And a few days ago she told Bradley "If you don't listen to my words you won't go to heaven." This was right after we got home from the church Christmas program. Don't mess with Eleanor, she doesn't pull any punches.
I took Eleanor shoe shopping with me a couple weeks ago and taking the shoe obsessed girl into DSW may have been an error.
I didn't put any of these shoes on for her. Eleanor requires no assistance when it comes to high fashion.
She found a new pink wallet to love as well. DSW really has everything.
Eleanor loves to steal my shoes and tried to make me play prince and princess with her when she found my tan ankle boots. Guess who was supposed to be the prince (not Eleanor).
It is also amazing to play a game of Jenga with her. She ended up knocking the tower with her head on this particular game. Not on purpose.
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| Nathan attempting to make his move with a little girl draped all over him |
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| Obviously the best manner in which to play Jenga |
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| At a classmate's birthday party at the gym |
We had a lovely Thanksgiving with Colleen and Kerry, we're so grateful they made the drive down to see us. I managed to cook a turkey and at least Patrick was very appreciative of my efforts.
Cozy couch time with grandparents is the best
And a trip to the Ferris Wheel at Scheel's! That's all it takes for a trip to be a success.
After they headed home we started in on decorating for Christmas. Bradley and Eleanor and our sweet neighbor girl put all the ornaments on the tree so they all started out on the bottom half.
And then ball obsessed Patrick struck again and again and our tree now looks like this:
We went on the Luminary Walk at the Arboretum on Thanksgiving weekend and had a blast. We were lucky and the day we went had a high of 60 degrees so we didn't freeze to death while out on our walk. Hurray for an incredibly mild fall!
It's so pretty and fun at the Arboretum. We had a pretty excellent time.
And the kids even got to see Santa! With little to no wait! This is the best Santa ever, Eleanor ran ahead of another family and hopped on his lap (Nathan and I were occupied with the boys at the time). Bradley was NOT okay with Santa last year but was excited to chatter away about Christmas presents. And even toddler Patrick was okay with the rather intimidating stranger. Anything the big kids do he wants to do, he bustled his way up to get to sit by Santa and looked very pleased with himself.
And then they called Patrick back for bonus time with Santa. We LOVE this Santa.
Patrick is a giant, it turns out. I took him for his 18 month checkup and he's off the charts at just shy of 3 ft tall. But he's only at the 98% for weight at 31 lbs, does this mean he's skinny?
Patrick is such a little goof these days. He had been waking up in the night because of teething so Nathan and I decided to put a twin bed in his room that he'll transition into eventually but that parents can use for better sleeping conditions while stuck in a room with a sad toddler in the nighttime. However, he was having a tough time going down for a nap one day so I tried to bring Eleanor in with me to cuddle and sleep on the bed while Patrick went to sleep in the crib. It may have been a bit too exciting for all involved.
I had to boot Eleanor out of the room (mid lullaby, she couldn't believe the negative turn of events), and then Patrick thought it was his turn to sleep in the cool bed. So I thought I'd give it a go. It did not go so well.
Naps did not happen on this day and I ended up just letting Patrick throw stickers all of the kitchen floor because it entertained him for five minutes. Is it clear that I have thrown in the towel on most parenting battles?
Ignore the naughty three year old girl jumping back and forth from the couch and ottoman in the video below and focus on the cute baby trying to figure out the microphone so he can sing "Let it Go"
Patrick is lucky that his brother is so nice to him.
I'm not saying that Bradley is the world's biggest sweetheart, but it says something that our biggest problem with him around his younger siblings is to get him to hug them a little gentler and less frequently. "Hug and release!" is a frequent saying around these parts.
Patrick can play catch like a champ by the way
Bradley is willing to tolerate most things if it means his little brother is paying attention to him.
Patrick may be a bit enamored with his wonderful big brother and will follow him around and copy everything he does. We're still working on holding books right side up.
The best reading location is obviously on your big brother's back.
Eleanor is fortunate enough to be the recipient of a fair number of cuddles herself. She wanted to lay her head on Patrick at Costco the other day and he could not contain his delight at unexpected sister affection.
Sometimes Patrick cuddles err on the side of intrusive, especially when big kids are trying to watch shows. They really are remarkably patient with the little stinker.
We did discover that little Patrick will deign to sit still and watch a show for as long as he has a bowl of popcorn to munch on. In the picture below he ate two full bowls and then got down and demanded I play basketball with him.
I'm really enjoying this kids these days. They're all at pretty fun stages.
FYI, the best way to get benevolent looks of love from your children is to pile them all on an office chair and spin them around wildly.
Sweet Bradley had a bit of an existential crisis the other day when he started asking about going to heaven and was horrified to discover that he didn't get to take his body with him, not even his head. To be fair, I can see how that would be tough news to take at first go.
Poor little guy.
However he recovered quickly enough when he discovered that he had a hangnail. I was a bit frustrated with him for stomping around and roaring one day during the other kids' naptime until he explained he had a hangnail so he had to be a robo monster. Duh, Mommy. It's hard to argue with such sound logic.
Bradley with his best sleeping buddy, Eleanor. Her sleep poses are truly impressive, no wonder she's been complaining of a sore neck on a more regular basis (although she may just be saying that in order to be able to score Daddy's cool neck pillow).
Cute pics of adorable Patrick boy.
Daddy is at an all time high of popularity with the children, especially with Patrick who says "Daddy Daddy Daddy" nonstop when Nathan gets home from work and generally meets him at the door to the garage, bouncing up and down in excitement.
The Umizoomi seek and find book is a favorite. Good luck reading it to Patrick. The only page that matters is the page with all the balls on it.
And we discovered that the YouTube hit "What Does the Fox Say" exists in book form.
We all like the weekends because of all the bonus Daddy time we get.
Bradley at 4.5 years old is pretty much the best little guy to hang out with. Here he is posing with the "one" toy he wanted from our trip to Scheel's.
And he is always looking for an opportunity to be a cute little stinker.
Bradley has the best jokes.
Have I mentioned how fun it is to have a little girl? She wouldn't wear this fancy Mini Boden dress until I called it her Runaway Bunny dress and now she asks to wear it every time she wants to curry favor with Mommy.
Eleanor raided my closet and found my wedding shoes the other day so I let her play with my veil as well. She was pleased to say the least.
Wish me luck this winter, hanging off the counter and wearing little to no clothes seems to be Patrick's favorite pastime.
He is quite adamant now in his hatred of all coats, which is a bit of an issue for a Midwest winter. I'm at the gym cafe right now typing this up and it's snowing outside. Guess which child still refused to put on his coat on the way in? I had to hold it over his back while he snuggled into me. Sighhhhhhh.
He used to be okay with the coat when it was novelty item. Below are some pics of the crew hanging out while Bradley was at speech therapy. Notice which child was allowed to ditch her shoes and climb on a heater in order to stack blocks? YOU try arguing with a three year old about these things.
Patrick now yells in order to get attention and sadly for Nathan I find it hilarious.
Our house may not be known as the "quiet" house.
Like, seriously.
And here is Patrick with his friend Mabel at a birthday party. It's so fun now that he actually has little friends he gets excited about seeing. Although he and his buddy Marcus did start a yelling battle during the prayer prior to the Christmas Program at church ... friendship has its costs for the parents at times.
And I still need to download all the Christmas Program photos and video but here is a sneak peak of the children singing Christmas carols. Eleanor has the best lyrics.
These cute kids. It's just so fun watching them be such little buddies.
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