SPLANEYO

Well...

noreply@blogger.com (Heather) — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 03:25:00 +0000

So, we are relocating to England for 3 years. To notify everyone I had business cards printed up. I thought it would be a nice way to keep the kids connected with their classmates. I spent waaay too much time picking out graphics, changing fonts and uploading my creations to Vistaprint. I even paid for the expedited shipping so the kids were sure to have them to pass out before the winter break. Thankfully they arrived in time and I was able to check one more item off my "to do" list. I was feeling good; especially after some emotional goodbyes with classmates - at least they can keep in contact via the blog and e-mail.

Well, leave it to me to mess it up. It seems that I put alsoinengland@blogspot.com rather than alsoinengland.blogspot.com The sad part is I looked at the card 10 times before hitting "submit". I looked at it when it arrived and patted myself on the back. It was not until my friend wrote and let me know that she couldn't get on the blog that I discovered what I had done (and that still took a while). I have never been a genius, but this is really bad. I am not going to even try to justify this one - here it is, the new blog:

8/48

noreply@blogger.com (Heather) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:37:00 +0000

He is 8 now. At least I think he is 8. Often he is 48, you know one of those kids that is wise beyond his years. That's our Spencer.

We are so thankful our little professor was our 1st. Not only does he have a good head on his shoulders, he is so kind, tolerant, and giving to his brothers and sister.

My only complaint about this one...he has to be one of the pickiest eaters on the planet which was evidenced by his menu: Fillet Mignon, French bread, Fuji apple and cake. This year he chose a chocolate cake with raspberry butter cream frosting, fresh raspberries and a side of pure disaster. It was definitely a "made with love" kind of cake - good taste, but not a looker.

I do not know what happened, but the frosting was so soft that the raspberries kept sliding off the top. Maybe if I hadn't waited until the 11th hour to make the thing I might have been a bit more successful, but I was suffering from a touch of the birthday burnout. Ugly cake aside, it was a great day.

We took a drive in our PJs to look at the fall color and decided to pick up some extra pumpkins from a roadside stand. Pumpkin picking in PJs - does life get much better? Only if you are an 8 year old and have a bunch of new Star Wars Lego sets waiting for you!

A Happy Halloween

noreply@blogger.com (Heather) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:19:00 +0000

We had a very happy Halloween and hope you did too.

We celebrated with school parties, an awesome costume party at my friend Niki's house, a whole day carving pumpkins and decorating the house (better late then never right?), trick or treating and a glass of Sam's home brew (a.k.a. Claw's Ale).

We made these cobweb pizzas with black olive spiders for the party. The idea came from Woman's Day magazine, but I used my own pizza dough.

Pizza Dough

4 1/4 (give or take) flour
1 packet of yeast
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 cup warm water (110 degrees)

Mix ingredients, knead, let rise, when dough has doubled in size roll into desired size, brush with olive oil, bake at 450 degrees. For a crispier crust, bake one side until light brown. Take it out, flip it over and then add sauce and toppings. The pizzas were about 6 inches and I think I got about 18. You could also do letters, shapes, numbers, etc. with the string cheese.

Laney Janey

noreply@blogger.com (Heather) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:11:00 +0000

Usually we only have face gashes and scrapes for our Christmas photos, but both Owen and Laney managed to bang themselves up for their birthday celebrations. What can you do? Normally she looks like this:

No joke. Interesting isn't it? Here is the full effect:

Most kids spend their time playing with toys, but not Laney. She spends the majority of her time dressing up. The outfits are not always this outlandish, but they are always pink and accessorized. The remainder of her time is divided between ballet class, singing and playing with Barbies and ponies.

2008 / 2009

She is getting so big and she grew so much as a person during year 3. She is a sweet, strong, unabashed, savvy little thing. She adds so much to our family and not just with the volume of her voice, although she really is one of the loudest children I have ever heard. She also keeps us laughing with her crazy take on the English language. We are looking forward to year 4 with this one.

We probably will not be saying this for too many more years, but, for now, we will just enjoy the moment.

