Pool Party

Last week the kids and I were invited to a friend's for a little pool party. They are renting like us, but have a GIANT backyard!

The kiddie pool was filled up along with some water balloons. There were three boys - Gabe, Elliott, and Raleigh - all within a few months of each other. And they all have sisters, also within a few months of each other.

These three are absolutely adorable.

Gabe just nursed his balloon the whole time. He did pop a couple on accident, but for the most part, he just held it by the tail and toted it around.

This is Raleigh. He is a talker and puts most other boys his age to shame with his vocab.

And here is sweet Elliott. He looooves trains.

And here is Gabe. He likes to mooch reeses pieces off of other moms.

And, lately, he's been really into squinting. I have no idea why, but he does it all the time.

Oh, and don't forget Rubi. She just hung out in the tent for the most part. Napped a little. Did not like the pool, though. 

Catching Up

This hunk of awesome finished finals yesterday! We are so proud of how much he's accomplished and we're excited to get him all to ourselves until July! So far he's been catching up on a little of this:

...and grocery shopping! We haven't gone grocery shopping together since before Rubi was born.

Bike Riding

I loved riding bikes when I was little. I had some (well, probably many) imaginary friends that I would talk to while I rode around and around in our driveway. I'm guessing that Gabe doesn't have any imaginary friends, and he certainly isn't talking to them! But, I hope he learns to love bike riding. He got this fancy thing from his Grandma and Grandpa Wells for Christmas, but it's only just started getting warm enough to pull it out. 

I tried to make the "wear-your-helmet-if-you-want-to-get-on-your-bike" rule the standard from the beginning, but all that happened were some crazy meltdowns and he never got on the bike. So, I figured I'd let him experience it first and realize it's fun and then I'll throw in the helmet rule. For now, this is what the helmet is for.

It looks like his feet are long enough, but only one can touch a pedal at a time, so let's hope for a leg growth spurt by the end of the summer.

FYI: Rubi did not like the bike. Didn't get a picture of that, though.

Six Months

I'm a little late, but Rubi has now been with us half a year. 

She is absolutely the sweetest baby. She lives and breathes for people to look and smile at her. She just wants someone to watch and occasionally pat. She pats Phil's arm when he holds her, and she pats Gabe's head or leg while they sit next to each other. Sometimes Gabe will even reach out and hold her hand, and then they'll sit there contentedly holding hands for awhile.

She still spends most of her time on her back since she's not sitting yet. She'll flip over to watch Wall-E with Gabe or to grab her beloved Piglet, but other than that she stays belly up. She'll lift her legs as high as she can, hold them in the air for a moment, and then slam them down as hard as possible. Over and over again. It sounds a little like pounding on the door. 

Rubi's in to squealing lately. This high-pitched scream/squeal. She just does it when she's happy. There's no stopping it. But, it's so cute. 

As soon as someone approaches her, especially while in her crib after waking up from bed or a nap, she starts breathing heavy and pumping her arms and legs as her mouth explodes into a grin.

Hates eating real food. Really really hates it. She either purses her lips or sticks her tongue out far and seals her lips around it so the spoon won't fit in her mouth. We've tried plain cereal, cereal mixed with vegetables or fruit, plain vegetables, plain fruit, warmed, cold, thick, thin. Nothing. If any food does slip past her obstacles it is efficiently gagged and spurted and spit right back out of the mouth. Even normal feeding (the bottle) is a chore with her too. She has to decide for herself that it's time to eat. And, no distractions. I can't tell you how many bottles I've made or warmed up, even when she's clearly starving, only to sit down and have her gag and choke and push it out with that crazy tongue of hers. With all this eating headache, however, she is gaining weight like a champ. So, no worries. And her height and head size are in the 98th % for her age!

She loves to suck on clothes, especially shirts and dresses that she can pull up to her mouth.

Rubi is so sweet and lively and aware of everyone around. She makes anyone near her want to smile and be happy!

Midgets and their Mom

Happy Mothers Day to all you moms! 

Here are the three of us after church, all with tired eyes. That was Rubi's Mothers Day gift to me: a nap snuggled right up next to her, her baby breath in my face. I love baby breath. Until they start eating solids, which Rubi still doesn't do without gagging everything up, so we're good in the breath department. Gabe's gift to me was two whole cups of vegetables, both last night and this afternoon, right in the mouth and down the chute. We're so hard-pressed to get him to eat anything, so the fact that he was clamoring for handfuls of the greens whilst they were sitting right next to a plateful of warm sugar cookies was quite a gift indeed. I love these two and their quirky personalities!

This next picture really captures those quirks.

Gabe's eyes and Rubi's pointy tongue both searching the floor. Love love love them!

Hope you all are spending a nice warm day, loving yours as well!