Eleanor Laughs and Bradley Slides

Eleanor laughs when I sing to her.

Bradley has been coming over to her while she's in her swing and he says "rock, rock" while pushing the swing back and forth and I'll sing Rock-a-bye Baby loudly to both children and grab Bradley at the end and cover him with kisses. I'd been doing this for a few days and I guess Eleanor decided that it was fun times whenever Mommy would sing so now she lights up and smiles and often laughs when I sing her a song. No child has ever gotten so many songs, what a wonderful incentive to get Mommy to sing to you!

Eleanor adores Bradley, she loves to watch him as he's running around. The interest is mutual. Believe it or not, sometimes my son hollers at me and points at Eleanor because he wants me to put her down so he can play with her.

Checking each other out

Nose!

Loves. It's really good Eleanor likes this because it happens OFTEN.

The kitties have been getting in on the action as well! I have a quest for the perfect kitty plus child picture and with a bit of effort I was able to get one the other day!

We had a little trouble posing at first

And then our photography subject had a fit of the giggles

Great success! Look at how happy Meg is that we went to all this work to get a kitty plus baby photo!

We still love our kitties very much but they don't get anywhere near the amount of affection they did before the babies joined us. Sometimes it feels like they are watching me ...

Sometimes it feels like they are desperate to get as close as possible, regardless of if this means a baby is involved in the cuddles ...

Sometimes they try to forget that a baby is even there ...

Naughty Layla

I am lucky to be so loved.

Bradley has been getting to go to "Toddle Time" at a local community center on a fairly regular basis where we steal toys from all the other children and run around like a maniac and have a grand 'ol time.

Thanks to Grandpa Dan and Grandma Kati for the adorable Boise State outfit! It finally fits him and it's soooooo cute!

Other rotten parents bring snacks for their children and feed them in front of my child. A complete stranger offered to share some of her child's snack with my whiny son the last time we went. Sigh. Poor Bradley, I cramped his style and said no thanks. My nightmare is this kid thinking he can get food from anyone. Once the begging starts it won't stop. Why don't I bring him a snack? Because this kid doesn't understand snacks, he understands meals. Once you start eating why would you stop before you're stuffed?

He's so fun to watch at play, here is his take on the toddler slide:

Hysterical. This kid cracks me up on a regular basis.

And I'm afraid his imp status is firmly established at this point. He has a deflated Thor's Hammer toy that our friend Christine sent us that never properly inflates anymore because the little dickens has chewed on it and there's a hole in there somewhere. But he really loves it and wants to have it blown up so he'll come over to me and press the air hole right against my mouth repeatedly until I grab it. I'll ask him what he wants me to do and he'll push it against my mouth again (Mommy is so dense sometimes). So I'll start to blow it up ... and he'll grab the still deflated toy out of my hands and swing it around, laughing. Then he'll push it back directly against my mouth. It is possible that I rev him up a bit by laughing whenever he does this and laughing harder when he grabs the toy away from me. I started to do giant inhales to get ready to blow into it and he'd grab it away before I could even have the opportunity to blow it back up for the little guy. We had a jolly good time. How does a one and a half year old just GET me so completely?

Bradley has also taken to raiding the drawer in my nightstand. There isn't anything of note in there besides some hair ties and some cards that don't need to live in my wallet but he LOVES my chapstick. He'll run up to my room every morning and grabs it (with me two steps behind) and when I seize the chapstick we have an understanding that I will put some on his mouth for him. He usually says yumyumyum as I do this. Love this kid.

Bradley is also SUPER into tv shows these days. He's been getting to watch a bit more because of hot weather and a mother who needs him to be distracted while she takes care of an infant. So far Kung Fu Panda has made him laugh the most out of anything. Apparently my child takes delight in watching goofy falls or when someone is hurt in a funny way. Highbrow snobs we are not!

Watching a show. Of course Eleanor is smiling. This little girl is amazing.

Have I mentioned how much of an easier time Nathan and I are having with kid #2? Partly because she sleeps like a champ and we're not constantly sleep deprived, but also because we have a far better idea of what we're doing this time around. I am so happy that while we get to have a wonderful time with Bradley in this sweet, fun phase he's in, we're also able to devote a good amount of quality time to our adorable daughter.

Happy in our new bumblebee towel that is too cute for words (thanks Jena!)

Happy snuggled up with Daddy, the best cuddle buddy there is.

Nathan is such a champ dad and likes nothing better than having cuddly kids draped all over him on the couch.

Bradley loves to smooch Eleanor so much. Also, note the matching mohawks. Poor Eleanor ...

We move this upcoming Friday, we're so excited! Fingers crossed that everything goes well.

Proud Parents

It seems like our little girl is already a tv junkie. It's kind of hilarious to watch, Nathan will sit holding her in the desk chair and rotate back and forth in the chair and her head will swivel to stay zeroed in on the tv. Doesn't matter what's on, football, sitcom, commercials, she loves them all. Bradley was not like this at her age, it's interesting to see the differences between our two sweet children.

For instance, this is how Eleanor wakes up. Every morning. What a little doll baby.

Bradley and Eleanor. What a duo. Bradley is so happy to have a little buddy these days. It's kind of a pain to protect her from him all the time (so many loves) but it's so sweet.

