Swinging

We took the kids to the park today as the weather was much nicer than yesterday. Kyra got to swing for the first time! She had a blast! So did Daniel! These were taken on my phone so the resolution isn't as good as my usual shots!

Speaking of which, Daniel goes to the doctor tomorrow for his 2 year checkup and shots...

Happy Birthday

Daniel was telling people today that he was three years old -- maybe he wishes so or maybe he just feels old(er) like the rest of us! The party was fun and a big success although it poured all day so our chicken roasting in Matt's new La Caja China was not so successful... it ended up in the oven to finish. Daniel and Matt both had lots of friends here and we even managed a pinata in the family room... I tried to get all the parents to sign waivers, but no damage was done. Evidently, the first piece of candy to fall was from a hit by Daniel. One of the older kids who was 5 years old finally broke it open. It's funny the difference between younger kids and older kids with pinatas -- older kids grab up the candy and stuff it in their shirt and pockets while younger kids pick up the one or two things they want. Daniel grabbed a couple of lollipops -- you can see some of the kids (Daniel and the girls) enjoying them!

The funniest part (and of course I don't have it on video) was Daniel singing Happy Birthday to himself after I lit the candles. He sang it alone and then everyone sang it to him... he enjoyed both renditions immensely!

Flower girl

Our nanny Akilah took Kyra for a walk to the nearby Rhodedendron Nursery and took some photos. I love this one!

I have resorted to reading books about infants' sleep habits (after being up for 2+ hours last night) and am feeling better about it. She's been regressing with her sleep patterns but that may be my fault because I've been trying to put her back to sleep rather than feeding her when she wakes up after 4-5 hours. So we'll go back to feeding her when she wakes up and trying to get her not to rely on the pacifier so much to go back to sleep. Hopefully, she'll learn to self-soothe and then begin to sleep longer. This book says a 5 hour sleep stint is "sleeping through the night" for an infant and she certainly was doing that 2 weeks ago... I'm counting on the grandparents to help out on our trip to Florida... maybe I'll take a night or two off!!

We're anxious for Daniel and Matt's party tomorrow - I think I've finally got my act together in planning it... should be fun!

Pictures, etc.

I learned a lesson (or two) yesterday when taking the kids to get their portraits taken. It is difficult to justify an expensive photography session with two babies... one, maybe, but two is difficult. (Although I may change my mind when I see the proofs!) Daniel's been fighting a cold and was crabby and shy (unlike him) and really didn't want to participate. He certainly wasn't going to sit still and smile with Kyra on his lap or near him otherwise. As we tried to get Daniel to cooperate, Kyra got jostled around so that she was cranky by the time her turn rolled around. Even if we had chosen to go to a less expensive place, we would have had the same challenges, just at a smaller price point. The benefit of a private studio is that you have an hour rather than 15 minutes to work with the kids, change clothes/diapers, feed, etc. I think we got some good shots of Daniel through bribery and some good shots of Kyra with a little smile (I don't think we got any great grins, though, which is disappointing). Maybe we have one decent shot of the two of them together where Daniel is actually smiling (rather than crying NO and leaving Kyra in the dust) but Kyra's a bit shell shocked. We'll see for sure. The proofs will be posted later this week. I'll let you know. Let me know which shots you want and sizes -- you can get either color or black and white for each.

Kyra's been on an odd sleeping pattern (yes, I'm still obsessed)... Thursday night = 7 hours; Friday night = 8 hours... after that, we've had chaos between 2-6 hours. She seems to have the same cold that Daniel and Matt have so we'll give her the benefit of the doubt. She wakes up and doesn't need to eat but wants her pacifier and will go back to sleep for 1-2 hours. The pacifier will be the death of me.... she tries to get her fingers in her mouth but they evidently aren't as effective as the 'binky'. We'll keep trying.

Daniel's two on Tuesday -- we're having a party with a Pirate theme on Saturday for both Matt and Daniel with a bunch of their friends. Should be lots of fun. We've had great weather recently and Daniel has loved being outside with his neighborhood friends, playing with the hose in the dirt. Yesterday when we came back inside, Kyra decided it was time to melt down at the same time Daniel decided to take off his diaper because it was poopy... I caught him before any real damage was done. Oh, two year olds...

