Catching Up

Levi helped me make a lemon cake for Oma's birthday - he is very helpful when it comes to fetching me things. He can bring me the milk, eggs, even baking powder when I ask for it! (He seems to know the difference between baking soda, and baking powder) Quite an amazing little guy.








Meanwhile Ellie strolls about in her walker - getting better at going both directions now. Here she is dressed up for photos.








We went with mom out to pick out some pumpkins for carving together on Halloween. Klickers has lots of wagons and even a big mound of straw bales with a long slide. Levi has a hard time in photos lately because IF he is cooperating his smile appears forced.



He must have been having a good time with Oma up on the bales because we got some great photos of them!




We tried for a family portrait but I don't know, I think I'd like to try again. It seems to get so much harder every year.


I did snap this gem of Ellie in the wagon.


Levi sees Ellie being fussed over and decides to run over and pull her away from the paparazzi.


When I try to get some photos of him, he is not amused.


Matt and Ellie (my grandma is going to scold me for encouraging her ears to stick out - bent by the hat... oops... (are you reading this grandma?)


Back at ma's for carving pumpkins. She made us nachos for a snack and I got to work cleaning out the seeds and goop.









Poor little Ellie wanted to eat those nachos sooo bad. And Matt had to tease her with one. What a mean daddy!

Carving the pumpkins was serious business. Levi supervises Matt as he pins the pattern into the skin of the pumpkin.

My mom is proud of her creation. She told me I was allowed to post this photo to facebook. :D

Levi is pretty thrilled when he discovers Matt's pumpkin has a spider for a nose!

We had a nice time spending the evening with Oma/mom.

Going Bananas (not really)

This week Matt fed Ellie some rice cereal two mornings, and reports that she got more on her than in her.

The other 'food of the week' is bananas. She had some tonight for dinner and made some really amusing faces. We think it was the swallowing sensation throwing her for a loop.

She has been making chewing motions the past two weeks and it always scares me at first because I think she has gotten a hold of something she is not supposed to have. I think she is just mimicking us. She also has been searching for her thumb - and found it a couple of times but she is not the addict that Levi was by this age. When she rolls over, she is careful with her head - laying it over gently onto the floor before twisting her arms around.

She has been doing pretty well at nights - she goes to bed sometime between 8-10 pm depending on her last nap and then typically will wake up when I go to bed (11 or 12 pm). Great timing - not! But after a quick snack she is usually back to sleep until morning (6 or 7 am).

Who's that at my computer?

Levi has learned how to work the mouse. It might be all over now folks. Tonight he played a whole game of Farkle online and scored in the neighborhood of 5,000.



Last night I looked over at Ellie who was having some free time on the floor. She is really rolling around these days. Well she had maneuvered herself over under the swing and was pushing it with both feet! Of course all my bustling about to find the camera/video camera got her attention and she stopped to watch me.

Robot boy

Levi has a cardboard tube today - it fits over his arm and is about as long. He thinks it's great fun to talk like a robot. I just overheard him say:

Bebe-what-are-you-doing? You-don't-talk-because-you-are-a-dog.

Hey Da.

One thing Levi has been doing lately is calling Matt "Da." It used to be Dada but he dropped the second syllable and didn't bother to add another "d" to the end to make it a formal Dad. It sounds a little silly but is quite endearing.

This photo is from Oct 21, Levi was blowing bubbles through the straw into his cup and had his sister's undivided attention. She thinks he is just the cat's meow.

Matt's birthday

Matt's birthday follows right on the heels of mine just two days later. I wish this photo would have been in focus because I think it's pretty darn cute of the two guys.

Matt dressed Levi today and wanted to be sure we got a photo of him with his new red Converse shoes. They are kind of a pain to tie but they sure make him look grown up.

I took off work early for Matt's birthday too and we headed up to Tri-Cities and made a stop at PF&S train store, then Country Mercantile. I wish we had made it up there earlier because C.M. was hopping with all kinds of people. I saw a tractor drive by hauling straw bales and a bunch of people for a hay ride. Levi went in the store with me and on the way he pointed out the "rides" (carousel and carnival rides) to me and said he wanted to go do that. It was dark out and we hadn't had dinner yet so I had to say no. He soon forgot all about it when he laid his eyes on the prize - chocolate covered bing cherries. Mmmmm.


After that we ate out at the Olive Garden, which is always a nice treat. We shared a piece of their luscious Lemon Cream Cake.

