Isla walks!!!

Isla has been super nervous with walking.  She has insisted on holding one of our hands (never two!) for a month or more now, even though she probably didn't need to.  She really dislikes falling on her butt.  This past week or so (10.5months) I'd say she's walking on her own about 50% of the time.  She still crawls when she wants to go quickly.  Or she'll walk until she loses her balance and then crawl the rest of the way.  She gets a big proud smile when you cheer for her as she walks.  :)  My baby is getting so big!!!!!

Eleanor is 3!

Honestly, Eleanor at 3 is very similar to Eleanor at 2.5.  For awhile now she's been a GREAT talker and she is great at pretending.  She loves to sing and she loves babies (real or dolls!).  Eleanor is a big girly girl, and loves wearing high heels, necklaces, dress up dresses, and getting her nails painted.  She is really excited to start going to Children and Worship with Bennett instead of nursery now that she is officially 3.  Eleanor LOVES playing with Bennett, Maya and Cora.  She likes to play "Mommy and Daddy" (aka House).  She reminds me a lot of my sister, because she can be so sweet and sensitive but can have a hard shell if she's upset about something.

Eleanor was very excited for her birthday which was fun!  We started the day with donuts with sprinkles from our favorite bakery.  Then we visited Della for awhile which was a special treat for Elle.  Della is super patient with Eleanor and lets her hold her for a long time (unlike Isla, lol).  We had pizza and movie night for dinner (Moana).  She loved opening her presents and having us sing Happy Birthday to her.  

Eleanor also loves being outside, going on errands with Mommy or Daddy, and baking with me.  She LOVES snacks and I'd call her a "grazer".... she isn't great at eating the family dinner, depending on what it is.  She still loves fruit, meat, and goldfish crackers.  She likes pizza too.  Still not a fan of milk and prefers water over any other drink.   Eleanor loves to do whatever Bennett is doing.  I think she will LOVE school next year!  She is also newly obsessed with Frozen and the Disney Princesses.  Her 3rd birthday party theme is going to be Frozen!

At 3, Eleanor sleeps 7:30pm-6:30am most days, and she no longer takes a nap.  She is 100% potty trained day and night, and she sleeps in a toddler bed still (since she was 2!).  Eleanor falls asleep fairly quickly and must be tucked in with her babies tucked in a specific way too.  She also still likes to have her little lovey blanket with her for sleeping and playing because she covers her baby dolls up with it. :)  This means we often can't find it when we need it which can put us all into a panic, lol.  

Eleanor will watch some TV, but she's not as into it as Bennett is.  If someone is watching with her and she can snuggle she'll watch longer.  Her favorite shows are Doc McStuffins, Goldie & Bear, Spirit, and she LOVES movies/movie night.  Her favorite movies are Frozen, Tangled, Moana, and Boss Baby.  We recently saw her first movie in the theater (The Star) and she loved it and did great!  We read books every night before bed.  Ben and Elle each get to pick one.  Eleanor loves the Llama Llama books and David books.  She has a few easier books memorized and likes to say the words she knows.  When we pray at night, Eleanor always thanks God for "babies and blankies and nukies."  Lol :)

We love this sweet special spunky girl so much!  She is so smart and sassy but can also be so super sensitive.  I cannot wait to watch her grow and learn.  She's going to absolutely LOVE 3k next year, and I think she's going to love singing/dancing as she grows older too.  I'm excited to try some park and rec programs with her this summer!

Happy birthday sweet Eleanor!

Christmas!

We sort of rearranged our usual Christmas plans this year so that we could go to church on C
hristmas Eve here at our home church, and open gifts at home Christmas morning.  It was so nice!  Eleanor and Bennett both came to the candlelight service instead of nursery.  It did get a little long for them both but they LOVED the singing and candle part.  After church we had some Christmas cookies and the kids got to open their presents to each other.

Christmas morning we opened gifts, had a yummy breakfast, and then packed up and headed to Oostburg!  Each child got 5 gifts, which was a new thing I tried this year and really liked!  They all got an ornament, then something they need/to read/to wear/want.  It was a good thing I did it this way because Bennett counted the gifts and made sure they all had the same amount. :)  Bennett got some new art supplies, a camping ornament, a Packer winter hat (like dad!), a Look and Find book, and a mouse coding game (dad's pick!).  Eleanor got an Elsa/Frozen ornament, an outfit, a Princess magnetic doll book, a new water bottle, and a cabbage patch doll.  Isla got a 1st Christmas ornament, a sleeper, a new sippy cup, some new board books, and a carseat toy.  She was not really into opening gifts this year, so the kids opened hers for her.  Brad got Marquette tickets and I got an Instant Pot!  So fun!

Adorable baby in her Christmas jammies!!! <3 i="" nbsp="">

Playing Bennett's new game, Outfoxed.  It's a cooperative game which is so fun!

In Oostburg for Christmas we always open gifts and then do appetizer night, which I love and look forward to!  Brad's dad makes a delicious slush drink and hot ham/cheese sandwiches.  The always get the kids (and us!) too many presents but you can tell they love to do it.  Eleanor was very excited to get her own pink camera just like Bennett's!  They also both loved their new hooded bath towels.  Bennett got some Kid K'nex that he plays with a lot already.  He loves to look at the directions and make it exactly, and he also likes to make up his own things.

