Casper Antics

Things I love...

2012-01-24T14:46:00.000-08:00

Being serenaded with the ABC song by Eli on the way to school.

Ewan waving good-bye and saying "bye, bye, bye..." as a friend (or even a random person buying something from us off Craigslist) leaves our house.

Eli "working" with Daddy around the house on every kind of project -- plumbing, electrical, etc. And his eagerness for more.

Ewan's babble, especially when he is looking right at me and saying something very important, which is obvious from his expression and his intonation.

Eli jumping at the chance to pick out a diaper and clothes or pjs for Ewan.

Ewan -- wanting to be just like his big brother -- and pulling out shirts and pants from Eli's drawers.

Eli's drawings slowly transforming from scribbles to slightly-more-detailed scribbles.

Ewan's enthusiasm for artwork even when no artwork is produced.

Conversations with Eli

2012-01-04T14:48:00.000-08:00

Who is bigger?, and thus, knows more

We spent New Year's Eve at A.C. Gilbert House -- it is the 3rd year in a row! This time, Eli and Ewan were playing in the Oregon room. At the area with the beach, Daddy said, "Oh look, a hermit crab."

A little girl next to him said, "No that's not a hermit crab, that's a (some other kind of crab)."

Daddy didn't say anything.

As they walked to another room, Eli said, "Daddy, are you bigger than that girl?"

Daddy said, "Yes, why?"

Eli: "So it was a hermit crab afterall?"

A walk in the park

While walking to Bush Park yesterday, Eli found 5 sticks he just couldn't pass up. He was dragging them to the playground, telling Mama all about the sticks, when he stopped.

Eli: "Mama, the thing about carrying all of these sticks is that other kids might ostracize me."

On the way home from the park, Eli and Mama (with Ewan on her back) were pretending to be allosaurus dinosaurs hunting for prey. Eli said we were to really use our sense of eyesight, smell and hearing to find prey, but then we would just pretend to eat it.

Upon seeing two teenage girls on the sidewalk in front of us, Eli yells, "Look meat!!!"

Luckily (for Mama), they didn't know he was talking about them.

About the babysitter

Eli met a new babysitter a few days ago. At dinner, Daddy asked if Eli liked her. Eli thought for a moment and then said, "I don't like her hair, but I like her body."

Conversations with Eli

2011-12-30T14:10:00.002-08:00

To cool oatmeal

After putting a bowl of hot oatmeal in front of Eli, Eli asks Mama to help him blow on it to cool it off.

Eli: "Blow on the oatmeal as hard as water flows from the Columbia River to the ocean."

Jokes

Eli is just beginning to learn about jokes. He knows they are supposed to be funny. He knows people are supposed to laugh at jokes. He gets some jokes in movies (his favorite joke is from a Stuart Little movie: a skunk says, "Talk to the butt!" before spraying another animal). But that's about the extent of his joke abilities. Listen in:

Eli, during a car ride home from Portland: "Let's tell jokes! I'll go first."

Eli: "How does a cow dig a hole?"

Daddy: "How?"

Eli: "With his teeth!"

We all laugh. (And no, we don't get that joke!)

Daddy: "OK, my turn. An elephant and a rhinoceros have a baby. Guess what the baby is called."

Eli: "That's pretty funny, Daddy. OK, my turn."

Daddy: "But wait. What is the baby called?"

Eli: "It's my turn Daddy. You can tell a joke when I am done!"

Eli: "What happens with 7 rhinoceros' with horns?

Mama and Daddy: "What?"

Eli, laughing wildly: "6 grunts!"

Daddy: "OK, my turn. Why did the chicken cross the road?"

Pause.

Eli: "Daddy, jokes are supposed to be funny. That's not funny. It's just irritating."

Ewan is 18-months old

2011-12-30T14:08:00.002-08:00

Ewan has learned a host of new words in the last month. He says, "I want that," "cheese" (as in, 'say cheese for the camera!'), juice, nigh-nigh (night-night) and he's expanded his use of "bye" by waving to people when they leave.

In lots of ways, Ewan acts much older than Eli did at 18 months old. He watches everything Eli does and then tries it himself. Lately, he's been into playing "RAWR!" with Eli's dinosaur figures. He makes dinosaurs attack each other, eat each other and roar at each other. Eli's toys are always chosen over the typical 18-month-old toys like shape sorters, puzzles with big pieces and latches.

Ewan, just like Eli, is growing like a weed. He's 25 pounds and super tall (sorry, can't remember his height!)

He is a super happy guy. Laughing and giggling most of the day. But he has started to throw mini-tantrums when he doesn't get his way. After dealing with Eli's tantrums, Mama finds Ewan's tantrums kind of silly.

Ewan very much wants to do things for himself. He practices putting his boots on throughout the day, even if we aren't going outside. He takes his pants off all the time, but can't seem to get them back on. He wants to put his own shoes and socks on, gets frustrated when he can't and gets mad at Mama for putting them on for him.

Ewan still loves cars and trucks, waits for the garbage truck and street sweeper at our windows and makes the best vroom vroom noises.

Eli is 4-years old

2011-12-30T14:08:00.001-08:00

Oh my little baby is 4 years old!

We had a wonderful party at a gymnastics studio. Eli and his friends had an absolute blast on trampolines, in the ball pit and jumping wildly in this bungee-cord harness thing.

Eli, still obsessed with dinosaurs, got a dinosaur cake. A VERY homemade-looking dinosaur cake. Ah, frosting: why must you give Mama so much trouble.

At 4, Eli is the ultimate negotiator. A "no" elicits a paragraphs-long monologue to which Mama oftens says "Fine" to end the discussion. Truth be told: his requests or "solutions" to the problem are often very complicated but very reasonable.

Eli takes a rest every afternoon but rarely falls asleep these days. He plays elaborate games in his room (which also happens to be Mama and Daddy's room). His games often involve dinosaurs, "flying" between beds or heaping toys, clothes, hangers etc. into some kind of huge messy pile that-- if you look close enough -- is actually a volcano, mountain, tower etc.

Eli has been in preschool since September. He goes 2 mornings a week. When asked what he learns in preschool, he says "We don't learn -- we play!" Even so, he comes home with all kinds of ideas for new experiments and says he wants to be a scientist. Go preschool!

Eli is growing like a weed. Two months ago, Eli could easily wear most 3T pants. Those pants now hit the bottom of his calves. Yes, he must drink milk at dinner, but not THAT MUCH!

Mama and Daddy are excited about 4. Here's to a great year learning with a 4-year-old!

Conversations with Eli

2011-12-08T11:41:00.001-08:00

Magic Blankie

Ewan fell down while riding his push-car and bumbed his head. He was crying pretty hard so Mama picked him him. Eli grabbed his blankie and gave it to Ewan.

Mama: "Oh look Ewan, Eli gave you his special blankie."

Eli: "Yeah Ewan, blankie is magic. It takes away your sadness and puts it
in the ground."

College

Eli: "How will I learn to be a paleontologist?"

Mama: "You'll go to college."

Eli: "They'll teach me how to dig up dinosaur bones?"

Mama: "Yes. You'll have to take all kinds of science classes."

[Pause]

Eli: "Did you go to college to learn how to be a good taker-carer-of?"

When I grow up

Eli was learning to swim, and he was successfully swimming in the pool with a lifevest. He was very proud of himself. He swam up to Daddy with a big smile on his face.

Eli: "I'm a very good swimmer!"

Daddy: "You are!"

Eli: "I'm a good runner too."

Daddy: "Yes, you are a good runner and a good swimmer."

Eli: "When I grow up, I am going to be a good runner like you and a
good swimmer like mama."

[Pause]

Eli: "And also a good taker-carer-of."

[Pause]

Eli: "Also a paleontologist."

