Oh Brothers

The bond that Eli and Adam will have is something Dave and I don't necessarily understand.  I had no sisters and Dave had no brothers.  I am happy that they are so close in age and hopefully will be close in relationship over the years.  I just love the way Adam likes to play with Eli and talk about him.  And I know Eli loves his brother too, because when Adam's around Eli constantly looking for him more than anyone else.

2 Year Check Up

Goodness, I'm starting to feel like all my posts start with the number 2 lately.  Well this is the last one I promise (for this month at least).  I'm just happy we made it to the appointment.  I had to wake Eli up from a nap which always means it's meal time to him.  At first it was just little tsk tsk noises, that changed to whimpers when we got in the car and after leaving daycare with Adam Eli was full on protest mode.  His crying cycles from forceful "I want it right now" to pathetic whimpers and sighs.  When we got to the clinic the cycling was over and only loud yelling was left.  So I attempted several times to hold him off while checking in with the nuk, but that wasn't working either.  I picked up Adam and we bolted toward central waiting.  How was I going to keep the toddler entertained and close by while I nursed Eli discreetly?  Adam spotted the kids waiting area at the back of the room- "I want to play with the trees," he said.  Basically it's a little alcove with three big trees coming out of the walls and a ton of little chairs.  So I grabbed a kiddie magazine just in case and set Adam free in the alcove. Eli ate and Adam played, but even the efficient nurser Eli couldn't be quicker than the time it took for Adam to loose interest and wander away from me.  I called, but he wasn't coming back and Eli was only half way done.  So I quick put myself back together and got up to grab Adam and thankfully at that same moment Dave appeared from work and we were back to man on man coverage.  One is easy peasy- two - one being mobile and the other needing you to have nothing but a thin blanket covering your dignity is hard.

And back to the title of this post- Adam is still our little Little Man.  He's 24 pounds 8 ounces- 11th percentile.  Length is 33.25 inches- 22nd percentile and his head is hanging out in the 99th percentile at 20.25 inches.  We discovered he's a little flat footed and discussed how low energy he is for a boy and how advanced his language skills are.  Apparently all a two year old should be able to do is put two words together.  Adam's saying full sentences and has been for a long time.  When he's at home all he does is jabber all day long.  I love it because it fills Eli's ears with language.  I still find it hard to talk to an infant when I'm alone with Eli, but with Adam around it's easier. No shots today- no more until he's 4 years old.  So yay for Adam! 

And for sticking with it and reading the whole post here's a picture of my two year old.  Mickey Mouse baseball jammies, a hockey stick and a garbage can on his head.  Totally normal two year old fashion.

Oh, Hi Summer

Sunday night I walked outside to the most beautiful sunset, so pretty that I had to turn around and get my camera.  It's like the sunset was there to welcome summer and bring us some fabulous summer weather.  Goodbye gloomy clouds, hello sunshine and warmth.

Eli's Two, too

Eli's two months old.  And we're getting to the good part. He smiles and tries to coo when you play with him.  He just recently discovered his hands and will move blankets or toys around that are in his lap.  He also blow bubbles, when the nuk isn't inserted that is.  He loves his nuk way more than any baby I've met. 

He has the most wonderful disposition and his smiles are full face beautiful smiles.  Even his nuk can't hide his grin from the world when his eyes light up from a smile.  He knows when he's tired and just decides to fall asleep weather he's in the car seat, swing, bouncy chair, propped up on a boppy or in his crib (which rarely does he nap there).  I remember struggling a lot to get Adam to sleep at this age.  We're so lucky to be blessed with a second "easy" baby.

A Boy Turns Two

Yesterday after Adam blew out his big #2 birthday candle we asked him how old he was and he responded two.  We celebrated his first of many crocked number birthdays to come with grandma's and grandpa's the day before his actual birthday (thank goodness because today- his actual birthday he woke up with a fever from whatever is going around daycare).  The day was about everything Adam enjoys.

