Halloween with young children is so much fun! We went to Boo at the Zoo last Saturday and Bradley learned how important his trick or treat pumpkin is. It's your ticket to all the treats! We love candy yet our chapstick obsession continues and Bradley's favorite item he received was a couple little chapsticks from a local dentist office. What a kid.
There was a lot going on at the zoo and we were very interested in it all
Putting our candy into the pumpkin for the first time
Giant fez hat that Bradley made friends with
TUTU!!
Bradley's game face
High-fiving a penguin
Carousel!
I also learned that while adorable for photo ops, Eleanor's little red riding hood costume was not practical. And so we had our first fashion emergency at four months old! For Nathan's work trick or treating event this past Friday we had to make a quick trip to Target to get Eleanor a new costume. She is now Snow White and everyone is much happier.
Eek! Everyone loves a little princess!
Trick or treating at Nathan's work was a lot of fun, few children were as excited as Bradley (or as cute as Eleanor). Bradley would run up to bowls of candy and try to touch every piece. He would also pick out pieces one by one and line them up on desks. You'd finally get him to take one or two pieces and walk away and the second he would see a new bowl of candy he would drop whatever was in his hands and charge ahead to the new candy. And repeat. It was pretty entertaining to watch, I'm not sure what we're going to do when we're going around our neighborhood on Halloween night.
This was a backup costume that did not meet with Bradley approval. Kind mother that I am, I laughed and ran and grabbed my phone so I could take a picture of the crying child. And then I offered a bit of sympathy and took Elmo off. Poor Bradley, he has it rough sometimes.
One amazing office area had brought in a couple of toy horses, which brought GREAT delight and joy for our sweet Bradley. These same people gave Bradley an orange which he called his ball and tried to throw around the hallways. They thought Bradley was pretty great.
Eleanor had a pretty good time trick or treating too, she's getting so aware of what is going on and is more and more fun to be around these days. She's chatty, and smiley, and sleeps like a champ, what more could you ask of a sweet little girl?
At Costco. Bradley is making a face while trying to cram food in his mouth as quickly as possible but I'm using this picture anyway because Eleanor is so cute!!
She's getting so big and strong and can play in her exersaucer and jumperoo now!
She loves it!
Examining the jumperoo
Bradley thinks that it's pretty cool that she plays with real toys now
Bradley sharing with Eleanor is an experience to be sure. He is so crazy about her but he also really really wants whatever toy Mommy is making a big deal about in front of the baby. So generally he cries until I finally let him have his turn with the toy and then he immediately tries to give it back to Eleanor. This consists of shoving the toy in her face which isn't great, but the spirit of sharing is there so I'll take it.
The other day I left Eleanor on her quilt for a minute while I ran into the kitchen and I came back to this sweet scene:
It seemed so sweet ... until I realized Bradley was stealing her toy away and making her cry. Oh well. We can't all be perfect at sharing instantly.
And I'm pretty sure this face is going to get whatever she wants 99% of the time. Perhaps it's okay that toys get snatched away from her here and there.
As Eleanor has gotten bigger car trips and stroller rides have gotten a lot easier and more enjoyable as well.
Toy for Eleanor!
Sitting up so big. Eleanor loves the cozy outfit her Auntie Laura got her!
We've also upgraded Eleanor's bath time to a comfier infant tub thing for her. She loves it!
Bradley is all for anything that allows him to have greater access to play time with baby sister
Bradley bum!
Bath time is so much fun now for all involved
Nathan is loving having a bit more time to relax now that we're finishing up with odds and ends of the move. This means cuddles with Eleanor!
Cuddles with Eleanor and Layla. Nathan's kitty does not like to miss a good cuddle opportunity.
There is a baby under all that pink blanket.
And if Nathan has been getting good Eleanor time I've been getting some pretty great Bradley time.
Actual cuddles from the boy who never slows down! He was humming a tired song to himself while I was holding him. Love this kid.