Just wait until next year - Matt will hit the big 3-0!

Good birthday!

Today was my birthday. It ROCKED! Thanks to everyone for making it special.

I had some new clothes to wear thanks to momma giving me my presents early, last weekend. I am loving this green sweater and camisole!

Yesterday I scored not one, but TWO boxes of chocolate cereal in the kitchen at work. Single-serve sizes. Cocoa Puffs and Coco Krispies. I decided to have Cocoa Puffs this morning for breakfast. Way to start the day off right! (Sarcasm, normally I am a healthy eater but something about chocolate cereal...a weakness) Enough stuff was going on at work to keep me occupied, so that's always nice.

I had prepped veggies last night for fajitas so when I came home for lunch Matt had them all ready to eat and the house smelled so good. Scrumptious!

After lunch we had a photo shoot that I assisted on. Those are always fun, gets me out of the office and interacting with our 'models.' I learned a bit about farming today from one of the models.

Once that was done, I played hooky from work and went riding with Ruth at Bennington Lake. We made a quick trip around with more trotting this time which was fun. Sinwaan is still quite out of shape but we had a great ride. PERFECT weather, the leaves are changing colors, it was beautiful. Ruth has an upper trailer door that has a sticky latch. It gives me trouble and every time I have to wimp out and get Ruth to do it for me. But not today - I got it open twice! What a great day!

We went out to Sweet Basil Pizzeria for dinner. Yum! As luck would have it, the special of the day (Tuesday) was ... ah I can't remember the name of it, but it is a good one! Spinach and red peppers, packed full of flavor and healthy too! We got half of that and half of their Pesto toppings. Levi and Matt drew with chalk on the board while we waited and then Levi sat and ate a whole piece and then had another large portion of a second piece! Usually when we go out he is a bit of a handful but tonight he did so well and I was so proud of him!!

After dinner we came home and now the house smelled like pie. MMMMMMMM yummy! Matt had made me a cherry pie this afternoon and it was scrumptious! My mom stopped by and joined us eating our warm pie and cold egg nog. Ahhh I love October. Then presents. Some cute shirts from Wes & Joanie, some boston terrier collectibles from Matt and a Tract phone from my dad. Way cool presents!

I wish everyone could have a birthday this awesome. :D

Levi's first report card

Monday night - another swim class. This is the last week of classes. What I did not realize was that tonight was the last class, and Wednesday night will be a free swim where I can actually join him in the pool and he can show me all his new skills.
Tonight he got a report card - wow! His first one! He was the only kid in class tonight which was nice because that means he had teacher Katie all to himself. :) Looked like he was doing great from what we could see at our spot in the window. Tonight she introduced him to a life vest and taught him how to use that. Judging by his "grades" he learned a lot of new stuff but still has a little bit more to do before he can graduate to being a "Pike." Since he hasn't been real jazzed about these lessons I think I will wait to enroll him in more. Perhaps we can find something else to do for the winter.

Happy Friday!

Ahhh Friday. I had been looking forward to Friday all week! On Monday Levi told us he did not want to go to swim class. He has not been real keen on that class in general. Sure, once we're there and he's with teacher Katy it's all fun and games, but the hour before class - the getting there - has been wearing on me. I never want to force my kids into doing something they don't enjoy. I do think they should give everything a chance though, because how do you know you don't like something if you don't try it?

(Flashbacks of my dad saying "you are going to go, and you are going to like it!") Deja vu! Have I already said that in an earlier blog? Yikes! Not only am I turning into my parents, I am going senile!

Back on topic! On Monday I had asked Levi if he would like to go out and see Ginger on Friday. He had said "Yes" he would, but he did not want to go to swim class. Well we paid for his classes so he went. Monday and Wednesday, it is always the same. "I do not want to go." I was thinking going to the barn on Friday would be a treat for him (AND ME!) Perhaps a change of pace is what he needed.

I am starting to think that the boy is turning into a bit of a hermit. I feel that the social aspects, as well as the independence from his overbearing parents during class is good for him. He disagrees.

Friday rolls around and I say "Hey Levi, we get to go to the barn today after momma gets off work, won't that be fun!" And what does he say? "No, I do not think it will be fun." Is this my child?! So I tell myself that he will change his mind, he will think it over and decide that maybe mom is right, maybe it would be a good idea to get out of the house into this beautiful weather and ride a pony!

