Cousins! (...and eating, play group, etc.)

My older sister Elaine and her children, Ben and Sarah, came to visit on Tuesday. We had so much fun! We went to the park down the street and then to the sprinkler pool. I cannot believe that Ben is starting 1st grade and Sarah is starting 4th grade in the fall! I can remember when they were no bigger than Sophia and Ethan! Time flies...

Sophia continues to roll and is getting more and more vocal. At our play group this past Friday, her friend Elin was making duck-like noises. Sophia thought this was cool and is now making duck-like noises herself! Meanwhile, Ethan is getting the hang of the jumperoo in his own way, and is also clapping (possibly inspired by Amalia, Elin's twin). We finally decided to break out the "real" highchairs this week and while the trays are still a little high for them, Ethan and Sophia seem to enjoy their cushy new seats.

The cloth diapering experiment is going very well. Both Steve and I have been surprised at how easy it is and am feeling great about the switch. For those who are in the know about these things, we're trying the fuzzi buns pockets , thirsties all-in-ones, bumgenius pockets, bumgenius organic all-in-ones, along with the unbleached Indian prefolds, imse vimse covers, and thirsties fab fitteds (also go inside the cover). Oddly enough, we're finding the "old-fashioned" Chinese prefolds with imse vimse covers to be the best/most absorbent/easiest so far - followed closely by the bumgenius organic all-in-one diapers (they have absorbent cotton inside)... I don't know why, but stuffing the pocket diapers seems very cumbersome to me - and the synthetic fabrics are leaking more than the diaper/cover combos. We decided to order a bunch of the unbleached Indian prefolds, a few more covers, and some of the bumgenius organic all-in-ones for when we go out (much easier for traveling!).

The Cousins: Ben, Sophia, Sarah, and Ethan

Sophia...
Ethan...Sophia...

Ben fell in love with a little dog who was walking with his owner in the park...
Ethan, Sarah, and Sophia...
Sarah and Sophia...
Ethan, Sarah, and Sophia...
Sarah, Ben, Sophia, and Ethan ready for the sprinkler park...

Ben and Sarah playing at the sprinkler park...
Sarah and Ben (and Elaine with the towels in the background)...Auntie Lainey with Sophia and Ethan...
Ethan and Auntie Lainey...Ethan and Sophia being fed by Steph and Sarah. Sarah was like a seasoned pro!

Sarah also fed Sophia her bottle...Ethan and Sophia enjoy bottles with Steph and Sarah...
Ben enjoyed roughhousing with Steve...
Auntie Lainey, Steve, Sarah, and Ben...Ben and Sarah...Ethan after a particularly messy meal displaying his pureed prune artwork...
A close-up of Ethan's first pureed prune finger painting...

We've started giving Sophia and Ethan soft-cooked sweet potato in these handy mesh bags. The bags allow them to experience food without us having to worry about them choking - food must be small enough to fit (squish?) through the mesh.
Ethan is determined to get that sweet potato and takes a bite...
Sophia is unsure at first...
...then she digs in!
Our second play group was a success... Amalia and Elin enjoyed standing at the gate...
Amalia, Elin, Joshua, Maya, Sophia and Ethan...
Maya also enjoyed standing at the gate...
Kerstin feeding Amalia, Jessica feeding Maya and Joshua...
Joshua and his big blue eyes!
Sophia has developed a new game. It's called "Pull Ethan Over and Play With His Face". It's great fun for her...
...and Ethan doesn't seem to mind... most of the time...
Sitting in our new high chairs...
Super Dad (aka Steve) carries both babies at church...

07.31.08 :: Ethan dancing (and standing) in the jumperoo


08.03.08 :: Sophia and Ethan on the drum...