September 30

Today was supposed to be another boring day, but this morning I got a phone call: Chris' mom and sister, Sally, were coming out for a visit! The kids and I scrambled to get the house in shape, then enjoyed a fun morning with Grandmother and Sally. Caleb was so delighted to get to play with them - he showed off all of his tricks.

Proud Grandmother with her two babies. (They were all a little wiggly, so it was hard to get a good picture!)

Caleb was too busy talking to/smiling at Grandmother to be bothered with a photo.

While Daisy napped, Caleb enjoyed being the center of attention. Seriously.

He was so happy to be sandwiched between Grandmother and Sally!

He's either lovingly brushing the hair back from Sally's cheek, or going after her earring.

Yep. It was the earring.

What a fun morning! Then Daisy punished me all afternoon by taking crummy naps. Her midday nap is usually the longest, lasting 3-4 hours. Today, I spent over an hour getting her to sleep, and then she slept for 45 minutes. I was peeved. She's been weird lately: gassy, uncomfortable, fussier than normal... I hope nothing is wrong. I decided that the sleep issue is due to the fact that she no longer wants to be swaddled when she sleeps.

 (I know. She's nearly five months old. She can roll both ways. She should have been unswaddled a long time ago. But when swaddling = sweet sleep, you cling to it as long as you can! Am I right?)

So during dinner, she napped unswaddled for the first time. And as I type this, she is upstairs, sleeping unswaddled. Maybe this transition will be easy, and not the nightmare I've been dreading? A girl can hope.



September 29

I think we have all officially recovered from our super-late night last night. Caleb was kind enough to sleep in this morning; Daisy, not so much. But that's ok. It was a beautiful, balmy morning, so we seized the opportunity to wear shorts and sundresses one last time.

Clearly, Daisy was the one wearing the sundress.

She loved being outside and watching her brother play!

I'm not sure why I'm sharing this photo; maybe because it makes me laugh, or maybe because I'm just keeping it real. I got worried that Daisy would get chilly in the sundress, so I topped it with a cardigan and some socks. I think the whole outfit meshes nicely, don't you? And of course, Daisy can't wear a dress without chewing on the skirt and getting it all slobbery. Then there's the tag of her cloth diaper peeking out from behind the bloomers. What a mess! At least she's cute.

After naptime, Caleb and I made an apple pie. Forgive the dark, grainy photos? I had the wrong lens on, and was too lazy to fix it.

After we finished rolling out the crusts, I wiped the counters while Caleb stood on his chair and waited for the next step. But he wasn't content to wait. Instead, he grabbed a nearby wash cloth and started wiping, too. I didn't even have to say a word. What a good boy!

This is what one satisfied pie-maker looks like. He was even happier a few hours later, when he ate the pie. Yum.



September 28

I know, I know; this post is a day late. Don't worry - everything is fine! We were just out late last night, and I was too tired to throw together a post. Please accept a ridiculous amount of photos as an apology?

After I ran five miles this morning, Caleb and I whipped up a batch of Oatmeal Waffles. With whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose, this is our go-to waffle recipe. It makes a really hearty waffle, and I don't think it even needs syrup.

(And yes, I know: running five miles before breakfast, oatmeal waffles from scratch... I am superwoman. Just don't look at the cleanliness of my floors. Or my bathrooms.)

Chris surprised me with these the other day. Love them! They make mornings a little bit easier.

She looks happy, but don't let her fool you. This girl was a terrible napper today!

Then, busy, busy, busy. Chris ended up meeting us for dinner at Lion's Choice. Daisy was finally napping in her car seat, though, and I wasn't about to risk waking her by un-latching it and bringing it inside. So the boys went in and ate, while I stayed in the car and drove through the drive through. Seriously.

Chris rushed to feed himself, but Caleb was poking along, eating his meal like a sleepy turtle. We were running late to our evening's event, so Chris decided to let Caleb finish eating in the car. They got outside, though, and I suggested that Caleb might  not eat if left to his own devices in the back seat. So instead, Caleb finished his meal... 

On the car. Beause, why not? He was pretty happy with this turn of events, and gobbled up his roast beef sandwich.

Then, the evening's entertainment: IWU vs. WashU. Chris' cousin Molly is a forward (and a really good one!) for the Titans, so we were rooting for IWU.

In addition to watching an action-packed soccer game, Daisy got to meet her Great-Grandad and BG (Bonus Grandma) for the first time.

Caleb was focused on the game. He really liked watching the girls play soccer!

"YAY!"

GREAT Aunt Maggie (Molly is her daughter) even thought to bring these fantastic jingle bells for the kiddos to shake when IWU scored. Sadly, we missed their one goal, but Caleb found a few opportunities to shake his bells.

Daisy was very interested in the bells,

but she also took time to focus on the soccer game. (Maggie is a master mulit-tasker; she was able to pay close attention to the game and still snuggle babies and talk to family and friends. I don't know how she does it!)

Later, Caleb found a football. Suddenly, he was no longer interested in the game.

We also got to visit with Miss Caroline, Chris' cousin who was born on Caleb's birthday this year. (One of the beauties of big Catholic families is that 30-year-old Chris can have a not-quite-three-month-old cousin.)