Conversations with Eli

2011-11-25T14:59:00.000-08:00

Multiple jobs
Today, Eli used Mama's camera to take pictures while we were at the park. After awhile he said that he was good at taking pictures.

Eli: "I want to be a picture taker when I grow up."

Mama: "Oh great. You want to be a photographer. That's a fun job!"

Eli: "Yeah, but I want to be a paleontologist too. So you know what I am going to do? I am going to take pictures of dinosaur bones!"

A new porch
On a walk in a different neighborhood, Mama sees a house she loves -- mainly because of its wraparound porch.

Mama: "Oh Eli, I love this house. Look at that porch!"

Eli: "We have a porch."

Mama: "No, we have a patio and a deck in the backyard, but we don't have a porch."

Eli, very serious: "OK Mama. How about this? Daddy and I go to the basement and get tools and then we build you a porch?"

Mama: "I would like that very much Eli."

Eli: "For real, Mama. How about we do that for real?"

Wearing skin
While dancing in the living room with Mama and Eli, Ewan sits down to take his socks off.

Mama: "Oh your feet are hot? You want to take your socks off, Ewan?"

Eli: "Yeah, take your socks off Ewan. You can just wear your skin! See, I'm wearing my skin!"

Learning is fun!
Eli, jumping up and down in the kitchen: "Mama, Mama, guess what I learned today?"

Mama, laughing: "What?"

Eli: "I learned that the sun is a STAR! It is the closest star to us. Can you believe that?!?"

Ewan is 17 months old!

2011-11-23T22:02:00.000-08:00

Ewan is 17 months old today.

Ewan and Mama have been taking a music class together and we love it. Ewan sings and moves to all kinds of music now and he'll even try to drum on the ground when he hears a song he likes.

Ewan understands practically everything we are saying, but he still only says 'Hi' and 'Bye' in addition to 'Mama' and 'Dada'. We swore he said 'E-i' one day but it must have been a fluke!

He is intent on doing things for himself. He has to feed himself (he's been doing that since he was at least a year!), but now he wants to put his own shoes on. He can't do it yet, and that is frustrating, but he keeps trying. He is very interested in the potty, so we brought up Eli's old potties and Ewan sits on them, carries them around the house and puts stuffed animals on them. Before we know it, he will be potty trained (we hope!).

Ewan enjoys going to his daycare two days a week. For awhile he just screamed when I would leave. Now he runs in and plays. It is so nice to know he is having fun and learning a ton while he is there. He does artwork, plays with different toys, and plays with friends.

We are excited to see how Ewan likes Christmas time. But we are sure he'll like the boxes and the wrapping the best :)

Post-nap thoughts

2011-11-12T15:11:00.000-08:00

Eli woke up from a nap the other day, walked down the stairs and said, "Mama, I have a very important question for you."

Mama, thinking the question was about watching a video, absentmindedly said, "Yes?"

Eli: "You know how you have to flush a toilet to push the poop and paper through that little hole in the toilet and then get it to go down the pipes, through the house and out to the street?"

Mama, puzzled: "Yes?"

Eli: "Well, how does it keep moving in the street pipes? There is no handle to flush at the street."

Hmmm...this Mama doesn't know. And she wonders what this 3-year-old boy is dreaming about at naptime!

Halloween

2011-11-12T14:55:00.000-08:00

Eli and Ewan had a blast on Halloween. Eli couldn't wait to wear his Tyrannosaurus Rex costume (which needed two people to get on him), and Ewan was finally used to his giraffe costume (after screaming multiple times while wearing it around the house!) Ewan did not understand trick-or-treating; he kept trying to walk into people's homes. But he LOVED giving out candy when kids came to our house.

Eli also loved to give out candy, but only to kids. At one point he asked me -- while putting candy in a bag -- "is that a kid?" I mumbled, "Yes." Eli said, "Just an adult-sized kid?" I didn't really know how to answer that. Then Eli peered behind the "big kid" and said, "They are ALL adult-sized kids?" Seems that he had some sense that you don't trick-or-treat when you are that big!

Ewan is 15-months old!

2011-09-23T14:40:00.000-07:00

Ewan is 15-months-old today.

He is walking all over the house now. Still falling back to his bottom a lot though. And still opting for crawling when walking seems too daunting. But he now knows how to walk up the stairs instead of climb -- he holds onto the railing pretty tightly!

He is a super sweet baby. He has always loved getting raspberries on his belly: he laughs and laughs and wriggles to get out of the way. But recently he has started giving Mama and Dadda raspberries too. He lifts up our shirts and blows on our bellies or backs. He smiles a big huge grin when he is done, as if to say,"See how good that feels?!?"

He is proving to have monkey genes. He climbs on everything. He pulls himself up by the stove handle, for example. Today he was climbing up this HUGE ladder on a big-kid slide. He has no fear, no matter how many times he takes a tumble.

No matter how active he is though, he still doesn't want to eat much. I've resorted to squeezing food in his mouth when he is distracted! And he still wakes up super hungry early in the morning. Part of the problem is that he doesn't want Mama or anyone else to feed him. Lately he's been feeding himself yogurt. Yes, the carpet around his chair is sticky. I don't recommend standing there.

He started daycare the same week that Eli started preschool. He cries a lot when he goes there but I know he is just getting used to leaving Mama for a little bit of time twice a week. But he's certainly not making it easy for Mama. The first day I dropped him off, he cried after I left the house. The second day, he cried when we walked in the house. The third day, when he got out of the car. The fourth day, when we drove down the street. The fifth day, when we turned into the neighborhood! And it isn't just a little cry -- it's Ewan's patented full-on screaming session. At least we know he is smart :)

He is still a super happy little guy who loves trucks and buses and playing outside. Can't wait to continue watching his personality come out...

Black Butte vacation

2011-09-23T14:08:00.001-07:00

In August, we went to Black Butte Ranch with Mana and Poppy for a week. It was packed with hiking, visits to lakes (where we found snow and tadpoles!), splashing in the nearby pools, a trip to the High Desert Museum (where the boys were put to work washing clothes and the porch, and plowing the garden!) and fishing. What a great adventure!

A trip to Neskowin

2011-09-22T09:58:00.001-07:00

We spent a long weekend in Neskowin (just north of Lincoln City) with our friends Kayley, Niall and Georgia from Bend. Beautiful weather on Friday kept us at the beach all day. We even roasted marshmellows and watched the sun go down on the beach.

The rest of the weekend was super rainy. It didn't keep us from the beach, but there was lots of time to build with legos and read books in the house too. We went to the Oregon Coast Aquarium on Sunday. The kids loved the "climbing equipment."

And as a special treat, we bought crabs off a boat in Newport on our way home. Mouth-watering! Eli really wanted to help cook the crabs, but there were loads of questions about the process. Will it hurt them (to boil them)? Will they pinch me if I put them in the pot? And when we did put them in the pot, Eli asked, "Are they crying?" Oh dear. We still ate them. And they were still delicious! And Eli loves crab meat!

A creek hike

2011-09-12T21:13:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, the Casper family went to McDowell Creek near Lebanon for a short hike. It was a HOT day, and we wanted a cool hike near water. It was magnificent. Beautiful waterfalls dot McDowell Creek. We found a great place for a picnic and then hiked upstream in the water. It was slow going: climbing over boulders, wading into the cool water up to our knees and trying not to slip on the algae-covered rocks. But it was all worth it -- at the end was a gorgeous waterfall into a deep swimming hole. Michael and I jumped in and Eli pushed big logs into the pool. We also found a crawdad. A perfect end-of-summer activity!

A walker!

2011-09-12T20:19:00.000-07:00

Ewan took three steps on Sept. 10th: We were at a park, he was barefoot on the grass and he just held Daddy's hands and then let go and walked.

He hasn't walked since! But he has been standing up on his own more and he has been able to squat and then stand back up without holding onto anything. We are about to have another walker on our hands...

