Crawling, Singing and Snacking

Man, these kids just don't stop growing, do they? Everyone's got a little bug today, so they're napping early (10am) and together. Hallelujia! New stuff:

 Eva's eating pieces of fruit

Jackson loves to sing

Eva's crawling now! She doesn't go far yet, but it won't take her long to figure out she can range.

IIts Bitsy Spider

Pictures won't upload right now, not sure why, but just listen to this sweet boy:

Fun With Boxes

I was going to be one of those parents who was strong and hardly ever let her kids watch TV. But then there's this thing that happens in our house. It's called morning. That's when you realize how many things need feeding all at once, not to mention clothing, tooth brushing, etc for the humans. It used to be I just did it with no electronic help, but kids eat fast in the morning. At least, faster than I can feed everything else, get the coffee maker going, make some breakfast myself and eat it. So now we have this:

Children being happily entertained while mom gets caffeinated.

Oh, and since we're playing with boxes:

What a good sport

Making The Best Of Things

While we all are missing our house, the place where we are staying is nice. The kids have found ways to have fun here:

Playing with curtains

Playing hide and seek

Hey, there's even room for horsie rides!

Babies Are Great Too

Exhibit A:

 Exhibit B:

Exhibit C:

Toddlers Are Great

Exhibit A

 Exhibit B

Exhibit C

That is all :)

What Do You Even Do All Day?

So, what else goes on here besides laundry? This:

This . . .

Mmm, snow with maple syrup!

 This . . .

Lots of this too . . .

And we get to play in this . . .

Have a great day everyone!

Busy, Busy, Busy

Has it really been a month already? Here's what we've been up to:

Digging out old toys . . .

Rolling around (sometimes all the way over) and babbling . . .

Playing and being silly . . .

Growing . . .

And cuddling . . 

We've also been busy training the new dog (he's a bit thick, but he's getting there, and we love him) and getting ready for Christmas, but that's another post. Oh, and laundry. Always lots and lots of laundry.

Two Eva Vids

Now, Jackson is plenty cute, but today it's going to be all about Eva:

Chatting up a storm

Ever blown in a baby's face? Yeah, me neither until today. She liked it! Watch how she inhales deeply when I blow on her.

New Video

Here are a couple of new videos for your viewing pleasure:

He's playing with a little plastic medicine cup. I love how absorbed he can become in playing with something totally boring to us grown ups

Eva playing on her play mat, laughing at her old mum

Sibling Love And Fashion Show

Time for more snuggly children:

What a proud big brother. What an adoring little sister. No matter what else happens in their lives, this will always be how their relationship was born.

And now for the fashion show. You know, when Eva was born, I would always say how happy the Nannies would be that they can buy little dresses and pink frilly stuff for Eva to wear, all the while acting like I was way to cool to buy into such foolishness, but would humour them. I have a confession to make.

I bought this. It's cute. I think I'll buy more. Yet another example of how being a parent is teaching me to get over myself.

Hopefully this will translate in the picture, this is Eva's after-bath fluffy down hair, which I love:

I think she's practicing her cover model shot. Or glam facebook profile pic. Already :D

Speaking of hair, I gave Jackson another homegrown bangs trim. Poor kid. Good thing he's cute anyway:

Sorry son. Practice makes perfect?

Look at those beautiful blue eyes! How did we make such beautiful-eyed children?

Another blue-eyed (at least for now) beauty

In Case You've Got The Cute Kid Munchies . . .

Nothing much new, just some new pics and video:

Not the greatest video, but I caught her cooing a little bit

What a goof! And aren't those pj's cute?

Beds and Swings

So there I was, having  break and looking up stuff on Pinterest, when I heard this coming from the bedroom:

Wow! The whole thing!

This had been going on for quite a while before I clued in, and Mr. Energizer Bunny kept on going for quite a while after, getting sillier and sillier each time:

I love how he has to finish it properly every time. That is so him.

I guess this explains the state of our bed, lmao!

In other news, I heard tell that babies did this, and I am so excited to have one that does:

She's sleeping. In. The. Swing.

 (Jackson had a love-hate relationship with the swing)

Two Kids Cuddling

Here is your "awwwww" for the day:

I will never get tired of this. This is lovely and magical, right here.

