For Aunt Liz

Creeping crud

The creeping crud arrived and for the past few weeks our house has been an infirmary caring for four colds, a case of roseola, a sinus infection and a double ear infection. Thankfully, I think that we are finally on the upswing. I took this shot on one of those 'when is Pish getting home?' days when nobody wanted to be put down. It was surprisingly comfortable to wear the backpack and the Baby Bjorn.

Standing and talking

For the record, I know that this is cheesy. However, I cannot help myself from coming up with the conversations that I think that they are having.

Noah: Sometimes when I stand in my crib I like to make silly faces like this.

Noah to Ella: Hey Ella, what do you think about pulling ourselves up and standing in our cribs?

Ella: I find it a bit frightening and I prefer sitting.

Noah: Hmm...this is not good.

Noah to Ella: Don't worry. Everything is going to be okay, sis.

Ella and Noah: Yep, everything is just fine.

Bits from the weekend

In my opinion, Chicago has a bad weather reputation and a some of it is well founded. However, we had amazing weather this past weekend. It was the kind of weather that inspires me to take long runs, sleep under a pile of blankets with the windows open and and be outside all day. In honor of the fall temperatures, we finally planted our garden of perennials that we found at the fall sales.

Ella was pretty sure that she wanted to be held so I opted for wearing her in the backpack while working. She is wearing a smocked bonnet that Nana P made for her. Her favorite part is the ribbon.



Her least favorite part is when the bonnet covers her face.

Below is a picture of the garden behind the house. For those of you that saw it a year ago, you know that this is a huge improvement. Pish is the most productive person I know and he is largely responsible for the improvements around our house. One of the especially good things is that it is fun (not work) for him. For us to have this lovely garden, he dug up 8 20-year-old yews, installed the lattice and formed the bed. Not all the shrubbery is in, but you can get the idea.

He also built these pyramidal trellises with the branches that I pruned out of the dogwood shrubs.

A shot of lumberjack Pish hacking away at the roots
(the multitudes of roots) of a weed tree. Round-up would have been much easier but not organic. Next year it will be filled with vegetables and herbs.

Herbs snipped and ready to be dried.

Noah decided that sitting outside in the pack and play covered with a blanket and wearing only a diaper is his new favorite past time. He talked and played with his toys for hours.

Swimming

Sweet cousin Annika is on the right sporting a very cute swimsuit. Our kiddos are sporting water-logged diapers, as evidenced by Noah's huge tush.

Ella was fascinated with the prospect of climbing out of the pool, head first. It was not because she disliked like the pool, it was just the idea of climbing that was so very enticing.

I was not expecting Noah to enjoy the pool because he does not really like baths, but he surprised us and was an active fellow in the pool. Quite happy actually.

All in all, a fun time was had by all (as long as Noah refrained from using Ella and Annika as props for climbing).

Thoughts

We take walks most every day. I enjoy getting out of the house and getting some exercise. The bambinos seem to like the fresh air and the sights. It is generally a win-win. Anyhow, I'm constantly struck with how many people stop to peek in at the babies and then they look at me and tell me to enjoy them. At first I did not give it much thought, but it kept coming to mind so now I'm making a very diligent effort to enjoy each moment with them, even the ones that I wish would go quickly. In that vain, I thought that I'd record some of the things have I've been enjoying recently.

1. Hearing loud noises as we are driving around town and looking back to see Ella vigorously sucking on her toes.
2. The joy of each of the babies when they see their dad at the end of the day. Yesterday I was holding Noah when he saw Pish and he literally jumped with joy.
3. Being there to cuddle Ella when she wakes up (unhappy) from a nap.
4. Watching Noah explore the house. This morning he spent a good 30 minutes hanging out at the hall tree --using it to pull up, checking out the crack in the wood and listening to the sound that he could make when he hit it.
5. The way that Ella still crinkles her nose when she smiles. I've noticed that when I smile at her, I crinkle my nose too.
6. Watching them interact at meal time. They give each other these looks that seem to say, 'I'm eating food and so are you. Fun, huh?' Noah then reaches over and pats Ella's head with a hand covered in mushy peaches. She then lets him know that she is irritated with his gesture.
7. Watching Ella twirl and point her little toes when she is in the jumper. And then she reached up her arms to tell me that she is done and wants to be held.
8. Sitting at my desk as the kids play and then feeling little fingers grabbing at my toes. Love it.
9. Getting to the end of the day with the babies in their beds, coming out of the nursery and telling Pish that we have the most amazing babies. Granted, I am exhausted, hungry, have drool/small chunks of food on my clothing and my hair is a mess, but I still am so amazed with them.

Afternoon snack

Family resemblance

Here is a little blog game for you --can you tell who's who in each picture? Take a look before reading the captions...

The first picture is one that Matt found when looking through some old photos. At first glance, I thought that it was Noah, but no, that is me enjoying my bathtime. Mom thinks that I was probably about the same age as the twins.

I guess the second one is kind of obvious.

The third shot is a pic of my dad from his childhood. I have a number of pictures from his formative years and this one has always been a favorite. Noah's face has always reminded me of my dad, especially this shot.

And number four is a recent shot of our happy little man.

More on family resemblances to come, I hope. Need to do some digging in the Potoshnick family archive.

Crawling boy

"It's okay mom. I'm just heading out the front door to take a lap around the block. I'll be back in a few."
- Noah

Twins v. Nalgene at 7 months

"We're so much bigger than you, Nalgene."
-Noah & Ella

And for reference, here is our first Twins v. Nalgene shot. They were a couple of weeks old, probably hovering in the 6 lb range and 18-19 inches in length. They still are not tipping any charts, but they have more than doubled their birthweights and are somewhere around 25 inches long.

What We Do

Noah up close and personal

The Irony

We were so pleased with our new lawn that Matt finished Sunday afternoon. Then came Monday evening. There were sirens and ominous clouds so we the scooped the babies out of their cribs and headed to the basement. When we came upstairs this is what we found when we stepped out onto the back porch.

Luckily, the tree fell in the perfect place so we had very minimal damage, however it did manage to cover the entire yard, new sod included. Matt and I cleared the branches, him with a trusty hand saw and me as the trusty branch hauler.

In the end, the house remains intact and our friendly tree man came today to grind up the trunk. And in case you are wondering, the sod fared well and it looks just fine.

Ella says, "Thanks to Dad, we have a new lawn!"

It finally happened folks. In the last year, the spot that has been home to a swing set, 5 cubic yards of mulch, weeds (many weeds) and most recently the family of rabbits. But thanks to good weather, compliant babies and a very hard working husband, we now have a back yard that is covered in green grass. Thanks hon!

Ella had a lovely time checking it out.

Not his father's son

Things that Noah would like to do instead of eating oatmeal
(the thing that his father eats every morning):

Smile and look cute

Chew on his thumb

Attempt to chew on the table

Later in the day...

Give the kid some peas
(one of the worst foods in his father's mind)
and voila, he is a huge fan of eating!

Go figure.