Happy Easter!

Our Easter was pretty low key today, despite being E's very first Easter (funny how, despite being a year apart, it was E's first Easter as well as the first Easter of my friend's son, born earlier this month... silly lunar holidays!).

The boys came down while I was getting a shower, and immediately started the egg hunt.  (Must remember to speak to the Easter Bunny about coming while we're at Church....)

I debated between taking the boys to Church and taking A to swimming; we've been struggling with him and his gym classes, so I didn't want to lose an opportunity.  I decided to go the Church route today.  I brought lots of toys, but really should have brought some snacks.  I wasn't thinking we'd need them because they'd eaten before we went, but A kept sneaking E's puffs.

They were really good, though I was feeling really antsy by the time it was over; we'd gotten up to go to the bathroom and get some fresh air (it was so hot and stuffy, with the unexpectedly gorgeous 70 degree day!), but Mass was still an hour and fifteen minutes by Communion time.

We then came home and changed.  E took his morning nap while the rest of us did some yardwork.  Wait a second, he didn't take his nap; I carried him around in the Ergo.  He started crashing around the same time I got tired of yardwork, so I took him up for his nap.  M went to get sandwiches for lunch, and we had a nice picnic out in the backyard in the beautiful sunshine.  E woke up right around the time we started eating, so we brought him out and gave him some lunch too.

Soon after, A took his nap, after which we left to go to Mom Mom's house.  We picked her up and went out to dinner in Bordentown.  I really wanted to take a picture of her and the boys, but because of the restaurant setting, that didn't work out, and we didn't take the boys out of the car to go into her house.  A must do for E's birthday party.

E shoveled food in his face from the moment we sat down.  This place has great bread, and he ate so much of it, he barely touched his actual dinner.  Note, I said barely... he ate a lot of bread, his fruit cup, and then some of his chicken and veggies.  You'd think he's starved.

So, we had a wonderful Easter day here.  Hope you did too!

Teeth

"They" say a baby will get his/her teeth following a similar pattern to his/her parents.  I think A didn't follow that at all, but we sort of thought E would follow a pattern similar to his brother.
Well, A got his first tooth on May 12 (about 10 months old), his second on May 29, though it came the whole way through later.  Tooth #3, well I have no idea about that one.  I thought I'd recorded the date here, but I can't find it, and I didn't record the date in his book.

E, on the other hand, got his first tooth earlier, though I'm not sure when (I did record that date in his book), and the second was soon after.  The third, however, has taken forever to come in!  His third tooth (top left) poked through on his birthday, April 20.  The fourth (top right) is right behind.

I have no idea how it feels to get your first teeth.  But it seems to me that having your teeth come out the FRONT of your gums instead of the bottom seems like it would be particularly painful, and that's how E's top teeth are coming in.  No wonder he's been so unhappy lately!

Go ahead and fret that I can't crawl...

A week ago, I was concerned that E wasn't crawling.  Sure, he was doing the army crawl and could get wherever he wanted to go, but he wasn't CRAWLING.  He is definitely crawling now, and is starting to realize that it's faster and easier than army crawl.

So, last night, he followed me into the bathroom at bedtime and went ahead and lifted to hands and feet.  So, think hands and knees, but hands and feet.  And moving forward.

Go figure.

I'm really worried that E hasn't won the lottery yet....

One year....

I cannot believe my little baby is one today.

The day was pretty uneventful; unfortunately, the weather was crummy for much of the day.  The weather did warm up, though, so we went to the park with A and hung out for a little while in the backyard.   We also took these great pictures here at home.

And had an impromptu bath.

Let me tell you about this little boy at 1.

He prefers to army crawl rather than real crawl.  Today, however, he demonstrated that he has realized regular crawling is faster and easier.

He loves pulling up to standing.  Favorite places to do it area at the tv cabinet and at Mommy's legs.

He loves music and dancing.

He hates going into the car, but babbles when the car is moving.

He mimics "Daddy," "A," and "Hello."

Everything is a telephone and gets held up to his ear.

His two favorite people are Mommy and A.  He squeals with delight when A comes home from school and the happiest part of his day is when A comes into his room in the morning.  Mommy, however, is his constant, his protector.  Mommy doesn't get the same reaction as A does, but I get the "I need you" kind of favorite.

He doesn't not really sign anymore, except for "more," which he claps his hands to sign.  He, however, understands the sign for Daddy, milk, water, cookie.

He can climb up the two steps from the family room to the kitchen.

He loves the cats, and cats of any kind. 

He LOVES food.  The few exceptions that come to mind are broccoli and something else that's a green veggie but is currently escaping me.

He's still waking once a night.  Naps are typically from 9-11 and 2-3:30, though these have been varying as he wakes at different times for the day (a 6:30 wake up has him napping at 8:30, but a 7:30 waking has him napping at 10:30).

We have finally figured out a system for him to stay at the gym nursery.  He has to stay in his stroller, facing away from the door, and have breakfast.  This allows me a full hour at the gym.

Movin and a groovin

I've been worried about E's mobility for awhile.  By his first birthday, A had been crawling well for a long time.  E, however, is quite content to pull along in the army crawl.  He is hesitant to cruise, though he does it, and I'd never seen him go from his belly to sitting on his own.

I seriously started looking into some developmental checkpoints, when the very next HOUR practically, he started crawling with his belly lifted.  Later the same day, he decided to go to sitting on his own.

