The boys turned 10 months old last week!  I can't believe they are getting so close to being a year old already.  I'm definitely going to miss the little baby stage but at the same time it's fun to watch them grow.  Owen is cruising along furniture on occasion but doesn't seem too close to walking just yet.  I think I have at least another month or two.  Eli seems to be happy just pulling up to his knees at this point.  Chloë had just started crawling when she was 10 months so the fact that they get around so much at this age is new for us.  Owen has 6 teeth and Eli has 8.  Chloë got her first tooth at almost 11 months!

The boys continue to look completely different- I don't even think they look like brothers most of the time! Eli has a lot more hair - in fact, he had his first "haircut" earlier this week.  Myke trimmed around the sides after we decided we didn't like the baby mullet look so much.

Eli before

(no, this is NOT really Eli in case you weren't sure)

Owen, on the other hand, barely has any more hair than he had the day he was born.  

They're both really great babies.  They are great at entertaining themselves, and now each other, which is awesome and definitely a necessity with three kids!  They are overall pretty content, happy little guys.  They're good eaters, they take good naps (at least one of their 2 naps is always a good 2-3 hour one), they sleep 7pm-6am and then play and talk in their cribs until 7am (but that said, it took them a long time to sleep that long), they put everything in their mouths- some oral favorites being shoes and dog toys.  They love stroller and car rides- they very rarely make a peep during either.  You forget they are even there.  I guess they just love looking at the scenery go by.  So, while they are very different, they are also a lot alike in these ways. And very different than Chloë was.  She would never fall asleep in the car, she would cry at every stoplight because she didn't like the car to stop moving, I could never even really take her jogging because she didn't want to stay in the stroller.  She would NEVER fall asleep in the stroller or the car (except maybe when a tiny infant).  She mostly just wanted to be held or worn in a baby bjorn or moby wrap.  She was and still is a very strong-opinionated person...she lets you know what she wants.  Myke and I can only imagine what her teenage years will be like!  

All of that said, she is a GREAT little girl. I'm in no way trying to speak negatively about her- it's just a fact that she was a more "high maintenance" baby.  I'm a totally believer in in-born temperament and the idea that you can "see" the temperament from a very early age. She is a very strong-willed little girl who has a very sweet side, as well.  She can be so loving with her brothers and always wants to hold them, feed them, bring them toys to play with, etc.  At the same time she also likes to ride them and I know she can't wait until they are big enough to wrestle with.  

VERY different babies- this is them after eating pasta....

The slob of the family

snack time in the stroller

Access DENIED

They LOVE to race to the dog's food bowls first thing in the morning (and any time they get a chance) so we had to put a gate up in front of it.

I've swiped more pieces of dog food out of Eli's mouth than I care to divulge...

He LOVES it!  

Early rebellion against his vegetarian upbringing maybe.  

Superhero Big-Sis Chloë

And the beautiful beast, Kyla :)

Random Conversation with Chloë Today

Chloë:   (looking at my wedding ring) Mommy let me wear your ring?

Me:       No, that's mommy's ring. That means I'm married to Daddy.

Chloë:  When I be bigger, I can wear a ring?

Me:    Yes, and if you get married you can wear a wedding ring.
           Who do you want to get married to?

Chloë:  Uhhhmmm.....the brothers (what she calls Owen & Eli).

Me:    (trying to be serious) No, you can't marry your brothers.  Only if you live in West Virginia.

Chloë:  (becoming increasingly concerned) But who will stay with the brothers if I don't marry them?

Me:    Uhhhmm....how about Daddy and I will stay with them?

Chloë:   (sounding both sad and very concerned at this point) But I don't want to be by myself!


Obviously this conversation wasn't going anywhere - not that I really expected it to - but I just thought it was kind of funny to see a toddler's perception of things.

Birthday Parties

Yo Gabba Gabba

Ever heard of them?  

I hadn't....but now I'm in the know!

As I've mentioned before, we've been on the toddler-birthday-party circuit for the past couple months.  I've also mentioned before that a lot of people really go ALL OUT for birthday parties.  I'm not sure if it's just out here in southern Cali or if it happens everywhere now.  All I know is that when I was growing up parties consisted of some balloons, a simple home-made cake, a few party games and a goodie bag to take home.  The parties of my day seem very lame (or should I say "simple") compared to the parties that Chloë has attended lately.

