Ellie turns 3!

I can't believe my baby is 3 years old!  In my mind, she is officially a little girl now.  Not only can I tell by her age, but also the way she looks, talks, and acts.  I've been watching some videos from a year ago and can't believe how much she's changed.  At 3, she is already 1/6 of the way through her childhood.  I can't bear the thought of it!

Before I have an emotional breakdown, let me get to the party!

We had her party last Saturday at Chuck E. Cheese.  She had a blast, but absolutely despises direct attention.  This is generally a problem when it's your birthday party.  She didn't want for us to sing to her.  She wouldn't go up in front with the other birthday girls and dance with Chuck E. Cheese.  She wouldn't blow out her candles.  She wouldn't even open a single present.  But, it was her party and she cried when she wanted to.

My beautiful birthday girl!!

The cupcakes

 Playing Games

Eating Pizza

"Uh-oh.  People are looking at me."

 Opening presents

Ticket Blaster

She got the magic ticket!

After the party, everyone came back to our house and Ellie got her present from us:

A bounce house!

 Ellie and her friends ate hotdogs, played in the bounce house and on the swing set, and totally wore themselves out until she just couldn't hold her eyes open any longer.  It was a great day!

I'm so glad she had fun at her birthday party, because on Monday morning she woke up with a sore throat and fever.  It was supposed to be her birthday celebration at school, but she had to miss it.  The next day was her actual birthday, and we had promised her a picnic at the zoo.  Poor baby had to miss that, too.  After a trip to the doctor and some more rest on Wednesday and Thursday she is finally feeling better.  I'm so sad she had to be sick on her birthday, but we're going to make it up to her.  We're having that picnic at the zoo ASAP!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Elliott Rose!

We love you so much!!

Jackson at 8 months

Hard to believe that my little guy is 8 months old.  Wait.  My BIG guy is 8 months!

Jackson weighs 23 pounds and is 28 inches long!  He is wearing size 4 diapers, Size 12 month clothes, and size 3 shoes!  He doesn't miss a meal!

Here's what else he's doing at 8 months old:

-MOVING!  He hasn't mastered crawling forward on his hands and feet yet, but he can get himself across the entire living room by army crawling, rolling, scooting, and/or crawling backwards.  It's usually a combination of all of those moves.

-Moves from his belly to a sitting position

-Starting to try and pull up

-Will stand up to furniture and hold on for a few minutes

-Has 3 teeth!  2 on the bottom and just cut one on the top with about 3 more coming soon.

-Waves hi and bye

-Gives high five

-Loves mum-mums, crackers, and mashed potatoes

-Likes baby food, but prefers his bottle (favorites: sweet potatoes and corn, any fruit)

-Sleeps from 8 p.m. to 7 a.m., waking once to eat around 5 a.m.

-Takes 2-3 naps a day

-Likes the exersaucer, his activity table, and rolling a ball back and forth

-Has about outgrown his infant seat and will be moving to a bigger seat soon.

-LOVES his sister!  He just adores Ellie and she feels the same way about him.

-Loves the dogs.  He will pull Wylie's hair so hard, and he just lets him.  Pistol never lets him get close enough.

We love you, Jackson!  You're growing so fast!

Gymnastics

About a month ago, Ellie started taking a gymnastics class.  She goes once a week for an hour.  Kyle and I have been switching off taking her.  She LOVES it!  I think it's really good for her because she is a very cautious little girl (which I like!), but it has encouraged her to try new things and take a few risks.  She still doesn't like the bars and won't go down the "swirly slide," but she will take a running dive into the huge foam pit.  That's her favorite part!

This was the second class.  She's about to jump into the little foam pit.

With her coach, Chelsie

In the BIG foam pit!

This was from the fourth class

 She is the only one in her group that listens very carefully when her coach explains what they will do at each station.  She sits on her mat and watches her every move!

 Doing back handsprings over the mailbox.  I had to chop myself out of these because I was giving everyone a show when I leaned over.  My mom was too interested in Ellie's gymnastics moves to notice I was flashing the whole gym!!

 Cartwheel

 "Ta-da!"

 She really like the rings!  I got in trouble the first time around because I apparently didn't listen well when Chelsie was giving instructions.  I didn't have her touch her toes to the rings.  Ellie corrected me the second time through. ;)

I'm so impressed that she can climb up the rock wall by herself.  Now if she would just come back down on the swirly slide!  It's most kids' favorite part, but it freaks her out!

She really likes the balance beam!

 She also likes climbing the rope.  She will actually come back down the green wavy slide.

Now we just have to get her a leotard.  She asked, "Mom, why aren't all the other girls wearing pants while they do gymnastics?" Good question.