My Little Runt

I am so thankful for our new little baby girl. She has brought such joy into our lives with her happy, smiley disposition, and we just love her bubbly little personality. I cannot believe what a happy girl she is....and oh my, she is so very social! She won't even go to sleep unless she is in her room completely alone because if anyone is around, she feels like she must "turn it on" and smile, giggle and flirt! She is so fun, and we love her so very much! Here's some happy girl photos:

Yesterday I took Nora to her 4-month doctor's appointment, which confirmed what I pretty much already knew. Our little girl is a runt! She weighed in at a whopping 12 lbs., 12 oz. and was 23 3/4 inches long. For her age, she is in the 25th percentile! This is absolutely crazy to me since Joel was nearly always in upwards of the 75th percentile. This just goes to show that even in a physical form, Joel and Nora are very different children, and we must learn to treat them as such as they grow. I can hardly wait to see what both of them grow up to become. 

Speaking of Joel, he is loving on his little sister more and more every day. The first thing he asks for every morning is "his baby Norna," and he just cannot give her enough kisses! Nora is also very intrigued with Joel and loves to watch him play. No one can make her laugh quite like big brother! These days, Joel is very busy playing outside every chance he gets, going to the park, mowing the yard with Daddy and playing in the sandbox. He loves anything with wheels and a motor, and he is such a funny little man! He says the funniest, wittiest things, and he is very very sensitive and cautious. He can often be heard telling me, "Be careful, Mama!," and he does a great job looking out for Nora (p.s. he did NOT like the fact that Nora had to get shots at her doctor's appointment!). We are so blessed to have such loving and fun children! Here's Joel checking out Nora's Bumbo seat....nothing is sacred when you have siblings!

Easter 2010

Happy Easter from the McCalls! Notice all the "love" that Joel is giving to Nora....this is not abnormal at all! And check out her face! Do you think she likes it? Haha!

We had a busy weekend celebrating Easter with both sides of our extended family this year. Throughout the weekend, the kids got to hang with Aunt Elaine, Aunt Kim, Uncle Justin, Aunt Anna, Uncle Matt, Uncle Zach and Uncle Logan as well as both sets of grandparents. They were both a little spoiled and a lot exhausted by the time Sunday night rolled around, but it was well worth it.

We kicked off the weekend by taking the kids to the Easter egg hunt at the park on Saturday morning. Nora, of course, was too little to hunt, but Joel enjoyed finding the eggs with Daddy while Mommy and Nora cheered him on from the sidelines.

Later that day, Joel colored Easter eggs for the very first time. It was a messy process, but it was tons of fun. Joel totally took charge of the project and let Mommy have virtually no say in the coloring or decorating of the eggs. He may be just a bit of a control freak (wonder where he gets that?!?!). 

On Saturday evening, we headed over to Grandma and Grandpa Kadolph's house for an Easter barbecue with the boys and Anna. Joel had yet another Easter egg hunt with Grandma Traci. 

Sunday morning, the kids woke up to find tons and tons of loot that the Easter Bunny had left for them. Joel enjoyed hunting eggs once again and even got to have some candy before breakfast. Ever since, he has been asking for "candy eggs" when he wakes up. I've created a monster! Here's Joel finding his basket and checking out the goods:

I think Nora liked hers, too:

Here's a good shot of the kids before we got them dressed and headed off to church. Don't you just love the coordinating pjs?

This is literally the only picture that I got of Joel alone in his Easter outfit. And check out the face!!!! It's hard enough to get a 2-year-old dressed up, but to get him to stand still is nearly impossible! But doesn't he look handsome??? 

And here's one of Nora in her Easter dress (which she hated, by the way). 

Mommy and Nora:

All in all, it was a great day filled with family and rejoicing in our risen Savior! What a joyous time of year! 

Fish Tales

On Good Friday, Jack had the day off, so he decided to take Joel fishing for the very first time. With Jack's help, Joel actually snagged a little fish of his own. He had a great time! When he got home, he told me, "Mama, that fish too funny!"

