Where was I? I finally found some time to fully update the blog and include some bits I think will be fun to look back on.
First up: little bother
Beck is wild. Really it's the best adjective for him. Wild and physical and sweet and devilishly cute all rolled into one. He knows about 10 or 15 words with a new one popping out every few days. He will attempt (and usually conquer) anything his sister does. He picks up on just about everything and like Kathy said, you have to remind yourself that he's only as old as he is. He imitates most things I do, like putting an oven mitt on and opening the bottom oven to check on what he's cooking while I'm using the top oven, helps remove lint from the dryer, grabs my blush brush to sweep across his cheeks, vacuums, and don't even let him see the Swiffer Wet Jet! I let him have it once and was out of solution within 10 min! Definitely a nap time chore now. He can be a real pill towards his sister, pulling out chunks of her hair on more than one occasion. At least he's good at apologizing. He loves to be outdoors and bolts every time he hears a door open. Goes gaga over balls and balloons which had him hurling himself out of one of those shopping cart car thingys (the buckle was broken!) when he spotted a football shaped balloon at the grocery store. He's interrupted many basketball and soccer scrimmages at local parks - just makes a beeline towards the ball! We have a little league field next to our house and soon a t-ball field which we will be taking full advantage of. On the flip side, Beck loves dressing up and wearing Ellery's clothes and threw a fit the other day when I tried getting him dressed in boy clothes. Zach loved that story! He is into everything and keeps me on my toes but I adore him and know that our mother/son bond is an incredible gift.
18 month checkup goes like this:
Height: 33 3/4" 88%
Weight: 27lbs 70%
Head: 50cm 90%
Next up: big sister
Ellery is a crack up. As her vocabulary expands so does her imagination and wit. She can be onery, disobedient and dramatic but most of all she's sweet, cuddly, eager to please (everyone but her parents) smart and funny! I try to write down the things that stand out to me and here's some recent ones...
-She was nestled between Zach and I while watching Obamas DNC acceptance speech and she announced "I want him to babysit me!"
-"On your market - get set - go!"
-She walked in on her dad peeing and said "cool penis dad"
-Then while taking a bath with her brother, I heard her say "stop touching my penis Beck!" I corrected her and she replied, "So Amy Girgis has a bagina?" Amy and I got a good laugh.
**Ok, that's it with the bathroom talk
-Ellery loves to sing. Anything from Wizard of Oz (she was Dorothy for Halloween) to singing about what she's seeing in books and magazines and of course all of our silly songs in the car. She was riding her scooter through a sprinkler and I heard her singing "driving my scooter through the car wash- baby! The car wash- baby!"
-Yesterday as I was washing Nola, Ellery pulled her leggings and underwear down in the front yard and started peeing. While trying to hide my laughter I asked what she was doing and she said "like camping! Like daddy!" Only she missed the part about squatting so we re-enacted it female style!
Which brings me to our first camping trip with the kids! Oh, I had great expectations, thoughtfully shopped and packed the week leading up to it and by Wednesday, we were ready to roll. I had noticed every time I bent over my head would throb but never having a sinus infection before, didn't think much about it. Once we hit 5,000 ft elevation I thought my head was going to explode. Within 5 min I felt a migraine coming on and it was downhill from there. I was useless during set up at the site (and I truly love setting up camp!), only interrupting Zach to drive to the nearest store for painkillers. I could go on and on about the pain but I'll spare you and just say that it was awful. I sucked it up on Thursday while we went into Julian but could not shake it. Ended up packing up at the crack of dawn Friday and was in the ER by lunchtime. (Hanging out in the ER for 6 hrs is a whole different story!) Guess I was hit with a double whammy; migraines and a sinus infection that was exasperated by the elevation. Worst headache of my life and it just so happened to last for close to a week. Finally got some antibiotics that worked but had to cancel our trip up to Northern California. The thought of being alone with the kids on a plane at 30,000 ft elevation was pretty much my worst nightmare at that point.
Anyways, here we are camping at Green Valley...
Smores!...
Auntie Mars wanted Ellery to bring her back a really cool rock and this is the one Ellery picked. She settled for a smaller, more manageable one...
It was refreshing to be without all of their toys for a bit. We got creative and played games like hide the bugs and Croc races in the stream...
Lunch in Julian...
Zach took the entire month of October off of work. It was so nice having him home after barely seeing him while on his last job. We got to do so much as a family, including the Children's Museum...
Making messes while getting cleaned...
Garrett being camera shy...
Jordan's 11th birthday! She finally got what she's been asking for, a phone! And I haven't seen her since. Just kidding...
Annual Pumpkin Party!...
Santa and his sack full of pumpkins. We got some carvin', roastin' and bakin' to do!...
I experienced the most frightening event of my life moments after that picture was taken. While I was helping Elle climb the play structure, Beck wandered over to a family making their way into the park. I figured he was being his social self but when he walked right past the kids I headed over to get him as there was a busy street nearby. I shouted his name and regretted it immediately. His new thing is to run as fast as he can from me, typically a game we both laugh at when I scoop him up. This time I was panicked as he bolted for the busy street, laughing all the way. I swear the moment was in slow motion as my brain was telling my legs to run faster and all I could hear was the whoosh of the cars. Once I caught up to him he was literally 4 feet from a cars tires going 55-60 mph. I couldn't stop shaking and tears were welling up in my eyes for the remainder of the day (and as I write this). The experience has changed me a bit as all of the what ifs sunk in. The fragility of life was thrown in my face. I will forever be grateful for our guardian angels.
Ellery didn't witness it but she sure picked up on my emotion and once I could formulate a sentence I told her what happened. She said "What do you mean? Like we wouldn't have a baby anymore?". She was asking me all day if I had stopped shaking, if I was feeling ok, hugging me and at one point lifted up her flowery dress to give me some flowers to make me feel better.
Hugging my children a little tighter.
Love the new bath towels. Thank you Grandma Kathy!...
Cousin Cuties!!!!...
Aquarium...
A big pot of the Pacific Ocean at the end of this rainbow...
Z and I celebrated his 34th birthday at the gorgeous South Coast Winery in Temecula. My more elaborate race-car-driving plans were squashed by the "fine print that wasn't printed" and will have to wait til next year. But a big thank you to my mom who stayed with the kids for a couple days... Even though we were up by 6, I can't tell you how nice it was to lay in bed til 10:30!!
Silly Z...
DPR's Halloween Party...
Zach's Aunt Karen and Uncle Bob came to visit. So great to see them!...
Carving pumpkins!...
Halloween Day. As expected, Ellery was shy when it was time to say "trick or treat!" and didn't want to go near super spooky houses while Beck charged full speed at the ghosts and goblins and didn't even wait for the candy to be handed to him - he dug right in grabbing as much as his little hand could hold.
On her way to school, or shall I say down the yellow brick road...
She's been singing "ding dong the witch is dead" and "lions and tigers and bears, oh my!" for weeks!
