Category Archives: baby

Photo Dump

There isn’t a lot going on right now, and I’ve got a bunch of random photos that never made it into posts either because other pictures were used instead or they never worked anywhere (which would explain why they look familiar), so now seems as good of a time as any to put them somewhere. If you only knew just how many photos were on my computer… soooo many. When you’ve got two kids constantly moving the best thing is to just keep snapping and just hope for a decent shot or two.

Still obsessed with cars and trucks.

I wonder if we’ll have a musician on our hands… she LOVES all things musical.

Ack, that grin.

So glad her eczema cleared up with age!

Hey, look! Food! Remember when I used to take pictures of what we were eating? Ah, the days before kids… now I barely have time to compose any shots at all… good or bad.

Still working on getting this kid to try new things… we’ll get there.

Will her eyes stay blue like Enzo’s? Hard to say.

Tutu.

Are you having more?

There are days when the kids are just so cute/hilarious/awesome that I try to convince Josh that we should have at least a dozen more. Okay, that would be ridiculous, but how can we just stop at two when we make such cute babies? It would be a tragedy to stop now!

Girl hormones will tell you crazy things and make you completely forget all of the sleepless nights, the pain of childbirth, the fact that your body is totally different then pre-children. Admittedly we did go back and forth over having a third for a while… but ultimately have decided that two is a good number for a variety of reasons.

Let’s be honest, kids are expensive and having three kids in day care made us both cringe, and I don’t know that I’m the type to be a stay-at-home mom. Plus, we wouldn’t wait until Enzo was old enough to leave day care/pre-school because that would mean we’d be that much older and that would be a fairly big gap (to us) between Phoebe and a potential third baby.

We also thought about travel and the fact that right now while our cars don’t have a lot of space, at least we aren’t being forced to buy a bigger vehicle. One day we will because we have lots of plans to go on road trips, and it would be nice to have extra seating, but for now I really like my car and would like to keep it for a while longer.

Ultimately, we looked at our ages, and while we aren’t old by any means, Josh will be 50 and I’ll be almost there when Enzo graduates from high school. We have plans to have a life once the kids graduate and go out on their own, and we want to still feel fairly young when that time comes.

Sure there are days when a little part of me taps on my shoulder and tries to convince me that we shouldn’t stop, that I’m not ready to stop, but this was always our dream… since before we were married. We talked about having a boy and then a girl, and that’s exactly how it worked out, so I’d say our family is complete. As Phoebe gets older and more independent, I treasure these lingering days where I still get to feed her a bottle and snuggle her before bed, but definitely get excited as she gets closer to being done with bottles entirely.

While I wanted to keep them babies for as long as possible, now I love watching these new toddler milestones happen as Enzo gets older. He has such a great imagination already and he also knows exactly how to break me – I can only resist the dimples and whispered “Please” so many times before I cave. Yep, I’m ready to be the mama of a toddler and a preschooler – I’ll leave the babies to someone else.

At Como

So far this Fall has seemed fairly mild, and I’m okay if that is a continuing trend. It just gives us that much more time to get out and do things before the cold weather sets in and all I want to do is hibernate.

A few weeks ago we decided to go to the Como Zoo for a change of scenery, and managed to get there early enough so that while still busy, it was manageable. We didn’t get many pictures of the day, however, and have kind of decided that Como would be better off charging a small admission rather than relying strictly on donations. It wasn’t terrible by any means, but it also could use work in areas.

The last time we went we were childless, so a lot of things we were kind of oblivious to. This time around, though, we stumbled upon bathrooms with wonky changing tables that weren’t in very good shape. More importantly, though, some of the habitats just seemed too small and sad at times. We also had a run-in with some hornets that swarmed us for whatever reason… this happens on a regular basis, and poor Enzo is terrified. We were setting up lunch when suddenly Enzo started screaming and I saw several hornets flying around him and his sister and hanging out on their food. The last thing we wanted was a kiddo being stung, so while Josh tried to grab everything, I quickly tried to shoo the hornets away from Phoebe’s food (which she was still trying to eat) and quickly lead Enzo away. We finally found a table that seemed decent , but little man would have a meltdown whenever a hornet came to investigate. Considering I have my own phobias when it comes to wasps and hornets (I am okay with bees), it was incredibly hard to sit still and try to carefully guide the kids away from them or to cautiously shoo them away from us in a calm manner while comforting Ezno when inside I was having my own mini freak-out.

