Elaine's 6-week birthday

Amazing! It's already been 6 weeks since Elaine was born!

She has gone through many changes and has grown quite a bit. At her 1-month appointment last Thursday, she weight 10 lbs and measured 22 inches, having gained 2 lbs and 2 inches in 1 month! So, safe to say, the "milk maids" are delivering enough milk. :)

In the past week or so, she's become more alert and finally interested in toys around her.

Notice she also has a persistent curl of hair on her left temple. I love it.

She also seems to enjoy daytime naps more in her comfy swing than in her crib

(who wouldn't, right?)

But following tradition, she's become less interested in sleeping during the days and initially at night. Also, there's a bit more crying but nothing I hadn't expected at this age. It's a little rough, but "this too will pass".

At least Elaine makes it hard to be upset when she also started to smile to our goofy sounds,

like this cute snapshot:

Too bad I only had my cell phone camera on hand, but I'm sure there will be more ahead!

WOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOO! Potty Training Success!

If you told me a week ago that I'd be blogging about Peter using the potty, I would have never believed it. Yet, here I am, about to blog about one of the happiest moments in kid-raising history:

Peter is using the potty!!!!

Peter's potty diary:

It all started on Friday, June 25th when we decided to switch him cold turkey to underwear. We heard about that method but had been hesitant to do it. However, when Peter showed us that he could change his own diaper by himself, we knew it was time. Sam made the push and I agreed to do it. And it has paid off so far!

First day was obviously not perfect. Peter was just starting to learn and had many accidents. However, he would tell us immediately he needed to change his underwear. It helped that Sam and I could see when he went (hard to tell when they have a diaper on) and that we were eager to prevent accidents to save our carpets and couches. A big step was when Peter, wearing underwear, and I went to KMart (the closest store to us, btw) for him to pick out a new set of underwear. He chose Mickey Mouse - over Spiderman, Cars, and Diego. I also bought some Hanes (to match his Daddy - sorry for that 411).

By the end of day 1, Peter really liked wearing his "big boy underwear" and gave a good fuss when we tried to put one on for the night! I failed to mention that we tried to get him used to the idea of underwear by putting one on over his diaper Thursday night. Peter gave a huge fuss and didn't want the underwear on AT ALL! Strange how he did a 180 on us only 24 hours later!

Day 2 Saturday June 26th: we set the potty chairs in the kitchen so that 1) we could watch them and 2) clean up would be easier. After a showing or two of "Go Poty Go" video from the library and some lemonade...

Peter had his first success of the weekend!

Even Natalie hopped on board...

and had some success herself...

after which she exclaims "Yay! Now, I get a special treat!"

We've been rewarding with mini M&M's, which Peter calls them "Hemmy nemmys".

Saturday's success started a string of successes.

By Day 3,Sunday, June 27th, Peter had only 1 accident through Monday the 28th!

Monday's tally:

All week long, Peter has been working on doing #2 consistently in the potty but has been doing great with all his #1's. We even were surprised that over this past week, his diaper (that we still have him wear overnight) has been dry all but one morning!!!

Yesterday, we had made a successful trip to the grocery store without accidents! However, as soon as we got home, Peter went to the potty and "relaxed".

I guess our next step would be for him to conquer going to a public bathroom.

A glimpse into Peter's future

Sam told me of some interesting parts of conversations between him and Peter this morning, illustrating Peter's picking on the definition of terms:

Part 1:

Peter: "I'm going to let Sydney eat [Natalie's] Puppy" Nata has a toy Puppy she cherishes

Sam: "Don't give Sydney anything to eat!"

Peter: "Except food?"

Part 2:

Sam: "Peter, please don't push me when I'm holding Elaine."

Peter: "Can I pull you?"

This tells us either Peter is going to grow up to be that kind of boy or he's gearing up to become a lawyer! As his mother, I'm hoping for the latter!

Mac and cheese...cake

Sort of a pun on words there.

:)

Over the weekend, our Mac Mini arrved. There was great excitement when FedEx delivered the package. However, Peter and Natalie were a slightly disappointed with the "apple" delivery as it turned out not to be food.

