Day One Hundred and Thirty.

My favorite Mother's Day gift this year... the potato masher of course has a certain...eh hem... significance...

Day One Hundred and Twenty Eight.

Jake and Ella watching a movie...(or more accurately Jake watching a movie and Ella taking the batteries out of the remote and hiding them in her cheeks...her favorite scoundrel-y activity).

Day One Hundred and Twenty Seven.

Jacob is my middle child through and through. He is always a character and keeps me on my toes. I must say "Jacob be careful!' 20 times a day (hour?). He is busy and active and fearless. On this particular night however he wasn't swinging a stick through the air, jumping from shelf to bed or tediously balancing across a rock wall...he was simply walking across the living room. Unfortunately there was a blanket on the floor that caught his feet and in an instant he went down, hitting his face full force on the wooden coffee table that is usually in the basement but was left after we brought it up for company. There is a certain kind of "crack" that you just know as soon as you hear it, is not good. I braced myself when I picked up screaming Jake for what I might find. It was as bad as I expected...blood...and teeth not positioned where theywere a moment earlier. A trip to the ER confirmed that his lip, while bitten did not need stitched and his teeth were going to need further treatment. The next morning I brought him to the dental surgeon who had him in his office and under anesthetic within ten minutes. I barely had time to digest the news...his four front teeth could not be saved. They were damaged down to the root. He got my reluctant permission to pull them all.
Poor Jake. He was so swollen and bruised and sore but he was back at the park the next morning sliding head first down the slide like nothing had happened at all. He has mastered the art of side chewing and still looks awfully cute with his new gummy grin. An early visit from the tooth fairy sealed the deal (and she even brought a little something for the almost 6 year old in our home who has been counting down the days until a loose tooth and was a little disappointed to find out that his 3 year old brother beat him to it by 4 teeth!).

Day One Hundred and Twenty Six.

Handsome Ben.

Day One Hundred and Twenty Five.

We went to see an outdoor children's concert and Jake brought his best moves. He loves to dance! Ella loved it too!

Day One Hundred and Twenty Four

Ben is very into bugs. He has a resource book with description of more bugs I knew existed. When he spies a new species he quickly marks it in his book, draws it and adds it to his collection. I love his phonetic spellings of "Fewi" (fly) and "Buttr fry...spelled how HE pronounces them.

Day One Hundred and Twenty Three.

 This little blond curly top has her Daddy wrapped pretty tightly around her pudgy little finger. She wants him first thing in the morning and the last thing at night. He dresses her for the day and rocks her to sleep at night. The moment he walks through the door from work you can hear her squealing little voice and the thump of her knees hitting the floor as she tries to get to the door as fast as she can. And Big-D loves every second of it!

Day One Hundred and Twenty Two.

All set to tee-off! Ben has expressed a lot of interest in golf this year so we got him his first kids set. He has been perfecting his putt in the backyard an is very excited to go to his first golf course...which may be a mini-putt to start...we'll see how he does there:)

Day One Hundred and Twenty One.

A dose of adorable....

Day One Hundred and Twenty.

Is there anything cuter than a little three year old and his trike?
Jake loves his little trike. He likes to watch his feet as he peddles as fast as he can. He washes it and places it just so in its designated spot in the garage. He stops to admire it everytime we pass it on our way in or out. Often he will stop to adjust the wheels. He bought it himself with his Christmas and Easter money. We bought it second hand and the woman was almost teary eyed as she struggled with the sweetness of Jake in his shy excitment handing her his little baggie of twonies after a test run in her driveway. Oh my little Jakey...these are the moments I wish I could freeze.

Day One Hundred and Nineteen.

I started to panic a little when I couldn't find Jacob after I went into to check on the boys. I looked everywhere! Or so I thought...I saw some little toes that finally gave him away, curled up under our bed and sound asleep.

Day One Hundred and Eighteen.

We have waited a long time for weather like this! Ella was interested enough in the sprinkler to not freak out at touching the grass, as is her usual reaction. The boys always love water, they were asking for the sprinkler in January so after several long months, we were happy to pull it out and celebrate with a couple of freezies! Summer is just around the corner!

Day One Hundred and Seventeen.

Ten Months Old!