October 17th was the official day and it wouldn't have been complete without a pink Barbie cake and a helpful brother or two.

Pink schmink, it's a party right?

Our Bean Boy Has A Birthday

noreply@blogger.com (Heather) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 21:22:00 +0000

Owen, lover of legumes, celebrated his 6th birthday on the 9th with a giant burrito. It was like a dream come true for him and a delight for us to watch his surprise:

Of course there were presents (and helpers):

We didn't miss the candles and birthday wishes either. Thankfully, Owen saw the light on my birthday and decided to forget the cake. Mud pie really is the way to go:

Good times were had by all:

Celebrating Owen is easy to do. He is a truly lovable guy who is a compassionate, athletic, animal loving, frat boy who always finds a way to make us all laugh.

The Chase

noreply@blogger.com (Heather) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 16:15:00 +0000

It has been a while, but basically our summer was:

Chasing bugs and animals from our bounty, including AJ who swiped 4 of these tomatoes when I wasn't looking.

Chasing Kids

Chasing Milestones

Chasing Time...

A Topsy Turvy Evening

noreply@blogger.com (Heather) — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 23:31:00 +0000

This evening, like every other Tuesday evening this summer, I prepared the kids for our 1/2 hour trip to the boy's Capoeira class. You know when I say prepared what I mean is I rushed the kids through dinner, forced them all to "make a trickle", filled up water bottles, gathered enough snacks and toys to keep Laney and AJ occupied for one hour, and shoved them all in the car and hoped that we might only be 5 minutes late tonight. We have all been there right?

I invited my mother to come watch, so she too joined in the chaos. We made it there in record time, but when we got there the instructor was no where to be found. During the last class there had been some confusion as to whether or not class would be held this evening, but the teacher said he would check with the office. I did not hear from him, so I called the Rec & Ed office and the coordinator confirmed that there was in fact class this evening. So, there we were on time with our water bottles, snacks and toys and nothing. What can you do?
So Grammie, here are the boys (a.k.a. Bala/Bullet/Owen and Pulse/Pulse/Spencer) in action:

Warming Up:

The boys getting ready to play the Berimbau:

Playing (a match):

Maybe next time Grammie... There will definitely be a next time because our capoeiristas love being topsy turvy too much to not continue. Thankfully the next session is just in town which makes my life just a bit less topsy turvy.

Tummy Aches

noreply@blogger.com (Heather) — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 11:30:00 +0000

It's that time of year again - time for the annual self induced stomach ache. No matter how hard they try, they just can't resist the bounty before them.

Can you guess which two had the biggest belly pains of all? I couldn't even distract Sam and Laney for a minute to take a photo.

After picking 14 pounds of blueberries, they understandably can't stand the sight of them. Spencer thought he was going to see blueberries for the rest of his life. Most will go into the freezer, but some will be disguised:

Blueberry Crumb Bars
adapted from Allrecipes

1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup butter

1 egg
1 teaspoon salt
1 pinch ground cinnamon (optional)
4 cups fresh blueberries
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 cup white sugar
4 teaspoons cornstarch

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch pan.
In a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup sugar, 3 cups flour, and baking powder, salt and cinnamon (if desired). Use a fork or pastry cutter to blend in the butter and egg. Dough will be crumbly. Pat half of dough into the prepared pan.
In another bowl, stir together the sugar and cornstarch. Gently mix in the blueberries and lemon juice. Pour the blueberry mixture evenly over the crust. Crumble remaining dough over the blueberry layer.
Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until top is slightly brown. Cool completely before cutting into squares.

Through The Eyes Of A 5 Year Old

noreply@blogger.com (Heather) — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 23:36:00 +0000

As he gets older his Owenisims are getting a bit more sophisticated. A conversation as recounted by Sam:

Sam: I love you Owen
Owen: I love you God
Sam: Did you say "God"?
Owen: No, I said, I love you Dad
Sam: Oh, I though you said God; it's OK to say you love God. Do you talk to God?
Owen: Yes
Sam: What do you say?
Owen: I ask for things, but he doesn't give them to me. I think there's a way you have to say it.
Sam: Yes, but it's also important what you ask for. You can't just ask for toys -- you need to ask for things that make you a better person. You say, "Dear God" and then end it by saying "Amen"
Owen: OK...dear God..and then Amen.
Sam: Right.
Owen: Dear God, I want to learn statistics. Amen.

