Pics from yesterday

New blog header!

Ethan got the suitcase/backpack I ordered for him from Amazon...it's an early birthday present from us...he's been practicing packing for our Labor Day trip to Louisville. Can you guess what item he has packed? (Clue: There are MANY of this item in his backpack...and a certain basket is empty!)


Dylan has two teeth...it's so fun to see his toothy grin. Once they break the surface, they come up so fast. It's fun to check them out each morning.


Owen...oh, Owen. How did you get so beautiful? Owen is sitting up like a champ, and has been pushing his butt up in the air and getting his knees up underneath him while laying on his tummy...it won't be long before he's army-crawling/crawling like big D.

A few Ethanisms

Just a quick note...

Dylan is just getting his first tooth...teeth, that is. He's got 2 just about to break through on the bottom. Poor dude. Although he doesn't seem to mind. He's been drooling for months, but Owen's been the cranky one during the night...I would have expected him first. Maybe it's Dylan drive for REAL food that prompted this!

So, there's all sorts of Ethanisms all the time now. Too many to write down. We write them down when we remember, but I may just give up pretty soon here...

A few nights ago we were having dinner and two of our neighbors walked by....neighbors who we didn't know. They were walking by and Ethan asked, "Who are those people walking?"...I said, "Those are our neighbors"...he asked their names and I said I didn't know. So, he said, "We should name them 'Sayso' and 'Gogo'" Well, that just about made me pee my pants. It sounds remarkably like things that Mommy says.

One morning, Ethan was laying in bed with us while we fed the babies. Andy took Dylan and Owen downstairs and it was just me and E....he said, "Now I'm going to go downstairs and say 'Woo hoo!'" Then he proceeded to tell Gramma when she came over, Liz when she came over, and several other people over the phone. When he gets a laugh after saying something he knows he's got a winner and sticks with it!

I was telling Ethan about something (can't remember what) and then told him to go tell Gramma what he learned. He ran across the room and said, "Gramma, I've landed"

Liz asked Ethan if he had to go to the potty and he said no. She asked, "Are you sure?" and he replied, "No, I am not sure about that"...we are asking him if he's sure about a lot of things, and he typically replies that he is NOT sure, so I'm not sure that he knows what that word is all about!

Gramma took the boys to her house one day and thought she'd try getting Ethan to nap there. After an unsuccessful attempt at sleeping in his bed there, Gramma asked, "Ethan, could you take a nap on the couch?" and Ethan said, "I wish I could, but I can't" What sass.

One of Ethan's newest words is "interested"...Recently he left a message on our neighbor's voice mail (after Daddy dialed) asking his babysitter if she would be interested in babysitting him tomorrow night. Another time, he stated, "Gramma Leslie, Owen and Dylan are very interested by the music in this movie" (it was Fantasia)...he is such a hoot.

Ethan can get dressed mostly on his own, but sometimes has a little trouble with the pants. After putting on clean shorts in the bathroom, he said to Gramma, "We've got issues"...she looked down and he had both lefts in one pantleg and couldn't move.

So, that's what I've got for now...all this talking, these words, these SENTENCES...he's just so wonderful at communicating (most of the time...he's still 2!)...but the one that gets me the most is the little grin and hug he gives me while saying, "Ooooooh, Mommy" That's all I need.

8-months!

Mommy would like to know when Ethan became such a BOY!

Out of desperation, when they were refusing a nap they desperately needed today, Mommy broke out the Baby Einstein...they were amazed. Owen multi-tasked...

Dylan had his mouth shut for a moment...as in, his lips were actually touching each other (see pictures below and you will see how rare this is)

Dylan and Owen...cutie pies.

I was trying to take a picture of Ethan and Owen and O lunged at me and I caught him...this picture shows how beautiful his eyes are!

Dylan and Owen...caught in a moment.

I can't caption this picture...too busy tearing up...
Brothers...Owen, Dylan and Ethan

D rolled himself right under the couch!

Dylan tackling his penguin friend.

Owen in the Bumbo while talking with his hands in his mouth...so talented.

Ready to go...finally! Ethie and Daddy were up North and the little dudes and I decided to go for a walk to the lake, around, and back...took me about an hour to get ready to go...

Dylan cruising around in his walker...hand-towels hanging on the stove handle are quickly captured for eating.

OK. I totally have more pictures of Dylan...but he just does funny shit....I can only take so many pictures of my beautiful Owen, just being beautiful...because he is.

*****

I'm such a bad blogger these days...but such an occasion needs to be marked by a blog update...

