Cavity!

John has officially had his first cavity, and lived through his first filling. Of course I feel like Mother of the Year. I promise we brush his teeth, and he brushes them too. He doesn't eat all that many sweets either...well, relatively. Anyway, apparently it was super tiny, so they didn't even have to numb him to fill it. I spied on him from behind while they did it. He was wearing sunglasses, a headset, and watching Transformers. Apparently there were a few things he wasn't crazy about, but he did really well and it only took a few minutes. He did what he was asked to do, and I was so proud of him. We celebrated with ice cream...oh the irony. All in all, it was a special day because it was just the two of us. We had lunch together, went shopping together, and finished off with a treat. I so love that special time with him. When we can connect one on one without him having to fight for attention, it again becomes so obvious to me why he's so very special to me. Too bad it took a cavity to enjoy that time.

Spring is in the Air!

Something tells me winter is going to come back to bite us, but for now, spring is in the air, and we're loving it! Friday we met Buck after work in Clemson to catch the start of the baseball season. The kids couldn't have cared less about the game, so we didn't last long. John really wanted to play on Bowman field. Of course, who are we to deny him the delight? You really can't beat Clemson in the spring. We had a fabulous game of freeze tag and pretend football. I really wish we had video of John's touchdown dance. It was beyond impressive. We had a blast, then headed to Peppino's for supper. All 3 were OUT by the time we got home. Saturday I took them to the lollipop concert downtown with a friends. They were mildly interested, mostly because of the anticipate lollipops. I think they enjoyed it, though. We then went to Fall Park downtown to meet the dads for a picnic by the river. They loved climbing one of the trees and talking to the ducks. At one point I turned around to catch Ellie with a huge grin and a huge cheese puff in her mouth. Little booger. I suppose we have a new way of introducing new foods to her. We couldn't have had a more beautiful weekend. We enjoyed every minute...and got very dirty.

9 Months...Wait...What?!

Yes! Ellie is 9 months old! I'm late on posting this because I'm late on getting her 9m picture with the bear. Finally I gave up...for now. She's been sick, but the real reason for not getting the picture is the bear just hasn't made it's way from the car to inside. Lame, I know. Anyway, she's 9 months. Unbelievable. 27 1/2 in long (48th percentile) 20 lb 5 oz (76th percentile) head 17.5 in (65th percentile). We're making the transition to 12 month clothes. At 9 months she's such a treat! A bit of a drama queen, she fusses when she's been tapped (which I suppose comes as a natural defense mechanism for a 3rd child). Otherwise, she's the smileyest kid I think I've ever seen. She reminds me a little of Stevie Wonder because she's constantly tipping her head back with a full-face smile. I can't remember if Eve and John were as happy and smiley at this age, but everyone comments on it, so I think she must be extra smiley. I love it! She's crawling around faster now, but still not at top speeds (whew!). About a week ago she explored from the den to the kitchen for the first time. Also about a week ago I gave her a drink with a straw just to see what happened. Almost immediately, seriously within probably a minute or less, she started drinking through the straw. Grandma promises she hasn't been giving her chocolate milkshakes to teach her, but I'm not sure I buy it. Either way it's impressive. Her major motor accomplishment this week was turning over, believe it or not. She's waited forever, has been able to crawl and pull up to almost standing, but just now figured out how to roll over. I've been cool with it because once on her back, particularly in bed, she hasn't moved. I've been able to leave her on our bed alone up until 9 months without worrying she'll roll over! The end of an era has come. Last week I found her trying to pull up on our headboard, and ever since, I find her sitting up in her crib rather than stuck on her back when she wakes up. We had to lower her crib. As far as verbal, she's mostly experimented with "da da da" until she was sick and pitiful and up all night last week. Then she perfected "ma ma ma" which just sounded to pitiful and sad. She still doesn't associate either with the person...just learning new sounds. John and Eve love making her smile and laugh, to the point of being very distracting to all 3 parties...particularly during mealtime. Still, it's so fun and sweet to see them all playing together and enjoying each other. Eve is finally discovering what it's like to have someone younger and less experienced touch her stuff, and she's not a fan. Hard to believe 9 months has gone by. What a treat. What a blessing.

Handyman

We had a gate at the top and bottom of the stairs. Both were broken. Today Eve "helped" me with the one at the bottom of the stairs, and John and I worked on the top one...he actually helped quite a bit! He really enjoyed working on a project, just the two of us.
Screwdriver

Wrench

And the coolest...drill. John learned the terms drill, chuck, chuck key, and elbow greast. Oh, and "STOP STOP STOP STOP STOP!!!!". He really worked hard and did a lot more than I thought he was capable of. Lately he's had the attitude of a middle schooler...grumpy and complaining about everything. I figured this would help me to show him a little more respect, and help him feel like it's not always about me just saying "no" so he doesn't get his way. Not sure if it had that effect, but he really enjoyed it and got to use a power tool...AND the gate works nicely.

Blah :(

I figure our blog should accurately reflect our lives (although I really mostly write about the fun stuff and mundane days never warrant an entry). So, this week has been, so far, the week of the crud. All three have had it in some form or fashion. I'm almost positive it started with Ellie's 9 month well check at the pediatrician. We always come home with something. That's life. Fortunately the weather has been beautiful, so we've had spurts of fresh air. Praise God for SPRING!

It May Be Cold Outside...

...but inside it's warm and we're gearing up for SPRING! Actually the weather has turned to beautiful, so it's a good thing we got a little jump start inside planting our seeds. John labeled the cups

John and Eve both filled the cups

Ellie surely would have had more fun with some mud, but she enjoyed the cup and spoon just fine

Broccoli, Carrots, Cucumber, Lavender, Onions (green and yellow), Suger Snap Peas, Watermelon, and Zucchini

Broccoli sprouted first. We'll see if any of it survives in the garden this year. Either way, it's fun.

Tea Time!

A few weeks ago while John was in school we invited some friends over. Eve suggested we have a princess tea party. A fine idea!
Princess Eve helped me make chocolate chip muffins...

...and set a fancy table complete with Spiderman and Ironman plates, KoolAid mugs and artificial flowers. You can't get a more royal setup than that. I hate I forgot to take pictures of everyone snacking in their fancy clothes. Even Ellie dressed for the party.

Careful What You Ask

Last night I was up until WAY too late at a consignment sale (great deals, but I HATE shopping). Needless to say I was pretty tired and run down this morning. When I told John we were headed to the gym he said he wanted to just stay home. As the morning went along, my motivation dwindled. I sat down at the table with John and said, "John, I really just don't feel like exercising this morning. What do you think I should do?" I was expecting him to reply "we should just stay home and play." Instead he said, "Mom, you just need to pull yourself together." Next time I'll think twice before asking!

And She's Off!

Ellie's had what it takes to crawl for quite some time now. We keep saying it's just about to happen. I finally realized she probably hasn't done it because people keep giving her things, and because there's so much around to distract her right as she's about to make her move. At any rate, she's been pretty mobile without crawling, but yesterday I saw her finally, intentionally, go 3 or 4 strides at a time to get to something. She's covering even more ground now. She still doesn't realize quite what she's capable of, but I'm in no hurry for that!