Seriously, though, what is it with hornets and us? Are we just genetically more appealing or something because wherever we go they just hone in on us while other people are just happily eating or hanging out. They must smell fear.

Anyhoo, the day wasn’t a complete bust… it was absolutely beautiful and the kids got to see a few different animals than usual. We didn’t really stop in Como Town (the game area for kids) even though Enzo might have enjoyed it. At that point we decided a nap was probably in order for both kids, considering Phoebe fell asleep while strapped to my front in the Ergo and Enzo had only had a short nap in the car on the way there. Will we be back? I’ll think about it. I do like the conservatory, which we didn’t see and I think the kids would enjoy all of the flowers, but considering what a long drive it is we will most likely stay closer to home.

11 Months

As of yesterday, there is only a month to go until Miss Phoebe is a year old. I’m not entirely sure what to think of that except that this past year has gone by more quickly than any year previous. I thought time flew when you just had one kiddo, but add another to the mix and somehow time still finds a way to fly by faster.

We are still waiting patiently for Phoebe’s first teeth to actually pop through all the way. She has an upper and lower tooth peeking out, and the other two front teeth are right behind, but they are taking their sweet time. She is constantly chewing on something and not surprisingly has been a bit fussy.

Like her brother, she has some of the best facial expressions and a wonderful sense of humor, even at a young age. I think that’s to be expected if you spend enough time around all of us. She’s a noisy gal and besides being rather talkative has quite the yell when she wants to be heard or simply surprise someone.

Now that she is pulling herself up on everything, she’s beginning to get more brave by letting go and balancing on her own. I imagine in a week or two she’ll be ready to start investigating the “walker” and I wouldn’t be surprised if she took her first steps in the next month or two. I think she’s got the right motivation (keeping up with her brother, which can be very frustrating), so it’s really just a matter of time.

As far as favorites go, right now she is loving all things musical. She discovered the Xylophone and loves making music with that, and actually has a fairly delicate touch too unlike the piano which she still loves to pound. She loves playing with cars, especially Enzo’s beloved Batmobile and she’s becoming more and more interested in building blocks and puzzles. Phoebe is one smart gal and amazes us at how quickly she catches on to everything.

I think it’s safe to say that we’re all fairly smitten with her. She has the most joyful personality and puts a smile on all of our faces. I’m looking forward to what the next month brings for our little girl considering she can be full of surprises at times.

Munchkin Meals : 2 Years Old & almost 11 Months

Linking up this week for Munchkin Meals again!

I can’t believe that Phoebe is almost a year old and that it’s almost time to start weaning her off of formula and bottles. Increasing solids shouldn’t be a problem since she is still loving food and we have no problem with her trying new things. There are, however, things like yogurt that she can’t quite feed herself with a spoon yet, so we’ve been getting a ton of use out of the reusable pouches lately.

After her really bad diaper rashes, we’ve stopped giving her strawberries and it seems like those might have been the culprits. Thankfully, she can still enjoy raspberries and blackberries, which are her new favorites. The only downside to blackberries is that it looks like she’s murdered someone after she’s done eating them.

Both kids get served the same things we eat for pretty much all of their meals. If there is something that might be too difficult for Phoebe to eat (or too much of a junk food for either kid, but mom and dad ran out of time) we thankfully have some Earth’s Best freezer options for them. Both kids really love the raviolis, so it’s a nice last minute dinner or lunch.

Both kids love their breads, though, which can be both good and bad. I do try to use Whole Wheat for most things and keep down our white flour intake, but they definitely take after their mom. I LOVE bread. It’s no surprise that they love weekends when I’m more likely to make muffins or homemade blueberry pancakes.

It’s funny to me how different the kiddos are when it comes to their eating styles. As a baby Enzo was often cautious about what was on his plate and he’d carefully inspect his food, especially if it was something new. Phoebe, however, barely gives me time to put down the tray some days and already has her hands wrapped around whatever looks good… steak, chicken, salmon (the girl is a carnivore), blackberries, roasted veggies… you name it. A girl after my own heart. 😉

Dino and Bunnies

Every day adventures