Night night

One of Ada's favorite things (and Emmet sometimes too) is going "night night" on the dog's bed.

The perfect step-stool

While unloading groceries I put the cases of soda where I always do before putting them away. When I turned around this is what I found.

Talk to the animals

So, a few weekends ago we decided to take Ada and Emmet to a local farm that is open to the public for produce and has a petting farm too. A & E were quite crabby that morning but we thought a change of scenery might do the trick and pull them out of their sorrow. Unfortunately that wasn't quite the case. The whined off and on the whole time we were there. They both loved seeing horses up close and enjoyed playing with some kittens. I accidentally let a whole bunch of goats out of their pen. They're sneaky little buggers. We had to put Ada and Emmet back in the stroller so Roger and I could strategically capture the goats and get the back in their area. Whew! We visited all the animals but it was a quick trip with lots of whining. Here are a few pictures.

Ada & the animals

Ada's new favorite book is Brown Bear, Brown Bear What do you see? She loves going through the animals and saying their "sounds". I was able to catch some of this on video today. So cute!

Emmet in the sand

We've gotten into a routine of going to the park every morning. I feel more comfortable letting them roam around there than I do in our own yard. It seems when we're at home Ada wants to go in the road and Emmet wants to play with the hose, which happens to be right next to our egress window. I get too stressed out trying to make sure they're both safe. At the park there are things to occupy them and safer places to roam. I was able to get some video today. It works well right now. Ada swings and wanders all over. Emmet likes to play with the buckles in the wagon and fill up the cup holders on the wagon with woodchips. Today he ventured into the sandbox. I imagine once he starts walking things may be a little different!

* It's kind of a bummer. The quality of the video is not the same on the blog as it is on my computer. Not sure how to fix that so we'll all just have to deal with it for now.

Fun at the park

Ada has been "counting" lately and I've been desperately trying to capture it on video. This is as close as I've come. She does not say "one" but usually will say "two" and "twee", but of course not this time. It's still darn cute though.

Ba-Bye Greg and Gina

Well, the time has come to say goodbye to Greg and Gina. On Wednesday evening we had their "last supper" with Mom, Doug, Dad and Julie. We had a nice time despite the underlying sadness in everyones hearts. Thursday morning we said our tearful (I couldn't stop crying) goodbyes and watched them drive away in their big yellow truck. Ada started crying when she saw me crying but she quickly stopped crying to focus on saying "eye" and poking me in my eye and wiping my tears. I just can't believe they're gone. I spoke with them tonight and unfortunately "Cecil the Diesel" (their car) broke down in the mountains about 3 hours yet from Grand Junction. What a mess. I feel so bad for them and wish there was something I could do. Greg will be back on the 28th to continue working and waiting to sell the house. I can't imagine how hard that will be for the two of them. They will get through this and will be stronger because of it. It's so quiet next door. I didn't realize how comforting the sound of their garage door or cabinets shutting was. Here are a few pictures from moving day. Ada and Emmet were both so excited to see a big truck in our driveway. Ada kept saying "guck" and Emmet said "da" (his word for everything) and just wanted to touch it. They both enjoyed their inside tour with uncle Greg.

Dancin' time!

After an afternoon in the lake we had some fun listening to Greg play his music and dancing. Ada is with Roger. Emmet is dancing with Grandpa. Kelly is rocking Joshua. Jeff is dancing with Jacob and Gina is singing along! What fun!

Lake Okauchee

Woo hoo! I figured out how to share a video! It's a pretty lousy video (blame that on me) but it gives you an idea of our day.
L-R
Gina, Greg, Emmet, Roger, Ada, Great Grandma, Grandpa, Jeff, Jon.

A day at the lake!

Emmet and Gina

Ada and Grandpa

Emmet and Daddy

Ada with Grandpa and Great Grandma

Ada and Great Grandma having a great time! (I love this picture)

Yesterday we spent the day at my grandparents house on Lake Okauchee. I have such fond memories from my childhood of spending summers at the lake, this visit brought many of those memories front and center in my mind! My cousin Jeff, along with his wife Kelly and their two kids Jacob (almost 3) and Joshua (4 months) came down from Michigan. My cousin Jon and his wife Katie came in from Chicago. Greg, Gina, Dad, and us of course, made our way to Oconomowoc for a fun filled day. It wasn't quite as relaxing with all the little ones around as it once used to be but it was great getting to see them experience what we all grew up with. Ada turned into a fish...she absolutely loved being in the lake with Gina, Greg, Grandpa, Daddy, Great Grandma, Jeff and Jon. Emmet spent some time in the lake as well but wasn't quite as comfortable with it as Ada was. He clung to Gina for the majority of the time (thanks Gina!) in the water but otherwise enjoyed playing in the grass on shore, eating chips and sitting with me. We spent the rest of the time eating, playing with children and dancing to Greg's music. What a great day! It was sad to say good bye as we don't see eachother often enough. We all left exhausted but with fond memories!

