Entropy Lives Here

More family band

2012-02-25T20:08:00.001-05:00

Attention everyone, the band will be starting up soon.I love love love love love that they play so well together.

Belly button

2012-02-07T20:43:00.000-05:00

Eva identify a few body parts, and has recently become very interested in her belly button. Also, her belly is adorable.

Eva's tricks

2012-02-04T20:51:00.001-05:00

I am not Sure I give Eva enough credit for how communicative she is. Thursday at her check-up I told the doctor she had maybe four words, and then Eva picked up a small plastic cow, came over to me and walked the cow on the arm of my chair and said something like "cow cow cow.". I then asked her what a cow says and she said "mmmmmmm.". The doctor raised her eyebrows at me and said Eva clearly had way more than only four words. Which is true - she's really an exceptional communicator.

So I'm going to try to get some tape of the various things she does. Of course, she is not exactly a trained monkey and doesn't always perform on cue. But still cute. :)

Happy Birthday Eva

2012-01-22T22:01:00.001-05:00

Dear Eva

Happy birthday, my sunshine girl.

You have been a delight ever since the day we met you. You were so small, sweet and cuddly then. You are big, sweet and cuddly now. You give the best hugs, the best smiles, the best shrieking laughs. Your happy energy makes my heart sing.

It is hard for me to believe you are a year old already, that it was an entire year ago that we brought you home from the hospital, tiny but already strong. Sweet, and already intense.

I can't believe how much you have grown since then, how many things you have learned. You learned to nurse, to see, to sleep in your crib. You learned to grab a toy, to roll over, to sit, and finally to crawl, to pull up, to cruise, to knee-walk, to walk. You learned to drink from a bottle, to eat from a spoon, to feed yourself finger food. Today I gave you a whole piece of pizza and you did just fine.

It is so exciting to see you continue to learn. It's awesome to see you learn more signs and practice them without our asking. To respond correctly when I ask you where your foot or your nose or your head is. To pretend to feed your baby or drive a toy car or brush your hair.

On your first night, Daddy and I watched a movie while you slept on my chest. You were perfectly content, until an actress in the movie started to cry, at which point you wailed along with her. You continue to be tuned into the world around you, you seem to understand everything we say and do, and it is just amazing.

It is hard for me to believe that you are only a year old, that you have only been brightening our lives and cracking us up for only twelve short months. You already know so much and are so much your own person.

You are vivacious and energetic and to be blunt, loud. Astonishingly loud. You are a person who knows her own mind and refuses to be silenced.

And my dear, that person is amazing.

Happy birthday, my darling Eva Joyce. We are so proud of you and love you so much.

More afternoon fun

2012-01-20T10:29:00.000-05:00

I love to see them playing together, and it's awesome because they seem to really enjoy it.

Eeeeeehk!! Slinky!!

Sliiiinky!!

Sinkeeeeeeeeeee!!

Self portraits

2012-01-18T10:12:00.000-05:00

Every once in a while mommy relaxes about her phone and lets Noah take some pictures.

Also, tickling.

Also, sister.

Looking good!!

Spaceman Noah

2012-01-17T11:06:00.000-05:00

How about we don't tell him the shuttle program got cancelled?

Afternoon hugs

2012-01-16T22:16:00.001-05:00

I started using a new camera app this afternoon, and produced my new favorite picture ever.

Slide Game

2012-01-16T22:03:00.001-05:00

Best game ever. I appreciated their continuing to play, even though I didn't start taping until several minutes after they invented it.

Car seats as climbers

2012-01-13T08:31:00.000-05:00

The Kia had some service this week, so the car seats have been living in the hallway. Eva loves them.

Little Walker

2012-01-11T12:34:00.000-05:00

Ok folks, almost a month after she actually learned how to walk, Eva has started actually walking. She practiced a bunch at the gym today.

Third Birthday Letter

2012-01-10T21:26:00.001-05:00

Dear Noah,

Happy Birthday.

Congratulations on being three. Three!

Congratulations on being able to tell us that you are now three. And that next year you'll be four and the year after you'll be five. And on being able to tell us, earlier in the week, that your birthday is on Tuesday and on Tuesday you'll be three.

Congratulations on being able to climb to the top of the ladder in the gym and hop on one foot and leap from the top of whatever we allow you to leap from. On figuring out how to ride a tricycle and a balance bike. On being able to get in and out of the car by yourself, brush and floss your own teeth, put on your own shoes and your own coat.

And I suppose I should also congratulate you on being able to do these things on your own schedule, even though your timeframe seldom aligns with mine and it drives me nuts.

You love books, you love to be read to, you correct our mistakes, you ask a million questions, you pick out letters that are in your name. It's great to see how much your understand. It makes me so happy to see you start to enjoy books on our own, to "read"to yourself or to your sister.

