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It’s crazy how big Conor is getting!  Jordan was playing a game with him yesterday.  Jordan coughs and Conor thinks its hilarious, so he giggles.  So precious!  So, today, we walked to the park and we were swinging Conor.  He started pretend coughing too, so that we would cough!

Also, tonight, the kids were reading a Ricky Rocotta’s Might Robot book, and Conor parroted “robot” four times.  The first time was “ro ro bot,” which Elliott loved, since its a combination of Roro (his lovey) and a robot.  Of course, I don’t think he associated the sounds with an object, but still.  It also sounds like he says “hi” sometimes.

Also, today, Elliott was asking me what the highest currency note was.  We learned that they used to go up to $5,000.  When he found out that Hamilton was on the $10 bill, he goes “Hamilton – I know him.”  I said, “What do you know about him; I don’t know that much.”  He said, “He was George Washington’s man something.”  I said, “Do you mean right-hand man?”  Elliott: “Yeah!  That means he was like second in charge.”  And then we came across the phrase right hand man later on in the day too!

The Night Before…

“Mom, I’m not going to be able to sleep.  Tomorrow, is Friday Fun Day.  We start with choice, then we have 2.5 hours of field day, then lunch (with our family), then more choice, then the egg drop, then Popsicle social.  Would you be able to sleep if you were me?” – Elliott

Field Day was a blast!  It was pretty warm.  Siblings are on the same color team, so green team rules!  We met the kids for a picnic lunch – Conor blew out his cute green outfit I had for him, so I rummaged through his bigger clothes and found a Packers 18-mo onesie (from Lisa and Rachel).  I thought he’d be swimming in it – it was roomy, but def. not big.  Conor was popular with the 5th grade girls (and then 5th grade boys).

I came back for the 2nd grade egg drop at 2pm.  Natalie came up with her idea of a parachute and padded little box all on her own.  Her egg didn’t survive the fall, but it was close to doing so.

Happy 38th Birthday Jordan!

My birthday present (which Jordan picked out and found himself) to Jordan was a hiking backpack for Conor.  Jordan tested it out around the neighborhood twice and for our big excursion, we drove a mile to Forest Park and hiked from there.  As you can see from the picture below, it worked well!  Jordan admitted Conor was quite heavy, so he’s going to build up his endurance carrying this chunky guy – who is only going to keep growing!

I also took him out to a Mediterranean restaurant for lunch – we biked there (my fav).  And, the other gift he wanted was me watching 3 episodes of the Hunger Games with him (not my TV genre, I was appalled by the first 6 min of violence in the first episode but am still sticking with it).  And, the family just went out for dinner at Max Burger tonight!  Natalie made him a chocolate pudding pie and Elliott is going to record (and dress up) Viva Las Vegas for Jordan (we’re just waiting on the Elvis t-shirt).   Conor allowed me to trace his hand for a card.

Weight: More than in college, but less than his wife at her maximum (pregnancy weight)

Height: The same as in college!  No shrinking yet.

Teeth: Still has them all, but grinds his teeth at night so he needs a mouth guard.

Hair Color: Brown, with a little more gray every year (but damn, it looks good on him – thank goodness, I’m not graying)

Schedule: Terribly erratic.  Always tries to go to bed by 10pm, but sometimes cannot sleep through the night and wakes up at 4am.

Special Talents: Carrying 2 kids up the stairs at one time, playing piano for everything from Justin Timberlake to Elvis, cooking dinner while on a conference call, and changing poopy diapers

Favorite Food: Peanut butter and lettuce

Favorite Drink: Kombucha or tea or Treehouse Brewery beer

Favorite Show: Any documentary.  Or, I guess, maybe Hunger Games – see birthday present section above

Favorite Book: I have no idea.  Some business or self-help book most likely.  He reads a lot of early chapter books. 🙂

Favorite Trip in the past Year: Saratoga Springs (with me- thanks Lala for babysitting!)  He found an amazing hotel (they treated us to a baby moon chocolate cake that we ate right from the box), walked around a cute downtown and college and experienced the springs.  Or… maybe Acadia with his BFF Tim.  Let’s pretend it was the trip with me, even though our trip was 20% as long as his Acadia trip, not nearly as strenuous or beautiful and involved a whole lot less alcohol (remember, I was pregnant!)

