Morning cuddles

Everybody wants to hold a cute baby in the morning.

Porchers

A few of my dear girlfriends and I started getting together regularly in the evenings on our screened porches, gatherings we call Porchers.  Kids and husbands are only invited for a few minutes of pleasantries but special exception has been made for Max who quite enjoyed his first porcher last night.

Third baby

This is Max's life... going along to all of Ella and Dash's activities and hoping to catch a nap in there somewhere.

Max's first bottle

We gave Max his first bottle today, and in typical Ella fashion, she commemorated the moment with a hand-made certificate documenting all the important information. 



Max and Daddy finally get to share a meal

Front of Ella's certificate

All the details inside:  date, time, and brand (Born Free). 

And a Good Job since siblings cheer each other on!

Dash's questions

Lately, in an effort to connect with various people in our family, Dash has taken to saying "I have a question" and then pausing while he actually thinks of something to ask, and then finally coming out with what is often a very odd question.  He has recently asked the following humdingers:

Do birds break things?

Do doors have screws?

What do moms and dads do when snowflakes melt?

Is that chocolate? (OK, he asks this one every night when he comes to check on what I am eating after he has gone to bed).

We try to answer the best we can, but the point is clearly not the actual question, but more that he just wants to have conversations with us. So far, we're two for two on big-time chatterboxes in children.  It will be interesting to see if Max is ever able to get a word in when he starts talking.

Brothers

Dash was admiring his baby brother today and I managed to capture some photographs in which both boys were relatively still (i.e. not completely blurry) and relatively happy.  I can't decide which is my favorite of these brothers because each one seems sweeter than the next.  I am so excited to see Dash becoming a big brother and to watch what his relationship with Max will be like over the years.

Two brothers, Dash was saying.

Sick and faux sick

Ella had a bug yesterday so she spent most of the day in a nest in the living room, reading and watching Magic School Bus.  Dash was very envious of her nest and insisted on building one for himself.  It had to have a blanket, a pillow from his bed (no living room pillows allowed), and an animal from his bed.  Ella stayed in hers for 8 hours.  Dash stayed in his for 8 seconds.