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Meet my pals – Panda and Nana!

Natalie is brutally honest many times. For example…. Yesterday, when I left the dinner table for a moment to get something, she told me that she dipped her fork directly in the hummus instead of dipping vegetables (even though we say hummus is for dipping veggies).

Yet, “My Mama/Dada told me…” is an increasingly popular refrain these days… when she wants to get something from one of us. In the last 24 hours, I’ve supposedly told Natalie that she can:

• Have her Daddy sleep with her
• Wear her PJs to school
• Not brush her teeth in the morning

 
Doesn’t that sound like the kind of lax, anything goes parent that you’d imagine I would be?

One thing I DID tell Natalie was that today is her Daddy’s 32nd birthday!! Happy Birthday to our amazing Daddy !!!

You say its your birthday!!!

Yes, you can have a birthday kiss… And not only bc I want you to share these cupcakes!

We also celebrated Mammaw and PAppaw’s 61st wedding anniversary! Congrats!

Our friends Mike and Kay were brave enough to host an indoor Memorial Day party, which included kiddos. Natalie was happy to see Taylor but sad Molly couldn’t make it.

Are you serious? Wow

I’ll drink to that!

Diego, come back for the pic!

I am feeding Elliott in his room and Natalie just delivered my nightly vitamin. As She shut the door to Elliott’s room, she asked sweetly, “Do you need some privacy Mom?”

Why yes. Thanks! Next up, maybe I can have some privacy when I take a shower or go to the bathroom!

Addendum: she was back less than 2 min later to see if I finished my vitamin that she had delivered. I know I will miss it when my kids don’t need me quite so much!

Have you met my friends – Yellow, Green and Orange Faces?

I better taste this batter to make sure Dado will like his birthday cupcakes. Yep. Good. Wait, I better taste just one more time

P.S. If you have a chocolate and peanut butter lover in your fam, like we do, we recommend these Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes – http://www.bakedperfection.com/2011/04/chocolate-cupcakes-with-peanut-butter.html.  (Note: Cut the frosting recipe in half.)

Three year old birthdays are awesome! You are a hoot, Edmund!
(Note: Edmund’s whole fam knew about Natalie prior to her arrival. She is obviously a fav friend and the feeling is mutual!)

Elliott “turned” two months on Sun, May 19.  I referenced Natalie’s 2-month post in writing this and am very happy that the first paragraph I wrote isn’t true for Elliott (knock on wood)!

“Natalie’s 2-month “birthday” was on Sat, Feb. 19.  We’re a little late with the post because she has been fussy this week – she seems not to be sleeping enough during the day.  She’s tough to get to sleep, won’t sleep well in her crib or swing or bouncey seat and often wakes up after 15 min. – usually b/c she needs to burp but needs help.  Any suggestions?”

I'm two months old! My sister there was a small fry comparatively!

While by no means a shrimp, you can see Natalie at two months here.

I’m sure all babies are different, but I think it helps that Elliott is larger and we weren’t able to accommodate his desire to be held as long.  Perhaps b/c we have 2 kids.  Anyways, its working out great… I remember telling folks that I barely started to feel human until Natalie was 2 months old, but I’ve felt “human” a lot earlier with Elliott.  I’m even working out some mornings – woo hoo!  (Granted, I have a lot more “baby weight” to lose.)

Anyways, back to the 2-month update:
Weight: 14 lbs, 7 oz.  (95th percentile) (Same percentile as his sister at 2-mo, though she was 13 lbs, 1 oz and had moved up a lot of percentiles, while he has remained the same)
Height: 25.5 inches (98th+ percentile) (Taller than his sister)
Head Circumference: 42.5 inches (98th+ percentile)

Basically, our 2-mo-old is the size of a 5-mo-old, according to the doc.

Who does he look like? Still looks like Natalie and Jordan
Personality: Sweet, Smiley, Easy going (especially relative to his sister)
Favorite Food: Mom’s Milk – about 7-8 times a day, with only one feeding between the hours of 7:30 p.m. and 8 a.m. usually!  He’s a champ at taking a bottle too.
Favorite Toys / Games: Peek-a-Boo with draping a cloth over his head, Flailing his arms around (which Natalie says tickles her), Patty-Cake, the Activity Mat, watching his Big Sister Natalie do anything at all and eye contact with anyone – which leads to a lot of cute smiles.
Big Accomplishments: Sleeping 12+ hours at night, with only one feeding.  Having the world’s cutest smile (tied with his sister, of course) – does that count as an accomplishment?  And, at the doctor’s office today, rolled over from his stomach to his back!  Granted, I started him with his arms kinda propped up and the roll was probably an accident, but he’s definitely been kicking a lot while on his tummy!

So, you're telling me the only way to get off my tummy is to roll over? What's that?

Funniest Moment: Nothing too hilarious yet… maybe b/c we are such parent pros! (Just kidding).  Jordan and I were giving him a bath a couple weeks ago and got to experience what its like to be parents of a little boy.  He, um, squirted right in the air after awhile in the tub.  Much better than Natalie’s post, which was projectile poop across the room and onto my jewelry box.
Big Excursions: Besides New Orleans, of course, Elliott’s biggest excursion was a trip to the Farmer’s Market on Saturday – where we met up with friends from college and their kids (Molly, Taylor and Hailey), combined with lunch out with Nana, Pop, Mammaw and Pappaw.  No pics of Elliott to show for it though… he slept the entire 3 hours out.  Which might have explained the relative difficulty we had with his sleeping for the rest of the day.  Whoops.  Such is the life of a 2nd child.
Big Sister’s Reaction: Natalie continues to be a very loving big sis.  She smothers him with Eskimo kisses, forehead cuddles and hugs.  I wonder if its just human nature to love and want to cuddle with things smaller than you… she does to him a lot of things that we would love to do with her but she doesn’t let us!  He doesn’t protest a bit. 🙂  Natalie also always asks where he is… the answer is usually in his room sleeping (when we’re at home) or in the stroller (when I pick her up from school).

Thanks for the kiss big sis! Now, how about you let me go back to eating?

Thanks for reading our blog!

Jordan and Natalie made homemade pizzas, using an easy kid-friendly recipe that my mom, sisters and I loved growing up. For the crust, you simply use a rolling pin to flatten the bread. As this picture suggests, it was a success!

Mom, you are seriously stopping dinner to take a picture.  Don’t tell me I didn’t warn you… if I finish my pizza before you finish yours, I’ll ask you to share!  

I especially like this pic because Jordan is in it and he hasn’t been pictured in a blog post for quite awhile. Sorry Dado! You are cute but Natalie and Elliott have you beat!

That’s a my Brudha… Because I like it

That is a real Natalie quote. Brudha is brother. Elliott clearly adores her too!

Although we didn’t see the rhinos (it is too cold, Natalie informed me), we saw a big lion! I didn’t get a pic close to the lion bc Natalie was clutching my side. She enjoyed hearing the roar from far away!

That lion is loud!!

Sing the camel song, Mama!

And Elliott enjoyed the skyline….

The best part was that we arrived home at the same time as Dado so I had help getting the kids and gear up the stairs and food on the table!

We still need pics of Aunt Leah and Aunt Jira with Elliott, but here’s the start!!