Under the Wire

I'm going to squeak out a final post for January. Anything to avoid packing- I HATE packing!!! We're leaving tomorrow morning for the Dells. We're spending 3 nights with Hope and Danielle's families in a Wilderness condo. We're crossing our fingers that nothing like last year's freak ear infection for Annalise happens this year. That was no fun at all!

We went to Ramsey Fine Arts elementary open house on Tuesday. It is weird to be looking at schools- I can't believe we have a daughter who is approaching school-age. Before the school visit, we stopped at Pepito's for a quick supper. Annalise was so excited to hear the employees speaking spanish. She whispered to me, "I want to say hola or adios!!!!" So on the way out, I lifted Annalise up to counter-height, and in a clear, loud, very uncharacteristic voice for her, she said, "adios!" to the man behind the counter, and he replied likewise. She was beaming! I was so proud that she experimented with being outgoing (and in a foreign language to boot!).

Bennett asked me yesterday when he could drive a rocket. I told him at least 20 years, when he's finished college and gone through NASA's training program, and he didn't even sound discouraged. He talks everyday about the Little Einstein's rocket birthday party he is going to have (Feb 28).

Colin is growing like a weed!!! He is much more comfortable in 3-6 month sleepers, and can actually stretch his legs out fully, since I stopped being in denial about his size and stuffing him into 0-3 month. He has given us some very nice spurts of sleep in the evening/night. We'll see what he thinks of waterparks this week...

Colin's Stats

I forgot to mention Colin's measurements at his 2 month appointment on Tuesday (yes, the 13th- with the 11th being on a Sunday, I couldn't stick to my perfect schedule- drives me crazy!). He maintained his 90% percentile (!) in length from his 1 week visit, but shot up from 50% to 75% in weight (12 lb, 4 oz) and head circumference.

We had a fun time today, skating at Oak Hill park in SLP. They have a great warming house with big windows, and next time we'll be sure to bring some pocket change for the cocoa. I had taken Colin to get his picture taken, and then met Mike and the kids at the rink. Annalise was skating around like a pro! It was fun to see Bennett up on skates for the first time, since he was just a boot skater last winter. I had Colin in the ergo, with my coat over us, and he slept through the whole event.

Good Times

Here's the gang at Salut on Wednesday night. A great time was had by all. This was a nice way to celebrate turning 35.

A typical dress up day at our house. Bennett is going to love looking at these pictures when he's older!

Comedy Hour

Bennett has found his new favorite activity- making Colin laugh. We had such a nice time today at lunch. Bennett was making noises which made Colin almost belly-laugh. And of course that encouraged Bennett to do it again, and again, and again. I got out the camera to try to get some video footage, but by that time the moment had passed. Of course, in typical toddler style, Bennett found something that worked, so he tried it over and over again, with not as pronounced results. I'll keep working on catching it on tape.

Congratulations to Bridget and Steve! I got to visit Bridget, and meet Laurel Elyse yesterday at the hospital. She is a beautiful baby, with a head of thick, jet black hair, and looks exactly like her sister Maren did when she was born. One really cool thing- Laurel was born in the same hospital, same room, same BED as her cousin Colin was exactly two months prior! Isn't that crazy?

Sibling Love

Make sure to click on the first picture to enlarge it- I love how Bennett is looking adoringly at his sister. She was reading Curious George to him before supper. There is no reason behind not having a Colin/Bennett photo- I just couldn't find a recent pose. There are a few pictures of the brothers combo in earlier posts.

Narcoleptic?

Colin can fall asleep anywhere! Here he is on Christmas eve, having his clothes changed for church. He fell asleep while I was changing his diaper on the couch Wednesday morning, before I could get him in his carseat to go to ECFE. When he isn't konking out here, there, and everywhere, he is such an animated, bright eyed, talkative cutie pie! He has a great personality, and a very sweet temperament, I can tell already.

When I picked Bennett up this afternoon from block time at the family center (Fridays after ECFE until 1 pm- glorious!) he didn't want to wear his coat. I then offered him a choice of either wearing his coat and no hat, or hat and no coat, and he opted for the latter. As we started down the steps, I asked him, "are you cold?" and that little bugger answered, "no, actually not" in cute little Bennett enunciation. It just made me smile. By the time we got to the car, he was "reallly, reallly, cold"- there we go, lesson learned, with no harping from me.