E's First Solids and the Circus

Easton seems to be getting more and more interested in food lately. This was the look he started giving us on Saturday while Cole was eating. So we decided to try cereal that night and see what he thought of solid foods. All in all he did pretty well, but wasn't terribly excited about the taste (certainly not as ambitious about eating as his big brother was). He ate a few bites and we called it a success. Haven't tried again, but maybe tonight!!

Though you can't really tell, this was NOT the first bite. He just didn't really know what to think!

 Cole was supervising :)

Then Sunday we went to Lincoln and the Shrine circus with G-Ma Pat, Delrae, Michaela, Devon, & Jaydon. The boys were rather hesitant at first, but seemed to enjoy themselves in the end. We did leave at intermission since they thought it was over anyway and it had already been an hour and a half!! We headed over to Jacquie's house for dinner and cake to celebrate all of the latest Hirschman birthdays.

This was in the beginning when they still weren't quite sure what to make of the whole thing :)

Cole wouldn't stop asking for some bunny ears. Chris was soooo proud ;)

In other news, we had E's 6 month check up today and he is doing great. She was amazed at how well he can sit up! He weighed in at 16lbs 14.5oz (40%), 27.7" tall (89%), and 44cm head (70%). So he is still tall and skinny with a rather large head :)

Oh yeah, I forgot

Easton has been sitting up all by himself this week. He may have been doing this before at daycare, but they were kind enough to act surprised today when I told them :) I still have to put a pile of pillows around him for when he gets tired of sitting, or reaches a little too far for a toy, or when his brother comes over to "help" him. That's not completely fair as I haven't actually seen Cole push him over, but he has gotten really good at coming to tell me when E has fallen over and I have to wonder if there isn't some contact involved there...brotherly love is so sweet!

We also have a new pet in our home (no, G-Ma & G-Pa P, it's not a Grand-dog!). The boys and I went to pick out a snail for our fish tank this afternoon. Now just a brief history on this fish for those of you who don't know.

This fish and the tank and the stand and a lazer light show for said tank were all given to us when a co-worker of Chris' got married and his new wife refused to allow the tank into their home. We agreed to give the fish a good home and have had him ever since (Novemberish 2006!). He has never been given an 'official' name and has spent a good majority of his time with us in 'fish hospice' as he has a difficult time swimming upright and spends most of his days upsidedown. He does, however, seem perfectly happy to be upsidedown and we are certainly not going to flush a perfectly happy fish.

So recently the tank has become rather difficult to see through due to the algae growing on the walls and we are not very good at cleaning it like we should. With this in mind, we headed out to get a new snail this afternoon and Cole was very excited to pick one out and carried it ever so carefully through the store to the checkout. Then was very careful to hold the bag in the car so as not to shake the new snail. Then when we got home he pulled the bag off the kitchen counter and it landed on the floor with a rather loud 'SPLAT'!! I was, at the time, feeding E (which quickly came to an end). After rescuing the snail from the floor and being very grateful he wasn't in fifty pieces, I placed him on the BACK of the counter until I could verify that he was still alive before putting him in the tank.

After seeing what looked like signs of life, he was moved into his new home where he proceeded to lay lifeless for the remainder of the evening. However, after the boys went to bed I checked on him one last time and he is happily sliding up the side of the rocks. Hopefully he has realized what a fabulous all-you-can-eat buffet he has just moved into, or maybe his headache is finally subsiding.
I am looking forward to a cleaner tank this weekend!!

I am behind again :(

How does this keep happening that there are countless pictures on the camera every time I put it in the computer??

This is what happens when I am at work. I was assured he didn't fall and Chris promised he let him out right after he took the pictures.

"I wanna lick"

Yes, that is his costume from two years ago...and, yes it still fits (thanks G-Ma).

It was Dave and my birthdays last week, so Cole helped us blow out the candles (and open presents).

"What's that Mom, I'm not supposed to be eating this bubble wrap?"

No caption needed. I love this phase :)

Nan came to play with us the past couple days and we went to the zoo this afternoon (with half of Omaha since it was 65 outside). It was great to have her around to play with. She and Cole were outside almost the entire day and even managed to make a new house out of a cardboard box and feed the horses out back.

They were watching the turtles.

I have said it from the beginning

My boys look NOTHING alike!! Cole is truly all me and E is the mini-Chris. After many requests and countless attempts we finally managed to get a descent picture of the two of them together. Yes, this was the first time Cole has willingly held E in his lap and it was only because they were going for a ride in the "boat."

In other news, Cole has been getting into trouble at school. We now are the proud parents of "that kid!" It started with hitting in Spanish class, then throwing maracas in music (which hit someone in the head and left a mark), and yesterday it was scratching another kids neck. We are not entirely sure about yesterdays incident as the details seem to be slowly unfolding and the story keeps changing (it's really hard to know with a 2-year-old). But I am getting really tired of the Opportunity for Improvement reports coming home from school every night. We are ramping up the positive reinforcement around here in hopes that it will help diminish some of the negative behaviors.

 

 We went to the zoo this afternoon after our dentist appointment this morning. They managed to brush and floss Cole's teeth not once, but twice while we were there. They sent us home with some little flosser things which he was very excited to use tonight. He did great there, and the best part was that they have a train set in the lobby to play with. The zoo was great and I am quickly realizing how much I am going to miss going in the winter when there is nobody else there. I am excited about not having to walk around in coats, but not so excited about having to keep Cole in the stroller the whole time.

And the best news of the day...Easton rolled over from his back to his tummy tonight!! He can now go both directions, yay :-)

Gorgeous Weather

Maybe it is my South Dakota exposure...maybe it's my energetic toddler...maybe I'm just plain crazy. But I HAD to get outside and play yesterday. It was almost 40 outside and I seized that opportunity to pack up and head for the park. E rode in the sling inside my coat and Cole had a BLAST going down the slide all by himself and swinging. We did get some funny looks and everyone I asked if they wanted to join us responded as if I was nuts, but we had a good time!!

Then we came home and fired up the grill for some good ole "bome chicken." Chris thought I was a little nuts making him grill in the freezing cold, but it was a refreshing break from all this snow and cold :)

We might even make it to the zoo later this week, and it is going to be almost 50 this weekend (too bad I will be stuck inside working)!! YAY SPRING!!!

Weekend Happenings

We had a relatively productive weekend around here. To answer the first question, E is doing really well not eating at night. He is still waking around 4, but will take a binkie and go back to sleep within minutes. Last night, he even took it from me which we were not sure about (that Mommy smell can be rather strong).

Saturday, Chris poured his latest countertop. See http://cretehead.blogspot.com/ for that update and pictures :)

 Sunday we went down to visit Nana B for her birthday. It was a nice time and we even managed to find the hockey game just in time to see the OT goal :( Cole, as always, enjoyed the family time and Nana was happy to sit and watch the babies for a while.