Our Blog Has Moved!

As good as Blogger has been to us, we decided to upgrade our blog. Our new site gives us many more options to blog, post photos and videos.

We hope you will come visit us at our new online home and bookmark our new address in your favorites!

http://web.mac.com/themayerfamily

Elliot's Day at Ready Set Play!

Saturday morning we met our friends up in Round Rock at Ready Set Play!, an inflatable playplace for kids. Elliot & Davis had the best time! After Drew and I each took Elliot down the giant slide a few times, he wiggled out of our arms to go down on his own. He must have sailed down the slide 20 times, he loved it. The place had all kinds of inflatable playscapes and Elliot loved jumping in them... bounce, bounce, bounce, crash. Then we all went to lunch, and afterwards Elliot fell asleep in his car seat as we pulled out of the parking lot.

Playtime with Davis

Elliot's friend Davis came over with his parents on our anniversary. Jennifer and John Rob graciously offered to stay with the kids while we went (drum roll please) to Whole Foods to get a coffee and do the grocery shopping. It was nice to get out of the house alone together, even for a few hours.

Davis is three months older than Elliot. He is blonde and blue-eyed too, and his mom and I think they could be brothers.

Elliot Kisses

Elliot is really into giving kisses right now. When he doesn't want to answer our questions, kisses are his answer for whatever we ask, as you can see.

The Seven-Year Itch

Monday is Labor Day and our 7th wedding anniversary. Drew gave me these gorgeous white orchids. I'm sure many of our readers out there were at our wedding. It was such a beautiful day and fun party in the Colorado mountains. It is really difficult to believe that we have already been married for seven years. We are still having a great time together, and these kids make our marriage so lively and interesting and fun.

Speaking of the kids... Chloe was going down to sleep every night around 7:30-8:00, but she has regressed the last few nights. Today she took a nice 2-hour morning nap, then I fought her to take an afternoon nap which ended up to be only an hour, and then tonight she is refusing to go to bed. So now it is 8:00 p.m. and she is sitting on the couch with her dad watching college football (see photo I just took.) What a stinker. But she is so cute, what can we do? Meanwhile Elliot is passed out in his crib because, in sync with Chloe, he decided to forgo a nap today. He was too keyed up from running through the hose with dad, then warming up in the shower with mom. He was so tired that he was nodding off in his high chair during dinner.

Chloe had her two-month appointment this week. She weighs 13 pounds (90-95%), is 22-5/8 inches (50%) and her head circumference is 40.4cm (75-90%). We saw a new doctor at the office today, Dr. Owens, because Dr. Hargrave was booked up with back-to-school appointments. I liked her, though she lightly scolded me for putting Chloe to sleep on her side. I explained that she was spitting up a lot in the first few weeks and I was afraid she would aspirate. She said she's old enough now to clear her airway on her own, and putting her to sleep on her back is a must. We are doing that now though Chloe is less than thrilled. She will get used to it. Meanwhile she still refuses the bottle, but it's really not an issue because date nights for us are a DVD and ice cream. Maybe at 6 months when she dabbles in solid food she will also try the sippy cup. Overall she has become quite an easy baby, and she is quick to smile and talk. We love it. This past week we moved her into her own room. We got a great baby monitor so I can hear her wake up 1-2 times a night for feedings. It's a little sooner than we moved Elliot out, but she is a noisy little bugger. She seems to like her new digs.

A Month Older

This week the kids turn a month older. Elliot is now 17 months old and suddenly we are realizing that he is a toddler. Here is what he's up to.

• Talks a lot but still refusing to say words other than "doh" for "dog." When he wants us to do something, he leads us to what he wants or reaches up. When we say, "What do you want Elliot? Can you say the word? Do you want up? Can you say 'UP'?" he refuses to say it. When we walk away from him he tries to cry, makes fists, and pounds them in the air. It's kind of funny. We ignore these mini-tantrums; they are usually short-lived.
• Favorite toys are his sister's mobile and swing. He always signals to us to turn them on. Thank God for rechargeable batteries.
  
