Day in the Life

Ethan:

Ethan is up between 6 and 6:30, at times earlier.  After going potty, he either goes to the basement to play with one of us, or we throw a video on in and lay down on the couch to watch (read: sleep) with him.  He typically only wants juice at this point and will not eat breakfast until later.  If he's not watching cartoons, he's usually building a tower with his wood blocks, using his Spiderman "web" to web things (?), playing rescue with his many Imaginext rescue figures, dumping stuff into his dump truck and racing around, or playing with his "Busytown train."  His favorite videos right now are his Spiderman '69 cartoons, Curious George, Bob the Builder, The Grinch, or Green Eggs and Ham. 

Throughout the day, Ethan plays, demands things of us, gets into moods where he only wants to do the opposite of what we suggest, and is generally quite difficult.  In between very frustrating exchanges, though, he can be ridiculously cute and funny and really has a great imagination.  Yesterday, he read me The Very Lonely Firefly, and I was wishing I could have had it on video.  It was adorable, and he got so many of the lines right, though that's not a book we read to him often anymore.  He is a voracious reader and will sit and read with us ANY time.  His favorite places to go are the zoo (he's very into the aardvark house and the other small inside places that are difficult to go in with our double stroller), the farm park (see post above), and the Children's Museums.  His bff is Derek, who we see often. 

Ethan seems to be phasing out of his nap right now.  Since he's up early, he will usually go down for a nap, but when he naps, he will not go to bed before 9 pm.  This being the case, we allow him to go without a nap often these days, which means he'll go to bed around 7 or 7:30, giving Will and I a much needed break.  He is still up around the same time, though we are confident he may sleep a bit later once he is consistently not napping. 

Ethan's in the "why" phase, which can be funny but also annoying.  He keeps asking why until he gets an acceptable answer it seems.  Also, in an attempt at irony, he seems to absolutely love being in the water, as long as it doesn't involve soap.  He HATES baths now, yet he spent hours in the water at the lake house this summer.  Perhaps he is not enjoying baths lately because they are usually forced on him after pooping accidents.  He is potty trained, but only halfway.  He has yet to show progress with number twos, and we're really out of ideas.  He has taken to telling me things like, "Mommy, you need to tell me when you have to go poop."  Trust me, I do. 

He will start preschool in the fall, which is bound to be disastrous since he's a pretty shy kid and quite attached to me in new situations.  He's a Parent's Day Out drop out, too, so he's really never been away from me.  I'm starting to regret not putting him in the same program as Derek, as I think his transition would be a lot smoother with a friend in class. He will not know anyone in his class.  I'm getting a bit anxious about the whole thing.  I like his school, but I'm wondering if we made the right decision for the right reasons.  Time will tell, I suppose. 

Eleanor:

Up between 7 - 8, she is my amazing sleeper.  She has slept through the night since before six weeks, with a brief break when she was sick with her UTIs.  She naps pretty well at home, but she naps incredibly well at the lake, actually, averaging an hour and a half when we're there.  I try to stick around home when we're in LG to keep her on somewhat of a schedule, but with it being summer and having a second kid, it's not as easy.  Luckily, she's terribly easy going.  Right now, she takes three naps a day, sometimes four if her naps were very short.  She is usually in bed between 7 and 7:30. 

When she's not sleeping, Eleanor is most happy on her back, eating her toys.  She has rolled (both ways), but does not do so on a regular basis.  We're thinking it has something to do with her being such a fatty.  Will calls her butters, short for butterball because she's such a little roly poly.  We love it.  She also sits in her papasan chair a lot and occasionally in her swing.  She really likes to go for walks, too.  Her favorite toys are her monkey and elephant, with whom she makes out daily.  She laughs out loud and smiles a lot, even at strangers (Ethan gave everyone the stink eye).  She loves to watch Ethan play, and Ethan has definitely warmed to her, though he can be a bit rough at times.  We do not leave the two of them alone - ever. 

Oh, and she likes me - a lot.  I'm definitely her favorite, which is adorable most times but can be a bit frustrating, too.  She does not take a bottle - though we keep trying - which limits me a bit.  I'm trying to just roll with it, though, because I know it will not be long  before she's done nursing and I'll be missing our special time.  She has recently started rice cereal, and I'm hoping that as she is exposed to new tastes, she may start accepting a bottle with more ease.  Here's hoping. 

Those are our kids, in a nutshell.

Derek at the Chicago Children's Museum.

Ethan and Derek, excavating dinos at the CCM.

Eating on the front stoop.

Reading before bed.

We're getting back into cloth dipes again!

Ethan is a nutty sleeper.  He's upside down in bed in the goofiest position.

Love this - she scooted herself to be on an angle in her crib and she's all cool and relaxed. 

Flooding last weekend - this is LG road right by our house.  We had water but not anything serious in the finished part, at least that we know of right now. 

Painting with water in the driveway.

One of my favorite pics - he all of a sudden wanted to be in the deep water at the lake this past weekend.  He kicked and paddled everywhere.

Chillin' on the deck.

Don't I look super hot in my bathing suit - from really far way?

Mmmmm...roasted chicken dinner.  Sorry, but I like to take pictures of my food.