Eli's first day of preschool

2011-09-07T19:54:00.001-07:00

Eli was very nervous about going to preschool, but we made it a bit easier by serving blackberry-blueberry pie for breakfast (breakfast of champions, of course!) and getting him dressed in his favorite dinosaur outfit.

He didn't want to let me leave when I dropped him off, and he cried. But at the end of preschool Teacher Chris told me that the tears only lasted for 30 seconds.

Colorado vacation

2011-08-04T19:20:00.001-07:00

We spent 9 days in Colorado visiting grandma and grandpa and playing with cousins Daniel and Alejandra from Minnesota, cousin Sienna from Fort Collins and lots of other fun relatives! Eli and Ewan loved the nearby cold rivers, a train ride through the canyon and rock hopping in Grandpoppin's yard. We can't wait to come back!

Blueberries, bare bottoms, balls... ah, summer

2011-08-04T19:10:00.000-07:00

A very busy summer so far. This week we picked almost 25 pounds of blueberries, swam naked in our pool in the backyard, hit some spray parks with friends, and Ewan practiced his over-the-head ball throwing. Very fun indeed.

Methow Valley vacation

2011-07-15T20:16:00.000-07:00

A lovely vacation with friends in the Methow Valley, Washington in early July. The kids thoroughly enjoyed it all -- digging for dinosaur bones, playing in the hot tub, swinging at Ewan's birthday pinata, hiking in the woods and playing with new friends. Can't wait to meet up with these friends again!

Making money

2011-06-24T13:36:00.002-07:00

Eli likes to talk about working and making money. His job, if you ask him, is to make money out of leaves, trees and sticks.

He often can't take part in some other activity because of his work.

Earlier this month, I told him I was making a chore chart for him so he could do jobs around the house. He said, "Yeah, but I have an important job to do to make money out of trees, leaves and sticks and that is a lot of work, so I can't clean the house."

How do you argue with that?

He also uses that excuse even if the alternative is a fun activity. Today I told him that we might go to a friend's house and play in their sand box.

Eli: "OK, but when will I do my work?"

Mama: "Well, you can do it before we go or after you get back."

Eli: "Yeah but I have to work about 15 hours today and that's a lot of work. Maybe another day I can play, but today I have to get my work done."

Too bad his "work" doesn't include picking up his clothes or toys!

Ewan is 1!

2011-06-24T13:36:00.001-07:00

My dear sweet Ewan,

You are one years old. Mama can't believe an entire year has gone by already.

You have the most infectious laugh, and I love to blow raspberries on your belly or tickle your knees to hear it.

You love to wrestle with Mama and Daddy. You squeal and climb all over us, especially our heads. You'd love to wrestle Eli also but we worry about you getting hurt.

You are a swift crawler and you've mastered going up stairs. You are just starting to go down the stairs safely, i.e. NOT face first! Even though your knees are SO sore that you crawl with knees off the ground in this awkward way, you aren't trying very hard to walk. You will walk if Mama is holding both of your hands, but you don't much like it. If you are distracted by toys in both hands, you will stand unassisted for a few seconds -- once you realize what is going on, you quickly sit down.

You've got two teeth on the bottom and four teeth on the top. Your top teeth are still pushing through and you've got big spaces between them. Your smile is as cute as ever -- a big wide grin that even makes most strangers remark "what a happy baby!"

In some ways, you are even more strong-willed than Eli. You get very frustrated when Mama feeds you; you want to do it yourself! You get very frustrated when you are taken out of a room that is unsafe, namely the bathroom. You get very frustrated when you can't go outside and play in the mud with Eli (you tend to eat the mud!) You scream and cry very hard, and Mama believes it is a sneak peak into what your tantrums will be like...

You are super happy to be playing with Daddy, but you still feel most comfortable with Mama. If you are in a room playing with Daddy and Mama comes in, you will cry until Mama picks you up. If Mama leaves without you, you cry very hard!

You don't like to be in your highchair eating very much, but you LOVE to drink from a cup. We still hold it for you as you tend to spill all over yourself but you don't even mind us doing that. If you are very hungry, you will still wave your arms while eating.

You are talking a lot more now, babbling away and looking at people intently when you talk. You are especially conversational in the morning, unfortunately Mama is usually very tired. You sleep much better than you did at 8 months, but you sometimes wake up hungry in the middle of the night. You are still an early riser, sometimes waking at 5:30 a.m. -- but if Mama is lucky she can get you to go back to sleep until 8 a.m.

You are quite independent, wandering off to play with toys by yourself in the playroom if Mama is doing something boring like making dinner. You like to play with anything Eli is playing with at the moment so playing with your brother alone doesn't work too well.

But Mama and Daddy can tell how much you love Eli and how much Eli loves you. One time when you were crawling on Eli to wrestle him, Eli said: "Baby can pull my hair or poke my eyes. It's OK Mama. I just love him!"

Summer solstice

2011-06-21T21:07:00.001-07:00

We don't dare say it out loud, but I thought it would be OK to blog about: Summer is here! After too much rain -- and too many false starts to our beautiful, dry Oregon summers -- I think the summer solstice brought the summer along.

The boys celebrated at their friends' house -- with pools, sprinklers and popsicles. Ahhh, summer!

Frogs on Father's Day

2011-06-20T16:13:00.000-07:00

The family went frog hunting on Sunday, in honor of Father's Day. Mama and Ewan left early since Ewan wanted OUT! of the carrier, at which point he scooted super fast, and headfirst, into the mucky pond. Yuck! But no worries, since frog hunting is such a perfect activity for a boy and his dad.

Eli caught a frog. Then a fish. Then he fed the fish to the frog. (Some might say "force-fed). He named the frog "Icky" or "Icthy" (it changes every time you ask!) Eli had a blast stomping around the shallow water with his rainboots on. And Daddy had a blast spending the afternoon in the woods with his big boy.

When Eli woke up on Monday morning, he asked Daddy brightly, "Is it Father's Day again?"

A party for Ewan

2011-06-20T16:02:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we celebrated Ewan's first birthday with a party at home (we would have had it in a park if the weather had cooperated!)

Ewan ate his first cupcake! He devoured the icing, and nibbled at the carrot cake.

He had a blast with all of the people in our house. He crawled a mile-a-minute into all the rooms to check people out and he loved watching all the kids in the playroom playing.

The pig pinata that Daddy made will wait for a sunny park day! (Somehow, swinging a bat in our living room filled with kids and parents seemed like a ridiculous exercise :) )

Water play

2011-06-17T16:28:00.000-07:00

After getting a water table from Grandma and Grandpa in California, the boys are set for the summer. Ewan loves to splash in the water, and Eli loves to put his animals and dinosaurs in it. This is a great example of how their 2 1/2 year difference is nothing at all!

All boy!

2011-06-17T16:25:00.000-07:00

I just can't keep Ewan inside anymore when Eli is outside playing. So yesterday, I took the laundry outside and tried to fold it on the table while the boys played. In mud. Ah yes, Ewan is ALL BOY!

Dinosaurs!

2011-06-13T13:35:00.000-07:00

ROARRRR!

Eli is very very obsessed with dinosaurs. We read dinosaur books almost exclusively (thank you Salem Public Library for your wide selection of dinosaur books). We play with dinosaur figures (I have my eyes on a huge brachiosaurus at Toys R Us for Eli!) We pretend we are dinosaurs (sometimes too many times for this poor Mama who gets eaten by a T Rex, an allosaurus or a velociraptor multiple times a day). And at night, when I pull my covers back to fall into bed, I am greeted with plastic dinosaurs (and their sharp tails!)

This morning while reading a dinosaur book, Eli asked me how dinosaurs got sick.

Mama, being silly: "I don't know. Many people were coughing on them."

Eli: "That's a good theory, Mama. But people didn't live with the dinosaurs so they couldn't cough on them!"

