Mom and the herd of kids

Peter meets cousin Jordan

My cousin Jordan swung by on Monday to meet Peter. Check out how teeny PJ looks in the arms of such a tall guy!

Tummy time

Whenever I say "tummy time", Charlotte corrects me and says "belly time". I have no idea why. She also corrects me when I sing the line "Brother John" in the song "Frere Jacques". She tells me it should be "Brother Peter". She's such a nutburger. Anyway, here is little Brother Peter doing his "belly time" in a ridiculously cute pair of jammies selected for him by -- who else? -- his Grandma JoJo (the math teacher). Peter shares his sister's distaste for tummy time after just a few minutes of it, can't you tell?







On his back again - whew!!

Football!

Charlotte's favorite sport to watch on TV is football. She absolutely adores it. So when she saw our Vanderbilt football helmet chip 'n' dip, she just about lost her mind. We helped her try it on, of course.

More bathtime for Bonzo!

As of about a week ago, Peter weighed 10 lbs., 5 oz. That's more than a three pound weight gain in six weeks! Crikey. He still seems super teeny compared to his older sister, and she seems like a moose compared to him. Check out how Peter is filling out in these most recent bath photos. And yes, Charlotte was SO helpful during the bath. (I would have used the "sarcasm font" for that sentence if it existed.)

Grandma JoJo and her little Bubba

I'm not sure why he's fussing in both of these photos, but trust me when I say that Peter loves his Grandma JoJo. I was looking back through the myriad photos we took over the past five weeks that we haven't posted and these two jumped out at me as necessary for publication. My mom has got to be one of the cutest grandmas in the country!

Bath time for Bonzo

Peter's Auntie Ernie came for a visit last weekend and took some bath photos to horrify him when he's older. I artfully cropped some of them because they are too cute not to share.

Super cute great grandparents!

I just received copies of baby/toddler photos of my grandparents (Peter and Charlotte's great grandparents) Tony and Jane. The photo of Jane is from when she was eight months old, and Tony was about two years old. I can't believe how much hair Grandma Jane had -- I don't think Charlotte will have that much hair until she is 10. As for Grandpa Tony, is there ever anything cuter than a toddler in overalls? I don't think so! Thanks so much for sending the photos, Grandma and Grandpa!

Peter and the Traverse City crew

A couple of weeks ago, Peter was lucky enough to meet his Great Uncle Dave, Great Aunt Lisa, and Ellie.



Don't you think Ellie should be called "Great Cousin Ellie" since her parents get to be "great"? ANYWAY, Charlotte of course fell in love with them (especially Ellie) and tried to dominate their time. Ellie was able to steal a few moments away from CJ to feed Peter a bottle.



At one point, Ellie turned to her father and gestured toward Peter, saying "I want one of these!" Uncle Dave turned pale and began stammering incoherently. She promised to wait about 15 years or so.

Nuts on parade

Connie the dog and I took Charlotte and Peter for a walk today in the double stroller! We had to celebrate the fact that the temperature actually reached 50 degrees today. It's been a pretty cold January so far. Charlotte, however, refused to sit facing the proper way. Oh well -- it kind of worked. She also got out and helped push for part of the walk. Connie may have been annoyed at the slow speed of the walk, but she was probably just glad to be out of the house for more than just a quick potty break.



Peter was all bundled up in a fleece bag thingy handed down from his cousin Quinn. It worked in Minnesota, so it had no problem keeping PJ warm down here in the South!

Cheese!

Yes, my finger is tickling Charlotte's armpit, but it's the only way I can get her to smile for a picture!

Hungry hungry hippo

Um, we found out today that Peter weighs nearly 9 pounds, 9 ounces. That means he has gained two and a half pounds since he was born (he was one month old exactly as of yesterday). HOLY COW. I see him every day, so I don't notice the gradual change so much. He still feels light as a feather compared to Charlie Jo, but suddenly I'm not worrying so much if he doesn't finish every bottle. And I'm starting to understand that eating every two hours like clockwork sure is going to pack on the weight fast. I'm pretty sure he has a watch hidden somewhere in his crib, because he wakes up EXACTLY every two hours as if an alarm has been set. Sometimes we get longer chunks, but not very often so far. We'll see what happens when he reaches the "magic" weight at which babies tend to start sleeping through the night (some moms claim this is 11 pounds, some say 12). At this rate, it might be next week!