Block Party

Our neighborhood has an informal parents club which organizes events over the course of each year. Last year we didn't make it to the annual block party, but after realizing we missed the antique fire truck, we knew we couldn't miss it again this year. Kyle was very impressed with seeing all of the fire trucks up close, although he was shy to speak with the firemen. He was more than happy to go for 2 rides on "Old Tom", there are much shorter lines at the block party rather than going to the Menlo Park Easter event which draws huge crowds.


Hannah slept through both of Kyle's rides on Old Tom, so we stayed behind to wave. Hopefully she'll enjoy it next time. Needless to say, Kyle's excited to see all of the firetrucks again at next year's block party!

Sitting pretty

Although I have been talking about Hannah sitting up for a couple of weeks now, all of the photos I have shared have shown her sitting against something, so I am finally getting around to posting some of her sitting on her own, and even a video of her moving. It's amazing how much strength she has gained in the past 2 weeks since she started sitting and she loves reaching for things (I keep reminding Kyle not to leave things too close to her!) Every now and then she'll forget that she is sitting and will plop backwards, but she is also getting good about catching herself sometimes when that happens and somehow manages to stay upright. Kyle wasn't sitting this well until past his 6-month birthday, so it looks like we may have an early crawler and walker on our hands, not surprising as she has a lot of keep up with her brother (and staying out of his way) to do. Kyle is still very concerned and protective of his baby sister, and if I sit her down on the floor somewhere, he will sometimes run over with the Boppy pillow, telling me that Hannah needs it so she doesn't fall over!

Here are Hannah and Kyle on the 15th,
just moments before Hannah reached over
to try to take a handful of Kyle's snack.

This is from last Tuesday (16th),
playing with one of Kyle's many hats.

Here's Hannah today, enjoying some quiet time

away from her rambunctious brother.

Here's Hannah today, doing some "talking" (and
complaining, she isn't happy when I take things
away from her)

California Academy of Sciences

Kyle was very excited that Daddy took the day off from work on Friday to make a special trip to the new Academy of Sciences building. The official opening day for the building isn't until September 27th, but as members, we were allowed in for one of their preview days. There are a lot of little things still left to be done, but we were still able to see a lot of it, and were very impressed. Kyle just didn't know where to look, and was running every which way saying "oh, oh, oh!" and pointing at something before he was off again in another direction. Hannah's favorite part was watching the large fish swim by in one of the aquarium tanks, much more impressive than the little ones we have at home! I don't think Kyle could decide which part was his favorite (he liked the moving image of elephants walking on the back wall of one of the African dioramas) but he definitely enjoyed playing on board the ship in the tot's room.The review of the Academy from a parent's view: we both thought it was well worth paying $7 to park in the garage underneath and have the elevator take us right up to the Academy's front door. Not everything is open yet (planetarium and cafe/restaurant) but from what we saw, we would recommend starting in the Rainforest and then the Aquarium, because that is where you exit from the Rainforest. We only had a quick trip into the Rainforest, but look forward to more time there next time, it was impressive in scale. The Aquarium has a lot to offer, but of course not as much as the one in Monterey, we still enjoyed it though, and it is a shorter drive! The African Hall was very well done with all of the dioramas, it's amazing to see the animals that close, and the penguin exhibit is fun (although the feeding was a little bit of a letdown, too much talk and not much action)

The rest of the weekend was rather low key, after attending a birthday party Saturday morning, as Kyle and I both came down with colds. We're hoping that it isn't passed on to the rest of the family, but not sure how likely that is! For the most part, Kyle doesn't seem very bothered by it, although he did wake up one morning saying "My nose hurts" and he tries to run away every time I try to wipe it for him! We had a little outside time this afternoon, with Daddy trying to keep up with the yard work and Kyle sometimes helping, sometimes playing. Kyle left his "Billy Beeper" car parked next to Hannah, and she made a big lunge for it, thinking that it was her turn for a ride too. She can sit on it very securely, but isn't quite ready to drive it around yet!