I looked over later in the game, and saw Caleb being snuggled by Great Grandad. Though Caleb's expression is weird in this photo, he was actually really happy.

And more of darling Caroline. I can't even imagine what it's like to have such an adorably chunky little girl! Maybe our next one will have chubby little cheeks like that.

September 27

Today was just another normal day for us.

It was cool and windy this morning. While Daisy slept in, Caleb played on the patio. I sat on the patio steps, drank my coffee, and watched my boy run. I heard kids shouting as they waited for the schoolbus, and I was so thankful that I'm able to be home to enjoy simple little moments like that.

I have no explanation for his hair, though, except that there is probably some food in it, and he needs a haircut. I'm waiting for a day when I feel courageous to tackle that one.

When Daisy woke up, she happily played with her playgym. She just discovered that polka-dotted ball yesterday, and she LOVES it!

Here's Caleb playing with the same playgym, at roughly the same age:

http://onecalebaday.blogspot.com/2009/11/november-20.html

I hate to say it, but I think skinny Miss Daisy is quite a bit cuter than chunky Mr. Caleb was.

Daisy likes that idea. She likes to think that she's my favorite.

I kind of love her a lot.

Except she doesn't do yard work. So I guess they're even.



September 26

You know, I don't even plan it, but every Monday somehow becomes Do-Nothing Monday! Today we did... nothing. Daisy slept in until 8:15, we played in the basement, I organized... just a bunch of nothing.

The highlight of the day was snacktime on the patio.

Caleb's mish-mashed outfit indicates what the weather was like today: weird. He started out with a t-shirt and pants, but then we added the BabyLegs on his arms because he was chilly, but went with flip-flops on his feet.

(Also, in this photo he is wearing Big Boy Underpants featuring Tow Mater. They lasted about 50 minutes before he had an accident. Guess he's not ready for that quite yet.)

Daisy was happy to lounge on her play mat and watch Caleb run up and down the hill.

There he goes!

(And it's craaaazy how much she looks like me as a baby!)

Happy baby + tights = way too many photos.

Chris and I have noticed the past few days that all we want to do is kiss Daisy. Seriously. A normal person, with plenty of other things to do, could easily lose thirty minutes just kissing this girl's cheeks. She's like the black hole of baby-nibbling; she sucks you right in!

But every moment we lose smooching her is totally worth it.



September 25

What a great weekend! We chose to skip church today, since the kids are still recovering from colds. I'd hate to be the family that causes all the other kids to get sick. So instead, we slept in, made pumpkin pancakes, played outside, went for runs, napped, put some chili in the crock pot, and headed out to the pumpkin farm. Do you remember our visit there last year? It's always so much fun.

Last year, Caleb loved the fire truck. This year, it was the tractors.

He's patting the tire. What a funny boy!

Aren't they cute?

Isn't the look on Daisy's face hilarious? It's so hard to get babies to smile when you want them to! But I love that Caleb is holding her hand, and I love his smile.

Isn't this the sweetest thing?

Caleb decided to let Daisy hold a pumpkin.

Plop!

Into her lap. I love how proud of himself he looks!

Daisy was reaching out to touch Caleb. She loves to touch his face, and especially loves to play with his hair. Most of the time, Caleb really likes this. Today, not so much. Can you see the worried expression on his face?

This kid is serious about his tractoring!

Then Caleb found a stick.

Then Caleb put the stick in Daisy's mouth.

Chris stood by and freaked out, while I took photos of the incident.

We're pretty great parents.

The end.



September 24

We packed a lot of activity into this day! Activities on our agenda included:

dentist for me

football game for Chris and the kids

naps

nine miles for me

five miles for Chris

lawn-mowing for Chris

Oktoberfest

dinner at Imo's

Sadly, I didn't get many pictures of the fun. Here's what I did get:

I ran my nine miles at Creve Coeur park, but Chris had to do his in the afternoon. We consolidated events by dropping him off five miles away from Oktoberfest and letting him run there. The kids and I drove, parked, and played until he arrived.

It worked pretty well. That's Caleb "flying" to Daddy, who is raising his arms in victory. It was pretty sweet, until Chris realized that Caleb wasn't running to him in excitement, he was running to the trailer. Talk about an ego-deflator.

Daisy was happy to roll around on the blanket. She was hungry the whole time we were out, but every time I tried to feed her, she got distracted and refused to eat. It was very frustrating for mama.

Caleb found a stick. It became his new favorite toy. He carried it around all over the park.

Ah, hitting a tree with a stick. What could be more fun?

Still happy.

Still hungry.

Still not eating.

(BTW, does a child really have to be dripping in pink for it to be a girl? You know me - I'm not a super-pink mama. Daisy has all of the colors of the rainbow in her wardrobe. Today, several different people called her a boy. I'm not sensitive or anything; I understand that they all look alike at this age. But she has some feminine touches going on in this outfit: pink belt, flower button, pink toes... really? A boy? Just because she's wearing black? A different day, someone called her a boy and I had to clarify that Daisy was a girl. She responded, "Oh, I just saw the yellow and assumed it was a boy."

Yellow?

Boy?

YELLOW?

*sigh*

End of rant. Thank you for bearing with me.)

Daisy knows she's a girl, and she doesn't have to be swathed entirely in pink to show it!

That's all I've got today, folks.