Back to school

So the reason for less postings lately is because of the reintroduction of school in our routine.
I think we've started our third week now? Can't remember. Anyways, yes, it's going pretty well. Got a few wrinkles to iron out, but overall, pretty smooth. (Phil has too many shirts for me to iron, can you tell?)

Jennifer has a new friend. She likes to babble to him. She sometimes holds on to him, but doesn't know how she did it, or how to let go.


Daniel is such a blabber box now. It's a lot of fun!


And he's still a bit of a baby too. ;)


Melanie, it IS winter now, have you noticed? Well, she's wearing long sleeves, so that's something!


Check out the shelves the kids put together and stocked. So cheerful. Makes my own organizing look bland by comparison.


The car was driven up on the hoist to get repaired by Nathan the mechanic.


A hammer Nathan! To fix a car? Maybe you better go get some tutoring from Grandpa!


Matthew loves to pose. I would too if I was as cute as he is. ;) Unfortunately, he rarely does poses that aren't goofy, so not many make the blog.


Here comes Daniel to see what is taking me so long downstairs.
"What doin Mommy?"


Melanie loves jumping and climbing on furniture. She's very pleased to be allowed to do it downstairs on our junk. She'd love a trampoline.


What a big fun play room we have downstairs!


Jennifer in her favorite sleeping position. She fits so wonderfully there, and isn't too heavy yet. I babysat in our church nursery this past Sunday, and there were two other babies, a couple weeks older and a couple weeks younger than Jennifer. They both were so strange to hold. So uncomfortable compared to my little girl!


Jennifer is now too distracted by the camera to smile a full out smile very easily. It's a lot of work to catch one now!

Hair and there.

:p

Daniel is growing up very fast!

Daniel will be two soon! Those two years have flown by. Now he's talking a tonne, and getting less frustrated overall since he is understood by almost all of us in the house. That's not to say he doesn't fight still though! Now though, the arguments and fights are equally understood. (Usually.) Daniel still likes to cuddle though, and will demand cuddles when he feels he needs them, and doesn't mind to ask people he are less familiar with.



Haircuts around here are being done at a more professional level now. (At least, I like to think so, anyways.) I'm pretty pleased with how I did up Melanie's hair so that I could do a straighter job on her bangs. The results, mind you, were still amateurish, but the set up and appearances during the job were very impressive!

I picked up some hair accessories, and Melanie was thrilled with her new hairband. I had a red plaid one when I was a girl, but I knew pink was more Melanie's thing. ;)


Baby skin!!
Jennifer STILL has varying colours occurring in her diapers, and the vitamin supplement wasn't the culprit. Neither was dairy products. Now I shall target starchy vegetables, as the doc suggested, and see if I can see what is causing these strange symptoms. It is good to be reassured that Jennifer is healthy--but still, honestly, I'd prefer to see the yellowy diapers that I'm used to. I'd feel that she was healthier if I saw that.
We are blessed with such healthy kids!


Our "piano teacher" says the boys are ready for the army now.
I take that to mean she doesn't like their hair cuts much. Neither do I. But it is easy and neat. Sort of.


Jennifer remains a cheerful, easy baby.

We all love her.

Exercising:


Trying out Jennifer's playmat:

As usual, I find laying the baby on the floor safely, when toddlers are about, is a lot of work! Not sure I'll try it very often.

Big Sigh of Relief

I spent a whole week worrying about Jennifer's health. She's had green stools for more than two weeks, and at my last appointment it was suggested that I wasn't sitting and feeding her long enough the past week, and she was getting poor quality milk. So I sat with her. Plenty long. A whole week long. With no improvement. I imagined her shriveling up inside. Long term health problems, and many other woes.

Jennifer, for all this time of green, has been an ideal baby, with no complaints whatsoever, seemingly oblivious to the color changes.

I took her to the doctor today.

Jennifer thinks "Mommy, why do you do this to me?"

The doctor's conclusion--Jennifer is perfectly healthy. Far from starving, she has gained over 9 ounces in 8 days. The green, she concluded, must be a result from a change in my diet--most likely the vitamin/iron supplement pill I've started taking recently. I shall stop taking it to see what happens...

I feel vastly relieved now!

Life as it has been--it goes on even when I'm worrying for nothing!
Kids at play:

(Melanie was likely shadowing me closely. She's five now, so she doesn't associate with boys quite as much as before.)

I just love checking out me holding Jennifer when I pass the bathroom.

I am still amazed and thrilled at her smallness. And I marvel at her beauty, and show her off to herself.

Even with a receding hairline she is gorgeous!

Nathan and Melanie have taken up art projects of their own designs.

Nathan made an apple tree--he cut slits in the rectangular green paper to give it a tree look (quite effective in 3D actually) and he cut out the stems and apples separately and glued them on with care! Melanie made a paper snowflake. With lots of slits (they seem to have forgotten that you can see through it better if you actually cut some of the paper bits completely out) and lots of dashing color. It's very dear to her heart, and patched with tape after Daniel's destructive removal of it from their bedroom window.


Smiles and sleep.


Kids today before supper: