5 Months Old!

Ellena is 5 months old! She is growing so fast! The other day I looked at her feet and did a double take. It seemed like they grew overnight! She seems to be outgrowing her 3-6 month clothes as she starts to fill out a little, as well as grow longer. Her jeans seem a little tight. :)

Her neck has gotten really strong and she likes to be on her tummy. And just the other day, she figured out how to roll from her tummy to her back. She has quite the technique. She lays down her head, tucks her arm under herself and then scooches her booty. With some momentum, she gets herself around and has such a big smile when she does it!

Lately, she has started to be a little distracted during her "meals." Any little thing will make her head turn - tv, her brother running around, Momma walking by, even her hands! The other day, she was holding the bottle with her hands and then she got so interested in the way her fingers moved. She was just staring at them and making them wiggle. It was kinda funny. But her bottles take FOREVER!

Pals-ies

Evan and Poki
Sitting in a tree
K - I - S - S - I - N - G!

Ok, totally immature, Momma. But I couldn't resist. Today, Evan and Poki decided to be pals-ies and it was the cutest thing. Poki was hanging around as we were getting ready for nap time. At first, Evan asked that I take her outside, after giving her a kiss good night. But she kept coming back, so he asked if Poki could stay with him. I got her up on his bed and she snuggled up to his legs. And Evan fell asleep very quickly! I was hesitant to take a picture for fear of waking either of them. But oh well. I did it anyway.

When Evan woke up, he watched a little bit of tv in my room. He asked if I could get Poki to snuggle with us. She stayed for a little while, but then decided it was bath time. Then, we moved the tv party downstairs and Poki went to snuggle with Evan on her own. Too cute!

Merry Christmas!

Ethnicity

Tonight we had an interesting conversation about race/ethnicity with Evan. From Pops, the kids are Hawaiian and Chinese. From me, they are Japanese. So here goes...

Pops: Are you Hawaiian?

Evan: Probably not. Probably Chinese.

Pops: Yes, you're Chinese. But you're Hawaiian, too. What else are you?

Evan: Probably Mexican.

Ha ha!

Last night, Evan got a hair cut. We kept commenting on how rascal he looked after getting the hair cut. Rascal and handsome, of course. Well, he checked himself out in the mirror and exclaimed, "Wow, I look like an Asian boy!" Uh, that's probably cause you are an Asian boy.

The Latest - Dec 23

Here's the latest...

We got some snow and should be getting more tonight/tomorrow. I have not driven anywhere for the last week and have been stuck at home. Not going crazy yet, but soon though... We've started having playdates with our across the street neighbor, Nate. Thank goodness! Helps keep Evan sane to have someone to play with!

Evan loves sledding. We went to a park and he loves going down the hill. He's gotten so brave in the last few months! Must be a 3 year old thing.

All of us at the park to go sledding. Poor Ellena was so cold.

My attempt at getting a shot at Ellena's first teeth. No joke, her entire bottom gums look all ridgy like she's going to have a tooth explosion in the next few months. But her top gums are flat. Pops said she's going to be like the arowana fish. Attractive!

The Evan-tude

The attitude coming out of Evan is definitely up a notch. A lot of it he's picked up from me (oops!) but its so funny to hear it come out of his mouth. Some gems:

* If I can't hear/understand what Evan said, I ask him to repeat it. Sometimes, he gets frustrated and repeats his answer, but tacks on "I SAID!" So it comes out, "I don't want anything more to eat, I SAID!"

* Same situation as above... Now, he tacks on, "How many times do I have to say it?!"

* Yesterday, Evan was cutting paper over the trash can. I was playing with Ellena and every so often I would look over and remind him, "Evan, focus on your cutting! Don't cut your fingers! Be careful!" I guess I said it a little too much. He finally burst out, "Stop saying that over and over!"

* Last night, Poppa was fooling around and threw Ellena's sock at Evan instead of the laundry basket. Evan replied, "I guess Santa's not bringing you any presents!!!"

* When Evan does something naughty, I sometimes get exasperated and just give him a look. Now, he's learned this look and throws it back at me, to the 100th degree. And usually throws in a growl for good measure.

Weird

A couple days ago I discovered something weird. There are pictures missing from my blog. It's from multiple posts where some pictures have just been completely removed. Pops found some other blogs that were experiencing the same thing. I can understand if I took images off other people's websites and put it here, but these are clearly my own pics. So weird.

