Take a Seat

With a cleaned up playroom, the boys have been enjoying mornings hard at play while Nora's at school. This morning while Lincoln was busy handing over books and working on various puzzles Otto was practicing his sitting skills. By no means is he a pro yet, 8-10 seconds was probably his max - long enough to snap a picture though! We're working our way through the week and I even got the front lawn mowed this afternoon during naptime. We're getting excited for a visitor this weekend!!

All Beansnuis

After an eventful morning yesterday today was a little more low key, Lincoln enjoyed some one on one time with the bean box. This was the first time he's used it and really gotten into the pouring, sorting and using all the scooping things and holding things. He also sang and talked to himself the whole time. Fun to watch! School drop off and pick-up is still a work in progress but we'll get there by Christmas, I'm pretty sure anyway.

Sun Show!

Happy Eclipse Day! I felt like today's events deserved a timeline. What isn't pictured is me running a little behind this morning and lugging 2 extra kids into Nora's school because we were 4 minutes late...anywho...We begin with Lincoln assisting with the creation of our cereal box eclipse viewer (3500 model), then I managed to take a shower, pack a picnic and wake Otto up from his nap, just in time for clouds to roll in and to scoop Nora up from school...OH WAIT 1 minute late so she was already back in the classroom...to the office for late sign in/out again! We then headed to the library for an Eclipse viewing party complete with viewing glasses. Upon getting all three kids out of the car it starts to POUR. We make a "run" for it, from the parking lot across the street and get to the library door only to see a sign that says they're out of glasses. We go inside to find a bunch of people watching the eclipse on the big TV in the room they use for story time. So we're wet, now cold, Lincoln is ready for a nap and not loving being drenched and starts freaking out that they're not playing the "turn around song" that they play at story time. Executive decision, we bail. Lincoln is out practically before we're out of the parking lot and goes right down when we get home. Otto, Nora and I decide since it's cloudy we'll watch the TV coverage and make Eclipse cookies. We finished the cookies, Otto went down for a nap, Nora and I notice the sun is coming out so we go outside to test out the viewer, come back in to find Cort ate one phase of the eclipse. I drag her back out despite her pleading to watch PBSKids because I notice how the light is changing (soooo cool!) and once we're out there it's obvious the temperature is dropping. We (read I) enjoy the scenery, somewhat lamenting that we only have a box that is only somewhat effective, Nora pretty much had no interest in my silly box but was content to chat over/through the fence with our next door neighbor. Shortly after the peak time both boys woke up and I realized that rather than trying to see what I knew I wasn't going to be able to see and only taking pics of my shadow I should have documented the occasion by doing a Nora/kids photoshoot using the amazing and unique super sharp warm light. So, that was our big eclipse day adventure...as a bonus I'll include this:

Did you catch it at the beginning??  Baby giggles!  But not just any baby giggles, FIRST baby giggles triggered by Otto's first time joining us at the dinner table!  Perhaps he's laughing at the ridiculousness of this improvised and questionably safe set up (we did have couch cushions on the floor next to him and a belt around the carrier and chair) or at his equally ridiculous siblings.  It was a pretty...well, unique...we'll go with unique, day.  Hey Cleveland, save us a spot in 2024...we'll be there...with glasses!

Can I Interest You In...

Store playing continues around here, and our little entrepreneur upped her game today, with her grocery store in the morning, ice water sale in the afternoon (Kyle got 2 glasses for 90¢ and I got 1 for 89¢...apparently mine was colder - thus justifying an up-charge!) Anyway, after dinner she decided to first have an ice cream & popsicle sale which then morphed into a milk sale. I'm not kidding you when I say that she works pretty quickly, and her playing "pretend" doesn't involve pretend stuff. She dished out ice cream on her own (it was free for Lincoln because he's little) and then she went into the kitchen and poured all her own milk - exactly the same amount in each glass! All those pouring lessons at school are paying off! Anyway, when her milk product just wasn't moving she opted to sweeten the deal and added some bright colored straws to the mix. Lincoln was on board but Kyle and I just couldn't bring ourselves to down a glass of milk for the sake of spending at our daughter's store - especially after we'd been nickle and dimed (literally) all day.

