Uh oh

We thought Ewan was going to get better and better about going to sleep but, alas, he is worse. Like sleeping for 1 to 2 hour stretches and basically not sleeping at all yesterday (ok, ok, he slept for 20 minutes). Last night the only way he would sleep was in someone's arms. Michael took him for 4 hours and then I took him for 4 hours. Thank goodness for a Lazy Boy chair :)

So I can only quickly mention what we've been up to -- I can't remember the details! We went to the zoo Wednesday. Ewan and Mama picked blueberries Wednesday night -- 8 pounds in 40 minutes, not bad! Eli ran through the spinkler and played in the sandbox at Koren's house on Thursday. And Eli made some new friends Friday morning at a playgroup I hadn't been to in a long time. It was a busy week.

A little adult

Eli often says things that sound very adult-like. When reading a crocodile book with Nanna one day, they came to a page where the crocodile tries to eat a zebra. Nanna mentioned that it was scary, and Eli said, trying to comfort Nanna, "It's OK, there's lots of zebras in the world."

Yesterday we went for a hike at Joryville Park. While we were walking through the woods, Michael and I were talking about taking the boys hiking and camping when they got older. I said that we should go to the Green Lakes area, Eli said, "Yeah yeah, I like that area." You really would have thought he knew where I was talking about.

It wasn't a fluke

Eli said, "I have poop in me," pulled his potty into the dining room and pooped in his potty again! The fact that it was in the middle of dinner will be ignored for now.

Earlier in the day, Eli said he wanted to poop on his potty but he had already pooped in his diaper. He was distraught when Michael tried to change it, even when Michael said that he could sit on his potty after the diaper change. After a bit of a tantrum, we learned that Eli was worried that Daddy would take the poop out of Eli's body during the diaper change (God, we wish!) thereby leaving no opportunity to poop in the potty! The bizarre things that 2-year-olds think....

Sugar snap beans

"When you finish those," Eli said, pointing to the 5 sugar snap beans that he put on my plate, "you can have more."

(Notice the number on Eli's plate.)

A huge milestone

Several months ago, Eli was sitting on his potty and peeing. But then he stopped. And every time we mentioned the potty, he would say, "No! I don't want to sit on the potty." We didn't push it.

When Nanna first got here before Ewan was born, she asked Eli if he wanted to sit on the potty and he, again, said "No." But he told her that he was going to start using the potty in 2 weeks. She asked if he wanted to practice and he said, "No. Don't need to."

Just two days before Nanna left, she read Eli his Big Boy Potty book. He got very excited and made her read it again and again. Then he tried sitting on his potty and peeing. He did it. Everyone told him that they were very proud of him.

Then yesterday, he watched videos from the library about the potty and sat on his potty. And sat and sat and sat. Probably for about 40 minutes. Then he said "Mama, look!" He had pooped in his potty. I couldn't believe it!

Irish jig

Eli didn't want Ewan to have all the fun dancing the Irish jig with Poppy, so one night he joined in on the fun. It was hysterical :)

Art Fair Parade

The Children's Parade for the Art Fair last weekend is a tradition. The first year Eli did it with his class, the Cruisers, from the Y daycare. The past 2 years, I've taken him. And this year, Ewan joined his brother. Eli shook his jingle bells and played his harmonica.

Eli had a great time at the art fair this year. He decorated a canvas bag, a rainstick and a button.

Splash!

Last week, Eli went to another splash pad and met his friend Elliott there.

4 week old Ewan!

Ewan is four weeks old today. To celebrate, Ewan slept from 1:15 a.m. to 6:15 a.m. this morning! Quite a record for this little guy. Of course, Eli (who usually sleeps soundly all night long) woke at 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. and then got up for good at 7:30 a.m. The photos are from July 14 and 15th!

Telling stories

For the past two nights, Eli has spontaneously started telling us a story at the end of dinner. They are quite elaborate descriptions, but no real plot. Just a series of strong declarative sentences. They go something like this:

"The food got all mixed up!!!"

"With glass and doorbells!!!"

"And then we ate it!"

"And the food was all mixed up!"

We love these stories as Eli's eyes light up as he tries to think of another sentence. They are quite different from the other kind of "story" that Eli has been telling:

When Dadda was trying to change his diaper, Eli said he wanted to do it himself. Dadda told him "No, this is something Dadda needs to do."

Eli said, "Mama lets me do it myself."

Which is not true.

And then this morning Eli comes running into the living room crying and says to Mama, "I want a bagel! I want a bagel!"

Mama: "OK, you can have a bagel."

Eli: "Dadda won't let me have a bagel."

At which point, I hear Michael laugh out loud from the kitchen and say, "I just OFFERED you a bagel, Eli!"

Blankie!

There is nothing like the feeling of running with a blankie stuffed in your mouth!

Poppy has the magic touch

Ewan loves to lie on his Poppy and dance a little jig with his Poppy :)

A family of 4 now!

It is highly unlikely we will have lots of photos of the 4 of us (would we invite a neighbor over just to take family photos?)! Here are some of the only ones so far...

Please let it be a growth spurt

Apparently babies go through growth spurts at 3 weeks, 6 weeks, 3 months and 6 months. This is a time when babies nurse like crazy to get enough calories to sustain their growth and mommas go crazy sitting in the same damn chair thinking about all the things they could do if their boob wasn't attached to a baby :)

Oh yeah, Ewan is going through a growth spurt!

A first movie

Eli saw Rugrats in the big movie theater with his Nanna and Poppy yesterday. I was skeptical that he could sit through the entire thing and I also worried about him getting scared, but he did great. I guess at the end of the movie, Eli started yelling, "No! No!" because he didn't want it to be over :)

Then when he got home he told me there was a wolf in the movie. I haven't actually seen this movie, but apparently the family dog chases off the wolf. At dinner, Eli asked me if a wolf would come eat Zula. I said, "No, honey, a wolf will not eat Zula."

He said, "If a wolf comes and eats Zula, then Wally will come back."

I'm not quite sure what to make of that statement...

Ewan likes his bath!

Ewan didn't cry at all during this bath and it seemed like he really enjoyed the warm water!

A festival in honor of lavendar

We went to a beautiful lavendar festival on Sunday, where Eli took a pony ride (loved it!) and we had yummy lavendar lemonade, lavendar snicker doodles and enjoyed the smell of lavendar on everything. Ewan slept most of the time. Eli played with his Poppy most of the time.

A funny outfit

Eli's been wearing just a diaper outside because it is so hot. Then, for breakfast one morning, he decided he was cold and would just slip on a raincoat. But no pants.

A weekend with Ewan

Ewan has been growing a lot, nursing like crazy! and keeping his eyes open longer and longer. He still gives us good 2 or 3 hour stretches of sleep but he also has times where he is awakr and not happy unless he is nursing -- usually evenings and mornings.

A trip to the Portland Children's Museum

On Saturday, Eli picked up Poppy at the airport with Nanna. Afterward they made a special trip to the Portland Children's Museum, a place Eli had never been. He brushed a dinosaur's teeth, played in fun water features, pet baby animals, practiced being a veterinarian and cooked up some yummy food at a cafe. He came home exhausted and so happy.

Water fun

Eli has been having a blast going in the sprinkler, going to the spray parks and generally trying to keep cool now that it has hit high 90s for the past 3 days. He especially loves to get wet with his friends!