An Overdue List

As cute as my little banana is, I need to update.

1. I traveled to the farm earlier this week for a quick trip with just the little boys. I attended the memorial service for a friend (and close relative of my good friends from home) who died last week. The service was sweet with his mother, sister, and brother all sharing some memories. The friendly reception that followed was appropriate for Mountville, and I got to see lots of friends. And someone always remarks, "We never seem to all get together except at weddings and funerals."
2. We enjoyed curried butternut squash soup tonight--so "gish-shish-shish" as Hamilton likes to say. Claire wasn't a huge fan, but I think it was the curry that might have been offensive to her. Perhaps I overdid it.
3. Hamilton and I enjoyed our new moms and kids group at church this morning. Usually I just drop him in the nursery, but today we started a new program where we'll be doing activities together. We played with Play-Doh and mixed colors with a paintbrush. Hamilton was far more interested in mixing the paints together rather than using brush strokes to apply the paint to paper. After about 45 minutes of my staying and playing in the room with him, he was enjoying bubbles with the other kids. With no prompting, he came up behind me three different times to quickly hug my back before running back to the bubbles. It's like he was so excited that I was playing in his nursery with him, though he never said anything--just the quick touch.
4. Last week I took Collier for his six-month checkup. He's 16 pounds and over 27 inches long. He's starting to go up on all-fours and rock back and forth. He'll probably be crawling soon, though his rolling, scooting, and reaching are propelling him well for now. Sometimes it's so hard to keep him on his quilt.
5. Claire has taken to wearing Halloween-costume cat ears whenever she's not at school. If her dress code allowed it, I'm sure she'd wear the furry things during class. She's a little cat-obsessed in this season of her life.

Two Boys, One Visit

I made appointments for both Collier and Hamilton to see our doctor together, since Hamilton's two-year checkup coincided with Collier's two-month checkup. Though it was great only to get out with them once instead of twice, I had my hands full at the doctor's office. Both boys are growing quickly with Collier weighing in at 13 pounds and 7 ounces. He's the size Hamilton was at about five months old! Collier's 25 inches long, which is an inch longer than Hamilton was at two months old. Collier cried a lot more with his vaccine shots than Hamilton did, but he'd calmed down before we left the office. Hamilton weighed 31 pounds, and the doctor said he was growing normally and talking well--by "well" I think she meant "all the time."

Hamilton loves to play on the floor with Collier. This shot is indicative of what usually happens after a minute or two on the floor: Hamilton begins his roll onto Collier.

One-Month Checkup

Thursday I took Collier to his one-month checkup, but his doctor was out sick. The nurse didn't do official measurements (i.e., measuring weight without clothes and diaper), but we did weigh him clothed. He's 11 pounds, 11 ounces and 24 inches long! I couldn't believe he was so big. We'll go back in a few weeks for his two-month checkup when we'll get official measurements.

Everything else looked great: He's putting weight on his legs, eating well, and holding his head up (but he was doing that in the hospital!). He smiles and "talks" more every day. He demonstrated his smile and happy demeanor to the physician's assistant that checked him, and she said, "Is he always like this?"