Roly Poly Patrick, Too Cute Eleanor, and Let's Talk About It Bradley

Sweet Patrick has grown a bunch in the last couple weeks and I'm proud to say he's already a bit of a chunk! He's on the Bradley growth plan for sure, he's already out of newborn clothes and was solidly into his three month clothes at three weeks of age.

Still skinny here

Starting to get a little rounder

Oh yeah. The baby is roly poly, just the way I like it!

Belly belly belly!

Oh yeah. I love it when my children get to the "tubbo" phase.

Eleanor and Bradley loves for their little brother have not diminished in the last couple weeks. I can't believe there's still as much excitement as there is when he opens his eyes or is placed near a sibling.

Bradley likes to give Patrick all of his favorite toys.

Eleanor with Patrick after one of her naps

Kisses! And toys.

The exception to this excitement is when there is a show on. The only thing that matters when the tv is on is the tv. 

Sorry Patrick. Losing out to the Paw Patrol once again. 

We haven't done much tummy time for our sleepy little guy but I think he's fairly strong.

It's tough to do tummy time when you get so much help ...

Bradley is so incredibly cute around Patrick. Nonstop coos and kisses. 

The other morning the kids ran and grabbed pillows from their rooms so they could play nap in Patrick's room while I was feeding him. Great joy was had by all when Patrick joined their naptime fun. 

The kids were beyond delighted to have their first car ride with Patrick a couple weeks ago. We can fit all three kids in the second row of the minivan, not too shabby!

Over the course of the car ride Patrick somehow ended up with Eleanor's favorite toy phone and Bradley tried repeatedly to place Patrick's pacifier in his mouth. Nathan and I have such good help. 

Eleanor is rather hilarious these days. She finally started to legitimately jump off of the fireplace at 22 months of age. In comparison, Bradley started jumping when he was 12 or 13 months old. Little menace. Eleanor is adorable when she jumps, there is great joy.

Fireplace where most of the jumping happens. Here it was used for play naps, not sure why as this seems horribly uncomfortable.

Shutting herself between the storm door and the front door. Only Eleanor understands how funny this is.

Eleanor also isn't quite sure about the mechanics of breastfeeding. She says "belly button?" whenever she comes over to watch me feed Patrick and then tries to find her own belly button. I've tried to explain it to her but she remains firm on her belly button theory.

Gratuitous pic of our sweetie in the Minnie Mouse dress that her Grandma Kathy made for her

Eleanor also smashes noses with you when she's feeling mischievous and then laughs like crazy. She has also developed quite the fake laugh and uses it to rev Bradley up so he fake laughs with her.

Bradley being a saint/foot rest while the kids watch a show

Both kids have favorite phrases that they use on a regular basis these days. You can ask Eleanor to do something or go get something and she'll say "I'm ON it" and scamper off. We also discovered while Aunt Abby was here that if you tell Eleanor she's cute she'll say "no YOU cute!" and is happy to repeat this as often as you tell her she is cute. It's so great. And Bradley is mr. "let's talk about it, let's talk about it" for every show we turn on or anything interesting we discover in a book.

And here is a random but adorable "ladies and gentlemen!" video. In underwear. I love this kid.

Oh, and here's a hot parenting tip for those who need to know: if you want your children to instantly be in a good mood just strip them down to their diaper or underwear for "naked time". Works like a charm.

Eleanor loves Bradley and while she would do almost anything for him it seems that the little girl knows where to draw the line. This video is both cruel and hilarious. Poor Bradley.

The adjustment to three kids is going pretty well, this is much easier than when we went from one to two children although that may have had something to do with the close age gap between the first two. And with our move to a new house when Eleanor was just three months old. I feel like I am getting to relax and enjoy more cuddles this time around. AMAZING cuddles!

It helps that the older two take an afternoon nap at the same time so Patrick and I get an opportunity for some good solo cuddles every day. Although sometimes we are not completely alone ...

Oh, hi Meg. Were you lonesome? Come cuddle on my face.

Nathan has been hanging in there like a champ as well.

And Nathan got this great video of Bradley playing with his dinosaurs in the basement while Patrick cuddles with Daddy and has a sad case of the hiccups.

Many thanks to Patrick's Great Grandma Marian for the amazing Teddy Bear quilt she sent to us for him! I have so many pictures of all three of my kids on these great quilts, these are going to get a lot of love and use for years and years.

And we were recently visited by my Great Uncle Ray and Aunt Myrna! We had such a good time with them, mostly because they were more than happy to entertain the children and we had a nice time catching up. Bradley and Eleanor were both rather taken with their fun aunt and uncle, it was very sweet to see!

Patrick getting in on the action

It didn't hurt that Ray and Myrna were happy to sit and read book after book to these guys. So cozy and fun!

Nathan got to have some quality Bradley time this weekend as he took him to a fun birthday party while I stayed home with Eleanor and Patrick. I think I got the easier job, Bradley is so fun but he can be a bit of a handful when he gets hyped up with birthday party fun.

Awesome slide at the birthday party park

For instance: Bradley covers his face and screams with delight when people sing Happy Birthday. Oh my. I was okay with Daddy handling this one. I was very thankful to be notified that the rest of the people at the party seemed to find Bradley's antics amusing.

And Nathan and I got to go on a date to celebrate our fourth wedding anniversary this weekend! We're still counting it as a date even though we had a little guy join us for a milkshake and a few games of cribbage.

My dates! One even dressed up in a collared shirt for the occasion ...

Yes, married four years. In that time we have moved three times, including moving halfway across the country for a new job, Nathan has had two major surgeries, we bought a house, and we had three children. I think we get to take it easy for the next few years. I wouldn't change a thing (besides Nathan's surgeries. Ouch.) but I hear that leisure time is a fun thing and we'd really like to try it out sometime.