Well he is just 5.

Good Clean Economical Fun

noreply@blogger.com (Heather) — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 20:12:00 +0000

Well, maybe not so clean, but it is fun. I'm sure you remember making salt dough - it doesn't get more economical than this:

Salt Dough

2 cups flour
1 cup regular salt
Approximately 1 cup water

Mix the flour and salt together and add enough water so the dough is neither too wet or too dry - it should be smooth. Knead for 10 minutes. Garlic presses, cookie cutters, toothpicks, etc. are fun for shaping. If needed, use crumpled aluminum foil to prop up the masterpieces. When ready, you can let your creations air dry or you can bake them in a 200 degree oven for 1 - 4 hours.

I know, I know, not too wet or too dry, 1 - 4 hours...those kinds of directions drive me nuts, but the amount of water really depends on the humidity and the baking time on the size and thickness of your creation. When baking, take care to not get them too brown (they will crack) and if a bubble pops up you can use a pin to deflate it.

After baked, they can be painted with acrylic paint. If it is a real "keeper" you can apply a coat of finish. You can make your own economical version by mixing 1 tablespoon of water with 1 tablespoon of Elmer's glue. I happen to have a container of Minwax Polycrylic that I picked up at our grocery super-store. It is not so economical at $5.99 for 8 oz, but is really great for other projects too - it dries quickly, doesn't smell too bad and is easy to clean up.

So, there you have it - an inexpensive project that will keep the little guys busy (okay, I may have kept myself busy making a few) for quite some time. So go make some magnets, beads, ornaments, pins...

If You Give An AJ A Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Heather) — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 13:09:00 +0000

I had a hard time deciding what kind of cake I would make for AJ's birthday. He loves strawberries, so they were a must. I went with a yellow cake, strawberry filling and Swiss Meringue buttercream. Now normally I want nothing to do with mice, but for some reason I had the little If You Give A Mouse a Cookie mouse in my head and this was the result:

Catching

noreply@blogger.com (Heather) — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 16:27:00 +0000

I must admit, by AJ's birthday eve, I was getting pretty excited myself. After the little one went to sleep, Sam and I helped the big kids decorate the house. We blew up way too many balloons and hung streamers from everything the stood still. Their exuberance was catching. Even in the midst of the frenzy, I still tried to manage my expectations though - it was just his 1st birthday. I needn't have worried because this little guy loved every toy,

every balloon,

he flashed a big smile when he saw his cake,

and, the best part, he loved his crown.

I might have been a bit slow to catch the AJ birthday fever, but that smile is contagious.

24 Hours

noreply@blogger.com (Heather) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 12:00:00 +0000

The countdown has begun. 24 hours until the little one turns 1, which means 24 more hours of misery. They are at me - the others - they won't leave me alone. "What day is it?, How much longer?, Is it Friday?, Can you blow up this balloon for me?" Don't get me wrong, I am really glad they are excited and want to help, but man, oh man. Oh, and, no longer are they satisfied with the gifts I select. I had to drive all the way to Meijer so they could pick out their own gifts. They are very excited about this milestone. I think I can make it.

My strategy is to keep them very busy in the meantime...make your own wrapping paper...

Tennis Anyone?

noreply@blogger.com (Heather) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 13:09:00 +0000

This is definitely my kind of tennis - sour cream chocolate cake with Swiss meringue buttercream and fondant. An athlete I am not, but I do love making cakes. This giant racket was made for my cousin, the tennis star, who turned 18 the 4th of July. The biggest problem with this cake was finding something big enough to put it on - the cake was about 22 inches long. After trying every tray I own, I came across an unused shelf which did the trick.

