HFM

Beautiful, spotted birthday girl

In my opinion, Hand Foot and Mouth should be renamed... "extremely-high-fever-followed-a-day-later-with-nasty-painful-bumps-all-over-body-coinciding-with-extra-crankiness-then-followed-by-multiplying-rash-yet-endearing-temperament," or "EHFFADLWNPBAOBCWECTFBMRYET" (...for short...)

Hand Foot and Mouth had been going around like crazy all summer, and we had done well to avoid it in our house... until last week. C woke up with a fever on Monday which quickly escalated well over 104. With no other symptoms, we were at a loss as to what she had. She was eating and drinking normally. She wanted to play. She would just get very tired and lay down, fall asleep for about an hour and then wake up ready to go. As her temperature fluctuated all day, we decided to take her to the walk in hours at the doctor. 

As there we no other symptoms, the doctor recommended testing for a uti. Apparently they are pretty common and very serious if not caught right away. I'm just hoping she doesn't remember what they had to do to determine that she did not in fact have a uti. I promised her french fries as a reward for the trauma she was going through. French fries are her favorite reward. 

The next day her fever had come down and we thought she was on the mend... We were wrong. Toward the afternoon she was complaining about her mouth and she started to break out into spots on her face. They soon spread to her hands, arms, legs and diaper area. She started getting incredibly cranky and clingy. By then it was obvious what she had. 

The strange thing about HFM, at least for C, is that as the rash has gotten worse, her temperament has gotten better. The past few days, she has been such a joy to be around. She smiles and chats and wants cuddles. She doesn't act uncomfortable (except for diaper changes). If she wasn't covered in spots, I would never know she was sick.

It has been quite a chore keeping her away from E, but so far he seems to have avoided it. We are still not out of the woods yet in terms of contagiousness, but hopefully he will stay healthy. 

The spots around her mouth seem faint now, compared to what they were. 

This is not the way that I would have had her usher in her second birthday. 

I'm so grateful that she is feeling better. 

E likes feet...

Elijah loves his bouncy seat. In fact, that is where he sleeps at night. We tried him in the bassinet for awhile, but we had much better success with the bouncy seat. So there he remains, for now. When he is in a good mood, he can really get that thing jumping!

Look at him flail!

Apparently feet are funny!

The time Charlie found bowls...

Olympic Charlie

As evidenced by this video, Charlie is not only a hands on big sister, she is also a swimming Olympic hopeful .

Big sister

I'm pretty sure that Charlie loves being a big sister. She dotes on Elijah and always tries to 'include' him in things. She likes to kiss him goodnight and tries to offer him food. She wants him to sit at the table with us and asks him to say grace too.

For the most part he just stares at her with a big smile and takes in everything that she does. I hope they will always be close friends!

Once there was this 'goat'...

Last week we took a family trip to Ohio and went to the Carroll County fair. While there, Charlotte met a goat... (a sheep actually, but in her version of the story it is a goat. So be it.) 

This 'goat' was not very friendly. It had started raining pretty badly during our fair visit. When we entered a barn to escape the monsoon, the first pen was a group of 'goats.' (remember, sheep) As I approached them to show Charlotte, one of them charged toward us making loud bleating noises. This absolutely terrified her and she started to scream. It was one of those screams that starts out silent, so you know it's going to be really bad once it gets going. Poor girl was a mess and wasn't happy until her daddy was holding her tight in his arms and reassuring her that everything was ok. She clung to him the rest of the day. 

When we got back to the great grandparents house we asked Charlotte to tell them about the goat. Her eyes got huge and she started to shake and then she burst into a long monologue about her goat adventures. 

Over the past week we have had her rehash the story multiple times. While nothing beats the first time she told it, she is still pretty articulate and emotional about it. I think it will be one of those events that is seared into her memory forever. 

So, with no further ado... Here is the 'goat' story as told by Charlie. 

