Fun at Home

I'm home with these little ones a lot. Sometimes it feels like complete chaos, and it seems like toys appear out of nowhere, following behind where I'm picking up. But it's fun and always eventful.

Here Samuel's eating chunks of carrot, his first "finger food." He mostly played with it, and he's still trying to master actually getting the pieces in his mouth.

Elena's always nearby. She's so affectionate toward him. It's not unusual for her to say something like, "Mama, I want to smell him," when I'm picking him up. She needs one last whiff or hug or kiss, then she goes back to what she was doing.

 I have to really watch Samuel closely because he's all over the place.

And he keeps pulling himself up, which drives me crazy because I don't like them to fall on these hard floors.

Elena still loves her baby dolls. Here she's dancing with one. My grandma got it for her when she was still a young infant.

We spend a lot of time in the playroom. Samuel's more distracted there and the floors are softer.

I can't believe how big he is already. He's so strong. Every kid is so different. 

It's getting pretty hot here, so we'll be spending even more time indoors. Hopefully we have some nice days, though, so we can enjoy being outside.

8 Months Old

(This post is a day late due to some technical problems, and because Mommy can't keep track of the date since she stopped working outside the home.)

I am 8 months old!

I weigh 17 pounds, 9 ounces and I'm 29 inches long.

I have one tooth on the bottom, and the second is breaking through my gums at this very moment.

I crawl all over the place and cannot be contained!

If I bite my parents and they react, I cry.
 

If Daddy is cheering for sports on tv, this may also make me cry.

I pull myself up to stand all the time, but have to remember to hang on so I don't fall.

When my mommy asks where Ginger is, I start looking all around for her.

Daddy and Samuel

It's funny, Samuel's relationship with Jorge is way different than his relationship with me. He loves and enjoys us both, but it's still different. He loves playing with his daddy.

He's a happy little baby.

And curious

They have a lot of fun.

This age is so much fun. He's crawling all over the place and pulling himself up to stand. It makes me nervous because I worry about him falling on the tile, but he's doing great and doing more each day.

Feels Like Summer

We've had some pretty hot days over here. Pretty soon every day is going to be hot. I'm not looking forward to the really intense heat we get, but we're enjoying the end of spring.

We have lizards all over our backyard.

We hung a swing in our backyard. It put Samuel right to sleep. 

 

Jorge has been working hard on the house. He put up 5 fans. This house only had two lights in the ceilings, both in hallways. We had an electrician come out awhile ago, but it took some time to get the fans and put them up because when Jorge is home, we try to get as much family time in as possible. And he needs some rest.

Putting up fans is no fun, but he did it.  

Elena tried to put them up just like her daddy.

And now we have fans! I know it doesn't seem like a big deal, but it gets so hot here and it makes such a big difference to have the fans circulating the air. I love them.

 Elena picked hers out on a shopping trip with Jorge.

And this little guy. He's all over the place.

He's very curious, and once he gets his mind set on getting to something, there's no distracting him. 

Little Buddies

Elena loves being a big sister. Of course, her hair is pulled occasionally, and when they're both in our bed in the morning Samuel's climbing all over her . . . but she doesn't mind. She wakes up in the morning and cuddles really close to him. When he cries she tries to comfort him or brings him a toy. It's the sweetest thing to watch.

I went in Elena's room with Samuel when her nap time was over. She was just waking up, and she wanted him in the bed with her.

 

She can always make him laugh. She makes him laugh more than Jorge and I have ever been able to, and it's so easy for her. 

He loves to watch her. Now I nurse him in his room, because if he hears her he wants to see what she's doing. That makes feeding him difficult.

They're together all of the time. 

 Here she's playing peek-a-boo with him.

 Sometimes I pick him up to take him somewhere and Elena says, "Wait, let me love on him!"

 

 In the bath together

Here he's splashing the water and Elena's saying "Hey, get outta here with that!"

Getting tangled up

He's all over the place now. Seems like he's going to be a climber. He's holding onto things to stand and he's crawling all around. It's so crazy how fast his physical development is going. Definitely an active kid; it's almost impossible to change his diaper.

Babies change so fast, but it seems like Elena is growing just as quickly. She is so witty, funny, and sweet. She wants to do everything by herself. Awhile ago I told her to go potty. Jorge followed her in the bathroom a few seconds later; I didn't go in there because I knew she would want to set the stool down, pull her pants and underwear down, and sit down by herself, with the light off, because she didn't want help. All I heard from the other room was "Daddy, no! Give me privacy!" The other day, mimicking what Jorge did, she put her arms out to me and said, "Come here, my love." That same day she asked me if I want Jesus to bring more babies.

I love being their mommy.

My Grandma's Service

My grandma's memorial service was on May 25th.

It was an emotional day, but having my sisters there with me helped me through it.

I think about her all the time, and I miss her dearly. To see the post I did for my grandma two years ago, click here.