Ella 3 years

 Ok, the first ever Ella update.  Sadly, I've never written about her so I don't have a good recollection of what she was like each stage as a baby.  But better late than never...

Ella is hilarious.  No other way to put it.  She has such a big personality.  She is not shy, she loves attention, and she is super loud.  A true last child.

Favorite Foods:  Pasta, pasta, pasta.  Always has been her favorite.  She also loves cheese, chips, and most fruit (peaches, apples, mangos are her faves).  She used to love yogurt, but she doesn't seem to like it as much anymore.  Oh, and candy (if you can count that as food).

Least Favorite Foods:  Meat, vegetables

Cutest thing she does:  Dances, sings, acts crazy, kisses and hugs mommy a lot, dresses up like a princess

Most annoying thing she does:  Screams at the top of her lungs.  Her voice is always hoarse.  I'm not sure it's because she is always screaming.  She also is in the habit of calling her siblings "stupid idiot" when she's mad.  She is also super demanding and throws a fit when she doesn't get her way.

Things she says:

• "I love you much, much, much."
  
• How old are you?  "Three old"
• "Can I watch bideos?"  Anything starting with a "v" sounds like a "b".
  
• "Tell me a story about Mommy or Hudson."  She loves stories about The Beast.
• "Sing Amazing Grace."
• "No, I'm Pookie Pie."

Overall, she says too many things.  Her vocabulary is insane.  She also remembers every detail.

TV shows and movies:

This year, she finally developed the attention span to watch movies.  She loves Tangled, Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Frozen, Moana

Other random stuff:

• Ella won't wear anything but dresses.  She has so many cute clothes that will never be worn.
• She won't wear any other shoes except for crocs.
• She won't let me put her hair up.  She only wants to wear it down.
• When she was 2, she used to say "I wuv you."
• She is fully pee pee trained, but still poops in a diaper (by 3.5).
• She loves Halloween and spooky stuff.
• THE BEST SLEEPER:  sleeps through the night, still takes 2-3 hour naps (was still doing 2 naps/day until she was 2)
• Loves talking to strangers (especially men).  Not shy at all.

My two babies

Happy 1st Birthday, Colton!

I can't believe that the little guy is one already.  Time flies.  Our poor second child did not get the same type of party that we had for Eden, but we had a small gathering for him with friends and neighbors.  Colton had a pretty good time and ate some yummy carrot birthday cake.

On his first birthday, here are some Colton stats:

Height:  30.5 inches (75%)
Weight:  22 lbs 14 oz (50%)
Head:  19.25 inches (90%)

He is bigger than Eden was at one year on all counts.

Here are some fun facts about Colton:

Favorite food: Avocados.  Colton loves food and will eat basically anything that you put in front of him.  He also loves goldfish.
Least favorite food: Bananas.  I thought that all kids love bananas, but neither of mine like them.
Favorite activity: Crawling, climbing, standing, banging, yelling.  Colton is a lot more physical than Eden.  He always wants to be on the go and doesn't like to be held or put in the walker anymore.
Favorite TV show: Colton doesn't really understand the TV yet.  He likes to look at the pictures, but he's not too interested in shows or characters.
Funniest trick: Likes to feed mommy and daddy, and pretends to feed us and pulls away the food at the last second (which he finds very funny).
Spoken words: Not a lot of words at this point.  He says Mama, Dada, Rula, poop and uh-oh.
 
Colton is a typical boy.  He is all about making loud noises, being vocal, and going fast.  He is also super strong.  He's got a lot of boy energy and doesn't like to be still.

Colton also has a bit of a temper and gets really mad when you take something away from him or if you try to feed him.  He throws himself back, arches his back, and cries.  Oh, crying...Colton can go from zero to tears in about 5 seconds.  It's pretty amazing -- wish I could do that!

He shows more independence than Eden at this age.  He absolutely will not let you feed him.  He wants to feed himself, to drink by himself from a sippy cup, and to try and get around by himself.

Colton still gets the hiccups when he laughs too hard (he's done this since he was a little baby).  He has a really funny laugh and can get on a roll fairly easily.

He likes Eden from afar.  He seems to think that she's pretty funny, but he starts to cry if she gets too close.  I think that he's had it with being sat on, choked, dragged around, hit, etc.

As for eating and sleeping, Colton is a great eater and napper (Eden was never either one of these things).  He still naps twice per day for 1-2 hours each nap, which usually means that he won't go to bed until 9-9:30.  We can't wait until he gets onto one nap per day so that he goes to bed earlier at night.

Colton is not walking yet.  He's very good at crawling (fast!) and can stand up on his own, but is probably a couple of months away from walking.

Overall, Colton is a very sweet little guy.  He likes to laugh, has a sense of humor, is fairly easy going, and can also be a little shy at times.  He is all boy.

Here are some pictures from his birthday party:

10 Funny and Cute Things that Eden Does to Make Us Laugh and Smile

1. Eden has assigned a favorite color to each of us:  yellow to Eden, blue to Colton, green to Rachel, and orange to Markham.  (By the way, orange is not Markham's favorite color and we're not sure how she came up with this.)  She is adamant about our colors and will not let us share them.  For a while, she asked Markham every day if he likes orange.  Recently, she started letting Markham like yellow and green because they are Oakland A's colors.
2. She loves baseball and says that it's her "favorite."  She chants "Let's go Oakland!" and she even knows some of the players' names (which makes Markham very happy).
3. Recently, Eden has been starting her sentences with "Well, ..."  This is very funny to hear.  Sometimes, she puts her finger to her mouth as if thinking about she wants to say while she says "Hmmm..."  Very cute.
4. At bedtime, when we're lying together in her bed, she says "you're my favorite mommy," and "you're my best mommy."  Then she kisses me goodnight.  So sweet.
5. Eden is super competitive and independent.  Everything is a race or competition (she has to win), and she has to do everything by herself.
6. Eden is really into shoes, clothes and accessories.  She loves trying on different shoes, and often says things like, "Ooh, I love your shoes, Mommy!" or "I love your shirt!"  Gee, thanks, Eden. 
7. If I seem concerned about something, she'll often come over to me, put her arm around me and say, "It's okay, Mommy.  Don't worry."
8. She looks out for Colton.  She tries to make him laugh if he's upset.  She is always on the look out for choking hazards and says stuff like:  " You can't have this toy, Colton.  You might choke on it."
9. Eden likes to yell out "Markham!" or "Rachel!" when she's trying to get our attention.
10. Eden speaks in very complete sentences:  "Yes, Daddy, I would like to go out to the garden to pick tomatoes." 

Overall, Eden is a loving, funny, happy goofball!  She brightens our every day.

Love this one!

This one is my favorite.

Colton Laughing

Colton has the absolute best laugh.  He truly laughs with all of his heart.  Here he is cracking up at a diaper being thrown at him. 

My Little Man

I love this little guy.  I can't get enough of him.