Visiting Great Grandma

Bennett was absolutely SO EXCITED for Christmas this year and it was just so fun.  He loved helping me decorate the house and tree, make Christmas cookies, and wrap presents.  He was a little sad when it was time to take everything down and is already asking when it'll be Christmas again.  He was so proud to do some crafts and coloring and wrap his own "gifts" for people.  He was VERY excited to find the pickle and has been practicing so he can beat Uncle Casey when we go to GB this weekend to celebrate.  Most mornings, Bennett would wake up, we'd turn the tree lights on, and he would just sit and look at it, or maybe sing Oh Christmas Tree.  It was so so adorable.  This boy gets very excited about special things.  Eleanor liked opening presents and decorating cookies, but she wasn't quite as into things as Bennett was.  Elle and Isla go to bed a little earlier than Bennett lately so we often play games/decorate/etc during his special time with us.

Such a nice Christmas!!!  And now we are all sick with colds/coughs/congestions.......

Ben's School Christmas Program

Bennett's big program for school was Thanksgiving, but for Christmas they did a little progra
m in their classroom.  They invited one parent and younger siblings to attend.  My friend Melissa watched Isla so that I could actually enjoy it.  Eleanor came because Bennett really really wanted her to!  They did a bunch of songs and poems and also had some snacks and cookies for us.  Bennett had made us each a little cookie which was so adorable.  He was really proud to give them to us. :)  His teacher is just amazing and so patient with these high energy kiddos!  She does a lot of really fun and creative things with them.  You can tell Bennett listens to her so carefully and wants to do everything perfectly.  It's really cute but I can see that it could cause him some anxiety/stress as he gets older.  We're working on learning that sometimes failing is okay too - just try again!

Church Christmas Program

Bennett had his church Christmas program last night, and he was so so so excited for his whole family to come watch him.  He did a great job singing and was one of the few 4/5kers to know a majority of the actions.  He was so proud that Grandma, Grandpa, uncle Robert and uncle Nathan could come and watch too.  His favorite part may have been the cookies afterwards.  :)  There isn't any nursery during the program which was a challenge with Isla - I ended up taking her off to the side so she could cruise around on the chairs which she thoroughly enjoyed.  Crazy to think that next year Bennett and Eleanor will both be in the program!!!

Isla: 10 Months!

The jump from 9 to 10 months was filled with lots of new skills and unfortunately lots of colds/tummy bugs!  It's been a bit of a fussy/clingy month here, but also a fun month of learning.  Isla can now point, wave bye-bye, walk everywhere holding onto furniture with one hand or your one hand (she does not want to hold both hands!).  She can stand for a long time on her own but has only taken 1-2 small steps before going back to crawling which is faster and much less scary.  :)

One other new thing is that Isla is climbing things now.  It's scary, because she can get onto a lot of things (the stairs, kids' bathroom stool, kids' airplane chair, mini trampoline) but not off of anything.  So you have to be ready to help/catch her or she's going down.  And being the sensitive baby she is, falls are VERY dramatic.

Not much else has changed though...  She's still doing two naps (1st one is short, like 30 minutes; 2nd one is 1.5-2 hrs), nursing 1-3 times at night, and dabbling with solid foods.  She continues to not have much patience for her high chair.  She is great at using a sippy cup.  She's still doing really well going to the nursery at church which has been such a nice change from a few months ago.

Some days with Isla are tiring if she's not feeling great and is more clingy/whiny, but she sure is a cute, smart, and sweet baby too!  We try to get out and about at least once a day because she get bored easily at home.  I keep saying it, but it will be SO NICE when spring comes and we can be outside all of the time again.  The big kids just adore Isla and love entertaining her and helping with her.  She doesn't always have the patience for them to hold/hug her, but someday I know she will be following them all around.

Our first movie!

I took Bennett and Eleanor to their first ever movie at the theater on Tuesday.  I saw that there was a movie about the Christmas story out, and it looked really geared towards young kids, so we decided it would be a good first movie for them.  We have movie night every Saturday so I knew they'd be able to sit and watch it fine.  They totally LOVED the whole experience and it was so fun taking them.  They loved the big reclining seats, thought it was so special to have popcorn and soda and candy.  And they also really really enjoyed The Star movie.  It was so perfect for this time of year!  We've been practicing the Christmas story with our little nativity set and it was so neat to see it in movie form for them.  Going to the movies is so expensive so we won't go often but definitely will go again sometime!  Tuesdays are $5 and deals on snacks so it wasn't too terrible.  So much fun!!

Isla's 9 Month Doctor Stats

Well, two weeks after Isla turned 9 months we finally got in to see her pediatrician (she was way overbooked!).  Our doctor said she looks healthy and was happy to hear that Isla is doing much better being content/happy.  She thinks by the time she's one and can walk and talk a bit more she will be even more content.  Overall she said her development looks great too, and she's meeting all of her milestones.  Isla smiled at her, clapped, "jumped," and even let the doctor hold her for a bit.  She did NOT like her shots but otherwise did great at the appointment.  Dr. Calkins thinks her top four teeth are all getting ready to break through (she has the bottom two already).  So that explains the bad sleep lately.

Stats:
-Weight 17.5 pounds (32%)
-Height 27.25 inches (20%)
-Head 43.5cm (33%)

Her growth curve looks great and doctor had no concerns, other than her tear duct still looks blocked.  It's not too bad so we are going to wait until she's a year to see if it can open up on it's own.  Otherwise we get a referral to the eye doctor.