(LOVE that he told me I had a good theory! He can't really say "theory" so it comes out kind of funny too!)

Then tonight at dinner, while he pretended to be a brachiosaurus who was eating trees aka broccoli (and LOTS of it!), we had this conversation:

Eli: "Do you know why brachiosaurus had lips?"

Mama: "No, why?"

Eli: "To keep their food in their mouths when they are chewing."

Mama: "Oh. Is that why people have lips?"

Eli: "No, people have lips for kissing."

Mud!

2011-06-11T21:48:00.000-07:00

On Thursday, the sprinkler was on in Bush Park and it created the most perfect little mud stream for Eli, Ewan and Eli's friend, William, to play in! Eli and his friend built boats, ran through the mud and just generally got super messy.

Brothers

2011-06-11T21:44:00.000-07:00

These boys look so alike to me here.

Pants?

2011-06-11T21:42:00.001-07:00

Who needs pants when you've got your mud boots on? This is a look we like to sport more often than Mama would like to admit.

I want to be big!

2011-06-11T21:33:00.000-07:00

Eli has to spend at least part of his day outside, even if it is pouring rain. On this particular day in early May, Ewan wanted to be outside also. It was such a sweet moment to capture -- Ewan watching Eli build with sticks in the rain. But so sad too, because Ewan SO wanted to be outside with his big brother. (And yes, my backdoor is THAT dirty!)

Climbing trees

2011-06-11T21:22:00.000-07:00

Eli loves to climb trees. In the park the other day, he met a new friend, who was 5. This friend had never climbed trees before... until Eli showed him how. The two of them were climbing trees for the next 30 minutes.

The photos are of Eli climbing the cherry blossom tree in our backyard in early May. When he got in the tree, he needed me to hand him his chain saw so he could cut it down. (We didn't get into the fact that you might not want to cut down a tree that you are in!)

Awesome 3000

2011-05-26T10:34:00.001-07:00

Eli ran in the big Salem race called the Awesome 3000. He was very very excited and he ran his fastest! It is a 300 m race for the 3-and-under age group. But he could have run the full 3000 m if they would let him run with Daddy!

He was most excited about the Clifford book and water bottle that they gave him at the end of the race.

Never stop talking

2011-05-25T20:56:00.000-07:00

I don't think that 3-year-olds ever stop talking. That can get old when you are on your 6th hour of conversations and your sentences are interrupted with "Why?" every six seconds, BUT 3-year-olds also have a way of making every conversation seem VERY important. And Mama gets a kick out of them! Some recent examples:

Text delivery

Eli asked if we could invite Elliot to play one day. I said, "Yes," and then texted Elliot's mom. A few minutes later:

Eli: "Can Elliot play today?"

Mama: "I don't know. I texted him. But I haven't gotten a message back."

Eli: "I think the mailman is still delivering it."

A new rule and a time for no rules

When Eli feels shy or anxious or ?, he growls. No, it's not funny. It is quite annoying actually. But there it is. One day, I was talking to him about how it is not nice to growl at people.

Mama: "Should we write down a rule that says don't growl at people?"

Eli: "Yes. But we can growl at wild animals who are trying to eat us?"

Mama, sighing: "Yes."

Eli: "Cuz why we don't want to get eaten!"

Dadda: "There are no rules when a wild animal is trying to eat you."

Africa

Eli still talks about Africa a lot. He still really wants to visit Africa. And he worries about how we will get there, what we will see there, if we will get eaten by a lion, etc.

Eli: "Do they have dirt in Africa?"

Mama: "Yes."

Eli: "Then I think we should bring a digger so I can dig in the dirt!"

Mama: "OK."

Eli: "I think you should bring crayons and paper and toys on the plane too so I won't feel bored."

Eli, after a pause: "My bottom is going to hurt for sitting that long!"

Marriage woes

The other day, Eli asked me what Daddy told the man who was driving the UPS truck.

Mama: "He told him that he will ask his wife to move the car."

Eli: "What's a wife?"

Mama: "I am Dadda's wife. He is my husband. We call each other those names because we are married. We are married because we love each other very much ..."

Before Mama could continue discussing marriage, Eli says, "I don't want to get married."

Mama: "OK"

Eli: "You tell them that?"

Mama: "Who?"

Eli: "The man who makes people get married."

Mama: "There isn't a man who makes people get married ..."

Eli: "Then who makes people get married?"

Ewan is 11 months old!

2011-05-23T20:45:00.001-07:00

Ewan turns 11 months old today!

He has two teeth on top -- his second top tooth broke through just yesterday. It makes his smile look so different. He is not happy about this new development. He is cranky, picky about food, and dealing with a runny nose all the time. Ugh. This is a huge contrast to his usual SUPER happy, smiley self.

Ewan is a super fast crawler now and if you turn your back for a second, he's gone. He likes to make a break for the refrigerator or any kitchen cabinet when the door is open. He also likes to sneak his way into the bathrooms when no one is looking. Upstairs he pulls himself up on the tub and turns on the faucet (and cries LOUDLY when you take him away). Downstairs, he likes to pull himself up on the toilet, the tub and the garbage can.

Amazingly, another place he crawls to is the playroom -- to play by himself! It is absolutely incredible to me. I'll be working in the kitchen and he'll play there for awhile. Then he'll take off down the hall, scooting on his knees, all the way to the playroom. He enters, looks around and then starts playing.

His favorite toys are: Eli's big green garbage truck, his Leapfrog table, and any car or truck. He doesn't really play with any of the toys Eli played with at this age because there are so many more big-boy toys around.

Ewan's taking two naps a day these days, and they are both about two hours long. He must be resting up to keep up with his brain development and motor skills. He pulls himself along the couch and from chair to chair -- preparing to start walking soon I think! And he definitely understands more of our words. Sometimes I say, "Ewan come here, come into the kitchen for some food," and he crawls right into the kitchen. He plays peek-a-boo -- holding the napkin in front of his own face and peeking out after we say, "Where's Ewan?!" And he even responds to my "Ack, ack, ack!" which tells him not to touch whatever he is touching!

He's also eating a lot, and he's not satisfied with just pureed baby food. He wants to eat finger foods, and more importantly, he wants to eat what we are eating. We give him whatever we can from our plates and if he doesn't like it, he feeds it to Zula!

Ewan is still nursing -- about four times a day. He's still squirmy but he has many moments where he is calm, especially before bedtime.

Ah, bedtime. Ewan has been sleeping through the night for months now and this Mama is quite content about that. Ewan goes to bed about 8:30 p.m. and wakes at 6 or 7 or even 8 a.m.! Glorious!

Now that Ewan is almost one, Eli is really enjoying his little brother. One time he said, out of the blue, "I just love Ewan. I love his face. I love his eyes. I love his hair!" (He does have hair; it is very fine and very blond and VERY hard to see :) ). At the dinner table, Eli and Ewan sometimes play a tug-of-war with Eli's napkin and both of them laugh a lot. Eli loves to hug Ewan, most of the time too tightly. Eli is genuinely excited for his brother's accomplishments, which is just about the cutest thing to witness. When we said, "Ewan's top tooth broke through," Eli clapped his hands and his eyes grew bright and he said, "YAY YAY YAY! Now he can eat pretzels!"

Our family is looking forward to Ewan's first birthday in a month. Eli talks about how fun it will be for baby Ewan to eat a cupcake for the first time!

An ant problem and unspoken rules!

2011-05-13T16:05:00.000-07:00

Yesterday at lunch, Eli was crying a little bit. Daddy had told Eli he couldn't eat his grilled cheese sandwich in the living room like Eli wanted to. When Eli asked why, Daddy explained that the crumbs would exacerbate our already bad ant problem.

Mama: "I think you should eat something and then we'll get ready for rest time."

Eli: "Why?"

Mama: "I think you will feel better. You are a little cranky from being tired."

