4 months old!

Elsa and her buddy, Georgette.
Her friend Bennet borrowed
us his monkey, because I
accidentally packed ours away!

Happy St. Patrick's day!

Hard to believe it's been 4 months already - our little peanut is getting so big!  She has finally started to fit better in the bumbo chair, and has recently started grabbing and hanging on to toys.  She loves the toy in the picture below. Thankfully Nolan and Kale took good care of it!  She is eating 5 oz. and still spits up, but we know she's gaining weight based on our recent dr. visits!  Kale still loves her like crazy and has recently started calling her honey, and Nolan could pretty much take her or leave her.  At least he says good morning and good night to her!

She has finally developed a little fat roll on her arm,
as well as dimples in her elbows. You can see
the roll on her leg, too!

She loves banging all all the buttons that make noise

Kale and his "honey" and "cutie"

Progress

Well, we did it.  We successfully moved about 75% of our belongings to Adam's parents 3rd stall garage space.  We are so thankful for the extra storage space - our house actually looks big again!  We moved 8 large boxes and storage bins of toys, in addition to the train table, basketball hoop and other miscellaneous large toys.  It will be nice for the boys to actually have a smaller selection of toys to pick from - and to clean up!  I drove them up to St. Cloud on Friday after work, and we just got home from picking them up.  They were pretty surprised to see the house as empty as it is!  It's weird, because there is definitely an echo to every room.  The photographer is coming to take pictures tomorrow, in hopes that it will be on the market early this week.  Wish us luck!

Double ear infection

Elsa had a super fussy weekend, which has led to a lot of sleepless nights for us this week.  It was to the point that she has been crying uncontrollably for 1/2 hour periods of time, and we can't get her to calm down. It finally clicked today when Jane called and noticed that she was pretty fussy and crying a lot when she was laying down.  I made an appointment for her this afternoon and sure enough, her first ear infection didn't clear up and now she has a double ear infection!  I knew it was bad when our NP said her right ear was bulging.  We have a brand new prescription of augmentin in hopes this will take care of it.  The good news is that she has gotten that much closer to breaking the 11 lb mark - 10 lbs, 14 oz!

She did manage to crack a few smiles this weekend!

I want to see you move...

Well, it's official - we're moving south!  I accepted a new job a few weeks ago as the Asst. Director of HR for compensation, benefits and payroll at MN State University, Mankato.  I am very excited for the new challenges this job will offer, but we have a lot of stuff to do on our current homefront.  We told the boys our exciting news last night - and were pleasantly surprised by their reaction.  As soon as Kale heard "Mankato", his first words were - "that's where Yoya (Lola) lives!"  Nolan immediately started talking about all the new friends he'll make and the new school he gets to go to. We didn't tell them until we had a chance to tell Jane.  We thought it would be helpful if she could talk to them about it, too. It was so sweet this morning when I dropped the kids off at Jane's house.  Kale looked at her and said, "I'm going to miss you so much, Jane".  I told her we are all going to miss Jane a lot.  I know we will never replace her - she is one of a kind!

We have a lot of stuff to start working on in the meantime - like starting to pack and clean out our house so it can be put on the market!  I've been a bit overwhelmed just thinking about it, so I haven't done a whole lot yet. Luckily I have a pretty fantastic husband who is also excited about the move and has already been working on some of the not so fun tasks - like cleaning out the laundry room and storage room!  We made the decision earlier this week to send the kids to my parent's house for the weekend, so we can focus on cleaning and packing.  We're going to have to stay focused, especially since we're both running in the Get Lucky 7K race in Minneapolis Saturday morning!

Bowling

The kids had a great time at the daycare bowling party today.  It was Nolan and Kale's first time, and they both really liked it.  Shock of all shocks, though - Nolan had a lot more patience than Kale!

It's Tricky

Movie makers have totally figured out how to get kids to listen to music.  The boys always equate a song to the title of the movie it's in - for example, the Turbo song is It's Tricky by Run-DMC.  Today on the way home from daycare Kale requested the Turbo song.  It was amazing to listen to him sing "It's Tricky", and tell me his favorite part is "I met a little girlie". At least he has good taste in music!

Santa and Jesus

This morning on the way to daycare the boys were discussing how fun it was that Elsa was talking.  I asked Kale what he thought Elsa was talking about and he said "I think she's talking about you, mommy".  I asked Nolan the same thing and he said, "I'm pretty sure she's talking about Santa and Jesus".

