Easter Egg hunt and Charlie's Birthday (part 1)

I thought I was on top of things and caught up with pictures...and then I realized that I forgot to go through the ones from the Easter Egg hunt at the Millers and of course, from Charlie's birthday too.  Since Charlie's day fell on Easter this year, we went to the Millers on "Easter Eve" for an egg hunt and sung Happy Birthday with friends.  Charlie really understood the egg hunt this year, running and picking up as many as he could.  It took Sam a few minutes to warm  up to the idea, but then he had fun as well!

  The group keeps growing...

  Julia didn't participate but loved watching!

 The Hunt!

  Charlie ended up helping Sam fill his basket (pointing out eggs)

 Singing to my (almost) 4-year-old

 Very surprisingly, he loved being the center of attention (a repeat from last year's birthday)

 Since we planned cake for his "real" birthday, I made this chocolate chip cookie cake and it was delicious.

My four year old

 

 Happy Happy Birthday, Charlie!

Yet another year has flown by.  It is so hard for Scott and I to believe that our baby is four years old already!  This past year we have seen Charlie grow and learn so much.  While he's still our super shy guy (seriously where did he come from?), his sensitivity is one of his best qualities.

He's the quiet one at school.  Rarely volunteers to answer and doesn't like to be put in the spot light (and some days doesn't even raise his hand when they call his name for attendance)...but when he's one-on-one with the teachers, they are amazed.  We knew a French immersion program would be a challenge for him (for any 3 year old!) but he has adjusted so well.  Math is definitely his forte, as he can add and subtract basic numbers without us even attempting to teach him.  He can even do simple division ("Mom, we have 6 jelly beans, so Sam and I each get 3").  He doesn't love to color, and often finishes his coloring "schoolwork" as quickly as possible, but loves to build things (with blocks, clay, rocks).  He loves to practice writing his letters, and doing workbooks with me at home...which unfortunately doesn't happen often.  

Charlie is an amazing big brother. While he is often found bossing Sam around, he also has been the best teacher!  I hear him correcting Sam's speech often ("Sam, after you throw the ball, you say, 'I THREW it' not 'I throw it'") and teaching him letters and numbers.  The two boys play so well together, building, throwing balls, or playing pretend.  Yesterday at our Easter egg hunt, he ran and collected a bunch of eggs right away.  He looked back and saw Sam had not picked up any yet, and stopped gathering for himself so he could coach Sam.  He told me, "Mom, I think I have enough eggs, can I help Sam?" and proceeded to direct Sam to several eggs. The boys are also fiercely competitive at times, so it's not always so pretty, but they do a great job.

Charlie also loves to play outside--riding his bike, playing baseball, or helping me in the garden.  We also love to cook together; he always wants to try what we're making before we cook it, even if it's something like plain flour (gross, in my opinion).  And he's a great eater, almost always finishing whatever we put in front of him. He told the doctor his favorite foods are pears, kiwi, and potato soup (who knew?).

While I was cleaning the kitchen this morning, Charlie sat down next to Julia's bouncy seat and started talking to her.  He imitates our tone and coos back at her, and offered her a few Easter eggs.  After she swatted away a blue one, I heard him say "Here Julia, you probably want the pink one.  Do you want it?  Here you go". 

With Charlie's birthday falling on Easter, we're having a small family dinner tonight to celebrate my big boy.  He helped me make a chocolate cake this morning from scratch (a first for us...) and can't wait to see it decorated when he wakes up from his nap.  Loving my first born like crazy today...Happy 4th Birthday, Charlie!

2 months already?

Is it possible that my baby is 2 months old already? (and even this post is a week late).  I feel like time is flying by so quickly...it's so cliche but so true.  This past month has been awesome.  Julia is such a sweet, adorable little baby.  She's officially entering "baby" phase and past the "newborn"--cooing and smiling all the time, batting toys, watching her brothers run around.  At 7 weeks old, she slept through the night, and continued to do so for a week, until she caught her brother's cold.  Since then, she sleeps through about 2 out of every 3 nights, 8-11 hours straight.  On the other nights, she wakes up around 4am, nurses and quickly goes back to sleep.  She nurses every 2-4 hours during the day (usually 6-7x/day total) on no real schedule at all, as she is constantly shuffled around transporting Charlie to/from school and other various activities--it seems to suit her though!

