The Boys Today

Little Animals

Our church buddies at the zoo this morning. They are roaring like lions!

Can you see it?

I've been trying to get a picture of Eli's tooth for a couple days now. You might be able to see it in this picture (it's his left lower front tooth). Unfortunately, I took a few too many pictures for Eli's taste and ended up with this.

Doesn't this look like a Lizzie frown?

Pictures from Papa

Just a few somewhat recent pictures from Papa's camera. The first two are from our Las Vegas trip. The second two are from Papa and Gigi's recent visit.

I love this picture of Aunt Kristin, Jack, and Julianne holding Eli. You can tell Eli loves being the center of attention.

Cousins on the go.

Papa feeding Eli. Eli takes his meals seriously.

Visiting the airplanes.

Someone get this boy a toothbrush!

Yes, this boy. Eli has been a little crabby the last few days. I hadn't really thought anything about it until last night. I stuck my finger in his mouth, and there it was, poking through. It's his lower left front tooth. Clayton got his first tooth at 6 1/2 months, so I really wasn't expecting to find anything, but there's definitely a little tooth in there. I see steak in his future.

Milestones

Um, Eli rolled over last Friday. Surprisingly, he went from tummy to back, the direction I'd never seen him attempt. I thought it was a fluke, but he's done it several more times since then, so I guess that's not a fluke. I have definitely not encouraged this behavior, as I love having a child that stays in one place. Maybe he'll forget how to do it. I'm not ready for my baby to do such things.

In other news, I hesitate to jinx anything, but Clayton is rolling through potty training. He's pretty reliable now when he's awake. We haven't worked on naps or nights yet, but he's pretty good otherwise. We buckled down about a month ago, and he's done really well. We were out and about most of Tuesday, and although there were a couple of false alarms, the undies stayed dry the whole day. I want to thank everyone who gave me their potty training advice. I was so nervous, especially after trying last fall and Clayton being absolutely terrified of the potty. It's been somewhat easy this time. He just wasn't ready last fall, but he's definitely a big boy now.

If you're looking for a good potty book, this one did it for us. They have it for girls as well. Oh, my reading recommendations sure have stooped to a new low.

The boys are both growing up.

Celebrating Clayton's Big Three

We celebrated Clayton's birthday last night with a few friends. We had pizza and an ice cream cake, and Clayton had a great time. He's definitely a fan of opening gifts these days, and he wasted no time getting them all opened last night. We had a Disney Cars theme. I decided to order a cake this year, and I specified a Cars cake. Well, it came with all red and black icing. Wow. That was a mess. I'm worried there could be a few men in flight suits walking around with black lips this morning. Sorry guys. We won't do that again. At least it tasted pretty good. Other than the messy cake, we had a great time, and Clayton has enjoyed playing with a few new toys this morning.

The messy, yet yummy, cake

The moment before Clayton grabbed a nice chunk of the aforementioned black icing

Clayton and his buddy William

Because I haven't posted enough today...

Clayton reading to "Bay-he E-yi" (Eli) this morning. I love it.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! I can't believe Easter has come and gone. Time has been flying these last few months. Saturday night we dyed eggs with Clayton for the first time. He had so much fun. I tried to do as much as I could while making him think he was doing it all by himself. I was quite terrified, but Clayton cooperated completely, and there was no mess. We dyed a dozen eggs, and I thought they turned out really nice. Plain and simple is just right.

On Sunday, Ryan had to be to church early to play in the orchestra, so I got the kids up and ready and out the door by myself. After church we gave the boys their Easter baskets. We put Eli down for a nap, and I hid a bunch of Easter eggs around the living room. I had hoped to do this outside, but the weather was really yucky. Anyway, Clayton had the time of his life finding all those eggs, and it's definitely a game we'll have to do again. In the evening we enjoyed our Easter ham, and Clayton enjoyed the potato casserole. Yeah for those calories!

I love that Easter is always near the beginning of spring. Somehow, celebrating the resurrection at the time of year when the weather is beginning to warm up and the plants are showing some signs of life again is so refreshing. It helps remind me of the fresh start we have because our Savior has risen.

Colin's Easter Lily

Papa and Gigi

Last week we were so happy to have Ryan's parents, Papa and Gigi, out to visit us. Clayton was so excited. I try to pump these things up in advance to give him something to look forward to. Anyway, we started talking about their visit about a week ahead of time. A few days before they came, Clayton mentioned Papa. I asked him if he wanted Papa to come visit.

"Yeah. ZheeZhee?" (Gigi)

"Yes, Gigi is coming too."

Long pause.

"Dat?" (Cat)

"No, Clayton. Their cat is not coming."

Just checking, I guess. You know he would have been in heaven if they had brought that cat, who, by the way, really doesn't seem to care much for Clayton.