Activity mat fun

Elsa is becoming so much fun.  Today for the first time she grabbed at a toy and held on to it.  I love watching her eyes get big when she figures something out!  Jane said she is doing the same thing there, and has really gotten the hang at swatting at the toys on her activity mat!

Scribbles

I've really come to appreciate the scribble cards that are available to kids at church.  Nolan has really started honing in on his artistic and writing abilities - all in the 15 minutes before they go up for the children's message and head off to Sunday school!

George Washington

Last night before bed we let Nolan take out some money from his piggy bank for the first time.  There's a book fair at school and I'm taking him to it tomorrow morning.  Adam was helping the boys sort through the money and was teaching them about the bills and coins.  I heard him ask Nolan if he knew what president's picture was on the dollar bill.  I was shocked to hear him say "George Washington".  He must have picked that up at school when they talked about President's Day!

It was fun to watch Nolan look through all the books to decide what he wanted to buy. He brought $10 with him and studied each section of books very carefully.  He ultimately decided that a Planes book with 3D glasses was his book of choice. He also bought a pen with a football attached to a string.  He thought it was so cool because there is a button to push and the football gets "throw" in the air.  He came home with $1.02 in his pocket.  So far he's read the book once, misplaced the 3D glasses and completely lost the football pen.  We had a little talk about responsibility!

Jane's helper

Nolan has been having a terrible week.  I'm not sure what's going on, but he is being quite defiant and throwing a lot more tantrums than normal.  It probably has something to do with the fact that he hasn't been able to burn off much energy lately because of the cold, and also because of all the attention that Elsa is getting from us.  Today Jane texted me a picture of him helping get lunch ready for the kids. I love that he helps at Jane's, but I think deep down he knows he needs to start behaving better and he wanted me to see that he is.  I hope he keeps it up!

First trip to urgent care

Elsa had been developing a cough/cold over the course of the last week.  She was super irritable and quite tired on Sunday, so we decided to just take her in to urgent care to rule out any respiratory issues.  I was surprised to hear that she has an ear infection.  She’s on a 10 day prescription, so hopefully that will knock it out.  They weighed her with her clothes on and a wet diaper, and she tipped the scales at 10.0 lbs!  It’s good to know she’s heading in the right direction.

Hot and cold

Grandma and Grandpa B taught the boys how to play the game hot or cold.  We were playing the other night and Nolan kept saying, “you’re hot, Mom, you’re hot!”  Talk about making a girl feel good about herselfJ

Baby Elsa

At the end of church today a few of the members came over to talk to us. They asked the boys what their little sister's name was.  Both boys announced proudly, in unison, "Baby Elsa".  I think no matter how she gets, she will always be the baby to the boys!

Snow, snow and more snow

This has been one heck of a winter.  On the way home from Jane's today I told the boys I wanted to take a picture of them in front of the snow banks.  Nolan, the peach that he is when he doesn't want to do something, replied "fine, mom, but I'm not smiling".  I didn't really care if he smiled or not, because his gator was covering his face!

Winter artwork

Both of the boys are becoming little artists.  Nolan really likes patterns and can free hand draw lots of cool things.  

Kale is currently obsessed with monsters.  He loves to draw them but doesn't like it when I put them on display in the house!

The bunny Easter

Last night Kale started talking about Valentine's Day (or Balemtime's Day, as he calls it). We are still using the heart plates, Vday cups and placemats, so Kale asked if it was still Valentine's Day. I explained to him that Vday is over and he kept arguing with me that it's not because the Vday picture frames were still out. I explained that we would celebrate it again next year, and that the next fun holiday is Easter. Yes, I know, I forgot St. Patrick's Day.  Kale responded with an excited "ohhhhh" and said, "then the bunny Easter will come to give us chocolate and then we'll get dirty". Smart kid.

Goodbye Elmer

Yesterday we had to break the news to the boys that Grandma and Grandpa B's cat, 14 year old Elmer, died.  The craziest thing was that on the way to daycare/preschool the boys were talking about animals getting hit by cars and dying.  Both Nolan and Kale commented that animals are buried in the ground and then they go to heaven.

When we broke the news to them at dinner Nolan was pretty sad, he kept his head down for a little bit and didn't say anything.  Kale, on the other hand, started talking about, saying that Elmer will get buried in the ground and then go to heaven.  He then went on to say that if Leinie, the other cat, dies there will be no more cats at Grandma and Grandpa's house.  I guess we'll take whatever simple math he wants to do, even it involves cats dying!