Dylan and Owen were 8 months old this past Saturday!!! August 8th...8 months from December 8th...the one year mark feels so close. Could it be that we've made it this far, relatively unscathed? Could it be that we only have 4 more months of formula? What will we do with that $300+/month? (Though that's not every month...we've had generous help along the way!!!)

8 months...can't decide whether that sounds like a short amount of time, or a long amount of time...whatever it is, I can't imagine our lives without these dudes...so glad they are part of our family now and I can't picture it without them!

At 8 months old, Dylan and Owen are doing all sorts of fun things...here's the rundown...hope I don't forget anything....

Drool....there is drool everywhere....everywhere. Yet no teeth. I feel around in their mouths (with clean hands) and I don't feel a thing...rock hard gums, but no pointies...where are you teeth? Let's just do this, already.

They are on the move. Well, D is on the move, at least. Owen is our little introspective guy and is perfectly content to lay on his back, maybe do a roll or two, but he likes to lay...kick his feet up, pull his feet into his mouth and suck his toe, and clap his feet together. As long as he has his feet, he's good. Though I am pretty sure that Owen is just learning by watching, and one day, he will pull himself up using a piece of furniture or something, and then just walk away.

D is seriously all over the place. Can't leave him for a minute (see above picture with his lower-half under the couch)...he will roll, fast, across the room, push up on his arms and scoot around dragging his legs, or get up on his hands and knees and kind of push/crawl backwards to get where he needs to be...which is typically wherever Ethan's toys are. Doesn't matter how many times I take away E's matchbox cars from him (I just don't want him putting those in his mouth, and inevitably, that's where all the toys he plays with go) and replace with a "baby" toy or even one of Ethan's blocks, he wants to be around those cars. And suddenly, I'm picturing the sound of 3 boys making "vroom" racecar noises...

Owen likes to sit in the Bumbo (but....bad mommy moment today, I went to grab a glass of water while he was in the Bumbo in the living room and returned just in time to see him squirm his way out and plop onto the floor face-first....he was not happy...and I felt really bad!)...and he likes to sit up on his own between my legs or propped up on something, but would just much rather lay than sit, if it's totally on his own. Whatevs...so would I. Dylan is sitting pretty well right now, but he has baby-ADD and will get distracted very easily and topple over...he doesn't really seem to mind...he can get right back up into a sit (at least he did, 3 times this weekend)!

Owen is "talking" a lot...baby babble....ga ga ga ga....no "mama"s or "dada"s yet, but he studies our faces as we talk to him (well, any time, really...even when we are just sitting together in silence)...again, learning by watching. It's pretty cute. Dylan doesn't do as much of that babble stuff, but he does yell at the top of his lungs...not a cry...just a victory yell or something.....Ahhhhhhhhh! Ye....ahhhhhhhh! My ears. My ears.

Still sleeping through the night....5:30/6 to 6:30...angels. We had a bit of trouble with afternoon naps this weekend...but typically they are taking a short morning nap about 2 - 2.5 hrs after getting up, and a longer afternoon nap...but some days there are 3 shorter naps...it all depends. I find them in the cutest/funniest positions while they are sleeping. They each have their own thing. Each of their cribs have the mesh crib bumper...thank goodness...because these kids are all over the place and we'd definitely have more incidences of leg-through-crib if we didn't have this...both of them did this on Saturday afternoon and freaked out! They each have 2 blankets...Dylan likes one over his face...I don't put it there, but every time I place the first blanket on him, he pulls it up over his face and then I put another one over his body...maybe it isn't dark enough in the room or something?! Anyways, whenever I check on him, he always has it pulled up on his face. When I check on Owen, he's usually rolled over to his tummy and has his arms straight out to the sides. This does not look comfortable, but unless he's really close to the crib rails, I don't move him. I do, however, always find him up against the crib rails in the morning. I don't care where they move to...as long as they sleep well (and us too!), they can do their own thing!

We're still making our own baby food...I'm not really sure about the benefits of doing this...it's kind of a pain in the ass. We're not buying all organic food, so probably not any healthier than the jarred stuff we bought for Ethan, but it's got to be cheaper. We can make quite a load of applesauce meals out of one bag of apples. We've tried a lot of different foods...carrots, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, brocolli, sweet peas, pears, apples, bananas, papaya....I'm sure I'm forgetting some...but they are good with most items. Sometimes have to mix in a little formula or water or rice/oatmeal/mixed grain cereal to get around texture issues, but they are good eaters. We're also doing Puffs, and teething bars.

What else? Lots else, I'm sure...they melt me....they are so cute. Dylan's open-mouthed smile makes me laugh every time I see it (which is often!)...and the way Owen smiles will his whole body makes me want to cry it's so sweet. So in love.