So, this week, the week before his first birthday, E has started to cruise, go from belly to sitting (though is still inconsistent), and crawl with  his chest and belly lifted (though he mostly prefers the army crawl).  He is a maniac about pulling up to standing on the furniture (favorites include our tv stand, the dishwasher, and his dresser), though he's not crazy about dropping back down and usually gets stuck.

I also suspect he's going to be getting his third and maybe his fourth tooth any day.  Thus, nights have been really tough around here.  Last night, we were up at least 5 times.  He's also been waking up at 6:30, again, and seems to be looking to give up that afternoon nap (please, no!!) though he's still incredibly tired and NEEDS something around 4.

Consistency

Lately, I've been getting a visitor around 6:30 in the morning.  This visitor has elephant feet and comes carrying a blanket named Kiki (who happens to be a boy).  He's happy to snuggle, and will sometimes let me sleep a little longer.  He usually asks to drink some of my water.

With Daddy home this week for spring break, this little visitor has been appearing earlier and earlier.  Now that Daddy's here, he has to go in the MIDDLE (thus, climbing over me) rather than on the edge.  He's also much more fidgety.

I love this cuddle time.


On a related note, every day, he asks to stay in his pajamas a little while.  Every day the same, "Can I stay in my pajamas for a little while?"  We got a calendar for a whole bunch of fun activities this month at daycare, so when he asked that, I said, "You should ask Miss D for a pajama day."  He did, and they got one!  So proud of my little advocate, for sure Future Student Council President!

The tortise and the hare

My mother is a slow eater.  Growing up, there were many meals when the dishes would be cleared, but Mom was still eating by herself (sorry about that, Mom).
By contrast, my father is an incredibly fast eater.  I sometimes wonder what would happen if Mom's food came out with appetizers and Dad's came with entrees.

It appears their grandsons are taking after them in this regard.  See, E will devour pretty much anything.  The only food he doesn't really like (and so gets thrown on the floor) has been broccoli, edamame, and SOMETIMES green beans.  And he's fast.  He will be done with his plate when I (another fast eater) am only halfway through mine.  This, in turn, brings on the pterodactyl noise, and Mommy's frantically going through the fridge for MORE FOOD!  MORE FOOD!

A, on the other hand, will take his time.  If I'm being honest, he dawdles.  I'm not sure if he's eating too much throughout the day and so isn't really hungry at dinnertime (though he will ALWAYS ask for a snack when he comes home from school, despite having just had one half an hour earlier AT school), or what his deal is, but tonight, he started telling stories, playing with this and that, looking out the window, etc etc etc.  I think about setting a timer for him, and if he's not done by the time the timer goes off, he loses what isn't eaten, but then think of Grammi, who really just takes her time and enjoys her food.  I also have no desire to rush him so that he doesn't realize he's had enough and so keep shoveling food into his gullet.

That's a first

E has gotten very proud of himself and his abilities to get where he wants to go and also pull up to standing.

Today, I went to get him from his nap only to discover he finally figured out how to stand up in the crib!  Woo!

He's also been proud of his abilities to climb up the little two step we have from family room to kitchen, and today, decided to go down them.  I was cooking, but M said he did a pretty good job!

Daredevil?

Horse

I was out of the house on Saturday, so M decided to take the boys up to Bepah's and suggested going to visit the horses while they were up there.

He said both boys were totally fascinated and enthralled.

Baby won't you take me on a sea CRUISE!

E decided this weekend he wanted to start cruising.  He's got to have motivation, so if there's something good he wants, he'll go, but he won't otherwise.  He also likes to push around his table or a stool while standing, but he WON'T push around his walker.  Go figure.

I took these today, just for the sake of learning how to take pictures better.

Pier One's Outdoor Furniture

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Pier 1 for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Despite the forecast of snow this week, we're thinking spring around here.  I just found out that Pier 1 has already put out their Outdoor Furniture to start the outdoor season.  I took a look at their outdoor furniture line, and I really like the pieces they have, and hope to incorporate some in our patio area.

 

 

This piece is called "Outdoor Crazy Chair," and I think it looks really fresh, and I can picture myself sitting on the deck curled up with a warm drink, a book, and a fire pit.  A lot of Pier 1's furniture is for indoor as well as outdoor, so this wouldn't need to be stored!  Like I said, this piece makes me think of fire and cozy spaces, so it would work on our deck or in our family room near the fireplace.

 

I love the bright colors of this cushion, Whimsical Garden Square.  I love how bright it is, and it makes me think of tiki torches and a cocktail.  I love me some tiki torches and cocktails.

In addition to the furniture for outdoor, they also have lots of spring and summer accessories, which are easy ways to update a space, whether indoor or out.

I love the look of these dots and stripes lanterns, and at $24 for the larger lantern, it's an inexpensive way to brighten up your outdoor space, or maybe even use some citronella candles in there.

 

Speaking of citronella, how cute are these Citronella lamps?  Typically, I don't like the look of citronella candles, but these are decorative as well as bug repellent!

The iconic Pier 1 Papasan has evolved! Check out all the different outdoor Papasans that are available this spring! (outdoor Papasan, outdoor double Papasan, Swingasan). 

Looking at the beautiful furniture, textiles, and accessories Pier One has available this season makes it clear that your outdoor area can truly been another room in your home.

Also, Pier One is having two Tweetups soon. Pier 1 Tweetups will be in the following cities on the dates listed.

Atlanta: April 5th
NYC: April 20th

For more info about dates and times, visit: izea.com/a-pier-1-tweetup-coming-to-your-area/.