I mentioned to Jane this morning that Elmer died, in the event that Kale talked about it.  She said that was so weird, because at lunch yesterday they were talking about pets and Kale said that Elmer and Leinie were his pets. Jane said she talked about a dog she used to have. Kale asked what happened to it and Jane explained that Toby had died and gone to heaven to live with the angels and God.  Kale told Jane that Toby must have gotten wings to fly up to heaven.

3 months old!

Hard to believe but yesterday Elsa turned 3 months old.  We did an unofficial weight and length for her – 10.2 lbs and 23.5 inches long!  This actually puts her back on the percentile chart for her age at 4% for weight – hurray!  Her length is at 37%, which is a huge jump from her 2 month appointment if it’s accurate.  She is starting to fit better in to the 0-3 months clothes. She loves her activity mat, bouncy chair and any opportunity she has to watch her big brothers play.  She is still obsessed with her hands and is by far the drooliest kid we’ve ever had. She just started eating 4 oz. and has been sleeping through the night since the end of January.  She is actually turning in to quite a content baby!  She still has some horrid crying spells if something isn’t just right, but I think we’re figuring her out.  She seems to really enjoy her time at Jane’s house and is smiley at drop off and pick up.  We need to figure out tummy time for her, as she still hates it with a passion.  At this rate she will never be rolling over or crawling!  The up side of that is we won’t have an early walker like Kale.  10 months was too soon!

I'm not smiling

I asked the boys to take a picture with Elsa. No surprise to me when his response was “I don’t want to.” So I take the picture of Elsa and Kale - you can see in the first picture that Nolan’s feet are in the background, right behind Kale’s ear.  A screaming fit ensues as soon as the picture is taken – “I want to take a picture!” I tell him to get in the picture. Nolan continues to scream for a few more minutes.  He decides to finally get in the picture but is upset that his knee is touching Kale’s leg.  His final words before I took the picture were “I’m not smiling”.

No smiles

Elsa got her 3 month pictures taken yesterday. I try not to get frustrated, but it is a little disheartening that she will not cooperate all that well for professional pictures.  She didn’t cry until we brought the boys in to try and be in the pictures with her.  We got a total of 1 picture with the 3 of them, and Elsa is crying.  The photographer did a great job of capturing Nolan and Kale and they were really well behaved.  As a treat after the pictures they got to go play at the play area at the mall – what a special treat is what Kale told us!  Kale also got new shoes (size 10), which he keeps telling us make him “really fast”. 

On the way home from the pictures we told the boys that Grandma and Grandpa B were going to babysit them that evening.  They asked why and we told them we were going on a date night.  Kale said something about boys not being able to go on dates. I explained to him that boys go on dates, just not until they’re bigger. I asked Kale who he would take on a date and he said his bunny Peanut Butter, because he’s a good dancer. I asked Nolan if he had anyone in mind he would take out on a date and he initially said no.  A few seconds later he piped up and said, “but if I go out on a date I would take you, Mom”.  He is so thoughtful!  I had to document this so I can show it to him when the day comes when he doesn’t want to hang out with me!

Happy Valentine's Day!

We had a great time celebrating V-day with the kiddos.  We started the day with heart shaped waffles and strawberries, along with the opening of their gift.  Both of the boys were so excited about their plate/bowl/cup set – Nolan got a Spiderman set and Kale a Monsters University with Mike Wazowski on it.  Nolan kept saying “it’s so awesome, Mom!”. I love that they’re so easy to please!  Elsa also got her first set – and of course it’s from the movie Frozen and has Anna and Elsa on itJ  Someday she will love it.

In preparation for the big day I spent an entire week working the kids on their valentine’s. Nolan was actually quite cooperative and he had to write out the most cards – 17 for preschool, 10 for adventure club and 12 for daycare.  Kale struggled a little bit but we managed to get them done.  It was interesting to see what kind of treats Nolan came home with from school.  We received an email that very clearly stated that there weren’t supposed to be any “naughty” treats given out to the kids. Nolan and I made a special trip to the grocery store and decided that individually bagged popcorn and fruit snacks would work for school, and a bag of small chocolate candy bars would work for daycare. I was a little surprised when Nolan came home from school with 8 pixie sticks and a bag of fun dip!  This is probably terrible, but we haven’t let him have any of them yet.  However, he hasn’t asked about it, either.  I’m not sure I want him eating straight up sugar quite yet! 