Snow Day

Yesterday Evan had fake snow day. School was cancelled due to the impending snow storm that arrived a day later. Today was for-real snow day. He absolutely loves playing in the snow! Now that we have all the nice warm gear for him (in previous snow playing, he was in sweats, hoodie and Momma's enormous gloves) he doesn't mind being outside in the cold. His favorite thing is making snowballs and throwing them at the mailbox. He's also enjoying sledding and making snow angels.

I bundled up Ellena in a few layers and took her out for a bit. Poor girl does not have the right gear. She got to experience her first time in snow and did pretty well until she got cold.

Pops is probably stuck working from home for the next few days (maybe even a week) with all the snow/ice on the roads and freezing temperatures. After walking up the big hill a couple years back, he is in no rush to do it again. We'll probably have our first white Christmas, though!

Let's Take a Picture

Evan has really gotten into "big brother mode" these last couple days. Preschool was cancelled yesterday and today due to the weather, so he got to hang with us all day. He loves to sit in front of Ellena and wait for her to give him her toy. They go back and forth and it's so cute. He will also try to entertain her with books and other toys.

He has also started snuggling up to her and telling me, "Let's take a picture." Like he's just going in for the photo op. What a ham.

Dec 16 Pics

The latest:

Evan had a blast making the gingerbread house with Pops. Costco gingerbread houses come with too much candy. Even after they ate a bunch, there were still a ton to put on the house.

Evan and Uncle Stu horsing around.

Ellena wearing her first hat (thanks, Charkie!). With all her hair, I haven't been pushing the hat. But with these frigid temperatures (teens!), it came in handy! Update on Ellena - she has been doing much better at naptime. Some days she will be zonked out for over 3 hours and I have to wake her. Other days, she starts crying an hour in and I settle her down and she goes back to sleep. Her first two teeth are about to break through any day now! No more gummy smiles! She has mastered rolling over and is now attempting to scooch. I'm not quite ready for this... She has got the motions down for her legs, feet and booty. But she has not figured out her arms and chest, so she looks like an inch worm wiggling around. Oh, and she is anxious to start eating real food. She wants to sit at the dinner table with us and tracks the food as it goes in my mouth. I'm probably going to wait another month, when she'll be a little closer to 6 months old. Hopefully she will be a good eater like Evan!

Truly Blessed

When I look at my family, I am reminded once again of how truly blessed I am. It really makes me pause and realize how some things that drive our day (errands, holiday stuff, nap time, etc.) are so frivolous. And that we are so lucky to have our health, our happiness and each other's company. I love you, Pops. I love you, Evan. And I love you, Ellena.

(And how's that little pose from Ellena?!)

Potato Salad and Kitty Friends

Today I had the bright idea to have Evan help me make potato salad. I don't know why I've never thought of this before. He loves to cut things and he would have so much fun going at it. So that was our little project after he ate his lunch. A few lessons he learned today: You have to wash your hands with soap before touching the food. You can't sample the food until everything is cut. You can't lick the knife - because it's dangerous and dirty!

Regarding his kitty friends... Last night, Evan got some sweet Piko snuggles after bath time. He was really tickled by the affection Piko was showing him (Piko tends to be pretty standoff-ish with the kids) and wanted to have Piko come in his room to say goodnight. Today Poki climbed into his lap and gave him lots of snuggles. But when she gets happy, she drools... So he had to wash his hands (with soap!) and change his jeans.

Silly Momma

Yesterday we were leaving Kids Quest after meeting up with our buddies. It was raining, I was getting soaked, and I was trying to get everyone and everything loaded into the car as fast as possible.

Step 1: Unlock car and have Evan climb up into his car seat.

Step 2: Unbuckle Ellena from the stroller and plop her into the car.

Step 3: Break down stroller and load into trunk.

Step 4: Jump into car, buckle up and start car.

Step 5: Start up iPod and put car in reverse. Look back to make sure the coast is clear. That's when Evan stops me and says, "Momma, you didn't buckle ME in!!!"

OOPS!

Step 6: Put the car back in park, jump out and buckle Evan in.

Step 7: Jump back into car and leave the parking lot.

Here's the kicker - the convo Evan and I have after this incident.

Evan: Silly Momma! How come you forgot to buckle me in?

Momma: Oops, I forgot. Momma is SO silly!

Evan: Momma, you're an idiot. (He seriously called me an idiot.)

Momma: No, Momma's not an idiot. I just forgot. That's not a nice word.

Ok, so I need to watch what I say when I drive... Obviously, someone is picking up naughty words from me - I can recall a few times using that word when people did dumb things on the road. Oops...