Sour Cream Chocolate Cake

From San Francisco A La Carte

2 cups all-purpose flour, unsifted
2 cups sugar
1 cup water
3/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup butter
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs
4 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Measure all ingredients into a larg bowl and beat for 1/2 minute at low speed, scraping the sides of the bowl constantly. Then beat for 3 minutes at highest speed. Pour into greased and floured cake pans: 2 9 inch pans or 3 8 inch pans. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool on a rack.

Sour Cream Chocolate Frosting:
1/2 cup butter
4 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate
4 cups powdered sugar
1 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

In the top of a double broiler, melt butter and chocolate over barely simmering water. Remove from heat and cool. Add powdered sugar, then blend in sour cream and vanilla, beat until smooth.

The sour cream chocolate frosting is delicious, but the Swiss meringue buttercream is an nice alternative. It pipes nicely and holds up well. One of many recipes can be found at Martha Stewart.com. For this cake, I used 3 1/2 sticks of butter rather than the 4. I just couldn't bring myself to add those last 4 tablespoons. Somehow, psychologically, it made a difference - like I was being virtuous. See, who needs an actual tennis racket when you can save yourself calories like this? I think that may just be "15-love".

Babies, Babies & More Babies

noreply@blogger.com (Heather) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 20:56:00 +0000

As busy as the days seem, I have actually found a few spare moments to work on some projects. Because I am one of those people who can't seem to function without deadlines and chaos, I have spent some of that time knitting baby gifts. I hesitate to tell you how the remaining portion has been spent... lets just say that, as reluctant as I may have been, a certain book series bit me hard... Anyway, I love knitting for babies for several reasons, one of which is the patterns are so darned cute. The other reason is I can generally finish a project in one sitting, which is somewhat necessary anymore. So, when I haven't been turning pages, I have been knitting these:

For Jackson (his mom loves stars):

The stars are from Itty Bitty Hats by Susan Anderson (a great book), complete with French knots which was something new for me. The hat itself is Woolflower's Whirly Baby Hat Pattern, which is my all time favorite baby hat pattern.

For Jackson's brother Gibson:

I made this little guy into a rattle by tucking a rice filled plastic Easter egg inside his body. I taped the egg up with some clear duct tape just in case, I think it worked because he went though the wash without any signs of sprouting. The robot is a free pattern found at robotknitter.com.

For Rebekah:

The hat was made using the Ann Norling #10 Fruit Cap pattern - I opted for French knots rather than the traditional seeds. The strawberry on the onesie is made from felt and more French knots of course. Practice makes perfect right?

For Olive:

This is a modified version of the Olive You hat in the Itty Bitty Hat book - I just couldn't resist.

So there you have it and since I have another minute, it is back to my pages!

The Big Decision

noreply@blogger.com (Heather) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 17:00:00 +0000

For my mom's cake this year, I left the flavor decision up to the kids - chocolate, or, Greenie's favorite, yellow with lemon filling. After much deliberation, they decided chocolate was the best choice. =) So, this is what I came up with...a 3-D chocolate lemon cake.

It seems like it has been a long time since I've made a cake, but there are more to come in July! It's a lucky thing because I think I could have used a second piece.

Scurd

noreply@blogger.com (Heather) — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 13:37:00 +0000

Last weekend Laney and Owen were playing outside. When it was time for Laney to go inside for a nap, she said she was worried about Owen being outside by himself. Before going in the house, she ran over to to give him a little bit of advice. She said, "Owen, if you get scurd, just cwy like you are huwt - someone will come wite away."

We are afwaid, very afwaid of what is to come with this one!

And So It Begins...

noreply@blogger.com (Heather) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 17:58:00 +0000

AJ is 11 months now. I love this age - the attempts at communication, the experimentation with new expressions, the excitement they get from exploration...

Oh, who am I kidding, our house is going on full lock-down. This guy is into everything - he fishes in the dog water, gets stuck in the pantry, tries to gnaw on shoes in the mud room, empties shelves, clears out drawers, tries to climb over the dog... The other day he stuck his finger in a heat register and sliced his finger open. I didn't even see that one coming.