Eli, crying harder and whining: "I'm not cranky because I'm tired... I'm cranky because of our ant problem!"

After rest time, we went for a walk to Bush Park. On the way, we ran into two older kids who live nearby. The boy, probably 7 or 8, asked Eli is he wanted to have a playdate.

Eli, very serious with his hand on his hip: "The problem is that my mom and dad don't know your mom and dad so ..."

The little boy, anxious to assure Eli that it is OK, starts telling Eli all about his family -- his mom's name, his dad's name, his phone number, etc.

Eli just shakes his head: "My mom and dad don't know your mom and dad."

I was really happy to see that Eli understood these unspoken rules about playdates. (And also a little relieved that he didn't insist on a playdate as I don't know these kids and don't really want to meet their parents!)

Airport rules

2011-05-11T21:11:00.000-07:00

Daddy: "I want you to eat a good breakfast this morning."

Eli: "Why?"

Daddy: "Because we are driving to the airport to pick up Grandma Nancy. It's a long drive and I don't want you to get cranky.

Eli: "Cuz why they don't allow cranky kids in the airport?"

Mother's Day

2011-05-08T22:17:00.001-07:00

It doesn't get any better than this:

Today, Michael asked Eli what he wanted to be when he grew up.

Eli thought for a moment.

"A mama."

Real or pretend cuts?

2011-04-15T20:44:00.000-07:00

A conversation while out for a walk...

Beth to Michael: Did you see that the Superintendent is proposing to cut all school librarians from the district?

Eli: What? What happened Mama?

Mama to Eli: Oh, the schools don't have enough money so they want to cut the school's librarians to save money.

Eli: For real or pretend?

Mama, puzzled: For real.

Eli: But that will hurt when they get cut (making a sawing motion with his hand).

A boys' bath

2011-04-09T21:21:00.000-07:00

Last week, Eli and Ewan took a bath together. It was the first time they really played together in the tub. And now that Ewan can sit up by himself, it's much easier for them to play in the water. Eli makes Ewan laugh by pouring water on his own head!

Shellburg Falls hike

2011-04-09T21:10:00.000-07:00

A spontaneous trip to Shellburg Falls today was fabulous. Eli hiked 4 miles without complaining; Ewan fell asleep in the carrier on Dadda's back; and the waterfall was gorgeous!

Brain size

2011-04-07T14:16:00.000-07:00

Eli is very very obsessed with dinosaurs these days. All he wants to do is play with his dinosaur figures or read books about dinosaurs. We get lots of library books about dinosaurs, and many of them discuss their brain sizes. An apatosaurus, for example, has a brain the size of a walnut. Suprising, given it is one of the largest dinosaurs that ever lived. Anyway, I am not sure that Eli understands exactly what a brain does or is. But he likes to talk about brains and brain sizes. When we wear helmets for riding bikes, he says he is protecting his brain. Today, on our way to Toddler Time, Eli told me to run. Mama: Oh, Mama can't run today. Eli: Why? Mama, pausing because she is so tired. Eli: Cuz why your brain is too small?

Conversations with Eli

2011-03-29T12:13:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things to do is figure out how Eli's mind works. If you have or had a 3-year-old, you know what I mean. 3-year-olds think about things very logically, carefully and literally. It is hysterical to watch that process. Here are some examples, but of course, there are thousands more that I can't remember:

Turning leaves into gold

Eli said he wanted to save his money so that he could go to Africa. This has been a theme for some time -- he wants to see lions, elephants, cheetahs and giraffes.

I told him he had to save a lot of money because it is very expensive to fly to Africa.

Eli: But how will I make money? Will I go to work with Dadda?

Mama: No. You could do things like mow people lawns or rake their leaves when you get bigger.

Eli: Yeah! I can do that!

Long pause.

Eli: Cuz why, we make money out of leaves?

Turning Ewan into a grown-up

Eli got a magnifying glass from his Grandma last month. In the bathroom one morning, he held it up to Ewan.

Mama: Oh, does Ewan look bigger?

Eli: Yes! He looks like a grownup!

A sheep joke

In the car, on our way up to the Oregon Zoo, Ewan is babbling loudly in the backseat: babababaabaababa.

Eli: We should leave baby at a farm.

Mama is about to say, "That's not very nice Eli!"

Instead Mama says: Why?

Eli: Cuz why, he is a sheep!

Animals for eating versus animals for everything else

For several weeks, Eli was very interested in categorizing animals into the ones we eat and the ones we don't eat.

Eli: Do we eat sea turtles?

Mama: No.

Eli: Oh right, cuz why we would break our teeth on their hard shells!

Ewan is 9 months old!

2011-03-26T16:03:00.001-07:00

Ewan turned 9 months old 3 days ago!

He now crawls around on his belly. He is working on getting up on his knees -- he rocks back and forth trying to get the momentum to lurch forward. So far, no luck.

He puts everything into his mouth. We've fished leaves, paper and onion skin out of there. Ugh.

You might mistake his nursing for wrestling. He is up on his feet, rolling around, grunting and pushing with his arms -- all while attached to the boob. It looks quite ridiculous, but I guess it works for him.

He says all kinds of semi-words: mamama, dadaadda, bababa, gagagagaaga.

Ewan still is a pretty bad sleeper, and Mama still can't get used to it. Especially when she has to answer "why?" at least 7,500 times during the day by Ewan's older brother.

He's still got his very bright blue eyes -- yay! And his smile is as big as ever, although it still only contains two teeth. He's working on getting some new ones very soon.

He likes to eat puffs, likes to feed himself (mostly unsuccessfully) and doesn't much like to sit in his high chair unless he is starving.

He's getting big super fast and I can't believe he is almost a year old!

Gentle sawing

2011-03-16T10:54:00.000-07:00

Eli, getting frustrated trying to put the blade on his chainsaw: Argh! Daddy can you help me?

Daddy: Right now?

Eli: Yes, cuz why I want to saw my brother.

Daddy: No, we don't saw people.

Eli: No no Daddy. Just very very gentle sawing!

Ewan is 8 months old

2011-02-25T21:16:00.000-08:00

Ewan turned 8 months old this week, and boy is he ready to be a big boy! He started crawling this week -- pulling himself across the floor. He loves to stand up and hold onto your leg (with support on his back too!) And he keeps getting up on his knees, pulling himself up. You can tell he is super proud of himself too because he flashes these huge smiles when he moves around.

He doesn't have any more than 2 teeth, but those teeth are almost fully in. He doesn't have much more hair either.

His sleep is slowly getting better. On a really good night he'll wake up around 4:30 a.m. and nurse and then go back to sleep until 6:30 or 7:30 a.m. On a bad night, he'll wake up around 1:30 a.m. and then again around 5:30 or 6 a.m. Overall, much better than several months ago when he would wake up and then not go back to sleep in his crib.

He's eating lots of solid food and he just started eating chicken and turkey.

The funnest thing that Ewan is doing is babbling like crazy -- he says babbabab, dadadada, (but not mamamama...)

7 months old

2011-01-30T09:34:00.000-08:00

Ewan turned 7 months old on January 23.

The most exciting thing that has happened in the past month is that two bottom teeth pushed through his gums. It is cute!

He weighs 18 pounds and 4 ounces. He doesn't look fat but he sure is heavy. Especially when Mama has to carry him on her back all the way to the park.

Snow day (not in Salem!)

2011-01-20T13:47:00.001-08:00

On Tuesday, Michael had a furlough day and we decided to drive to the snow. Turns out snow is 1.5 hours away! We had a grand time sledding, and making a snow fort and snowmen. Ewan had a great time nursing in the snow :)

The lesson of the Lorax

2011-01-17T21:49:00.001-08:00

One day, Eli and I read "The Lorax" by Dr. Seuss. I love that book. I mean, how cool is it that there is this little guy who pops out of the tree stump and says, "I speak for the trees for they have no voices."

