Sitting Up

Luckily Lucia did not get nearly as sick as Ethan did. She had a bit of a cold that lasted about a week, but that was it. Here are a few pics of Lucia sitting up in her pack-n-play. We are doing a lot more tummy time lately and this evening she was rolling all over the place- well, not really- mostly she would roll over and then look at us like "what the heck am I supposed to do now?" She has also been kind of wiggling herself backwards when she lays on her tummy- it's pretty funny!

Black Widow

Ethan looks pretty pathetic in this pic- I think I took it Friday when he was still pretty sick. His fever hung around most of the weekend. He was really sick of taking Tylenol/ or Advil and on Saturday he was refusing his meds (I feel like I'm at work!). I was talking to my mother on the phone, she asked how Ethan was- I explained to her that he still has a temp (I think it was 101- ish)- but does not want to take any Tylenol for it. She suggested I put the Tylenol in orange juice b/c the OJ will "kill the flavor- he won't even know it's in there." Well I didn't have any orange juice- just some Strawberry breeze juice. So I poured a little bit, mixed in the Children's Tylenol, went over to Ethan and innocently asked him if he wanted some juice. Of course he did, so he took 3 big sips, then looked at me and said "hey, something wrong with this . . . it tastes funny . . . I don't like it" his voice becoming more panicked with each statement- like the panic before vomiting. I offer Ethan his little bowl that still had a few Kix in it to vomit in- he looks at me disgusted "there's Kix in there!" I yell for Jim to bring me a bowl, he does, I put it under Ethan's chin right before he vomits.
Jim asked me what the heck all that was about- I explain to him my mother's brilliant idea of lacing the juice with the Tylenol. Jim refers to me as the Black Widow the rest of the night and is worried about what I might try to hide in his food!

Ethan is finally feeling better today- no fever all day. We are now in the yellow snot constantly oozing from his nose stage.

"It's a robot"

Ethan was playing with some play-doh today- it still keeps him busy for a good 30 minutes- usually longer- which is a nice break for me. Today I did play with him for a little while- I love squishing the play doh through the little "fun factory."

House of Sickness

So we all have colds. Lucia's started over the weekend, then made it's way to me, and now Ethan. Jim keeps saying he thinks he's getting sick, but I don't think he's gotten it yet.
Ethan is by far the worst. This morning I cleared some sleep out of his eye, then two hours later I noticed there was more yellow gunk in the corner of his eye- well it's just gotten worse all day long, so I'm pretty sure it's pink eye. I just hope Lucia doesn't get it now!
I called the doctor- they said to do some warm compresses and call them in a few days if it hasn't cleared up- hopefully it will go away on it's own.
Pink eye is gross- Ethan helped me wipe down the door knobs, some toys, etc. today, but I can feel the germs creeping around me!

Meijer Gardens 2

Ethan enjoying his walk- he actually took a nap later in the day!

















Where's Lucy Lou? The wind was pretty bitter, so we threw the blanket over her face to help keep her warm. She slept pretty much the entire time!

Ethan and Nonna

Nonna explaining to Ethan that "dar is no mortar" holding the bridge sculpture up at the Gardens.

Meijer Gardens (Again!)

This past weekend, Ethan, Lucia, Nonna and I went to Meijer Gardens. It was a beautiful winter day, but lets face it- I want spring and summer to come ASAP!

Doctor Visit

Last Friday Ethan had his 3 year check up and Lucia had her 6 month checkup. Both kids are doing great- Ethan is tall and thinning out (95% for height and 75% for weight). And Lucia- well, Lucia has her own curve going above the growth chart! At least she is proportionate Dr. Addy said! She's 21lbs- so I should probably transition her into the next car seat since her current one is only rated to 22lbs.
I think Lucia might be getting another tooth- see how one cheek is bright red in the photo. She's been struggling at night still - Dr. Addy said to try and have her put herself back to sleep when she wakes up- but her scream rattles the house! I've been trying to let her cry it out- but I end up breaking down and feeding her around midnight. I need to get a handle on this- I want my nights back when she slept from 7pm to 7am!!

Miss Lucy Lou!

She's such a happy girl in the mornings!

Bouncy Seat

I think she is getting a little big for it. We have to strap her in now because she leans all the way forward and picks stuff off the ground. When you hit the button for the vibrating it sounds like a car revving up!

"Color a picture on Nonna's birthday card . . .

and eat this cookie at the same time."

Interesting result. I was helping him put his markers away and noticed that he shoved some cookie into one of the caps. I asked he why there was cookie in the cap, "becuase I coloring for Nonna's birthday." He always seems to skip around the real reason- I wonder who he gets that from . . .

Today, Jim said that Ethan picked up his purple play phone, dialed some numbers, held it up to his ear and said: "Hello." pause- like he listening to the person on the other end. "yes, I can come to the meeting, what day?" pause . . . "Thursday- okay." then he hung up. Jim asked him what meeting he had to go to, but he wouldn't share.

Eating Snow

Ethan has discovered the joy of eating snow!

Action Shots

Ethan and Emily going down the hill- they were out there for almost an hour!

Sledding at Uncle Danny's

Uncle Danny made a sledding hill on his side yard with all the snow from the Blizzard. Then he dumped water on it to make it extra fast!
The top pic is Danny getting ready to push Emily and Addy down the hill.














Ethan getting ready to go down. He loved it!

Car Show

Jim and Ethan went to the car show on Friday. Jim said Ethan had a good time- but it was challenging keeping an eye on him and looking at all the cars.



















Ethan checking out the Jeep Wrangler . . . I can't believe in just 13 years he'll be driving! Scary thought!!!

Blizzard 6

Ethan playing in the snow after he was done helping daddy shovel.

























Eating snow- on our walk later in the day I caught him licking the dirty snowbank snow- gross!













"Get me outta here!" Jim threw him in a big pile of snow- it was hilarious watching him try to get up- reminded me of the scene in the movie The Christmas Story!

Blizzard 5

And he's done!

Blizzard 4

Ethan helping Jim "shobel." I was watching from inside- it was pretty cute- Ethan would get a load on his shovel and as he was walking to dump it on the pile- the snow would slide off- probably making more work for Jim!

Blizzard 3

Jim atop a snow pile in the backyard. It's even bigger now b/c he raked some snow off the roof!