Some things are presenting a bit of a problem though - like the stairs to the basement. I have seen gates with pet doors (Mister is getting to old to jump over), we have a few that open (the kids need to be able to go downstairs to play), and I have seen the ones that you can attach to banisters, but to get all three is a challenge. Sam, of course, has an interim "solution":

Nice hunh? To make it functional, he attached a carabiner with zip ties on the side. Although it is not exactly what I had in mind, at least this "solution" is better than the last (i.e. no drilling).

So, it has begun - the keeping one ear open at all times listening for his shuffle (yes, he is a one armed scooter just like Spencer), the panic that comes from seeing his fingers sticking through the open space between the door hinges, and the heart stopping terror when he pushes on that cardboard.

I love this age, really, I do.

The Recital

noreply@blogger.com (Heather) — Wed, 27 May 2009 22:31:00 +0000

It was a much anticipated day and it did not disappoint. Her adoring fans, including Guagua and Popie (my grandparents) from California, watched as she danced on the high school stage. Thankfully she did not get my genes and didn't think twice about getting on that big stage with lights in her eyes. I must admit, I was a still nervous even though it wasn't me getting out there. Laney danced like a little doll in front of a full house and is already asking when she can dance again.

A-OK

noreply@blogger.com (Heather) — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 17:27:00 +0000

AJ is okay - he is allergic to penicillin, but we can definitely deal with that. I have been really surprised by the number of people that are allergic. You think of penicillin as a cure all. As a child prone to ear infections, I certainly drank gallons of that sweet pink stuff. I guess I never thought of someone having a reaction to it, but after this ordeal with AJ, I talked to at least 5 people who said they too were allergic. So, hopefully we are done with the strep for the year and the little guy doesn't get anything from the dog, so we won't even have to think about antibiotics until next year...a girl can hope can't she?

Video Courtesy of Spencer

The Poor Guy

noreply@blogger.com (Heather) — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 21:28:00 +0000

My mom suggested I post something to save AJ from further humiliation in the goofy hat. So, here our little guy in a more dignified outfit.

These were actually taken a few weeks ago and he doesn't look like this at the moment - the poor guy is covered in hives. While changing his diaper yesterday morning, I found welts all over his little body. I looked closer and found his ankles and ears were swollen too. After my freak out and a trip to the doctor, he was diagnosed as possibly being allergic to amoxicillin and we were sent home with some Zyrtec. Great!

Well, today he woke up worse. He is now on Zyrtec, a new antibiotic (just in case it is viral from the Strep throat he had last Friday) and he is on steroids for the hives. We are scheduled to see an allergist Monday. Here is the poor guy post medication:

Hopefully with all of this medication he should be back to his dapper, spot free, hat free, self in no time.

Finding His Words

noreply@blogger.com (Heather) — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 21:51:00 +0000

Unfortunately he doesn't have any words yet, but today he spoke. I think it went something like this:

Okay, these are not cowboy hats - I don't care what she says.

Is it over?

Oh, she's back and with more princess stickers...Don't we have a cat?

It's not all bad, she does smell like frosting.

Little Haar As Opposed To Big Hair

noreply@blogger.com (Heather) — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 20:40:00 +0000

I cut my hair last weekend. It was time. I had been wearing it in a French braid which Laney really liked, so when I came home with short hair she said, "Mom, what did you do to your haar? It's little!" She was not too happy about the change, but I'm liking it. I had it this length in college, so it was not a shocking change, but it has definitely been a while. The photos are for my grandma who wanted to see. I wanted to Photoshop them to erase the freckles and a few creases, but Sam said I couldn't because someone was just criticized for doing that. So, here you go Gua, the new me with "little" hair and big freckles.

Inexpensive Valentine Kid-Crafts

noreply@blogger.com (Heather) — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 17:46:00 +0000

We have been crafting and crafting around here. In addition to all of our regular Valentine crafting, I was in charge of Spencer's class party. If I don't see another piece of construction paper or card stock for a while that will be okay. In the meantime, here are some of the crafts we worked on:

We made woven paper heart Valentine holders:

To make the Valentine holders, you will need two pieces of different colored paper.

I used two jumbo 12 x18" sheets, but it also works with regular sheets - you will just get a smaller heart.

