Evie is SIX MONTHS OLD .... wow how the time has flown

I cannot believe it .... my little girl is already six months old. Where has the time gone? And she has changed so much, even in the last few weeks. Sitting up, squealing constantly (likes playing with different noises she can make), complete interest in her hands (fingers together, fingers apart, fingers together.... etc), AND.... finally eating solids. I had put off starting solids until now cuz she wasn't really good at eating the recommended 24 oz daily .... always short of meeting that goal. But in the last months she was getting closer to it, sometimes meeting or surpassing it. And now that we've tried solids (rice cereal only so far), I feel bad for waiting cuz she LOVED IT. She has it down pat... opening her mouth for the spoon, swallowing (after playing with it in her mouth for a while), and giving you that look like "what are you waiting for, gimme more." The only challenge is getting the spoon in her mouth quick enough. She watches so intently as you spoon it out of the bowl, and the minute she sees that spoon coming toward her out of the bowl she opens up for you and quickly shuts it if you don't get it in there quickly.... a little impatient :) And she gasps and squeals the entire time almost like she is eating the most delicious thing she has ever had ... which is questionable considering all she has had is formula, breast milk and rice cereal. I guess out of the three the rice cereal must taste like what would be prime rib to us, in comparison, that is. Our first try was yesterday (Tues 2/2) for breakfast, and it went so well that we decided to just give her another meal of it for dinner as well. Now I can't wait to start the purees (veggies and fruits) with her - hopefully this next weekend. And I must say, I am loving this age with her now that she is sitting up and such .... she's almost outgrown the biggest size you can usually find for sleepers for babies.... so now we're onto OUTFITS, which she has so many of. I'm such a fan of sleepers until they can sit up or become mobile as they are so much easier to work with... but once they can sit up and do so much more I love starting in with the outfits - that's what I did with the boys too. So there will be a ton of cute pictures below of some very cute ones she's been sporting lately.

Well... last Saturday we got back from a visit in the cities (Gma Chris's) .... Chris (hubbie) was away in Reno, Nevada taking yet another test for being a licensed surveyor in that state - so let's all cross fingers that he passes this one and can move onto whatever state is next on the list. He should find out in a few weeks. We had an eventful week down there. Uncle Dennis came out to visit a couple times and MAN do the boys just take to him. They see pictures of him around my mom's house and excitedly point him out and call out his name. They hear a knock at the door and immediately assume and know it is "Den-NIS" and get all excited. He gets down to their level and plays dinosaur with them, roaring all over the place and chasing them around. So that was a ton of fun for them. Heidi Nygren and her kiddos (James and Avery) came over for a quick play date as well and it was great to see how big her kids are getting... her little James is just a mini version of Chuck (his dad) - which I had never fully noticed until this last encounter. And during our visit we took the boys out to get hair cuts AND new shoes. The hair cuts went okay. We went to the same place we went to last time (Kids Kuts), and like last time, Oscar was completely comfortable there and climbed right up on his big frog for his hair cut. Meanwhile, MacKay started sticking out his bottom lip the minute I crawled into the back of our suburban to unbuckle him from his car seat when we got there... it was like he REMEMBERED the place - go figure. So he had to be held the entire time.... even while getting his hair cut. So yet again, I got a cape put on me, and held MacKay who had a cape on as well, so that MacKay could get a simple hair cut. What polar opposites these guys are. Meanwhile Oscar is running around the place wanting to play with their hair dryers (he's obsessed with mine and digs it out if he is able to sneak into our room/bathroom) and pointing out all the different animals pictured on the walls. Now for the shoes... we went to Peterson's shoes in Anoka (GREAT selection for kids) and got the boys all measured up.... which again proved to me I need to get my kids new shoes far more often than I have been. They have both been running around in a pair of size 7 shoes (granted they ran a little big for 7s)... and both of my kids measured at an 8, Oscar even slightly bigger. Makes me feel like such a horrible parent when that happens (which has been twice now already). So we got the boys the cutest pair of Keene canvas shoes, in size NINE... yup, my 2+ yr olds are wearing size NINE shoes already. At least they have quite a bit of room for growth on these though. :) But they did so well at the store, admiring and tromping around in their new shoes. Oscar kept running off into their numerous store rooms... so it was a challenge keeping track of him. My mom couldn't help but laugh at what chaos it is to bring them out in public like this, even when they ARE being SO well behaved. Thank god she was there to help otherwise we would have never made it there.

