August

I feel like every blog post I write I mention how busy we are, but I've said it so often that I'm wondering if this is just how life is going to be for a while.  But we are - busy that is - the weeks just seem to fly by!  I can't believe its already September!

August was fun!  We did what we could to soak up the last month of summer and we are off to a great start in the new school year.

A little update on Eric.  This one has seemed less baby and more toddler to me lately.  He's fully on the move - he can stand up on his own and is pretty steady on his feet.   

He is eating with a fork/spoon and LOVING it. I was actually getting concerned because he wouldn't seem to eat anything.  Then one day I gave him I noticed the other kids his age at school were feeding themselves, so I gave him a spoon and some beans.  He LOVED it.  Same with yogurt.  Its messy but he's happy.

He is into all stereotypical "boy" things - cars, balls, etc.  Its so interesting to me that babies just come out these already "predispositioned" little beings.  Olivia loved Weebles around this age so I pulled out the box for Eric.  Instead of lining up the Weebles on the bridge, he lines up his cars and also rolls the Weebles on the floor as if they were cars.

When we moved into this new house, one of the things I was excited about was the big backyard.  The previous owners left us this awesome tree house and with the huge windows, I thought it would be perfect for Olivia to be outside playing while I had a newborn.  That never happened.  She basically hated going outside - too hot, too many bugs, etc.  I can't completely say I blame her.  Recently though, she learned how to ride her bike without training wheels and that all changed.  Now she is outside CONSTANTLY.   It has actually been pretty great because we have enjoyed some fun family bike rides together.

We had to get Eric his own bike too.

And I'm not sure if its seeing her outside or his natural personality but Eric will stand at the window and point wildly to go outside as well.  If I don't respond to him, he will take it a step further by pointing to his feet -- asking me to put his shoes on.  And if that doesn't work, he will go and get his shoes from the basket and bring them to me!

Matt recently got him a tennis racket and its his favorite thing.  Seriously.  Matt couldn't have planned it better if he tried.  Every morning we have to go outside for school a few minutes early so Eric can get some "ball time" in.

I wouldn't call him dangerous - he is pretty careful and usually looks at me to make sure what he's doing is okay.  But he does like to climb.

Matt got him some dinosaur toys and he really seems to like them. He picked up "roar" pretty quick and likes to throw them around.  My favorite thing is watching Olivia play dinosaur with him though.  Her imaginative play is usually reserved for domestic situations - playing mommy and baby, school, etc.  We could tell she wasn't quite sure what to do for dinosaurs -- she got a low, gruff voice and said "We are dinosaurs.  Lets go to San Francisco."  Matt and I both thought it was pretty hilarious.  

This little bit had his 15 month appointment and he's doing great.  

Here are his stats:

Height: 25%

Weight:  55%

He is starting to chatter a lot more.  And he FINALLY added "mama" to his repertoire.  If we can just get "Olivia" in there, we will be set.

Just for the memory book, here are the words he can say:

mama

dada

duck 

ball 

bird

wa-wa

night-night

moon

keys

milk
roar
bye-bye (though sometimes it comes out more like "dye dye")

We are working on sleep.  At the request strict instruction of our dear pediatrician, we weaned him off his nightly bottles and did a little cry-it-out.  He didn't like it at first, but he's doing pretty well now.  He will usually sleep from 6 pm - about 6 am.  Sometimes he will cry around 3ish for 15-20 minutes but that's it.  And hopefully over the next few months, that will stop too.

He's out of his sleep sack and, like his sister, likes to pile his blankets in a ball and sleep on top of them.  Do all babies do this??  I've always thought it was a pretty bizarre way for Olivia to sleep but maybe this is a thing?

We soaked up Olivia's last week at Cathedral House.  They enjoyed their last Splash Day.

And got in all the coordinated outfits they could muster!

Both Matt and I snuck her out for lunch one day her last week.  Though Matt won the favorite parent award that week because he let her skip the rest of the day for a daddy-daughter date and took her bowling!

 

And she had a "sleep under" with Sadie to commemorate the end of the summer!

It was a great summer back at Cathedral House, where I know Olivia was well-loved and well taken care of.

Olivia and Eric continue to figure out their relationship.  Some moments are very sweet and playful.  While others (which I don't have captured on picture) are harder - he's getting more aware of which toys he wants to play with and less agreeable when she grabs it from him.  But if he needs help he goes to her and he always greets her with a huge smile.

We enjoyed a mini-vacation with Mimi and Grandpa the weekend before school started.  It was such a fun time to swim and play.  

Olivia was SO excited that we had "pool walk out" room! 

Ring Around The Rosy.  All.  The.  Time.

He runs.  Everywhere.  Always.

Smores

Dive-In Movie

Fun weekend with this crew!

And on the day before school started, she came to the office with me in the morning and then enjoyed a movie and sno cone with Popo and Tutu in the afternoon.

 And then, it was time for Olivia to head back to school.  And little brother seems to be doing just fine on his own at Cathedral House.  He now walks into class on his own everyday, gets his own plate, chooses a seat and waits for me to warm up his breakfast. He looked so cute one morning in his button-down shirt, all "Matt Dean-ish" so I asked him to stop and smile.  He put his cup down and made this ridiculous face at me!

One less than ideal new trick is that Eric has become a bit of a biter.  His teachers refer to them as "love bites" because they don't seem to come from any place of aggression, but rather affection.  He will try to hold your hand, and once he gets it, he bites your finger.  I did have to sign one accident report for some poor "friend" who got bit.  It seems to have stopped at school but the McGuires came to stay with us for Labor Day and poor Grady got a little more "affection" than he bargained for.  We were all quick on the draw and luckily no biting ever took place.  But Eric was just pleased as punch when he got at least one appendage!

We recently had a little playdate with the Williams kiddos.  Eric and Henry shared a mutual love of cars, while Olivia and Minah enjoyed some pizza and a movie.