At his 24 month checkup yesterday, Little Evan was almost exactly 50% on all the charts.

Height: 34 inches (he’s grown 2 full inches in 6 months)
Weight: 26 lbs 8 oz (up 2 lbs 5 oz in 6 months)

I was concerned his iron might be low because he drinks so much milk (too much dairy can inhibit iron absorption) but it was high enough to be in the normal range, even if it’s in the low end of the normal range. He didn’t cry or protest during the finger prick at all but I explained it to him as a “little poke” so when I told him he was getting one more “little poke” for his vaccine he cried. But even with the sad sad SAD crying he thanked the nurse for the stickers and held my hand nicely to the front desk. Such a big kid.

I did ask the pediatrician about whether she thought he should be talking more and she said the threshold for delay was less than 50 words and not making 2 or 3 word phrases, so as long as I thought he had more than 50 words he was ok. I’m…not so sure. He did talk to her and sign several things – which she was impressed with – but she agreed that maybe it would be worth getting him evaluated and wrote us a referral. Someone from the speech therapist’s office will call me so we can set up an appointment soon and I can either stop worrying about it or actually DO something about his lack of words.

But for now, I’m just thrilled he’s growing and healthy and ready to play outside in the spring weather at last!

You will only care about this post if
a) You are my kids looking back on their “baby book” someday
b) You are weirdly obsessed with boring pictures of children
c) You are my mother

Please enjoy.

Peanut butter egg pleeeez! (He actually didn't like it)

I hope your family had a happy Easter too!

Happy 4 Months Baby Girl! You’ve celebrated this monthday by becoming a master at rolling back to front! Every time we put you down you flip over lightning fast. Your little baby muscles are super strong. Unfortunately, you’ve totally forgotten how to roll front to back (that’s supposed to be the easy way!) so once you’re on your tummy you’re stuck and that makes you Very Unhappy. VERY. So you’ve been spending a lot of time in the exersaucer and the bouncy seat so we don’t have to run over and roll you every few seconds. I tried to task your brother with the baby rolling but, uh, he’s not the most gentle – although he really wanted to be helpful.

You’re wearing 6 month clothes and I’m thrilled because we have SO MANY cute summer dresses in 6 and 9 months thanks to boxes and boxes of hand-me-downs. If only the weather would get warmer so I’m not putting leggings and socks and long-sleeved onesies under everything.

But I need to talk to you about that screaming you did on Monday night. SO.MUCH.SCREAMING. It was stung-by-a-bee or poked-with-a-needle screaming, although neither of those things happened. And even though it probably only lasted for 20 minutes it was the longest 20 minutes of our lives. NOTHING could console you. I had the doctor check you today for possible causes but you just cooed and him and made happy faces and made me look like a liar. Although I’m glad you didn’t give a repeat performance tonight.

Also, please poop soon. I’m not looking forward to what will happen if you wait another day.

4 Month Stats:
Height: 23 3/4 (25th percentile)
Weight: 14 lbs 1 oz (50th percentile)
Head circumference: 42.3 (75th percentile – girl has a BIG HEAD)

Poor Caroline, these pictures are just terrible. When we got home from the pediatrician she was sound asleep so I missed my chance at daylight. Plus she got shots in both legs and a special cream on her head for cradle cap (you know they can fix that now?!) so she’s basically just a mess. But I can’t take them tomorrow because TODAY IS HER MONTHDAY. I may be a little…stubborn about things like that.

Look at my leeeegs! My mommy is so meeeeean!

ALMOST a smile

nom nom nom

NOM NOM NOM NOM

Leg rolls! And also her totally crazy bald spot. It's so so sad.

4 Month Milestones (from BabyCenter, as usually)

Mastered Skills (most kids can do)
Smiles, laughs – Yes! Unfortunately almost NEVER in pictures.
Can bear weight on legs – She loves “standing”.
Coos when you talk to him – Yes

Emerging Skills (half of kids can do)
Can grasp a toy – Yes! She can pull the handle on Evan’s old bouncy seat to make it play music too.
Rolls over, from tummy to back – As I said, she forgot that one. But she rolls the other way!

Advanced Skills (a few kids can do)
Imitates sounds: “baba,” “dada” – No I don’t think so.
Cuts first tooth – I can’t TELL. There’s a bulgy spot on her gums and she’s definitely drooling like crazy and will chomp all over my hand but it’s not one of the bottom 2 front ones, which I thought were almost always the first to pop out. Also? Cutting a tooth isn’t a SKILL.
May be ready for solid foods – We’re going to wait til 6 months to introduce solids.

She's a drooling mess. But a cute drooling mess.

I thought I was going to be missing a few days worth of photos because I’ve been using my phone as a white noise machine for Caroline (it’s like MAGIC – she LOVES the white noise) but all it did was cut my photos down from 400 to 200. I’m an iPhoto phiend.

Sunday:

To celebrate my birthday, I went thrifting. I did not buy these.

I also did not buy these. Who donates suede fringed chaps to Goodwill?

Monday:

Sometimes I leave my baby on the floor while I get ready for Stroller Strides

We hung out at the yarn store

Adorable hand-embroidered onesies from @lifeversiontwo

Tuesday:

And sometimes I leave my baby in the laundry basket while I get ready for Stroller Strides.