The video below was taken on a day when Bradley refused to take a nap at all. It was right before bedtime and he was tired and anything would have been funny but I like to think this would have been fun times for our little guy regardless. Please note how I'm still smiling and loving on the child who is trying to drive me insane by refusing naps. Yes, I am a saint. And Bradley is really cute and it's really hard to stay annoyed at someone so adorable.
Things in general are go go go with Bradley these days, which is right up my alley. We have so much fun together. He's all over the place at the park and is constantly trying to figure out new ways to climb up dangerous looking ladder contraptions.
Fortunately he doesn't quite have it figured out yet
Bradley was delighted to come outside and help us rake today.
The fun slowed down when Bradley began to suspect that the "special rake" that we got for him was much less effective than the original. Bradley came inside soon after this photo was taken. But not before trying to make a break for the park and having to be hauled back crying. Sometimes it's not as convenient to have a park entrance one house away.
Wait .. is this a mop? Where's the park?
But it's important that we channel his energy for good because otherwise it's aimed at getting packs of diapers down the stairs. I'm not kidding when I say that he's a bit obsessed with this at the moment.
I keep the diapers out in Eleanor's room and Bradley will run into her room whenever the door is open in search of the diapers. We could hide them but come on, what little boy doesn't want to get to throw things down flights of stairs? And better diapers than boots from my closet. That has been tried and was sadly stopped instantly. Fun with Mommy has silly limits sometimes.
However, I DID teach him to fist bump this last week so I think I come out even. He's adorable, I say fist bump and then he says "bup!" back to me while he hits his fist against mine. He's a little parrot, talking with him is getting more and more fun!
We also went and had Eleanor's 4 month check up and Bradley 18 month check up this last week.
Eleanor is 25.25 inches long (86th percentile) and 15lbs 3oz (83rd percentile)
Bradley is 34 inches tall (87th percentile) and 30lbs 15oz (94th percentile)
Big kids! I love it! The shots were a bit sad for Eleanor but Nathan got to cuddle her up and sing her to sleep when he got home from work. She's so lucky to have such a wonderful daddy! Granted, he did sing Bon Jovi and Red Hot Chili Peppers songs to her, but Row Row Row Your Boat is about 30 seconds long so we're giving Daddy a break on this one.
Hello fall! We had a fun time at the pumpkin patch!
Bradley helps select the best pumpkin of them all
Bradley and Daddy are both in flannel. Hurray!
And Eleanor is a little love. Can't give this girl enough snuggles!
And Grandma Colleen and Kerry came to visit. Bradley loves the oversized Disney books that Colleen brought last time and demanded that she read one to him. He's lucky his grandma would happily cater to his every whim.
We're settling in and doing well at the new house but there have been a few hiccups along the way. Bradley still isn't taking great naps and is generally a sad, needy mess come bedtime. So the other night when he was flipping out while I was holding him I decided to put him down so I could help Nathan deal with Eleanor poopy diaper that had soaked through her little pants. I put him down ... and he flung himself backward in despair. Directly into the side of Eleanor's crib. Almost instantly I could see a bruise forming and we had to hold down the crying child to ice his forehead. He's fine and the bruise is healing but it was all rather horrible.
He had just started putting puzzle pieces back in puzzles and I'm happy to report that he still is able to do so. So no permanent damage!
And here's a video of him being ridiculously happy bouncing on Nathan. All is not sorrow at the Scott house!
Eleanor has been having a far easier time of it than Bradley lately. She sleeps like a champ and is generally a pretty happy girl throughout the day. Although sometimes she gets bored with me when she's awake during Bradley's nap time. She is fascinated by Bradley.
It's mutual.
She is going to be four months old in just four days and already she is trying to push with her legs when she's on her tummy.
We have to get her a new bathtub for her because of this. Eleanor doesn't understand why you would want to sit still and not push out of your tub, bath time is so much fun!
And she wants to chat with us quite a bit, once she gets going there is a LOT that needs to be said.
We have conversations. I ask her, "Do you need more kisses?" and I'm quite sure she always says, "Yes please, Mommy! Nothing would please me more!"
She loves her daddy so much and also appreciates his kisses
Sitting in the bumbo chair for the first time! Fun fact: by the time I tried to put Bradley in this chair, his chunky little legs were too fat to fit in it. True story.
