Palm Springs

When Noelle was about 5 months old we decided to go out of town to Palm Springs for a quick getaway before Zack started his new job.  Because of the 6 year difference between Jack and William I often feel like we are living in two completely different worlds.  There's the world of school, homework, playdates, video games, and friends and there's the world of singing songs, playing with toys, practicing sitting, standing, walking.  I feel like this trip highlighted this difference.  Noelle slept horribly and I ended up nursing through the entire night to keep her quiet enough that the boys could sleep.  The resort had a water slide, which Jack loved, and William was too short for.  Noelle hated the water, so the whole trip was about being divided into groups.  The Jack group and the littles' group.  I will admit the Jack group was way more fun to be apart of then the littles' group.

Will playing in the sand at the hotel

Mom gets to ride the lazy river with Jack

Too small to ride the water slide

Me and my boys in the hot tub.  It was a gajillion degrees in Palm Springs so this didnt last long 

William and Jack enjoying the spray playground

William decided he hated the spray playground and only Jack remains

Jack loves water slides

I really love water slides too.  It was just about the only reason I put on a bathing suit.

Me and my Wills

Despite my best efforts to keep everyone asleep, William only had energy to make it out of our hotel room before he needed to lay down in the morning.

This pretty much sums up Elle's feelings about Palm Springs.  She was hot, her mom didn't bring a good enough swim coverup to keep her from burning, no hat either, she didn't sleep well and she cried a lot.  Good thing we love her soooo much.

Size

As much as William likes to say he's a big boy, he still likes to wedge himself into all of Noelle's toys and equipment.   He makes me chuckle because it just shows how HUGE he is. 

 

This last one takes the cake.

Hair Babies

I don't know if it's all babies or just mine, but all three of my children have loved hair as babies.   Jack, being the awesome big brother that he is, has willingly offered his hair up to his younger brother and sister in order to bring big smiles to their faces and plenty of giggles.

My favorite thing about this picture is how totally entitled Noelle seems in having her hands clenched around Jack's hair and how Jack is just continuing to read his book.

Mornings

When William was born Jack loved to be the first one into William's room.  He learned how to pick him up in his crib and bring him to us.  There were lots of mornings that I wished he didn't have this skill since the fun of it was just to be the first one William smiled at before dumping him on one of us and happily running off to play.

Fast forward two years later and William wants to be the first one in to get Noelle after every nap.   She, however, wakes up like her mom and tends to be a grump until she is fed.  Dear sweet William is never deterred by her moods and still charges in after each and every naptime and rubs her head through the crib bars and tries to kiss her.  He tells me all of the time how much he loves her.

Biter

Noelle is my first baby that is a biter.   William and Jack each bit me once and the shocked look on my face and firm "no" was all it took to put an end to that forever.  Elle however thought my firm look was funny and my "no" was a fun game we were playing.  This went on for about a week, and Zack decided our 9 month old would sit in a time out each time she bit me.

As you can see, she thought time outs were just about the best thing ever.

She ended up laughing so hard at this forced exile that she toppled herself right over.

Elle-Belle

One of Elle-Belles favorite things to do when Zack is wearing a tie is to gnaw on it.

He's such a great dad.

She looks so much like William here to me

Build a Bear, William Style

I have been hanging on to a few build a bear gift certificates for the last year.  Jack has now officially hit the stage where he feels awkward building a bear for himself in the store surrounded by little girls, but he still is secretly interested in doing it.  So I figured we would take William for a special Build a Bear trip and Jack could "help" him make and clothe a bear.

When we got in the store and told him he could pick out any animal and make a special friend and then chose any clothes for him to wear, he flat out refused to make one.  He found a hockey puck and hockey stick and said it was for him, not the bear and that he wanted to buy it and go home.   Jack said it was the worst day of his life.   William was pretty satisfied with himself.  That's what most of our days are like at this stage.  One child is stoked, one child is sad, and one is just happy to be along for the ride.

William -1 Build A Bear -0

William

William has been insisting that he is not a baby, not a little boy or a big boy but a "big dude."  Now that he is potty training and wearing underwear (which is still hit or miss if they stay clean) he says he is no longer a big dude.  Now he is a big boy like Jack.