Dance Party

There is a lot of dancing in the Jaskot household. In fact, I must admit that we often break into spontaneous dance around here. Ella inspires us all. I think she twirls and dances her way through life. And she's got some serious moves. I'll have to post some video. And we pretty much now know all the words to Mary Poppins and Sound of Music. We listen to the soundtrack morning, noon and night around here :)

Here are some pics from one of our recent post-bath-spontaneous-dance-parties. And check out Cooper! He is already standing like a pro. The little guy is so physical. He rolls over constantly. He'll be crawling before we know it... yikes!

I am nothing like my sister...

Most of you know that Ella is very, very neat -- i.e. clean, tidy, does not like to be dirty. She is about as dainty as they come. She instantly asks to wash her hands if she gets even a speck of food on them, dabs at the corners of her mouth with her napkin (very dainty!), and I have never seen her get so much as a drop of paint anywhere when she is painting. In fact, she always points out where there is a speck of dirt on the ground and tells me I need to clean it.

Well, Cooper wants to make sure we get the full baby/toddler experience and is vowing -- even at four months -- to be as messy as possible. We mixed a bit of pureed prunes with his rice cereal. Two minutes into the feeding he was so messy that we had already gone through half a roll of paper towels. He was getting food everywhere. He dropped it all over the bumbo, himself -- everywhere. At one point his feet were covered with food and then the kid started eating the food off of his feet?!? Seriously?? Oh BOY!

Tea Time!

Mimi has a GREAT tea set, so we have had some wonderful tea parties here! Even Poppa joined Ella for tea :)

All Grown Up!

Okay, so maybe not all grown up, but eating rice cereal and in the bumbo! However... little man is not sleeping through the night. Still up three and four times a night! Brian - when you get back you owe me one complete night of sleep!!

The Fab Fours!

Fourth of July and someone turned four months old. What a fabulous weekend!

This kid is all smiles. I can't help but be happy around him!

Fourth of July -- we started with snow cones...

...then moved on to cotton candy...

...and finished with ice cream!

Ella and Nana talking about what the fireworks are going to look like.

Trying on Nana's earrings.

Curly Sue.

The under 21 wristband...just in case...

Nana showed her how to plug her ears for the fireworks. Didn't help. Ella freaked and asked to please go home -- which we did :)

All Good Things...

Well, here it is. My last day of maternity leave. It's one of those days that you don't like to think about, but you know is coming. Oddly enough, I haven't really had that much anxiety about going back to work like I did when I went back after having Ella. I was terrified for two weeks before leaving Ella, and cried every day when I got home for the first week. I even wrote a long letter to Ella apologizing for abandoning her. Maybe it's because I'm going back to a much more reasonable job. Maybe it is the second child thing. Maybe it's because I haven't had a moment to myself in four months. Who knows.

Anyway, I was out running last minute errands today, and suddenly got that same feeling that plagued me before I went back to work with Ella. I wondered why on earth I was out at the store and not home with the kids. So I skipped the last store and raced home to see them. Of course, I came home to a slight potty training nightmare and a fussy baby, but that's where I wanted to be. Because anyone can be at those big momentous occasions like your child's first birthday, but only you get to see those everyday mundane moments that are the reasons you fall so in love with your children. Yes, countless times during maternity leave I have wished Brian was here with me when the kids were fussing and I was exhausted, or Ella refused to get dressed and threw a gigantic fit, or Cooper refused to sleep and I spent hours rocking him. But at the same time -- those are the real "parenting" moments. I am sad that I will be missing some of these moments, but I know it will be okay. Because when I went back last time, Ella did not forget me, like I feared. If anything, she was more excited to see me and our time together was even more precious. And I found that balance where I was able to spend lots of time with them -- time everyday.

Okay, that's my one preachy, touchy-feely post for the year :) Now, back to what you all come here for -- the pictures!

Helping Mommy make a tomato tart.

A beautiful day at Nana's.

Popsicles at Nana's.

Dancey-dance time!

Waiting for Zoe to come play.

Snuggle time in Mommy and Daddy's bed.

Watching the rain with Daddy. Remember how fun that was as a kid?? I wonder what was going through her mind...

Happy July 4th everyone!