Fold each paper in half.

Cut the folded paper in half.

On the unfolded side, cut to round the tops - these will become the top of the heart.

On the folded side cut your strips for weaving. I used 4 strips and that seemed to be a manageable amount for 2 graders. Each strip was 1 1/2" and I cut up the piece 6 1/2". Whatever size paper you are using, when cutting the length of the strips be sure to leave a little bit of wiggle room because you will need it to weave in the final strip.

To begin weaving, hold each paper, folded side down, at a 90 degree angle.

Starting with the upper strip, begin weaving through the strips. Just remember "through".

Once you are you are ready to weave your final strip, make sure that all of the other woven strips are pushed upwards because you are going to need the "wiggle room" you allowed for when cutting the strips.

Once the final strip is woven, push all of the woven strips down - it just looks better.

The final check - open the heart. If you did it right, your should have a pocket.

The last step is to add a handle. You can cut a strip of paper for the handle, or use some string. I found some cute heart brads, so we attached our handles with those.

Another easy and inexpensive craft - Plaster of Paris hearts. All you need is some Plaster of Paris and a candy mold to make a whole bunch of cute little hearts.

I glued magnets on the back; the kids then painted them and added some little eyes.

We also made our family valentines from the hearts as well.

The kids (mostly Laney) painted the hearts and, I have to say, as much as I love art created by children, these were ugly. Really ugly. I began a bit of a beautification process by adding some silver scrolls and I think that was all they needed. I painted them with a clear coat and a magnet and off they went. I mailed them with a section of egg carton over them, so they would not get damaged - hope it worked!

For the class valentines, Owen decided to pass on the heart crayons and took cherry smelling play-doh. He woke up this morning at his usual time of 5:30am, but he vibrated all the way into our room - he was "so excited about his Valentine's Day party".

Smelly Play-Doh

3 cups white flour
2 packs of Kool-Aid
1 ½ cups salt
1 ½ teaspoons cream of tartar
3 ¼ cups water
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
In a saucepan mix flour, Kool-Aid, Salt and cream of tartar. Stir in water and oil. Mix Well. Heat over medium –low heat until dough begins to thicken. Continue to stir until it is too thick to stir (the dough will thicken more as it cools). Let dough cool until it can be handled – knead until smooth.

The labels were printed on a sheet of 8 1/2 x 11" card stock cut into 4 pieces (4.25 x 5.5" each). I have uploaded the card here to make it easier - just download, cut your paper and print.

Initially Spencer wanted to take play-doh as well, but after talking it over we thought maybe stickers would be a better choice for older kids. So, last night I printed some valentines and used some stickers I had from last years post Valentine sale at Target. They came out great and are much more sophisticated than play-doh hearts. These were also printed on the cut up card stock. I don't know about you, but I have a heck of a time cutting them straight if I print all 4 on one sheet. Anyway, the template will work for any of those American Greeting Sticker packs (15 sheets per set). Depending on who is doing the project, you can either tape the stickers on, or make slits with a craft knife.

Happy crafting.

7 Months

noreply@blogger.com (Heather) — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 21:26:00 +0000

Our little AJ is 7 months today. He is an intense little guy.

The little rascal is still very much a Type A personality and cries a lot, but when he isn't screaming he really is the sweetest little guy. He loves to give kisses and has fallen in love with Laney's baby doll.

AJ now sits on his own - for a while anyway.

He has two teeth and another on the way. He smells really good and when I try to get a sniff of his neck he giggles a melodic giggle. Like Laney, he raises one eyebrow, gets a twinkle in his eye and then tries to melt you with his smile. Wait for it...

With his deep voice he says "dadada", babbles and sings from time to time. He is still bald, okay, he has a little bit of hair, but not much. He eats whatever we put in his mouth, likes to feed himself Cheerios and banana and thinks it is pretty cool to drink out of a sippy cup.

We are not sure what we will do when he outgrows his swing because he loves it so - see, he is welling up already.

He still doesn't sleep through the night, but definitely needs to because he wears himself out.

My days with him are long, but are going by way too fast.