Santa's Helper

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

Brothers

I love this picture of Joshua with his sister. Most of the pictures I have with the two of them, he is always looking at her and smiling. He loves his sister and is always very concerned about her well being. When she wakes up from naps and he hears her crying he runs straight in her room to see her. He notices when she is not around. If I load Joshua in the car before I put her in, he reminds me that she needs to be in the car too. I am so excited that she will have an older brother to watch out for her.

I have been blessed in my life with two amazing brothers. They are my closest friends. My older brother is kind, generous and a great Dad. My younger brother is optimistic, smart and so funny. I am grateful for their love and support.

Firsts

It has been a week of firsts for Miss Elise.

She started clapping.....

She started moving. Not exactly crawling, but dragging herself across the floor on her tummy.

She started pulling herself to a standing position....

Her first tooth came in with a second close behind. Which was cause for celebration, so she ate her first cookie....

Way to go little girl!

Elise

Our little girl will hit her 8 month milestone next week. I wanted to post some of the most endearing things about our baby.

10 things I love about Elise;

1. She is so sweet and patient

2. Her big bright eyes are always happy

3. She is so calm and you can't help but feel peaceful in her presence

4. She adores her Dad (and her Dad adores her)

5. She adores her brother (and her brother adores her)

6. Her bald head is soft and fuzzy. Her Dad thinks she is so cute bald and hopes her hair grows in slowly.

7. She dances when she hears music-the cutest little bop of the head

8. She is a lunch mouth. Yesterday, I caught her struggling to reach something under the couch. Victorious, she came out holding a cheerio that she quickly popped in her mouth. She is always grabbing food out of Joshua's hands. Her favorite right now is graham crackers.

9. She is so happy when she wakes up in the morning - always giggling and smiling.

10. She very curious about her world. Always watching people and things around her.

Did I say 10? I don't think I can stop yet- just one more.

11. For being so sweet, she can hold her own around her brother. I have seen her push him out of the way to get to a toy she wanted. I love that about her.

Elise has been a great blessing to me. I have to remind myself that she has only been a part of my world for 8 months- it feels like I have known her much longer. Since becoming a mother, my gratitude for my own mother has increased. She is my best friend. I can only hope that one day Elise feels the same way about me.

Trick or Treat

We had a fun Halloween. Joshua was Superman and Elise was a lion. It was our first Halloween in our new neighborhood and it did not disappoint. Joshua had a blast playing soccer with the big kids at a block party and running from door to door in search of candy. He managed to lose a shoe in the process, but came home with a bag full of M & M's (his favorite). Elise's costume was a showstopper (thanks Mom!) and she was all smiles through the night.

Happy Halloween

I love halloween! Here is a collection of pictures from our halloween festivities this week. Making sugar cookies, making halloween cutouts to hang on the fridge and carving a pumpkin. When I pulled the seeds out of the pumpkin, Joshua said "squirrel food!". He also insisted that it was a happy pumpkin that had ears.

Oakland Zoo

We made a trip to the Zoo over the weekend. Joshua had a blast running around looking at all the animals. His favorite- the giraffe.

Joshua checking out the Elephants.

Elise with her Dad after we rode the train.

Joshua called this roller coaster an orange tiger train. The boy loves trains!

Sous Chef

Joshua enjoys helping me out in the kitchen. He will come running in when he hears the mixer come on. Because of an age handicap, Elise isn't much competition for licking the beaters, spoons and bowls. We were making the brownies for a visit from his Uncle- another one of Joshua's loves. He always loves it when Blake comes over.

Family Day

Our Saturdays are usually spent running errands and taking care of things around the house. Keith decided that we needed to shake things up yesterday, so we headed to Gilroy to spend some time at an amusement park. It was really fun. We went to a park that is geared more towards younger kids. Joshua had so much fun. Last night, I went in to say goodnight to him and he insisted that I lie down. He started reminiscing about his day... "I drive blue car", "I fly fish", "I ride boat", "I ride train", "I ride horse- up and down". It was the first thing he started talking about this morning too.

A Mother's Love

For 2 1/2 years I have been constantly telling my son how much I love him. I have waited and anticipated the day that Joshua would utter those three little words back to me. Typically after naps he likes to snuggle until he fully wakes up. This is one of my favorite times of the day. Today while I held him I said "I love you Joshua". He was still a little groggy and whispered to me " I love.....(my heart started softening)..... trains". Not the third word I was hoping to hear. Hopefully, one day I will move ahead of trains on the list of things he loves.