A couple weeks ago we went to three birthday parties in one weekend.  Myke was thrilled, of course ;)

The first one was at a rented out clubhouse at the birthday family's complex.  They hired professional photographers to run a photo booth where the kids could dress up in all sorts of costumes and accessories and have their pictures taken.  Two copies were printed out right there: one for the guest and one for the birthday girl to keep.  The party theme was "Yo Gabba Gabba" which apparently (as I now know) is a TV show for kids.  One of the characters came to the party to greet and have photos taken with the kids!  Yes, it was a full-size, Disneyland-esque character who came.  Not just an adult in some lame Halloween costume.

(Taken on my phone, so difficult to see.)

Chloë hugging the big pink thing...

She'd never seen this show in her life but she can't turn down a hug from

a character.  Ever.  She loves it. 

It was a fun party- there was a face painter there, lunch, snacks and drinks for everyone, a giant cake, cupcake for the kids, life-size cutouts of the characters placed around the room, etc.  

That afternoon we went to another 3-year-old birthday party.  This one was for a friend who has twin boys who were born 10 days after Chloë.  This party was a pirate themed party.  The birthday invitations were even made to look like old, faded treasure maps.  "X" marked the spot of the party, of course.  Knowing my friend Ali, I should have known that this party would be off the hook.  She and her husband go all out for celebrations (especially their annual Halloween party) and their boys' birthdays would be nothing less.  We missed the boys' first two birthdays due to Chloë being sick the first year and me being on bed rest last year.  Glad we made this year.  Chloë was in HOG HEAVEN with the pirate theme!  She LOVES pirate stuff right now (I know, such a girly-girl, right??).  For the party they had a bouncy house in the front yard.  Then to get the back you walked through their garage which was decorated floor-to-ceiling with pirate decor.  In the back they had tables and chairs set up under giant canopies and a big spread of catered Mexican food.  The entire family was in full-on pirate costumes to go with the theme.  Each child guest received a pirate hat and patch to wear.  The best part was that there was a wooden pirate ship in the back for the kids to play on!  Apparently, the boys' father and grandfather had spent a month building this ship just for the party.  It was awesome, complete with a wheel and a telescope.  I'll post some photos on this blog.  Like I said, Chloë was in hog heaven.  We all had a great time.

Chloë with Aden & Ian in May 2009

The twins were born pretty premature, hence their smaller size 

Chloë with Ian & Aden at their 3rd birthday party

Arrrr, Matey!

I've been spotted!

Eli

Piñata time!

The garage

Needless to say, we were all pretty tired by the end of this day.  Then we had another party the next morning.  This one was at a rented out play-center for kids called Kid Ventures.  It's a big indoor play place with various themed rooms for the kids to be hands-on and play in.  There is a dance room with a disco ball, a fire engine room with fireman coats and boots for the kids to wear and kid-sized firetruck they can pretend to drive, there is a grocery store room with carts, cash registers and fake food, there is a big princess castle with a slide coming out of it, a pirate ship they can climb on, a baby doll room, etc.  It's a pretty neat place.  This party was a super-hero theme and all the kids go capes to wear and take home.  Fun times!

Chloë sporting her pirate and superhero gear the next day

Back in my day (don't I sound old?!), I remember going to birthday parties at McDonald's!  Does anyone else remember doing this as a kid?  Everyone would get a Happy Meal and a drink.  And a crown to wear on our heads...or maybe that was just the birthday boy or girl.  I remember the drinks being some orange Tang-like beverage.  Then we'd all play on the play structures.  I wonder if anyone would even come if I threw a birthday party at McDonald's today?!?!  People would be in a state of shock just at the idea of it (and I don't blame them!)!

McDonald's tray liner from the 1980's

Apparently you're never too old....

Are these characters (besides Ronald) still around??

Remember Grimace!?

What was that guy??

Creepy!!

Even creepier!!

Hmm...this image came up when I typed "McDonald birthday parties"

in Google Images.  Not sure why.  Not complaining though. 

Must be relevant, right?  :)

Okay, I've rambled enough about birthday parties, and that was only one weekend!  I'm just glad we did the "simple" thing and took Chloë to Disneyland for her birthday.  Probably saved us a few hundred dollars at least!  

O & E's Room

The boys' room/nursery has been a long time in the making.  Until just last week we still had a queen-size guest bed in the room.  However, we quickly realized that no guests really wanted to sleep in the room with two babies (shocking, I know!) so the bed was really just sitting there taking up space as a place for Chloë to play with  her stuffed animals in the mornings.  It was time for Craigslist...  

Now, with the bed gone I've finally been able to focus on making the room look better--making it more their own place with room to play, crawl around and just hang out.  Inspired by a beautiful "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" quilt that my Aunt Diana made for Chloë for her baptism back in 2009 (thanks Aunt Diana!) I decided to go with an Eric Carle (a children's author/illustrator. Think:  The Very Hungry Caterpillar) theme for the room.  No pastels here-- just bright, bold colors.  I actually had planned this all before the boys were born (you have plenty of time to plan things like this while on bed rest) but it finally now close to being complete.  I have a couple more pictures to hang on the walls but that's about it at this point.  

