Let it snow!

Well, we have been very busy around here, as you may have guessed due to the lack of blog posts! Paige's little brother, Adam Joseph, entered the world on Thurs Oct 16th at 8 lbs 8 oz and 20.5 inches long. He is growing so fast! I can't believe we marked his two-month birthday yesterday!

We had visits from all the grandparents after Adam's birth. We're so happy they got to meet him, and so grateful for their help with all the daily chores of life (like cooking, dishes, and laundry!), which I took a hiatus from while nursing Adam every 2- 3 hours, and sleeping in one-hour intervals. Ugh. Fortunately, he is eating a little less often, so I now have time to fix the occasional meal (hot dogs and macaroni and cheese counts as "cooking", right?!).

Adam started smiling about two weeks ago. He now has a couple of "happy times" every day, when he likes to stare at the nearest human face, smile, and coo. As sleep-deprived parents, we are eating this up! It is so exciting to have him interacting with us!

During our blog silence, we also celebrated Paige's second birthday. Photos below. Paige has caught on to the gift tradition & is now eagerly looking forward to Christmas! Among her favorite birthday gifts were the magic-writer doodle tablet (think etch-a-sketch, but with a magnetic pen) and her refrigerator alphabet letters ("L, L says LLLL! Every letter makes a sound and L says LLLL!"). She likes to play letters first thing in the morning while I'm fixing breakfast. Some days, that first cup of coffee can't come soon enough! On a positive note, she memorized the alphabet song after having this new toy only two days. She can now sing her ABC's even if she doesn't know what they all mean yet.

The title of this post refers to the six inches or so of snow we've gotten in the past 24 hours. Paige loves playing in the snow, although she dislikes wearing mittens. This causes a problem, so we limit our snow time to short stretches.

Paige continues to make us laugh on a daily basis. Her latest trick is to say how much she LOVES everything. "Paige LOVES Elmo!" "Paige LOVES Play-Doh!" "Paige LOVES baby Adam!" Of course, that always make us smile!

She is also still imitating much of what we say and do. The other day, I was cleaning the bathroom while Paige watched. The next morning, we had this conversation:
Paige: Paige need the big brush.
Mom: What big brush?
Paige: Paige need the big brush.
Mom: What do you need the big brush for?
Paige: To clean the toilet! Paige wanna clean the toilet!

Paige got a kitchen for her birthday

Paige loved her birthday cake

Family of Four

Adam dressed as a cat on Halloween

Paige as a duck and Adam's first Halloween

On Books & Reading

I'll have to stretch just a little to make this post about Paige (see promo below).
Paige is currently requesting the following to be read to her (over & over again):
Ten Apples Up on Top (Dr. Seuss)
Just In Case You Ever Wonder (Max Lucado) - note Paige calls this book "God"
Any of the Sweet Pickles books (Jacquelyn Reinach and Richard Hefter)
Whistle for Willie (Ezra Jack Keats)


Promo for Open Books:
Are your bookshelves bursting at the seams? Do you have books you'd like to donate to a good cause? Open Books is making it easier than ever for gently used books to benefit others by presenting The Great American Book Drive™. Let us find your used books a new home! A large percent of the profits from their sale will fund reading programs in the local Chicago community. It's about literacy, not landfill.
Sunday, October 26
10 am - 4 pm
213 W. Institute Place
Chicago, IL 60610
Open Books Link

Grandma & Jaja's visit

Can't believe I didn't post about our visit from Grandma Joy & Grandpa Joe! Here are some highlights in pictures.

Cream Puff at the Wisc St Fair

Posing as Cows at the Wisc St Fair

Paige with mom, dad, grandma, and jaja

Paige with second cousin & new best bud Allison

Bathroom bonanza

If you are not a parent, you may want to skip this post-- it will be graphic!

Paige got her own potty at the beginning of the summer and began using it occasionally when prompted back in June. Then we remodeled our bathroom, and this threw her off for a while while the bathroom was under construction. Lately she has been trying again, with prompting. Today she went in her potty FOUR TIMES!! Three pees and a poop! I am SO PROUD!! Granted, it was only the poop where she told me she had to go. For the others, I just took off her pants & sat her on the potty at logical times (after nap, after dinner, etc). And she did the rest. She might be somewhat motivated by the new foaming Elmo soap that Dad bought her recently. She now LOVES to wash her hands with it. And I did reward her with watching a few episodes of Thomas and Friends tonight... We will have to think of alternate rewards besides TV, since there is a limit to that!

Zoo and Sneezes

Paige and her new nanny, Rose, went to the zoo yesterday. Paige came back chattering about monkeys, zebras, snakes, goats and more. The weather was great and they had so much fun! Paige found the bus ride to the zoo just about as exciting as the zoo itself. However, on the bus ride home, she fell asleep.

When I came back from my doctor's appointment this afternoon, I had a band-aid on my arm where I had a blood sample taken. Paige is fascinated with band-aids and immediately spotted mine. She reached for it and tried to pull it off, but I said "No, mama has a boo boo. I need to keep the band-aid on." Paige said "boo boo" several times, then bent her little head down and kissed my arm! Talk about melting my heart!

Tonight while I was fixing Paige a bedtime snack (of Cheerios and milk- what else?!), I sneezed. Her little voice said "bless you!" I was so surprised, I almost forgot to say "thank you!" Then she proceeded to repeat back to me "sneeze, bless you, thank you" several times to be sure I understood the sequence of events. She often signs "thank you" at the same time as she says it, for added effect. She is absorbing more every day - and not just words, but also their meaning. She is starting to make connections from books to real life, and from one situation to another. What a miracle and a joy to watch!