You love music, and are starting to blossom into a little musician. Your constant singing and dancing are a delight. You know the words to tons of songs and are often close to actually singing on pitch. You like to play the piano but love the guitar. I have started to become a bit concerned that you are going to grow up to be a rock star.

You are an amazing big brother. You love and care for Eva, you share your snack and help her walk across the room. You two tear around the house and crack each other up at the table. It is clear Eva adores you, and it is clear you are a great role model for her. Watching the two of you enjoy each other just makes my heart sing.

Noah, you have continued to astonish us this year. You have firmly moved from toddler to preschooler. You can do so much physically, running and leaping and throwing and climbing and doing all the things regular school-age kids do. Your questions are more complex. You do not accept the things we tell you until your follow up questions have been satisfied - you probe for inconsistencies and call us on them.

Quite frankly, it's a challenge to keep up with you. A hilarious, exhausting, inspiring challenge, which we are honored to take on.

Happy Birthday, my sweet boy. Congratulations on being Three.

(I know you didn't want your picture taken in your birthday crown from school, but I took a video anyway. Hopefully you will forgive me in my attempt to capture your awesome birthday energy)

Your daily dose of cuteness

2012-01-05T09:12:00.000-05:00

You are welcome.

More on the keyboard

2012-01-04T09:45:00.000-05:00

In case you were wondering, his pants were pinching him. And he was hot in that shirt. And those socks. But he is committed to his art, even under these extreme circumstances.

Working the mic

2012-01-03T09:40:00.000-05:00

Auntie Jenn gave Noah a keyboard with a microphone for Christmas. Let's just say, it's a hit.

(in this video, Noah is pretending to be the Rabbi, who is apparently some kind of rock star because she sings into a microphone)

(other parents in the congregation have assured me this is totally normal, all the kids think she's a rock star when they are little)

(for the record, she is totally a rock star)

Eva Update

2012-01-02T09:35:00.000-05:00

We'd better have an update, because she is officially 11 months old. Good god. Since we last updated, Eva has started walking a bit more. I'd say she's 70% knees, 30% feet at this point. So we're making progress there.

To her communication arsenal, she has added the signs for "duck" and "cat." She does both of these signs totally wrong, but her intentions are perfectly clear. For duck she says "uck uck uck" and opens and closes her hand (to do the sign correctly, she would put that hand in front of her mouth like a duck bill). Actually, she does this for any bird, not just duck. We were looking at pictures of a snowy owl earlier and she was ucking like crazy.

For cat she says "diddy" and brushes her hair next to her ear (to do the sign correctly she would use her index finger and make a motion like smoothing a whisker in front of her cheek). In both cases she is so consistent in what she does and clear in her intention I am willing to give her credit. And I am really really trying to get a video, but no luck yet.

The signs she does correctly include "milk," "eat," "more," "potty," and "all-done." She has also started pointing to things she wants, then pointing to herself. To apparently tell us she isn't just noticing something, she wants us to give it to her. Like That Banana! That one! To me!! Give it to me!!! It's pretty cute.

She has done this pointing trick a few times to (I think) self-identify. When I was facetiming with Sarah and Charlotte she pointed to the picture of us in the corner, then pointed to herself. When Saba was giving her her bath, she pointed to the picture of a baby on the soap bottle, then pointed to herself. Who knows what was really going on in her head. I am totally sure when she is trying to say duck, I'd say I'm 20% sure when she is trying to point out herself.
In addition to her signing tricks, she can say "up" perfectly clearly when she wants to get picked up or climb on something. She has been saying "mamama" or "dadada" for myself or Chad for a while now. She can do a few animal sounds with some consisetency: a cow says "mmmmmmmm," a duck says "ak ak", a bird says "deet deet", and a lion or bear says "aaaaagrrh." It's awesome when she sees a picture and then says the sound and looks up at you smiling because she knows she did something clever.
Every once in a while she does other things that sort of shock me into realizing how much she knows is going on.

Like when Noah gets a building toy for Hanukkah and she knee-walks over to pick up a bolt, then knee walks over somewhere else to pick up a plate, then puts the bolt through the hole in the plate.

Or when she all on her own decides to give Tigger a ride on the duck. (She did this for about 5 minutes before I got a video, so by the time I was filming she was kind of ready to move on)

My brilliant little bouncer.

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T08:51:00.000-05:00

Says Noah, who got a new haircut to celebrate the occasion.

Cheese!!

Ok, I know I make some comment to this effect every time I cut his hair, but I cannot get over how much older he looks. It's like I have been somehow holding him back in preschool by keeping his hair long and after it's cut he is going to get whisked off to kindergarten.

At any rate, we celebrated new years eve with the traditional carrot and chicken sausage pizza.

I asked Noah if there was anything he wanted to do better next year, he answered he wanted to go to the gym. I told him that a lot of grown-ups felt the same way.