Thought I'd post some photos: 

The boys love having their cribs so close together.

When we come in in the mornings they are often sitting or standing on the inside end of their crib "talking" to each other through the slats

Now babysitters won't forget who goes where!

Cribs were on sale for $45 each at IKEA last year!  Woot!

(they apparently turn into toddler beds, too)

The red carpet also from IKEA.

Can you tell I like IKEA?

The beautiful quilt from Aunt Diana hangs on the wall

Last year Pottery Barn put out a Hungry Caterpillar line for nurseries and children's bathrooms.  I was so excited when I heard about it since that was the theme I wanted to use.... and THEN I saw their prices!!  YIKES.  The crib bedding was nearly $200 and when I looked at what it included I realized: 1) Bumpers aren't safe anymore, 2) these IKEA cribs can't support a crib skirt and 3) who uses the puffy quilt that comes in those sets anyways?!  So basically I would be paying close to $400 for two Hungry Caterpillar sheets.  No thanks.  

They also were selling prints to hang on the wall...for $119 each!  WHaaa?!  I guess it's "Pottery Barn Kids" so that's just how things are priced there.  I found my prints on Amazon.com.  BEST DEAL EVER.  A book of 16 prints from Eric Carle books ready to be framed.  (Link posted at bottom of this entry if you're interested)   Beautiful! 

Eric Carle lovies!

The dresser/changing table

From IKEA

I LOVE this dresser and when I saw it I knew I needed it for the boys' room!  

This would be the "splurge" of the room since it was close to $300 - 

but worth it!

Picture of my parents putting it together last year:  click here!  and scroll down

Love this bold shade of blue

The reading/toy area.  

Glider chair is from Craigslist - used to be in Chloë's room.

I don't love the color for their room but I'm too busy/lazy to re-cover it.

White storage shelf and red tubs from Target.com (though in retrospect I should have gotten the white one from IKEA instead - better quality/sturdier)

Cute little piano bought on Zulily.com 

40% off original price

Musical boys

Playing together in Owen's crib

Pottery Barn Prints

Amazon Book of Prints

A Few Pics...

Trying to get a pic of the boys in birthday hats on Chloë's birthday

Owen at Gymboree

Under the parachute (Mom is holding up her part of the parachute)

On Tuesday Chloë and I took Gramma on a date to see the ocean.  We live less than a mile from it but we were so busy during her visit that we never got down there to see it until 2 days before she left.

Cloudy and cool day by the ocean.  Looking for dolphins.

Had to take Gramma to Kono's before she left. 

Best pancakes and eggs in PB!

Bike time on the boardwalk

Tough ladies

Schroeder!

I shared this photo via text with Eli's godmother (and one of my best-friends), Vanessa.

She texted this back: 

Love it!

Counting Down the Days...:(

Waaaa!  One more day until Mom heads back home to the east coast.  Happy for my Dad...sad for me!  We've had a great time with her out here.  Chloë just LOVES having the constant playmate and attention.  She's up for a harsh reality check starting Thursday!  Gramma has not only been her playmate but also her room mate.   Chloë's big-girl bed has a trundle bed that pulls out and so they shared the room for the past two weeks.  I'm sure Gramma will be excited to get back into her king-size bed in Richmond!

Finger update:  Chloë's finger is doing much better- we still keep it covered with gauze and a bandaid but we're taking it off to let it air out for awhile each day.  I think in a day or two we'll be able to lose the bandaid all together if she's ready for it.  The wound is healing really nicely and I'm thinking it may look almost completely back to normal when it fully heals.  Maybe a slight indentation...and not sure if fingerprints can grow back?  Does anyone know?

Boys are 9 1/2 months already- just had their 9 month well-baby check up last Friday.  Elijah is 20lbs and Owen is 19lbs more or less.  I think Owen measured about a 1/2 inch longer than Eli.  Sounds about right.  So overall Owen was in the 50th percentile for weight and 75th percentile for height (tall and thin like Myke) and Eli was 75th percentile for both (tall and big like me...!).   They both continue to have giant heads (over 98th percentile).  Thank you Grandpa for the giant head gene :)

Loving Gramma

(though it took Owen 2 full days to crack a smile at Gramma when she first arrived...he is very wary of new people these days)

Both boys love to watch the washing machine in action

big boys!

Myke and I went on a date night!  Sushi yummy-ness :)