Fun at the Park

Happy Birthday Zane Elliot!

Today Zane turns six. We had a very mellow day planned but I knew that a few things could be done to make his day super special.
 

First up was letting Zane play the Wii. There is not a day that goes by Zane does not ask to play that blasted contraption. But since it is his birthday I thought that maybe it would be a nice treat.

I asked Zane what he wanted to have for dinner. He told me split pea soup and corn bread. Quite the unusual choice but who am I to say what a tasty birthday dinner is to him. Plus the weather was not super hot so it was a great day for it. The year that he tells me split pea soup and it is 80 degrees out we will have a different conversation.

Finally we went out to ice cream for dessert and then came home so the boy could open some presents. Zane had been asking for this Lego Ninjago guy for months. (the Lego characters name is Zane) He was very happy to have one of his own. Now he and Andrew can play!

Zane also got some books for his birthday. One was Frog and Toad and one was Thomas. All early readers of course. He was very happy to get the books. I love that he thinks books are a great present. All in all a great birthday for a fantastic little boy! Every year with Zane gets better and better. Can't wait to see what the year of 6 is like for him!

Reid Isaiah: 5 Months Old

Oh little man. You are growing up so quickly. You are still so snuggly, so sweet. Your happy belly laughs make me grin. Your chunky cheeks and delicious thighs make me smile. Your huge blue eyes melt my heart. Stay this way forever in my mind sweet baby of mine.

Andrew Lost... In a Book

Andrew has found a new thrilling pass time this summer, reading. And he has found a particular series of books that he adores and is gobbling up as quickly as we can get them from the library. The series is called "Andrew Lost..." by J.C. Greenburg and it tells the on going story of a little boy named Andrew and how his experiments go wildly wrong. The books are a bit below his general reading level and it is one reason I think he is enjoying them so much. They aren't a struggle to read and he can just enjoy the story. It is not unusual for him to finish one book in 45 minutes or so. And they are about 80 pages each. It is wonderful to see Andrew reading so much and so intensely. He loses himself in these books and it can be difficult to pull him out of his brain to get any information or conversation from him at all. This is how I am when reading a new book so I can sincerely sympathize with his total commitment to the story. The only bummer is that he is almost done with all the series! There are only 18 books and he has read over half of them now. It will be interesting to see what we find for him to read next. I will cross my fingers that it will enthrall him as much as these books have.

Happy Birthday to MOM!

I thought that since I usually post photos about the kiddos birthdays and parties that it was only fair that I post some photos of the kids and I on my special day. In fact it was one of my big goals for the day to get the pictures done and have something to post. So here they are. The kids and me when I turned 33.

Zane's Second Shot at Soccer

What a difference a year and a pair of glasses make! It is almost like watching an entirely different kid play soccer this season.

I have been so excited to go watch Zane play soccer. He is in there sticking with the game and trying to get the ball. No more is he running around the field away from all the players and the ball. No more is he crying on the sidelines that he is hot or tired or bored or hungry. Zane is playing!

If you can't tell yet, last year was a nightmare with Zane playing soccer. This is probably one of the last games that I will get to see of Zane's this year due to scheduling conflicts with Andrew's team. But I was so happy to get to see Zane score a goal today!

I am breathing a little easier about signing him up for sports. It just shows that waiting a year for school was a great choice. I don't even want to imagine how he would have reacted if we had sent him to kindergarten before he was ready!

More Well Child Checks

Finished my summer job of Well Child Checks today. Both boys are doing great and exactly how I expected. The growth patterns are holding steady.

Andrew Tyler
Height: 4' 5" (84%) One more foot and he will be the same height as me. YIKES!
Weight: 62 lbs 3 oz. (68%)

According to an online Adult Height Predictor Calculator Andrew is going to be 6' 2"

Zane Elliot
Height: 4' 1.5" (98%)
Weight: 60 lbs. 6 oz. (96%)

According to that same online Adult Height Predictor Calculator Zane is going to be 6' 3" Somehow I think Zane might beat it though.