The big reveal:

Sam has been working hard to get it integrated into our tv theater system. Despite a couple road bumps, he is so dedicated and persistent. Reminds me of the time when we tried working on our physics problems together back in college! I, unfortunately, was not as persistent and just wanted to skip to the next problem. It's nice to know some good things never change!

I took on the family challenge to make a cheesecake. The kids (and Daddy) asked me to make one so I set out to please them even though I had never made one before. Oh, the things a Mommy will do for her family! I settled on a recipe in my "Friends of Pharmacy" cookbook (for those who might also have this book) called Chocolate and Peanut Butter Cheesecake bars. Instead of bars, I made a circular cake with my spring form pan. It turned out prety well for my first time. I might suggest baking a little longer than the recipe says (if you make a circular one) as the center wasn't as firm as it should be. Nevertheless, I was proud of the fruits of my labor!

And, it was pretty good!

Things I hear from Peter and Natalie - Part 2

The kids have been saying pretty funny and cute things lately. Again, wanting to document and share them, here they are!

Natalie sayings:

"[I wanna go downstairs] for a little while" she adds "for a little while" to a lot of her sentences.

"Mommy, what's you're doin?" while calling on the phone

"Him put him put hand in him mouth" (while really referring to Elaine) just an example of her ubiquitous use of "him" regardless of gender.

"Hey everybody!" her way to get our attention

"I looooooooooove [pizza, stickers, Kai Lan, cake]" she loooooooves everything

"That's too bad!" showing real concern when things go bad

"Let me twry"

Natalie making soup (that's very hot) with strawberries, berries and grapes.

I was trying to get video of her saying the ABCs ("Super Why" Alpha Pig's version), but Natalie had her own version - HIJKLMNO...Pig!

Peter sayings:

"You make the best dinner, Mommy!" what a way to melt my heart!

"Not bad...not bad at all" when trying new foods

"When I was a baby, I got bathtized too"

"Baby wants to drink milk from your nipples" yes, he's learned about the anatomy of breastfeeding

"No....TRIcycle" always correcting me when I call his trike a bicycle.

"I thought you were having [a boy/two babies]" he has said both phrases. I'm just glad the latter wasn't true!

"Is he down to good?" in response to me saying someone was up to no good...ah, the innocence!

Finally, just some lunch time fun, Natalie was doing a little "peri-pocus ocus crocus" on her quesadilla. She obviously doesn't appreciate Peter's interruptions

A lot can happen in 51 hours alone with 3 kids!

Sam left Friday morning at 9:30am for Georgia. Our friend Tommy was getting married, and Sam was one of two groomsmen.

(Turns out that the other groomsman's wife went into labor Friday morning.
Congratulations to Jack and Bettina and best wishes to your new baby boy, Matthew!)

With Sam gone, I was alone to hold down the fort at our "peapod" and here's how it went:

At lunch, Julie and her 9-month old son Graeme came over for a playdate. It was nice to have some adult conversation and kid interaction. It was also interesting to watch what Graeme was doing as he'd grown so much since last I saw him. He also reminded me what I have to look forward to with Elaine.

Afterwards, all seemed to be going really well and smoothly until...

During Sam's call to me that he'd made it safely to Atlanta, I get a call on call waiting. It's our neighbor Mark. There could only be one reason Mark would be calling me in the middle of the day: his wife was in labor! As planned and as they did the same for us with Peter and Natalie when Elaine was born, I watched their daughter Lily while they were in labor/delivery. However, "the plan" was for Donna not to go into labor this weekend as Sam would be out of town! So much for trying to keep those legs crossed, Donna! :) I guess babies have their own plans (and a sick sense of humor!).

We all had a good time with snacks, art projects (thanks to Donna's gifts for the kids) and playtime. I have no pictures to show for it - didn't really have the extra hand to snap any photos. Trust me, it was a fun time for all. Lily was only here for about 5 hours when her grandparents from Chicago came to pick her up. At this point it was 8pm, and I was beat! Never thought 4 kids ages 3 and under would be that tiring - then again, it obviously sounds tiring!

By the way, they had a baby girl named Abigail Grace, 7lbs 6oz!
Congratulations!

