52 : 34 (part 3)

This week Ewan's Great Aunt Char, who lives in Massachusetts, came to visit us during a West Coast tour she took. This was the first time she got to meet Ewan and Darby and we had a great time. She and Ewan bonded quickly over a trip to the zoo, burgers and stickers at In-N-Out, and pizza dough at Il Fornaio. It was a great three days that definitely sent a trip to Cape Cod to the top of our travel list so that we can see her again soon! 

Darby 27/52

Oh Peanut,

How have 6 months passed? I was looking at your monthly pictures with your Daddy today and we were both amazed at how much you have grown, and how different you look from your 5th month, this last month was a big one for you. You measure 26.75in (81%) and weigh 19lbs 5.4ozs (93%), which is truly impressive. Your pediatrician says you are awesome and your skills are well beyond your age. 

You impress us everyday with your enviable disposition, your sweet full-body smiles, and your amazingly firm grip (on our clothes, our hair, our cups, our nostrils - you name it). You have two bottom teeth (but your top two are blistering as I type this), you sit like such a big girl, crawl in circles at a truly dizzying rate, are eating fruits/veggies/puffs/yogurt, and are a wicked flirt. 

You make everyday better for everyone lucky enough to spend time with you. There is no one in this world like you baby girl and we thank our lucky stars multiple times a day that you are ours. 

Keep up the great growing, the sweet smiles, and the conquering of every milestone little love. 

Sweet Snuggles, 

Mama

Darby Moira - 6 Months

Darby 26/52

This lady is loving food more and more. Her current favorite puree is butternut squash, which her teachers say she slurps up with amazing enthusiasm. She also still seems to like peas and enjoyed carrots, up next are apples. We also let her play with whole foods, which is common in other parts of the world and is referred to as baby led weaning. When we do this she does not eat much, but she sure enjoys sitting at the table with us and playing with her food!

52 : 33 (part 3)

We are easing our way in to potty training over here. We do not want it to be unnecessarily stressful, and in all reality we just are not worried about it or for that matter committed to it. This last weekend Ewan spent the better part of Sunday in underwear, well truly two pairs, as he said, "I need one for my butt and one for my head." We checked in frequently to see if he needed to use the bathroom and of all his retorts our favorite was, "In a minute, I am hanging out with my dad."

Darby 25/52

Darby's first trip to our favorite pumpkin patch in Napa was a success. She loved the pumpkins, watching all the big kids run around, and tried desperately to eat some hay. We went first thing in the morning to avoid the heat but were still very sweaty when we left the patch at 11:00am for our lunch reservation. While many mom's love picking Christmas outfits, I love picking pumpkin patch outfits, probably because it is the first in a line of favorite Fall festivities... this week definitely deserved 2 photos!

52 : 32 (part 3)

A boy and his tractor :) The pumpkin patch is a favorite tradition and Ewan loves to sit on the tractors. This annual trek to the pumpkin patch we love in Napa was all the sweeter because Ewan got to take his little sister Darby as his co-pilot on the tractor! Looking at how much this boy has grown since our last trip to the patch is a tiny bit sad, but watching him become an amazing boy is a lot a bit amazing. 

Darby 24/52

Swinging for the first time is surely a sweet occasion. In reality Darby sat politely in the swing while her brother was a leg pumping maniac 4 feet away demanding mama push him, but she was 100% satisfied with that. 

52 : 31 (part 3)

31 months, aka 2 years 7 months, is so sweet and utterly infuriating at moments. Ewan catches us off guard by randomly telling us about porcupines, singing the entire alphabet song by himself at the dinner table when we didn't know he knew it (he calls it the A B C Ds song), drawing things that actually now look like those things, and telling jokes he then laughs at hysterically (such as yelling "wake up" if you close your eyes and pretend to sleep)! The demands of this boy are probably pretty similar to 6 months ago, but now he tells it like it is.

"Ewan it is time for bed." "Soon," says Ewan. 

"Ewan time to get out of the bath." "5 more minutes," is said with 5 little fingers held up to your face. 

"Darby is playing with the dinosaur Ewan." To which he responds "no, Baby Little dinosaur, Ewan dinosaur," one he hasn't touched in a year keep in mind.

After refusing a slice of apple, "oh Ewan, if you don't want your apple can we give it to Darby?" "No, it's me apple, Ewan need apple." But lo and behold he did eat the apple so maybe this is the trick to getting finicky preschoolers to eat something besides yogurt. 

Of course in the midst of all this preschooler madness Ewan will still sweetly walk up to his mama and grab her cheeks for a big kiss, run and kiss sissy's arms before he heads off to play, and look up at his dad with those brilliant blue eyes and beg to race cars. He is a truly great, sensitive, compassionate boy that loves art, music, and friends - AND he is sometimes simply possessed by his longing to be independent. For us this is 2!

EP - 2 Years 7 Months

52 : 30 (part 3)

Life is full of important lessons. This week at the Zoo Ewan learned, "snow leopard eat rabbit." Arriving earlier than usual we saw many of the animals eating breakfast, it seemed oddly run of the mill to Ewan who didn't skip a beat. This trip Ewan also rode the train for the first time, as seen in this week's photo, and as all our friends told us now that we have done it we will have to do it every time because kids don't forget about the train.

Darby 23/52

People continue to ask if Darby is always this happy, the answer is yes. This was a particularly sweet week full of this new crinkle nose smile that lights up any room.