Have a lovely 2012! We're off to the gym.

Happy Hanukkah

2011-12-31T20:24:00.001-05:00

We spent our last night of Hanukkah this year having a lovely visit with Grandma and Grandpa. Eva wore her special Hanukkah shirt.

Grandma hid the presents and the kids went on the hunt

Ah Hah!

Hello, what's this?

In other news, I am really excited for Eva to wear her new bonnet at the beach next summer.

It's SPF you can't handle this cuteness

Noah was his usual charming self, and entertained us all with Grandma's Ukelele (please excuse the sound quality of the iphone video).

What a great Hanukkah treat!

Where the baby hits the road

2011-12-23T09:56:00.000-05:00

Or the driveway, actually.

Imagine this scene: Noah, Eva and I arrive home from picking up Noah from school, everyone (read: Noah) is hungry and tired and cranky. Then he trips, and sliiiightly scrapes his ankle. And collapses into tears. I set Eva down so I could attend to him, and she decides to try to walk down the driveway, and faceplants. Now both kids are screaming, and one is slightly bloody.

Yup, it was just about as awesome as it sounds.

This is where I'm happy baby skin heals so quickly. Also that most of our neighbors work during the day.

Cookin'

2011-12-22T08:00:00.000-05:00

She no only cleans, she cooks, too!

Happy Hanukkah

2011-12-21T07:48:00.001-05:00

We had a lovely first night of Hanukkah last night. Noah claimed his place as a full-fledged preschooler and made a salt dough menorah.

Impressive, no? I think he may be an artsy kid.

Also, a character. He was apparently too hot in his clothes, so he stripped down for menorah painting.

The kids loved lighting the menorahs

And then it was time for presents, and my favorite thing Noah did all week. I will try to convey:

Scene: mommy is going downstairs to get tonight's presents. Earlier in the day, Noah "helped" her wrap Daddy's present, a star wars DVD.

Mommy: is it time for presents?
Noah: yeah!! Daddy, can I watch that movie?
Daddy: huh?
M: shhh!
N: (starts to jump in place) daddy, can I watch that movie?
D: huh? What movie?
M: Shhhhh!!!! Noah, just wait!
N: ( jumping) Daddy, we got a movie for you!!! Yeah! Can I watch that movie!?!
D & M: hahaha

So far, the approach to three years old has been a real challenge. So it's great when his energy and intense earnestness can be used for cuteness instead of thwarting my every plan.

Happy Hanukkah everyone!

Eva cleans up

2011-12-19T16:15:00.000-05:00

She may not be walking, but I've got her hard at work.

(yes, she's not walking. That trip down the hallway I showed you last week was apparently a false alarm. Apparently she wants to do these things on her schedule, not mine. Huh.)

Dining room dance party

2011-12-16T10:30:00.001-05:00

Good god, this kid cracks me up.

Little cousin

2011-12-14T22:38:00.001-05:00

Yup, still busy. Haven't connected my phone to my computer in days. But look at the great pictures dad took of the kids!

(Also, my apologies to Charlotte, to whom this process and my children in general seemed a tad overwhelming)

Cheese!!

I love you, baby Charlotte

I'm not sure how to appropriately caption this one, Eva seems to have gotten used to having her picture taken, Noah seems thrilled with the responsibility of holding the baby, and Charlotte's mind has apparently been blown by the super soft texture of Henry's ear. In summary, this is probably the best picture we'll get of the three of them for the next several years.

Breaking News

2011-12-12T11:49:00.002-05:00

That's right folks, she's a walker!!!!

Of course, that video was taken last night and this morning she has absolutely no interest in walking on her feet (the knees are perfectly acceptable, thank you). So we shall see where this gets us.

Still cause for congratulations, in my opinion. She's barreling towards big-girl-ness at the speed of light, leaving only a thin trail of drool behind her.

Baby Playdate in Silhouette

2011-12-05T13:09:00.000-05:00

Eva and her buddy Alden, both 10mo. Please ignore the mommy chatter in the background.

I love watching the two of them play - they are so interactive. Shortly before they discovered the screen door, Eva picked up a small teddy bear and knee-walked over to hand it to Alden. They will coo at each other and pat each other on the head. They will both listen to a story together, one of them turning the pages while the other watches. I think they are both so relieved to get to interact with one friend who's at exactly their level, instead of trying to keep up with big brother.

Production

2011-12-02T13:01:00.000-05:00

Scene: Our living room

Noah: Let's do a video!
Me: Do you want to be in a video?
Noah: Yeah! Let's do a video!
Me: What do you want to do?
Noah: A song.
Me: Ok, you can sing a song and dance and I'll take a video.

You are welcome.

Also, I swear we don't feed him much sugar or any caffeine. He is just hopped up on preschooler crazy.