Compare that to a picture from when she was pretty new:

They grow so fast!

One Month Old

Hard to believe a whole month has gone by since Eva was born! She's gotten so much bigger, though I'm not sure if you can tell from the pictures, what do you think:

 About a week old

 About a month old

 Happy baby all bundled up after her bath

I wish I had a similar picture to compare this to, but here's how big she looks now while lying on her blanket (folded twice):

She's got some chipmunk cheeks goin' on

 She's getting so much stronger, too. It amazes me how much she can squiggle around and how well she can hold her head up. Check out little miss holding looking out the window:

Love when she snuggles like that

Look at those eyes!

 Jackson is still zooming around the place like the active two-year-old he is. If you're wondering why there's so many more pictures of Eva right now, it's because she holds still, lol! I just love how happy Jackson is, and how much he loves to run and play. Sometimes he has to slow down these days for Eva and his old mum, but he takes it all pretty much in stride.

 Look at the sparkle in his eyes, this kid wants to play!

 You can just tell he's ready to run again after this

Here's a new video of the kids playing. It's pretty much the same as the last one, but I know some of you just like seeing new videos (warning: toddler nudity)

 

Last but not least, I have a few more photos of my family when they came to visit:

Proud Grandma

 Auntie Mel and Uncle Chris meeting their new niece

Two Happy Kids

Ha! I found a way to get videos without Jackson knowing (then running up to see himself on the camera a split second later). Use the tablet!

(In all fairness, Cathie discovered this months ago and either Brian or Cathie suggested this to me, so all credit to them. It's just that I finally remembered to try it. I think this happens a lot.)

Just before I started recording this first video, Jackson had grabbed the bead maze and brought it over to Eva to show her - so sweet!

You can see how he's also showing her how cool it is to weave the ball in and out of stuff, then kind of gets into it himself

This was just a really sweet moment: two kids happily doing their own thing, followed by cuddles. Man, Jackson loves his little sister!

If You're Happy And You Know It . . .

Too cute!

Jackson's Still Lifes

One of Jackson's favourite things right now is to play "raid the pantry". He loves taking everything out and putting it on the table and chairs. I affectionately call these groupings "Jackson's still lifes".

The artist at work

 Still Life 1

Still Life 2

Random Cuteness

I know, I know, it's been a long time. I do have a bunch of cute videos and pictures downloaded, though. I plan on working through them in the next couple of days and doing a bunch of posts to catch up, but here goes today's dose of random cuteness:

Why is he cackling madly? Only baby knows, but is it ever cute!

 Finger painting

Running around laughing and screaming with his

hat on crooked during nakey-bum time

 Sitting in his favourite big chair, like a big boy

Long Update

Boy, lots going on lately! More posts to come, but here's a quick one highlighting some of the things we did this past couple of weeks:

Jackson got a big haircut:

Before, playing with the new clipper

Such nice clippers. So quiet, it's like getting your hair brushed.

After, striking a teenager face already with his grown-up hair.

His new haircut does look really cute (and fixes the botched scissor job I did), but I admit that I miss the long baby locks already.

If that wasn't enough, a couple of days later it snowed, and Jackson had his first play in the snow. He loves it!

Beachballs: not just for the beach :D

Also, we found a way to keep Ben happy over the winter. We don't have enough time during the daylight hours to go for big walks any more, so Ben was getting restless (he likes to have a job). As a plus, it makes the baby happy (and entertains the neighbours):

Is there anything this dog can't do??

(In case you're wondering, I got the instructions off the internet how to make shafts for the cart so Ben won't get hit in the bum going downhill, and I modified a harness that I bought from the  pet store. I got some really funny looks wandering around Home Depot with a 10' electrical conduit, plumbing couplings and a baggie of various hardware (I think I even saw a couple people actually turn around and stare like, "lady, WHAT the heck are you doing?") lol.)

And of course, when he's not getting his haircut, playing in the snow or getting wagon rides from the dog, Jackson happily keeps busy doing all sorts of other things:

Imagine how happy he'll be when he gets his first trike

Sometimes mom's pants hanger is way cooler than all of his toys