Eleanor really likes it when I sing to her and bounce her on my legs but it's difficult at times because I am unable to do this around Bradley without him running over excited to be included in whatever fun thing we must be doing. So we've started singing "The Grand Old Duke of York" while bouncing Eleanor up and down on Bradley's tummy while he's lying down. He thinks this is all rather hilarious.
Then he thought it would be fun to try sitting on Eleanor. After this picture was taken we instituted a "no sitting on the baby" policy. This policy does not go unchallenged.
I've been going to more church functions which means more time away from Mommy and in the church nursery for Bradley. It's always interesting to hear reports back on his behavior when I pick him up. "He was SO sweet and gentle with the baby ... and the complete opposite with all the other children. He just sees what he wants and takes it!" I tried to get him moved up with the older kids so he's not in the position of being the bully of the nursery but apparently that's not allowed.We're working on our sharing. He still will howl when I won't let him take a toy away from Eleanor but then when it's his turn with the toy all he wants to do is shove it back in Eleanor's face so she can play with it again. Cute boy.
As much as I can I try to take Bradley and Eleanor to parks. Partly because it's so convenient at our new wonderful house!! And partly because Bradley can bash and run and throw things to his heart's delight.
Giant sticks to play with!
Hauling himself up the play tower. Sheer force of will gets him up.
And because I get to dress up Eleanor like this when it's even a little chilly. Yay!!
Here we are walking back from an evening park trip the other day. I wanted to get a video of Bradley running but instead I got a video of Bradley really wanting to be held by Mommy. Love!
I love these little munchkins, and the more I meet other moms and hear about how it went with them when they had their second child the more I realize how fortunate we are to have a snuggle wuggle Bradley who wants to cuddle his sister more than anything.
Super sleepy Bradley cuddles
Bradley has been fairly fussy when he wakes up these days
and both Nathan and I independently started using Eleanor to cheer him
up at these times.
Eleanor has literally been awake for about thirty seconds here
His main thing seems to be grabbing onto Eleanor's hands. It's a really good thing she doesn't mind.
In fact, generally she loves the attention!
But it can get to be just a bit too much for one little girl to handle sometimes.
But all in all, Eleanor eats up the loves. Who wouldn't love the sweet Bradley boy?
We also put Eleanor in a grocery cart for the first time! We're a bit early on this and she requires a little help staying up but it's super cute and Bradley loves it (of course).
Bradley checking on Eleanor's head. Yep, it's good.
And then at Target the other day Eleanor let me know in no uncertain terms that the baby carrier was stupid and she didn't wish to be in it anymore. So I tried this out. Note Bradley helping hold onto Eleanor. Yes, stuff like this makes me melt inside.
Nathan and I were having a conversation about love languages today and it seems like physical touch is the love language that reigns triumphant around the Scott household. We all kind of pile up into cuddly messes together.
This is Nathan's idea of heaven.
One sad thing about it being fall now is that I get a lot less baby skin. As much as I love girl clothes I love naked baby even more.
But Eleanor is cute no matter what, even if she doesn't get to be a little nudist.
And she got to wear her first tiara the other day! She was not impressed but I'm firmly convinced that's only because she hasn't had enough opportunities to learn to love it!
And finally: Bradley likes to dance now. To Will Smith. You're welcome world.
Highlight of video in addition to the dancing: Bradley kissing Eleanor and managing to kick her in the face immediately afterward. And she barely flinches.
We survived the big move! Barely. I kept asking Nathan during the move, "When are we going to move with small children again?" and he would say back to me, "NEVER". I don't know how my parents did this time and time again while we were growing up. Doing it once about killed both me and Nathan.
In front of new house!
Close up. Nathan thinks it's awesome that this is our best of the family photos. I'm going to have to watch him if I don't want to have an upside down child in every family picture from now on.
Both kids did really well on moving day, although Bradley did manage to fall into the coffee table. The glass top had been removed and he was doing his normal balancing thing leaning against the top and topped right in. Poor child. He didn't get hurt, he was just surprised and a little upset. And it doesn't help to have a mommy that you know is laughing at you just a little bit as she picks you up, even though she is honestly sympathetic at the same time. This kid gets into everything and has no sense of self preservation, I'm continuously scooping him up from new things he's managed to get into.