Eli said he really liked the book too. I beamed with pride. My little 3-year-old guy loves trees! And birds! And barbaloots (frisking about in their barbaloot suits!) And understands how the Once-ler's factory spoiled the Truffala tree forest and the lake where the humming fish live.

Later that day, we went for a walk to Bush Park. On the way, Eli found a big stick.

"An ax, actually, Mama."

And he used it to cut down all of the trees on the way to Bush Park and then all the trees in Bush Park.

"Just like in The Lorax, Mama!"

Shy

2010-12-27T22:56:00.001-08:00

Eli has been going through a shy phase. When we meet new people he feels scared or nervous. Even when we are with people we know, he hides behind my legs and doesn't want to answer questions. We knew it would be hard on Eli to have so many family members in town in December because of this new phase (and we had several major tantrums as the result of overstimulation) but he seems to handle the situation pretty well, especially after a few days of adjustment. Case in point:

After feeling a little shy around his Aunt Jessica the first day, Eli and Daddy read books together upstairs. At one point, Eli stopped Daddy and said:

"Daddy?"

"Yes Eli."

"I'm getting used to shy."

Eli feeds his brother!

2010-12-26T10:36:00.000-08:00

Eli loves to help with baby Ewan. He hadn't expressed much interest in helping to feed him until this December (he usually is a bit grossed out by the baby's messy mouth). Ewan loves his brother so much that it is super exciting when Eli feeds him.

Ewan is 6 months!

2010-12-23T20:28:00.000-08:00

Ewan turned 6 months old today.

He is still a super smiley baby. He now recognizes Mama and Dadda and gives Dadda the biggest smiles ever. His hair is coming in more and it looks dark. He still has his blue eyes. No teeth yet!

He is eating solids -- rice and oatmeal cereal with pureed pears, apples, bananas or peas. He hasn't been sleeping great but we are working on that. He is out of his too-small bassinet and in the pack-and-play until we get his crib set up. We are waiting for Eli's big-boy bed to arrive.

He can sit up by himself for a few seconds and he is very interested in all the toys around him. He immediately puts everything in his mouth.

He is very cuddly, and it seems like he wants to hug me sometimes. He also grabs my face and wants to shove the whole thing in his mouth. Too cute :)

At his well-child check, we found out he is 18 pounds (55th percentile) and 28.5 inches (95th percentile).

Happy half-birthday Ewan!

Eli is 3!

2010-12-22T20:22:00.000-08:00

I cannot believe Eli is 3.

He blows me away when he uses words like "unravel" (as in "I am unraveling these Christmas lights") and "pleased" (as in "Grandpoppins will be so pleased when they see their bed!" after helping to put on the sheets) and "recognize" (as in "Mama, help me turn my shirt around to see if Grandma can recognize what's on my shirt.)

He also tries to reason his way into anything he wants: like cookies, hot chocolate and playing during rest time. His reasoning is often very good but sometimes makes no sense at all.

He is very opinionated about what he likes and doesn't like: He told a friend's father that he didn't want to go play in the train room, he likes to build -- he is a building man!

He still has temper tantrums, sometimes very very long and raging temper tantrums.

He is sleeping in his crib-turned-toddler-bed right now but we are waiting for a twin mattress in the mail, and as soon as it comes, he will be in a big-boy bed. He still wakes up at night calling for Mama or Dadda or a glass of water but he'll go many nights without any wakings.

We had a birthday party for him earlier this month but he knew his birthday was on Dec. 22. When we went swimming at the Kroc Center in November, he saw the climbing wall. We found out that you had to be 3 to go on the climbing wall and Eli wanted to go as soon as he turned 3. We made a special trip on his birthday and he had a blast. He tells everyone how high he climbed (about as high as Mama!) and we went back to the wall 6 or 7 times to keep trying.

Eli's 3rd birthday party!

2010-12-11T16:46:00.000-08:00

We celebrated Eli's 3rd birthday early this year. We had a total blast!

Ewan rolls, Eli praises

2010-12-10T10:35:00.000-08:00

About 3 days ago, Ewan rolled over and he hasn't stopped since! You can tell he is super proud of himself because he gets this huge smile on his face once he is on his belly. YAY Ewan!

In another first, Eli told me I was a "nice mama," yesterday. It was cute and sweet when he said it: we were cuddling on the chair in his room.

An airplane to Minnesota

2010-11-28T16:28:00.000-08:00

Eli loves to build things. Last week he built an airplane out of blocks and lots of animals boarded. They were going to Minnesota. Check out the video to find out more about their trip.

This kid needs a toolbelt!

2010-11-28T16:08:00.000-08:00

Ewan is 5 months old!

2010-11-23T23:37:00.000-08:00

Ewan turns 5 months old today.

For the past month he has been a terrible sleeper -- giving me a 2- to 3-hour stretch and then waking every 1- to 2-hours after that. Ugh! But we starting giving him some mashed banana about 4 days ago and he already is sleeping better. I'm getting about 2 3-hour stretches. Today we gave him a bit of mashed avocado -- he doesn't like it nearly as much as banana but he ate it. About 2 weeks ago we tried some homemade rice cereal and he wouldn't eat it at all. He wants to get straight to the good stuff!

His hair is coming in and his head is super soft because of the fuzz. He still has his blue eyes. His smiles are getting bigger and bigger, if that is possible. He definitely feels happiest around his family and loves watching us interact. He also loves sitting in his exersaucer with a mirror next to him. He talks and laughs at the baby next to him :)

He hasn't rolled over again, but we are helping him practice by giving him tummy time. We are also helping him to sit up on his own, but it still seems like it will be awhile.

Eli is still super sweet with Ewan (wait until Ewan can regularly grab Eli's toys!). The other day during a walk Eli said: "When Ewan grows up, he will be a Mama; when I grow up, I will be the Daddy."

Eli also talks a lot about what he and Ewan will do together -- swim, take baths, and sleep in the same room. Eli is VERY excited to get bunk beds with his brother. He likes the idea of sleeping on the top bunk because he is bigger.

At Ewan's checkup

2010-11-02T21:40:00.001-07:00

Ewan saw the doctor today for his 4-month checkup and here are his stats:

At 15.9 pounds, he is in the 53th percentile for his age.

At 27 inches, he is in the 95th percentile for his age.

With an almost-17-inch head circumference, he is in the 55th percentile for his age.

He is almost too long for his bassinet now! We are going to have to transition him to a crib...

The SJ boys

2010-10-31T20:35:00.000-07:00

It's become an annual tradition to get the four boys born to SJ mamas together on Halloween for a photo. It has always seemed chaotic, but this year was especially so for the Casper family. For one, we had Ewan, who is hard to get dressed even when it doesn't involve a monkey costume. And then there is ornery Eli, who did NOT want his photo taken, even under threats of no trick-or-treating. Sigh...

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-30T15:06:00.000-07:00

Eli, being obsessed with Bob the Builder, wanted to be Scoop for Halloween. If, for some really strange reason, you haven't watched Bob the Builder over and over again, Scoop is the back hoe digger or excavator or some such yellow dirt-moving machine. For weeks, Eli wavered between wanting to be Bob (read: SUPER EASY costume) and wanting to be Scoop (read: OMG HOW ON EARTH WILL WE MAKE THAT COSTUME!?!?)

In the end, Scoop prevailed and Mommy and Daddy bucked up and spent a Sunday afternoon designing and building Scoop. Eli was very interested in helping (Can we make it? YES WE CAN!). He colored the wheels and banged the cardboard with a hammer.

In the end, it turned out super cute. And Eli loves his costume, which is what it is all about, right?!?

When we went trick-or-treating at Daddy's work on Friday, Eli ran into his friend, the ring-tailed lemur!

More pj shots

2010-10-30T14:48:00.001-07:00

Like I said, I love the matching pjs.

