but since Will is home sick today and is now taking a nap, I have a little time. Eleanor turned 15 months on June 25. Here are the stats:

23 lbs 3 oz (54%)
30 in. tall (36%) - I still don't know how we got short kids!
big head, as usual
7 teeth
taking steps here and there, but not fully walking
loves to climb!
says lots of words - mama, dada, cracker (ca cah), socks, shoes, uh-oh, bye-bye, nose, bar (Nutrigrain bar), ball, no-no, dog, and roars like a lion when she sees Will's stuffed lion - hysterical with her husky little voice!
signs more, food, milk, please, thank you - and blows kisses when we say I love you to her
favorite foods include crackers of all kinds, yogurt, chicken, pizza, Goldfish crackers (thanks Go-Go & Grampy), fruits - banana, strawberries, cantaloupe, grapes, kiwi, she'll try lots of things - she was eating my cucumbers like crazy a couple weekends ago.
She is starting to have a temper and throw mini-fits. She's definitely into arching the back; this is not my favorite stage. It's frustrating for everyone.
Here are some pictures of Elle in her typical spots...
Can you see her behind the table?

They were playing peacefully, I looked in to check on them and find Elle sitting on top of the car ramp.

Yes, that is Botchie's bed she's sitting in.

Climbing out from underneath her high chair...notice the bow in her mouth.

Father's Day

We had a fun Father's Day weekend -including some time at the pool.



Eleanor has been on the go pushing shopping carts, baby strollers, laundry baskets - anything that will move. She goes so fast! One of these days she'll be brave enough to let go and walk on her own.


The kids were being silly with Will's play safety goggles. Someday this picture of Will is going to come back to haunt him...I think high school graduation would be appropriate, don't you?



Amazing how much happier this little girl is when she's healthy!

Call the fashion police

Will: "Mommy I got dressed all by myself!"
Me: "Wow! Yes, you did, great job! Do you think that matches?"
Will: "Uh-huh. See, there is brown right here in my shirt and there is brown right here in my shorts."


Regretfully, he spilled water all over himself later in the day and had to change. :)

Here is Eleanor in her adorable summer romper from Aunt Jenny.


And here she is once she figured out she could untie the straps all by herself. We resorted to double knots after this.

Royals game and Eleanor sick again

We had a really fun time last weekend. Justin & I went to great wedding Friday night. Justin was in the Old Shawnee Days parade Saturday. Then, Sunday the 4 of us went to the Royals game. It was the Build-A-Bear promotion day, so both of the kids got stuffed polar bears, the weather was awesome, and thanks to my very generous aunt & uncle we had super seats and parking. We had a great time and the Royals even won!


Eleanor had a bit of a fever Saturday and part of the day Sunday that we attributed to teething. It got very high Sunday night and she was out of bed most of the night. She continued to have a high fever (over 103) through Tuesday. Wednesday she finally started to get her appetite and personality back. And after the fever was gone, the rash came. We think she had roseola. She is back to her old self now, but she was pretty miserable for a few days. Rather than play with her toys, she preferred to just lay down on the floor. Poor baby!

3-day weekend and Elle at 14 months

After a very busy couple of weeks at work, we enjoyed a 3-day weekend. We had a wedding on Saturday, then enjoyed a picnic, the playground, and other "home fun" on Sunday & Monday.






Will & Eleanor have been playing together more recently and it's very cute. Will gets very excited about all of Ellie's new accomplishments and takes joy in little things like giving her another snack. (Of course, like us, he makes her sign "more please" before she can have it. Tonight when she did it, Will said "Good job, baby girl!" So cute!) Although, he is not fond of all things his sister does. She was motor-boating in the car last night and spitting everywhere, including in Will's eye apparently. "Oh, Ellie Kate! She spitted in my eye. Now my eye is very dirty!"


And I do think they are starting to look more alike as Ellie is getting older.

Elle turned 14 months last week. She's not walking yet, but she's thinking about it. All weekend long she practiced going from a sitting position to standing up all by herself. Over and over again she did this, falling down most of the time, but she never got discouraged. She's balancing much better when she's standing, so I think she'll try steps relatively soon. She (finally!) cut her 7th tooth this weekend. It seems like we've been working on that one forever! She's been very grumpy the last several days, and I'm sure that was why. She is adding a few words, though I don't think she's as verbal as Will was (really, what kid is?!). She's saying dada, mama (on occasion), shoes, socks, this (for things she wants), and has repeated some other things after we say them. She's very good at shaking her head no and she knows where her nose is (and sometimes where her mouth is). She signs more, please, milk and all done. She's working on signing thank you, but it usually turns into blowing kisses. She loves blowing kisses!


She waves bye-bye and is pulling up and cruising all the time. She's a very fast crawler - lowering her head to be more aerodynamic, but then runs into things because she can't see where she's going! She loves to climb - the stairs, on furniture, anything...much more daring than Will was!


I'm so glad it's finally gotten to be summer so Elle can wear her cute summer clothes! Will loves this weather, although he thinks we need to go to the pool every night. And he keeps asking about when we'll get a swing and slide in our backyard. We better get to working on that...