my little helper...etc...

I think I've mentioned before what a great little 'helper' Garrett is. He wants to do laundry, wipe off his high chair, scrub the tile floor, sweep, organize the fridge, cook, organize the pans, feed the fish, anything I'm doing, he wants to try, he even sometimes pushes on and holds the back of Addie's head while I'm nursing her- just to make sure she's getting enough I guess... and his new one is pushing the shopping cart. I keep reminding myself to be patient, because although right now my little helper makes each project take (at least) twice as long, maybe one day he'll still love to help and it will actually help! If I ever have to take him to a store and we get a cart, I try to be prepared with distractions so he won't remember that he wants to push the cart. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. It's really hard work, and he is so focused when he's doing it that it's actually really cute and he always gets a lot of smiles and attention from other shoppers.I love these kids. Last night I asked Paul if he even remembers life without Addie and if he can image life without her. Even though she was even more of a surprise than Garrett was, we just feel really complete with her in our family. (And Mom, by 'complete' I just mean complete for now...and probably for a really long time.) And look how big Garrett is next to her!I went to the dentist yesterday for a crown on a tooth. I've known about it since last June when I had my emergency root canal, but they told me to try and wait until after Addie was born to get the crown, and now she's 4 months old, but I was actually pretty proud of myself for getting in there as fast as I did. And I got the lovely news that the tooth next to it has an old filling in it that has, over the years, expanded and cracked the tooth, and it also needs a crown. Sigh... it's just money...

I saw this snack on Pinterest. I made some about 2 minutes after I saw it because Garrett has started liking yogurt less and less these days but he LOVES anything frozen. Sometimes the only way to keep him happy at a restaurant is to give him a cup of ice and let him play and munch the ice. Anyway, this is just yogurt poured into a ziploc, snip the corner, then squeeze drops on a pan and freeze. They freeze in less than an hour and they are yummy. A huge hit with Garrett, too. I freeze a couple things of yogurt every couple days and it's the perfect snack. The only problem is they melt fast so I only give him a few at a time and just keep refilling his bowl, otherwise it gets really messy!We went to a birthday party over the weekend for some friends Paul grew up with (twins). It was a roller skating party. Garrett was so amused with all the flashing lights everywhere. He didn't make a sound for about 15 minutes, just walked around and took it all in.Garrett and I went on a lunch date. He asked for more so I said, "let me see in your mouth first" and he gave me a full shot of chewed up food. I heard people laugh at the next table.I think Addie gets sick of me munching on her cheeks, but they're just so yummy! Addie is doing really well, by the way. Done with colic. And we're working now on feeding her and putting her to bed awake and letting her self-sooth to sleep. It's going well. I'd say about 75% of the time she's asleep within 5 minutes with little or no fussing, and then she sleeps for 7-8 hours, then I feed her and she sleeps for 3 more hours. This morning when I got up to feed her I was a little frustrated because I was so tired, but I have to remind myself that I go to bed 2 or 3 hours after her, and if I'd like a full nights sleep I need to go to bed when she does. It will never happen. I need my alone time.Well, I'm guessing that by now I have sufficiently bored you to death, so I'll stop there. We're all happy and well. And although life isn't too exciting, we're enjoying it.