We spent yesterday in Boston at the Children's Museum. There's a Curious George exhibit that is there for a few months so we went to check it out. After a little while with George, Ellie asked to go see Arthur. James had fun exploring and observing. Our friends Cassie and Dave met us for lunch and even hung out with us for awhile in the museum which was very fun.
This evening I may have experienced one of my proudest moments of parenting yet. Ellie sat down at her little table and wrote her name. It wasn't the way she wrote her name that made my heart sing (I know she needs to learn to do it in upper and lower case letters, not all upper case), but it was that she wanted to sit and her table and write. She knew where on the page to begin her writing which was very exciting for her literacy minded mother. Ellie wanted to be as independent as ever, when I asked her if I could write the date on the bottom of the page, she insisted that she do it herself. So the red circular writing on the bottom right hand side of the page? That says 2.26.10, in case you couldn't tell.
Here's James this morning playing with his favorite toy, John's blackberry.
This is James this evening - ten months old today!
Our blue eyed boy is now 10 months old! We had a busy day today, the children had music class after day care. James was tired and not into taking too many photos after dinner (which is why he has his pacifier in some of them). He is still an easy, good-natured baby and a joy to be around. James is cutting two more teeth which will bring his grand total of teeth up to 6. At his 9 month appointment on February 4th, he weighed 24 lbs., 10 oz. James moves around on his bum and gets all over the place. We can't wait to see what he'll be doing in the next month!
Ellie and James have been playing the kazoo all weekend long. It makes such "lovely" music. To see them playing their new favorite instrument, click here and here.
We put on our new Elizabeth Mitchell cd, You Are My Little Bird tonight and Ellie and James grabbed instruments and jammed. Ellie loved twirling in her dress (which is on backwards) and James loved playing with the rhythm sticks. To hear some of the cd, click here. We highly recommend it (and anything else by Elizabeth Mitchell!).
Ellie and I made Valentine cards last Wednesday on our snow day. She tailored each card to the individual and then told me what to write to them inside. Ellie made her first card for James. It was all her idea and the inside read: Dear James, I love you. I give him big kisses. I'll give you big hugs. You really love me. Love, Ellie
To Bridget, she wrote: Dear Bridget, I love you. I sleep in your bed with you. I give you big hugs and big kisses. Last time I was in Buffalo, Bridget said Ellie and James were getting on an airplane and going to New York City. Love, Ellie
and to Adam, she wrote: Dear Uncle, I give you big hugs. I like you to tickle me. I like you to play with James. I like you to tickle James again. Love, Ellie
There may be no future for Ellie at Hallmark as a card writer but I think all of the recipients were touched. We hope your Valentine's Day was filled with love.
We went to Buffalo this past weekend for the long weekend. It was pretty hectic because we spent a lot of time visiting my Grandfather in the hospital. We were able to sneak in a quick visit with baby Dashel. It was wonderful that Erica and Todd were home at the same time as us. I loved seeing our children together and Dashel is such a sweet baby. Ellie enjoyed her role as the big girl with the baby boys. In another year, Dashel and James will be having fun running all over together.
The children got to have a quick visit with Grandma yesterday afternoon. It was so great for Ellie and James to spend time with her. As always, the weekend went by too quickly!
We had our first snow day of the school year today (and we barely got snow during the day). I kept Ellie and James home from day care and we began our day with pancakes. When James went down for his morning nap, Ellie and I got crafty. We made Valentines:
I had a feeling I'd have today off from work so I bought Valentine-making supplies yesterday after school. For some strange reason I bought glitter for Ellie to use. I'm not sure why I thought that was a good idea, perhaps it was all the excitement about having a day home with the kids. It worked out pretty well though. Then Ellie spent some time reading and relaxing on her bed:
We went for a walk around 12:30. See what little snow we had then?
After James woke up from his second nap of the day, he had fun playing with this toys...
and Ellie got all dressed up to show off the necklace we made together this afternoon.
James loves the Fisher-Price stacking toy. It can keep him occupied for awhile. He takes the rings off, puts them back on and sometimes hits his head with them. What fun!
We had fun playing with Henry and Annie yesterday morning. Unfortunately, I didn't pull out my camera until after Meagan and Annie left. The above photos are of Henry and Ellie enjoying hot chocolate together.
The photos above are of Ellie modeling her new haircut. She's also wearing her new Valentine shirt that Mimi and Papa sent her. You can watch a video of Ellie chatting by clicking here. She is a little difficult to understand because she has a bit of a cold. In the video, she tells her age, spells her name and then talks about going to music class this afternoon. Enjoy!
