Pumpkins, Apples and Unreasonably Warm Weather

Oh baby Alise .... we want to see more of you. We can't get enough of your adorable little face and legs. It's great if you bring your Mommy too, of course. In fact, she makes a great hiking buddy. What a treat it was to get away for 90 minutes of girl time with the world's most amenable, sweet baby.

Baby Lily is a little confused about Baby Alise but is happy to spend time with the sweet one; I wonder if she's thinking about sharing her bottle? 

Sweet Jamisen did the most interesting thing the other morning. First, he got up at 5 a.m. on a Saturday morning. This was less interesting and more on the irritating side. Chris and I were firm; he could play quietly but we were not getting up. 

Imagine our surprise when we got up around 7 (when Lily thoughtfully got us up) to find that Jamisen had made an entire tea and coffee stand that he proceeded to sell us delicious sundries. He has now taken my assistant for a quarter (selling her pudding that someone, not I, had purchased for the kids) and has amassed quite a fun little assortment of money. He is very protective of his stand and hates to see Lily in it. His parents much agree, but for reasons other than Jamisen. He stores many, many little treasures inside his stand; many of which are choking hazards. So for now, the back counter of the tea and coffee stand is Lily-free. 

Jamisen's school picture; could he be any more beautiful? We went to a Parent/Teacher informational conference where we learned all about the 'works' that he does in the Montessori system. Tonight, he was counting on both hands when I was doing the "Let's count to 30 while I brush your teeth." When I asked him if his teacher taught him that, he said "Yes!" and was quite proud. He's also mentioned that a classmate, "Chance", knows a certain lesson (or work) that he doesn't know yet. He seems to be thriving in the Montessori system for which we are thankful,and thrilled about.

We went to the Pumpkin Patch last weekend. Jamisen had quite a passion for helping - and clearly the weather was so warm and lovely (in October!) that he was able to go shirtless for his heavy and difficult task. 

Ooooh, which pumpkin to choose?? So many!

Jamisen wasn't the only one getting in on the naked-baby fun; she insisted on taking her shirt AND pants off - and at one point, her diaper. She might have gone diaper-free but for the fear that we would be judged as bad parents (because, somehow, having a diaper on in the middle of October, in the midst of a pumpkin field and amongst a gaggle of fully clothed children seems better.)

Munching an apple that she liberated from the ground, marching to the beat of her own clothing-optional drum. We pray this clothing-optional desire was just a one-time thing, not to last much past her single-digit childhood years. 

Uncle Weston (and Aunt Anna) joined us and Uncle Weston was instrumental to helping to free the pumpkin cart from the bog.

Jamisen loved his apples that we picked right off the trees too.

3/4 of the happiest family in the world (hey, someone had the take the photo!)

The Partnership Grows

Grandma and Grandpa Faiola have been up to visit a lot in the last month. We are so lucky that they are so charmed by their grandbabies (all of them! that includes you baby Alise and Samantha and Toby!). Here we are, exploring the docks. Jamisen was soooo curious about everything; "What's that for!?" with just about everything that we saw. 

Baby Lily is quite independent but still loves to be held. She goes back and forth between who the most favorite parent is but Grandma Faiola always has her heart. 

Mama Cheriss is amazing and is such a good Mother to baby Alise, who has no idea yet how lucky she was to be born into the Faiola clan. The rest of the family, especially her Daddy, is pretty dang fond of her too. 

The happiest, most blessed family in the world celebrates at Zuanich Park - and no, Cheriss cannot hold her own baby. If Aunty Anne-Marie is around, baby Alise has no chance of being in her parent's arms. 

Lily loves water of all types - and she's learning about gravity and how to throw (really, just a glorified dropping motion) into the water. 

But really, she is obsessed with the bath! She tries to tear her own clothes off (very ineffectively) just to get in. And if she hears the word 'bath', she runnnnnns to the bathtub to get in. 

She is the cutest, most happy little girl isn't she?

She's probably that way because she has the world's best big brother. Jamisen is growing more and more protective and patient by the day. Of course, he still has his moments - mostly around sharing - but they continue to grow closer and stronger as a big brother and  little sister team. It makes our hearts proud. 

Of course, we can't forget the other babies - Samantha and Toby - who Grandma and Grandpa Faiola still dote on, despite our other children actually speaking. It's okay baby Alise, Lily and Jamisen ... I'm sure you'll eventually do something that puts you way over the top on the admiration and attention list but for now, Sammy and Toby are still pretty darn cute. 

