Every Day with Eli: August 2011

August 31

My children were funny today.

We went for a spectacularly sweaty run, and then Daisy promptly fell asleep. While she napped in her crib, I made a desperate attempt to buy myself five minutes to shower. I found a little step-stool, and placed it at the foot of my bed.

I lucked out, and it worked. Between the novelty of using a stool to climb up on the bed, and the toys I had placed on top of the bed, Caleb was fully engaged and didn't even notice the fact that I disappeared to bathe. In hindsight, I realize this probably wasn't the smartest option for unsupervised play, but Caleb is an abnormally cautious little boy, so I never have to fear random acts of foolishness on his part.

He was happy as a clam up on our bed.

BIIIG boy!

He found a little hair clip of Daisy's (she doesn't have quite enough hair to wear it yet), and alternated between wanting to wear it in his hair, and pretending it was a nail clipper and "clipping" my finger and toe nails.

Then this girl woke up, and snuggle time on the big bed began. Caleb even made up a little song; it went, "Sungle, sungle, sungle, sungle, sungle."

He's not quite a lyricist yet.

("Sungle" is how he says "snuggle")

Then he smothered his sister in kisses.

and attempted to blind himself with the book light I use for middle-of-the-night feedings.

Typing this post has exhausted me - all of these photos were taken within a 15-minute period. Caleb is all action, all the time!

August 30

Another beautiful day.

After breakfast, Caleb wanted desperately to play outside. I wasn't quite ready to go out, so I let him play on the patio by himself. Maybe fifteen minutes later, figuring he would be about ready for a snack, I placed a cup of Cheerios and some water on the steps. Then I savored a moment to myself, and indulged in a little Facebook time.

I'm not sure if it was the snack, or the sound of this video by Tripping Lily

wafting out the screen door, but a few minutes later, I looked down to see this:

Caleb had snuck up on me, and was sitting on the top step, quietly eating his snack and listening to the music. He stayed there until the song was over, then cried, "Listen to it a-gain! Listen to it a-gain!"

I guess he's a Tripping Lily fan, too. (Thanks for introducing us to such a fun band, Amber!)

When Daisy woke up from her morning nap, we went on a run. The kiddos were clearly thrilled to be off on a three-miler. Or not.

(Side note: running with the kids in the stroller is hard. I have no idea how I would do it if I didn't have a stroller as fantastic as my BOB. Thanks so much to my friends and family who made my BOB dreams a reality!)

Later, Daisy helped me make dinner.

"Wait, I have to help? Can't I just sit here and look cute?"

"See? I can be cute."

And then a big pirate grin when I told her that she didn't really have to help with dinner.

Maybe she should learn to walk first.

August 29

Another do-nothing Monday.

It was a great morning: I'm pretty sure Daisy slept through the night (either that, or I don't remember feeding her. Either way, a win for me!), both kiddos slept in until 6:45 (yes. 6:45 is sleeping in.), I woke to find a cup of Hazelnut half caf waiting for me and laundry going in the washing machine, and it was beautiful weather. If only all mornings were like this!

We took our sunny dispositions out to the patio for some family fun time.

Caleb stood 18 inches from his bubble machine and let the bubbles blast him in the face.

This kid knows how to have a good time.

Daisy demonstrated her tummy time prowess.

(Side note: Caleb now calls it "tummy time". I'm not sure why, but there's something inherently funny about a two-year-old using the phrase "tummy time". As in, "She's doing tummy time, Mommy!" Am I wrong?)

Pre-babies, and even pre-Daisy, I never really thought babies could have personalities. I mean, by the time they're six months old, yeah. They have personalities then. But little bitty babies? I always thought they were just snuggly little blobs.

And then came Daisy, with her trademark grin.

"Arr, matey! I'm so happy, I'll eat you up!"

And another, slightly less pirate-y version of the same grin.

I'm pretty sure Daisy can't smile without opening her mouth up as if to gobble you up. It's kind of funny, until you read World War Z. Then you start worrying that she's some sort of zombie baby, about to feast on your brains. Or am I projecting here?

This afternoon, Jenny came out to visit. Caleb quickly lured her outside, and introduced her to one of his favorite outdoor pastimes:

Running down the hill.

Don't worry. He was fine.

Also, guess which big boy pee-peed on the potty for the first time tonight?

No, not Chris.

Caleb!

Maybe I'll have him potty trained before he hits puberty, after all!

August 28

It was a beautiful day today, so we siezed the opportunity to visit our neighborhood pool one more time before it closes for the season. (I know. Is it really that late? Is Labor Day really next weekend? Where did the summer go? On the other hand, thank God this blasted heat will start tapering off soon!)

Caleb was excited to watch some boys play football in the field next to the pool.

Since Daisy is too young for sunscreen, this is how we do the pool:

Water Wrap with built in SPF

Sun hat

Lots of snuggles

Daisy and I both really enjoy pool visits with her in the wrap, but I'm looking forward to being able to let her float and splash in the water next summer. (She'll be a year old then! Oh my goodness! That's insane!)

By the time adult swim rolled around (it's a 10-minute break at the end of each hour when no guards are on duty, so kids have to get out of the pool), some gloomy clouds had rolled around too, and it got a little chilly. Caleb reeeaaalllly wanted to get back in the water, but he was patient.

The reward for his patience?

Going down the slide with Daddy!

The boys also did some splashing and swimming.

