Playing with Friends and Sitting Up

Keeping kiddos healthy in the winter is a challenge. Elliott and his friends Tucker and Levi are all prone to respiratory issues so I keep our distance when any of them is sick. Finally, everyone is healthy so we can all be together, as we should! These kids love playing together.

Lincoln (9 months) and Lucy. He pulled himself up to see her.

Tucker and Elliott were very proud when they emptied the toy box and got inside.

Happy friends.

After I put Elliott down for nap that day, I came down to find my slippers occupied by some furry friends (a monkey and Rocky the seal).

Bedtime snuggles. Both kids are wearing hand-me-down PJs from Ned.

Elliott wanted to hold Lucy.

Lucy is quite the sitter these days. She can keep herself upright for a while and self-correct before toppling over. This was on 3/15/14. I took similar pictures of Elliott on 3/17/12. They seem to be hitting milestones at the same time.

Enjoying our last evening with Daddy before his trip.

Hi! Check out the second picture of Elliott in this post. Related?

The flashing toothbrush has been a game changer for Elliott. It flashes for a whole minute so we know how long to brush his teeth.

Jesse left on Sunday for two and a half weeks in Cyprus. My mom came down to watch the kids so I could take Jesse to the airport. Instead, I came down with a stomach bug and spent the day curled in the fetal position. My mom stepped in to make the airport run. Sorry, babe, that I couldn't see you off. 

In bed with my girl.

She loves playing with Elliott's toys.

Sitting and playing with Elliott's house keys.

Coco reading to the wiggleworms.

Lucy finally fell asleep after fighting a nap that afternoon. I love watching them sleep.

Ted's Birthday, Sibling Bonding, Shadows, Etc.

A spattering of activities from last week.

We went to the Ortmans' house to celebrate Ted's 38th birthday. He got lots of snuggles from the nieces and nephews. Here he is practicing the double hold for when he has twins. Lucy and Penny look very similar in size here!

The boys helped blow out the candles on these AMAZING dairy-free and gluten-free brownies. Thanks, sister, for making a yummy treat both Ted and I could enjoy! 

Blowing out the little bulldozer candle.

Penny loving on Lucy.

Elliott had a special request a few weeks ago. He wanted the horse on top of him. And his blanket on the horse. Whatever gets him to sleep . . . 

Elliott had a wonderful aha moment when he found his shadow at lunch one day.

"It's me!" This reminds me of the first time he found his shadow.

Lucy and Elliott have started playing together. It warms my heart. She is interested in many of his toys. Most of the time, he is great about giving her things to play with. But, we also have a lot of "mine!" moments.

When Elliott was little, we did not have a house full of toddler toys so he always played with age-appropriate toys. Lucy is an equal-opportunity toy lover, opting for a loader here.

We had our second blizzard of the year on March 12, 2014. Lucy went for a fancy dress, as she did on our first blizzard. 

My mother bought this dress for Holly in Lake Placid, NY in 1978. It has now been worn by Holly, me, Penny, and Lucy.

Reading books together. I love watching their bond grow!

Making the Most of Winter

This winter has been cooooold and snowy. Rather than gripe about the weather, I've made a conscious effort to embrace in by doing outdoor activities. We've cross country skied many times and made it out snowshoeing at Hunters Creek Park a few weeks ago. We were with our usual outdoor buddies, Tim and Laura Magee. 

My little snuggle buddy snoozed most of the time.

After we finished our jaunt, Elliott had a great time sliding headfirst down this snowbank. 

He ended up with a brush burn on his chin from the sliding.

Everyone's favorite part of our jaunts is going out for bacon breakfast at the Iron Kettle. Elliott wanted to hold Lucy. He was actually holding her but I kept my hand nearby.

The following day, we headed down to Rock City to go cross country skiing.

Lucy all ready for her trip (aka nap).

Our out-and-back ski led us to this awesome rock formation.

We wandered around on foot for a short while before the kids melted and we headed back out.

Elliott loves Tim!

And snow!

A rare shot of Jesse and me. With Lucy!

Elliott explored the rocks with company from 4 of the 5 dogs.

The deep snow was a bit rough for Elliott to navigate.

Elliott really wanted to walk on our way out. Barrett and Cindy humored him for a while and helped him along. All five dogs in this shot (Tim and Laura have three; we had Dutch and Humphrey who was staying with us for the week).

Then Elliott wanted to ski. Jesse accomplished this impressive feat. He could not move his skis without knocking Elliott over. He pushed with his left hand and Tim gave him push on the right. Jesse eventually convinced Elliott to get back in the pack with the promise of going fast down a big hill. The huge grin on my face?? I was breastfeeding Lucy while skiing. A supermom moment!

Almost back to the car.

Laura in motion.

Lucy got some Daddy snuggles back at the car.

Our post-ski meal was a great lunch at the Ellicottville Brewing Company. Lucy loved the lights!

Roadtrip to DC

Sometimes I take TONS of pictures of our everyday life. Sometimes we go on fun adventures and I basically take no pictures. This is the latter. We went to DC for the weekend of March 1st and I took about 20 pictures the whole time. Jesse and I lived in DC before we had kids and this was our first time back together since we moved (we have both been back for business reasons). We have so many friends and family down there that I actually had to make a list of get togethers and we still missed some people.

On Friday, we ventured to the National Air and Space Museum. Elliott's favorite part? The escalator. And maybe the elevator, too. He did like watching the videos of aircraft takeoff and land on a carrier deck.
Funny escalator story. On that Saturday, we took the Metro in to another museum. Jesse and Elliott rode up the escalator out of the station while Lucy and I took the stroller up the elevator. When stepping onto the escalator, Elliott exclaimed, "it's stairs . . . that move!!" Jesse and the other adults within earshots were very entertained by his discovery.

Even little planes look big there.

Running, running, running.

We tried to get Elliott to stand by the nose of this plane but he opted for the flight attendant display instead.

With the big planes.

The real reason behind our trip to DC was to attend an engagement party for our good friends Toby and Steve. Toby is my best friend from college. They surprised everyone and tied the knot at the engagement party! It was wonderful! We were so happy to be there for the big event.

Steve, checking out his new bride and her baby bump. Baby Hedger is due in May!

On Sunday, we found a playground and Elliott was eager to get his wiggles out.

Making some friends.

I got nervous when he first started climbing on here.

But he is an agile little monkey!

The cartrip when amazingly well. We borrowed a seat-mounted DVD player from the Ortmans and brought big headphones for Elliott. He was happily entertained by Nemo, Thomas, and other movies while we enjoyed relative quiet. Lucy was a champ, too. We had a perfect system where I would pump and bottle feed her to reduce stops.

We hope to have some other traveling adventures soon!

Oh, and as for that goal of being caught up by the time Jesse left? Fail. He left yesterday. Not caught up.