Sick babies

This was my week - sick kids. We started the week with two little runny noses. Molly also sounded a little froggy and was complaining of a sore throat on Monday (when we asked what hurt, she said, "neck." Then Monday night Molly took a bad turn. She and I were up all night, and we found out in the morning that she had croup. Two days of steroids helped a lot, but she's still a pretty sick little girl. I thought Elijah was over his little cold, and was going to survive Molly's germs, but then last night he started coughing and sounding like Molly. We took him to the doctor this morning, and he also has croup now. Molly is still feeling pretty bad, coughing and a fever coming and going. She can't get down from my lap without crying, and can't cry without coughing, so I've (literally) had my hands full. Elijah is acting sicker today than I have ever seen him - he is so, so crabby. I'm so glad they are taking good naps today!

Not at all himself this morning - crabby and tired.

Miserable little Molly last night - she had a fever, and just wanted to snuggle.

Molly talking

Just a little video of a typical conversation with Miss Molly. Enjoy her cute little toddler voice! Yes, she does love Elmo. No, she is not potty training. (I'd like to be done with Elijah, first, even though she is expressing quite a bit of interest.)

Winter time playing at the park

Elijah and Daddy went to the park the other evening.  It was cold, but they had fun!

Miss Molly at 19 months (and her 18 mo. check up)

Our little Miss Molly is 19 months old! She is hilarious, stubborn, shy with new people, loud (at home), and very opinionated. She is still quite a little mama's girl most of the time, but occasionally makes a friend and turns into a giant flirt - when she happens to feel like it, and usually only with guys. (Scary!) She has really started talking a lot, and is learning new words faster than I can keep track any more. Some words are more understandable than others, of course. (She is saying "lobster" all the time, but I don't think anyone other than her mama would've ever figured that one out). She loves crayons and is working on her colors. She doesn't know them consistently yet, but often surprises me by being right, especially with white, pink and orange. The color that she says most often is "blue," but she says that about everything. She loves to eat, but is a pickier eater than Elijah was. (I think every kid is pickier than Elijah was at 18 months though!) Her favorite foods are cheese, yogurt, pasta, sausage, red and black beans, pizza, pears, blueberries, clementines and oranges. She doesn't drink a lot of milk, but she makes up for it with cheese and yogurt. Her favorite vegetables are lima beans, but she's not a big fan of vegetables in general. She loves to run races with Elijah, read books, build with blocks, and play with trains. She loves her baby dolls and is very busy dressing and undressing them. She loves jackets and hats and will wear them around the house regardless of the temperature.
(The pictures are some of Molly's many funny faces.)

"Teeth"

Some of her current favorite things: bath time (especially with bubbles), snacks, crayons (especially the new ones she got for Christmas), buckles and her Buckleyboo, building train tracks, reading, singing (she still says, "read" to mean either read or sing), tickling, Elmo, and animals. Her favorite show is Baby MacDonald, and her favorite song is Old MacDonald had a Farm, which she sometimes sings to herself. It's funny to listen to because she just leaves pauses where she can't say the words: "Ee-yi-Ee-yi ... baa baa ... baa baa ... Ee-yi-Ee-yi." Her favorite book is still Goodnight Moon. That poor book is only held together by miles of packing tape at this point.


We took her to the doctor (almost 2 weeks ago) for her 18 month check up, and all is well. She is growing and reaching all of her milestones. The doctor was surprised at how many words she knows - I guess she is pretty verbal. Molly weighs 27 lbs (84%) and is 34.5 inches tall (99%). She has eczema like Elijah, but so far it has been pretty mild.

(Yes, she's wearing Elijah's hand-me-down PJs.)

Crazy morning hair! She had a complete mohawk during the night.

I started trying to write down the words that she is saying now for her baby book and was surprised at how many there are. Here's my list (incomplete, I'm sure) - for the grandmas. Patrick, Nana and Bobbi, you can tell me if I forgot anything.