Cute carries a lot of weight

It's a good thing Kyra's cute because her sleep habits aren't gaining her lots of brownie points. She does amaze me in so many other ways, though. Two evenings ago, I was changing her diaper and the light in the room cast a shadow of her hand and fingers against the wall. She watched carefully, moving her fingers and touching the wall for some time, fascinated by this. We also had fun on Tuesday while Daniel napped (obviously the two don't nap at the same time). I was lying on the couch and she was leaning against my legs and smiling and laughing as we bounced and sang and played games.

Daniel is, as always, so fun. He's taken to helping Daddy whenever he can. Tonight, Matt was putting together a turkey roaster called La Caja China that I got him for his birthday and Daniel kept saying all evening, "I helped daddy fix the box."

We're having a joint b-day party for Daniel and Matt next Saturday. It won't be fancy but I think we're going to use the new Caja China to roast some pig -- not a whole one. Should be fun with food and drink for all ages! We'll need a theme for Daniel's cake and maybe even a pinata, although I expect Matt and his friends to actually break it open. The pictures will be fun!

Happy Easter

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Rolling rolling rolling

Kyra officially rolled over by herself on Thursday and then again on Friday and Saturday... I imagine it will continue! She does enjoy being on her tummy and sitting up. She hasn't pooped since Monday night or Tuesday, though -- good for our diaper stash, not sure if it's so good for her. The pediatrician says not to worry until 7 days unless she's obviously uncomfortable. As their digestive systems become more efficient, they are able to utilize all parts of the breast milk so there's nothing to excrete. She's been very gassy and at times seems uncomfortable but not all the time... so we'll see what tomorrow and Monday brings. I've been carrying an extra set of clothes for her in case we find ourselves in an icky situation. Hopefully not on her Easter dress as I plan to use that for pictures as well.

The Easter Bunny has already come and hidden eggs... Daniel will be ecstatic tomorrow morning! Happy Easter!

Easter's coming

I'm having difficulty uploading photos today to Blogger but will put some of Flickr for you to see. If you have problems viewing them, let me know -- I probably have to add you as a 'friend and family' member.

Kyra's three months old as of yesterday. She's almost rolling over and had a good night last night with 6.5 hours of straight sleep. Daniel is enjoying the Easter baskets from Great-Grandma and Grams. He loves the plastic grass and tossed it all over the living room. Kyra was buried in a pile of grass -- I'm not sure Kyra was as enthusiastic. It was cute and kept him entertained for awhile! Sunday we are planning an egg hunt in the backyard if the weather is nice. Daniel's been practicing in the house and LOVES hunting for the hidden eggs. We'll have to video tape it.

Fun with Friends

We had a little egg decorating party this afternoon with Daniel's friend Luke. The egg coloring went pretty quickly with not much to report except a few broken eggs -- good thing they were hard boiled! Daniel really enjoyed it, I think, and keeps asking to do more... we'll see. More fun was had as the boys struggled to share the guitar. This picture was taken as the two were singing the Alphabet Song together just before the 'meltdown' which resulted in the guitar ending up in the closet after fighting, crying and a small bonk on the head for Daniel as the two fought over it. Kyra had a bit of a rough evening with lots of crying which doesn't play well into adult conversation.

Kyra did manage to roll over last night on Daniel's bed. I'm not sure if that counts as rolling over as it's probably a bit easier to accomplish on a bed. She was also really funny today. I was pulling her up to a sitting position with her hands and she LOVED sitting up 'by herself' and was smiling and laughing and checking out the different vantage point. When I laid her back down, she cried until I pulled her back up. I think she's pretty independent already... of course, she probably knows she is less vulnerable to Daniel's antics when sitting up. Lying on the floor is not safe when he's around!

Etc.

Kyra is 12 weeks old today and Daniel will be 2 years old in less than a month. Daniel has moved up to the Tree Frogs room at school where he eats his meals in the cafeteria and plays on the big playground. He seems to be adjusting okay. Kyra is trying really, really hard to roll over and gets so frustrated that she can't. She loves being on her tummy and works so hard to crawl forward. I love this picture. Daniel and I made playdough last week and had fun cutting out shapes. Daniel said "B for Bomberger" and proceeded to try and eat the playdough... It was homemade -- flour, salt and water -- so not harmful but probably not tasty, either. We're having friends over this weekend for Easter Egg coloring. I'm sure the colored vinegar will be fun to drink...