Newest Driver?!?

We recently had some friends that moved to a farm in Northern Kentucky.  We're sad that they moved so far away, however very excited for them.  Just over a week ago we went to visit them one morning for a playdate.  The kids had a blast playing with each other and we enjoyed some adult conversations!  :)  Probably Graham's favorite part of the trip was being able to 'drive' the tractor!  Check out this big grin as he sits atop his new ride!

My Concert Pianists!

Graham and Ellie love to play the piano.  Tonight they graced us with a beautiful duet!  I love that they have to have music in front of them (Graham insisted) and they needed to turn the page periodically.  I decided to take a short video of them.  I wanted them to remember how much fun they had playing duets together when they were little....so when they're bigger and I make them play together I can remind them of this moment! 




Oct 1 043 from Willa Armstrong on Vimeo.

Ellie's First Finger Painting





This summer Ellie finger painted for the first time.  She had seen her brother finger paint prior to this, so she was very excited to be able to join in on the fun!  She wasn't so sure about it at first, but it didn't take very long at all before she dove right in and had a blast! 

 

Getting started with her masterpiece...

 

Not so sure about the paint on her fingers!

Don't worry, Graham joined in on the fun!

Yummmy...finger paint tastes good!

The longer she painted, the more she got into it!  Look at this smile!

All done!  :)  Graham thought she needed some green paint towards the end, so that's why her fingers are green.  She also made sure to run her fingers into her hair!  We headed straight to the bathtub after this fun adventure!

Weekend on the Boat!!

This past spring, Eric's dad bought a house boat on Dale Hollow Lake.   We went down to visit for a weekend in July.  We had a great time, well...except for the incredibly HOT weather.  We arrived late Friday evening and spent the night on the boat.  The next morning we headed out onto the lake.  Graham was beside himself.  He could hardly contain his excitement!!  Unfortunately some smoke began to come from the engine and we had to anchor by the shore shortly after we headed out.  But, we made the most of the day.  We swam, went down the water slide (even Graham went down once!), rode the jet ski, played on the shore, swam some more and had a great time! 

 

Due to the high heat that day, we decided to head home Saturday night.  They had to go get another boat to get us back to the dock so we could be on our way.  We were disappointed to cut our trip short, however about an hour outside of Cincinnati Graham got sick in the car.  At that point we were very thankful we had left and were fairly close to home!  Both kids suffered from some sort of illness after that, we believe it was heat exhaustion from the symptoms they showed.  However, they still had such a wonderful time and talked of Grandpa's boat for weeks! 

 

Graham showing his excitement when we first left the dock!

 

Ellie standing inside helping Grandpa drive the boat!

Swimming with Daddy!  Graham was quite the fish that day.  I would ask him if he was a blue gill or a clown fish, he would respond by saying..."No, Ma...I'm Grahamy!" 

Ellie enjoying a tasty snack on the deck.  Isn't she adorable in this patriotic swimsuit?!?

Swimming with Mommy!

Happy Birthday Eleanor Kate!!

My sweet little Eleanor Kate is now 1 year old!  It is so hard to believe that a full year has already passed.  Ellie is a true sweetheart.  She brightens our days with her adorable and fun loving personality.  She loves to laugh, play, keep up with her big brother and chase the cat around.  She is learning so much and developing each day.  She can say a few words....mama, dada, kitty cat, quack, dog, ball...and she's learning more all the time.  She has taken a few steps here and there, and is perfectly capable of taking off any moment now, she just hasn't decided to yet!  Ellie eats whatever we are eating.  A few of her favorite foods are mac-n-cheese, grilled cheese, cheese quesadillas, cheddar cheese....ok, you get the idea!  She also loves most fruits, spaghetti and is not afraid to try new things.  Over the past month she's gone through a growth spurt and is currently eating more than her brother at most meals! 

Ellie had her 1 year appt on the 4th.  She impressed the Dr with her personality.  During the exam Ellie just laughed and laughed with her hearty laugh that makes anyone who hears it smile!  The Dr. commented that whenever she is having a bad day she wants to come and hang out with Ellie, as she's sure to be cheered up!  Ellie checked out great.  Here are her current stats:

20lbs 1oz (31st percentile)
29 inches long (50th percentile)

Just prior to Ellie's Dr's appointment, I took her to get her 1 year pictures taken.  She wasn't so sure about the idea at first, but then they pulled out some stuffed animals and it was all smiles after that!  She did GREAT.  We had some amazing shots and I had a very hard time narrowing it down to just a couple to purchase.  Here are a few of the pictures!  Enjoy!