Baby-ness

Well, Elijah had his four month appointment yesterday. All I can say is TOO FAST! 


I almost burst into tears when the doctor said he was old enough to start introducing solid food. What?!? My baby?!? That's not possible! What next?!? Sitting up? Crawling? *gasp* Walking?!?


It's official- babies grow up way too fast! 


With Charlie, we jumped at all the milestones, encouraging her to be independent. But with Elijah, I'm just not ready. (Is this how second child syndromes begin?)  I want him to stay tiny for as long as possible. I want to lay down on the ground next to him and watch his little arms and legs flail uncontrollably. I want to soak in all his cooing. I want to bask in his perfect little smiles. 


But each day, he gets bigger. Each week a new milestone. And so I treasure these moments in my heart and snap pictures when I can. I'm going to miss the little things- like him grabbing my finger with his entire hand, or feeling him nuzzle his little head up under my neck. Believe it or not, I will miss smelling his stinky jam hands and I will miss being spit up on (gross, I know, and yet not gross at all!) I will miss watching him accidentally grab his toes. I will miss him drooling on the carpet. I will miss the way he gazes at his big sister. I will miss his baby belly laughs and his enjoyment of being tickled. I will miss putting him into an infant car seat. I will miss him sleeping in a bassinet next to our bed. 


Basically, I will miss his baby-ness. 


But for now, I have it and I will drink it in! 


Happy four months, my perfect little man! 

Little brother

Now that Elijah is more alert and spending more time awake, Charlotte has started to pay more attention to him. She loves her little brother and often asks if he can join her in whatever activities she is doing.

I find myself saying phrases like, "Elijah is too young to play the piano with you, Charlie, but he can listen as you play!" or "No, he can't eat chips yet because he doesn't have teeth, but it was nice of you to share!"

The other day she insisted that he sit with her and watch cartoons, so I propped him in the corner of the chair. All went well until he started flailing (as babies are prone to do) and his foot touched her leg. Uh oh! Suddenly she was whining and poking at him... So it begins!

Tim was actually able to catch this adorable video. This is the first time we have let her hold Elijah all on her own. Considering she still doesn't fully grasp the concept of 'gentle,' I'd say it was a pretty gutsy move! But she did surprising well, and it yielded a great video op!

I'm not particularly crafty...

So, I'm not really a crafty person. I wish I was... I'm just not...

I was playing with Charlotte yesterday and I found a very small container of play doh she had received in a gift bag from a birthday party. She held it in her hand, dropped it on the floor and walked away. I attributed it to the fact that it was a boring color (white) and wasn't big enough to really enjoy. So, while she took her whopping 3.5 hour nap, I looked online for a homemade play doh recipe. The first one I found looked easy enough! So, I gathered my ingredients and followed the instructions. I was surprised at how simple it was, and after about 10 minutes I had myself a nice large lump of pineapple smelling play doh sitting on my counter cooling off.

Granted, it wasn't very attractive, but I figured I'd add some food coloring and we'd be good to go. I waited impatiently for my creation to cool down enough to add some flour and dye. When it finally did, I added some purple food coloring... What's more fun than purple, right?!?

Needless to say, the food coloring didn't really take, so it ended up being a funky tan, brown color. Still, I was not dissuaded. This homemade play doh was sure to provide my little girl with hours of entertainment! 

Finally she woke up! I ran up to get her out of the crib, telling her excitedly that I had made her something special to play with and whisked her downstairs to show her... 

She seemed hesitant at first as I tried to hand her the large lump of play doh. She wouldn't even take it from me. I showed her how to poke it and prod it, and she did for about 10 seconds. I even got my husband involved. He started forming letters and shapes and pointing them out to her. 

But apparently after two minutes she figured she had humored us long enough, because she turned to me and promptly said, "I want fraw!" (i.e.- I want to draw.) So, defeated, I got her a pencil and some paper and she settled down on the kitchen floor to entertain herself. 