More	Chicken	Book	Cookie Monster	Dress
Done	Yeah	Read	Animal	Tights
Tray	No	Moon	Bird	Socks
Seat	Pacifier	Cow	Diaper	Shoes
Bib	Blanket	Sheep	Wipes	Boots
Bowl	Baby	Pig	Pee	Go
Spoon	Nap	Dog	Poop	Outside
Fork	Emma	Goat	Potty	Jacket
Apple	Buckley	Duck	Sink	Mittens
Banana	Ducky	Horse	Head	Hood
Pear	Elijah	Meow	Hair	Buckle
Orange	Mama	Roar	Nice	Home
Toast	Daddy	Frog	Gentle	Dinner
Eggs	Grandpa	Ouch	Eye	Lunch
Cheerios	Nana	Tractor	Eyebrow	Bath
Pizza	Bobbi	E-I-E-I-O	Nose	Bubbles
Yogurt	Papa	Snuggle	Mouth	Bellybutton
Grapes	Thomas	Hug	Teeth	Arms
Crackers	James	Kiss	Cheek	Legs
Cheese	Percy	Walk	Chin	Feet
Raisins	Blocks	Lobster	Hat	Elbow
Snack	Ball	Crab	Shirt	Toes
Juice	car	Elmo	jeans	Neck
Water	PJs	George	Backpack	Doodle
Milk	noodles	Grover	bike	watch
Blue	White	Orange	Green	Pink
Mine	Upstairs	Zipper	barn	couch
Thank you	Sorry	Bottom	Back	button

That's 140 words - wow!

New York trip

Last weekend, Patrick and I got to take a weekend away to New York City. We met Patrick's parents in New Jersey and they took the kids for the weekend. Elijah and Molly had a great time with their grandparents. Elijah especially loved going to the farm show.

Patrick and I had such a great time. I have only ever traveled through New York, and never gotten to get out and see the city. We have been wanting to go together ever since we got married. Patrick did lots of research and planned lots of fun things to see and do. He found us a little apartment on this site (one of his favorites - we've used it for places in Colorado, Hawaii, Paris and New York).

The first day, we dropped off the kids at lunch time and then headed into the city. We found our apartment, and headed out to Times Square. We got in line at TKTS to get tickets for a show. We decided to see In the Heights. But before the show we walked around to check out Times Square and then headed to 5 Napkin Burger for a very late lunch. Patrick had the Original 5 Napkin and I had the Cheddar burger (no bacon). Honestly, it was the best thing I've ever eaten. The burger was amazing - I thought mine was the best, Patrick earnestly believes that his was the best - and the fries were great, too. Then we went back to the apartment and got dressed up for a night out! The show was great - even better than I was expecting. If you ever have the chance to see it, go! After the show we went out for dinner at Marseille. The food was delicious, and it was the nicest restaurant I've ever been to, and it was still busy at midnight. Cool. It was just a perfect day. Of course, we have had some sort of technical glitch and lost all the pictures that we took that day. Bummer.

The next day we got up and found some pastry and coffee for breakfast and walked around some more of the city, including the Rockefeller Center ice rink. We got some pizza at a little place near our apartment (my favorite pizza of the weekend.) Then we took a boat tour around the island of Manhattan. We learned a lot and saw lots of great views of the city, the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, and all the bridges. It was a little cold (it is January), but great. From there, we headed to the Empire State Building. We stopped for another slice of pizza at another little place on the way. By the time we got to the top it was dark, but the views were amazing. After all the walking, and standing in long lines, it was time to sit down and take a little break. We stopped at a brewery restaurant on the ground floor and Patrick had the beer sampler. We walked around Macy's - totally crazy old maze of a place! - and found some of the original wooden escalators. We went to Sapporo for dinner - for huge bowls of ramen! And we walked around some more and found a quirky, crazy little store that had a cereal that I used to love and can never find any more.