(Amber: How do I get pictures of my kids at a public pool? Easy. It's a 1:1 ratio, and the child I'm responsible for is immobile and strapped to my chest. Talk to me again a few summers from now when I have more kids who are all mobile. If I'm able to talk at all, that is. By then I may be too frazzled and harried to string a coherent sentence together.)

Finally it was time to go home for dinner. Since I'm a great mom, I neglected to bring any dry clothes for Caleb. I did, however, remember to bring a dry diaper, but it didn't do much to stop Caleb's teeth from chattering. (Mom of the Year.) Chris put his shirt on Caleb, but Caleb hated that idea.

In the end, this is how my boys left the pool. And Caleb survived.

The end.

August 27

Do you remember last April, when I ran a half marathon?

I haven't run a race since then.

Until today. And what a day it was.

It was a beautiful morning for a race.

Daisy chilled in the BOB while Caleb and Chris played on the beach of Creve Coeur Lake.

One of the reasons we chose to run this race?

Fredbird.

Ryan, Max, and Emily came out to cheer me on as I ran. Or maybe they just came to see Fredbird...

Fredbird even made time to visit with all of our babies!

(That's Max, then Caleb, then Daisy. It was hard for Chris to get a good picture because the kids were all crowding Fredbird. I couldn't push the kids out of the way because I was busy running.)

Apparently I left a little too much energy out on the course - at the finish line, I had enough energy to leap into the air and high-five Fredbird. (No, I'm not kidding. Yes, I know I'm ridiculous.)

First post-Daisy race: done.

And done faster than I anticipated - even with an awkward bathroom break, I still averaged a 10:40 pace. (I know. I'm slow. But I'm not going to begrudge my post-baby body anything. I'm proud of it for accomplishing what it has accomplished, and I will work to accomplish even more.)

Then, the best part:

the kids' 1/4 mile fun run

Also known as "Caleb's first race".

The big kids took off with a vengeance!

Look! Our friends Catherine (in the yellow) and Mary (in the pink)!

I'm pretty sure I heard their mom, Amber (who ran the big race, too, and blew my pace to smithereens. Way to go, Amber!), verify to Catherine that she was the fastest four-year-old girl out there.

And waaaayy in the back... Caleb!

He needed a little bit of coaxing and instruction at first.

But once he figured out the "race" part, he was so excited and proud to be running! He actually ran right past the finish line, and kept on running!

I got him to stop running and turn around by telling him that Fredbird had a medal for him. He waited patiently in line amongst the crush of other children.

He was so proud when he got his medal from Fredbird!

He ran to show Daddy his prize.

Max and Ryan were excellent fans! I could tell that Max was itching to burst out of his stroller and run his own race.

And after all of the kids were gone, Caleb said, "Want to run some more!" and took off on the path.

After we got home, cleaned up, ate lunch, and put Caleb down for a nap, Daisy and I had some quality time.

This photo has officially convinced me - Daisy looks just like I did as a baby! People always ask us who she looks like, and I've never had an answer until now. It's me!

Only she's way cuter than I ever was.

And she has her Daddy's monkey toes.

(That crab is her favorite toy right now. When she sees it coming, she smiles and kicks her legs in excitement!)

And now I'm going to bed. What a long day it's been!

August 26

Thank you for joining me for today's edition of "Poorly Lit Photos with Carrie"!

I confess: I didn't take any pictures until bedtime.

And the pictures I did take just aren't that good.

But today, I did:

sort through all of Daisy's 0-3 month clothes and begin putting them away

play outside with Caleb

change the sheets

do five loads of laundry

wash all of Daisy's 3-6 month clothes

put away all of our homebirth supplies (Yes, I know she's nearly four months old. Don't say a word.)

add to my (massive) Goodwill pile

create a meal plan for the week

make my grocery list

go grocery shopping at Aldi, Shop N Save, and Target

make dinner

put away all of the groceries

have a glass of wine and beg my husband to get me some DQ already!

So will you forgive these crummy photos?

Chris made time to do some strength training after dinner. Caleb was glad to help out.

Clearly she's not getting enough to eat; she had to resort to cannibalism.

"What do you mean, it's not ok to eat other babies?"

Goodnight. Better photos tomorrow?

August 25

1. Caleb is obsessed with the TV now.

He's only been allowed to watch TV since he turned two (not quite two months ago), and he normally watches about thirty minutes of TV each day (some days he might watch up to forty five minutes...).But it's gotten to the point that all he does now is whine to watch TV or watch a music video on YouTube. Today he started in with the whining as soon as we went downstairs this morning. I realized that it's becoming an unhealthy fixation, so I put my foot down. No more TV or computer until I say so.

This may be harder for me than it is for him. We started the whole TV thing to distract him while I pump each morning, and it's been really useful to buy me a few minutes to put Daisy down for a nap. But I don't want my kiddo to be a crazed TV-head, so I'll just have to be resourceful and find other ways to entertain him quietly. I'll keep you updated about how the battle goes.

2. I am home alone. Chris is off at a Cardinals game with work, so I did all day, dinner, and bedtime all by myself tonight. I realize that for many parents, that's status quo, but for me it's a big deal. Chris always entertains the kids while I make dinner, and does bathtime and bedtime. Tonight was the first time I've ever had to do that with two kiddos. And you know what? I rocked it. Both babies were asleep before 8:00, and I'm still sane. Hooray!

3. To maintain my sanity today, we had to visit my mom this afternoon. We needed a distractor, and she's really good at that.