"Breaking" news

Close on the heels of Hannah's first tooth on Friday, her second tooth is just making an appearance today. I was very lucky to be able to get a photo of them both peeking out from her funny "what-is-that-big-black-thing-doing-in-my-face-again" smirk (look closely, you may have to click on the photo to see it enlarged!) She is becoming such a little girl already, trying to leave her baby days behind, and constantly struggles to sit up or escape from her bouncy chair, rather than to recline in it.
In other news, Kyle is considering becoming a fireman, so that he can pose for a calendar!

We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo...

Kyle loves that his mom makes up loads of silly songs, and asks for them repeatedly. Unfortunately, I can't always remember the words or tune, but we definitely have our "zoo song" down pat after our multiple trips there! We had another trip there today with our play group, and had a fun time riding on the carousel and steam train. In addition, most of the animals were closer to us than we have ever seen them before, as obvious by the giraffe nibbling on Kyle's hair!...and by Kyle petting the sleeping mother tiger next to her 3 sleeping cubs!
We left well past everyone's nap time, and needless to say everyone had long naps once we were home. The exciting news of the day, which I noticed once we were back, is that Hannah's first tooth has broken through, beating the record of her brother's first tooth at 4 months 17 days. According to his schedule, we have less than a week until the next one breaks through, which I believe, as we have been able to see both just beneath the surface for a little while now.

Gym Class

For about a year now, we have been going to gym class offered through our local parks and recreation department. It has been amazing to watch Kyle's development both physically and emotionally, as he is brave to try new things. After our first session alone, Kyle's best buddy Ben was also enrolled, and the guys love their play time together. When I asked Kyle this morning what his favorite part of gym class ism the trampoline, parachute, climbing the ladder...? He answered "Ben"

We just started a new session, which will run until Christmas. Hannah loves her time there too, hanging out in her pouch or the Baby Bjorn. She used to snooze for most of it, but now seems to be fully awake throughout - maybe hoping that she will be able to join in the fun soon too!

Here are some videos of Kyle and Ben racing on the trampoline from the last meeting of our previous session.

Riding Lessons

For Kyle's 1st Christmas, we bought him "Sammy the Snail" (photo at right is Kyle at 6 months!)

He has now decided that it is time for Hannah to start riding him too! Hannah has had incredible neck control since birth, and when lying on her back she strains her neck forward to sit up. So it shouldn't be a surprise that she is getting close to being able to sit up on her own. The Boppy pillow offers decent support for her and she really is propped up happily when in the bath tub, and Sammy does a very good job of helping her to sit as well.

Thankfully, Kyle has only focused on teaching Hannah how to squeeze Sammy's antennae to turn on his theme song "You are my Sunshine" and he hasn't been trying to teach her how to rock yet - which can get quite vigorous.

4-month Check-up

This morning I reminded Kyle that we were taking Hannah to the doctor today. After I asked him what their doctor's name is and was told "Pretty Doctor Young", he asked me if Hannah needed medicine and I said that she would need some shots. He said "no shots! hurt" It's so sweet to see him looking out for his sister, but I reassured him that she needed the shots so she wouldn't get sick.

Our biggest concern (and only) for this check-up is her lack of healthy sleep habits at night. Because Hannah's weight gain has significantly slowed according to the growth charts (she's "only" 13 pounds 15.6 ounces) and because her sleep patterns have regressed, Dr Young suggested that we try some rice cereal in the evenings to see if we can help to satisfy her little tummy through the night. Our big girl is also 25" tall (75th percentile) so who knows, she may be taller than her mother! The "best" part of the visit is that a few of the vaccinations are now combined, so she needed only two shots instead of four. Poor Hannah fell asleep waiting for the nurse to come, so she was very rudely awakened with the pricks.

The above photo is of Kyle reading Hannah a story before his nap, I was told that I wasn't allowed to sit on the futon with them!

Happy 4-month Birthday!

Wow, where have the past 4 months gone? It's amazing how quickly our little girl is growing up. She's been talking, smiling and laughing for 3 months now, but these days it is so much more interactive. Here's a little taste of her babble (saying "hi") for those of you who have not yet seen it, I'll try to capture some laughs soon too.



I have Hannah's 4-month check up on Thursday, so we'll find out then how much she has grown in the last two months. Hopefully her shots will be less traumatic than last time.