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.

7-weeks old

It's hard for us to believe how quickly the time has flown by - Hannah is already 7 weeks old. She is full of chatter and smiles these days, so I have to take advantage of the one-on-one time I have with her when Kyle is napping to truly appreciate it. Also, during this time, she can have some uninterrupted exercise, otherwise, Kyle likes to "help" with her tummy time, which involves laying next to her and trying to lift her or draping his arm over her in a cuddle.

We have had great luck with her sleeping lately, she is usually asleep by 9:30 or so and then awake at 2:30 and again at 5:30 and will then snooze until 7am. Last night we had a little struggle getting down before 10, but after that, she was either exhausted or well swaddled because she slept until 4:30, and even then she may not have needed to wake because she only nursed for 5 minutes before falling soundly back to sleep! We will see what tonight brings.


Here are a couple more of my favorites from today.

Thinking about smiling...





...and smiling
(hidden behind her hand of course, but look at those eyes sparkle!)

Kangaroos

Because I am running around after a very active toddler, I anticipated the best thing for Hannah would be for me to have a baby sling. Since she loves to be held all day long, this was a very good bet on my part. She loves sleeping in the Kangaroo Korner pouch that I have, and will nap much longer than if I try to put her down. Which is funny, because she doesn't have a problem sleeping on her own at night, but I can't complain too much because I love cuddling with her of course (just makes it hard to get other things done around the house!)





Hannah must look so comfortable in her pouch, that Kyle has decided that Baby and Teddy both want to ride around in one too! He is so observant that it only takes his seeing it once to know how something works, so it isn't a surprise that after seeing me wearing Hannah for weeks that he decided to give it a go.








We might have to ask Maemo to make one for him to wear because after ordering a second pouch for Hannah (the first one I have is too hot for the approaching summer heat, and unfortunately has stretched out more than I anticipated) I don't think that we can afford one of the child-sized slings that they also sell.

15 Minutes of Fame

OK, it was probably closer to 15 seconds, but our photo was on the Reuters billboard in Times Square!!!
(click on it to see it enlarged) Submitted courtesy of Auntie Laura, somehow the one that I submitted was lost, I'll try again. Submit your own smile at reuters.com/smiles