Artists at work

One of our purchases at IKEA on Saturday was a new easel. We've put it up in the dining room (fast becoming kid central...) and it's a great addition to the room. Jack has been enjoying creating some masterpieces with paint (his new thing is trees). Ivy has very quickly picked up the art of chalk drawing. The cutest thing to see around our house these days? The two of them standing at the easel together, scribbling away.



We've had a nice few days of spring break around here. Yesterday, we went out to breakfast. The kids were marvelous and it was actually, dare I say, a relaxing meal. Wonders never cease. In the afternoon Nat and I spent some time aimlessly wandering at Crocker Park and sitting at a coffee shop together while my mom watched the kids. Perfect. Today, I went in for a half day of paperwork at school (renewing my vows to someday work part time) and then was able to go to lunch bunch at the Parent Center. It is surprising how fast other people's children grow. Especially when you don't see them for 6 months at a time...

Thinking of spring-- its snowing again. We have about 4 inches on the ground and counting, the branches are clumped and white and it is a vision of crystalline beauty. I'd post pictures but you've seen it before. Really. Just scroll down to January posts, or February posts,or March posts-- you'll find a "Snowy day in Cleveland Heights" picture before long. Looks like tonight except now its almost APRIL. Ugh. Poor Jack has been wistfully talking about getting to go on the big boy swings at the park... Of course today after nap when I pointed out the snow to him, he said, "Oh, it looks just like when it snowed that nother time. We can make Snow Angels when it gets deeper!" He's good with silver linings.

Finally-- I am pretty sure Ivy said both Jack and Doggy this evening. Or at least, some approximation thereof. They sound a lot more like "Dack" or "ack" and "Da- Guh". But those sounds seemed very intentional to me, tonight. We'll see if we get a repeat performance...

Here's a shot of one of Ivy's new pastimes. She's pretty open minded about favorite activities. As long as they fit the category of "Making a Huge Mess of Everything in Sight". We've given her the Superhero name of "The Extractor" as her superpower seems to be removing objects from their designated location, with great speed...



We head to Upstate NY tomorrow for a quick visit with Lulu. Hoping the snow will abate for an uneventful drive....

46 weeks

That's getting to be a pretty big number, y'all.

I've ordered some prints to make a small scrapbook, a "year in pictures" summary of sorts, for her party. I really ought to get to work planning that party, one of these days...
>Why yes, that is a cashmere sweater she's wearing. I scoffed when we pulled this sweater out of the grand tub of hand-me-downs from Amie and Nola. Who makes cashmere clothing for infants?? Really??? We've been keeping it folded away in the closet for a special occasion but I decided today was as good a day as any. And I have also decided that she may wear this sweater daily til she outgrows it. Turns out a cashmere covered baby is one of the most intoxicatingly huggable things on earth.


Ivy would like for you to know that she is very flexible. And still doesn't like to hold still for pictures.

Ivy "Crazy hair" Morehouse at 46 weeks is:

* Fearless. She throws herself at the world headfirst and consequently bumps her head a lot. Thankfully she's learned to go down the stairs backwards (by shooting her legs out straight and sliding down 2-3 stairs at once on her tummy. Fearlessly, of course) so we can relax on that front. But really, with this one, we can't turn our backs for a moment. She scans her environment and locates any electrical cord, coin, paper scrap, small inedible object, paper to rip or items to dump, then makes a beeline for one of these things the moment we look away.

* Ornery. I say this because of the way she looks at us and giggles, all bunny-nosed, right at us once she gets her hands on one of the aforementioned objects.

* Loving. She's not a snuggly baby, due to the constant kicking and wiggling and all, but she is affectionate. She continues to give hugs by pressing her head or face into us. The newest adorable manifestation of this involves her crawling around on the bed, (envision a lot of bouncing and waving her hands over her head)
then pausing in her glee to come over to us, lay down and snuggle her head into our lap for a sweet, short moment. She also does this "look up reach and turn" thing when she wants our attention while she's crawling. Its hard to describe but its really very sweet. She's really very sweet these days, all told.



They both are, actually.



A little crazy. But sweet.

IKEA!!

To celebrate the advent of Spring Break (huzzah!) we trekked to Pittsburgh today, to make our pilgrimage to that mecca of rampant consumerism, the big blue box of pleasant aesthetics, IKEA. It was a lovely day. Cold but sunny, a perfect day to drive through the Pennsylvania hills. The kiddos were, by all measures, quite perfect. Ivy napped both ways in the car. Jack had a ball (quite literally) in the Smaland play area ball pit (not the least bit troubled by being left in the minimal supervision of strangers, he was alight with glee, only his head showing above the sea of plastic balls as we walked away...) and only wished he could've stayed longer than the alotted hour. Jack's absence allowed for some less-fettered conversation with dear friends Fiona and Anthony, though conversation was hampered a bit on this visit by the fact that we were all rather captivated by our daughters. Most of our time, in fact, was spent camped out in one of the display living areas, watching Ivy and little Keely, 7 months old, clamber about and chew on things. Ivy seemed to enjoy getting to know Keely, giving her hugs (aka head butts) and patting her head, but she really, really loved Anthony. She's into big fuzzy guys, apparently. :)

After a lunch of swedish meatballs (of course), $120 spent on a rather random collection of items, and our now-traditional visit to the patio table at Starbucks, (where Jack ran like a bullet train and explored the mulch in the garden as we fed babies and chatted some more) we headed home. Pizza, videos, and a chance to Skype with Vovo and Grandpa (home now and recovering! Huzzah again!) closed out a lovely Saturday.

Pictures will hopefully be forthcoming from Fiona.

Ivy is also 46 weeks old today, for those of you keeping track. Weekly pictures will be forthcoming too, once we take them, tomorrow.

Jack

Yesterday evening as we drove to the library, Jack and I were playing a game of "who loves Silly Putty more" (you know, that old game...) and I told Jack that I loved Silly Putty taller than the mountains. And he replied, "I love Silly Putty gigantic! I love it more than Mount Ev-er-est."

My 3 year old knows about Mount Everest.

I am not sure how this has happened, how these fast years have brought us this little person who talks about Mount Everest and loves Silly Putty and gives Eskimo kisses and so much love, how this is the tiny baby I brought into the world and how he has grown to be so amazing. I don't know how it's happened but I have to say, its pretty wonderful, you know?

I am really, really in love with this little boy.

45 weeks

As I type, one very overtired young lady is being tended by her Daddy, up crying for the third time since she went to sleep at 7:30. May be a long night tonight. This is the price we pay for having a happy, engaged, non-napping baby all day. She has been running, today, on a grand total of 30 minutes of nap, and has been busy playing at Gram's, shopping, and attending a birthday party at Gymboree.

Ivy at 45 weeks is just too excited about the world to bother with sleep.

Other changes this week:

Her play is suddenly much, much more interactive. My favorite new game? "I'm gonna get you!" which is played with both of us on all 4's, Ivy leading the chase and stopping every so often to sit up, turn and look at me (as if to make sure I'm still following her) before booking away from me again. If I reach out and tickle her tummy while she's crawling, saying "Get you!!" as I do it-- oh! the squealing and giggling! It's really almost too cute to handle.

She follows us from room to room and likes to check in visually with us, likes to be sure we're seeing her latest accomplishment-- or what trouble she's getting into!

She wants to pull up to stand, and if possible, climb on any stationary object. I think she may have a bruise or cut on her face at all times for the forseeable future...

She likes to share things with us, holding things out and putting them in our mouths. Apparently we must put things in her mouth a lot, as she things that is what one does when interacting with others. When she is excited about something she's holding, she puts it on her head.

She loves to drink water but has a compulsion about putting her hand in the cup and playing with the water before she drinks.

She is starting to wave back at us if we wave at her.

She likes to hold a big piece of toast, pizza crust, etc and take bites of it all by herself (with those 4 teeth of hers!). She also, we learned, enjoys chewing on raw onion.

Here's the proof-positive that she's a Cobes!! :)


Jack had a fun day himself, with the time at Gram's, the shopping, and the birthday party. Tomorrow, we are excited to visit the Model Train Expo at Lakeland. It's a good weekend for the boy...

Just-slightly-past-the-Ides update

Here is a little, very poorly lit video of Jack playing with Playmobil tonight. What it lacks in cinematography it makes up for in providing an example of how cute this boy is, when he plays. I love that he loves Playmobil. It's our little mommy-son thing, going into the closet and choosing the set to play with, and the ritual of always cleaning it back up and putting it right away (about the only time THAT happens around here...



In other news, Ivy has taken a few steps pushing her walker toy. Very cute, let me tell you. We have yet to capture that on video but we'll work on it! The girl also likes to chew on raw onions. And, really really likes pot-roast veggies.

