Can You Tell They're Related?

Here are both boys at approximately the same age...can you tell which one is which?!!!

Hayden

Here he is...as handsome as ever.

Eyes Wide Open

I have realized that all the pictures I have posted of Elliot have been of him sleeping. I thought you might like to see the whites (and blues) of his eyes!

Sacked Out

Elliot and I were playing in his baby gym this afternoon while Hayden was asleep. I got up to answer the phone and when I returned, this is what I saw...

Mummy and Her Two Boys

Up until the past couple of days, Hayden has shown no interest in Elliot. He has not been jealous of him, hostile toward him, affectionate...nothing. Starting a couple of days ago, he has wanted to hold him, give him a bottle and watch him sleep in his crib. I would not go so far to say that he wants to spend a lot of time with Elliot; but, when Shane or I are with Elliot, Hayden wants to be a part of the action. This picture was taken a couple of days ago after Hayden asked to hold the baby.

Daddy And His Baby

Shane is showing signs of his "new baby anxieties" in that he gets a little nervous when Elliot starts to fuss or wimper; but, let's face it, Elliot has proven himself to be such a mumma's boy, that who wouldn't be a little apprehensive! But, one thing I have always, and will always, say about Shane is that he is an amazing, devoted, loving father. I love to watch him interact with his boys - he becomes so unguarded, so free and so vibrant. I am blessed to have Shane - and I don't tell him this enough.
This picture was from the other night when Elliot fell asleep in Shane's arms. It was the first time Elliot had done this and I am so glad I got a picture of it.

Different Shirts For Different Days

Elliot is still choosing to sleep with a smelly shirt of mine! At night, he sleeps with the shirt that I wore during the day and during the day he takes his naps with the shirt I wore during the night!! Here are just a selection of pictures demonstrating this...!!
I promise that I do not wrap the shirt around his neck like this. Somehow he grabs the shirt and gets it up around his face - for maximum odor!! Yesterday, at work, he was actually having a really hard time getting to sleep. When he did finally fall asleep, he had my t-shirt completely over his face!! I wish I had my camera for that.

Asleep In His Crib

Elliot had a rough couple of days after his first round of shots. He had his shots on Wednesday morning and started acting a little "off" on Thursday afternoon. He did not get a fever or really get too fussy; however, he had a really hard time going to sleep. He was awake from 1:30pm to gone 11pm on Thursday. He started getting fussy around 4:30 from the inability to stay asleep. He finally fell asleep with the aid of a pacifier as his thumb would not stay in his mouth long enough to be of any comfort. He did not sleep that well yesterday either; so, last night I laid him down on our bed and I laid next to him so that I could help keep the pacifier in his mouth long enough for him to fall asleep. Once he was asleep, I got up out of bed and as I started to leave the room, he woke up. I put the pacifier back in his mouth; but, that did not work...I laid down next to him and he went back to sleep. Hmmmm. I got up when he went back to sleep and he woke up. So, in the end I stripped my shirt off and laid it next to him. He stayed asleep! He stayed asleep so much so that he did not stir when I moved him into his crib!
Tonight I did not even play games. I laid him straight into his bed with my shirt from today and he fell promptly asleep! I had to take a picture...it's too funny!!

Play Date At The Park

May has had such an odd assortment of weather. Case in point, just last night we had hail and snow! So, play time outside has been a hit or miss activity. On Thursday afternoon, the sun finally decide to show herself; so, Hayden, Elliot and I seized the moment and headed to the park to meet up with Tamara and Brooke.
Elliot had had his two-month shots the day before (oh yes, he weighs a staggering 13lbs and 4oz, by the way) and as a result was not feeling that great. He had a hard time putting himself to sleep and was awake for most of our time at the park.
Hayden could barely contain himself...like the caged animal that he is, he ran all around the park, swung on the swings, slid down the slide, played on the steering wheels and dug in the sand. It was a great couple of hours.
Elliot trying to get some much needed sleep:
Hayden having a blast on the swings:
Boone had the day off of work with Shane; so, he got to come to the park too:
Mumma and Elliot (who Shane has started calling "Spud"!):
Brooke and Hayden playing with the shovels in the sand:
Well, I have had several requests for a video of Elliot. He does not do too much that is video worthy; however, he is trying to suck his thumb. His thumb, however, does not want to cooperate and often flies out of his mouth...this causes Elliot some major frustration as you will see in the below video:

Helping Dad Mow The Lawn

Hayden has a new passion in life...it couples his love of being outside with his love of doing everything his daddy does - yup, it's mowing the lawn! He really does want to do everything his daddy does and when I think how lucky I am to have a guy who can do anything he wants, I think about how lucky some young lady is going to be when she meets my son. And to think, it all started with a plastic lawn mower!

