Call Day #61, 5/25/14

Second day in a row of "tent breakfast." Eating in a tent is so much more fun!

Eleanor worked this puzzle and took it (mostly) apart several times before church this morning.

Claire's been working on progressively harder puzzles during quiet time. She was proud of doing this one.

Oliver and his three stuffed dogs. He's not attached to any particular one, and there's usually one of them lying around close by to make him happy.

This afternoon we went to a park Eleanor's been asking to go to for a while now. (She calls it Monkey Bar Park since that was her favorite part on our last visit.) This was the first time we've gone when they had on the sprinklers. It was Oliver's first time exploring sprinklers. There was a lot of pointing and looking at first.

It's nice to have big sisters who can help you try new things.

It didn't take him long to get into it.

Wet baby.

Happy baby.

Yay for sprinklers!

We had ice cream when we got home AND they watched a "long movie." We dubbed the afternoon our Sunday Fun-Day and decided we need to do it more often. The girls decided that Sunday Fun-Days must always include two things: fun and dessert. Could be a nice Sunday call day tradition.

Call Day #60, 5/23/14

I love starting my mornings with this guy, going to get him out of bed all happy to see me and cuddly.

Of course, he doesn't stay that way all day. Fussing and carrying around one of his favorite stuffed animals. He loves dogs and I really enjoy the way he gets excited to see this toy, a picture of one, or a real dog and says "a-ruh, a-ruh, a-ruh" (which is "ruff ruff ruff"). We hear it many times a day.

 Learning to dump things out of the dump truck.

 Watching a movie they got in a package from Aunt Linda.

Eleanor is part of the neighborhood swim team this summer. This involves weekday daily practices. She's enjoying it, and we're hoping she'll grow towards being an independent swimmer in the process.

No matter how much I feed the boy before we go to the pool, I get this, his sign for food, at some point during practice. Doesn't help that practice is at our normal dinner time.

Waiting to get in the pool.

Oliver spends practice time standing on the first step of the pool splashing like crazy with his hands. Claire swims around the shallow end of the pool with her floatie on. I spend my time spotting Eleanor's bright swimsuit far across the pool to make sure she's okay, holding on to Oliver's shirt so he doesn't get away, and glancing back and forth between all three of them.

Snack time, Oliver's hat serves as a bowl.

Call Day #59, 5/17/14

Beautiful Eleanor. Freckled nose and cheeks--and it's only the beginning of summer!

Goalie. It was hard to watch as the other team scored four points during the short time she was there.

Baby with a cut and bruised eye. Bumped it a few days ago on the bed's headboard while playing on the bed and climbing on the pillows.

Oliver walked around with Claire's ball during her game. She said hello to him while taking a break from playing.

Silly coming off the field.

More entertaining himself. In the goal of the adjacent field playing in the dirt.

Holding Eleanor's trophy and kicking the ball (probably mostly by accident).

I'm not sure how lunch turned into dance time but it was fun.

Walking skills (then, distracted by a rooster on a dish towel).

We had dinner with Nanny and Papa who had spent most of the day house hunting. A good Mexican place we hadn't been to before.

When we came home from dinner, the girls went to play with some neighbor friends. Limbo.

Racing.

Call Day #58, 5/14/14

The girls were busy coloring the kitchen windows before breakfast with their new window crayons from Grandma and Grandpa. Their art was super colorful with the light shining through it all day.

Eleanor was excited this morning about her "new dollar" from the tooth fairy. She found it this morning in the tooth pillow that Erik and Brian had used. Since this was the first tooth she'd lost, there were questions about whether the tooth fairy was real. Neither Eleanor nor Claire really believed she was real, and Eleanor decided she would like to leave her next tooth in the tooth pillow whether the fairy is real or not. She's already got another loose one so it might not be long. As for the losing-a-tooth story, there's not much to it. She had a dentist appointment and they wiggled it out (it had been loose for months). Eleanor and Claire have been wearing the headband tiaras they picked out as prizes from the dentist for the past 24 hours. Claire even slept in hers.

Picnic lunch in the front yard. Eleanor likes doing this so much that she gathers everything we need for lunch herself.

This one ate blackberries so quickly that I had to make sure to put some on others' plates before they were gone.

These two have already had haircuts in the past few weeks, and today was Claire's turn. Hers is not the dramatic before-and-after that Oliver's was. In fact, you wouldn't know it's any different if you didn't look at it closely, but it's neater than it was.

 I don't know how many times today Claire asked for ice water. She seems intimidated to get it herself despite having a dispenser in the refrigerator door. Time to practice it with her so she can help herself.

Call Day #57, 5/9/14

Claire had asked recently for an outing alone with just me. Since Grandma and Grandpa are visiting, I was able to surprise her by going strawberry picking.

Showing off a strawberry with lots of "fingers." Yes, she insisted on wearing the headband under the hat. Claire style.

 Not sure what this pose is. She started laughing at herself when I asked her what she was doing.

Mommy-Claire time.

When we were done picking, I asked her if there was anything else she'd like to do and she asked to go to somewhere that had a play place. So, we headed to the nearby McDonald's.

Eleanor had lots of time with Grandma today. She has been enamored with Grandma's sewing machine and has learned a lot about using it. They've been working together on a ballet outfit for Eleanor's doll. After they finished it this afternoon, they started planning another project for the next few days.

Someone enjoyed eating the strawberries Claire and I brought home! Also, take in those sweet little locks because...

Little guy got his first haircut today. Claire came along and was my helper, feeding him cheese and a cookie to distract him and keep him happy. It worked. He didn't cry and even let the lady cutting his hair use electric trimmers. He did a great job! He looks so different now and so much more like a little boy instead of a baby. Sigh.

Call Day #56, 5/3/14

We had a very full day today! The girls usually play at the same location (and often the same time) but were at different locations and different times today. It meant lots of running around. Here's Claire's cute team.

Claire runs after her teammate who has the ball. She rarely kicks the ball but does a lot of running around.

At this age, there's a lot of just trying to remember which goal is yours. Pointing before play resumes.

We had lunch between games. Oliver discovered hummus is yummy.

We ate our lunch at their picnic tables while waiting for the snow cone place to open. This was our first visit there. Eleanor and Claire loved it.

We made our way to a different site for the next game. Eleanor's team.

 Eleanor's attempt at scoring. She was heading it to the goal from a good ways downfield but the other team caught up with her. When her coach asks if she wants to play defense there is a long pause before she answers. The girl wants to score!

Going after the ball more than before (thanks to encouragement from and practice with Daddy).

Go, Eleanor! 

After a long morning-into-afternoon of soccer, we headed to church where Eleanor was participating in the second performance of a children's musical at church. Before the performance each night, all the kids who learned 8 Bible verses are recognized on stage (Eleanor is in the front, middle). She was motivated by the trophy they were each given. (All pictures from the performance were taken last night since some parents took turns watching our smallest kids so they wouldn't disrupt the show. Anyhow, this is what Eleanor did tonight.)

With the rest of the singers.

Performers with choir behind.

Proud post-performance.

Tonight, enjoying the reception afterwards with Claire and friends.