• Can "read" through books that are not board books without accidentally tearing the pages now. He's never been a destroyer (at least not yet).
• Runs instead of walks... everywhere.
• Likes to ride escalators.
  
• Likes to walk backwards.
• Has this "tic" where he pulls his shirt up over his belly. He does it all the time and it's really cute.
  
• Loves to be sprayed with the hose or run through fountains but not crazy about pools, even wading pools.
  
• Eats pretty much everything we eat.
• Doesn't smile or laugh much in public -- he doesn't want anyone to know he is having fun. When he is home it's another story. My mom tells me I was the same way as a toddler.
• Plays around other kids, not really with them, including at Gymboree class and playdates. But he likes to watch them.
• Will shove his way into the shower (with his clothes on) if we don't shut the bathroom door. He loves to take showers with us.
• Loves to play in the rain. Good thing we have had an unusually wet summer.
  
• Likes to grab and eat fruit out of the produce drawer in the fridge, especially plums.
  
• Looks at or points to Chloe's head when we ask him where she is. That is about as much as he acknowledges her. But he is very gentle with her when she is in her swing or bouncy seat around him. We have never told him he needs to be careful around her, he just seems to know.
  
• His four molars are about 1/4 of the way through, and he still has 5 other teeth to get (not including his 2-year molars). He still has "teething days" but not as many and they aren't as bad.
  
• Loves the colorful wooden tube puzzle on the play table at the Pottery Barn Kids store.
  

Chloe is two months old today, and here is what she is up to right now.

• Smiles at anybody who talks to her.
• Coos a lot and we love it.
• Likes to watch her brother play even though he basically ignores her. She smiles at him.
• She giggled in the tub the other night. We haven't heard it since but it was adorable. Can't wait for more of them.
• She is a fast eater. She can usually eat a full meal in 15 minutes. And she is chunking up just like her brother did as you can see by these chubby-faced photos. We love chunk.
• Her eyes are definitely turning blue, and so far her hair is staying dark brown.
• Right now she goes down for the night by around 7:30-8 with without much effort on our part. (The first 8 weeks required that we soothe her to sleep and it could take 20 minutes or 3 hours.) She wakes once in the night to eat, usually around 1-2am, and wakes up for the day around 6am. I haven't started dream feeding her yet but will do that in the next few weeks. That's when I feed her in her sleep around 10:30 -- just enough to tank her up for the night. I tried it a few times but it seemed to upset the rest of her night's sleep.
  
• She is a noisy sleeper and grunts and groans, especially when she has gas. She doesn't really wake up but she wakes us up. She is still in her bassinet in our room, but I foresee a move to her own room in the next few weeks.
  
• During the day she is a sleeping champ. She takes a morning nap, an afternoon nap and an evening catnap before her tub. For all of these, I can put her in her bassinet when her eyes are just getting heavy and she will fall asleep on her own. And we are almost there for bedtime too.

A few other tidbits...
I had my follow-up appointment with Dr. Polon this week. Everything with me is fine and back to normal except for a few pounds to lose. We were chatting and I told him that Drew and I aren't sure how we got so lucky as to have two sweethearts for babies. He said the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. I thought that was a nice thing to say. We do feel very blessed to have two healthy, safe and sweet babies. The only bummer about not being pregnant is not getting to see Dr. P all the time, he is a great doctor and a funny guy.

Our good friends Cory and Jennifer stopped by this weekend during their visit to Austin. They are living in London right now while Cory is stationed there for a work project. They are taking advantage of traveling Europe while they are there (aka living the life I used to dream of living). If you want to check out their travels, here is a link to their fab blog that Jennifer updates regularly.

The only bad news we have of late is that we had to say goodbye to our nanny, Stacey. She has been a big part of Elliot's life (and ours) for the past year. When she started with us last August, Elliot was just a chunky baby sitting in his Bumbo seat. She came by today one last time to take him to his Gymboree class. She is moving to San Antonio to start a new life. We will miss her so much and wish her a lot of happiness.

A Day in the Life

A typical day in the Mayer household...