1- Ella is BUSY. This girl never stops moving. She is curious and inquisitive and loves to explore.
2- She loves to eat. She enjoys....well...everything. She likes chilli and lasagna, chicken soup, sweet potatoes, avacado, carrots, broccoli, chickpeas and quinoa. So far she hasn't rejected very much. She didn't really eat pureed foods...she just dove into the same dinner everyone else was eating.
3- She only drinks bottles of formula now. She is way too squirmy and has far too many teeth to keep nursing. I am not even really sure when it stopped, I just realized one day that it had been awhile and she didn't really seem to care or notice.
4- Ella naps for three hours every afternoon and sleeps for 13 hours at night. She usually wakes up once...Daddy can be found rocking her at 3 am. She has his him pretty tightly wound around her pudgy little finger.
5- She LOVES her brothers. When she sees them in the morning she squeels and kicks her legs and lunges for them. They adore her equally.
6- She says "Mama" "Dada" Uh-Oh" "up" and "mo" (more).
7- Ella claps, high fives and waves.
8- She has a drawer in the kitchen that used to house the tupperware. Now it is empty which saves her the job of doing it evertime, she simply likes to climb in and out of it. She sits in it and watches whats going on in the kitchen. It is a good little nest for her. She doesn't miss anything from her drawer.
9- She likes to pick out her clothes. The boys have NEVER cared what I put on them. Little Miss-E on the other hand is a whole lot of personality and a whole lot of knowing what she wants. We will stand in front of her closet in the morning and she will reach for a dress...If I take it off the hanger she is visiably excited, if I pick something else and take the dress of her choice out of her hand she will arch her back and screach at me. ....And so it begins...
10- Ella will not tolerate hats and bibs and hair bows now.  Sigh. All three of these things would greatly benefit both of us. But no. The tantrum the ensues the moment any one of these things comes into her line of vision is something to be wittnessed. The hat is non negotiable but I have to put it back on her no less than 100 times a morning. The last time I put a little sticky bow in her hair, which apprently she is over, I put her in the car in her carseat only to return moments later with it snatched out of her hair, unravelled and half eaten. Point taken.

Ella is a spunky little happy ball of energy. She is a joy to be around. She loves life and her enthusiasm for...everything...is contagious. She is such a treasured little member of our family. We love you Ella Joy!

Day One Hundred and Sixteen.

Jacob, Jacob, Jacob.
This is a boy who keeps me on my toes. He is as tough as he is sensitive. He is as aggressive as he is sweet. He is as eager to please as he is defiant. He is a tough little cookie to crack. Jake has a mind of his own and wants what he wants when he wants it. He loves to be outside. He stays outdoors all day long when the weather allows it, going from the playground to the driveway to the backyard and back again. His favorite thing is the sand and construction trucks and his lawnmower of course. He will sit in a swing as long as someone will push him. Even as a baby, he loved the outdoors. Terrified of bees though.
Jake enjoys his meals. There isn't much that he won't eat and I am astonished at the amount he can eat. Often he will finish what Ben doesn't...which is saying a lot because his brother is not lacking in appitite either. He is very funny and energetic. Hurt feelings can quickly turn to aggression but Jake's primary emotion is happiness. It always has been. He is quick with a grin and there is just something so relaxed and laid back about him. He loves to laugh. Unless he is mad...and then....watch out!

Last week I was upstairs. I needed an hour to clean the playroom which looked like a bomb had gone off and I wanted to sort out some of the toys. I put on a movie for the boys and told them to stay downstairs with their snack. Not long afterwards Ben came slowely up the stairs.
"Uhhhhh Mommy. You might wanna come downstairs..."
This is never good.
I smelled it before I saw it.
The potty was out. Jake doesn't really use the potty. But Ben had taken it on himself to teach him. 2 pee spots on the living room floor told me it wasn't immeidatly successful. The evidence of a bowel movement on the carpeted stair landing told me it was actually a total failure. But the most shocking thing was the potato masher Jake decided to use to REALLY mash it into the carpet. It took me 40 minutes to clean the carpet...20 minutes to clean Jake and another few to wipe up the pee. The masher went in the garbage.
And these stories my sweet, poop mashing Jake...are the ones I am saving for days like...oh I don't know...first dates? Wedding?

Day One Hundred and Fifteen.

If somone needs a hand with anything Jake is your guy. He loves a job. Today he was helping Daddy put down some grass seed. While he was watering two of our neighbours came out to tell him what a good job he is doing! He grinned and then quickly became shy and looked down but we saw the hint of a smile remain.

Day One Hundred and Fourteen.

The swing! Always the most popular toy!

Day One Hundred and Thirteen

Silly Girl! Ella is developing her sence of humour and she is learning that being silly gets a laugh...again and again and again. One of our favorite things she does is when we are holding her she will bend her neck up so she is face to fece with us and will grin as though to ask "what are we doing now!? ". She also scrunches up her nose, bares her lips and breathes through her nose like she is sniffing. It is the funniest face. She will do it to strangers at the store or the playground and no one can help but laugh at her.