Routines

We were having a lot of trouble getting E to sleep through the night after he moved down to his new bedroom a couple months ago. It was also almost impossible to give him a bath - he hated them. Cried, clung to us, was generally miserable. About 2 weeks ago we finally started a very fixed routine: around 8:30 he brushes his teeth, takes a bath, plays for about 20-30 minutes in his room, reads a book or 2 with mama, says prayers and goes to bed. For two weeks he has slept through the night almost every night. Occasionally he'll wake, need a hug, and falls asleep within 15 minutes or so. 

Tonight when I took him downstairs I asked him if he was ready for his bath. He walked into the bathroom, reached up for his toothbrushes (doesn't everyone brush with a toothbrush In each hand?), raised his arms for me to take off his shirt, and happily played in the bathtub for 10-15 minutes. Then when I put him in his crib he didn't cry for a moment, just lay down and fell asleep within a few minutes. I'm so proud of how much progress he's made. 

Obligatory pumpkin patch post

We waited till late in a very long day to get pumpkin patch pics today, hence the tired mom and kids and the lack of dad pics. We're lucky we got one with both kiddos in the same frame at all!

E had a great time in the hour before these photos, running through the fair, collecting trash and giving it to his mom (he's quite fastidious), bouncing in a bounce house, and trying to destroy a random nursery room at the church where the fall festival was held that I commandeered in order to change Em's diaper and feed her. So he was rather worn out by the time his dad joined us and we headed to the pumpkins. 

We took some cute pics at Trader Joe's last week too. None of Em because she was a bit too floppy for their display and I couldn't climb in to prop her up...

Obligatory pumpkin patch post

We waited till late in a very long day to get pumpkin patch pics today, hence the tired mom and kids and the lack of dad pics. We're lucky we got one with both kiddos in the same frame at all!

E had a great time in the hour before these photos, running through the fair, collecting trash and giving it to his mom (he's quite fastidious), bouncing in a bounce house, and trying to destroy a random nursery room at the church where the fall festival was held that I commandeered in order to change Em's diaper and feed her. So he was rather worn out by the time his dad joined us and we headed to the pumpkins. 

We took some cute pics at Trader Joe's last week too. None of Em because she was a bit too floppy for their display and I couldn't climb in to prop her up...

Little sis is 2 months old!

Happy 1/6 to lovely miss Emily Hope!

This little lady is such a dream baby. She's an excellent sleeper who occasionally sleeps all through the night but even on 'bad nights' she wakes once, eats quickly, and falls asleep again without a fuss.

She definitely likes attention - about the only reason Em cries is that mama is playing with her iPad while holding her. All eyes must be directed at Emily!

She has the most piercing gaze and is very good at staring you down. When Ethan's in the room, she studies him constantly.

She's quite strong, holding her head up like a champ and kicking furiously on her play mat. I was impressed with how well she sat up and moved around for the 2-month photos this morning!

We've seen a few smiles, but she seems much more serious than her brother was at this age. And looking at his 2-month update, we were struck by how talkative he was. Em is much more quiet. E looks like his mama but has his papa's personality; Em looks more like her dad but acts like her mom.

Although there's not a ton of hair, what she has is dark and straight. She has big, dark blue eyes which may or may not stay that color. Her eyelashes are long and lovely.

She's not as interested in the pacifier as Ethan was - which is fortunate, since E is a proud binkie thief who will yank it out of her mouth when we're not looking.

Our cup runneth over.