The Knack

There is a Dilbert Cartoon called "The Knack" that has been circulating through both the Cooper and Wade families for some years.

It's an inside joke, and we refer to it on a weekly (or more) basis. You should watch this you tube clip to fully 'get' this post.

 

Owen, I'm afraid, has 'The Knack'. He's always lining up and organizing anything  he can get his hands on.

 I've been collecting pictures of his structures for many months now... Enjoy!

 

...on mom & dad's bed

...in shaving cream at class

 

... entertaining himself

 

...with paints

 

....with sponges

 

.... with play doh (each car got its own pedestal)

 

...with Amelia's ball (this was before 7am even)

...on his masking tape road 

 

...studying how he can do it differently

...with the books at Barnes & Nobel

 

I have an inkling this will lead to him being an expert in all things mechanical, but hopefully he'll skip the complete social ineptitude. No matter whether nature or nurture plays more of a role, he's likely to become an engineer =) And I'm ok with that.

 

 

Christ Rose & So did Owen's temperature

I've really been thinking a lot about holidays since we've had kids. How do we focus on Christ and not gifts, egg hunts, etc. At the same time how do we find the balance and let the kids have fun with the cultural traditions and let mommy have fun dressing the kids? Well God has a funny way of teaching lessons. O was sick for both Christmas and Easter this year. I didn't get to dress him (or A) up for either holiday, but we DID get to have lots of time with cuddles, snuggles, and time with just the four of us. It's actually refreshing to slow down, cuddle more, read books, and appreciate Christ's resurrection and sacrifices from the comfort of your couch =). (We watched an Easter service on-line, and it was a very special time for the four of us. By the time the sermon started, we were each holding a sleeping baby. A rare, sacred moment for sure!)

 

For Easter, Owen traded "green beans" (jelly beans) for vomiting and profuse...and I mean profuse....diarrhea. Mike was in the middle of another two week trip to MD, but he was able to swing home for the holiday weekend. Another gracious gift from Jesus. I really needed a parenting partner to start the week off b/c this tummy virus went the next 6 days. I digress.

 

We woke up Easter morning to a pukey O, but he did want to make pancakes.

He and Mike are great pancake making partners- you can see Mickey Mouse, in the corner, there.

He did muster up some energy for baskets, too.

Checking out his new Tattoo set

 

Carrot bubbles ($1 section at Target)

The Easter bunny made the egg hunt pretty easy, and the eggs were full, obviously.

This Easter bunny learned from the previous egg hunts.

While they were making pancakes I got O a fresh set of sheets and did a little hiding.

He was pretty good at looking in not obvious places as well..opening drawers, etc. Next year it will be harder, for sure!

That afternoon we did trek over to my folks. Mike had to catch a flight back to MD, and I wanted to celebrate in some way. It's always so hard to know whether or not to bring your sick kiddos to Mima & Papa's but O was able to relax some there, too.

Miss Millie loves her Mima.

Looking at the Easter Bunny's new toys. Turns out this Easter bunny went to spring training & brought back Cards gear!

Uncle Ryan brought his rescue Pitt, Monroe. She's as sweet as they come...though she leaks a little =) See her doggie diaper below! Mike Wade l.o.v.e.s. his doggies.

And apparently Amelia loves dogs, too. This girl has no fear!

This is slightly out of chronological order, but the Friday before Easter, we were able to celebrate with the Wades! Thank goodness the timing worked out this way, because you can't bring a vomiting kid to play with other kids. Here are the 2 'A' babies... and how sweet their relationship will be. We just know it!

The kiddos (minus Amelia) and their baskets. Owen put on this shirt and said, 'I look sharp'.

I couldn't get a great shot of Livi, Ava, & Carson all looking up, but they looked so cute I wanted to post it anyway.

The Easter bunny at Mima and Papa Wade's house is very smart. He hid different colors of eggs for the big kids than the little kids, and the big kids got money while the littles got candy. Each kiddo got 6  eggs. This Easter bunny really knows how to keep the competition at bay. Oskee had also figured out that the littles got candy, and she was just waiting for an m&m to drop!