Note my homemade play doh, neglected in the background!

Feeling at least marginally bad for me, and taking pity on me, my husband mustered up some enthusiasm and joined me in making use of my somewhat wasted experiment! 

The creepy thing in the middle was my artistic rendering of Elijah... I know, it's obvious that I missed my true calling! I could have been the Madame Tussaud of the play doh world. 

Anyways, I salvaged the doh as it began to dry and plopped it into a container and stuck it in the fridge. Who knows, I might even attempt yet another play doh torture session with my daughter this evening! 

Laughing Baby...

Who doesn't love a laughing baby?

Um... No one!

Smiley Guy

Another comparison

As Elijah gets older he keeps making facial expressions that remind me of baby Charlotte. I'm always amazed when I go through baby photos of Charlie and compare them to Elijah. 

Wow, they really look so much alike! 

The Beach

Sorry I haven't posted much lately. Living my life in three hour increments means I'm pretty much narcoleptic all the time! So be prepared for an onslaught of posts over the next few weeks. Enjoy!!

Long before the weather turned warm, I took Charlie to the beach and introduced her to sand.

My handsome little man

Comparison photo

It isn't until I put pictures of baby Charlotte up next to pictures of Elijah that I realize how similar they are. Here is a picture of Charlotte at six weeks old and Elijah at nine. Definitely siblings!

Elijah finds his voice...

With my little man passing his nine week mark, he's become quite the little charmer!

Try and resist those coos... just try!

Charlotte and her baby doll...

If this isn't proof enough that Charlotte needs baby supervision, I don't know what is!!

Poor baby doll!

Introducing Elijah John

We are pleased to announce the birth of our son, Elijah John, on March 19th at 6:52 pm. He was 7 lbs 9 oz and was 20 inches long.

Welcome to our world, little man!!

Eighteen Months!

My little bug turned 18 months this past weekend! In celebration, I would like to share with you the many faces of Charlie!

"I do not approve of your shenanigans.. or this hat..."

"stink eye"

"Paranoid"

"Watch me dance"

"I'm just minding my own business..."

"Please don't interrupt me, I'm in the middle of my two favorite activities-
talking on the phone and watching Pride and Prejudice"

"borderline smile"

"concentrating"

"Contented Charlie"

 

HAPPY 18 MONTHS, CHARLOTTE!!

An assembly such as this???

At 17 months, Charlotte's absolutely favorite thing to watch on television is the 5 hour british version of Pride and Prejudice. The one commonly known as "The one with Colin Firth."

As my belly has gotten larger, my energy level has greatly diminished. After a long day at work and a long commute, I am pretty much spent by the time I get home. Usually I am able to muster just enough energy to make dinner, but then I really just want to veg. This is no easy task with a very active toddler running around, wanting to be carried and doted on. Believe me, I would much rather be playing with her on the floor or chasing her around. I started letting her watch a little more television than normal. We would sit on the couch and just chill. At first it was Baby Einstein, but that got old really quick (for me, not her!) So, one evening I popped in Pride and Prejudice and a monster was born!

Charlotte LOVES it. She will sit and watch with me as long as I want. She points to all the horses and 'talks' about the dogs. She waves to Lizzie. She knows exactly when the dance scenes are coming up and starts to wiggle. I won't be too surprised if she starts speaking with a British accent pretty soon!

To my horror and delight, the other week, she brought me the Pride and Prejudice case and made the sign for more. Last week I asked about each of the characters on the cover and she could point out each one of them... And last night she tried saying "Darcy" and "Lizzie!"

So here are some videos of Charlotte enjoying her favorite movie of all time. What's not to love?

*Here is Charlotte pointing out the characters on the case*

*Note the dramatic fall at the end and the enthusiastic clapping*

*Pride and Prejudice has also taught her that all good dancing involves bowing*

I comfort myself in the fact that there are worse vices she could have!