Future Van Goghs?

I've been running out of activities to keep these two monkeys busy so I bought some washable crayons and let Ada and Emmet try them out...safely contained in their high chairs of course. While it only occupies them for 5 minutes it's so much fun to explore something new. AND, we now have our very first fridge art from A & E! I love it!

Thugs in the kitchen

About the only thing Ada and Emmet want to do lately is unload the kitchen cabinets. It keeps them busy but makes us feel a little "coo coo bananas" with stuff all over the floor. I pick it up and put it away, they take it out - OVER AND OVER AND OVER! They think it's great. Me? Not so much.

By the way...

No one properly warned me that diaper changing would become an Olympic sport at this age. It's like WWF around here during diaper changes. I'm usually out of breath and sweating when it's over. I clap and cheer for myself if no one has run off with the poopy diaper and/or box of wipes or painted themselves with the A&D ointment. When will this phase end?

15-Month Check-Up

I found Emmet like this the other morning ,while I was cleaning up breakfast. He won't walk but he's starting to climb things!

I just thought this was a sweet picture.

We had Ada and Emmet's 15 month appointment last Thursday. Wow, they were NOT happy to be there. Everything was fine until we left the waiting area and entered the exam room. They screamed when they had to lay on the crunchy paper on the table to have their height measured, when they sat in the scale to be weighed, and for Ada when the doctor came near here. Emmet didn't mind the doctor looking in his ears or checking him out just as long as he didn't have to be on the paper. And then, of course, the shots evoked heart breaking screams that lasted longer than normal. Ada left quite an impression on the doctor, who promptly told us "you two are in for trouble with this one, she's a pistol!". While it certainly feels that way quite often, she does have an amazing sweet side that unfortunately doctors don't always get to see. She said they look great. We will be having Emmet referred for an evaluation with the Birth To Three Program for language (or lack thereof) and gross motor development. The doctor felt that even though he's a little behind she was pleased to hear of his progress as of late (pulling up to stand and crawling more exclusively, although still not full-time) and her gut is that he's just fine. It can't hurt to have the evaluation and it may put my worried mind at ease... for now. Or, it may reveal he does have some need for intervention and the earlier we get on that the better. Emmet weighed in at 23 lbs, 1 oz (27.6%) and he is approximately 33 inches tall (92%). Ada weighed in at 24 lbs., 13 oz (77%). Her height was measured twice with two very different results... 38 inches (100%) and then 32 inches (89%). I KNOW she is taller than Emmet by about 2 inches but certainly do not think she is 38 inches tall. It's so hard to get an exact height at this age. So, that's it in a nutshell. They were crabby monsters for the rest of the day and Ada's crankiness lasted for a few days after as well. She's got some teeth coming in and has been miserable. Poor girl.

Ada is having so much fun with words lately. She likes to mimic pretty much everything I say. Her favorite words right now are baby, truck (tuck or guck), sock (tock), shoe, that (dat or datch) baa-baa, mama, ba-bye, moo-moo, more (sounds a little like moo) and oh-oh. She's working on saying "hi" and uses it when daddy comes home, it sounds more like "ha". She will do the movements to Pat-a-Cake and Itsy Bitsy Spider and will sign "more" and "tired/sleep" sometimes. She's also upped the anty on her tantrums...holy smokes! She's become highly interested in body parts, particularly mommy's belly button - she likes to pull my shirt up to poke at it and then she'll pat her belly. So cute! She is pointing at everything and either making some sort of insistent grunting noise or saying "that" (datch). She is very persistent and is a total mamas girls right now.

Emmet loves to walk assisted and chase Ada around, which she loves. He gets mad when mom or dad decide that their back is about to break and can no longer walk him around. He will come over and pick up my hands and make a "uh,uh" noise as if to say "come on Mom, let's go". He watches his sister walk around with a longing in his eyes. His concentration on his building, putting things in/taking them out, throwing and chasing a ball, and exploring objects inside and out is amazing. He does not like to be interrupted when he's in his zone. He loves to give kisses and will smother me with kisses if I'm laying on the floor. Emmet's language is not where the doctor would like it to be. Right now, he says mama and da but it's hard to determine if it's purposeful. He has, however, recently started pointing at things and doing the insistent grunting noise that Ada does. If you ask him what a dog says, he replies with "mmm, mmm" or "uh,uh", same for a duck and cow sounds. For "oh, oh" he doesn't say the words but rather uses the correct intonation with an internal sound. Emmet enjoys doing some of the movements to Pat-Cake and Itsy Bitsy Spider and absolutely LOVES rough housing with daddy. Roger can get him laughing, squealing and screeching with delight. I'm usually cringing at the rough housing but Emmet loves it so I guess that makes me the big chicken!?!?!