John's sister Kathie and her family were nearby for a sports event yesterday. They came over for dinner on their way home. Ellie and James were psyched to see their cousins Josie, Ryan and Michael.
Last week, Ellie drew this picture of our family on her Magna Doodle. I'm the one in the center with the two... arms? I would hate to offend the artist by asking her to explain what they are. She's on the left, John's on the right and James is floating above us.
We spent yesterday in Boston at the Children's Museum. There's a Curious George exhibit that is there for a few months so we went to check it out. After a little while with George, Ellie asked to go see Arthur. James had fun exploring and observing. Our friends Cassie and Dave met us for lunch and even hung out with us for awhile in the museum which was very fun.
This evening I may have experienced one of my proudest moments of parenting yet. Ellie sat down at her little table and wrote her name. It wasn't the way she wrote her name that made my heart sing (I know she needs to learn to do it in upper and lower case letters, not all upper case), but it was that she wanted to sit and her table and write. She knew where on the page to begin her writing which was very exciting for her literacy minded mother. Ellie wanted to be as independent as ever, when I asked her if I could write the date on the bottom of the page, she insisted that she do it herself. So the red circular writing on the bottom right hand side of the page? That says 2.26.10, in case you couldn't tell. 
Here's James this morning playing with his favorite toy, John's blackberry.
This is James this evening - ten months old today!
Our blue eyed boy is now 10 months old! We had a busy day today, the children had music class after day care. James was tired and not into taking too many photos after dinner (which is why he has his pacifier in some of them). He is still an easy, good-natured baby and a joy to be around. James is cutting two more teeth which will bring his grand total of teeth up to 6. At his 9 month appointment on February 4th, he weighed 24 lbs., 10 oz. James moves around on his bum and gets all over the place. We can't wait to see what he'll be doing in the next month!
We put on our new Elizabeth Mitchell cd, You Are My Little Bird tonight and Ellie and James grabbed instruments and jammed. Ellie loved twirling in her dress (which is on backwards) and James loved playing with the rhythm sticks. To hear some of the cd, click here. We highly recommend it (and anything else by Elizabeth Mitchell!).
Ellie and I made Valentine cards last Wednesday on our snow day. She tailored each card to the individual and then told me what to write to them inside. Ellie made her first card for James. It was all her idea and the inside read:
We went to Buffalo this past weekend for the long weekend. It was pretty hectic because we spent a lot of time visiting my Grandfather in the hospital. We were able to sneak in a quick visit with baby Dashel. It was wonderful that Erica and Todd were home at the same time as us. I loved seeing our children together and Dashel is such a sweet baby. Ellie enjoyed her role as the big girl with the baby boys. In another year, Dashel and James will be having fun running all over together.
The children got to have a quick visit with Grandma yesterday afternoon. It was so great for Ellie and James to spend time with her. As always, the weekend went by too quickly!
We had our first snow day of the school year today (and we barely got snow during the day). I kept Ellie and James home from day care and we began our day with pancakes. When James went down for his morning nap, Ellie and I got crafty. We made Valentines:
I had a feeling I'd have today off from work so I bought Valentine-making supplies yesterday after school. For some strange reason I bought glitter for Ellie to use. I'm not sure why I thought that was a good idea, perhaps it was all the excitement about having a day home with the kids. It worked out pretty well though. Then Ellie spent some time reading and relaxing on her bed:
We went for a walk around 12:30. See what little snow we had then?
After James woke up from his second nap of the day, he had fun playing with this toys...
and Ellie got all dressed up to show off the necklace we made together this afternoon.
All in all, it was a great day at home!
James loves the Fisher-Price stacking toy. It can keep him occupied for awhile. He takes the rings off, puts them back on and sometimes hits his head with them. What fun!
We had fun playing with Henry and Annie yesterday morning. Unfortunately, I didn't pull out my camera until after Meagan and Annie left. The above photos are of Henry and Ellie enjoying hot chocolate together.
The photos above are of Ellie modeling her new haircut. She's also wearing her new Valentine shirt that Mimi and Papa sent her. You can watch a video of Ellie chatting by clicking here. She is a little difficult to understand because she has a bit of a cold. In the video, she tells her age, spells her name and then talks about going to music class this afternoon. Enjoy!
John's sister Kathie and her family were nearby for a sports event yesterday. They came over for dinner on their way home. Ellie and James were psyched to see their cousins Josie, Ryan and Michael.
Here's James all wrapped up nice and cozy after a bath last week. We love the personalized towel that Aunt Kathy made him for Christmas!
Last week, Ellie drew this picture of our family on her Magna Doodle. I'm the one in the center with the two... arms? I would hate to offend the artist by asking her to explain what they are. She's on the left, John's on the right and James is floating above us.