Favorite Trip in the upcoming Year if I was willing to go with him: Cannes, Florida (He has to go for work and has invited me a million times to join him at this amazing villa.  I’m pretty tethered to Conor, so I keep on turning him down.  Maybe we can convince the grandparents to pitch in and let us go to Europe for our 15th anniversary next summer – hint, hint as they are probably the only ones who read this blog)

I’d say he’s a keeper!

Longmeadow has an annual festival with bounce houses (sadly, Natalie felt like she was too old for them this year!), carnival-type food, trinket vendors (ugh – she did buy $5 slime though)… and bands.  Daddy McFaddy made his debut – starting with some Justin Timerblake and moving onto Elvis and many other musicians. It was an eclectic mix.  Some of Elliott’s kinder friends joined for the celebration too!  My fav parts:

• Natalie looking adoringly at her dad while he rocked out.  She is a Daddy’s girl.
• Jordan calling to Elliott for some help on some words during Viva Las Vegas.
• Conor being okay with me dancing him on my lap
• Lala’s high energy – she makes a great groupie!

Daddy McFaddy and the Meatballs (my suggestion for an addition to the band name) will hopefully play again next year….. looking for fellow musicians to join in.

So…. Conor’s 4-month mark was right in the midst of that busy baptism/first communion/recital weekend, so I postponed his 4-month check-up.  (This was due to the vaccinations – who wants a crabby/fussy/tired baby with guests in town?  I made the mistake of having Natalie’s 2nd month appt the day before we had a bunch of family in for Natalie’s baptism.)  And, then I had to postpone his doc appt b/c Jordan was out of town.  So, finally, the update.

I finally got to meet this Lala character that my brother and sister told me so much about – she’s a legend and I can see why!

Weight: 20 lbs, 2 oz. (Funny story – the nurse put him on the scale and had the first measure at 10 lbs and then was going up with the 2nd one, one lb. at a time…. she made it all the way up to 10 + 10 lbs and then finally gave up, moved the first measure to 20 lbs and added on the 2 oz. more.)  Of course, he’s in the 98th+ percentile.  This compares to Natalie at 16.5 lbs (although much shorter) and Elliott at 18.5 lbs (90-95th percentile b/c apparently I hadn’t been giving the sitter enough food for him).  You should check out Elliott’s 4-month milestone update – http://linvilleusa.com/2013/07/happy-4-months-elliott/ –  and Elliott’s 4-month weigh-in post – http://linvilleusa.com/2013/07/e/.
Height: 28 inches (vs. Elliott’s 26.5 inches)
Head Circumference: Off the charts

Why does my mom “save time” by not buttoning all my snaps? How embarrassing.

Milestones: He can do a quarter-turn rollover, which is what his sister was doing at this age, although Elliott could do a full rollover.  He babbles a ton – as Becky says, sounds like heaven on Earth.  He is drooling a ton – I can see a little bit of white through his bottom gums.  He’s giggled a couple times – mostly when he is tickled under his chin or you do a raspberry on his belly.  He is quick to smile.

Disposition: Pretty happy boy!  Sometimes, he wakes up and just babbles in his crib.  His car rides are mostly just around town, like dropping his siblings off at school, but he does a good job.  Now that its nicer, we’ve gone on a few walks in his stroller.

Fun activities: He likes his activity play mat and toys / towels / loveys he can easily grab. He’s not sure quite what to make of the stand-up play gym.  He loves to look at himself in the mirror and be held up bouncing on your legs.  When he wants to chill out, he likes to be in his rock ‘n play and look at the gel things on the back window (the holiday / spring ones that Grandma always sends).  He likes to actively kick in the bathtub.  And, of course, he loves just to be in the mix with Natalie and Elliott – they play with him very differently and he watches very different types of play between the two of them.