Play Date With Gracie

On May 10th, on a day off, Hayden, Elliot and I entertained Gracie for the day. Now, I am not sure what made me think I could possibly handle a toddler and two two-month olds...but I volunteered to help Vanessa out so she could have a productive day at work. Some how, by fate, magic or prayer (!), it turned out to be a highly successful adventure. Hayden did not show any sign of being jealous due to their being two babies in the house and, I have to brag about this, I even had all three kids asleep at the same time at one point!
Elliot and Gracie played in the new baby gym/play mat that I bought for Elliot which features all the bells and whistles such as a mobile (with lights and music!), mirror and lots of dangley things. It was so funny to watch them...they "held hands" the whole time they were laying on the mat. Gracie would kick the supports which made the dangley things moved which had Elliot mesmerized. It was so funny to watch! What is even more amusing is the size difference between the two. Elliot is two days older than Gracie; but, he arrived two weeks early. Gracie, despite being two days younger, is actually much older gestationally - she arrived nine days late!...There should have been three weeks between them, with Gracie arriving earlier. When they were born, there were just ounces between their birth weights, with Elliot outweighing Gracie...and, as can be seen below, Elliot continues to outweigh her!

Elliot Hard At Work

My apologies for not blogging in some time. I am back at work full time now and I have not quite settled back into the routine that 40 hours a week requires. I am finding it harder now that we have the two boys. I have to get both of them ready, as well as myself, and out of the house by 7:15am on the days that I work. I drop Hayden off with his beloved babysitters and Elliot comes to work with me. Elliot continues to come to work with me, rather than joining his big brother, due to Elliot's lack of inclination to take the bottle. Despite our valiant efforts, Elliot is still only drinking 1oz at a time out of the bottle. Still, this is better than where we were a month ago when he flat out refused anything out of the bottle!
More days than not, Elliot is very well behaved at work. He sleeps a lot and when he is awake he is relatively content to play in the pack 'n' play that is just outside my office. Vanessa was bringing Gracie to work as well; so, she invested in this lovely swing that can be stored away flat. It is perfect and Elliot quietly slumbers many an hour away in it.
On the floor of my office:
Asleep on the job:

Momma Bear and her Two Cubs

Snow In May!

OK, this is just far too bizarre. Not only are we getting snow in May; but, we are getting big, fat, wet flakes of the stuff. It is coming down a lot harder than when I took these pictures just five minutes ago and is sticking to the vehicles, fences, grass and trees. I just cannot believe my eyes and so had to take pictures to show you what is happening!

Mother's Day Reflections

At times, I get irritated because Shane will leave a mess on the kitchen counter that I just cleaned or track mud into the house, Hayden will pull all his toys out that I just put away or try to kick at me when I change his diaper and Elliot will cry uncontrollably or wake up from his sleep 3 minutes after I put him down; but, I would not trade my life for anyone elses. I have the best husband...Shane continues to think about his family above his own needs and still loves me 12 years after we first met. He is an outstanding father and a devoted husband. He is just as sexy to me as he was on the first day I met him and he continues to patiently listen to me as I vent my frequent frustrations. He is my best friend and I love him. Shane, thank you for putting up with my obsessions, neuroses, temper and impatience.
Hayden continues to be a smart, quick learning, sweet boy. He puts up with my frequent need to kiss on and hug him. He tells me he loves me using his sign language and loves to sit and read stories. He is by far the best thing that happened to me. He has taught me the true joy of putting someone else's needs first and the absolute delight in nurturing another. I have become a better, more patient and happier person since he entered my life.
Elliot has completed our family. He is the one that has reserected my faith in myself, he is my cuddle bunny, my warmth and my smile. Although not planned, Elliot has fulfilled my family and I am joyous that he is mine.
My family is everything to me. I am no longer the materialistic person I once was...a cuddle is worth more than all the CDs, DVDs and books I once thought so important; a kiss and a glance from any of my boys is more powerful than anything I can think of. So, on this Mother's Day I just want to tell all my boys "I love you" and thank them for making me a wife and mother.