I come home from work and he is napping. No problem, better a well-rested happy kid than a grumpy one (I've seen too much of that side lately). I busy myself with household chores and before I know it he is waking up. I try to get him jazzed about going to the barn but he is not buying it. Finally he agrees to go if Ellie will ride the pony, not him. He just wants to lead Ginger around. Ok, I'll take what I can get.

The barn is a busy place on Friday afternoon. Someone I don't know is there with two friends and her one (pretty) horse out in the arena. Jen is there and I was glad for that because she showed me where Ginger's stuff was. I went out to get Ginger and Levi wanted to be carried. At least he wanted to go with me! So I oblige. I explained that to put her halter on I would have to put him down. He was ok with that. We fed her a carrot, and fed Sinwaan a carrot who was gazing at us longingly over his fence. Then we led her back into the barn.

I tied her up and gave her a quick brushing. Levi even got involved a bit. He was the most curious about the hoofpick, and wanted to use it, so that was a good opportunity to show him the "frog" in a horse's hoof and how to pick their feet out following that 'triangle.' I tacked her up (her pony saddle is heavier than my english one!) and led her out to the paddock surrounding the round pen.

Levi wanted to "lead" her so he grabbed the end and went on ahead of us. We walked around the outside of the round pen a couple times (Levi thought it would be clever to walk backwards) and then I decided it was time for him to mount up!

He was not too sure. Like last time, I told him that I wanted him to try it and if he didn't like it then he could get off.

His seat is not fantastic, and he tends to slide off to the side so I really need to be there with my hands on him, encouraging him to sit up straight to stay in the saddle. This makes it about impossible to lead the pony at the same time, so Matt came to the rescue! (He had Ellie in his jacket)

We went around a couple of times. Levi asked where we were going. I replied that we were going around. He wanted to know if we were going back to the barn.

I asked him if he wanted to be done now. He said "No. I don't think so." YAY!! So we went around one more time and then he said he was done and wanted off. Fair enough. A deal's a deal. So I showed him how to dismount and helped him down. Then he wanted to lead Ginger around some more.

Matt said "Stop! Wait right there!" and he started clicking photos again. I am so impressed that he manages to take all these nice photos for us, all the while holding Ellie. Ginger started eating my hair and Levi wanted to run after the cat, but we managed some cute ones.

Levi even gave me a kiss.

When we were all done I asked Levi if he had fun. He said he had. I asked him if he would like to come out again next Friday. "Uh...no. No, I would not." Break a mother's heart! Well, so much for that. I guess now I wait and see if he changes his mind next spring.

Ellie's turn! She was fascinated...as she is about most things. It was not as easy as I thought it might be, so she ended up sitting 'sidesaddle.'

My next horse victim! Check out the boots!

After the barn we went to Oma's house for a "birthday dinner" for me and Matt since our birthdays are coming up next week. It is just easier to get together on the weekend. She had made us mashed potatoes, string beans, choplets and cider. It was a very tasty meal. She related stories to us about her childhood, which I always find very entertaining. No TV until she was 15. 'Children were to be seen and not heard.' How they would not play as kids on weekdays (School, chores, homework, dinner, bath, bed). My how times have changed, and that was not so long ago!

Oma read a book to Ellie...

...and later a book to Levi too!

Thanks mom for the nice evening and lovely presents! October is my favorite month of the year!

First taste

For dinner Matt made a really good pea soup. I asked him the ingredients and it was very simple. Peas, carrots, some onion and salt and pepper. So I thought it might be fun to give a little to Ellie and see how she liked it.


At first she was shocked and made quite a face. Then she got excited and wanted more. I think she ended up pushing most of it out, but not on purpose. It was a bit thick. I know, I know, you are supposed to start with rice cereal. We will get to that... soon. :) Levi was started out with whipped cream (when I wasn't paying attention Matt gave him some) so at least she is on the path of healthy veggies vs. processed sugar!


Levi decided to offer her some of his grilled cheese sandwich and we had to explain that she isn't quite ready for that yet. I try to point out the advantages of being the older kid - like teeth, and getting special treats - since lately we have been struggling with adjusting again. It's tough for Levi. Ellie can do no wrong, people are always fussing over her. Whereas Levi is always getting into trouble. It's been a rough couple of months in that department.

Ellie briefs

Latest Ellie news: she is sitting up in her bouncer seat. Not sitting up on her own yet on the floor, but if she is in my lap in a sitting position she can hold it when I take my hands away. So that's pretty exciting.