On Tuesday I took her to the doctors for her 2 month checkup.  She weighed in at 11lbs10oz (75th percentile, once again probably slightly skewed upwards by her big cloth diaper) and measured 24 1/4 inches long (95th percentile--long baby!).  Looking back, she's about the same length as Sam and Charlie but much lighter (Sam was 13.5lbs at his 2 month appointment)

A few of our moments this month...Julia cooing and "talking" in her bouncy seat, and Charlie runs over and starts imitating her--she just gets louder and louder.  Sam climbing up on the chair, sitting on the side of the boppy while I nurse Julia (he just wants to see her all the time!).  One of the little boys at school saying "She's just the most beautiful baby I've ever seen".  Blank stare until you get into her vision sight and say her name--broad smile across her face! 

 

 

 

I forgot to add...she has quite the array of nicknames currently.  Baby sister, baby J, JJ.  Sam prefers to call her "Baby Ju Jane" which has now been shortened to "Baby Ju" (sounds like baby Jew...hilarious)

Columbus with friends

A few weekends ago, we traveled to Columbus, Ohio to visit our friends the Crossley's.  Ryan and Karen have Hannah (5 days younger than Sam!) and are expecting a baby boy in July.  They just moved to a new house, so we got to check out the new crib.  We also ventured to Fort Rapids, an indoor water park.  Ryan and Karen had a voucher for a free hotel room, so we upgraded it to a suite and made a mini-vacation out of it. I did actually bring my camera;  however, I didn't take any pictures (worthless I know).  The kids had a good time playing in the water, and the adults enjoyed catching up over the course of the weekend!  We love spending time with the Crossleys and it's a bummer we only do it a few times a year (is 3 hours really that far away?).  Karen sent me a few pictures from her phone...that's the best I can do these days.

Scott reading bedtime stories to Hannah and the boys

 

 Breakfast at Bob Evans--can  you believe we got smiles out of all 4 :)

Thanks for the fun weekend, Crossley crew!  We can't wait to meet baby boy Crossley!!!

St Patty's Parade

Indianapolis always has their St Patty's Parade the Friday before St Patrick's Day...when I worked downtown, we used to watch it from our office windows (up on the 22nd floor...so we saw the whole parade at once!)  Now that I'm home with the kiddies, we've made it a tradition to go downtown to watch the parade.

Unlike last year, we did not have ideal weather.  In the 40s...chilly.  But, I had promised the boys we would make the trip and even made plans with Charlie's classmate, Eva, and her family, to go downtown together.  In true mother-of-three-children-barely-getting-by fashion, I did not take my camera.  Fortunately, Christian (Eva's dad) had a camera and caught a few moments of the morning.  And we even managed to meet up with several of our friends as well!

Owen (Eva's older brother), Sam, Eva and Charlie waiting for the parade to begin

  Poor Julia stayed warm in her carseat the whole parade! (see our stroller in the background?)

 Caught in the background: Cole, Ayla, Eli, Sarah, Katie, Rosie and Tripp.

Charlie's favorite part of the parade was "the candy" (they throw it out), although he only has eaten one piece. His second favorite part was the big drums that "made his belly shake".  Sam only picked up 2 pieces of candy despite my prodding...and really liked the fire trucks.  And we didn't make it over to the green canal this year--too much with the cold weather and three children!

Wordless Wednesday

Sap to Syrup

This past weekend, Charlie and I went to Holliday Park for a special program called "Sap to Syrup".  We met up with my friend Katie and her son Cole on a very chilly day!  Since it was during naptime, it was a special event around here!

The program included a self-guided tour through the woods, where we stopped at stations to hear all about the process of making maple syrup.  Surprisingly, Charlie was very interested, and enjoyed the walk in the woods.  Katie snapped a few pictures for me on her phone :)

 

At one of the stations, Charlie got to try the hand drill on a fallen log, to make a hole for the syrup to come out.  Charlie was so excited to try the drill (even resulting in a few tears while we waited for his turn) and together we made 2 holes in the log.  We learned that it takes 50-60 gallons of Indiana sap (from the Sugar Maple) to make only one gallon of maple syrup--no wonder it is so expensive!!!  There was a bucket set up with a tap from one of trees, and it was full of frozen sap...too cold.  I didn't know the sap was clear!

After the walk through the woods, we saw sap boiling over a campfire, and the boys got to do a taste test--pure maple syrup (what we use at our house) versus "log cabin" fake syrup.  Cole said he preferred the log cabin (Katie says he's never had anything but the real deal) but Charlie wouldn't pick--he liked both!

Inside for a tasty treat (biscuit, ice cream and maple syrup on top) and a cool craft--coloring a maple leaf and making it into a button.

All in all, a fun event, Charlie even ended up taking a nap after we got home--the fresh air does wonders!  We'll be back next year--hopefully for better "sugaring" weather!