4 months old

Eli is four months old now, and on a whim I decided he needed to eat cereal. I was going to hold off for another month, but I had visions of a full nights sleep clouding my judgement. Turns out, he didn't like it anyway and spit it all out. My heart dropped a little with each spoonful of food that landed on his bib. I knew he wouldn't make it until morning to eat. After talking with his Dr., we decided to indeed, wait another month or two. Since his sibling has all those allergies, he's much more prone to developing them as well. The longer I wait to introduce food, the better his odds are that he will not develop food allergies.

















He's a big kid, this Eli. He is in the 83rd percentile for height and 71 for weight. And that's all from breast milk my friends. You'd think I'd be a skinny minnie, but mother nature is cruel and evil to me.
















All the kid wants to do is stand up. No tummy time, no sitting, just wants to stand. Enter, the jumperoo I bought on Craigslist for $30.
















Lucy calls this hat his helmet. She gets funnier by the day. Today she told me she wanted to go on a vacation when she woke up from her non existent nap. Which brings me to my next announcement. Apparently, I've completely lost my mind as we are planning to take Lucy to Disney World in December. Please feel free to either tell me what a fantastic idea that is, or shake me until I wake up from my sleep deprived fog.

Bangs

I didn't mention it, but I lost the war on bangs. Lucy's bangs were almost grown out, but they just hung in her face all day and made her look like an orphan. I cut them a few weeks ago, and am so glad. We don't have the daily battles surrounding rubber bands and barrettes.

Very Belated Halloween Photos

After I reluctantly purchased a Snow White costume, and then Lucy refused to even touch the dress once we got it home, I decided the costumes this year would be based on comfortable pajamas. Introducing the Tiger and the Zebra:



















And any attempts at a photo of the two of them together, smiling was out of the question. The candy high produced a kid who ran around outside for several hours before finally collapsing in bed after only two stories.

*Note - those are not our Halloween decorations, but Lucy sure did like the graveyard scene, complete with 'dinosaur bones' and 'babies', aka skeletons.

Eli and Lucy

Eli is very excited for his first square dance



















And Lucy just loves being outside

Super Kids

Lucy has been exceptionally well behaved lately. And, I don't want to jinx myself, but I've been getting more sleep than usual because a certain baby is now what I call, super baby.

I joined a gym, and Lucy likes it at the child care center! The earths axis must have tilted. Life is good!

Improvisational

Everyday life events....

Family Game Night
















My little 'helper' - in the biggest quotation marks available




















Lucy and Grandpa

















Clearly there is a plot in this book. But don't' worry, because I don't know what she is saying either. I catch a 'pillow', and a 'bathtub', but other than that, it's Lucy's smack talk. She channels another language when reading to herself.

Flip Videos

Lucy has been such fun lately, we decided we would like to document the unforgettable things that come out of her mouth. We bought a new flip video recorder and it's been our entertainment for the week. Below are two very short snippets. I'd love to post a video of the day, but that seems extremely optimistic. We'll see what happens.

Lucy just discovered car windows:



This is Eli's one and only trick:

Lucy is Freeeeeee (that's Three)

Creating a birthday cake for Lucy is always a little more difficult than for most kids. We can't just buy any old cake without dairy or eggs. So this year I found a REALLY amazing cake without any of her allergens. It was so good, all the adults couldn't believe the chocolate raspberry mouse cake they were eating was made without some very key ingredients. Only problem was that Lucy didn't like it. That cake was for the first party we had last weekend. So for her 'party' at school I made her special cupcakes. But for her official birthday cake, on her official birthday (yesterday), I made her a cake with all her favorites. Dora, icing, sprinkles, lollipops and candles - and she loved it. It's only taken me three years, but I think I finally got this birthday cake thing down. Happy Third Birthday Lucy!





















And what kind of party would it be if it didn't end with half naked people pretending to ice fish with their new Dora fishin' pole?

Siblings

The first smiles started appearing several days ago. Sweet baby Eli has a dimple on his left cheek - just like me.

















And the birthday celebrations begin. We have four birthdays in the span of a week, so there will be lots of cake and ice cream. Lucy froze when it came time to blow out her candles and needed a little help from her cousin. Lucy's official birthday is Friday, September 19th. The big 3.

First Day of New Preschool

Daily Rituals

Generally this is how we start out our day. Lucy isn't exactly a morning person. There is usually lots of crying and moaning and drama over something so small I can't even figure out what the problem is. Hopefully, after she has some breakfast, which is another whole story, she gets in a better mood.

















Whenever I want to put Eli in the car seat, this is what I find. Lucy is very adept at putting things into the car seats, correctly buckling AND tightening the straps. It's cute, but a little difficult to hold a baby and up buckle and loosen the straps with one hand.

























And then if we go somewhere twice in one day, I'll find this:

























This is where Eli currently sleeps. In a moses basket next to our bed. Lucy's old pink moses basket to be more specific. Do you think he'll be emotionally damaged when he knows this is where he spent the first several months of his life? I tell you, this boy is big, and soon he'll outgrow the basket. What you can't see here is poor Eli's bad rash caused by the hormones in breast milk. It should be gone soon. Until then, you don't want to see any close ups.

And finally, Lucy is usually her happiest, right before bed. Grandpa gave her this nightgown yesterday and she LOVES it. She's a night owl and gets into her groove about 30 minutes before bedtime. A time we deem completely reasonable for a two year old to go to bed, but one she disagrees with. And then we start the circle over again...

1 month

Happy one month birthday Eli. We are typical parents of a second child and I have no updated photo to post, nor time to make it happen. At least not today. I did want everyone to know though, that my one month old baby is already wearing clothes made for a 3-6 month old baby. He's HUGE and eats ALL the time. His head is as big as Lucy's - or so it seems.

Important News Flash Not About the Olympics or John Edwards!

We are proud to announce Lucy has decided it's time to loose those diapers and move on over to the potty. She has taken on this new task with determination. We are no longer buying the gigantic diapers, and she has graduated to only wearing big girl pants. We are still however, keeping the diaper companies in biz with Eli's frequent disposals. And he's as cute as ever...




















I'd include a photo or two of Lucy but she only seems to be running around the house naked. Every time I look up, she's stripped off her clothes - not good material for the internet...

Now weighing in at 9.2 pounds

Not much time to write these days. Eli gained an entire pound in ONE week. It seems all I do is breast feed and run interference with Lucy. Yep - that's my day!



















This is what happens when Lucy picks out her own 'pajamas' - those are tights.

Eli William Bonk

I'm not pregnant anymore! Baby Boy Bonk arrived Thursday, July 17th, 2008 at 7:26pm. He weighed in at a whopping 8 pounds, 2 ounces and 21 inches long.

So far, so good. He seems to be quiet and content. Lucy loves her new brother and can't keep her hands off of him.

For Curious Minds

I'm still pregnant. That's all I have to say.

Happy 4th

The town parade comes right by our house, and Lucy was ready to go! Now she thinks parades are something to get excited about, as we collected a bag full of candy.

The kitchen was finally completed, except for a few minor tasks. We have a light on order for over the kitchen sink, and the cabinet above the microwave still needs to be finished. The deck is also completed and has already proved to be extremely useful.


















Lucy is taking a nap, Ken is watching a movie and I'm waiting. Just waiting for this baby to be born.