All the babies in a row at Stroller Strides

We tried to have a nice picnic lunch. Until Little Evan stomped all over the sandwiches.

Wednesday:

Playing with mommy's mascara...

...is a poor choice.

It was "time to move some of the toys up to the playroom because OMG LOOK AT THIS MESS" day

Some people don't appreciate a good vintage sweater

Thursday:

Stompin' in the puddles

Words I never thought I'd have to say "Stop trying to run your sister over with the dumptruck!"

"Crap, I forgot how to roll from front to back so I'm about to get really pissed that I'm stuck!"

Friday:

So, should I be WORRIED my baby powder expired seven years ago?

Pretty blue buttons on a knitted gift

Playing at the most fun playground in our area

Sailing the pirate ship!

This is the super-cool old mental hospital in our town. They're FINALLY turning it into some sort of shopping center/housing development - but I'm afraid they're going to tear all the old buildings down.

Helping mama with her knitting

Saturday:

NOT helping mama with her knitting

"Hey, what are we going to do with all these burnt potato chips?" "I know! Let's call them 'gourmet dark' and sell them to suckers like Suzanne!"

I added some daffodils to the flowers from last weekend's party and put them in front of my laptop so this is what I see when I'm working :)

And even with the mid-day grocery shopping (SO CROWDED) I still had time to hit up TJMaxx for some dress shopping. I scored big time for Caroline (THREE gorgeous dresses originally more than $50 a piece for $10 each) and even found an awesome dress for me to wear to the wedding we’re attending in May. It’s Calvin Klein (What are you wearing? A dress! Says who?) and fits me great now BUT will also fit if I manage to lose any weight before the wedding. I even got all fashionable and bought a belt to replace the one it came with. As far as I’m concerned that’s a Major Fashion Risk. I am very excited to wear it. I think I even have a pair of fantastic heels I haven’t worn in years that would match.

Wow, how boring was all that? Hey, welcome to life with 2 kids. TJMaxx is exciting.

Did you take any camera phone photos this week? Link up with one or lots using the linky below and grab the code (so it shows on your blog too!) over at Amy’s . It’s really fun!

Yesterday I did my duty as a good half-hearted urban hippie and joined a CSA.

Actually, I’m just too lazy to grow any vegetables myself. Besides, the only things I’m good at are tomatoes and cilantro and man cannot live on salsa alone.

That’s garlic. I think it will definitely improve my salsa.

CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. You pay a one time fee to buy a share or a half share of the crop and then you get to pick up an assortment of vegetables, fruit, herbs, flowers, eggs, meat, and other goodies either every week or every other week. The idea is you get to know where you food comes from and who is growing it. It’s part of the locavore movement and something I am really excited to participate in.

Our CSA is called Town Farm Organic and is owned by an incredibly nice couple named Amanda and Dylan. It’s only their second season offering shares so they’re still working out the details – which is good, because we get to help make some of the decisions, like bi-weekly vs weekly pick ups or whether or not we’re interested in things like garbanzo beans (answer: yes. hummus. enough said). They don’t have chickens (yet) or any meat (yet) but they are part of the very active community of local farmers in our area and can either recommend or trade for almost anything we could possibly want.

Amanda and Dylan are also VERY tolerant of 2-year-olds exploring their farm.

I wrote them a check on the spot for a half share.*  As part of the membership, I’m encouraged to help out during the planting or the harvest. They even said we could bring the kids and let them participate, since they really believe in teaching kids where food comes from – and they don’t mean the grocery store.

Do I sound like a crazy person and/or some sort of snobbish foodie yet? Because I’m trying to.

The herb garden is planted in the foundation of an old dairy barn. Did I mention the farm was built in the 1700’s and has a super fascinating history? I know that doesn’t make the vegetables any more delicious (OR DOES IT?) but I absolutely love old houses and all the stories that come with them.

1950’s Ford tractor the farmers actually still use. Now THAT’S sustainable agriculture.

Mischievous toddler is mischievous. Also, he totally has an orange slice in his front pocket. He saved it all morning and ate it when we got home.

Dylan and Amanda were so excited about all their plants it was hard for us not to get excited too. We told the kids these were baby peppers and they loved it. Our friend Amelia wanted to kiss them, because that’s what you do with babies (DID YOU JUST DIE OF CUTENESS?) Evan was fascinated and did a great job looking with his eyes and not with his hands (whoa, major dad flashback).

My only real concern is that I am not awesome at cooking and serving veggies. I know that makes joining a CSA seem sort of silly, but my hope is that once I have all these vegetables in my house I will be FORCED to use them or lose them. They’ve got 37 types of veggies planned (plus flowers and herbs and possibly berries) so I’m really going to be stretching to find recipes that my family will eat. And by my family I 1000000% mean E. I can probably bribe the toddler into trying stuff but my husband is cheeseburger and pizza kind of guy. I may end up buying one of those “hide the veggies in the cupcakes!” kind of cookbooks.

That’s Caroline’s excited face. She knows that there is some AWESOME homemade baby food coming her way once we start getting our shares.

*In case you were curious, a half share cost $225. I figure that’s pretty much the deal of the decade, especially because everything will be organic. I spent at least that much on produce in 4 or 5 weeks of grocery shopping and the growing season is much longer than that.