A sweet little surprise at the end of this update

Robbie is 18 months old!  

I got one good picture with Hippy (out of the 2 I was able to snap before Robbie ended the photo shoot by quickly dismounting the glider).  I used to have to repeatedly prop him up in the chair to get a good shot - now I have to try and bribe him to stay put long enough to just take a picture!

This is pretty much how life is right now - still a challenge, just in new and different ways.  Completely rewarding and worth all the effort though!

At Robbie's 18 month well visit, he checked out beautifully and even surprised the doctor by counting to ten!  To balance things out, mommy was gently reminded that paci's should only be used at nighttime and by his second birthday the ends should be clipped so that Robbie discards them on his own completely.  This, just on the heels of Robbie's new favorite activity of asking for his 'Papi!' all day long.  Great.  

Between you and me, the paci's aren't going anywhere until he's done teething!  They're the only thing that he really chews on to help his teeth break through his gums.  He has all 8 of his front teeth (4 on top, 4 on bottom), his 4 molars, and is midway through cutting all of his eye teeth.  Brutal, but I'll be glad that the teething phase will be over soon!

His stats were:

Weight - 28 lbs 8 oz, 81st percentile

Height - 35 inches, 98th percentile

Head circumference - 19 3/4 inches, 96th percentile

Pretty  much on track since birth, percentile-wise!

And...

Ellie is 3 months old!

She was more cooperative than Robbie when I had her pose for her growth picture with Hoppy.  I think some of it had to do with the fact that during this time she got 100% of my attention, which she loves!

Our sweet girl is getting so big - it is fun to watch her fill out a bit more and gain stability throughout her body.  She rarely bobbles her head, and has begun to use her hands to play with Jacque, a peacock that dangles from the handle of her car seat.  She has no interest in paci's but I'm still offering them.  (I know some moms try to avoid them, but I find them to be so helpful when quick comfort or quieting is necessary! And they never interfered with Robbie's sleeping, teeth or speech...)

She is sleeping through the night in her crib like a champ!  She goes to bed between 6:30pm and 8pm most nights, waking up around 4am or 5am for a quick bottle, and goes back to sleep until 7 or 8am.   Napping is pretty haphazard but that's my fault.  She doesn't seem to present any sort of routine, nor does she fall into one when I try... so she sleeps when and where she can, car seat or crib.  This will change soon as she gets a little older, and also as the weather gets worse and we're home more during the day.  If I tried to stay  home for all of Robbie's AND her napping needs, we'd never get out.  It doesn't seem to affect her disposition, which I'm thankful for.  She's such an easy baby.

She still smiles and coos at us anytime we pay attention to her, and is starting to get very active when we lay her on her back (especially during diaper changes).  She loves to kick and stretch, and I have a feeling that once she is able to move on her own, I'm going to be in a lot of trouble.

We're still not sure who she looks like, but our latest observation is that she looks a bit like uncle Brad around the eyes.

Since Ellie's birth, we have not felt comfortable attempting the big-brother-hold.  We can barely keep Robbie from crushing Ellie just when he's near her.  Thus, we have a limited number of pictures to date of both kids together.  But this morning he seemed rested, focused, a bit more gentle than usual, and interested in what Ellie was up to.  And I really want to have pictures of them together as they grow.  

So I held my breath and said a prayer for Ellie's life as I sat them next to each other on the glider...

And Robbie gently reached down to hold on to his little sister's hand.