911

Last Thursday Adam and I surprised the kids by picking them up together - Adam had been gone since Monday in Detroit for work.  Sidenote: I couldn't believe how smooth things went with all 3 kids.  We'll see what happens now that I'm back to work!  On the way home last Thursday Kale was telling us all about how to call 911.  We didn't think much about it at the time, other than Jane must be working with all the 3 year olds on it.

Fast forward to this morning when Adam received a phone call from Jane.  Jane told him that she has been teaching the kids about 911 and how/when to use it.  She said one of her examples was if she was sitting on the couch and not moving.  She told Adam that while she was in the restroom Nolan, Logan and Kale decided to call 911.  She was surprised to get a call from the dispatcher when she came out.  She said she was pretty sure it was Kale or Logan who did it, and that she was going to have to teach them about not crying wolf.

During dinner tonight Adam brought up what happened.

M: Which one of you called 911 at Jane's house today?
K: I did.
M: Why did you call 911?
K: Because Jane said we should.
D: Kale, you can't just call 911.  When do you think you should call 911?
K: In an emergency.

Adam did a great job of talking about why you just can't call 911 whenever you want and that it's never funny to call if there isn't an emergency.  Hopefully it will stick with them!

Back to school for Mom

I spent yesterday morning with Nolan at preschool. He knew all week that I was going to be visiting and couldn't wait - all his teachers knew and so did Jane!  He gave me a big hug when I showed up in the classroom.  I love that he still thinks it's cool to hug his mom in public!  It was so much fun to be with him to see what he does every day.  Nolan doesn't always want to tell us details about his day, so this was a great way for me to understand the routine.  I  had the most fun being a part of his small group as they went from station to station. I shouldn't be surprised by this, but Nolan is a great listener.  He was always one of the first to sit criss cross applesauce with his hands in his lap, and he stood completely still in line.  The teacher probably tells all parent's this, but she said Nolan is one of the favorite friends in the class.  I could tell when they had to do group activities - he was the kid all the other kids wanted to be paired up with!  I left the classroom feeling very proud of him.  I also got to spend 10 minutes before lunch with him in Adventure Club.  The teacher invited me to read a story to the class.  Nolan even got to pick the book - Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten.  After that I was a participant in the Tootie Tots song!  After that I got to experience lunch time.  Nolan did a great job of showing me what to do - even telling me to make sure I took a tray from the top of the pile!  It was fun to get to meet and visit with the friends he talks about every day.  I told Adam that he needs to visit Nolan before the end of the year, too.  I appreciate his day so much more!

Great job, Kale!

Nolan is the most positive big brother.  He and Kale were kicking around the soccer ball last night while I was making dinner.  Kale must have kicked it really well, because the next thing I heard was, "great job, Cal (Kale)! You did really good!" Kale responded with "thanks, Nowan (Nolan)!"

The last first day of daycare

Elsa officially started daycare on Monday.  So far so good.  Jane actually said she has adjusted a lot faster than she thought she would.  Hopefully she'll keep it up!  We've been working  hard to get her to bed earlier in the evening - and she actually started doing just that on January 25th!  Her new routine is in bed no later than 8, dream feed at 10:30, and up sometime between 6 and 7:15.  It took her longer than the boys, but she is coming around to appreciate all the wonderfulness of a routine.

Nolan and Kale just love having her with them, I think the other kids are starting to come around, too.

Cold winter's night

Nolan crawled in to bed tonight and said he was cold.  He followed that up by stating "it must be because of the cold winter's night." Where does he come up with this stuff?

Best friends

Adam took the boys to a playdate at Edinborough yesterday afternoon, to the "playground in the sky", as Kale calls it. The last time I had him there we didn't stay long because Kale missed Nolan and was too scared to climb up to the top by himself.  This afternoon Kale kept asking Nolan if he would take him to the top.  Sure enough Nolan did that, and Kale was thrilled.  On the way home Adam asked the boys what their favorite part of the day was.  Nolan said playing - he likes to keep things general. Kale, on the other hand, said that his favorite part was Nolan taking him up to the top of the play area.  I am so proud of how well our boys get along. They are a perfect fit for each other!