Matt reports that she is also pretty good at holding her bottle. Not that this photo is any indication!

Ellie turned 5 months on Oct 11 so here is her monthly photo. We set up some lights in the living room and Matt took the photos. I dressed her up in one of her home-made outfits by grandma Susan and we just had fun with it!

Sweet kid

After I got into the panel truck this afternoon to go riding, and was about to back up, Matt told Levi it was time to wave to Mama. He said 'OK,' put his book down, and stood up to wave to me. He waved for a second, and then he said "I'm gonna miss her."

The most unfortunate thing about this was that I was so busy watching where I was going, I neglected to look at the house and see him waving. :(

Cardiologist

Today we met with Dr Rick Jensen regarding Levi's heart murmur. He has had it for awhile and Dr Tom thought he still heard it at his last check-up and referred us to a specialist. Thankfully we were able to see a doctor in town and not have to travel at all for this.

We were early to our appointment and they actually put us in a room without much of a wait. On the way there the technician weighed and measured Levi. I was distracted and did not pay attention to what those numbers were. (Bad mommy!) I filled out some paperwork and then a nurse came in and took Levi's blood pressure. He was very co-operative. She then told him she was going to put some cool stickers on him to get a read out. Levi said he thought that would be ok. The stickers were actually little black oval conductors that they hooked metal clamps onto. This was very quick and then she packed up and left. Matt took the "stickers" off Levi and kept them for later experimentation (NOT on Levi - Matt probably will try to work them into his model trail layout some way).

After some time Dr Jensen came in and was very friendly and likable. He had a conversation with Levi and that seemed to go very well. Levi was comfortable with him and told him that he likes to play with Legos. Dr Jensen listened to him with a stethoscope and after awhile sat back and told us that he did not hear anything unusual and he would have an ultrasound done to confirm that the hole we had been hearing had closed up - but as far as he could tell everything was back to normal.

We sat and waited in the exam room for what seemed an eternity. Finally the technician came to get us and led us to a different exam room where Levi got up on the table and had to take off his shirt. The technician put some round tabs on him and hooked him up and used some gel and we all sat there in the dark for awhile, during which the tech got the information he needed for the diagnosis. It reminded me a lot of my ultrasounds for the babies. A couple times he turned on the sound and we could hear the buh-bum of Levi's heart. That was neat.

When the technician was done he said "Ok well, that's it. You can clean him up now." Matt asked what he saw. He said he would let Dr Jensen come in and take a look and talk to us about it. The suspense!! In the meantime the tech gave Levi some fruit snacks which he enjoyed very much. He wouldn't even share one with me.

We waited again for what seemed to be a very long time. The kids were doing very well with being patient for the most part. Dr Jensen took a look at all the images and video on the screen and asked the technician if he had seen anything other than what he was expecting? No, was the answer. Dr Jensen told us everything looked great. We no longer need to worry about having him take a antibiotic before dental work (that apparently isn't recommended anymore anyway), the murmur is gone and what he hears now is a slight murmur that 75-90% of kids have. So I was a little confused by that. However he said everything is normal and great and nothing to worry about or check up on any more so that is something to cross off the list.

He did mention that if he starts having trouble fainting, or keeping up in high school when he is on a sports team, that would be something else and would need to be checked out.

So, despite a little confusion, the outcome is a good one and we are all relieved.

4 (5) month check-up

Ellie's appointment today with doctor Jen went well. She weighed in at 16.5 lbs (80th percentile), measured 26" long (85th percentile) and a head circumference of 17" (86th percentile).

When I filled out the progress sheet I was thrilled to be able to answer yes to most of the questions. There were only about 5 towards the end that I said NO to. Dr Jen looked her over and could not find a thing wrong. She was pleased to hear that she is sleeping well, eating well and developing well! She also commented that usually parents have a problem or a concern, like not sleeping well, allergies, etc. and she was happy for us that we did not have any issues. I immediately thought of many of my friends who are dealing with challenging things. I feel very blessed and do not take any of it for-granted.

She asked if we were sure this wasn't a seven month old baby? I told her that she was actually almost 5 months old because this was the soonest appointment I could get, she was such a popular doctor. Dr Jen told me that she had to close her practice now to new patients because she just got so overwhelmed. She also told us about their new pediatrician who is pregnant (so I imagine won't be around for long before she takes a maternity leave) and helping out with a lot of the clientele.