Saturday morning came and I was refreshed as Elaine graced me with another easy night falling asleep at 10:30pm, waking up to feed at 3am, and waking again around 7am. God bless that girl! I got ambitious and took all 3 kids to the library downtown. Elaine was a little fussy as we parked the car, but fell asleep by the time we hit the sidewalk in the stroller. An hour quickly went by and we left in one piece and 8 books and 3 video heavier.

With Elaine still fast asleep, another surge of energy came over me. I took my chances and went to Hobby Lobby (which historically has been bad karma with babies in car seats). I had some art projects for the kids in mind and also wanted to look for material to make more burp cloths for Elaine and other baby things. Yes, ambitious, I tell you! Well, the bad karma was broken, and another hour later, we left with yards of material and foam stickers, a boat, and a princess crown.
This is Peter's ark, where lions can walk upside down! Peter did really well, placing all the animals where they are by himself - he even thought to hang the monkeys from the top! He needed a little guidance with his name, especially since our letter set only had 2 of each letter. Notice his full name has 3 E's and R's?!? That's where the crafty mom in me comes handy!
Natalie did a great job with her name too - she made sure each letter was right next to each other and needed little/no help from me. Peter kindly reminds me that he helped put the "I" in Natalie's name. I only wish I bought a crown she could actually wear. She's been trying to with no success! :(

Tanner joined us for some McD's for lunch. He also helped me absorb a lot of Peter's afternoon energy and read Horton Hears a Who (Peter's favorite of our library books). It was a cute moment and I wish I had a picture but I was so tired at that moment.

Saturday evening got a little hairy - my patience was wearing thin and Elaine was crying during key moments when I needed my hands free (ie: cooking and getting the kids ready for bed). After Peter and Natalie were off to bed, with perfect timing, our other next door neighbor Rita stopped by for a visit. As she held Elaine and learned I had also watched Lily along with my own kids by myself, she offered to keep holding Elaine to let me get a shower. Feeling quite gross and sweaty from the past 36 hours without one (yes, gross), a shower sounded heavenly. I jumped at the offer and within minutes I was refreshed and renewed! Thank you, Rita!

The rest of my evening was quite relaxing with Elaine asleep by 11pm, some TV and a bowl of Ben and Jerry's ice cream (thanks to Sam for getting that surprise for me).

This morning was an early morning with Natalie calling from her room at 7am, "Mommy! We wa-wake!" (Actually, Peter was still sleeping) Natalie proceeded to be a little model for me in the morning sun and the "rainbows" from the glass.
Peter soon followed suit...
...with Sydney crashing his photo shoot with a pedicure.

It's T-minus 1 hour before Sam should be walking through the kitchen door, and I will be SO HAPPY! Nothing can happen now to make me lose it - especially with Elaine like this:
So, if I may, I pat myself on the back and rest assured that I can do it by myself - with a little adult conversation every now and then!

Elaine's holy baptism

On July 13th, Elaine got baptized at our church, St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church in Iowa City. It was a simple, yet meaningful ceremony. We opted to have a private baptism after the 10am mass. We felt that it would be more comfortable and less stressful than to have it during mass, especially with no one to keep watch over Peter and Natalie. Before the ceremony started, this is how Peter and Natalie spent their time waiting:

When it did start, it was difficult to concentrate on the moment and to keep Peter and Natalie from running all around the church and the altar. Here is one rare moment they did manage to stay around the baptismal fountain:

More importantly, we finally did manage to get a picture of Elaine's big moment, her baptism. Elaine was so great the whole morning; she slept through the entire mass and baptismal ceremony. She barely opened her eyes when Father Mike poured the holy water over her head. It must have felt good to her!

And our family picture with Father Michael Phillips after the ceremony even turned out quite nice!
(Despite the fact I wish I stood sideways to slim my 'rotund' figure!)

Afterwards, we picked up some special lunch items from the Bread Garden and we had a lemon-raspberry cake from DeLuxe Bakery all ready to celebrate Elaine's baptism at home. The cake was so pretty and delicious - enjoyed by all, except Elaine, of course.

We all thanked Elaine for being born and getting baptized as we ate our piece of cake!