Awwwww!

I thought that last picture I caught of my two babies was a gem (the one from Monday)... but that was before I got a better one before nap today! It just keeps getting better, folks! :D

Target

This morning I took both my kids to Target all by myself. I even managed a potty break (for myself) with both of them in tow. I feel so accomplished!

...and LOL!

Playdate and Four Weeks

Gonna start off with this gem:

(Look! I got a picture of them together!)

Etta's out of school this week for the Thanksgiving holiday so Suzy and I decided that we should get together at our house for a playdate this week. Weekday playdates are few and far between these days. With everyone's school and therapy schedules, it's hard to get a group together. So, I put the word out and this morning we had a little group in our play room. Suzy came with Owen and Lyla, then Erin showed up with Liam and Karis, and Emily popped in with Cooper and Hank. So, eight kids all together. It's neat, this particular mix. We all met because our first child has Down syndrome and now all four of us have a second child. As amazing and special as our children with Ds are, I am so looking forward to the people thier siblings will become. I feel like they are so lucky to have a sibling with special needs, hopefully making them more patient, compassionate people.

Anyway, we had this playdate today... :)

Etta and Lyla

Karis and Liam

Lyla and Hank

Owen

Cooper

Etta (and Owen)

Cooper, Etta, and Owen

Cooper, Etta, and Owen

Liam

Brothers Hank and Coop

Etta

Etta and Hank

Liam, Suzy, and Lyla (and Karis)

Karis (the look on her face is cracking me up!), Liam, Lyla, and Cooper

Etta and Karis (who were playing this mirroring game together. It was SUPER cute!)

Daniel is four weeks old now! How time flies! He's already growing out some of his "newborn" clothes!

A few pictures from the last week...

Etta likes to play with Daddy under the coffee table. <3

Showing us his big muscles

Oh, and the cat is definitely in love with him!

First Bath and First Smiles and More

On Saturday, I gave Daniel his first real bath. I'd given him two sponge bath's previously, but this was the first time I submerged him in the water and... he LOVED it! He was screaming when I put him in and then, instantly, he was so calm. Then, when I pulled him out, he was screaming again. lol. In all fairness, he was hungry and a little cold when I pulled him out.

Yesterday, after our afternoon nap, Daniel gave me his first real grin while I was changing his diaper. Melt. My. Heart! He gave me and Keith a couple more today and I managed to catch one of those sweet little smiles this evening. I'll keep trying to catch the bigger grin...

People keep asking how Etta is doing, and the answer is mixed. She's coming around to Daniel. I think she likes him and frequently gets in his face and smiles at him. If he's in the bouncer and crying, she comes over and bounces him or pats on him. She'll tell him "Bless You" when he sneezes and pats or hugs him "nite, nite".

Daniel smiling at his big sister. *heart*

BUT, (as is to be expected) she's having a hard time with the lack of attention. My arms are full of baby most of the time and Etta's doing things like climbing on top of tables so that I will HAVE to get up and go get her down. She likes to get on the coffee table (which is something we let her do normally), but then she stands on the table and starts jumping up and down (which is something she KNOWS she's not allowed to do). She pushes chairs around and uses them as step stools to reach the kitchen counter. As I previously posted, she likes to come climb into his co-sleeper in the mornings and find his binkie. She'll also get in his bouncer and just today she pretended to drink from his bottle. *sigh*  She'll come around (I hope!).

Some more randoms:

Mrs. Potter loves her new human!

Daniel's favorite thing to do! nom nom nom nom....