6:00am - Drew gets up and goes to work, Chloe wakes to eat, we both go back to sleep.
7:00am - Elliot is bouncing in his crib so I go get him and we take a shower together. I get dressed, get Elliot dressed, and he watches Noggin and drinks his cup of milk. I clean up the house.
8:30am - Chloe wakes up. I change her diaper and put her in her crib to watch her mobile. I throw the diapers in the washer. Elliot gets boxes of food out of the pantry and puts them on the floor, then puts them back while I make his breakfast (scrambled eggs with cheese, waffles with peanut butter and yogurt). Elliot eats, I feed Abby, and I scarf down some oatmeal while Chloe sits in her bouncy seat on the table and watches all the action. She starts fussing so I feed her.
9:30am - I put Chloe down for her morning nap. Then I call Drew for a morning update while I clean up the breakfast mess, unload the dishwasher and let Abby out. I clean up the little Elliot messes around the house, and collect the kids' laundry to wash. Elliot is reading his books in his room.
10:30am - I drink a cup of tea (aaaah) while I read emails. I call the doctor to make my 6-week post-natal check-up (at 8 weeks postpartum... oops), and post an ad for a nanny to Craigslist (we are losing Stacey boo-hoo). Elliot is on my lap watching his Noggin videos on the web.
11:00am - Chloe wakes up. I get her dressed and take some pictures of the kids in her room. Neither are too happy about that. I hang the diapers to dry and throw in some more laundry while the kids hang out in Chloe's room and watch her mobile.
11:45am - I feed Chloe while Elliot dances around in the living room watching "Jack's Big Music Show".
12:00pm - Chloe starts to get fussy for sleep and I need to make Elliot's lunch, so I wear her in the Snugli carrier.
12:15pm - Elliot is in his high chair for lunch and Chloe is falling asleep, so I put her in her bassinet. Then I quickly eat some lunch too.
12:45pm - I clean up Elliot and the lunch mess while he plays with his toys in the playroom and poops his pants.
1:00pm - Change Elliot, read him some stories, give lots of kisses and he goes to sleep for his only nap of the day. Both kids are down now at the same time... yippee! Sometimes I get lucky, so today I take advantage by finishing my chai tea from earlier, call Drew and respond to a few emails. Then I paint the trim for Elliot's bookcase, finish the laundry I started earlier, dustmop the floor (Abby's hair) and send some videos of the kids over the internet to our families. Skim a magazine and work on a menu for the next week.
2:45pm - Chloe wakes up to eat and I change her. We hang out and have girl talk.
3:30pm - We hear Elliot talking to himself and bouncing in his crib. Chloe and I get him up, change his diaper and give him his snack (milk, cereal bar, goldfish and Cheerios).
4:15pm - Chloe takes a catnap, Elliot and I spin things together. I make a salad for dinner tonight.
5:00pm - Chloe wakes up and I feed her.
5:30pm - Drew comes home from work, Elliot and Abby go bananas. Drew and I catch up on our days, Drew changes into kid-friendly attire, makes a a tonic with lime, and takes Elliot outside to hose him down.
6:00pm - I feed Chloe, and she takes another catnap on me while our Super Suppers dinner is in the oven.
6:30pm - We all eat dinner together as a family, Chloe hangs out in her bouncy seat and smiles at us.
7:00pm - Drew wipes Elliot down and cleans up the dishes, and we all take a walk to the mailbox.
7:30pm - Elliot plays with his toys, Drew and I fold laundry, Chloe takes another catnap in her bouncy seat.
8:00pm - Chloe and I watch Drew give Elliot a bath and brush his teeth. Then I feed and bathe Chloe while Drew gets Elliot into his jammies and reads him bedtime stories. I get Chloe into her jammies.
9:00pm - Drew and I watch an episode of "The Office" on Netflix DVD. Drew does a little bit of work on his laptop while I try to settle Chloe to sleep.
10:00pm - I feed Chloe and she goes to sleep in her bassinet, Drew and I have a few minutes of time together without kids. We fold laundry and talk.
11:00pm - Nighty night.