First food!

Beth got her first taste of solid food on Superbowl Sunday! She had avocado and did pretty well with it.

Here's the before photo!

Checking out the spoon. She thought it was fun to put the spoon in her mouth all by herself! She made a face when she realized there was something on the spoon, but then kept licking the spoon. She only ate a few bites, but it was fun to watch!

The after photo. She really didn't make too big a mess!

Bumps and books

Nora loves her books. We read many books everyday. Current favorites include the USBorne book of Farmyard Tales, Olivia, and Green Eggs and Ham. Not to be outdone, Beth has been very interested in books lately. She just hasn't quite figured out what they are for yet!


What better way to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon!

Nora has been a big monkey lately. She has been very interested in climbing - onto counters, into high chairs, up and over snow banks. Well, she recently tried to climb up the side of Beth's high chair, lost her balance and landed on her head. Poor thing! She's a tough cookie though, and 15 minutes after she fell, she was hamming it up for the camera! Needless to say, we ordered a second Keekaroo (the chair Nora uses) and we are getting rid of the plastic one!

Beth is 6 months old!

My sweet baby is already 6 months old! She sits up unsupported very well now - and it is currently one of her favorite things to do. She can see and do so much more while seated! She still loves to watch and laugh at her sister, and she really loves to play with her own baby and her Sophie the Giraffe (teething toy). She still has a wonderful gummy smile, although I can feel the bumps on the bottom, so I may not get 10 months of toothless nursing out of this one.

Beth got her first taste of solid food recently. On Sunday, we gave her some avocado, or "baby guacamole" in honor of the superbowl. She did pretty good with it. She is a bit insistent on feeding herself though. We put a little food on the spoon and hand her the spoon, and she put the spoon in her mouth on her own. She made a face the first time, but continued to lick the spoon. She has also tried sweet potato and seemed to enjoy that as well.

Beth's sleeping is still pretty good. She goes to bed between 6 and 6:30pm and sleeps until about 10:30pm. She nurses and then sleeps until about 3am. She usually then sleeps from about 3:30am until 6am! I think she'd sleep longer if we weren't waking her up! We'll find out soon since Nora just got her big girl room, so Beth will be moving into her own room soon!

Go back home and do the dishes

For those who don't know the background, we have a neighbor on the street behind us - actually across the street from the people behind us - who are always playing loud music in their car stereo. It's really annoying, shakes the dishes in our house and often scares Nora. If the windows are open or we are outside, we can hear the words to the songs, and I do not look forward to the day Nora starts repeating those words!

Anyway, Andy and I have repeatedly asked the kid to turn the music down. I had called the police about it twice in the past because I didn't want to bundle the kids up to ask someone (again) to turn the music down. Today, at 1:15pm, about ten minutes after Nora fell asleep, the music started, as did some really loud engine revving. Nora woke up and wanted to know what the banging was, so I told her it was someone's music and she should try to go back to sleep (yeah, right). Normally, if the music doesn't stop after five minutes, I pack up the kids and go for a walk or to the library or anywhere just to get away, but both kids are just getting over colds and I didn't want to spread the super snot sickness. After 15 minutes, the music was giving me a nasty headache, so I decided to walk over and ask them to turn it down. I got Nora set up on the couch with Curious George on TV (yes, I know, I'm a horrible mom - I actually used the tv to babysit Nora today...and I'm STILL feeling bad about it, even if it was only for 4 minutes...but I digress). Once Nora was settled, I put my coat on (Beth was in the Ergo, so I wrapped the coat around her), and walked over. I asked (loudly, since it was so loud) to turn the music down. The "kid's" mom (kid is in quotes because I believe he graduated/dropped out of high school last year) comes out and tells me he can play his music as loud as he wants because it's not nighttime. I politely (put again, loudly, because of the music) asked that it be turned down and kept at a reasonable level since it was keeping my children awake during naptime. The kid turned the music down, and the mom said he had every right to play it as loud as we wanted during the day. I told her about the noise ordinance in Nashua and that, if requested, the music must be turned down, and I was requesting it be turned down as it was keeping my children awake. She shook her hands at me and told me to go back home and wash dishes! By the time I got home, the music was back up loud and Nora was looking out the window for me.