Other than that, the boys have started a new ECFE class. They are now in the 2 year old room.... main differences from the 1 year old class is that 1.) expected to sit and listen during circle/reading time - we got an "F" on that one. No seriously, we aren't graded or anything, I gave us that grade. MacKay and Oscar are just so excited to get out of the house and play with new things that they cannot contain themselves and want to run around and check EVERYTHING out. We'll have to work on that... how I don't know, but it is quite embarrassing as every other child sits quietly in their parents' laps. :) 2.) expected to handle their own snack - meaning drinking out of real cups (not sippy with caps), and to clean up after themselves when snack is done. 3.) we are separated (adults and kids) during snack time. All in all (besides the sitting during circle/reading time) it went well. They both warmed up quickly to the others (teachers, kids, parents) when usually they are very timid the first couple sessions. They LOVE their new teacher, Jill - I had been told she is PHENOMENAL with kids this age. They did all their crafts that were laid out for them and played very nice with the other kids. And when it came time to separate for snack, they didn't seem to mind. Afterwards I heard that MacKay took it upon himself to pour his own milk (something he has never done) .... and while he got the aim right, he sorta over shot the goal and filled his glass and then some. The teacher, Jill, told me upon doing this both he and Oscar got VERY concerned and kept pointing "Mess, Mess, Mess". I have to laugh cuz one would think that they are learning that from us at home (like we are obsessive compulsive about messes), but that isn't the case .... THEY are showing SO many signs of being creatures of habit and SO OCD about so many things. They HAVE to have their own bib (different colors), their EXACT spot at the table, a certain book to use under their papers when coloring ... and it can't be anything but those exact items either. MacKay will stop in the middle of eating demanding we "clean hands" ... even though he is just going to get dirty again. If the tiniest bit of food or drink gets on the table..... "mess... Mess... MESS". And just the other day MacKay freaked out when I put his blueberries on his plate and they ran into his pizza ...... okay, now he gets that one from Gma Diane. :) (can't have her foods touching each other). Wow ..... I swear we didn't do this to our kids :)

OK OK... enough is enough. I have yet another big bunch of pictures to share.... so on with the show.

Alright, these are actually really old pictures, but I just stumbled onto them recently. I think they are from back in either summer or early fall... one of the trips that Gpa Gary and Gma Terri took to visit us in Brainerd - cuz lately we've tried to take one day/night and take the boys swimming at the pool at their hotel. I just love these little Body Glove outfits they wear each time (from Gpa Gary and Gma Terri too)... their little butts and legs look SO cute in them -- sick I know. But they look like little line backers. And they love swimming each time we go.... splashing around etc. Last time they loved jumping off the side to Chris and Gpa Gary - not something I was fond of them learning, but they had so much fun. And Oscar even floated on his own (with assistance from the floaties in his suit) on his back - he just chills out on his back and seems to be so mellowed out by floating on his back.

Evie playing in Gma Chris's Exersaucer (used to be the boys') and playing with Gma Chris's stackable Sesame Street cups. (Note: wearing a super cute outfit from Monica Nepote and family).

Evie wearing another adorable outfit from Gma Chris's good friend Sharon Oswalt ... styling with Calvin Klein and a cute little hoodie too. (and as usual, chewing on her Sophie the Giraffe).

Oscar and MacKay digging into what is now one of their favorite new snacks.... Handisnacks (cracker sticks and cheese)... and just a little picture of their new Keene sneakers.

Just a cute picture that got snapped of Evie rolling around in the sunlight shining in at Gma Chris's. She loves looking out the window and seeing bright light/things ...

Silly kids..... MacKay with his dinosaur puppet. Upon getting to Gma Chris's he b-lines it to the bin of all the puppets and digs this out.. and from that point on it rarely leaves his hand(s). And Evie goofing off while bouncing on Daddy's knee... again with another adorable hoodie outfit, from my friend Heidi Nygren. She had given me a bin full of gently used and even new clothes that her daughter was done with - this particular one still had the tags on it. Super cute as it has a big flower/daisy on one of her butt cheeks too.

Oscar entertaining Evie on the floor ... both the boys just love her up, but Oscar is really drawn to her and always trying to make her laugh and smile.

Unngh - I posted these on Facebook too and the boys are going to kill me when they get older for doing so... but these are just so cute, have to share them. I gave the boys one of Evie's old bottles (empty) so that they could feed "Baby Evie Doll" while I am feeding the REAL Evie. And they just love doing so.

Speaking of feeding Evie..... here it is, Evie's first solid meal.

K.. had to post these so you could compare to the pictures above of Evie. These are of the boys' first solid meal(s). I even dressed Evie in the same sleeper (lame I know) that they wore for their first solid meal - thought it would be funny for pictures. But wanted to put these out here as I think that the pictures of her look so much like a mix of the pictures of MacKay and Oscar. She truly is a melding of the two of them - tho still leaning toward MacKay. (Left = MacKay, Right = Oscar)

MacKay and Oscar wearing their Thomas the Train shirts from Gpa Gary and Gma Terri (came with whole outfit including pants and winter jackets that they love to wear) while watching one of their new favorite shows on PBS - Dinosaur Train. .... last one is MacKay stretching out to give Oscar a little hug.

Evie sitting up for her baths now .... love the poses she strikes for these. Should note, it is like a tidal wave hit our kitchen every time we give her a bath. She KICKS so much we are literally drenched when we are done. And she is SO amused with herself the entire time.

Lastly, just some neat retro pictures my brother, Dennis, took of the boys on his iPhone (polaroid app) of the boys while they were eating their applesauce.

Stay tuned... will have more to come.