Books: We read a lot of Five Little Lady Bugs, That’s Not my Dinosaur, Belly Button Book and Spot Bakes a Cake.  (Not too long and easy to hold)

Schedule: Three naps a day.  He isn’t up for any more than 2 hours at a time and sometimes sleeps for up to 3 hours.  If he’s not up by 8am, I wake him up to start the day and then he’ll nap by 9:30.  Today, he was up on his own around 7:40am and yawning by 9:05am (so I put him down and he missed 9:30 mass).  He probably wakes up about once at night – sometimes I feed him, other times I send in Jordan.

A common question I get is: How is life with three kids? My co-worker always answers this question with, “It’s just more crazy.”  And truth be told, its my oldest who gives me a run for my money, as she continues to test out her independence.  It’s very busy – definitely, less time for blog updates, not working out everyday, less work in evenings / weekends which leaves me perpetually feeling behind since I’m also working an 80% schedule – but it’s working (knock on wood).  I do feel very lucky to have three healthy, smart, beautiful, (mostly) kind kids… and a very involved husband.

Conor David was baptized on May 10th!  We were so lucky that Fr. CJ was able to do a Friday afternoon baptism, so that Nana, Pop, Grandma, Grandpa Dave (godfather), Becky, Cameron, Natalie (godmother), Elliott, Jordan and I could all be there. It was a perfect and intimate ceremony.  When I first asked my dad to be the godfather, he said “Are you sure they let old men do that?”  I explained that he would be paired with Natalie (who technically isn’t quite old enough to be a godmother – you’re supposed to be confirmed first), who could take over when he was legit “too old.”  Plus, we figured if you averaged their ages – (62 + 8) / 2 = 35 years, which is perfect.

Conor was a dream during his baptism of course.  No crying.  Just taking it all in.  He wore the slip of the baptismal gown that Natalie and Elliott wore and Nana made.  At more than 4 months and a big baby to start, there was no way he was fitting in that original gown!  Nana will stitch in his name.

There were way more cute stories to go with this weekend, but it was almost 2 weeks ago, so I’m forgetting.  I’m struggling to keep my head above water!

My Aunt Becky is baby crazy!

Oof. Who’s the jumbo baby now?

I could use a snack

Whose dress is longer – mine or my sister’s?

Um, I have a question!

Why is my mom posing like a superhero?

One-on-two time with my parents! Yippee! This never happens

Why am I at church on a Friday?

For anything this girl loses in her birthday being so close to Christmas (not much – as we tend to go above and beyond and spread out the celebration), she made up for on Saturday, May 11th.  She had her First Holy Communion in the morning (where she crowned Mary) and her 4th dance recital (of her 5th year of dancing) in the afternoon.  We were lucky to have Nana, Pop, Grandma, Grandpa, Becky (godmother) and Cameron fly in.

(Isn’t she gorgeous?!? She is wearing a special bracelet from Nana, a birthstone cross necklace from Grandma, and my wedding tiara!)

(Oh my goodness – I’m so lucky to be the mom of these kids!)

Elliott: “Mom, did you know that dragons are nocturnal, like bats?  I’m brushing Cinder’s teeth right now for the morning.  He is 3.  His birthday is Oct. 12.  He goes to bed at 9:55 a.m.”

Me: “Oh, that’s right when you go to specials, huh?  You go to PE and he goes to bed.”

“Yes, I have Dog-Dog put him to bed since we’re the same age.  And, Cinder has a day off of preschool in order to check out the kindergarten classrooms tomorrow.  I’m asking Dog-Dog to bring him.  He will be back at 10:00 p.m.”

“Okay, I’ll leave the door unlocked for them.”

“Okay.”

“Dear God and Jesus,

Please have my mom be a better wrestler.  Amen.”

– Elliott, in the middle of a wrestling match with me, he lays down, closes his eyes and says this prayer.

(What a trip!  The ways kids will find to insult you.)

Cute pics

Our little hero smiling….

the defender of the universe (mini VOltron) smiling

O Christmas tree standing to Conor’s left side so he practiced looking left (C always looks and sleeps right)

After an early spring walk