Has it really been 4 months...already?

It's hard to believe that Andrew is already four months old. As you can see from the picture he is a "healthy" boy! I took him for his 4 month check-up on Wednesday. Andrew received a good report. He weighed in at 16lbs (72 percentile) and was 26" long (82 percentile...I think). The doctor commented on how strong Andrew is and mentioned that he appeared to be ready to rollover (I think it will definitely be soon). He actually liked the vaccine that he got to drink. The nurse said most babies gag on it and try to spit out, but not Andrew...he actually slurped it up and then smiled :) The two shots were a bit of a different story. He cried before but not during the shots and then he screamed after the shots. He fell asleep on the ride home and was fine after that. Caroline loved his army wounds (bandaids). Andrew really is starting to look more and more like Caroline did at this age (face rounding out, legs chubbing up, etc). My mom took him to have two pictures mirrored that we had of Caroline at this age and the similarities are scary. I will try and post them side by side soon.

Well, we are headed to Hilton Head tomorrow so I'm sure my next post will be of sandy beaches and sunny skies! Caroline is so ready to go to the beach...she has been asking to go since we left last year (literally) :-).

A Birthday for Daddy!

Last night we surprised Ben when he got home from teaching guitar lessons by hanging a BIG HBD banner across the fireplace mantle. I drew out the banner and Caroline colored it. We even traced everyone's hands and wrote messages on it. We then all hid in the playroom to wait for Daddy to walk in the door.

Of course, typical of most men, Ben walked in -- didn't call out our names or think it was odd that no one was around, nor did he even notice the banner hanging in the living room. He then walked up stairs...all the while, Caroline and I were trying to keep Andrew from giggling (he was on a roll). Caroline and I would whisper to each other as we hid behind her princess playhut. And then sometimes, Caroline would forget and start talking in her regular voice and I would remind her we were hiding. She would then whisper while holding her finger up to her lips, "oh yeah, we have to be very, very quiet, it's a surprise.". Too cute! Ben finally came downstairs (he had changed clothes and looked for us upstairs).

When he walked toward the playroom, we all yelled "SURPRISE." And in the process I scared Andrew and Ben half to death....the moment was priceless!!

For Ben's birthday we all gave him Keith Urban concert tix. We went to the concert Sat night. Ben LOVED the guitar solos and said it was one of the best concerts he had ever been to-- I guess we did good :)

Bathtime Buddies!

So I tried something new...I let the 2 kids take a bath together. This was Caroline's idea of course. I have now done this successfully twice, and both kids seem to really enjoy it. Here's what I do... I fill the tub w/ just a little water, put Caroline in the back corner, and then I lay Andrew on his back in the water. I had to laugh when Caroline immediately started washing Andrew. She started with his toes and said, you have to get all in between the toesies, Mommy, then she moved up his legs and said, you have to get him all sudsed up really good, and then she finished by tickling his tummy. I'm assuming this is what she has observed Ben and I doing when we wash Andrew. It was too funny to watch my 2 yr old bathing her 4 month old brother. And, Andrew just loved it -- he was grinning from ear to ear!

Once Andrew is all clean, I grab him out of the tub, dry him off good and put him in his pjs. I then add more water, toys, bubbles, etc and Caroline starts splishin' and a splashin'. It amazes me how well she understands that she can't splash water or have toys in the tub while we wash Andrew. This has been a great experience so I plan to keep it up. I told Caroline that as soon as Andrew gets big enough to sit up, we can put more water in the tub and they can play together...she liked that idea.

The other night, while Caroline was still in the tub, I was flying Andrew "super man" style toward her and they were both just a giggling...when Caroline stops, looks up at me very seriously and says,"Mommy, I want Andrew to go back in your tummy." I asked her why, and she said, because she wanted a "new" baby. I laughed and said, awe but Caroline why would you want another baby when you have Andrew...and she splashed the water all around as a BIG smile drew across her face and said, I'm just kiddin' Mommy. I like Andrew. Too funny...she was just watching for my reaction -- she's doing that more and more these days that is for sure.

Family Photo Fun!

We have a new family photographer that we are using. Veader Photography was recently started as a side business by a good friend of mine, Shawn Veader. He took Andrew's newborn pictures in early March - http://veaderphotography.com/clients/andrew/ and did an awesome job, so we decided to have him do a family photo shoot for us at the end of May. The photo shoot helped to capture Andrew at 3 months as well as provide an opportunity for us to get some great shots of Caroline. You can check out the proofs by going to http://veaderphotography.com/clients/the_applings/ Caroline was quite the typical 2 year old during the photo shoot, so we were impressed at how many good shots Shawn got of her.