Walking with Lion

2011-12-01T12:59:00.000-05:00

She's still not walking on her own, but she can motor with the lion pretty well...

Tour de Newton

2011-11-30T12:57:00.003-05:00

We love fall, when it is cold enough that we've taken in the patio furniture but nice enough to play outside still.

We also love the iphone, which makes it so easy to take lots of videos of the kids. My only disappointment is the sound quality is not the best, so you have to listen extra hard to hear Noah's running commentary and motorcycle noises.

Old McPuzzle

2011-11-27T10:15:00.000-05:00

One of the best things about having a preschooler is out of nowhere I'll turn around and he'll be doing something like this. It cracks me up.

And then I videotape it and post it to the internet.

Going for a drive

2011-11-26T10:14:00.000-05:00

I don't see any way this could possibly end badly.

Blocks

2011-11-25T10:13:00.000-05:00

Peek-a-boo, revisited

2011-11-24T10:12:00.000-05:00

She's pretty much an expert now.

Vroom

2011-11-23T10:10:00.000-05:00

Eva is a pretty good mimic, and careful observation of her big brother has taught her exactly what to do with toy cars.

Steps

2011-11-22T10:09:00.000-05:00

Also, did I mention she is working on walking?

State of the Baby

2011-11-21T09:59:00.004-05:00

Good god, it's been a while. Things here are nuts, and let's just say they are not going to change anytime soon. However, just because I have been too busy to blog does not mean Eva has stopped astonishing us about once an hour. For baby archival purposes I will swoop in here to post an update. And then a series of videos for the week.

Anyway, the update. Eva is astonishingly cute.

Duh, mom.

She is working hard on learning to communicate. She points at things she wants or at things in which she is interested. She says "mamama" when she sees me, and "dadadada" when she see Chad. She says "dat" when pointing at something. The other day she reached for her bottle and said "babababa."

She can do the signs for "more" and for "milk" and for "all-done," but really prefers pointing, smiling and crying to get her message across. She is still a great eater, but now requires to be eating the same food we are eating, preferably directly from our plates, preferably with her own utensil. We usually forget to give her a utensil, and then halfway through dinner she notices everyone else has a fork and she'll scream until we figure out that's what the problem is.

Speaking of the screaming, Eva is not a quiet baby. She makes her opinions known. She will be sleeping, and instead of waking and whimpering a bit before going back to sleep, she lays perfectly still and screams at the top of her lungs. Then goes back to sleep.

She and Noah are sharing a room now. In related news, Noah is a trooper.

Eva is totally fearless. In the bath, she'll put her face down and blow bubbles in the water (she started doing this all on her own). She crawls under the guest bed and through the tunnel and into the closet and into the cabinet. She loves to crawl around the playground structures, and would happily fling herself off the edge if given the chance.

Don't worry mom, I've got this.

She is super mobile, crawling and scooting and rolling. But now, her usual mode of transportation is a surprisingly effective bouncing knee walk:

She loves to play with toys, especially Noah's cars and trucks. She likes to put things into boxes. She likes to "draw" with chalk on the chalkboard. She loves books, and will chose one then knee bounce over to you waving the book. If you are busy reading another book, for example, to her brother, she will sit there and cry until you look at her book instead.

No idea where she learned that.

She is so capable. She can rock on a rocking horse. She can use the potty (when we get her all set and sit her on it). She can clap her hands and play peek-a-boo.

Basically, she is totally winning at babyhood.

Cooooooookies

2011-11-05T13:16:00.000-04:00

When we were snowed in last weekend, I decided we'd spend some time making and decorating cookies.

I know, you're thinking: what a great idea! More sugar right before Halloween!!

Eh, whatever, we had a good time.

Also, Noah decorated the best cookie ever.

I know, a work of art. I was so proud, I mailed it to Grandma and Grandpa.

Happy Girl

2011-11-04T09:28:00.000-04:00

Man, she is really cute.

Also happy.

And cute and toothy

And apparently eager to chew on the windowsill.

Snow!

2011-11-03T13:03:00.000-04:00

We got a pre-halloween surprise in the form of about six inches of snow last weekend. It is hard to believe that we're already headed into Eva's second winter.

I know, I can't believe it either.

Noah, needless to say, was totally thrilled. He made a snowman with daddy.

We convinced him to wait long enough for us to take a picture

And then he kicked it over.

Also, Eva isn't crazy about standing in those boots.

Baby Down!!

First steps

2011-11-02T09:13:00.000-04:00

That's right folks, she is working on it...

Time to hide the trains, Noah...

Forward bouncing

2011-11-01T13:55:00.000-04:00

Some people think that soft, carpeted or padded floors are best for babies. Those people are totally wrong, hardwood floors are best because they allow for Eva's new favorite mode of transportation.

