3 months old!

Here's Sammy on election day just a few days ago. Hopefully this photo won't come back to haunt us when he's a conservative Republican whose parents tried to indoctrinate him into the liberal ideology... But until that time *shudder* he's an Obama Baby. :)

At three months, Sammy is doing all of the baby stuff he's supposed to be doing, i.e. drooling, smiling, giggling when tickled, playing with his toes, sleeping every two hours for about a half hour (not long enough, however), and generally being cute as a button.

Our life is very changed by having a baby and I remember someone telling me that having two kids is not double the work, it's more the work is exponentially more challenging to even attempt. Chores that used to take a few minutes now take forever (and are forever interrupted) such as emptying the dishwasher. We have more laundry that I thought possible. Then again, I remember growing up with my four sisters, we had a laundry room with a heap of clothes that was as tall as I was. I'm not kidding. Socks were not put together but all were put into a "sock basket" never to be paired again. So I shouldn't complain. I only have two kids and that's doable.

Part of the struggle is helping Olivia find words and outlets for her depth of feelings about everything from what she's going to eat to exactly how to play the games she wants to play. Let me just say there are lots of tears. And not just from her.

But about Sam, he's awesome. He has beautiful auburn hair, sweet eyes that look like his dad's, and a great disposition. I couldn't ask for any more. Other than a housekeeper.

Halloween 2012!

Halloween this year started months ago with plans for Chris and Olivia to dress as Jack and Sally from Nightmare Before Christmas. Grandma Marjie made Olivia's costume and it ruled! Olivia loved it. Yesterday, Olivia's preschool went to New Seasons for a Halloween parade. Here she is with her teachers, Miss Kristin and Miss Gemma and her classmates:

After dinner, Chris put on his costume too, which was AWESOME for some trick-or-treating in the neighborhood (Sammy and I didn't dress up, we went as ourselves):

Here's Olivia's costume:

Here's one of Chris's bat bowtie, just like Jack Skellington:

So cute!

Rollin'!

Sammy is definitely rolling over. He threatened to roll last week when he was totally p.o.'d about being put in his crib. But now this rolling over is a *thing*.

3 years and 10 months!

Miss Olivia is so close to four, I just can't believe it. I read somewhere that when kids are young, the days are long but the years are short. So true--days seem longest at night when everyone is tired and crying (adults and children). But it's also super fun. Olivia likes to play a game where she's the "Bad Princess" and I'm the "Bad Queen." Today she let Sammy be the "Bad Prince," but told me that I couldn't nurse him with my "Evil Nipple." I just about died laughing.

Speaking of Sammy, Olivia is doing pretty well adjusting to his presence. She just want to love him, and sometimes it's too much love, as evidenced here:

But she wants to be helpful and Chris and I try to find things that she can do that are easy but give her a sense that she's an integral part of the family unit.

Here's the banana bread that we all baked together last weekend. It was delicious!

She's just finished up her first month at school and she seems to really love all of her new friends, her teachers Miss Kristen and Miss Gemma and comes home with new songs and ideas every day. I think Chris and I both treasure our morning walks to her school and four hours later, seeing her bright little face happy from a day of exploring and learning.

Life is good!

Thoughts on motherhood: Toni Morrison

“There was something so valuable about what happened when one became a mother. For me it was the most liberating thing that ever happened…Liberating because the demands that children make are not the demands of a normal 'other.' The children’s demands on me were things that nobody else ever asked me to do. To be a good manager. To have a sense of humor. To deliver something that somebody else could use. And they were not interested in all the things that other people were interested in, like what I was wearing or if I were sensual. Somehow all of the baggage that I had accumulated as a person about what we valuable just fell away. I could not only be me—whatever that was—but somebody actually needed me to be that.” –Toni Morrison

Sammy at 2 months!

Here is Sammy at two months, 11lbs 5oz, 61cm tall. He is quite the little charmer, I think. He'll stare at one of us until we notice him and then he'll break into a big toothless smile. He's also working on his talking skills, "Oooooo" being the most he's able to get out. He's sleeping pretty well with four-hour stretches in the night then waking and nursing and falling back asleep. There have been a few nights where all four of us end up in the bed. The kids sleep well but the parents? Not so much. Oh, well.

This month has been really busy for all of us. I've been getting the next issue of OB off the ground and that means lots of photo shoots, all of which Sammy has attended. Here he is at four weeks in our room at the Commodore in Astoria where we shot a huge feature:

Then here he is among camera equipment at a shoot of wedding desserts in Portland: 

 

Here he is at the "Bohemian Bride" photo shoot in Newberg. 

  

 This was going on behind him:

Here are all of the places he's been in his two months of life: Seaside, Astoria x2, Newberg, and this past weekend, Seventh Mountain Resort in Bend. Whew! This kid gets around! I love having him with me at work just like I did with Olivia. He's a very agreeable baby who is happiest when I've got him strapped to me in the Baby Bjorn.

His sister is also happy with him, although she has a hard time being gentle.

She just wants to love him. She wants to love everyone, actually, I just think she's having a bit of an adjustment sharing the spotlight and her mommy and daddy.

That's about it for now. Two months is terrific.

3 Years and 8 Months

It's Olivia's second week of preschool. Here she is on her way toting her little pink lunch bag.

















Olivia is sporting one, not two, pigtails today. She's in an asymmetrical phase.

She is enjoying school so far. Her teacher, Miss Kristin, seems overjoyed with her progress. She says Olivia is all smiles, all the time. She plays with everyone and is "all about the friends."


 I love this little school. It's so peaceful and simple, I'd like to spend a day there myself now and then. Today was bread-making day and Olivia emerged from class bearing a little wax paper bag of biscuits which she helped prepare herself. Delicious!

--
Chris