My New Ride

I've discovered that with two kids in tow, I need to rethink my stroller options! The single stroller that we have for Kyle isn't going to get us by anymore, and the Snap-n-Go that I use with Hannah's car seat isn't great when I need to try to contain Kyle. So I decided that having a lightweight umbrella stroller that would work for either of them would be good when we have two pairs of hands, or while Hannah is still happy in the sling, and I will get a Sit-n-Stand type stroller for when I need to have something for both of them. Dave has now accused me of being a stroller addict, but he hasn't yet ventured out of the house by himself with both of them, so he doesn't quite know what it is like!


The first of my new purchases arrived while Kyle was napping, but I left it for him to open when he woke up, he loves any boxes. He was thrilled to jump in a get a feel and then promptly decided to drag Hannah out of her bouncy chair to put her in for a test spin around the house! Hannah didn't put up with it for long, so Kyle had to resort to strapping "Baby" in after that.


Another big event for the week was 2-year and 2-month doctor visits for Kyle and Hannah. Kyle is now weighing in at 27 1/2 pounds and is 34 1/2" tall. He was a brave boy, receiving one shot and promptly recovered from the tears once he opened a present of a new Caterpillar tractor. Hannah is now 12 pounds 0.8 ounces and 23 1/2" long. Both she and I had a rough time with her 4 shots (it didn't help that she had fallen asleep during the long wait for the nurse, not very pleasant to wake up to that!) and Hannah slept much more than normal during the next 24 hours. Hopefully the next shots at 4 months aren't as traumatically for either of us.

Fun Photo Shoot

I fell behind on taking photos over the long holiday weekend, so Miss Hannah and I just did a quick photo shoot, while Kyle is sleeping. Here is one of my favorite progressions, thank goodness for the rapid shooting on the camera so that I could catch her expressions!







Sitting pretty...

...just a little smile...

...Uhoh, Mom, I fell over!

Little Miss Hannah

I've been neglecting the photos of Hannah lately, as she is usually snug in my pouch when I am taking photos of Kyle! Here is one from last week, when we were having some play time during Kyle's nap.

Happy two-month birthday, today!

Summer Days

It's hard to believe that tomorrow is the last day of June. The past eight weeks since Hannah was born have flown by, and it looks as though the rest of the summer will be filled with busy weekends. We just survived a fun and exhausting weekend, filled with other kids for Kyle. On Friday, we went blackberry picking with friends Kevin, Maddie and Aiden - it wasn't until all four kids had their fill of berries that we were able to start accumulating any in our baskets to actually take home (no wonder they charge a $3 picking fee for anyone over 5 years old!) We were lucky they provided wagons so that we weren't chasing after four 2-year olds, Hannah was safely tucked in her pouch!

On Saturday, Kyle's friend Noah (4 years old) and his baby sister Lola (6 weeks older than Hannah) were visiting with their parents, Christian and Mark, from Fresno for a rugby tournament in Palo Alto, so we went to visit them for a little while in the morning. They came over to our house for dinner, so the two boys had a great time together , and we didn't get Kyle to bed until 9pm, probably the latest he has stayed up in a long time! Unfortunately, we weren't able to get a photo of the girls together, one was always sleeping when the other was awake - maybe we'll have better luck next time we get together, possibly in a couple of weeks.

Sunday morning was another trip to the zoo, with another reunion of our St Mary's group of friends, Christian, Sarah and Jen, along with all of the husbands and kids. It was a crazy day, with 8 parents and 7 kids, even though two of the little ones have a while to go (we hope) before they are walking. Kyle, of course, had to see his beloved gorillas eating breakfast, and we were able to compare how he measures up to a full grown gorilla (the most cooperation we had for a photo all day!)

Kyle's Birthday Adventure

Kyle started off his 2nd birthday by sleeping in this morning - I peeked in around 8:15 and he was still asleep, but it must have been lightly enough that he jumped up 30 seconds later. Hannah had a present to share with him first, and Kyle was delighted to unwrap a little gorilla!

After breakfast and getting all three of us dressed and a little nap for Hannah, we headed over to Toys R Us to spend the $3 gift card that the Birthday Club had sent to him. Kyle found a fork lift, garbage truck and fire truck Matchbox cars to add to his collection of trucks that Hannah had given to him when she was born.

Next it was back down to Menlo Park for lunch at Crepes Cafe so that we could watch the trains go by. Unfortunately, there was so much smoke in the air from the fires around the Bay Area, that I decided it would be better for us to eat inside, but we were still able to see the trains coming past, and Kyle was thoroughly thrilled.




We headed back home and had a little play time before I finally managed to talk Kyle into taking a nap to recharge. After waking up, I was supposed to have help making birthday cake, but instead he was distracted by more presents. He was quite excited to shake the presents to hear something rattling inside! Thank you for the book, puzzles and BIG truck book Auntie Laura and Uncle Scott. And thank you for "The Hungry Caterpillar" Maemo and Granpa :)

The big hit of the afternoon was something I actually ordered for Hannah's use at the park and beach - a tent to keep her out of the sun. But the package happened to arrive today, and Kyle's forklift managed to cut through the tape, so out it came. As the smoke had finally cleared from the area, we had some outside play time with the tent and the hose (hence the lost overalls in the next photo) while waiting for Daddy to get home from work.

After a quick dinner and more demands for cake, it was time to open the BIG present. Once Kyle saw his new tractor, all thoughts of cake were promptly forgotten! Somehow we managed to get Kyle torn away from his favorite new toy, and into the bath and bed without too many tears. With such an exciting day, I was happily surprised how easily Dave was able to get him to bed, especially since he has only wanted me to put him down lately. (I was exhausted too!)

Wow, what a fun 2 years it has been!

Say Cheese

Some more favorites from this weekend: Our happy, smiling Hannah!We're amazed at how much she is constantly changing, and interacting so much more with us each day. (And we're happy that the photos of her these days aren't all of her sleeping!)And we are constantly laughing at Kyle's goofy antics, he is turning into quite the clown!

Hot Weather

The Bay Area was hit by sweltering heat over the past few days, prompting a Sever Weather Advisory in the afternoons. I was concerned about both kids, especially since it is usually difficult to keep Kyle inside, but he must have felt the heat as well, because he didn't protest much about the confinement. Fortunately, Kyle's godfather, Mike, invited us over to his parent's house in Millbrae to escape to a cooler micro climate and at their pool! Kyle wasn't too excited about going swimming, but he loved helping to cool Daddy down (completely his idea, I didn't even have to suggest it!) Kyle had a great time playing with another little boy who was there, who is 6 months his senior. It was amazing to get a glimpse of what our little boy will be like by Christmas, no more 2 word sentences like we have today, but real communication!

Today is thankfully MUCH cooler, and we have been enjoying having all of the windows in the house open to get fresh air circulating. Dave took advantage of the manageable temperatures to wash the car, and Kyle was more than willing to help out with a handful of bubbles.

After the hard work, it was time for a little fun, which involved working on his tricycle with a socket and adjustable wrench, as well as a little riding too. We bought this as a Christmas present, but it is really starting to catch on now, and he's even beginning to try pedaling. Hopefully this "cool" weather holds, and we are able to enjoy a lot more outside time with walks and rides to the park.