Can you see Jamisen in the above picture? Yeah, it's okay. We can't either. He's totally missing and definitely is not pretending to be a dog or a rainbow under the blanket. Lately, he's been licking Lily because he's so certain he's a dog. She, of course, loves it (not). 

When we got up this morning we found this. He said "I've been reading to her and teaching her to talk!" Again, there are moments of genius with this little partnership that make a Mama proud. 

Party Girls, Cooking Boys and Climbing Mommies

Little Lily is so close to talking. She babbles happily all the time and hasn't added much to her repertoire except "papa" and, she still loves to say the word 'blueberry'. We're rather impressed since it's a 3-syllable word.

She's getting on giant molar in the back (left) and has been waking up, wailing, multiple times a night. It's so sad. She is inconsolable when she's in pain and hates to have her gums rubbed. She's still just napping one nap in the afternoons now and that is working well for the entire family.

Lily is ridiculously active. She hates sitting in the stroller to be pushed around. She loves to climb and is fearless. She sees her brother going and wants to always go with him. She loves to run, run, run as fast as her little chubby legs can carry her and lately, has started throwing balls and chasing them through the house. We're thrilled; anything to help her work off her amazing energy.

This is the day that Jamisen convinced me that cupcakes were a good breakfast food. Sometimes, he is so cute and so well behaved that I just can't say 'no.'. 

Lily is a carb baby and loves to eat anything that has refined flour. If it has sugar, there are bonus points. She has five teeth now so giving her full pieces of soft food isn't as much of a "all hands on deck!" watch post situation..

Lily fell and hit her head at REI. Nanny McKenna took both kids there to take advantage of their sale and a display came between the shopping Nanny and the playing children. Lily lost that battle and has a deep gash on her forehead that we are lovingly applying balm to in the hopes that it does not scar. 

I made Jamisen and Lily egg quiches for breakfast in little muffin tins. They're delicious but man, it's such a pain in the rear to clean the pan.

Jamisen had is second dentist visit to check up on his teeth. We got what he feels is a full death sentence: flossing. His parents aren't too thrilled either. Have you ever tried to floss a fish? That's basically what it's like to floss this little boy.

My software and website development company had a major success last week. We hired a senor developer out of NYC. She does all the deep software architect'ing and is ridiculously talented. We are thrilled to have her on our team; so thrilled that I made her scale high walls to jointly celebrate. 

One of my Mastermind business groups had our all day planning and goal setting retreat last week. We came up with family goals, personal goals and business goals. I'll share the family goals as soon as Chris signs off on them. As for Chris, he's been extremely busy hiring a new CFO for his company after his stable, long-term team member left for a different opportunity. 

As always, we are extremely grateful and blessed for our healthy, happy family and challenging work opportunities. 

The Dating Lives of Toddlers

Jamisen visited Alise last week and was quite happy to hold her and be a helpful older cousin. He still doesn't understand the concept of holding her neck up but he's sure valiantly trying to show affection. 

Aunty Sharon and baby Alise bond. 

Baby Lily is growing up super fast. She can say the words "apple" "blueberry" "baby" and "fish." She signs "more" quite well and understands 100% of what is said now. 

Lily is 17 months old now and the 18 month old clothes are still too big for her. She weighs just about 22 pounds, as of this morning. Jamisen is a whopping 32 pounds. Lily out-eats him 3:1 generally. This morning, she ate 2 fried eggs, 4 mandarin oranges, a handful of wafers and a pat of butter. Jamisen ate 1 fried egg and 1 orange and proclaimed himself 'done.' This is completely normal in our household. 

Lily is getting obsessed with water. It's just what Jamisen went through at this age. Only the difference is that she's also playing the toilet, which he never did. We have to keep all the lids down or else she happily splishes and splashes in the porcelain throne. 

Jamisen loves his tutu and can be found wearing it most weekend days now. He proclaimed himself to be a "princess car driver." We are fully supportive of his creativity of thought. 

Jamisen loved using the umbrella as a parasol for his victory race car lap.

Jamisen still has a special bond with Ava. Here they are, Facetiming. He is showing her his Olympic torch craft project. Of course, when he finally got her on the phone, he completely clammed up and didn't talk to her. #Adorable. 

Work wise, it's been busy for us all. I just got back from DC (lobbying) and am thankful to be back to the family. Chris and I even managed to get in a date night (and saw the movie "Gone Girl"). It's nice that the kids are getting older so that is just barely starting to be possible - regular date nights. =)