Bowling

A week ago we took the kids bowling for the first time. We were meeting up with some friends and Graham was beyond thrilled to be going bowling. He had seen an episode of Curious George that involved bowling and he had also played a bowling game on our notepad, so he was ready! We got to the bowling lanes and he was bursting at the seams to begin. He loved EVERYTHING about it. He loved wearing the shoes, he loved the balls, he loved rolling the ball down the lane, and he did NOT want to leave! Really...it was a big meltdown when it was time to go. :)

He was very cute to watch. He was just so excited each and every time he rolled the ball. Since he was on the lane with several other kids he had to wait for his turn. Or...so he was supposed to. He was constantly picking up a ball and walking it toward the lane. If we didn't stop him he would proceed to roll that ball down the lane regardless of whether or not it was his turn. He did a great job too...even beat his mom. Granted, there were bumpers on his lane and not on mine! :)

The Past Month in Review...

This past month has been busy with lots of changes around our home. The kids are growing like crazy, doing new things practically every day. We began potty training Graham, Ellie had her 9 month check-up and we purchased a minivan! Exciting times around the Armstrong home!

Like I said, Graham began potty training in mid-January. It was very rough going for the first week. Then we made a breakthrough, or so we thought. Unfortunately it continued to be slow going. It has gotten better, however we're still not completely there. Last week he went four whole days with no pee accidents. As soon as Eric & I discussed how pleased we were and how we thought that he had finally gotten it we began to have accidents again. Boo!!

He'll be trained someday, right? :) The nice thing is that even though I'm doing more laundry now due to the accidents, we are only using diapers at night. He wears his undies all day (by choice too), even at naptime. And he has done a great job keeping them dry during naps! He is on the young side of being potty trained these days, so we are happy with how he's doing. We try to not get too frustrated when the accidents happen and encourage him A LOT!! He is so excited when he uses the potty and cheers for both Mommy & Daddy when they use the potty! He loves his 'treat's', which are fruit snacks or skittles. Hopefully in another month or two he will be doing even better!

Ellie is growing up so fast. She is already 9 months old!! We just started talking about her first birthday! It's so hard to believe that it will be here before we know it. She has learned a lot recently. She can now stand independently for a few seconds and does that often. She cut her third tooth this past week and also learned how to clap a couple days ago. She's making more noises and I think she now knows who 'mama' and 'dada' are, or at least knows to say the right name! She loves her brother and wants to 'help' him with whatever he is playing with. He doesn't always enjoy this, but usually does fairly well with her. She is into EVERYTHING!! She can climb up the stairs and loves to chase the cat. She is much more daring than Graham ever was. She's had more bumps, tumbles and crashes than Graham probably has had in his 2 years! Overall she's a very happy baby and a lot of fun to be around!

Here are her 9 month stats:

Weight: 18lbs 5oz (35th percentile)

Height: 27.5 inches (45th percentile)

Here are a few more recent pictures!

Graham in his big boy undies! We have a few better pictures of this where he's holding his shirt up! We're holding those for his wedding someday! :)

We haven't gotten much snow this year, but a few weeks ago we had a dusting and Graham was able to get all bundled up and go outside to play! He loved it! He really likes making footprints in the snow!

This picture is a bit blurry, however I love the serious expression that Ellie is giving! She's a funny girl!

I gave Ellie her own snack cup for the first time. It's the one sitting next to her, that has a 'lid' that is supposed to help prevent spills. Hmm, maybe they should've had Ellie do the testing on this product! She had a lot of fun though!

Ellie has discovered the piano! She LOVES it! I have a few videos of her playing, if I get a few moments later I'll upload them!

Graham and Ellie share a bedroom. A few weeks back, I had put Ellie to bed. Shortly after I took Graham in to go to sleep and Ellie was not asleep. She was standing there looking at us! So, the two of them had some fun laughing at each other for a few minutes. We wondered if we'd ever get them to sleep after this, but after a few minutes they both quieted down and went to sleep!