Best Buddies

I have posted photo's of Lucy and her best buddy Gabe in the past. Now there are two more sets of buddies you should know about. Gabe has two younger brothers and they are just the right ages to be best buds for Gwen and Reid!

Gwen and Toby have a lot of fun together!

Of course, baby Isaac has a tiny bit of catching up to do before he and Reid will be playing on a regular basis.

Reid is very excited to have a new friend.

He wiggles and squirms when he sees Isaac. I think he knows that this little boy is just right for him to play with. It is lots of fun to have similar age kiddos with a family friend!

What Brothers Are Good For...

Zane has had a dangling tooth for several weeks now. The last few days it has been very very dangly and started to turn gray. I am not a fan of teeth that are wiggly and ready to come out, I think all teeth should be either firmly in place or removed as soon as they can be. So the fact that Zane has had this tooth ready to come out for so long has just about killed me.

Unfortunately for me, Zane despises the removal of teeth. In fact, he seems terrified of removing the teeth on his own. Well today I had had it! I mentioned to Zane that Andrew should help him get his tooth out and Zane agreed that it was a great plan.

After several minutes of wiggling, crying and one bloody Kleenex has been used, the tooth came out. Now the tooth fairy will be headed to our house tonight! Thank goodness for Andrew. Zane may have never lost that tooth!

Gwen's Happy Birthday

Gwen has been existing in a strange state of mind. It has been her birthday, she is technically 2 but since she had not had her birthday party yet it was like her birthday had not yet occurred. When Gwen woke up on Saturday and realized it was the day of her party she was crazy excited! She ran around the kitchen for about 10 minutes yelling "My Happy Birthday! My Happy Birthday!"

Gwen picked a Little Mermaid birthday party. Ariel and her sister's were swimming through her cake.


A yummy dinner of hot dogs, potato salad, fruit and chips made this birthday girl mighty happy!

It was funny to watch Gwen with her presents. She would periodically come in to check on her stash and see if anything new had shown up. She didn't try to open anything until after we told her she could. But she certainly had a good time looking.

Gwen got her very own stroller and a couple of new babies to take for walks. This should hopefully help with the WWIII that seems to occur every time Lucy and Gwen both want to go on a walk with a dolly. Gwen also got lots of coloring and painting materials. She is going to be super busy creating this winter and I LOVE it!

Checkups for Two

This month is chock full of well child exams for our family. First up were Reid's 4 month exam and Gwen's 2 year old exam.

Reid is doing great and just as expected. He is rolling and cooing and blowing raspberries all the time. He is also very much on the same growth track as Andrew.

Height: 26.5" (89%)
Weight: 17 lbs. 14 oz. (89%)

Proportionate and doing great!

Gwen also is right on track with her development. She is more verbal than many 2 year olds and is very interested in imaginative play. She often talks on a phone, rocks her babies and makes food in the little play kitchen we have.

Gwen actually increased on the growth curve for her weight and decreased on her height. She is getting closer to being proportionate rather than the string bean that she has been.

Height 34.5" (69%)
Weight: 27 lbs. 3 oz. (58%)

No cause for concern with either of them. A couple of shots and we were out the door. In a few weeks it will be Andrew and Zane's turn. I am very interested to hear about that one too!

Ouch!

Lucy managed to get her finger squashed at Grandma's house last night. There is a bit of confusion whether or not she was trying to keep a car door open when Zane wanted it shut or if they were just fighting over the door in general but either way Lucy's finger got the bad part of the deal.

I wonder if she is going to end up losing the nail. Because that purple ain't no nail polish. At least she has stopped fussing about it. And it is on her left hand. So a band-aid this morning and some ice last night was sufficient to stop the pain. But it sure does look ugly.

Gwendalyn Lily: 2 Years Old

Is it even possible that Miss Gwenie-girl is two today? I am in awe of how quickly time flies by. Gwen is such an amazing little girl and I am beyond thankful that God chose her to add to our family.

Is it even possible that my big girl ever was this tiny?