Anyway, we had a good time with the grandparents. Ryan and I were able to abuse them a couple times, taking advantage of some free babysitting, a great blessing. Ryan and Papa were able to attend their first NBA game, and we were all able to go out to the base to learn a bit about Ryan's work. Other than that, there was just a lot of hanging around and surviving the cold front that blew through here. I will say that Papa and Gigi have developed quite a habit of bringing bad weather with them. I'm remembering down pours, extreme highs, and now unseasonable cold. Thanks guys. Lucky for us the morning they left was beautiful, and we were able to get a short stroll through Bricktown. Hopefully we can take them back down there the next time they come.

Unfortunately, I didn't get many, um any, pictures on my camera, but I'll try to round up some off of Papa's camera and post them later.

Happy Birthday Clayton!

Birthdays are a milestone for every child, but Clayton's birthdays are also a time of reflection for our family. Three years ago, almost exactly a year after Colin's death, we returned to Stanford facing the reality that our second baby may not survive. We walked back into the same unit where we spent eight months with Colin. Most of the nurses, doctors, and staff were the same. Many of the families at the Ronald McDonald House were the same. It was devastating to be back in the world of sick kids. Although Clayton has had a couple of bumps with his HLHS, we know how very lucky he is and how very lucky we are to have him with us today.

Birthday, April 10, 2006

April 14, 2006

Four days old, Post-Norwood, chest open... too graphic for this post, hence the gauze

July 27, 2006

3.5 months old, Post-Glenn with incredible swelling

First birthday, April 10, 2007

(This was just the beginning of the cake disaster.)

Second birthday, April 10, 2008

(Um, Wendy, couldn't you find a better picture? Um, nope, that's about as good as it gets.)

We're so grateful for Clayton's good health since his last surgery. His next surgery, the Fontan, is always looming in the back of our minds, but for now, we're just focusing on the present and loving every minute. This morning I got the boys up, and we threw on clothes and headed down to the grocery store, where Clayton selected a Sesame Street balloon and a chocolate covered donut. We headed back home and had a special birthday breakfast. Clayton was so thrilled when I, with my most beautiful singing voice, sang Happy Birthday to him.

Third birthday, April 10, 2009

I was surprised that he knew exactly what to do with those candles.

We are planning to have a very small get together one evening this week to celebrate with a few of our friends. Clayton has requested pizza, and we'll have cake and ice cream that night. We gave him our birthday gift when Ryan got home this afternoon. Clayton loves bikes, so we thought it was time to get a tricycle. He's also obsessed with our bike helmets, so he needed one of his own as well.

Trying out the new trike.

Clayton's never pedaled anything, so that's going to take a little time to learn. In the meantime, do you remember the episode of Friends where Phoebe gets the new bike, but she doesn't know how to ride it, so she pushes it all around town? Yeah, that's the scene here. Apparently it's just as exciting and a lot less frustrating to just push it around. Either way, it's a hit.

Happy birthday Clayton! I love you so much. Nothing brightens my day like love from my punkin.

Four Months Old

Is it really true? Yes, Eli was four months old yesterday. I can't believe it. Everything is going great with our little man. He's a super easy going baby, as long as he's fed every two to three hours. He's still demanding those frequent feedings during the day, but it's hard to complain when he's sleeping around eleven hours each night. We usually get Clayton down around 8pm, and then Eli goes down between 9 and 10pm. Clayton is up at 8am, and Eli is up around 9am. It's working out really well. We're slowly working on shifting Eli to the 8pm to 8am schedule, and then I will have my evenings back. Daytime naps are a different story, but at least the nights are going well.


In the fun news, Eli is such a social baby. He LOVES to talk. If you talk to him, he'll talk to you. He's perfecting the lip buzzing and the high pitched squealing. He's also been doing a lot of what I call "hee-haw" laughing. He just cracks himself up at least a couple times a day. I'm never sure what's so funny, but apparently it's absolutely hilarious. Eli is also working really hard to roll over. He's so close to getting from his back to his tummy. I'm not really sure why he wants to do this, as he hates tummy time, but he's sure working on it. I think he just wants to go somewhere. He's also very much into baby toys these days. Everything goes straight into the mouth for the taste test.

Get into my belly!

Eli had his four month well baby appointment this morning. I'm still having a hard time getting accustomed to only taking my child to the doctor once every two months. The appointments are so quick, and I don't even pack an overnight bag, just in case he gets admitted. It's really easy. Our doctor listened and listened and said everything sounded great (don't think I won't be having Clayton's cardiologist give a listen next month, just to be sure). Eli weighed 13 lbs, 3 oz (16th %) and was 25 inches long (54%), so a little light with average height. He got his four month shots, and then we were off.

Eli is such a sweet baby, and we are so blessed by his good health. We're also lucky that Clayton is such an excellent big brother. He loves and loves on Eli all day long, and he's usually willing to be Mommy's helper when I need it. I sure do love these boys. They're pretty sweet.

Reading stories before bedtime

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