See? Hardwood is way better.

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T20:29:00.004-04:00

Let me tell you, we really did Halloween right this year. First, we went over to our neighbors' house for pizza and beer. Then, Eva put on her frog suit.

Froggy wants an iphone, please!

Eva and Max really coordinated with the green amphibian costumes this year

It is possible the mommies are more excited than the babies in this picture.

Next, we lined up all of the kids in their costumes and all of the parents stood, snapping pictures, until at one point most of the kids were looking at the camera.

We were told there would be candy.

After that, we hit the road. The herd of preschoolers was really quite impressive.

Perhaps I should be concerned about the lady down the street and her demon spawn...

The decorations were a big hit

Though Eva was skeptical

Not sure how I'm supposed to reach the doorbell from here, mom

After a tour of Ollie's pumpkins

We retired inside so the kids could take a look at Noah's haul

They wouldn't let me have any candy, but I'll show them!

Look! A crumb! From the floor!! I will eat it!

Then Eva went to bed and we let Noah eat two pieces of candy

This may have been a mistake...

And now Noah's arguing with Chad about going to bed while I sit in the kitchen and write this post. Wish us luck.

Happy Halloween!

Baby party

2011-10-31T09:25:00.000-04:00

Eva and her friends sure are interested in something...

Applicious

2011-10-29T09:19:00.001-04:00

Hello, my precious apple.

nom nom nom

mine!

heh heh heh

Parallel play

2011-10-28T14:12:00.000-04:00

This has started happening more and more

And it's awesome. I can just kind of sit by and stretch or drink my coffee or videotape them. For about 2 minutes until they both want the same toy and it's over.

Rocket Ship

2011-10-27T14:14:00.000-04:00

Disclaimer: the following is really pretty dumb. I think it's totally hilarious. You probably won't, because in reality, it's not. In fact, you should probably click away now, back to work or school or your budget or whatever it is you are actually supposed to be doing on your computer.

You were warned.

May I present, Noah and Eva Pytel starring in "Fly me to ~~the moon~~ France"

and it's stunning sequel, "Fly me to ~~the moon~~ France, part Duex"

It's becoming clear that I need to get out more.

Cousins, again

2011-10-26T15:03:00.000-04:00

Noah seems determined to be a great big cousin, just like he's a great big brother.

New cousins

2011-10-26T02:43:00.000-04:00

So as you have probably heard, Baby Charlotte has arrived, and she is basically the sweetest and most wonderful baby you ever did see.

Don't hate me because of how well I rock a hairbow.

Eva and I took a trip to Badger Country to spend some time with the new arrival. Eva was a trooper on the trip.

Charlotte who? HAVE YOU SEEN THIS WINDOW!!?!?

Once we arrived, the girls got along great. And of course they would, they have so much in common! For example, Winnie the Pooh blankets:

A love of Target

And when they don't sleep well at night, a 5pm nap

(this nap was maybe my favorite part of the trip, as Sarah and I got to have a beer on the tailgate of the car while the babies slept)

Aunt Sarah is doing a great job managing her growing family

Max says: It's been quite an adjustment but overall I am SQUIRREL!!!!

But Eva was happy to lend a hand with diaper changes

Sure, Aunt Sarah! I'll just grab the wet bag for you...

What Eva did not like was any time mommy spent with Charlotte.

I seem to be losing my place as center of the universe. HOW DID THIS HAPPEN!?

Luckily, Noah soon arrived to set Eva at ease

And Charlotte started to smile even though Eva was playing with all her toys

So overall, I think we can count the trip as a total success.

She's got a lot to say

2011-10-25T14:11:00.001-04:00

And it's sounding more and more like actual speech.

A round of applause

2011-10-17T09:23:00.003-04:00

Eva and I had an awesome week in Madison visiting Sarah and Alex and Baby Charlotte. It was a big week. I am beat. Until I have a chance to decompress and update, please enjoy a video of Eva's latest skill:

The best part about it is she'll make noise until she catches your eye, then she'll clap until you play along. SUPER cute.

Boys

2011-10-13T07:22:00.001-04:00

I have been doing some important field research. My conclusion: two-year-olds are nuts.

Please see the following video clip as evidence. This is a small clip out of twenty minutes or so of playing in the closet, during which time they discussed mosquitoes, pie, trucks, dinosaurs, and several other non-sequiturs.

Nuts. But also cute.

Chalk Time

2011-10-12T07:19:00.000-04:00

Our little budding artist.

Also, I would just like to mention how difficult it is to let her draw with the chalk while preventing her from eating it. Goes double for the crayons. Sigh.

Hayride

2011-10-11T14:55:00.000-04:00

We have been visiting Drumlin Farm a lot lately, and recently took a hayride with some friends.