Dec 9 Ellenantics

Baby girl is growing up so quickly! Pops was washing dishes and she decided that it was naptime instead. She rolled over and sucked her thumb.

* After just a few days of needing a little nudge to roll all the way on to her belly, Ellena can now do it on her own. And it seems like she can't stop doing it. Especially when she starts getting worked up, she'll roll and then do a face plant. Then her arms are wiggling as she struggles to lift her head.

* Yesterday Ellena rolled over during her nap and I guess she was quite comfy cause she slept in her crib for about 3 1/2 hours! OMG! World record! I had to go in and wake her so she could have her dinner bottle! We'll see if she keeps it up. Just in time too, cause I hate to say it, but she's starting to outgrow the sling! Oh no! I won't miss lugging her around in the sling, but I will miss the closeness and of course, her slingy smiles.

* The other day Pops was feeding her and I was in the room with them. When it was time to burp, Ellena sat on Pops' lap and was facing him. He asked, "Where's Momma?" With intelligence and understanding in her eyes (of course a mom would say that, right?!), she turned her head to look for me. It was amazing! This girl is definitely absorbing everything around her and I can't wait til she starts communicating with us! Evan was also a very observant baby... And look at him now...

* At bedtime, Ellena spit up on her pj's. Every other night, Ellena's bedtime routine is entirely handled by Pops while I get Evan tucked in. But that night, I dressed her in clean pj's while Pops washed his hands. I was thinking to myself, "She seems REALLY happy that I'm here. Hmmm..." She was smiling, cooing, giggling - the works! I finished up and gave her back to Pops. Well, she threw a fit and was not a happy camper during Goodnight Moon. Which she never does... So moral of the story - Momma's not allowed to snuggle with Ellena at bedtime, except for her goodnight kiss, which she always gets.

Christmas Card Pictures

Here are some pictures of the kids that didn't make it on the Christmas card this year.

Dec 8 Evanisms

I don't know what's in the water today, but Evan had endless zingers...

* We received some Christmas presents in the mail today. We unpacked the presents and placed them under the tree. I read the gift tags to Evan: To Evan, Love Aunty and Uncle. To Ellena, Love Aunty and Uncle. Evan then took the presents and pretended to read the labels. He said, "Actually, Momma, it says, 'Merry Christmas. I love you. Open now.'" Ha ha! This kid!

* Evan was doing his business on the potty and said he was done. I went to check on him and he said, "Actually, I have another little turdlet." This kid doesn't just call his poop "poop", not even a "turd". He has to call it a turdlet like piglet.

* Tonight at bedtime we were saying our goodnights. Pops asked for a big hug. Evan said, "Only if you say 'Please.'"

* Evan has Santa-fever. He is obsessed with anything to do with Santa. He wants to hear music about Santa, he wants to see pictures of Santa, and tonight, he pretended that he was Santa. He insisted that he had a Santa outfit (and I supposedly made this for him... huh?) He ended up wearing his 2007 Halloween monkey costume (which he actually wore on Christmas morning last year for some reason) along with a Santa hat. He then got a backpack and filled it with toys for everyone in the family and delivered it to each of us. So cute!

Update - Dec 4

How did it get to be December??? I blanked and only today got out my first of the month checks - mortgages, etc. Slacker lady is back.

So an update...

Sunday was the day from hell. I took the two kids to go grocery shopping and it was the first time that I've had to ask the store to find my son. That was the absolute worst feeling. Evan kept wandering off and I was looking for presents for a family we "adopted". When I told him it was time to go, he walked off and I was trying to maneuver the shopping cart (and Ellena) through the aisles. After a minute of frantic searching and calling his name (which he doesn't usually ignore), I had to ask an employee for help. They quickly alerted all the staff and he was returned to me in a minute - he had wandered off to the seafood section. But, the thoughts that were going through my head in those five minutes were the worst!

That evening I did a dumb thing and micro-ed water in a non-micro safe cup. I ended up burning my thumb and middle finger (2nd degree burns) and went to Urgent Care to get treated. Also needed to get a long-overdue tetanus shot, just in case - lovely! Thank goodness for 24-hr Walgreens pharmacy to fill my prescriptions! So luckily, I'm healing relatively quickly and the pain went away after the first night - seriously, the pain from the shot lasted longer than the burn pain. But I still have my fingers bandaged up, to protect it and Pops stayed home Monday and Tuesday, cause I can barely change a diaper and hold a bottle. I feel so useless!

But, besides that, we are all doing well and can't believe how quickly Christmas is approaching... Ahh!