Nap please!

We are entering new territory with Reed's napping. As much as I want him to continue to nap everyday, I am beginning to come to terms that that may not be the case. He does nap most days but I am beginning to cut him more slack and allowing "quiet time" in his room with the hope that he will sleep. His new favorite thing to do is strip down his bed and build a "nest" of blankets and pillows on the floor. Here he is sleeping next to his bed. I guess I should just be happy that he was sleeping.

No matter how hot it is, he won't sleep without his hippos!

Our other issue when he does sleep is that he sleeps too long and then has trouble falling asleep at bedtime. I know they say don't wake a sleeping baby...hopefully 3 years olds fall into another category.

The wake-up committee

Messy

Ah, how quickly things can spiral out of control. The kids and I had finished dinner and I noticed that Reed hadn't finished his yogurt. I had already taken off Cora's bib because she was done, but I decided to feed her a bite of the yogurt. She snatched the spoon away and started feeding herself very nicely, taking small spoonfuls, carefully and neatly directing them into her mouth. Wow, I thought, maybe I am not giving her enough credit. She should be feeding herself with a spoon all the time.

The next thing I know...

I have a happy giggling messy baby!

I think we'll keep working on it...with a bib on next time!

Basement Project

A few years back, it started raining and it felt like it didn't stop for two weeks. Up to that point, we thought we had a dry basement. Slowly water came seeping up through fine cracks in the concrete floor. The water table had become so high that our house was like a boat in water and there were tiny cracks in the hull.

Our historic home had a sump pump which was not attached to a drain tile like most modern homes would have. The sump pump side of the basement stayed dry while the other more finished side (lucky us) took on water.

We pulled out the lavatory and cut out the lower drywall in our basement bathroom. We chose not to repair it right away because we felt like we needed to tackle the water infiltration problem first.

We finally decided to take control of the issue and install a second sump pit and pump on the other side of the basement. Luckily there was the perfect spot for it in the laundry room, so last weekend Bob, P-pa, and Grandpa got to work.

Step 1: Break through the concrete and dig a deep pit. Add stone to the bottom of the pit. Try not to break your back...neither while digging nor carrying buckets of broken concrete or soil up the stairs.

Step 2: Add holes in your plastic liner to allow the water to come into the pit. Wrap the sump pit liner with filter fabric so that dirt and debris can not make it into your pit. We just want the water.

Step 3: Drop the liner in the pit and fill around it with stone.

Step 4: Install your pump. Then add your piping to direct the water out of the house.

I want to thank Bob, my dad, and his dad for all their hard work. I am so pleased with how it turned out. As much as a part of me wants an enormous rain to test it out, the bigger part of me hopes that it never is needed.

Now we have the peace of mind to go ahead and finish off the basement bathroom again. Hooray! Now we just need the time to do it and a couple of capable volunteers. Speaking of...

Here are Granny and P-pa with Cora and Reed before they headed back to Greenville.

Backyard Birthday Party

We went to a very cool backyard birthday party for Reed's friend, Leo, who just turned 3. It was a beautiful sunny day and they had a nice shaded backyard. They had a bouncy house, pizza, and "ice cream" cupcakes. What fun!

For some reason, Reed had little interest in the bouncy house. He kept slyly sneaking into their house and playing with all the toys in their living room. All the kids were outside jumping and, well, he had free reign on all the toys. The boy knows his priorities.

There was no way he was missing out on cake though! Leo's mom, Sara, made the cutest cupcakes in ice cream cones and topped them with icing and a gumdrop.

Reed happily got his red cone!
(Red=Spiderman, in Reed's mind)

While all Reed wanted to do is play inside, Cora wanted to try everything out. She was all over the place, into everything.

Cool lawn chair

Tables aren't for climbing?

I got in here myself. Who cares if I'm backward?!

I found my very own patch of dirt.

Getting into EVERYTHING really tires a girl out!

July Fourth

We had a great Fourth of July weekend. Maybe of you know that Bob accepted a summer job working at an international architecture firm downtown Chicago for the summer. They just met a big deadline after working long hours everyday for quite sometime, so the long weekend was a welcome change for all of us. We had Daddy back!

Saturday we headed up to Crystal Lake for a barbecue with a couple of Bob's high school buddies and their wives and children. How things have changed for us all in the last 3 years! We also learned that Cora is a fearless water baby. We're going to have to explore that side of her more this summer.

Sunday was our typical church and bagel shop routine. After nap-time we headed a second birthday party for a neighborhood friend. We got to hang out with the playgroup gang with the addition of all the husbands/dads.

Monday we attended the Elgin 4th of July parade. It was great, but also warm and long. Reed's favorite parts were the Jesse White tumblers, the marching band(s), Captain Jack Sparrow, and Buzz Lightyear. We had a family barbecue over at Bob's brother's house afterward.

The boys!

The girls!

It was a tiring weekend but we had a lot of fun! No fireworks for us. We were all ready for bed.

Reed's First Movie

Doing a little prep work as we waited for Grandma to pick him up for his first movie, Kung Fu Panda 2, at the theater.

He did great but an hour and a half is a long time for a 3 year to sit and watch anything in one place.

Cora's twelfth month

I'm not sure why I sometimes let a small thing get me stuck on something. On the blog for instance, I probably could have posted a few short things lately, but I would think to myself. No, I need to write up about Cora's status as a 1 year old. Well, I misplaced the paper from the doctor's office with all her stats. So I've stalled. Cora is thirteen months now so I must push forward.

I hope to catch the blog up to speed soon, but with two kids and lots going on this summer, time passes quickly.

So I scrounged up this video from a month ago because it shows the essence of who Cora is at the moment. Yes, I admit I might be treating her like a monkey. Do this, do that. It is just so fun because now she can actually follow directions. I love that I can tell her to go get her shoes and she will go grab them and sit on the bottom stair step right next to Reed.

My favorite thing in this video is her little smooch. Reed never really puckered up like she does. He was more of a big wet open mouth kisser. She loves to purse her lips and plant a good one on your lips.

As for Cora's 1 year checkup, she handled her blood draw and shots like a champ. She was weighing in at 19 lbs, 2 ozs, only around the 25th percentile. She dropped off the curve she was following but the doctor attributed it to her new active skills of walking, climbing, running, etc. She's still around the 75% range for height.

Hoping to post more soon!