Doors are next. He can already pull them shut behind them, he just can't open them yet. We are so afraid of when he can open the doors on his own.
Things are a lot better now that Bradley will sleep in his crib again, which he refused to do for about the first five days after we moved. I will never understand people who want to have their children sleep in their bed with them. We have a king size bed and it felt crowded with Bradley in the middle. It also felt very social. One fun night after Nathan had brought him in with us I woke to someone poking my nose and my mouth and eyes. It wasn't Nathan! Bradley was so delighted to be in bed with us and thought it would be a fun time to play games with fun Mommy. Sadly, Mommy did not agree.
Eleanor had one night where she wouldn't go back to sleep either, she just wants to be held in my arms and smile and coo at me. It makes it very difficult to be annoyed with her even at 4am. We had a couple long nights and Nathan and I had to recite our parenting mantra many many times "they're lucky they are so darn cute".
Photo showcasing Eleanor's fatty legs. I live for fatty baby legs.
We have things sorted out now and it's much happier for all involved. I have a lot more energy during the day now which is very good, as I had been pretending not to notice things like Bradley crawling under the kitchen table to eat leftover breakfast Cheerios while I nursed Eleanor on the couch. Now that is a no no once more.
Bradley was quite joyful when he first saw Grandpa. Lots of love!
My dad came out to help with the move and I don't know how we could have done it without him. He helped watch Bradley (no small task) and assisted with packing and moving as well. Although on his first day here Bradley cried whenever Grandpa Steve put him down to help pack. We're pretty sure Grandpa arranged this with Bradley beforehand.
Eleanor was very happy to spend time with Grandpa too
Twice the grandchildren, twice the fun!
And in his spare time he made his granddaughter giggle in the bathtub.
Here's a longer video where I'm making Eleanor laugh by scaring her and Bradley is chewing on bath toys in an adorable manner. Warning: there is a bit of baby nudity. But it's so cute I don't care, it doesn't count when they're this little.
We loved having Grandpa here. Can't wait until he and Grandma Kathy come back at Christmas!
To those who care, the cats did just fine with the move and are happy to reclaim familiar cozy sleeping spots. Grandma Colleen, I promise Bradley likes this chair too ... but so does Sookie. Quite a bit.
Meg loves our couch. I love our view of the park!
We discovered that there's a nice botanical garden near our new house and Bradley and I went there with a little friend of his the other day. There's a cool kiddie play area and a model train area with pretty plants that we like, besides that Bradley and I are united in a belief that a walk in the park would be as nice and a bit more convenient. But it did make for some nice photo ops!
Bradley on a bridge
Bradley running with a tractor through a cute little shrubbery overhang thing. (Showing the extent of how much I know/care about the pretty plants at the place)
Bradley and Eleanor continue to dote upon one another. Bradley likes to roll over on top of Eleanor now when I lay her down on a blanket and she just laughs and smiles and coos at him.
Bradley also discovered the other day that if he puts him arm or hand right up against Eleanor's mouth she sucks on it a little. There was great delight and joy at this discovery and he stuck his dirty little fingers into her mouth repeatedly and cackled. His grubby little hands are probably the dirtiest things in the whole house. This poor little girl, it's amazing she's only gotten one mild cold so far. She's been exposed to everything via Bradley.
But there is great love and that is the main thing a parent could want and hope for between their children. Bradley did have a 10 minute meltdown the other day when I wouldn't let him take a toy away from Eleanor but when I finally let him have a turn with the toy all he wanted to do was to bring it to Eleanor. Very sweet, even though he was shoving it against her face. Note to self: Eleanor only gets soft toys for a while.
And here is a sneak peak of Eleanor's Halloween costume. It arrived in the mail the other day and tried it on immediately over her outfit she was already wearing. She's little red riding hood ... with a tutu. If I have my way every Halloween outfit of hers will be similarly themed. I'm so excited!!