A first haircut

2010-10-30T14:37:00.000-07:00

OK, so I love Eli's hair and have been reluctant to cut it even though it hangs in his eyes, gets all crazy and weird after nap, and turns to dreadlocks if we don't use conditioner. I've actually had to cut out several knots.

But I gave in and cut his hair (myself) and it looks cute. The bummer is that a lot of the curl is gone. He definitely looks like a little boy now and less like a baby.

Pre-haircut (and playing on a tractor at an apple farm)

Post-haircut (and still sucking on the lollipop that was necessary to be able to cut his hair)

Moose antlers

2010-10-30T14:32:00.001-07:00

Whenever we go for walks in the neighborhood, Eli brings home things he found -- usually sticks, acorns or leaves.

On this walk, he saw a stick and said, "Look, moose antlers!" Then he picked them up, stuck them in the back of his sweatshirt and declared, "I am a moose!"

First roll

2010-10-29T15:53:00.001-07:00

Ewan rolled over for the first time!

Of course, Michael was at work so he missed it.

I was in the other room, so I missed it. I put him on his back on his playmat in the living room and when I came back he was on his tummy!

A big brother's job

2010-10-25T15:56:00.000-07:00

Eli was so so proud to be cleaning Ewan's exersaucer with Grandma. He kept saying, "We need to clean this for baby Ewan" and "This is a lot of work!" and "Mommy will be so proud!"

Meta-morph-o-SIS!

2010-10-23T13:48:00.000-07:00

Funny stories about Eli:

1. In the car the other day, Eli was practicing his pronunciation. With the word "metamorphosis."

2. We were playing in the backyard (OK, Mama was sitting on her butt and Eli was running back and forth to the supermarket to buy food!) Eli asked if I wanted eggs.

Mama: "Yes, I love eggs!"

Eli: "What kind of eggs?"

Mama: "Poached, please."

Eli: "I can't get you poached cuz why they only have those at the farmer's market and I am going to the supermarket. How about scrambled?"

3. One day when I was eating leftovers from a restaurant for lunch, Eli couldn't stop asking me questions about them. Why didn't I finish my food at the restaurant?; Why was I too full?; and why did I bring them home? After going around and around about it for quite some time, Eli said, "I know! You should have waited for a long time and then the food would go into your legs and you would have room in your stomach for more food!"

4. Over dinner one night, Eli asked Daddy why he had to go to work the next day. Daddy said he needed to make some money. Eli said, "So you can buy...(waving his left arm for emphasis while he thinks of the word)...ingredients for pancakes?"

Ewan is 4 months old!

2010-10-23T13:46:00.000-07:00

Dear sweet Ewan is 4 months old today.

He still has his super blue-blue eyes, and they follow anything in front of him, especially brother Eli.

Ewan is still crazy about his bath and shakes his right leg so much that he splashes water all over Mama and the floor. (He takes a bath in the infant tub on our dining room table.)

He is fairly easy to distract unless something is really wrong. For the past few days I've been able to stop his fussing by singing him "Ally Bally Bee." He just stares at me with a little smile on his face.

A little over a week again, Ewan started sitting in his exersaucer. He can only stand it for about 20-30 minutes, but he really likes the different perspective. And his neck and back muscles are getting much stronger.

Partly because he is a big guy, and partly because he is in cloth diapers, Ewan now wears 6-month clothing.

For the past two weeks he has been drooling like crazy, probably in anticipation of some teeth on the bottom. (although I bet we don't see them for a few months!)

Happy birthday sweet Ewan!

Eli is Eli

2010-10-11T00:06:00.000-07:00

I just love that my toddler makes me laugh (when I am not pulling my hair out!)

Here are a few funny stories:

A few nights ago, I asked Eli if he wanted to help me give Ewan a bath. This is usually something Eli asks if he can do, especially if it is past time for his own bath. Instead of yelling "Yes!" like I expected, he said in all seriousness, "I can help you just a little bit and then I have to run buck naked. Sorry."

When he was putting broccoli on the ground and laughing wildly when Zula ate it, I asked him to stop feeding Zula. He said, "I'm not feeding Zula, I just put food down on the ground for her to eat."

When he was screeching some nursery rhymes at the top of his lungs, I asked him to please sing more softly. He said he didn't want to. But he came up with a great solution: going into another room and closing the door. Except he decided to go into the hall closet. After a few minutes of loud singing, Eli came out and said, "It's too dark. I can't see my words!"

Yesterday, when we were reading books upstairs, he said he wanted to read Babar. I told him the book was downstairs and I asked him to get it. He said, "No, you get it. And don't dawdle, cuz why you might get hurt."

Gymnastics

2010-10-10T09:18:00.000-07:00

On Thursday mornings, Ewan and I take Eli to a gymnastics class. It's called Tumble Tykes. Eli doesn't love it but he likes all of the fun mats and the balance beam.

Pajama party

2010-10-10T09:13:00.000-07:00

I just think it is adorable when Eli and Ewan wear the same pajamas.

Too practical

2010-10-09T04:12:00.000-07:00

I love to pretend with Eli. Lately, I've been asking him if he wants to ride in a space ship when we get in the car. (It also has the added benefit of getting him in his car seat and buckled in faster.) But it seems that he can't just play along anymore -- he has to point out why the car isn't a spaceship or whatever.

Yesterday I asked if we should take a boat or a spaceship to the store. He enthusiastically said "Boat!" but when I was strapping him in his seat, Eli said, "This is a car Mommy. Boats don't have wheels."

It's not that he won't pretend anymore: he pretends he is building or fixing something every day, but he definitely likes to point out the discrepancies.

Bummer. I liked taking a space ship to the grocery store!

Cookies for cows

2010-10-05T07:37:00.000-07:00

Last night the whole family took a lovely walk in the neighborhood. Except for Ewan, we all ate an oatmeal raisin cookie on the walk. Eli was in heaven. He kept commenting on the cookie and how much he liked cookies.

I told him that he liked cookies so much that he would probably like one even made out of dirt and leaves and grass!

Eli: "No Mommy, I won't like that cookie cuz why I'm not a cow!"

Three months old!

2010-09-23T20:30:00.000-07:00

Ewan is three months old today.

He is much more aware of the world around him. He is especially aware of his family and flashes huge toothless grins at Eli, Mama and Daddy when he is happy. He is happy a lot more often now than a month ago, and his favorite things to do are bathing and taking walks with the family.

Happy Birthday sweet Ewan!

Laughing

2010-09-22T20:50:00.000-07:00

Michael had Ewan laughing, actually laughing, tonight. Michael was tickling him before bath.

Construction buddies

2010-09-22T20:44:00.000-07:00

Two days ago, Eli wanted to build a sidewalk in his playroom with his brother. He even gave Ewan a construction hat and drill!

Their first real interaction

2010-09-15T19:35:00.000-07:00

Tonight at the dinner table, Ewan spit up forcefully. We all laughed, and Eli said "Don't spit up baby!"

Ewan laughed, which encouraged Eli. Eli kept telling Ewan not to spit up and Ewan kept giving Eli these huge smiles.

We loved it and can't wait for more interactions :)

My boys

2010-09-13T20:56:00.000-07:00

Bathtime beats all other activities (besides nursing!)

2010-09-13T20:48:00.000-07:00

Ewan absolutely loves his bath. Plop him in the bath -- even mid-scream -- and he is all smiles. Tonight I kept him in for 20 minutes because he was so happy.

Big bro, little bro

2010-09-12T14:50:00.001-07:00

Summer mittens

2010-09-11T16:35:00.000-07:00

When we left for a walk after dinner the other night, I asked Eli if he wanted a jacket.

"No, don't need one. I have my mittens."

Painting

2010-09-11T13:09:00.000-07:00

Our painting sessions take longer to prepare for and clean up after than the actual painting time. That will change soon though, I think, so for now I am just excited when he says he wants to paint!

