July 27

Today is Chris' 34th birthday, and I feel more than a little bit bad about how low-key our celebration was. He insists, however, that he is happy with a quiet little day, so I am trying to ignore the guilt I feel.

Since he leaves for Wisconsin in less than a week (!), taking the day off to celebrate was not an option. There's too much work for him to do! Instead, we went out to breakfast as a family. Normally when we go out to eat, I wear Eli. No infant car seat = no other place to put the baby. But now he is so curious and grabby that wearing him while drinking coffee is a dangerous idea. So today, Eli sat in a high chair for the first time!

He's definitely still a bit wobbly, and high chair seat belts just aren't enough to stabilize a little guy like Eli, so I used my ring sling to provide a bit more support for him.

He loved it! He was able to see everything, and I was able to drink my coffee in peace. Win/win!

After breakfast, we said goodbye to Chris and the kids and I headed to my mom's house. I dropped Caleb and Daisy there and took Lily and Eli to the doctor for their 2-year and 6-month well visits, respectively.

Lily was wildly uncooperative, refusing to be measured or stand on the scale or let the doctor take her blood pressure... the only thing she allowed was a quick check of her ears, which look lovely. Developmentally, she is right on track. She weighed 24.5 pounds, which puts her in the 20th percentile, and was 34.5 inches tall, which puts her in the 60th-70th percentile. How about that?

I'll save Eli's stats for tomorrow, which is his six-month birthday. I cannot believe this little man has been with us for half a year!

After the doctor, we picked up the big kids, played at Grandma's, and headed home for naps. Amazingly, all four took naps at the same time. I used the time to make Chris' birthday dinner (his mom's burrito recipe) and start a flourless chocolate peanut butter cake for him. Unfortunately, I didn't plan ahead, so I had to call the birthday boy and ask him to pick up a few ingredients on his way home from work. Whoops.

Lily loved the burritos, and stood on the bench while I assembled them on the kitchen table. She tried to roll them up like I was doing, but eventually resorted to sticking her finger in them and eating all of the beans. She declared them, "Good."

After dinner, we gave Chris the gifts the kids picked out at Target: running socks from Daisy, work socks from Lily, and a muscle shirt from Caleb. Really. I told Caleb that he couldn't get Daddy Legos, so he chose his next favorite thing: a red muscle shirt. Chris doesn't know quite what to make of it, but I think he should give it a shot! And anyway, it was on clearance. So he should definitely give it a shot.

Happy birthday to my handsome husbando! I'm sorry the celebration wasn't nearly as grand as you deserve, but it was filled with love.