My how time flies....

Little Miss Kate is 11 weeks old this Thursday.  I'm serious.  How in the world is this happening so quickly?!!  She's a sweet little baby doll and has been so much easier than Eli -- and we thought Eli was a pretty easy baby (after the first 2 weeks, mind you).  :)  We'll never know how much of that has to do with me being a second-time mom.  Things just aren't anywhere near as daunting as they were the first time.

I had finished a "last letter" to Eli as a single child the night we were in the hospital before Kate's arrival, and the internet crapped-out on me and I lost it!  I was so bummed, I haven't blogged since!  :) Hopefully I can salvage what was saved before the crash.  Eli is growing and changing every single day and it's keeping me busy SO exciting!  I'll do a Kate post later.  And a 2nd birthday post.  And.... (I'm so behind!).

Eli has been the sweetest (seriously) big brother to Kate.  He still gets so excited to get up in her face and shout "baby Kate!".  I've had to start getting on to him because while she slept through the trauma those first few weeks, loving from brother is starting to wake her up now.  He loves rubbing her head and will do it without even looking at her while watching Sesame Street or reading a book.  Speaking of Sesame Street -- Eli has fallen victim to Elmo's mysterious allure.  He loves Elmo and asks for him every morning after breakfast.  If we're staying home that morning, I typically do let him watch -- he loves it!  And, I love the singing and information they share!  Which leads me to another segue...

Eli loves counting!  I often hear him counting toys in his bedroom or counting peas on his plate.  He counts to 20, with some of the teens jumbled up in the middle.  And, this actually includes "one" which he didn't include for the longest time!  :)  He also does well with his colors, although the longer you talk about them, the more everything is "green."  I guess that's his favorite right now?  He also knows basic shapes and surprised me the other day when he called an apple I was drawing a "heart."  I didn't even know he knew that shape!  And, sadly, before the stem, my apple did look like a heart.  :)  We draw and color all the time, and also get requests for "tractors," "fire trucks" and "diggers."  He is all boy and loves anything with wheels and playing outside for hours.  He can identify several letters - B, L, K, R, P, S, O, T... and mumbles through the ABCs with me, saying about half clearly.

2 year chair picture

Flip!

His vocabulary is exploding and I hear at least one new word a day.  It is absolutely so fun!  The other day, he started saying "What?" when I said his name.  Ha!  Today he asked if daddy was "cooking" when Bill was in the kitchen.

If I say, "Huh?" (which he says ALL THE TIME), he says, "Hear Me?"
"Mommy, where are you?" -- we love playing hide and go seek!
Kate gets the "hippucs" (hiccups)
Prayer currently: "Dear Jesus, We love you.  Mommy, Daddy, Kate & Eli.  Grandma, Papa, Uncle Heath, Uncle Steve (Heath & Steve sound the same), Aunt Tia, Maddux, Gunner & the cows and the pigs.  Pops, Gigi, Uncle BJ, Aunt Care, Uncle Lee, Uncle Johno & Moose (Carolyn's dog).  In Jesus name, Amen!"
Currently, every noise outside is an airplane
Every light in the sky at night is an airplane
Spots the moon anytime it's in the sky - day or night
Likes digging in the dirt and playing with rocks
Likes riding/sitting on anything with wheels
Is fascinated with emergency vehicles
Is fascinated with motorcycles
He loves chasing flies around the house (I need a screen door!) and trying to smash them
He likes to sit on his potty chair (diapered and clothed, typically) to do his #2... baby steps, right?  :)

Riding the horse at Sandstone Gardens

There are TONS more, but I'm trying to keep this post reasonable so I actually publish it before falling asleep! :)

He has been getting to bed a little later than he used to (around 8:30) and I'm working on restoring his bed time to its original beauty.  As a result, he currently wakes up around 8.  He gets to pick from a few options for breakfast - waffles, yogurt (our standard), toast, cereal & oatmeal.  We play and read until lunch time and then he's down for a nap, where he generally sleeps 2-2.5 hours.

He's a very observant and contemplative little boy.  He takes a little while to warm up to new situations and faces, but once he's comfortable he is quite the talker and a "gamer" as my dad calls him.  He loves playing!  He's such a sweet and loving little boy, and I love sharing my days with him!

Love you, little E!

Mommy (or Mama, as you like to say with a little smirk).  :)