The freedom of having a big boy bed at times has been more than Joshua can handle. Most days he fights taking a nap. After I read a book and tuck him in bed, I hear him get out of bed and start pulling out toys. In the end, sleepiness prevails and he crashes wherever he may be.

We just got pictures back of Joshua and Elise.

Joshua loved the camera....

Elise was a little bored....

In the end, we got a good shot of them both....

Pig Please

Last week, we bought Joshua a piggy bank. The day we brought it home we gave him a couple of dollars in change to put in the bank. I didn't think that he understood the concept of money until yesterday. He made his first purchase- a chocolate chip cookie at our neighbors lemonade stand. He ran over with a shiny quarter which he surrendered only when he had a cookie in his little palm. I was getting Elise ready for bed tonight when Joshua appeared in the doorway. Our conversation went like this-

Joshua- "pig pleeeeeese"

Robyn- "what is in your hand Joshua"

Joshua- "monies"

He had a handful of change. I thought it was cute and figured he found money in the couch or on the floor, so I let him put the coins in his bank. I went back to Elise's room. A few minutes later Joshua showed up in the door to request the pig again to deposit an even bigger handful of change. After a little searching, I found my purse dumped out on the dining room floor. Apparently, our son has sticky fingers. Future guests....hold on to your wallets.

Our Baby Girl

Elise sitting up on her own for the first time. Keith was just asking me this morning when I thought she would start sitting up without support or slouching over. Tonight before bed she started showing off.

Sleepy Boy

After wrestling with Joshua for two hours today at nap time, I gave up. I don't get why kids fight sleep sometimes- if only I could sleep for two hours every afternoon. He decided that he didn't need a nap and would rather watch Cars. This is how I found him 10 minutes into the movie.

Graduate

Joshua has graduated to a big boy bed. His new bedroom furniture was delivered on Friday and we spent the weekend moving him out of the nursery and into his new room. Elise took over the nursery and finally got into a crib. Joshua has done better than I expected with his new freedom. The first two nights were great, but we have had a few jack-in-the-box experiences since (in and out of bed). He really loves his "train bed". It is a work in progress- we still have to decorate his walls.

Joshua's 1st Day of School

Joshua started nursery school today. Last night he tried to get in the car in his pajamas because I told him that he was going to school in the morning. He had a great time today and made lots of new friends. He loves wearing his back pack around the house.

P.S- how do you get a 2 1/2 year old boy to sit still to take a picture? All of my pictures of Joshua lately are of him running away from me.

Elise looked pretty cute for Joshua's first day of school too.

Good Day

Nothing really extraordinary happened today, in fact it was a rather normal day. After naps we headed out to run a few errands. I turned around and saw that Joshua had opened his window. The wind was blowing on his face and he was wearing the biggest smile. Nothing can make me happier than hearing one of my kids laugh or seeing them smile. The weather has been cooler for the past few days- just enough cool air in the wind to remind you that it is fall. As we walked down University Ave finishing up our errands, the leaves were falling and dancing in the street. Summer is over and Fall is here. I do love the Fall. As we leave the warm weather behind, I wanted to post a few pictures from the summer.

Joshua's Swim Lesson

4th of July in Utah

Elise enjoying the landscaping we put in this summer

Elise's 1st War Wound

Elise in a surprisingly good mood considering she is sporting her first big-brother related injury. Joshua decided to share his big dumptruck with Elise by dropping it on her head while she was minding her own business in the exer-saucer. In line with her easygoing personality, she quickly forgave him.

My Sweet Son

As I was falling asleep last night (exhausted from my day with a 2 1/2 year old boy), my heart was full of gratitude for my son and the life he brings to our home. I have never seen anybody with more energy. He always seems to find trouble and I secretly have to giggle at the things he does most of the time, but he is a sweet little boy with so much personality.

It has been so fun to watch his communication develop. I have gotten pretty good at deciphering his toddler code. A few of my favorite words and their translation;

Pip = chip

punkcan = pumpkin

Lise = His little sister Elise

Bumbo = Dumbo (one of his favorite movies)

Race Pool = swimming pool (after watching the Olympics all pools are race pools)

As tired as I get of tripping over matchbox cars, trains, trucks and planes, I LOVE being a mom to a boy. Now if I can only figure out how to get him to stop catching ants with a blade of grass and smashing them with his finger.

3rd Time is a Charm

Not so charming.....

I attempted to feed Elise solids for the third time last night. She takes all the food off the spoon and holds it in her mouth just to spit it back at me. Joshua came in the kitchen and said "it's a mess". He grabbed a paper towel and started cleaning her up. You know it must have been bad if it was bothering Joshua (his cleanliness standard is not very high).