Once again, a photo that sums up the Bradley and Eleanor sibling dynamic

Belly buttons are so cool

According to our pediatrician Eleanor has highly advanced motor skills. At two months she had the motor skills of a four month old. She would like to put all her thanks for this great honor on her big brother Bradley, for his non-stop attention and devotion to her development in this arena.

Best tummy time assistant ever

Eleanor holding her head way up high.

We're so proud of both of them, which is ridiculous, I know. They haven't really done anything yet. But we take Bradley to the park and he runs around shrieking with delight, smiling at all the people he meets and only occasionally scaring children by running up while yelling like a happy little maniac. He watches the big kids and sees no reason why he can't do anything that they do. He likes climbing up on rocks now, he tries to climb up ladders, and he went down a giant slide and wanted to do it again even though he would have fell off at a high speed on his face if his daddy hadn't been at the bottom to catch him.

This is from the other day at Toddle Time at a local community center where Bradley saw a daddy shooting baskets and legitimately started trying to do the same. I sent Nathan a picture and he got very excited. Nathan is counting down the days until he can play some 1 on 1 with his son.

And this is from dinner the other night. Bradley LOVES chopstick meals. We can eat with sticks?? Sheer genius.

Bradley is also trying to keep his options open when it comes to sports. He knows his daddy would love it if he played basketball but he's thinking gymnastics may also be a highly interesting endeavor.

We have a little work to do, but the interest is clearly there. Somersaults have never been so entertaining.

We went to the petting zoo the other day and guess who isn't afraid of goats anymore!

However, I discovered that having Bradley eat meals in his stroller on a semi-regular basis has the horrible side effect of making the stroller irresistible to both flies and little bees and we literally had a SWARM of flies around the stroller after we left the goats. Fifteen or twenty flies floating around the yummiest stroller in town. Quite embarrassing. Nathan has since hosed the stroller down, fingers crossed that does the trick.

We also have not come even close to getting tired of playing in fountains. No sir. I may have a series of these photos too before too long.

The water is cold. Quite cold. Crazy kid.

Our cute little boy. Love this kid so much.

And sweet Eleanor's personality is coming through more and more each day.

Snuggles with Daddy? Yes please!

New pretty dress from Mommy and Daddy's friend Amanda? I love fashion!

There's a little bit of the imp you can see in those eyes. Oh my. Luckily she will have Bradley as her example of model behavior as she grows older. The boy who is currently running around the room with an empty bottle of vitamins trying to throw it at one of the cats and shrieking in delight. We're in so much trouble ...

Joys of Parenting

Being a parent is tough, not only do I have to watch my language (I probably shouldn't even say "crap" anymore. Boo.) but I probably need to stop saying things about murdering one of our cats or shooting her and putting her out of her misery when she is yowling for attention while the baby is napping.

Bradley learning to play the piano! This photo was not staged. He crawled up there himself and started banging around on the keys. This probably means he's a prodigy. Undoubtedly.

Also tough on me is how Bradley is already annoyingly opinionated when it comes to tv shows and he doesn't like my new favorite show, Meerkat Manor. Sheesh. One would think a one and a half year old would go along with whatever his mommy wanted. Not my child.

However, we discovered the other day that Bradley WILL cuddle during shows as long as they're a little scary. We were watching a children's movie My Neighbor Tortoro and there were a few loud growly bits that made Bradley a little nervous so he cuddled up close to me. I loved it, Bradley cuddles are rarely relaxing and are generally more along the lines of trying to crawl all over you and bash his head against you. I told Nathan that I'm going to show him Frankenstein soon and rake in all the cuddly goodness!

This is an example of Bradley "cuddles". A lot of fun but you may get bowled over!

We're enjoying the end of our summer. Eleanor went for her first swim at just two months old!

I may have been more excited about this than any other person. I'm having so much fun with the girly outfits. Bradley got a $10 Superman cape that matched a set of pajamas for his first Halloween that we're likely going to reuse for this Halloween. Eleanor, on the other hand, is going to get a ridiculous tutu costume of some sort that will certainly be a one time wear. Worth it!

Showing off the bathing beauty!

Unfortunately, while Eleanor loves baths she was not super keen on the pool water which was a little cool for her taste.

Bradley had no problem with the water and was ecstatic to be swimming until we decided it was time for some family photos.

I cannot BELIEVE they expect me to stop playing and pose for a stupid picture!

Poor child. In theory I was sympathetic, but we laughed at him and made him pose for more pictures. By the end he was more or less resigned to the nonsense.

Poor Bradley, he puts up with a lot. But he'd better get used to these photo ops, it's not like they're going to stop happening anytime soon.

We're currently spending our days packing for the big move and taking breaks to go to the park to play.

This is at the new park behind our new house. Bradley loves swinging with his daddy!

Eleanor prefers to be snug in the stroller, swings are just a couple months away though!

I love it when both Nathan and I can go to the park together with the kids, it's pretty great family time. And it means I can chase Bradley around much better than when I have an Eleanor strapped to my chest in the baby carrier.

And Nathan is so happy that football season has started since he can think of few things better than being snuggled up on the couch with a child. Eleanor actually likes watching the television, it's pretty cute.

And about 15 minutes later ...

Sometimes being a parent is pretty perfect.