Noah and Rostam, on the lookout for cows

Eva and Alden, on the lookout for other babies

Also on this trip, Eva got to ride on my back in the Ergo for the first time.

I guess it was was comfortable, based on how quickly she fell asleep. Either that, or just the view was pretty boring.

Dreams do come true

2011-10-10T14:53:00.002-04:00

Noah is getting better at approaching the cats gently, and I think Max is really desperate for petting. Either way, it's a win-win.

Yoga

2011-10-08T13:19:00.000-04:00

Noah likes to spread my yoga mats out around the house. Makes for a good opportunity to stretch out in the hallway.

Yeah. His interest in yoga really cracks me up. But it also makes it basically impossible for me to practice.

Broadmoor

2011-10-07T14:24:00.000-04:00

The Massachusetts Audubon Society had a membership special after labor day, so we joined so we can keep going to the farm. But now that we are members, we're trying to explore some of the other wildlife sanctuaries. The other day we headed over to Broadmoor.

It was beautiful.

We saw some crazy algea

Noah got to jump over a bunch of "really really really really big" rocks

He also kept stopping to "fish." And by that, he means poke a stick into the water.

Eva got to ride in the Ergo

And explore the boardwalks

What a lovely day.

The Airship in our Basement

2011-10-06T08:18:00.000-04:00

Here at EntryopyLivesHere, we are getting very excited about our upcoming trip to Wisconsin.

Hope the badgers are ready for us

L'shanah Tova

2011-10-05T13:23:00.000-04:00

Unfortunately we missed the shofar-blowing at services this year, but luckily Noah got to try it out at Grammy's house.

Happy new year, Lord of the Flies style!

Peek-a-boo is the best game ever invented.

2011-10-04T07:42:00.000-04:00

Please enjoy my new favorite video EVER.

The gift of an ordinary day.

2011-10-03T08:32:00.000-04:00

Inspired by this post, I decided to capture an ordinary day for us by setting a timer to take a picture roughly every hour on a totally regular day. I did chose a day when I didn't have to work, since pictures of my computer would be considerably less interesting. Eva is eight months old, Noah is two years eight months.

6am:

Eva's awake. And happy to see me. :)

6:30am:

Warming up to breakfast

7:30am:

We've sent daddy off to work, time for some climbing

8:30am:

Mommy begins negotiations with Noah about getting dressed.

There is a lot of whining involved.

9:30am:

Apparently mommy won that round.

We drove to Drumlin Farm and are finishing our nap/snack before unloading.

10:30am:

Noah and his friend Caroline are off and running.

11:30am:

Noah helps Caroline with the water fountain. Eva is asleep in the Ergo.

12:30:

Unfortunately, I left my phone in the car so you don't get to see the absolute madhouse that is lunchtime with two little kids. Instead, I present...

1:30pm:

Both kids are down for a nap. Mommy returns to the kitchen to tackle the mess.

2:30pm:

Mommy choses pilates over cleaning up the living room.

3:30pm:

Everyone's up again. Time for some milk.

4:30pm:

Ollie (from next door) comes over to help Noah with the garden.

5:30pm:

A bit of time for the bike before Daddy comes home

6:30pm

Dinner! All of the insanity of lunchtime, but with wine.

7:30pm:

Eva's had her bath and is headed to bed.

8:00pm:

Noah's had his bath and is flossing

9:15pm:

Kids are asleep. Kitchen is cleaned. Toys are corralled. Parents are beat. Project runway is on DVR. Also, apparently, living room picture is seriously askew.

Craziness. Jill proposes doing this four times over the course of the year, and I think that's a great idea. We'll see how different things are in a few months!

And now she's working on walking

2011-10-02T07:35:00.002-04:00

And then, last night, she decided she could do this.

This process is just going too quickly.

Eight Months

2011-10-01T12:56:00.002-04:00

Eva turned eight months old last week. This week, she learned how to do this.

She climbed up the entire staircase, from bottom to top. This was only the second time we let her try. Clearly, we are in trouble.

Learning to Stand

2011-09-26T12:44:00.000-04:00

Man, she is working hard.

Death Metal Teapot

2011-09-21T11:36:00.003-04:00

Dear Auntie D. I have no idea how you taught Noah to do this, but congratulations, you have a new understudy.

Dear everyone else. Please don't ask, I have no idea. Also, in case you are interested in booking him you should know he is not allowed to play goth clubs until he is 25.

Motorcycle gang

2011-09-15T08:41:00.000-04:00

Watch out folks, they're on the move

Silly

Serious Noah is Serious. Also what's up with the gloves?

Silly kids.

Family Band II

2011-09-14T09:09:00.000-04:00

They've moved on from the drums to the horns.

Still awesome.

They've moved on from the

Who is that baby?

2011-09-13T08:04:00.000-04:00

Eva thinks the baby in the mirror is AWESOME.