Probiotics

2010-09-03T21:24:00.000-07:00

Full disclosure: The following is an ad for probiotics.

Michael and I read a study about the use of L. reuteri for colicky infants. The results were astounding and I immediately went to the store and got some for Ewan.

He is now a different baby. He smiles more, sits in our arms content, takes power naps in the middle of the afternoon, and today he fell asleep in the baby bjorn carrier and stayed asleep after I moved him to his carseat!

Many trips...

2010-09-03T20:31:00.000-07:00

So despite having a new (colicky) baby, we managed to get out of the house more than I expected we would. We took two day trips to the coast before our coast vacation, a trip to the zoo, and a couple of short hiking trips. I'm not saying it was easy, but I'm glad we did it.

Mill Creek afternoon

2010-09-03T20:18:00.000-07:00

We found a lovely spot along Mill Creek to throw rocks in the water and float a boat. We ate a yummy lunch and enjoyed one of the last days of summer!

At his 2-month checkup

2010-08-30T20:51:00.000-07:00

Ewan weighs 12 pounds 4.5 ounces, measures 23.5 inches long and his head circumference is 15.5 inches. That means he is in the 58th percentile in weight and 63rd percentile in height.

What the doctor couldn't tell us is why Ewan cries so much, why he wakes after a 10-minute nap even though he is exhausted and generally what is wrong with our child! Ewan fights naps even and especially when overtired, goes through entire days with no naps, has nights when he screams for hours, and then - when we least expect it - will sleep for a long stretch. Last night was 8.5 hours, a personal best.

I'm looking for some answers and a cure! Anyone?

Ewan is 2 months!

2010-08-28T21:32:00.000-07:00

Ewan turned two months old on August 23. We took these photos at the Oregon Coast Aquarium on August 25.

A coast vacation

2010-08-28T21:08:00.000-07:00

The Casper family rented a small (very small) house on the coast for 4 nights -- our first vacation as a family of four. It was ... hard.

Ewan had a very sleepless night, one of his worst nights ever. Michael drove him around in the car in the middle of the night, to no avail. We just couldn't figure out what was wrong and why he was screaming instead of sleeping.

Eli had a cold and didn't like being in the house, where we had to tell him to stop touching just about everything since it wasn't kid-proofed.

But there were some wonderful highlights: making "sand-castle airplanes," visiting the Oregon Coast Aquarium and watching Eli scream "sharks!" every time a shark swam over his head in the tank and touching starfish and sea anemones, taking a walk on a coastal trail and looking for climbing trees, and running to Munson waterfall.

A fun run that was not so fun

2010-08-20T21:41:00.000-07:00

Every Thursday night in August, a local running club puts on fun runs in Bush park. It is a very festive event with lots of spectators and cheering and tons of kids. We thought Eli, who loves to run with his Dada, would be giddy with the excitement of doing a "real" run of his own.

From the beginning, it was like pulling teeth.

Mama: "I need to go to this table and register you for the run."

Eli, whining: "I don't want to re-ister. No, I don't want."

Later, Mama: "I need to pay at this other table."

Eli, whining: "I don't want to pay. I don't want to pay at that table."

So when the 6 and under race (500 meters) was about to start, it was no wonder that Eli took to the sidelines to watch all the other kids stretch. Dada stretched and worked really hard to get Eli to stretch. Eli would have nothing to do with the stretching.

Then when everyone lined up to wait for the air horn, Eli slinked behind his Dada.

And when the airhorn went off, everyone dashed for the finish line! YAY! GO Runners! Everyone except Eli. Instead, he threw himself on the ground and cried.

After much cajoling, and perhaps some bribery (because we are here to have fun, damn it!), Eli started running. Not exactly enthusiastic about the whole thing, but he was running.

By the time he made it to the start of the chute, he wanted the whole thing to be over. Mama and Ewan had to run Eli through the chute to get a stick with his number on it. The stick was to be exchanged for his finisher's ribbon. Who wouldn't want his very own, very first, finisher's ribbon?

Eli: "I don't want to give back the stick. I want to keep the stick!"

Oh dear. Not boding well for the cross-country team.

Obsession

2010-08-17T22:05:00.000-07:00

Eli is, and has been for some time, utterly obsessed with garbage trucks. Garbage day, otherwise known as Thursday, is better than Christmas around here. We listen for the rumble of the trucks and then run outside as fast as possible to get a good view of the mechanical arm picking up the cans. Eli waves to the truck drivers, and loves to get a wave back.

Eli plays with his Bruder garbage truck every day. It is almost exactly like the real garbage trucks around here and Eli can spend hours replicating a garbage can pickup.

But his obsession hit new heights when he started pretending he was a garbage truck. Sometimes after nap I'll find all of his blankets and stuffed animals piled high in the corner of his crib. He is using his legs to load garbage and dump it. Of course.

Lately he plays garbage truck at the dinner table. He reaches his arms out and makes mechanical noises and then picks up his food or glass of water and "dumps" it into his mouth. We are always nervous that he is going to dump it all over the floor, but so far, this garbage truck is very tidy.

Two funny conversations

2010-08-16T21:45:00.000-07:00

Two conversations with Eli recently:

On a walk in our neighborhood with Dadda and Zula, Eli sees a white kitty. He asks if he can pet the kitty and we spend some time talking to the kitty. This is one of Eli's favorite activities, and we go on lots of walks to find kitties. A few minutes after we walk away from the kitty, Eli looks at Zula and says, "Why do we have a dog instead of a kitty?"

Michael got his guitar out of the basement and played it for Eli one morning. Eli had a great time strumming it and singing. Later that afternoon, he asked me to play the fiddle with him -- and he pointed to the guitar. I corrected him. He remembered the fiddle from listening to Cajun fiddle music with his Poppy. He pretended he was playing a fiddle by dropping his chin and tilting his head to the side. I said, "That's right! A fiddle goes under your chin. When you play a guitar, you just hold it. A guitar is too big to fit under your chin." Eli nodded. Then his eyes lit up and he said, "I know! We can get a saw and saw the guitar so it fits under my chin!"

Cutie pie Ewan

2010-08-08T16:34:00.000-07:00

Blueberry fields

2010-08-05T21:46:00.000-07:00

An expedition to the blueberry fields on Wednesday yielded 25 pounds of the most delicious organic blueberries ever! Plus we saw sheep, goats and chickens. We had a lovely picnic. And we got to hang with Grandma!

When the farmer tried to weigh the yogurt container Eli filled, Eli started screaming and throwing a tantrum. Not sure if he thought she was taking them away or they would somehow be contaminated by the scale or Eli was just exhausted from being forced to pick blueberries all morning...

6 weeks old!

2010-08-04T22:25:00.000-07:00

Ewan is 6 weeks old today! Yesterday I weighed him at the breastfeeding support group and he was 11 pounds 4 ounces. *After nursing he was 11 pounds 8 ounces!

It turns out he was eating too much and that is why he is gassy and super fussy. I'm overproducing milk, and with Eli I felt like I could barely keep up. The lactation consultant gave me some tips and Ewan slept much better last night. He finally fell asleep at 11:30 p.m. and woke at 4 a.m. and then went back down about 5 a.m. and got up for the morning at 7:30 a.m. Yay!

In lieu of a bath

2010-08-04T22:20:00.001-07:00

Eli said he wanted to be hosed off instead of taking a bath tonight. It was cold! When Michael said, "You love water, don't you?" as he carried Eli up the stairs to go to bed, Eli said, "I love hot water, actually."

Uh oh

2010-07-30T20:03:00.000-07:00

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

2010-07-27T22:05:00.000-07:00

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

2010-07-26T00:12:00.000-07:00

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

2010-07-25T23:08:00.000-07:00

"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

2010-07-24T16:12:00.000-07:00

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!