 

We're hoping that Owen's illnesses won't be a theme for every holiday in the near future, but we will still have much to celebrate. We're so grateful for a good God who is Big, and Personal, and who LOVES us enough to send His only Son to sacrifice His life to save us from ourselves.

 

Happy Belated Easter! Love, The Wades

Egg Hunting

Owen is finally old enough to 'get' hunting for eggs... at least a little bit. It always fascinates me, too, how different activities really show your child's personality. We all know O is energetic, confident, and fairly laid back, but egg hunting really showed that he's not (yet) super competitive. He really didn't care about the number of eggs. He just wanted the goods inside. He would give each egg a good shake, and if it lacked in good-egg-noises, he'd simply place it back on the ground. I found myself wanting him to run and pick up as many as he could... also shows my personality. But I really enjoyed watching him do it in his own "O-style".

 

Pre-Egg hunt, exploring the play ground.

 



He also wanted to just run and run in the fields of eggs. Again, he didn't really care about the eggs themselves!

 

Love this kid. Too bad he had to bundle up for an egg hunt the week before Easter.

 

He was pretty excited about the bunny, though!

 

But too shy to look up! 

 

Giving it a good shake.

What is this deliciousness?

Mouth full!

Millie and I enjoyed our bonding time, too.

 

 Here's a picture of his basket at the end of the hunt at Mima and Papa Wade's church.

Not too many eggs, but they are all open & most of the candy was consumed!

6 Months: Sitting Pretty

Well we made it through the first 6 months. In my (humble) opinion, they are the hardest.
Sure the next few months have their challenges, but not nearly as many as the first six!
 

And her are her stats: 

Weight: 14lb 14.6oz  (25-50%)

Height: 27 inches (90%)

Head: 16 1/4 inches (25%)  

 

She's maintaining her curves nicely; growth curves and others too!

(I'm also maintaining my curves but not as thrilled about it).

 

It's been a big month in other ways, too!

 

This girl can sit - for a long time, too. She's so steady that I can just put a pillow behind her & leave her!

(She totally beats Owen's sitting abilities by the time he was 6 months).  

 

She loves this purse toy. It's the favorite hands down. Her favorite part of this purse toy is the credit card. Is this foreshadowing?

 

Finally LOVING the bath

She loves to play on her belly. She scoots backwards quite a bit,  and she's never in the same place that I put her down.

Sometimes she'll give me a little hint that she's ready for her nap, too.

Spring has SPRUNG!

Sleep. Sleep. Sleep. That's been the focus of this month. We "Ferberized" her. She's cried & cried & cried it out some more. Since birth, this sweetsie-pie has been up 3-4 times a night, requiring a swaddle to sleep, etc. She was good with her naps, but with her new rolling & sitting tricks, she was struggling with staying asleep long enough. March's weather came in like a lion & out like a lion so we had some incentive to stay in and work on sleep training and schedule organizing. We're still struggling with the nights (still up 3 times-ish), but it's improving. 

 

 Happy St. Patty's day!

She wasn't a fan of the sweet potatoes first time around...

But she loved her peas

 

...and avocado too!  

One of the greatest joys is watching the two of them interact. Another great joy is when they simultaneously sleep.

 It doesn't happen often enough ;) 

 

           In other news...

• We've started some formula- topping her off with 4 oz at night. I've notice my supply decreasing, so we may start to add some in during the day, too. I'm obviously all about breastfeeding, but I'm starting to grow a little wary. I'll try to make it to 9mo like I did with O, but if I get a job... game over.
• She loves to blow raspberries & is ever enthralled with the moving of one's mouth.
• She's still a faucet, drooling all of the time. I haven't seen any pearly whites, though.
• She loves to hit things/ flap her arms but much more subtly than Owen. I remember thinking he had autism he was such a 'flapper'
• She's wearing 6-9 or 6-12 month clothes. Right on track it seems. 
• She's pretty darn smiley & has an adorable disposition. I'm beginning to understand and interpret her needs much more readily, and we can keep her happy most of the time!

     We love her truly, madly, deeply.