Some more April pictures and happenings

April has continued to be a busy month. Ella has been sleeping well through the night and Mama is still on maternity leave, so this led to many adventures when the family was home.  

There was lots of play at home and we started to do more and more trips out of the house.  For some of our first trips, we managed to get the whole family together on the bike trail, with Auggie on his scooter and the rest of us walk-running behind him with Ella in the stroller.  We made several fun bike trail trips with Auggie's friend Maya and her family, with the grown-ups barely being able to keep up with the kids.  The "neighborhood bouncy house" also moved into our garage, which meant we had an easy way to stay social, have play dates, and not have to pack up all the baby stuff to leave the house. The bouncy house definitely got some good usage this month. 

Finally, we don't have any pictures of this, but April 2018- specifically Easter - will need to be forever remembered as the day Auggie discovered Easter Egg hunts.  For weeks -months?- after, he was asking to do an easter egg hunt almost daily.  We learned quickly to have him fill his own eggs, with healthy snacks like Cheerios and nuts.  He didn't seem to mind. 

Auggie and Mama "Blowing Kisses"

Ella still doing a good job of sleeping during the day and night

Ella zooming back and forth in her Snoo (motion artifact noted)

Cuddles

Fun days on the bike trail

Just like her brother when she was little, this is one happy baby!

Cuddles!

Auggie is starting to love getting haircuts (and the lollipops that follow)

One of our bike trail trip with Maya's family.  The dads pushed the strollers, while Agnieszka alternated carrying the kid's scooters and scoot bikes.  They got tired of each one every few minutes. 

One of our neighbors had a great idea to buy a "shared" bouncy house for the neighborhood.  After a few months, the bouncy house moved to our house and we took many opportunities to put it up in the backyard and invite friends and neighbors over for some jumping.

Cousins and Lollipops. What could be better? 

(Yes, this post starts with Auggie&Mama making faces and ends with Auggie&Papa making faces) 

Ella Videos- changing quickly

At the end of March, we had an infant who smiled flirtatiously at the drapes and walls.  Come mid-April, we have a fully interactive - huge smiles from ear to ear - baby.

Ella is 3 Months Old!!

Ella is 3 months old! She's sleeping through the night and rocking Tummy Time (just in time to see the doctor!)  Like her brother at this age, she is a "spitting up" pro, and the whole family has gotten used to changing clothing regularly, washing bibs every 2-3 days, and spraying valuable pieces of clothing with stain remover.  Ella's head control has improved enough that she can finally enjoy walks in the baby carrier front facing - which Mama did not realize until taking her on a walk in the baby carrier and watching Ella turn her head back and forth (and almost all the way around!) just to see the view.

Auggie's Birthday Circle

This year, Mama got a chance to join Auggie for his class's birthday circle.  Mama showed pictures of Auggie since he was a little baby and talked about all the things that were special about him then and as he grew up.  Auggie got to wear a crown that he had made, and walk around the circle 4 times, to signify the 4 years he's been alive.  Meanwhile, the children sang a song that went something like: "The Earth goes around the Sun. 12 months, 52 weeks and 365 days."  Auggie was absolutely ecstatic about this being his turn to be honored and his smile was magical (the ear to ear grin was not captured on camera, but definitely enjoyed).

Auggie's video

So on Auggie's birthday, Google spontaneously made a video which consisted of a compilation of short videos from the last 1-2 years. It's sweetl. I have nothing to change.

Giggy and Keggy visit

In the beginning of April, Giggy and Keggy arrived to celebrate Auggie's birthday and help with childcare while his school was on Spring break.  There was lots of cuddling and Ella was far more awake for this visit.  Ella continued to remind us of how lucky we were to have such an easy and happy baby. She started sleeping through the night regularly, let anyone hold her and had very few complaints. 

During this time, Auggie got some baby-free time to spend with Mama and Papa. One day, Auggie and Mama took the BART train to Papa's work to meet Papa for lunch (and ice cream!)  During another day, the three joined Maya and her mom Raina at Albany bowl for the kids' first game of bowling.  Maya and Auggie enjoyed bowling for the first hour or so, but their patience for the game ran out before we could finish the 2nd game. Agnieszka managed to win all the games (as long as we were using golf scoring).  In retrospect, the children had fun, but it was probably a little early for bowling.  A few weeks later, Auggie's only recollection of the event was that he and Maya each got a squishy ball from a 25c toy dispenser and that Maya's ball broke. 

Auggie's Birthday Party

For Auggie's 4th Birthday, we held a party at our house. There were 40+ people and the weather called for an indoor party.  Fortunately, we had lots of family help.  Given Auggie's current passion for crafts of all types, we set up 3 crafting tables.  Kids got to make those addictive play doh "gardens" (yes, we made 2 flour sacks worth of home-made play doh!), crowns with jewels and stickers, and beaded necklaces.  Giggy, Aunt Sandy and Jamie lent their crafting skills (and patience) to running the crafting table.  Keggy took care of Ella, with help from Babcia, and both soon found themselves taking a break from the noise and energy in Ella's room. Of course, they had plenty of eager visitors, including the Fukshansky boys (who clearly LOVE babies) to Nikki, Babcia's dog.