She is totally right.

Tomatoes

2011-09-12T09:01:00.000-04:00

We got a box of bulk tomatoes to freeze for the rest of the year. Of course, we got these about the day before Eva started crawling all over the place.

Hmmmm... what's this?

Heh.

Heh. heh.

heee

(And then she tried to eat it. The end)

Oh, the hair

2011-09-11T09:15:00.001-04:00

Now that Eva is wearing pigtails most days, she has some super awesome hair before bathtime.

Aaah! Super flying crazy-haired baby!!

Baby, in purple

2011-09-10T08:53:00.000-04:00

Hi! We're outside!

Aaand..

I'm off.

Look! I found mommy!

Up...

up...

and over.

Eva plays piano

2011-09-09T08:36:00.000-04:00

For your listening pleasure

I like how she doesn't limit herself to the center of the keyboard.

Standy McStanderson

2011-09-08T06:33:00.000-04:00

And just like that, she's an expert at pulling up.

Also, I can't wait until Noah is a teenager and I am armed with all these videos of him playing in his underpants and a fire hat.

She's on the move

2011-09-07T08:15:00.001-04:00

Eva has discovered her ability to crawl longer distances, making my job more difficult. For example, here is a video where she crawls across the room in order to find a nearly invisible piece of grass to put in her mouth.

We're so in trouble.

Bouncing on the pink chair

2011-09-06T08:47:00.000-04:00

These little people just crack me up.

(also, did you see Eva stand up at around 0:35?)

Baskbetball

2011-09-05T20:21:00.002-04:00

We enjoyed the nice weather this weekend by making good use of our backyard. Noah is working on his basketball skills.

Pivot

head fake

and shoot!

Or, if you prefer to watch in live action...

(My favorite part is how he measures his distance from the basket)

Eva is ready to join in as soon as she figures out how to stand up.

Put me in, coach!

Baby playdate

2011-09-02T08:40:00.001-04:00

Eva and Sasha had a nice time together the other day while their older brothers were playing.

Hello there...

I liiiike you.

Hey, what are the boys up to?

God, these girls are huge! Remember how tiny they were when they first met?

(Eva is the one in the pink, Sasha is to her right)

Family Resemblence

2011-09-01T10:11:00.001-04:00

So people keep commenting on how much Eva looks like Noah. I generally agree, until I look at baby pictures of Noah. See for yourself...

Hi! I'm Eva! Crawling is Awesome!!

Hi! I'm Noah! Crawling is awesome!!!

I think that when you look at Noah today, you can totally imagine a baby that looks just like Eva growing into a preschooler that looks like Noah.

However, when you look at an actual baby picture of Noah,

Hi! I'm Noah! Food is awesome!!

And compare it to Eva at almost exactly the same age,

Hi! I'm Eva! Food is AWESOME!!!!

I think you may agree that they both just look like themselves. Clearly related, but obviously themselves.

Man, she's cute.

2011-08-31T13:02:00.000-04:00

If slightly out of focus, because I never have the flash turned on and the lighting isn't great 13 inches off of the floor.

Sigh. :)

Expert Crawler

2011-08-30T21:41:00.003-04:00

Eva totally is one, and so she gets to wear the onsie.

Of course, part of the problem with her expert crawling is that she won't sit still to capture said onsie.

Oooh, distraction by keys almost gets it...

And we're off again...

Seriously, kid. It's like you have a perfect sense of how long it takes for the shutter to click.

Forget it. We'll just go back two years to your brother to model the onsie.

So you can go back to searching the kitchen floor for toys

Aaah, much better

Hello, Gravity

2011-08-29T15:21:00.001-04:00

Clearly I don't have Noah trained well enough to retrieve the cup.

Family Band

2011-08-26T11:41:00.000-04:00

I'd say we are about ready to hit the road.

Jammin with Noah

2011-08-25T08:44:00.000-04:00

He's pretty good on the guitar, huh?

(I like the headbob, myself)

Crawling, continued

2011-08-24T08:42:00.000-04:00

And each day, she gets better and better!

Crawling!

2011-08-23T08:41:00.000-04:00

Finally! She can do it!!

After many many many times accidentally sitting up, she finally managed to string together a few crawls forward! Go Eva!!

Seven Months!

2011-08-22T06:43:00.001-04:00

Seven months today! My goodness. To celebrate, let's feature my favorite picture of Eva's teeth, shamelessly stolen from dad's flicker stream.

Seven months seems serious. We are now in months past the first half-year. The next big milestone is her first birthday.

The time. It goes too fast. We'd better enjoy the baby while we still have a baby to enjoy.

Luckily she makes it easy. :)

Pre-crawling III

2011-08-18T11:41:00.001-04:00

Who says movement has to be linear?

Seriously. How she is not yet crawling yet is beyond me.