It's been cute watching the boys together at church.  They started a new thing a few months ago where they hold hands to walk up together for the children's message.  Today I walked them down to Sunday school after the message was over.  Nolan held Kale's hand the whole way to the classroom.  It's not like they aren't familiar with the surroundings, so I'm not sure why they do it.  People sure do notice, though, and give compliments about what nice boys we have.  I have to say that lately I 100% agree with that!

I'm starving

Jane called me around 9 this morning. She asked me if I had hollowed out Kale's legs this morning. I asked her why and she said that since I dropped him off he ate 4 bowls of cereal and was eating grapes as we spoke.  I said I was a little surprised because he had an egg, banana and glass of milk this morning before I brought him over!  He must growing.  Earlier this week he refused, absolutely refused, to eat dinner.  He literally went to bed having ate only 2 bites of meat.

Doubter

I signed up to run a 1/2 marathon today.  I told Nolan that I was going to run 13 miles and he replied, "that's crazy, Mom. Can you even run that far?" He then proceeded to explain to me how fast he can run.  It's amazing how he can completely forget the disaster that happened in October when we tried to get him to run a 1K!

Elsa's first day

I had a bunch of errands/appointments today, so I sent Elsa to Jane's house for the first time.  It's going to take her longer to adjust, mostly to the napping.  I remember Kale taking a few weeks to get used to it, so I know she will, too.  Jane said that the youngest little girl (18 months) was having a hard time, that another 3 year old boy thought all the new baby toys/equipment were for him to play with, and that Kale kept telling everyone that they had to be careful with baby Elsa because he just loves her so much.  That kid seriously cracks me up!  He is so protective of her.

Snails

Kale was so proud that Jane taught him how to make a snail out of Playdoh -"just like Turbo, Mom!"

I like this song

I took the boys to get their haircut yesterday afternoon. The song "Gone, Gone, Gone" by Phillip Phillips came on the radio.  I heard Nolan tell his stylist, "I really like this song".  It's the first time he's struck up a conversation like that!

Swimming

The boys started swimming lessons today.  I stayed home with Elsa and Adam took them.  I was very proud to get the report that they were both the best listeners in their class!  Kale's favorite part is dunking his head, and Nolan just liked "playing".

Kindergarten roundup

It’s hard to believe that we attended our first kindergarten roundup. Nolan was so excited. And what a difference we saw in him compared to the preschool open house. He was confident walking in to the classroom and didn’t shy away from talking to the teacher. It certainly helped that all his friends from preschool and Adventure Club were there, too. I was surprised by how many preschool kids were clinging to their parents and crying as they left them to go to the meeting. These are kids that are already in school so should be used to their parent’s not being there. Both Adam and I were impressed with what our school district offers. It was also fun to see a younger male kindergarten teacher. I am so thankful that Nolan has been able to attend preschool at the elementary school he’s going to attend. It will make next year’s transition so easy!

Growing - slowly but surely

Elsa had her 2 month check up today. I thought she would be close to 9 lbs by now, but she only weighed in at 8 lbs 4 oz – a whopping 0% on the growth percentage charts! The dr. wasn’t concerned because she is growing. She will likely be just a little thing! She was 21.5 inches long (10%), and has a head circumference of 15.75 cm – 91% for her age! Hopefully she’ll even out a little bit. Thankfully her head doesn’t look that much bigger than her body right now! She received 3 shots in her legs and 1 oral immunization. She cried, but stopped as soon as we picked her up. She slept almost all day today. I can only hope she does the same tonight! At our dr.’s recommendation we are changing her formula again, this time to one that has added rice that activates to sit in her tummy once it gets in there. The hope is that she isn’t spitting up as much. We are open to trying anything at this point!

Quiet travels

We spent the weekend in Moose Lake. It was cold (what a shock), but Chris and Adam made sure to get the kids outside for a little snow fun. They built 2 snow tunnels, which the kids thought was super fun. I was impressed by how well Elsa did. She didn’t necessarily nap in the pack-n-play, but she did sleep overnight in it. On Saturday night she slept in her car seat from 7 – 10, and then in her pack-n-play until 7 the next morning! She did squak once in the middle of the night, but I gave her the nook and she went back to sleep. The highlight of the trip was the fact that Adam and I enjoyed 4 hours of peace and quiet in the car. All 3 kids slept both there and back. I feel very fortunate that our kids don’t get car sick and sleep really well!

Robots

Kale is really in to drawing robots lately.  Jane texted me a picture of his latest creation - that actually looks like a robot!