Green Birthday cake:

Baseball bases, outside bat and helmet:

A big red crab filled with sand to wiggle his toes in:

And a John Deere tractor.

Plus there was eating of hot dogs, cheese burgers, melons and dad's homemade mac 'n cheese outside on the patio.  Later we gave him a magna doodle that will come in handy on our long car trips and he can serenade us downstairs now too, because Dave's parents brought the old Casio keyboard.  I love it when Adam plays music and sings! 

It was a beautiful day to celebrate a 2nd birthday and to put to rest my worry that he wouldn't know he's two.

2 Month Check Up

I didn't even feel throwing a guess out there for how much Eli weighs.  But I now know he weighs 11 pounds 2 ounces which is the 39th percentile.  He's 23 inches long which is the 55th percentile and his head is in the 52nd percentile at 15.75 inches.  He's doing great.  And if your wondering these are Adam's two month stats here.  Eli's a little taller, but a little lighter than Adam was at 2 months.  I thought I'd be able to keep Eli in three month clothes through most of the summer, but because of his extra length and chunky cloth diaper butt he'll probably be moving up to six month clothes soon.

Dave reminded last night that our doctor kept saying Eli has a perfect head.  And such a happy little guy.  He cried for all of two minutes post shots and when I put him in his carrier he looked up at me and smiled. 

This is Eli's concentration face

Sqeezable chubby checks

Happy Fathers Day

To the wonderful daddy of my boys happy fathers day.  I hope you enjoyed your pancake breakfast and looking at all the airplanes, going to church, seeing your son get really into the Water Carnival Parade, watching the end of the Twins game (7 wins in a row), and Rory win the US Open.  Brisket for dinner and Culver's for dessert.  I would guess the two best moments of the day were Eli peeing on you at 4 AM and fishing the drooly sucker stick and all from Adam's mouth, because that's what being a father is really all about.  You really are an amazing role model for our little guys and a great papa.

After the boys are in bed we'll share a cocktail by the fire and watch the fireworks.  Next year we'll be watching the fireworks from our deck- Happy Father's Day!

He thinks he's 1 going on 3?

We sang the ABC song three times on the way home from daycare.  Instead of singing it a fourth time I decided to count to 11 using the ABC song melody (or twinkle twinkle).  I sang it once and then Adam repeated my song from the backseat:
"1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10... 14, 16, 11"

We want to forget about the terrible twos, too Adam, but unfortunately you started showing those colors about six months ago.  You'll turn 2 in a week and maybe then you will remember what comes in between 1 and 3.

Three Little Monkeys Laying in a Bed

I'm starting to only put Adam in daycare part time.  It's so much fun to have the little Man at home during the day.  Yesterday he took a three hour nap and both Adam and Eli woke up at about the same time.  I stuck Eli in bed with Adam and then Brockway wandered in.  All three of my babies on the same bed and I grabbed my camera before anyone moved. 

And did Adam tell you about the rocket ship on his wall?  He's been building rocket ships and talking about rocket ships a lot lately.  I think it all started because Eli has a nuk that Adam thinks looks like a rocket ship.  I surprised him by putting this up on his wall a few days ago and I would say he was pretty happy to see it.  (It was supposed to be wall decoration for his new big boy room, but so far we've decided to keep him in the nursery with Eli).

One last Adam story.  Yesterday he asked me to "pick me up".  Since this spring anytime he wanted to be held it was, "momma hold you, momma hold you" and I can honestly say I'm both proud and sad at the same time that he finally figured out the correct phrase.  He has also started saying "I'm not" instead of plan old "no".  I can live with that change!

Big Blue Eyes

Will he keep these beautiful blue eyes?

This week is Water Carnival here in Hutchinson and tonight was music and pie in the park.  Adam got to run around and play with the big kids, I got to socialize with coworkers and Eli was wide eyed taking it all in.  The smile was just for me when I walked over to say hi.