Eva talks to the bucket

2011-08-16T13:31:00.000-04:00

Hey, it sounds like there is a baby in this bucket!

After lunch

2011-08-15T13:29:00.000-04:00

This video is a good example of what the end of any meal is like at our house. The only thing I missed was Noah flying into the room to ask if Chad is finished eating about 8 times before he is actually finished.

Carnage!!

2011-08-13T10:43:00.001-04:00

Or beets.

On the farm

2011-08-12T10:47:00.000-04:00

We had a lovely morning at Drumlin farm with some friends last week. We got to play on a tractor.

Noah got to check out a bunch of animals - pigs, chickens, sheep, goats, etc.

Pigs!

Eva didn't get to touch any animals, due to her favorite activity of putting her hands in her mouth.

Noah and Frieda, on the other hand, can almost be trusted to wash their fingers before chewing on them, so they got to check out some sheep & goats.

But the favorite was the big old goat that just let them hang out and pet him.

Actually, that giant goat was maybe a close second to the barn cat. Sigh. Toddlers.

Um...

2011-08-11T10:40:00.000-04:00

After Eva woke up from her nap I grabbed the phone to take a picture to show Chad that her hair is, in fact, curly. And somehow this is the picture I got:

Either that's a well-timed leg kick or Eva is part bat.

What we did today

2011-08-11T10:35:00.000-04:00

Eva played with the baby doll, which was cute.

Hello baby

And by "played" I mean she clearly learned how to treat babies from her brother.

What? I'm not supposed to tear your toys off of your clothing to do whatever I want?

Also today, there was this:

Looks like well-rounded early childhood development around here, huh?

First waves

2011-08-10T10:22:00.000-04:00

I think baby waves are kind of like baby smiles, and there might be a bit of a dispute about when they are actually doing them on purpose and when they are just practicing moving their bodies. You can be the judge here.

(for me, though, I am totally convinced she is waving).

Popper revisited

2011-08-09T10:18:00.003-04:00

Eva has been enjoying the popper toy for a while now, but has recently developed the ability to go with a more traditional technique.

She can do it all by herself. She is like a little baby genius.

In other news, I just put her down for a nap, and instead of going to sleep she decided to fuss for a while. I looked in the monitor to see her sitting up in her crib. Oy. We have entered a whole new world of poor sleeping.

Pre-crawling II

2011-08-05T09:14:00.001-04:00

She is getting closer and closer...

She can push up onto all fours by herself and stay up there for quite a while. Today she went from sitting to all fours and back to sitting for the first time. She has had this explosion in mobility over the past day that has her rolling and reaching and grabbing and stretching and man she is getting hard to hold while I try to read Noah a book.

Time to hide your toys Noah!

2011-08-04T12:32:00.001-04:00

We went to the New England Aquarium the other day to escape the heat, and both kids really liked it. Eva was fascinated watching the fish swim around.

She would try to grab them

And while her eye-hand coordination improves every day, she was no match for the glass tank.

Noah, on the other hand, got to actually touch some rays and starfish at the aquarium's two touch tanks. Here he is going after the rays...

So cool. This is one reason I like living in a city.

P.S. For those of you considering a similar family outing I might mention that the 2.5 yo did considerably better with the rays he couldn't catch than the starfish he was allowed to hold but was supposed to hold under the water and not try to remove any of its legs...

2011-08-03T12:25:00.000-04:00

Eva is a reasonably quiet baby. She smiles a lot but doesn't laugh out loud too much - we get a "heh" when she really likes something and that's about it.

Noah, on the other hand, can elicit the craziest laugh I have ever heard...

(this went on for several minutes)

Maybe baby Noah just thought we were funny because he didn't have a big sibling to compare us to...

Buddies

2011-08-02T09:13:00.001-04:00

The other day we had a thunderstorm and Noah wanted to show Eva.

I am not sure if she was impressed by the storm, but she sure is interested in anything having to do with Noah.

Seriously. Have you ever seen anything cuter than that picture?

No?

Ok, then, let's talk about the tea parties we have been having lately.

Look at these kids. My life is great.

Also my life is great because after this I got some tea. Or maybe a cup with no actual tea but plenty of drool. Also I was informed it was my birthday and we were having cake.

Hello Everybody

2011-08-01T09:11:00.002-04:00

We are working closer and closer to cooperative play every day.

And by cooperative play, I mean Noah is doing what he wants and trying to get Eva to play along. Eva mostly just looks at him adoringly.

Noah reads a book

2011-07-31T15:53:00.001-04:00

Grammy read Noah a book on her kindle.

Then she read it to him again.

Then he did this.

Then Mommy, Grammy and Grammy Sue picked their jaws up off the floor.

Also mommy resolved to do a better job watching her mouth because apparently her 2.5 yo can pick up and memorize ANYTHING.