Sun Science Saturday

This morning I gave Nora a little lesson on the eclipse that's coming up next week, and this afternoon she was super excited to share her new knowledge with Kyle. She gathered her supplies and had him meet her in Lincoln's room to go over what is going to happen when the moon orbits in front of the sun on Monday. Worth mentioning is this afternoon's nap trifecta turned whatever a quadecta is when Kyle joined the crew catching some zzs. It gave me a chance to organize some things and actually complete some tasks. AMAZING!

This evening was a first for Lincoln as he got to go to the Orlando City game with Kyle. Reports have it that he sat and watched very attentively for the first half but got pretty squirmy after that, aaand they ended up getting home just as the game ended. BUT, for a first go, it sounds like it wasn't too bad. Nora and Otto hung out here with me, we did a little more cleaning in Nora's room and made some oatmeal cookies. This weekend has been pretty good so far!

It's Friday, Friday!

Friyay is here!! The rest of a week after vacation is no fun at all, but today was pretty good and tonight was a lot of fun! We made a trip to the post office to mail some stuff this afternoon and after stamping and mailing we went to the park for a bit and then I surprised the kids with some ice cream (seems we're all going through a bit of Royal Scoops withdrawal!) It was a pretty good outing despite how hot it was outside. We came home in time for some quiet and cool before tonight's activity. Finfrock had a company night at the Science Center where all the employees and their families got the run of the building and all the fun things to do. Kyle and I kind of split up, as Nora was on the go with her friends that we see at all the company events and Lincoln was in HEAVEN getting to try all the things at his own pace. Big kid stuff, little kid stuff, he was able to explore and play and he soaked it all in. After solo play time, he too met up with the girl gang and as you can see, was welcomed right into the mix! It was a great way to start the weekend!

Wowee Already Three!!

I've heard all about how time flies when you're having fun...well it also flies when you're juggling tiny humans and traveling all over the place! Otto has survived his first 3 months - no small feat! And actually, if you judge by his thighs - I'd say he's thriving, at least in the growth department! This kid continues to be huge and a very enthusiastic eater. Great news is, we're finally all starting to get on the same page. Now that he's able to see more and move with a bit more intention he's managing to entertain himself for longer periods of time, which means I don't have to lug him around quite as much. He's learning to put himself to sleep as apposed to being held to sleep and eating more efficiently and on more of a schedule. Progress! He's also becoming a much better communicator, giving us some actual clear signals as to what it is that he wants/needs at different times. Examples: tired - eye rubbing, mean and crabby, ferocious face nuzzling. Hungry - general meanness, crying, pinching, grabbing, lip smacking. And, the seemingly ever present and always so perfectly timed bubbles - Arm flailing, gasping, back arching and screaming. In other words, if he wants or needs something he isn't exactly entirely pleasant to be around. And, he still occasionally leaves us scratching our heads over what he's upset up about and just wants to be held. While he appears to have some fear of Lincoln (I honestly don't blame him...Lincoln's love can be a bit smothering or heavy handed at times) he loves Nora and frequently smiles when she's nearby and watches all that she does. Ceiling fans are an ever present source of entertainment, he's taken to his issie, still isn't a big pacifier guy and loves to suck on his hands. He's become much more aware of his surroundings and is beginning to interact more with us an his environment lately too and really enjoys being outside - especially when it isn't too crazy hot. Just today I caught him fake fussing/babbling for attention whenever I'd look away from him and when I'd look back he'd smile. Games, games, games already! He's becoming a seasoned traveler and does well in the car on long trips, is flexible with being dragged all over with us and has really taken to the water and swimming, so he'll fit right in with his sibs on that one! He's starting to threaten a back to front roll over so we'll keep our eyes out for that and compared to the other two still seems to enjoy spending time on his tummy far more. I still can't nail down his personality for sure yet, and maybe that's who he'll always be but he sure does keep my arms full (and toned) and things interesting around here!! Hard to believe we're a quarter of a year in, phew!