This morning I went for my first run before Dave left for work.  It was only 15 minutes and I may have walked a little, but it felt great.  This weekend I also did my first bike ride and was out for over an hour.  I guess I'm starting to work out finally!

Twins

We took our two boys that are under 2 (won't be able to say that in a few short weeks) to the Twins game today.  It was a successful outing even though the game was at Adam's normal nap time.  The Twins won and Dave believes that the double diaper change caused us to ruin Liriano's no hitter in the top of the 7th inning. 

Little Man did sleep on the bus ride home.  The bus was also a cause of major excitement in his day.  

The Dog's Mountain- Our UP Trip Part 2

On Saturday we were eager to explore Copper Harbor, but not excited to be contending with a new hatch of black flies.  Normally the flies are bad in May, but with the cold spring they waited until June to hatch.  We decided to head to the top of the hill we named our dog after- Brockway Mountain and hoped that the flies weren't there. 

It was a lot more stressful to be on top of Brockway with a two year old.  And the flies did manage stay on top of Brockway even in the winds.  So after a few pictures we headed to town and ate some Pasty's for lunch.  Adam ate a whole 3/4 pound hot dog all by himself!  He loves his hot dogs.

Then we decided to visit Fort Wilkins.  They've done a wonderful job restoring the fort and it was the perfect afternoon activity for Adam.  We were outside and able to walk around the fort exploring at our own pace.  Grandma and Grandpa had never been there before and they enjoyed it also. 

In one building there were benches to sit on and a movie to watch.  We started the movie fully knowing Adam probably would not allow us to watch much of it.  He sat down next to the window and made friends with the flies.  He kept calling them bees and would say "hi bees, hi bees".  We got to watch more of that movie than I thought.

That night Dave and I went to my friends wedding and grandma and grandpa took good care of the boys.  The wedding was beautiful and I got to catch up with old friends.  It was our first care free night without the boys.

The dreaded long trip home all in daylight on Sunday went great.  We stopped every three hours and in between stops Eli slept and we entertained Adam with songs, games, toys, food and when all else failed he watched kid DVDs.  At one point he was getting pretty board so he started saying wake up Oswald, wake up.  We tell Adam that it's time for the cartoon character to go to sleep and say bye bye when it's really time for Adam to go to sleep, so he decided that waking him back up would make the DVD player turn on. 

We're so lucky to have great car travelers, but I don't think I want to do a trip like that again for a while.

TGIF

Adam stayed home from daycare today and I think Eli was really happy about having his brother around.  He was so smiley and I finally caught it on camera. 

No Points for Tummy Time

That's not what tummy time is all about little Eli.  Guess we'll just give it a try again later. 

You put him flat on his back and he whines, you put him on his belly and he sleeps. 

Tonight Adam started talking about wanting to go see the Aliens.  All I could think is really, they're teaching him that at school.  And then he said I want to go see the firetruck.  Ah ha- ambulance!  He's saying alien but he means ambulance!

We have a little toddler trick we like to pull on Adam.  After dinner we let him play for a while and then we offer him a treat.  When he gets up in his chair we make sure his leftovers from his dinner plate are within his arms reach.  And would you believe that after he finishes the treat he almost always eats a little more food from his plate!  If we just offered him his dinner it would be met with a hardy toddler "NO!" 

So tonight Adam's treat was ice cream with bananas and chocolate sauce.  While Adam ate I was busy feeding Eli.  At one point Adam stopped babbling about bananas and ice cream and said something I didn't understand.  I looked up and he repeated it and then pulled something that was neither ice cream or bananas from his bowl that was covered in chocolate and ate it.  He was saying "Enchilala's too" (Enchilada's).  Gross, but if it gets him to eat chicken and spinach enchiladas I'm okay with it.