Lets just say I'm really angry! I called the police and put in a complaint. They sent someone over, but just as in the past, the kid drove away in his car just moments before the cops drove by. This time, the police officer stopped by my house to make sure he had the right address and told me to call next time they are playing loud music. He also said that the address is a familiar one with the police station. Grr.

So what does this all mean? Now I'm a bit nervous being home because I have such nasty neighbors and I'm worried how they might react to a police visit. I'm also feeling like I HAVE to go back to work full time just so that I can move and get my children away from this environment. I really don't want to work full time until the kids are in school, but I really don't want to stay where I currently live either. Sigh....

Touch up/touch down

Nora used to put her arms up for a touch down and think it was a great thing. However, she's 2 and things must be done right, and she knows the difference between up and down. So, if you say touch down, she now puts her hands down and touches the floor. Then, she says "touch up" and puts her arms up. It's quite humorous.

"Touch Down!"


"Touch Up!"


And two extra photos, just because I think my kids are adorable!

A Toddler's day

Here is an example of a day spent at home with Nora.

Nora lets us know she's up around 7am by yelling "I am awake, daddy. Come get me" over and over until someone enters the room.
We are greeted with a bunch of babies - each one gets carried to the living room for the day to begin. Nora carries Millie (the millet baby I made!) out by herself.
We read a story or two, then make breakfast, pick up breakfast and then play on the floor for a little while with Beth. Nora is usually silly during this time and we change her babies diapers about ten times each!
Beth takes a nap, and Nora goes outside for about 90 minutes. Sometimes Beth is in the Ergo, sometimes in the stroller. Either way, we walk up and down the street until Beth falls asleep. Then, Nora gets to play in the snow/slush for a while.
Go in and warm up with a snack.
Read a little more
Play with play-doh, crayons or other craft
Eat lunch
Begin nap routine and take a rest
Wake up and sing Twinkle twinkle little star to her other babies
More stories and a snack.
If it's warm enough and Nora took a shortish nap, we go back outside for a little while. If it's cold, or Nora took a long nap, we read another book or two and then play on the floor. Ring around the rosie is a current favorite. As is just plain jumping up and down and doing somersaults.
Give daddy a big hug when he gets home, eat dinner, yet another story and then begin the bedtime routine before 7pm!

Now, that seems simple - but I sure am worn out by the end of the day!

Conversations with a 2 year old

Me: Nora, would you like scrambled eggs or grilled cheese for lunch.
Nora: I would like green eggs and ham, please.

Me: Breakfast is ready. Please come to the table and eat your oatmeal.
Nora: Mommy have oatmeal too?
Me: Yes, mommy is having oatmeal too.
Nora: And Beth have oatmeal too?
Me: No, Beth doesn't eat oatmeal. She's still too little - she just has milk.
Nora: Beth have oatmeal from mommy's nurser. Yes she does!

Fun, inside and out!

For those who heard about Nora's millet dumping, here are a few photos. In the first, you can see the spread of the mess. And yes, Nora's pants are on the floor, and she is swinging in the Learning Tower. The second is a close up of the floor - so you can see how much millet there was - it was everywhere!




Nora got a drum for Christmas and loves to play it. She now has a drum, piano and guitar, and enjoys playing songs for Beth!


My little chef - she loves helping to make anything and everything we cook - cookies, bread, soup...



It was 50 degrees out a few days ago (and now we have a foot of new snow on the ground!). We had a great time outside - sledding, shoveling and riding bikes!



We spend a lot of time outside. Nora loves building snowmen, helping to shovel the snow and sledding! She even puts her sled away when it's time to go inside!

We have a great hill for toddlers to sled on. We just have to watch out for all the little maple trees at the bottom of the hill. This is one of the things preventing me from putting up a fence!




Helping build the snowman!



Helping shovel snow!



And, you may wonder, what does Beth do during all our fun? Why, sleep of course!



This is one of my favs. She sleeps in the Ergo, usually sucking her thumb. Both kids have a witching hour starting around 4pm, so this is where Beth usually spends the time. It's also a safe place to hold her while picking up if she's not wishing to lay on the floor! Usually, once she's fallen asleep, I pull up the sleep hood and continue on. However, I have been able to take her out of the Ergo and put her into bed as well! I'm looking forward to Beth riding on my back soon. We've done it a few times, but she's still not a fan.

A crazy few weeks!

