Ellie Misses Daddy

Tonight before bed, Ellie said...

Ellie: "I wish Daddy would come home so we could have fun."

Me: "Did you not have fun with me today"

Ellie: "Yes, I did, but if Daddy would come home we could even have much more fun."

Me: "Yeah, Daddy is fun. I miss him, too."

Ellie: "Yeah, I miss Daddy. Can you call him and tell him to come home right away (quote from an Elmo Babysitter book she has)!"

Me: He'll be home soon.

E: How do people get on the airplane when they come home from Nineveh (like the biblical place in the book of Jonah)"

M: Daddy's not in Nineveh, he's in Brazil.

E: Oh, well I miss Daddy. He needs to come home right now!

and it continued.

Happy Easter!

Day Trip to Monterey

We went to Monterey with friends today! The kids were very well-behaved and seemed to have a great time. Ellie and Daniel argued over which song to sing in the backseat and who could hold the colors. We ended the drive with a discussion about whether or not Ellie was going to keep the Winnie the Pooh book "forever and ever". Daniel said he would sneak in to our house and take it (it is Daniel's book). Ellie said she would then sneak into his room and take it back. But Daniel would just hide it (he says). It would be in vain, however, because Ellie would find it and take it back to keep it forever and ever. And so it continued...

We came home and I went straight upstairs to change Kevin's diaper and clothes (hate disposables... they leak or "blow-out" so much!). It was pretty messy, so I got caught up in trying to figure out how to get the outfit over his head without him inhaling poop. It seemed quiet downstairs, so I called to Ellie. After the third call went unanswered, I went downstairs to find that Ellie was gone. She had gone out the back door to the courtyard and was halfway to Daniel's house. Our neighbor Michele had stopped her because she was running in a sweatshirt and Winnie the Pooh panties (no pants or shoes). Ellie insisted that I was aware that she was on her way to Daniel's house. She must have said she was going, but I didnt hear it from upstairs. As I walked over to her holding a naked Kevin, she then told me she was being "sneaky". She said she was going to sneak into Daniel's room to get the Winnie the Pooh book back. Kids!

Kevin - 7 months

Kevin loves to stick his tongue out. I'd say it's out just as much as it is in!!

Today, he pulled himself up to standing for the first time. He pulled up on his toy, the Incrediblock.

He has not turned away a single food that I have offered him. He eats peaches, apples, pears, green beans, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, peas, bananas, egg yolk, crackers, and rice cereal. He also loves finger foods and wants to eat any time he sees me eat.

He gets upset if we take toys from him, but for the most part, he is still a content and happy baby. He really loves watching his big sister and eating her toys!

He is still toothless!

Ellie Has a "Little Talk" with Kevin

Ellie earned a sucker last week for behaving so well on our hike. She was eating it in the car seat, and Kevin was very interested. As she held out the sucker for him to see, he reached for it...

Ellie: "Kevin, we need to have a little talk. Oh, I know you want a sucker, but you can't have one. You're just a baby. Maybe when you get to be a big boy, you can have a sucker.... Oh, I know you want a sucker, but you can't have one. You don't always get what you want. (She leans over to give him a kiss - she's not buckled in since we havent left the parking area) I still love you, ok?....... Mommy... Kevin and I just had a little talk."

Can you tell from this that Ellie receives her fair share of "little talks"??? She's got the sequence down... 1) Show Empathy, 2) State the Facts, 3) Affirm (Kiss and "I love you")

Kevin Gets into Ellie's Markers!

Ellie loves to color and draw with markers, but she can't seem to keep the markers on the table. So, Kevin thinks they taste just great!

Ellie Skis!

Last weekend, we went with Tim and Jodi (Chris's brother and sister-in-law) to Tahoe. Jodi's family has a beautiful house on the lake. Ellie actually went skiing - for about 5 minutes! But that was a really big accomplishment for Ellie since she is so cautious when trying new things! Fortunately, we were able to get our money back for her ski equipment!!

Chris skiied the first part of the day, and I skiied the last part. The kids were great and enjoyed the time with family!!

Kevin Wakes Up

He was fast asleep, but not anymore!! What a sweet Mommy, I am! I didn't really intend to wake him up, though!!

9.75 teaspoons of sugar, really??

This is 9.75 teaspoons of sugar. This is how much sugar is in a regular coke!! Can you believe this?? It's almost a quarter of a cup!!!

Vaccines...

I don't know how I feel about all this vaccine stuff! But I do tend to be late on all the shots and skip the ones like Hepititis B for now (I dont think my kids will be sexually active for a long time and hopefully never will be drug users!).

Anyway, I know several new moms and moms-to-be read this blog, so I thought I would pass this info along...

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Story Highlights
Court finds that vaccines basically caused girl's autism
Father was Chief Resident at Johns Hopkins
Parents contend childhood vaccines caused girl's autism
In decision, vaccines found to have aggravated genetic condition
Mother has same condition and does not have autism
http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditions/03/06/vaccines.autism/

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FDA staff said its analysis of 11 studies revealed that in the largest trial, there was a statistically significant increase in deaths related to pneumonia when children received the rotavirus vaccine
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23183636/

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Interesting article from the non-vaccinating perspective...
http://www.westonaprice.org/children/vaccinations.html