Say Ya to the UP 'Eh

Dave and I hadn't been back to the UP 'Eh since the summer before we had Adam.  So when I got a wedding invitation for one of my dear sorority sisters and senior year roomie I couldn't pass up the opportunity to head back to where we went to school and fell in love.  After the c-section birth of Eli I thought about canceling our trip, but I'm so glad I didn't.  I'm really feeling almost completely back to my old self (except I haven't started working out yet).

So I packed up the car on Thursday and we headed out of town as soon as Dave got off work.  We made it a little over an hour before Eli needed to eat and Adam wanted supper.  After a long 45 minute dinner/diaper break we were back on the road only to stop again in less than an hour.  This time not only was it a diaper and feeding break, but we put the boys in there jammies so that they hopefully would sleep.  Adam did not want to fall asleep in his car seat.  He kept asking to go home, which he's never asked for that before.  It was a late 1:30 AM when we got to Houghton, but at least we didn't have to drive again that day.  We slept in Friday morning and got a late check out time so that Adam could play in the kiddie pool.

Then we drove to campus and took Adam to see the Huskies ice arena and bought some cute Tech gear for the boys.  Adam has a Huskies baseball cap now!  Eli got a bib and Dave and I both bought new Tech polos for work.  Then we ate on Campus in the MUB.  It was a little strange to bring my children into the place I ate lunch everyday at school.  Then we pulled out two strollers and walked around campus.  We took our time soaking in our old stomping grounds.  We weren't on a schedule and we weren't rushing anything.  We sat

under some trees and let Adam run around picking up sticks while Dave and I sipped on an iced latte.  

Last we walked down by the Portage.  We wanted to take the boys to the spot where Dave proposed.  As we walked there we reminisced about the proposal.  I asked Dave what made him decide to propose there and we both thought about it for a little while and then it came to us at the same time- that's where we had our first kiss!   Almost 10 years later and we both momentarily forgot!  As we came to the spot on the trail where he proposed I found some Lilly of the Valley on the side of the path- how perfect!  After some quick photos Eli woke up and reminded us it was almost time to eat. 



The Proposal Spot

We quickly walked back to a bench that was right on the water.   I took my shoes and socks off and enjoyed the cool Lake Superior water that fills the Portage on my feet while Eli ate.  Adam and Dave threw rocks in the Portage.  I really enjoy that breastfeeding requires me to stop what I'm doing every couple hours and enjoy the moment. 

That night we met up with Dave's parents for pizza at the Ambassador before we made the hour trip north to Copper Harbor to stay in a cabin at the Keweenaw Mountain Resort.  This is getting a little long, so the rest of the trip will have to come in a second post.  I need to get some laundry started before Eli wakes up.

Como Zoo

I was supposed to go to the zoo with the boys and my family on Friday, but Adam was up several times Thursday night and had a fever on Friday morning.  So instead Friday was my first real whole day with both boys at home.  I don't think I sat down until they were both down for a nap that afternoon.  It was not an easy day at all. 

So when Dave got home from work that night we packed up the car to spend the night at Grandma's so we could go to the zoo on Saturday and spend some more time with my brother and sister in law.  It was Eli's first long car ride and he almost made it the whole way there.  We did stop about 15 minutes south of my parents house for a feeding and diaper change. 

Going to the zoo with an almost 2 year old is so much fun, because he gets so excited to see all the animals.  We got to the zoo right at lunch time and right after lunch is typically Adam's nap time. I did bring our awesome double stroller, but thanks to Uncle Henry holding Adam, Adam stayed awake during the whole visit.

Shar took some amazing pictures of the animals with her fancy new zoom lens.  I want one too now.  I love all the lazy animals lounging around.

 And my favorite was the ostrich who posed for her.

Eli was awake when we got to the zoo, but fell asleep after a feeding and diaper change and then slept the whole time in his stroller (or stloller as Adam calls it).  

At one point Adam even helped Dave push the stloller.  I love moments like this.