The last few weeks have been pretty hectic for us! We celebrated New Years at 7pm with Nora, where she got her very first taste of something bubbly - sparkling apple cider. She really enjoyed having a (plastic, Mickey Mouse) wine glass to drink from, and was very excited to do "cheers again" over and over until her drink was gone. We stayed up later and played games with my sister and her husband, and decided that we need to have more game nights! When Andy and I finally went to bed, we heard Nora say "more cheers again" in her sleep!

Nora is still an amazing child! We have been potty training lately, which is a challenge with an infant around - and I was hoping to wait until summer, but Nora had her own agenda. She does really well at home -and usually stays dry all day! However, if we go out or she gets excited, she won't use the potty (or forgets to ask). We do sit her on the potty every 45 minutes when we are out, but that doesn't always work. Unfortunately, she still hasn't mastered the poop yet, so we decided to get pull-ups until she's ready for that.

Nora still loves her books. Her current favorites include Olivia and The Deep Blue Sea at bedtime and The USBorne Book of Farmyard Tales during the day. We read a lot of stories - it's something easy for me to do while Beth is nursing. She's also become quite fond of singing. She suddenly started singing a few songs- I didn't even realize she knew the words. She'll sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Row Row Row Your Boat, Rock a Bye Baby, The Alphabet Song, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Ring around the Rosie and Oats and Beans and Barley Grow! She can count to 11, but sometimes skips six or seven, which is pretty funny. Some of Nora's other favorites are her new drum, play-doh, and helping us in the kitchen (or mimicking us in her own kitchen). She loves sledding and shoveling snow too! We are taking two parent/child classes right now -Winter Walks at Beaver Brook and Children's Garden at Pine Hill. Both classes are tons of fun! Winter Walks, which is over in about two weeks, has a story about winter, a related craft, and a hike out in the snow. We are in a class with mostly 4-5 year olds (it's for 2-5), so Nora has a hard time keeping up with the big kids in the snow, but we just take our time and enjoy being outside! Beth usually nurses during the story, and then watches the craft, and falls asleep within minutes of going outside. Children's Garden is great for both kids - it's for children from birth until preschool, and we have an open playtime, circle time and a snack. Children's Garden will continue on until May, so it'll be fun to watch Beth transform from floppy baby to mobile baby during the class (she was only 5 weeks old when we first started in September!).

Andy had his ACL reconstruction surgery last week. Everything went really well! He's already walking without crutches and has gone back to work. His mom came up to help, and I think we really tired her out (or, more accurately, Nora really tired her out). It was great to have Grandma here to take some attention away from Daddy for a few days so he could recover.

Beth is 5 months!

Beth turned 5 months old over a week ago. The last few weeks have been busy and fun! We finally had Beth's 4 month well baby visit on January 4th. She's still growing well and filling in well - but she's quite a bit smaller than Nora was at this age! At 4 months, 3 weeks old, Beth was 14lbs and 24.5 inches long. At 4 months, Nora was 6oz and 1.5inches longer! When I first tried to take Beth's 5 month photos, Nora was "helping" and I had a difficult time getting a good photo of Beth.

Over the last month, Beth has figured out how to roll from belly to back - but still doesn't do it often. Nora was the same way, never really cared about rolling. However, Beth is very interested in spinning herself around and trying to scoot! She will lay on her back and push with her feet to slide along the floor. She has also started sitting up unsupported and if she's propped up in the boppy, will even sit herself up! She has pulled herself to standing once, and I hope she does not repeat that wonder again for quite some time!

Beth naps very well - usually twice a day, but if we need to get up early, she will take a third nap. Nighttime was really going well, she would sleep until about 4-5am, then nurse and go back to sleep for a few hours. Then, a growth spurt came and she's been up to eat every 90 minutes. I think that's just about over since she slept until 4am again last night (thank goodness!). Beth is a very happy baby too. She coos all the time, sucks her thumb pretty often and loves to laugh. I'm not used to having a baby laugh so much! She especially enjoys watching her big sister. Beth has been showing a huge interest in eating. She mimics us at the dinner table - putting her (empty) spoon in her mouth and then "chewing." If she sits in my lap during a meal, she's always reaching for the food. We still have a few more weeks though, before we'll introduce anything. Then the question becomes...avocado or sweet potato :-).

Here was the first attempt at getting photos. Beth kept trying to leap across the couch to her sister, who, as usual, was being goofy!