Two Months (and One Day) Old

Well, here we are...already at the two month mark. Amazing. Let me see, what can I tell you about Elliot? He is, by several people's accounts (not just mine), a mummy's boy. When upset, I seem to be the only one that can soothe him and sometimes he just needs to be held by me, not even rocked. Of course, it is very nice to feel so needed...but sometimes, it would be lovely if he would respond to others - like when I need to shower, or make dinner, or sleep! He has more needs than Hayden did, and does, for being held, cuddled and loved on. He loves making eye contact and smiles very easily. He is starting to coo and ooo when he smiles making it seems as though he is almost giggling.
Elliot flat out refuses to accept the bottle. No nipple, bottle type or person giving the bottle has been successful, yet; although, I will continue to keep trying. He eats quickly and often; but, he is managing to go three to four hour intervals during the night. He goes back to sleep easily during the night; hopefully, this indicates that I have another good sleeper on my hands (I can only hope!). His nightly colic has shown signs of subsiding in it's frequency and intensity; but, he still struggles with it more nights than not each week. His thrush is disappearing off his tongue and he takes his medicine for the thrush easily and willingly.
He tends to enjoy sleeping in his bouncy chair or the swing during the day; but, cannot stand these during the night - instead, prefering being flat in his moses basket. He is going to start sleeping in his big boy bed tonight as he has not outgrown the moses basket (read: his head and toes touch the ends!). We'll see how that goes!
He is a sweet boy. Happy. Content. Loving. Cuddly. Cute and adorable. He is just more demanding of my personal attention than Hayden was. Not a bad thing, just different. But, he's scrumptious.
Here is Elliot yesterday playing in his new play mat/gym. He really likes looking up at the bees that are above his head.

Elliot has started making strides in getting his LEFT thumb (just like Hayden!) in to his mouth. Yay!...Another self soother of a kid!

Today is Mother's Day and Shane gave me the best gift he could...he took Hayden out and about early this morning so that I could get some extra sleep! - I got to sleep in until 9am...delicious! Thanks, Shane!

Baum Lake

Shane, the kids and I got dad a kayak trip for his birthday. He went out on Baum Lake yesterday. While he was out seeing the sights and practicing not drowning, mum, Hayden, Elliot and I sat patiently shoreside. We did go for a nice little walk and we played on the shore. Both kids were very well behaved and were very tired when all was done. Hayden fell asleep in the car on the way home...he did not even wake up when I took him out of the car and put him in bed - I have never been able to do that before! Dad, on the other hand, was able to make it in the house and eat lunch before he collapsed!

Baby Sitting

As with Shirley and Mike, while my parents have been here I have had to work a little and leave them with Hayden. This has actually turned out to be a really positive experience as it has given them an opportunity to really bond with Hayden. They have learned a little of his sign language, helped him master new words (like "Goal!" for example...ten guesses for who taught him this one!), taken him on lots of outside adventures and learned who he is, his likes and dislikes. I know they have appreciated this experience and feel much closer to their oldest grandson.
I have had to keep taking Elliot with me to work as he is refusing to take the bottle. I have wanted to leave him too as I feel he is missing out on a great experience (as are my parents missing out on spending time with Elliot); however, there is not much I can do to alter Elliot's current preference!
Here are mum, dad and Hayden at Hat Creek.

At The Fish Hatchery

On Sunday morning we made a family trip out to Crystal Lake Fish Hatchery to show Hayden the fish. It was a sunny day; but, windy and cool. Hayden had fun running up and down between the fish tanks and Boone enjoyed a little hunting of his own.
Although we have lived here for nearly 7 years, I have never been out to the hatchery...I was more excited than anyone, I think!
Family portrait outside the main entrance:
Hayden exploring the fish tanks:
The boys talking fish:
Hayden in a world of his own:
Hunting dog:

Planting A Tree

Shane has bought a couple of trees for the back garden...I still cannot believe how lovely the back garden is turning out - and it is all down to Shane's hard work. I digress, Hayden seized the moment to help Daddy with another fun project and ended up getting covered in mud himself. Somehow, magically, Boone ended up covered in mud too...and he was sleeping in the grass!