Olivia is 4.8 years old!

Ladies and Gents, we have entered the "Kids Say the Darndest Things" era with Miss Olivia. Just the other day she looked at me pensively as I was changing another one of Sammy's poopy diapers and said:

"Mommy, when I grow up, I want to have a daughter."
"Oh, so you can be the mommy and I can be the grandma," I offered.
"No," she said firmly. "You'll be the babysitter."

Then we were in the park on Friday and she was looking into the clouds. She said, "I see Elena's dog up there. He's in heaven."

Trying to be helpful or turn this conversation into a teaching moment or whatever, I said, "Elena's dog was really old and now he's up in the sky and he's happy."

"No he's not," she said. "He's dead."

Okaaaaayyyyyyy.

Speaking of death, she also drew this picture of Simba from the Lion King crying because his dad, Mufasa (that is the one with the big mane) is dead: 

Chris and I are amazed at her drawings and keep pretty much everything. I especially like the way she draws tears. Everyone cries, including the sun. Even on a sunny day.














In other news, Olivia is also very into mermaids right now. Here she is with her tiny Ariel doll who may, or may not have slipped Sammy a sleeping pill.

4.8 is super fantastic.

Sammy's first birthday party

 
 

Well, officially, Sammy had his first birthday party on his actual birthday on Friday. BUT, we all celebrated with a big fiesta in our backyard on Saturday. Grandma Marjie and Grandpa Chuck came all the way from New York just to celebrate. Here they are helping us get organized for the party:

Some decorations:





Olivia, Signe and Elena in the hammock:


Elena photo-bombing with Grandma:



Sammy with Nicole, Granddad and Franny: 






So I messed up and did not inform Chris of the importance of getting a photo of Sammy with his Lamb-y cake, the same type of cake my grandmother made for me and every other one-year-old in the family for 40+ years. Unfortunately, Chris's camera was out of memory and we did not get a photo of Sammy with the cake. We did, however get a photo of him with the crumbs of the cake. (Confidential note to Sammy: When you are reading this years from now and wondering why we didn't take a photo of you with the cake when there's one of your sister? Blame it on the terrible technology of 2013. Flying through the air in your electric flying car of the future, you will probably laugh that something as quaint and laughable as not enough memory stymied our best laid plans, but just know: you were adorable and we love you.)

  

Thanks for coming to my birthday party everyone!

Sammy is one!

Our Sammy boy is one today! I just love everything about this little guy from his shy smiles to his baby toes. What an amazing and integral part of our family. Love you, Mama

p.s. Here are his stats: Height: 2' 6.12" (58.98%), Weight: 22lbs 6oz (64.5%), Head circumference: 18.9" (91.34% He's a Welch alright!)

Why are all the girls taking Mommy's makeup?

This is the year of "why" for Olivia. Watching movies together, every scene is punctuated by her questions. "Why is the pony sad?" "Why did she fall through the floor?" "Why is she giving the witch that necklace?" When I get tired of answering questions, my tried and true tactic has been to turn the question around on her. "Why IS the pony sad?" Usually she will provide the answer to her own question, although on one recent occasion her reply was "Mommy knows better." Uh oh.

O's creativity has really blossomed recently. She tells stories, imaginary events involving imaginary friends. Her drawings are amazing. She's developed a very personal style and will spend days on a single theme. This week it's been "Girls Taking their Mommy's Makeup." As you can see below, all of the little girls have taken some lipstick and applied it to their faces.

It's a lipstick riot!

She has also exhibited some pretty remarkable memory skills, reciting entire story books word for word. This also means there can be no more "fudging" the story line on Mommy and Daddy's part for the sake of expedience. She corrects us if we skip a single word.

We love you Olivia. You're growing up to be such a beautiful girl.

Sammy is 10 months!

What can I say about our little man. He's a lover. I mean he really gets in there for hugs and cuddles, especially when he's trying to fall asleep. Good thing there's always someone here who wants to give him loves.

Well, this month has found Sammy making new sounds, his favorite being "BAH!" He really makes an effort to form his lips and mouth in just the right way to come out with a loud and boisterous "BAH!" Sometimes Olivia with get him going and they will volley "BAH!" back and forth.

 

These two really get a kick out of eachother. We were lucky enough to spend a week at the beach and got some photos. Here's Sammy in the sunshine outside of the Schooner in Netarts Bay.

Here's the two kiddles in our beach cruiser:

Sammy is a prolific eater. But for some reason, he was not a fan of this carrot and squash dish his father was so patiently trying to feed him while we were at the beach. (Note the lack of a high chair. Mommy and Daddy forgot the crucial feeding apparatus.)

Here is in his chair grubbing on some apples.

Ten months is totally rad.

Sammy's 9 months!

 

Here's our little cutie pie. You can see his two little bottom teef and the top two are coming soon. Teething seems to bother Sammy more than it did Olivia, or maybe I've just forgotten. Olivia was always sucking on her bottom lip, maybe that's how she dealt with it. Sammy just likes to bite. Everything. Wood rocking chair, my leg, the rug, rocks...he's an equal opportunity chomper. I'm hoping it's a phase he'll get out of soon. 

Here's a photo of us just to prove, contrary to the sheer number of photos of us that I'm not in, that I was there: 

 

Here's some pictures of Sammy and Olivia together. When we can find an activity that they can enjoy together, it's brilliant. She's not so great about sharing her toys with him but that's all he wants: whatever she's playing with.

Other new things this month: we're slowly weaning from breastfeeding. It's been pretty organic, really. Sammy loves all food and wants to eat. I'm ready to be done too, so it's a good time this month. Plus, did I mention the biting?

Sammy's a big chatterer, this month he's added "dadada" to "mamama" and there's also "bababa." I wonder if he's saying baby, since he sure does love his books with pictures of babies.

Other new things this month: Sammy's first trip to the swimming pool and his first ride on the green seat on Daddy's bike! Both adventures were handled with aplomb, of course. (Photos forthcoming!)

Ok, time for bed for me. Olivia is still stirring, even though it's 9:30 p.m. Phew.

Nine months is neat.

Sammy is 8 months!

Oh, man. Eight months is super cool. Sammy is really on his way to walking, he's not even as interested in crawling, just standing. He wants to be standing whenever possible and this month he's much more steady. (Let's just say that last month, his balance wasn't so great and he fell over more than once.) All this moving around really works up an appetite so he's been eating lots of solids and less nursing.

Unfortunately, all of the eating during the day isn't helping his sleeping at night. He's taken to waking up at around 3 a.m., wide awake and ready to play. This past Saturday night, I was pleased that I'd had the foresight to records an episode of Saturday Night Live to watch as I rocked Sammy in the deep dark hours of the morning.

Alas, it's hard to be angry at the little guy. He's too cute. (An elderly lady in the store told Chris tonight: "You've got a good looking boy there. When he grows up, he'll be a real heart thumper.") Of course that red hair makes people oooh and ahhh, but I especially love his little smile and the way he shakes his head like he's saying no, but maybe he's thinking: I'm a little rock star. He's definitely a charmer: Last month he also said a distinctive "Dada" but this month, he's added "Mama" and usually he's looking for or at me. *Sigh*

As for Olivia, she's awesome as always. We'll have to update on the 19th. In the meantime, here she is at around 7 months and Sammy at the same age and wearing the same hat. Love these two!