National Zoo

We went ahead and got a parking pass to the National Zoo.  Not a bad deal, since the zoo itself is free.  Gotta love living in DC sometimes.  It really is a great little zoo.  And they just got in a new carousel, so Peter is thrilled.

Cheetahs relaxing.

They have a little farm section of the zoo that is fun for kids especially.

When Peter saw this a few months ago, he screamed and would not get close.  We have now convinced him that he doesn't need to be scared.  Now he thinks they are cool, thank goodness.  It just won't do to have my son be as scared of spiders as I am. :)

Peter enjoyed the fishes.

Elly pretty much stayed in the stroller, but she loved it.  She quite enjoys walks and going outdoors.  Not sure she knows what to make of the animals, but she loved it.

Cute baby girl!

In other news, Elly is SLEEPING!!  At long last!  The last week, she has been nursing one or two times a night, tops.  LOVE!  I have been trying to let her fuss a little bit, because she hasn't been crying as hard when she wakes up lately.  If she does cry hard, I will go and get her, otherwise she'll just fuss herself back to sleep after a few minutes.  She is definitely waking up less now that she is learning to self-soothe and put herself back to sleep without the aid of nursing.  I feel like a new woman and feel like the Lord is answering my prayers.  Hooray for sleep!

9 months

Elly at nine months.  This is at the beginning of nine months, when she was so close to crawling, but not quite.  

This is a good picture to talk about Elly's hatred of books.  It is so weird, but ever since she was a tiny baby, she has been vehemently opposed to books, and has arched her back whenever we tried to read to her.  Don't know what it's about, but I hope she gets over it, because Chris, Peter and I all LOVE to read.  

I still am not getting any sleep this month, with her.  For a couple weeks, she has been waking up every hour and a half.  Not cool.  My body finally gave up and I got shingles.  Shingles at 29!!  It was a very stressful time because the doctor said I couldn't nurse Elly through the meds.  Turns out she was wrong, so that is good, because Elly only took 4 ounces in 18 hours of trying to get her to take a bottle.  She has always been so strong willed since she was a newborn.  Makes me kind of scared of what she will be when she's a toddler...

Not sure why Peter is missing pants in this.  Probably, he had a little accident because I didn't remember to take him potty.  He rarely makes a huge mess, but he always goes just enough to get a little wet spot on his otherwise clean pants.  

We had a lovely visit from Chris's parents when I had shingles.  They were total lifesavers.  Cozy helped me with cleaning, and laundry, and the kids, and she even went bought us groceries.  So nice to have help when you are a sick mamma.  It hardly ever happens that somebody takes care of you when you are sick and a mom, so this was a dream come true!

Peter just LOVES his Nana and Papa.  They are great with him and he gets so excited whenever he sees them.

Love these pictures!

And Elly is CRAWLING!  

Post bath hair.  Major pouf!

Peter loves to pose for the camera lately and is always wanting to look at pictures of himself.  Funny boy!

My family makes me smile.  

Our kiddos

Elly at 8 months.  My baby girl is starting to smile consistently for the camera.  She has such a cute little smile, I think.  And I love the hair that sticks up in all directions.  I need to get a picture right after her bath, because it all goes, POUF!  :)

This sweater hoodie is something my mom had in her dresser that I found when we were cleaning out her things.  I think it may have been mine from when I was a baby, and it is fun to think that she is wearing something of mine.

Elly has finally started to jabber this month.  Not much, but it's there.  She doesn't say much unless it is to voice her displeasure at something.  Which is often.  She is a little lady who knows what she wants and how to get it!  But she is also very sweet and cute too. 

She has not wanted to have solids, so much.  Ever since both kids had double ear infections and we had to hold her down to give her the meds, she has wanted NOTHING to do with being fed.  But she seems to be getting plenty to eat, by the looks of her.

Her sleeping is making me very, very tired.  She wakes at least 4 times a night, but more often five or six times.  She basically wakes up as much as a newborn.  It is not fun.  I am so ready for this phase to be over.  I cannot let her cry it out because she screams and chokes.  And we cannot let her sleep in our room, as she is a light sleeper and Chris snores.  Patience is so hard sometimes...

Peter in his woodland creature jammies, as we call them.  They are some of his favorites. 

Peter is a very sweet and affectionate little boy, who tries our patience often with his surprisingly strong will.  Sometimes I am not sure how to discipline, but I did stumble across this awesome book, "Setting Limits with Your Strong-Willed Child," which I find to be very effective.  Before I had kids, I really thought that I had most of the know-how on discipline down.  After Peter entered toddler-hood, I knew I was wrong.  Anyway, I don't want to do a book review, but I highly recommend this book for kids who test the limits constantly, as Peter does. 

We are teaching Peter his ABC's now, and he has them down, mostly.  We are trying to teach him the sounds of the letters.  If he is willing, I want to teach him to start reading by the time he turns three.  I know he is smart enough, but I'm not sure he is really interested, and I don't want to push him.  He has always LOVED books.  When he was eighteen months, he and I would sit and read all 30 of the books we had in a row until my voice was raw.  He gets so excited when Chris takes him to the library and he gets to check out books.  I hope his love of books will encourage him to learn to read early, but we'll see.

He has been potty trained for a few months by now, but he kind of refuses to take himself potty for number one during the daytime, for some reason.  I think it is because he does not want to stop playing.  Oh well.  It beats paying for diapers for two kids! 

Christmas 2012

Christmas was a fun time.  The kids are in their Christmas jammies above.  Somehow, I think Peter's pajamas were mislabeled as 3T when they were really 4T.  Oh well.  I guess he can wear these for another year.   

This is one of the few Christmases that we have spent at home.  For the first time, Peter really understood Christmas, and it was very fun for him.  For Elly, it seemed like just an ordinary day. 

Santa brought Peter some new tracks and a Thomas train and made a fancy track for him.  Peter didn't really seem to notice, but he did enjoy the new Thomas train.  

We went ridiculously overboard for Peter this year.  Will have to pull back a LOT next year.  We think it's funny that the presents he enjoyed the most were his matchbox cars from his stocking.  

Very excited about the cool and very beautiful looking instrument that Papa made for him and Elly.  Thanks Papa, for being an awesome wood carver!  We are the grateful recipients of a few of his carvings, including a very fun ark set.