The next morning, we went to the Little Pie Company for a yummy breakfast, and then caught the subway to Greenwich Village. We took a walking tour and admired the beautiful brownstones and fun little shops, including the coolest little cheese store (well, since the one that Kristi worked at in Longmont). We had lunch at Otto Enoteca Pizzeria. For the rest of the day it was rainy and windy, but thankfully that one afternoon and evening were the only bad weather we had. I took a nap while Patrick went to get tickets for another show, and then we headed back out to find some awesome sweets. We went to Eileen's Special Cheesecake for the best cheesecake in New York. We tried the plain, the chocolate mousse, and the key lime. The plain was my favorite, of course. Then we went up to Jacques Torres Chocolate. Patrick got their chocolate chip cookie, which they serve warm. It was crazy and amazing. We went to Blind Tiger for some beer for Patrick, and some yummy pub grub for dinner, and then took a short but crazy cab ride to the theater to see STOMP. It was so much fun.

We spent our last morning taking a walking tour of midtown. We walked up 5th Avenue, through the fashion district, and saw ... tons of stuff. The New York Public Library, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Tiffany's (both the old building and the new), F.A.O. Schwartz, and the The Plaza Hotel. (The lobby was beautiful.) We walked around Central Park, and then headed to lunch at the Carnegie Deli. The sandwiches were enormous! Patrick had the "Woody Allen" - hot pastrami and corned beef. It was as big as his head. And he finished it.

What a cool little trip! We had so much fun exploring and having our little adventures and just being together. Here's a slide show of just a few of the many, many pictures we took. I'm sorry that there's no picture of my amazing hamburger, or any of the two of us together. You'll just have to imagine how snazzy we were.

Playing in the snow

Big boots & little boots

Getting bundled up.
(or, "I can't put my arms down!")

She spent most of the time like this - she fell every couple of steps! Her mittens were never on right, and her boots kept slipping around on her too. But she had fun anyway!

Sliding!

Elijah kept climbing into this little space in a grove of trees and saying, "I'm a wild animal!"

Molly is also pretending to be an "ah-mal" (animal). When I asked her what kind of animal, she scooted right up in between the trees and said she was a bird.

Tubby time!

Just a bunch of pictures from bath time the other night. Enjoy!

Hello, pretty girl.

Putting together his tub time dinosaurs.

Her princess towel.

Crazy laughs!

Love that grin!

Clean and dry.

Playing with cousins

My brothers also got to be home for Christmas this year. John and his family were there for about a week, and the kids had a great time playing together!

Clean kiddos! Is it me, or are the little girls a lot alike?

Miss Tallie

Piper and Molly

SNOW!

The kids had so much fun playing in the snow with Uncle John and Uncle Cameron - except Molly, who simply refused to put on her snowsuit.

So pretty!

Tallie and Elijah, all ready for snow.

Colorado Christmas trip - at Nana & Grandpa's house

We got to spend two weeks in Colorado for Christmas. Here are a few pictures of Molly and Elijah enjoying their time with Nana and Grandpa.

Mmmm, pizza!

Listening to Grandpa

Reading with Nana

The kids all love to play the piano

We enjoyed one really nice day of playing outside before the snow came.

The garden is fascinating - even in the winter.

Quotable quotes

Patrick here...

I was settling in after a long day at work, taking off my shoes and such, and Elijah is sitting at the table coloring. From behind me, I hear him say, "Excuse me dad, talk to me for a minute. I'm coloring this brachiosaurus black!"

Apparently he is now an odd combination of being a 3-year old and a teenager.

One last Navy football post

Check out this great photo from the Washington Post when Navy won their bowl game!

The Army-Navy Game!

Patrick and I got to go to the Army-Navy game this year. This is my brother Cameron's senior year at the Naval Academy and his last football season, so we made sure to go to a great game! The game is played in Philadelphia, which makes things easy for us - we stayed with Patrick's parents and Barb babysat for us while we went to the game. Jim came to the game with us. We went out for cheesesteaks at Pat's and Geno's and cannolis at Termini's before the game.



The game has a great atmosphere and is full of fanfare. It was also very cold! We bundled up and stayed warm, though! My parents, my Aunt Louise, and Cameron's fiancee, Amanda, were all there too. The game was great - and Navy won!

Navy wins - 8 years in a row!

Cameron, #48 - the seniors all got a lot of hugs at this game
I was sad not to get a picture of him leading the team out, carrying the flag.

After the game we got to go out to dinner and spend some time with Cameron and my family. What a fun day!