Other than that we have been preoccupied with trying to get the Bluetooth feature of our new car to work with our phones... While I do not relish the idea of having a car payment, I do have to say that I am enjoying driving around a schnazzy, spaceship-looking car. Its all smooth and quiet and shiny-new and clean.... mmmm.

Good thoughts go out tonight to Jack's Grandpa who is having bypass surgery tomorrow. He's tough as nails and we know he will be fine :) but all of us here at the blog are sending long-distance hugs, well-wishes, and tons of love out to Wyoming...

This evening while we were hanging out in the playroom with Jack, my charming son walked over to where I sat on the floor and smiled at me. Then, he proceeded to turn around, aim his little bum right at me, and fart, before moving on to the next activity. This was all compounded by the fact that he was not wearing his pants or underwear at the time.

Life with a 3 year old. Priceless.

At least he's cute.



Also today, our yard was infiltrated by snowmen with antennae.


Thankfully the 40 degree weather is taking its toll on them so we should be safe, soon.


In unrelated news, Ivy is 44 weeks old today. Still has that cold. Or more teeth coming in. Or something. And, she's still far too wiggly to get good pictures. Note the sideways-tongue thing, which is a new habit of hers.

I like this picture because it looks like she's actually paying attention to the book. What you don't see here is that she only really wanted to chew on the little fish finger puppet in the middle of the book, and kept wrestling the book away form me so she could get her mouth on it...

Jack and Ivy also spent some time hunting for sharks in their "boat" today.



Finally, some random video from this evening. Just a glimpse into the excitement that is Saturday night around our house.

Always more....

It's been the snowiest winter anyone can remember around here. We can count on our hands the number of days since December that our yard has NOT been blanketed in snow. Yesterday, day 3 of our most recent thaw, had our property looking rather like a giant mud pit. Today, we woke up to this:



Well, it looked like this minus Jabba-the-Snowman. He was built later in the day by Jack and Daddy and Corydon. I, sadly, did have to go to work today, and Ivy had to nap through the fun. But by the looks of it, everyone else enjoyed this most recent installment of winter.

10 months

Ivy is 10 months old today. Which means I have a number of things to get moving on. Birthday party to plan, photo books to make, some more weight to lose...

In the meantime, here are a few pictures and videos from the weekend. Her 43 week pictures left a bit to be desired as the Great Recurring Head Cold of 2011 is back for another visit. And, Ivy is a fidget butt. At 10 months she is crawling, climbing stairs, and just beginning to cruise on furniture. She dances to music and babbles a lot. We are pretty sure she has said Jack (well, "Dack" anyways) and that she uses Dada and Mama intentionally, sometimes. She hugs by pushing her head into you and I have chosen to interpret her habit of approaching my face with her mouth wide open, as an attempt at a kiss. She never stops moving unless she's asleep. She has 4 teeth now but still shows a lot of gum when she flashes her smile. Her eyelashes can still stop traffic. She's getting more opinions-- about food she likes (strawberries, bread, noodles, cheese) and toys she wants (whatever Jack has) and how she feels when we take away whatever small, random object she's found to play with (not at all happy with us). She's pretty cute, and that coupled with the fact that she's routinely sleeping through the night means we're pretty happy with our investment right now...




This is what we brought home from Sunday's birthday party...

Whew!

What a weekend. You may have noted my absence from the blogosphere. This was due to an over-abundance of actual, real-world socialization: We attended a total of 4 birthday celebrations, went resale-ing, caught up with friends at Taco Night, and went to the preschool benefit fundraiser. A few things fell to the wayside in all the excitement, chief among them being general household cleanliness, and blog updates...

Here are some highlights of the weekend:

My mom celebrated her birthday on Friday by watching our kids while we went out. :) (birthday #1, and we did at least make her a cake...) We spent a few hours making small talk with other preschool parents at the Benefit. The event was held at the B-Side, a local bar/club, and wow did it feel strange to be hanging out at a bar. With all those, well, grown ups. When did we get to become part of this demographic?? Wow.

Saturday, the kiddos and I headed out bright and early for a resale event. Made the attempt to shop with Jack and my mom and I determined that for the rest of the summer session of sales, he's earned himself a ticket to stay home while we shop, sans kids. He was actually a pretty darn good little shopper, exceedingly patient. And his long-suffering little face helped him to score a few very nice toys for himself. His grandma spoils him!

