Pie

I made an apple pie today, and the kids decided they would like to make their own pie. So they used my leftover dough and did a pretty nice job. I cannot tell you how wonderful it is that they are old enough to do this completely independently. I sat in the living room and wasted my time on the Internet while they assembled the pie. 

Life is good. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Char.

Someone obviously needs to teach this kid how to do a duck face so her selfies can be more trendy.

Charlotte is at a delightful stage right now. She is enthusiastic about pretty much anything and revels in her ability to be truly helpful. She is learning how to read and is successfully blending letters, so she is well on her way to being independent. 

I think he looks like Ella.

I mean, not exactly like her. But more than Charlotte or Max do. And that means he looks like me, too. Because we all know that Ella and I are intergenerational twins. 

Cousins!

We finally got a cousin on my side of the family. We love Soren and Tate, but I have been ready for Laurel to have a baby forever!

Hooray for baby Abbi! Isaac got to attend her birth. The nurses loved having a big baby around and no one gave me a hard time for toting a two month old around labor and delivery. Isaac and Abbi are two months apart to the day, and we're sure they'll be best friends. 

Toothless: take 2

We were not expecting Charlotte to be anywhere close to losing a tooth. She is just barely four and a half. So when she informed us that her tooth was loose, I admit I was pretty skeptical. (I was sure that it was all in her head.) But in fact, it was loose and it did come out and I don't think there was injury induced. So she was visited by two tooth fairies, because I didn't expect Paul to remember and I got up in the middle of the night after nursing the baby, so I didn't spend a lot of time messing around under her pillow. 

My friend recently told me that her tooth fairy growing up requested that teeth be left in a cup on the kitchen counter. Brilliant. Well, I tried to get Charlotte  to do that, but she said, "No! Mom, that is so silly! On the counter!? We out it under our pillow!" And so, we are stuck with the pillow tooth fairy forever more. 

So he's chubby.

No surprise there, really. That's how we make them at our house. But I never really get over the chubbiness. 

Isaac has recently become a lot more smiley. Which is super fun, of course. But today he stopped breast feeding to smile at Charlotte. 

Um, how is he going to maintain that physique if he cannot focus on his food? Seriously. 

Charlotte the photographer

Char decided she needed to pose Isaac with a variety of toys. I personally appreciated that I didn't find dozens of the same picture in a row, which is Ella's typical approach. Although the upside to that one is that out of thirty or so, there is usually one that isn't blurry. Then again, the downside is, often they are pictures of inanimate objects. Ella definitely specializes in "still life" photography.

This is Charlotte's first venture into phone photography that doesn't consist of selfies with half of her head out of the frame. I am rather pleased. 

First day of school.

This is not technically school. But we are attending homeschool classes this year once a week and here is our first day of classes. Our first day of homeschool was completed while in our pajamas. 'Cause that's how I roll. 

Let's contrast that with our second day of classes, where I let Charlotte choose her own outfit.

I think it really reflects her individuality. 

He scowls.

Max is really a good natured kid. Even more than that, he is a perpetual flirt who wins hearts wherever he goes. I often have people asks me if he ever stops smiling. 

Well, let me tell you, he does. Not only does he have quite a temper (which is softened by his easy going nature), he has a mighty scowl.

I have decided he is just a high personality modifier. Which makes sense, because I am, too. But it is surprising that it is evident this early in life. 

Chopsticks.

I have mixed feelings about introducing our kids to chopsticks. On the one hand, I applaud myself for exposing them to Culture. On the other hand, it is a big mess. 

On the other hand, they do clean up the mess for us when we leave the restaurant. So that's a factor.