It was a relatively short and friendly visit. While Dr Jen was holding her up she asked "Did I just see her pass that from hand to hand?!" I said "uh, maybe." She said, yes she was sure of it. Then she set her down and watched her as she moved her around. "She is about ready to sit up," she commented. So that was all fun and exciting.

Our regular nurse Camille was out sick today so we had a new nurse come in with the shots. I looked over the paperwork as I was signing it and commented "three today?" and the nurse said that no, two were shots and one was oral. I looked closer and saw Rotavirus was circled. I asked her about that since I thought last time we had declined that one. She double checked and sure enough that was not supposed to be given today. Glad I caught that! So poor baby Ellie got two stabs today in her fat little thighs. She cried a bit but quieted when I picked her up.

During most of the visit Levi was hanging out on the exam table step and interjecting things like "I am three." He pulled out the stirrups and flipped up the foot braces and then set them back down gently. He leaned in close when it was time for shots. He wanted to see all that went on. I was not sure about that (don't want him to have more fear later on when it's his turn again) but he handled it well.

* * *

Because of the doctor visit I had to work late today to make up some time. When I got home a little after six Matt and Levi were discussing what to have for dinner. Levi wanted breakfast ("brek-ast") so we made pancakes. Using the griddle really helped to speed up cooking time. We ate and had the kids ready to go just in time for swim classes at the YMCA.

Levi was not too sure that he really wanted to swim tonight. I put him in the shower and rinsed him off and led him out to the pool area. He was being very reluctant, until he saw teacher Katy, she said "Hi Levi!" and his whole demeanor changed. He lit up and quickened his pace and went right over by her and sat down for their safety talk. I told him we would be watching him from the window and to have a good time!

About half-way though my mom showed up to watch him. When it was time for the kids (only Levi and Piper in class now) to float into the deep end on their 'raft' and wave at the windows Levi saw my mom and I could make out him saying "HI OMA!" He is always so excited to see her.

I went to fetch him when class was over and he was happy and ready to see Oma. I got him showered and changed into warm dry clothes. He asked if Oma was coming to our house. No, she had to go to her house. Walking into the parking lot my mom said "where's your car Levi?" and he replied "Over there is the station-wagon. That's your car Oma! (pointing to her car) Are you going to ride in the station-wagon? " She told him on weekends he could come and play at her house.

On the drive home Levi talked about how he swimmed. 'Swam,' Matt corrected him. Uh huh, swam'd he replied.

October is upon us

This post really has nothing to do with October, I just couldn't think of a clever title.

Tomorrow is Ellie's 4-month check-up. It seems a little silly since she is almost 5 months old by now. I am having a little anxiety about it because this is the age that we discovered Levi's heart murmur.

She was in her bouncy seat yesterday and pulled herself forward to an upright sitting position. Levi saw her do this and ran over, said "No! You will sit back" and pushed her head back into the chair. So Matt and Levi had a little chat about how to treat baby sister. When she is on her blanket on the floor she rolls all around and reaches for everything - of course at this age that also means everything goes to the mouth. She LOVES to bounce and that means I get a workout on my upper body - not that I don't need one, but after last night's BMR meeting I am sure feeling it!

Thursday Levi has an appointment with a cardiologist to check out that persistent heart murmur. Wish us luck!

Today I noticed my sweet potato vine was dying off so I went over and tried to dig it up to see if I had any new taters down there. Well I did pull up one, about the size of my index finger. I did not uncover much else. Levi saw the little potato and asked what it was, could he eat it, etc. I told him I was going to take it in to work to show everyone. Well lo and behold we ate lunch and I forgot all about it. Levi opened the door for me and then said "Wait momma!" off he scampers to the table. Clutching the little potato he comes back to me and says "You will take this."

Pregnancy might have killed my memory but at least now I have a little person to help me remember.

New phrases

It's been a day of new phrases for Levi.

Earlier this morning he asked me "How's your work?" I replied that it was going good, then asked him "how's play?" He said "Uh...play's good. But sometimes it's a little boring or somethin'."

Today I was washing some things in the sink. Levi came over and leaned in to see what I was doing. He said "It's your lucky day!" That caught me off guard, I laughed and asked him where he heard that. He replied "Sesame Street."

It's been raining all day and I came in from outside with wet shoes. I had not tied my shoelaces. He came running over and peered down at my feet. "What on earth is that?!" he said. So cute. I can't believe some of the stuff he is coming up with these days.