Thank goodness Nana and Poppy loaned us their van for our trip to Green Bay! How else would we have fit Baby Ellie, Dora, Boots, Mousey 1, Mousey 2… And Natalie and Elliott?
Elliott was a dream, of course. He slept from Fullerton to Oakwood without a peep.
June 19th was Elliott’s 3-month birthday (and Natalie’s 2.5 year birthday!)
I am 4 trimesters old!
Weight / Height: I’m not sure – we don’t have an appointment until 4 months. My post for Natalie said she was 18 lbs though… I think Elliott is less than that. 9-mo clothes fit the best!
Who does she look like? Mostly Jordan but more like Erin than Natalie did!
Personality: Unlike Natalie’s “Spirited,” I’d say Elliott is “Easy Going”. (I don’t think i have ever been called Easy Going myself but am thankful my baby is! maybe this will come back to haunt me when he is in college and forgot to buy a plane tix home for Christmas). On one of my last days of maternity leave, Elliott helped me fold laundry, unload the dishwasher, pack for a trip to Green Bay and go grocery shopping. He barely fussed a bit. He’s having more trouble sleeping on the go, which is one of the only times he really gets fussy. Or during tummy time – unless his sister is entertaining him!
Hey Natalie, check out my musical box! Oh wait, this used to be yours? Why are all my toys 2nd hand?
Favorite Toys/Games: Elliott is quick to smile. His favorite games are “Bop” (running your fingers up his body and then bopping him on the nose), singing “Criss Cross Applesauce” or “Going on a Treasure Hunt” on this body, “hiding” under a blanket (first time I got a giggle) and looking at his friends Yellow, Orange and Green in the singing box thing (see pic above). He likes when I play a xylophone for him and is tracking rattles, his big sister, etc. well. He loves to watch her play.
Elliott’s interest in his hands and putting things in his mouth has grown a lot. I cannot seem to find the infamous Sophie the giraffe, so Elliott has settled for Natalie’s cooking spoons and my teaspoons. Where is that giraffe?
I can pull him up from laying to sitting to standing. Once again, he is not a fan of tummy time – it usually results in a lot of spit up, but we still try.
Um, Mooommmmmmmmm! This is what happens. Please get a burp rag.
Big Accomplishments: Giggles! Jordan has gotten a few giggles… I have too, when playing the Bop game or Peak a Boo.
Schedule: Elliott is outgrowing his hour up, hour down… he’s starting to be awake for longer periods of time, especially in the late afternoon and early evening. (Maybe that’s just because his exciting sister is around!) He goes to bed around 7 or 7:30 and usually wakes up one time between then at 7:30 or 8 a.m. Since I know he can go the whole night without eating, I’ve been encouraging Jordan to go in and “pop a paci,” as I don’t want him to get used to eating in the middle of the night again.
Funniest Moment: We’ve been sprayed when in the bath tub… that’s about it!
New Bestie: Aunt Jira! Aunt Jira is watching Elliott for the last two weeks of June until our nanny starts. She has been a Godsend. I didn’t want to hire a nanny because at the time, I wasn’t sure if my job would be continuing past July 1 because of a reorg in CPS. Anyways, its been fun to hear Jira’s synopsis of the day. Some things she shared: Elliott loves to drink his bottle with his eyes closed, as if eating is the greatest thing in the world; he doesn’t like tummy time at all; yesterday, he really wanted to be held. Poor Jira – she is 6+ months pregnant herself, so there’s not a lot of room on her little body for “holding” Star (the baby’s nickname) and Elliott.
Ha - Aunt Jira, you are so fun! Tell me that joke again.
Natalie had a legit pee pee in the potty on Father’s Day! It only took 20 min, a Cordoroy story, and 8 oz of liquid. She has been very interested since the bigger kids like Luci at school use he potty. She wanted to take a pic to prove it:
Way to go Natalie!!!
Sorry Elliott. You cannot play with your activity gym. Baby Ellie was there first.
Thanks for my Baptism Bear, Auntie Leah! What should we name him!?!
Happy Father’s Day! I’m writing the night before Father’s Day – Natalie and I just finished the above Dad’s Worksheet. We think he’s going to like it!
Although its only Saturday, we already have had a super fun Dad’s Day weekend! We took Elliott’s 3-month photo at Target this morning – both kids were dolls. Jordan overheard one family say “Gordito” in reference to Elliott. When I sat down, Jordan said: “I don’t know many words in Spanish but this is one I do know – Gordito. A family called Elliott Gordito”. As you might guess, we heard Gordita often in reference to Natalie in her infant years.
This afternoon, Natalie took Daddy out for ice cream – he cashed in a coupon from his birthday present. (Whoops – I think we had Daddy pay.)
Dad, I think you should get an ice cream coupon for every one of your birthdays – what do you think?
In Jordan’s family, this is known as a jacuzzi gift… meaning a gift that the giver is equally or even more glad to have given because he/she benefits too. This originates from a (birthday?) gift that Jordan’s mom one time got Jordan’s dad – yep, a jacuzzi!
Afterwards, we went to the park….
Haha – You’re a goof-a-loof Dado!
Per Natalie’s request, we all climbed aboard a train to Green Bay. It was tight quarters.
While we’re in Wisconsin, let’s pick up my favorite food – CHEESE!
Natalie and Elliott have the best dad in the whole world! He is incredibly attentive, caring, fun and loving. Natalie’s favorite activities with her Dad are: riding bikes to preschool (especially wearing the helmet!), making protein shakes, playing kitchen, tickling/rough-housing, and having dance parties (fav song of the day: Bob Marley’s Three Little Birds song… “Don’t worry, about a thing… we honestly listened to it 15 times today). Elliott’s favorite activities with his Dad are: being held (he has a cute way of just clinging to his chest), getting “bonked” on the nose and talking about guy stuff.
We are also very lucky to have two fabulous grandfathers in our lives… who raised awesome kids (if I do say so myself) and love being grandpas!
Oh, Grandpa… don’t be silly. The lion cannot escape from the cage. You have nothing to worry about.
Boo! Did I surprise you?
P.S. This is our 300th blog post!?!?
Rocking out like my Dad
Grandma, I’m feeling Colorado-hip in this awesome twirl skirt!
Natalie, I see your skirt and raise you an adorably fashionable newsie cap!
Grandma and Grandpa came in for Elliott’s baptism (pics to be posted soon). So that my mom didn’t have to sleep on the couch and my dad on a cot in the “office,” Natalie shared her bed. The idea was that she would sleep in her new Dora sleeping bag in our room.
It didn’t quite work out that way. Last night, she slept perpendicular between Jordan and me – without any sheets because she gets hot. That made for a squishy, chilly night but who can mind when this is the face you wake up to?!?
Our neighbor has been asking me for almost two years to plant flowers in a pot outside our house. She even offered to get them at the store for us, which meant i didn’t need to go and took out the guess work of what to get, so I finally relented. (Plus, Natalie has been learning about gardening at school).
thanks for the gardening lesson, Susan! Can you help make sure we keep them alive? I will ask my Nana to help too!
As we prepared to water them, we had this exchange:
Mama: Natalie, lets to upstairs to get your watering can and wash our hands.
Natalie: No I don’t need to. I wiped them on your pants.
Indeed she had. Since she was late for school , I just let hand sanitize. The dirt on my pants (black yoga pants – one of the few pants that fit!) matched the spit up on my shoulder that I discovered at a doc appt. I am 100% mom. And I love it!
Will they always get along this well!?!
Yeah, we should definitely ask Dad if we can stay up late tonight! Good idea!
Your cheeks are just so kissable!!!