And the biggest development (this is an eternally long entry)...we're down to one nap a day. After A & E resisted their afternoon nap for nearly two weeks I decided it was time to try transitioning to one afternoon nap. Last Saturday I held them off until 11am and they had a late lunch after they woke up. On Sunday Roger and I took them to run errands and out to lunch and put them down for a nap at 12:30...they slept until 3:30. Yesterday and today we had a similar schedule. Emmet's been up awful early the last few mornings and they've been pretty cranky at night but I think moving their bedtime earlier will do the trick. We'll see.

That's it for now, perhaps I should post more often rather than writing a novel next time?

June 24th

On June 24th Nana and Pops came to babysit ALL DAY. Dad and Julie treated Greg, Gina, Roger and I to tickets to see Dave Dunham at the Improv in Chicago. This was long babysitting job for them as we had to leave at 11am and didn't return until 7:30pm. Roger and I enjoyed some time away and Nana and Pops enjoyed their extended Ada and Emmet time. Ada and Emmet had a great time too. As usual, Pops got some great pictures.

Ada and Emmet in the ever so popular, Radio Flyer Deluxe.

Emmet having fun in the grass.

My sweet Ada.

If you look closely (sorry they won't enlarge) you'll see two paths through the grass where A & E were crawling.

After a long day of playing A & E relaxed with a Baby Einstein video.

Greg's last show in WI (for now....)

I don't know if I've mentioned here before now but Greg and Gina will be moving to Grand Junction Colorado in a few short weeks...SOB! Gina worked so hard and recently completed her Masters degree in School Psychology. She accepted a position in Colorado as it's been a dream of theirs to live out west. Greg will be working towards a Songwriting Certificate through Berklee College of Music online with hopes of selling his creations and making lots and lots of money to support his beautiful niece and nephew, I mean to support his beautiful wife, adorable dog (Joplin)and live the life of freedom! Anyway...Greg has played shows for the last several years with a friend, Freddy. They had a regular happy hour gig every week at a bar in Madison for quite a while and would also periodically play in the Lake Geneva and Waukesha areas. On June 23rd, they had a farewell show in Waukesha. After Roger got home from work he took over baby central and I went to Waukesha. It was a nice adult night away for me but was also an emotional night for some of us. I found myself choking back tears several times that night. I'm going to miss both of them tremendously. It's been so nice having them as next door neighbors and I just can't imagine what it will be like living that far apart from my brother. Greg lived in Michigan for about a year (I think) a while back - other than that and his senior year in high school when I moved out, we've always lived together. Thank God for email, cell phones and blogs!

Greg playing his heart out!

Greg and Freddy after the show.

L-R, Me, my aunt Barb, my momma

Nana comes to play!

Nana came to play today! YIPPIE! The weather was absolutely gorgeous so we decided to play in the pool again. Ada and Emmet are both so cute with their Nana, you can tell they just love her to pieces. Emmet is particularly affectionate with Nana...he likes to give her kisses and snuggles and the most charming smiles. Ada loves engaging Nana in songs and books...she knows Nana can't resist. Tonight when it was time for her to go Nana set Ada down and Ada proceeded to whine and reach up for Nana as if to say, "Don't go Nana, not yet". So cute. Nana does so much for us, we could never thank her enough.


Nana playing "catch" with Emmet.

Nana and Ada who had ants in her pants and wouldn't sit still for a picture.

Emmet enjoyed exploring rocks with Nana.

Ada walking pics...as promised

I was able to snap a few pics today of Ms. Ada walking away, which is literally all she does when she's awake. She's wearing a path in our carpet!

This morning Ada was intent on walking with a wooden spoon. With all of her practicing her balance has gotten quite good. She's gaining confidence enough to walk with objects, while clapping or patting her legs and singing. She even walked in the bumpy, grassy, uneven yard today.

Tonight she decided to try walking with a shirt on her head. She is a nut! She loved that I was laughing at her and just continued walking around with the shirt on her head.

Father's Day pics

Father's Day was pretty low key this year, that is until after Ada and Emmet's second nap when we tried out the kiddie pool and squirt guns Daddy brought home from Target the other day. Ada LOVED splashing in the pool with Grandpa, Daddy and Emmet. Emmet loved it for a short while and then wanted to get out to play in the yard with the dog and the hose. He got the biggest kick out the cold water coming out of the hose until he got a mouth full! After the babies were in bed Grandpa, Julie, Greg, Gina, Daddy and I had a wonderful steak dinner. YUM! It was quite the day! Roger has done such a wonderful job being a "Stay At Home Dad" this year. I know he's happy that I'm home for the summer so he can have a little bit of a break but he loves it all the same. I couldn't ask for a better husband and father for my children!

Emmet pics by the pool

Emmet and Grandpa have fun with the squirt guns Daddy bought!

Emmet enjoyed splashing WITH the squirt guns.

Emmet giving the sun a big huge smile!