We went directly from the morning of shopping to Max's 4th birthday party (birthday #2 for those of you keeping track...) Max is one of Jack's buddies from way back-- they've been playing together at the Parent Center since before Jack could walk. Saturday, they ran. And climbed in boxes, and chased with action figures, and shot nerf guns as they climbed over the couch. Moment to remember: Jack, triumphant atop the end table, eyes gleaming, nerf shooter in his hand, shouting jubilantly, "Best! Gun! Game! Ever!!!!" It really does have to be inborn, this magnetic attraction to guns, to climbing, to competition. I feel that we've done very little, if anything, to encourage this sort of stereotypically "boy" behavior, yet there he was, every inch a little boy, jumping into the sterotype with nerf guns a-blazing. I still love him, regardless. :)

Home for a nap and then Saturday night found us at Tina's house for Taco night, where we informally celebrated birthdays for 3 of Tina's 5 kids, Melinda, and Kate, all of which fall in this general span of time. (Let's just lump all these together for birthday #3, shall we?) Taco Night turned rather seamlessly into baby night, as we were joined there by Melinda, Will and the twins, and Laura and her son Noah up from Columbus. Tina's girls fussed over Ivy, we stood in Tina's wonderful crowded kitchen, Jack and Noah ran to and fro, there was very spicy salsa. It was great.

Sunday we had a laid back morning in which we went grocery shopping and put a ham in the crockpot before heading off for the 1st birthday party for our friend's little girl. We wandered the Great Lakes Mall for a while before setting our children loose at Gymboree. They both enjoyed themselves immensely. Ivy couldn't decide if she wanted to crawl randomly around the huge expanse of space, or stop, pull to stand on something, and watch the older children. And there was plenty to watch! The best was when Nat orchestrated a tumbling line of sorts, where a group of children waited in line for their turn to throw themselves at a wedge of foam, knocking it over and sliding (or flipping or rolling or falling) down it to the floor. Children are insane, in case you didn't know. The screaming! The laughter! The double-jointedness! Jack participated in these proceedings with glee. He was the youngest tumbler in the group by 2 years but he held his own with the older girls, cheering appropriately, waiting his turn perfectly, and running with so much joy and so much determination in his wonderful, 3-year-old, still-a-little-awkward way...It made me strangely, overwhelmingly proud of him, to watch him run himself at that mat. He's so big. So little and yet so big.

We spent Sunday evening relaxing before I headed to dinner swap to learn that one of our preggo friends delivered her baby earlier that day, a gorgeous second boy to join their wonderful two -year- old. Sarah will have her hands full for a few years but oh, they will be heartbreakers! I am waiting eagerly for life to calm down enough to let me visit and meet sweet baby Matthew while he is still impossibly tiny.

The parents who cried Teeth

As we seem to make this claim to everyone we know, every time Ive has a runny nose of fusses for longer than 32 seconds, we won't blame you for not believing it this time:

It's got to be teeth.

She's been a hot mess the past few days: runny nose, slight fever, generally rangy. It's been rough to see our perenially sunny girl so serious and quick to tears. And so we've been saying to one another,yet again, "It's got to be teeth," and feeling around in her little mouth several times a day.

Today, they arrived.

No, really.

Two great big honkin' top front teeth, poking themselves through her soft little mouth. At the same time. These things are huge. No wonder we've had a sad little girl on our hands.

Now that they are through the gums, we're hopeful the worst is over. Indeed today we saw a few of the crinkle nosed smiles we've been missing.

Four teeth. Considering what girlie has been able to chew up with only two teeth, I imagine she's ready for steak now.

In unrelated news, we are just about to --gulp-- lease a new car. About a week and half ago, the poor Honda was smushed between two other cars in a terribly embarassing round of bumper cars on a highway exit ramp. Thankfully I was neither hurt nor liable in the incident, but my little trouper of a Civic was all bent out of shape and due to her advanced age the insurance company declared it a "total loss". I am heartbroken that the old girl had to go out this way, with a wonderful engine that I am absolutely certain would have made it to at least 200,000 miles. That car and I have been through a lot together: Living in Canada, commuting to Grand Forks, block heaters and blizzards and road trips through the Badlands and Wall Drug and the Enchanted highway, to Vermont and Boston and NYC, and lots and lots and lots of miles on every roadway in the northeast Ohio region. She was a good little car. Sniff.

So, tomorrow I go and pick up an insurance check and hand over the title for a little black Civic, and then sign a lease for a brand spankin' new Hyundai Elantra. Wasn't planning on a car payment just now, and yet... I have to admit I am a little bit excited about driving around a shiny, sexy new car, full of jazzy little extras and a peppy little engine and 4 whole doors...