Oliver: 2 months

Weight: 11 lbs 6 oz (50%)
Height: 22 in (25%-no giant like Elliot here...)
Head: 39.75 cm (50%)

Oliver went 6 then 3 hrs 2 nights ago, then 5 and 4 hrs last night...hope his shots and our upcoming trip don't mess that up!!!

He is becoming way more social and smiley. So much fun for all of us.

He loves to play and swat toys on his play mat

He is easily over stimulated and when he gets fussy, a nice tight swaddle remedies the situation immediately.

Just love this little guy!!!

Phone dump

I took the kids swimming.  Matt was able to be there for the first 30 minutes before he had to go into work, so that allowed me to get the kids comfortable in the water so then I could get out and take care of Oliver while they swam.

They are both tall enough that they could stand on the bottom of the leisure pool, so that was nice that I didn't have to be IN the water all the time holding them.  I just had to keep an eye out and be ready to throw Oliver in the carseat and jump in, just in case. :)  It was SHEER  madness at the pool.  Saturday afternoon, for you.  But I wanted to check and make sure I had estimated Isabel's swimming abilities correctly before she started swimming lessons.  I didn't put her in the first class, but in the slightly more advanced class, in which she needed to have learned how to float on her back without assistance for 5 seconds.  Well, she could do 10 seconds pretty much her first try, so no worries there.  She's qualified for the next class up, the one I put her in.  I kind of feel like I have failed her, seeing how I was already this swimming prodigy by her age. :)  Oh well, such is life.  She'll start swim lessons this summer and then we'll see how it goes from there.

We were easily distracted by Oliver during Sunday School.  He kept doing these HUGE smiles and just cooing at us, how could we not engage with him?  Anyway, I've also found some pictures of Elliot that look so identical to Oliver right now.  So here they are in random order...

I don't know, maybe it's because we don't take as many just random, lying there pictures of Oliver like we did with Elliot that I don't have very good side-by-side comparison photos, but trust me...they look SOOOOO much alike that it's kind of eerie sometimes.  I'll show Matt a picture of Elliot and we'll just go, "Wow, that looks so much like Oliver..."

Anyway, Oliver has really enjoyed playing on this playmat.  It also makes it easier for the kids to avoid tripping over him when they are running around. :)

He is also getting a feel for the baby Bjorn, but he mostly enjoys the swing.  However, I decided him sleeping in the swing so much was making it harder for him to stay asleep at night in his crib, so I've since tried to be more dedicated at laying him down in his crib after rocking in the rocking chair, instead of letting the swing do it all.  He's progressed from waking up every 2 hours to now every 3...so still exhausting, but better...

Elliot chose his monochromatic outfit this day. 

Lastly, we had some good friends from Wisconsin, the Bostons, stop in a couple of nights on their drive to Utah.  It was so fun to catch up with them, let the kids play, and of course enjoy a late game night.  They were our main game playing friends in Milwaukee and we loved our late night game fests with them.  Can't wait for them to drive out to Utah again. :)

Better than a dog...

It's no surprise Elliot would love a pet. Our weekly excursions to Petco are his happiest errand. Good thing it's next to Target so we can get it all done in one trip. But until he grows up and can get his own pet, petting Oliver for smiles will have to suffice...

Matt's pictures

Here's some pics from Matt's phone. Playing at a scenic overlook while I nursed in the car on our way to Utah.

Isabel had a "cultural night" at school and the kindergartens all dressed up and did songs in their language. Isabel was dressed as a doll and was beyond excited to perform.

Isabel got a new swim suit for Easter and couldn't wait for warm weather, so they made some "pools" out of blankets in the basement and they played down there over an hour!

Catch up pictures

Here are some more pics from our vacation in Brian Head. The cabin was amazing...the upstairs game room was as big as our main floor. We had a great time!!! The kids enjoyed skiing, although Elliot preferred the chair lift because it was "like being a bird!" It was nice that they have the same size feet and almost the same height so they could use the same skis and we only had to rent 1 pair. :)

Photo shoot: behind the scenes edition

 Here's what everyone did Sunday morning while I was either sleeping in or showering.  Love our little helpers!

Just to explain the posts about the pictures of the kids in this hoodie, the picture of Isabel was a very special picture to us.  Not only was she adorable, but it was one of the last pictures we got of her before she got Kawasaki's disease and ended up looking like this:

So we brought that picture of her in a hoodie, calling it her "Obi-Wan-Kan-Isabel" picture, and taped it to her crib to remind us and to show the medical staff what Isabel used to look like.  Naturally we have also tried to use the gender-neutral hoodie to recreate the cute pictures with our other kids. :)  We sure are glad that only one of our kids went through this at 6 weeks old!!!!

Who's who: same jacket edition

 **Answer: Isabel, Oliver, Elliot, Matt

Some more...

Matt figured out the best way to capture smiles since they are so fleeting at this age. I take a video of my phone and then pause and capture a screen shot of the good smiles. I have that method to thank for these beauties!

Social smiler!

You know you...

*are sleep deprived when... you wake up only 15 minutes after finally lying back down again and your first thought is, "Am I upright in the rocking chair or in bed?" After ascertaining that you are, in fact, in bed, your next thought is, "Did I just finish nursing Oliver or was that a dream?" Fortunately it was not a dream and I did actually feed my child during the night...

*have a mama's boy when... you have the following conversation:
Me: Black Beauty grew up and doesn't live with his mom anymore.
Elliot: But he NEEDS his mom!
M: True, but he doesn't live with her anymore. One day you will grow up and not live with me anymore either.
E: But what if I NEED you????
M: You can call me on the phone.
E: (increasingly distressed) But I don't have a phone!
M: When you grow up you will get one.
(Case closed, I thought...until 5 minutes later...)
E: Mom, I don't want to live away from you!!!!!!!!!
M: OK Buddy, you can live with me forever.
E: (sigh of relief) OK

*have a true animal lover when... your 3 year old uses this logic:
Elliot: Mom, when are we going to get a puppy?
Me: Never.
E: Why?!?!
M: Because I don't want to take care of one, so who would take care of it?
E: What about Daddy?
M: Daddy is at work all day so he can't.
E: Then I will!
M: You are too little right now to take care of a puppy.
E: How about when I get bigger?
M: OK, when you grow up you can have a puppy.
E: Yay!!!!!! Isabel, you hear that????  I can get a puppy!!!!

Goofing off

Matt brings home these medicine caps when he opens a drug they end up not using and when it's not a gross case. :) everyone had fun putting them in like wild eyes. Always something fun around here. :).

Isabel has discovered the joy of worms. Hope she doesn't fill a Baggie with them and bring them to school like her mom and 2 friends did. We were weird. Hope she misses that gene. :)