Waiting for a bite:

Here is the proud little guy with his catch:

On the Move

A couple of weeks ago, Miss Nora decided it was time to start rolling. It all began one evening when her Daddy was torturing her and making her do "tummy time" (she hates it!). She got so mad that she accidentally flung herself over and rolled onto her back. She was shocked to say the least! Since then, she has not rolled from tummy to back but rather, she's started rolling from back to tummy. It's just so darn cute, but sad at the same time as I know she's growing up! Here is our little lady at three months:

It amazes me to see, even at this young age, the difference in Joel's and Nora's personalities. Nora is so very social and chatty. Unlike Joel, who must check people out and make sure everything is safe before warming up, Nora will smile and flirt with anyone who crosses her path. If she's ever fussy, which isn't too often, I simply lay her down and talk to her. She immediately starts cooing and laughing at me with big, big smiles! It's so fun! I have a feeling we will need to have the "don't talk to strangers" talk with little Miss sooner than later! What a little social butterfly! Here's a couple shots of little motor mouth:

Two-Year and Two-Month Checkups

On Wednesday, I took both Joel and Nora to the doctor for their two-year and two-month checkups. Both kids are doing great with growth and development, but what was more interesting was what happened to us on the way to the doctor......

When Joel woke up on Wednesday morning, he immediately began vomiting. I wasn't sure at that time if he just ate something funny or what the deal was, but by the time we got ready to leave for the doctor, he had vomited twice. I decided to take him anyway (after all, who is too sick to go to the doctor???) and see what the problem was. I immediately regretted my decision. We were no further than two blocks from our house and he vomited in the car. Yuck. At this point, I called the doctor to reschedule but was informed that if I cancelled, the kids could not get in until April! Frustrated, I decided to brave the car ride and go anyway. Luckily, my grandma (who was visiting from Iowa) had decided to accompany me, so she ended up holding an old towel in front of Joel the entire car ride there and wiping his vomit. It was disgusting to say the least!

So we got to the doctor relatively unscathed but a little shaken. Joel did great the entire appointment, so I thought that perhaps the sickness had passed. I was wrong!!! Turns out, he has rotavirus.....and four days later, we're still dealing with it!!!! I'll spare you the details, but let's just say that I hope this is the only time we'll ever have to deal with this sickness. I just hope it goes away soon....there's nothing quite as pathetic as a sick two-year-old. So far, Nora has stayed away from it, so I hope we're in the clear there. This has been quite a week/weekend!

Anyway, on a lighter note, here are the kids' stats from their appointments:
Joel: 30 lbs. (75th percentile) and 35 inches (70th percentile)
Nora: 10 lbs. 13 oz. (30th percentile) and 23 1/2 inches (50th percentile)

Both kids are growing like weeds! Nora, though she is little, has gained four pounds since birth and grown more than five inches. And Joel, though he hasn't gained any weight, has grown five inches in six months. Time for longer pants!

Here's a picture of Nora on her two-month birthday:

And here's another cute one for good measure:

And here's a picture of Nora and her friend, Micah Guernsey, who just moved in two doors down from us with his parents Caleb and Sara. Nora was born just 10 days after Micah, and they're already fast friends. We are so thankful to have such great neighbors!

And despite his illness, this picture pretty much sums up the mood Joel is in these days. Ah, two-year-olds......he keeps me on my toes, but I wouldn't change it for the world!

Snow and Big Bows

I'll admit it. This post is purely for the purpose of showing of really cute pictures. Here's some shots of Joel playing in the snow when we got a few inches yesterday (again!!! Really, will this snow ever stop???) 

This kid LOVES nothing more than to eat snow. He also, come to find out, loves to be buried in the snow! Thank you, Daddy for this discovery!

And here are some shots of Nora. It's hard to believe she'll be two months old tomorrow. She's changing so fast, and she's such a good baby! She even slept in her crib last night for the first time and only woke up once to eat. What a blessing she is to us! She's so smiley and happy all the time. I just love her little smile! She opens her mouth wide and wrinkles her tiny nose....it's the cutest thing! I've been trying to capture it on camera, but haven't had any luck yet. Anyway, I must say that as much as I loved having a little baby boy, having a baby girl is just so fun! The clothes are adorable, and the bows...oh my, the bows! I am obsessed! They are just too fun to pass up! This one is my current favorite. 

Ouch!

The other day, Joel had a pretty bad spill in his bedroom. He tripped over the rug and slammed his face right into the edge of his trundle bed resulting in his tooth ripping through the edge of his lip and causing a whole lot of bleeding! Here's the pathetic aftermath: