The Little Carpenter

Nick's class had a field trip today to Lowe's to do a project with wood for their science module. He built this tool box all by himself! Nick couldn't be more proud. His teacher said she turned around to give him directions and he had already put all of the pieces together and was pounding in the nails. Piece of cake! Who knew home improvement stores could be so much fun?! Maybe that's why Paul likes to wander around in there.... Even more exciting, Nick has his very own set of kid sized safety goggles and a Lowe's apron. He is ready to help his Dad with any and all projects now.

William's 9 Month Portraits

Whew! This one was difficult. I am longing for the days when I could set William down and he stayed in one place! Here are the best of the 200+ shots I took today. I'm not sure which one of us needs an afternoon nap more!

I'll post some outtakes below. And there were plenty of them...

P.S.- Tammy, thank you again for the Curious George book! As you can see he loves it, and it was the only thing that helped him to sit still!

Silly Boy!

I love these facial expressions, but probably not the best choices for formal portraits! I am not sure what is going on with his tongue today, maybe a new tooth?!

There he goes....

Big bump on his forehead by this last one from trying to scale the backdrop. Now he has matching bruises on both sides of his head. I think a new nickname is in order, "Crash Gordon". Goes nicely with his sibling's toddler nicknames: "Captain Danger Pants" and "Monkey Girl".

Big Kid Foods are Fun!!

Here is our bearded baby after trying his first chocolate chip ice cream today!

He visited the pediatrician for his 9 month check up and has the all clear to basically eat anything that isn't a choking/botulism hazard. So we started with the good stuff! William is developing perfectly for his age and is a very healthy little guy. But still teeny tiny! We need to pump calories into this boy!! He is 15 pounds, 2 ounces and 26.5 inches long. Basically the size of Nick at 5 months and we all know how little he is now! I have six weeks to either fatten him up or at least keep him on the same spot on the growth curve before we scare the poor doctor. For some reason those pediatricians never like to see my kiddos in the -3 percentile?! Thankfully for William he is my third tiny munchkin so we aren't worried about him being little, we just grow them small in this family!

The Strange Sleeping Habits of Young Children

Nick always has as many large animals as possible in bed and at least one Superhero...
While Ellie sleeps with "the girls". Also known as (L-R) Clean Baby, Clean Baby's Cousin, and Dirty Baby (or Typhoid Mary as Paul and I refer to her). We like how the "girls" are all tucked neatly under their own blanket and share the pillow with Ellie.

You Caught Me Mom!

Our turbo crawling monkey decided to slip away from Mom and check out his Christmas present. If he can just get that leg up and over he'll be ready to ride! Obviously he has figured out how to pull himself to a stand. I'll keep you posted on the horseback riding...

Peek-A-Boo!

William learned a new trick a couple of weeks ago, playing peek-a-boo! His blanket is just perfect for hiding from Mommy. And as you can see, he gets a big kick out of this game! Sorry it's so dark, but it is bedtime...

I Love My Bath!

William has discovered the joys of splashing in the tub and throwing his bath toys out for Mom to retrieve.

Miscellaneous January

We took the children to the mall today to play in the kids area. They needed to burn off some steam in a big way. They had a wonderful time playing while William and I did some sale shopping. Paul stayed with the big kids and was thankful to have an excuse not to shop! Nick tired himself out as you can see, unfortunately Ellie did not. And William had a fine time flirting with the sales girls.

Ballerina?!

Ellie is pretty sure she is ready for ballet class in this outfit. Because all ballerinas wear sunglasses and carry princess wands. Classes start in March (must be three and a half) and she can't wait! But I'm guessing the dress code for class will cause some drama.