Our Weekend in DC

We survived our first trip away with Caleb no longer sleeping in a crib or pack n play. What an adventure. We traveled down towards DC to attend my cousin's wedding and to visit friends in DC. The kids were angels in the car on the way down. We were able to do the trip without stopping (another first for us). We got in to the hotel and we're able to get the kids settled a bit. We borrowed an air mattress from friends and brought the pack n play for Sadie. The air mattress was a big hit. The kids had a blast bouncing on it and flopping on it. But when it was time to sleep, Caleb wasn't as into it. We discovered on problem in our sleeping plan. The boy has gotten used to having stuffed animals all around him in his bed, even on top of him and we only brought Sneeze-Bear and Puppy-Dog. That was not enough and he let us know that. On top of that, Sadie has decided that she does not like the pack n play, no matter where it is. So when we tried to put Sadie down, she started crying. Since we only had one room to work with, I took Caleb out to the lobby to read stories while Andy settled Sadie down. We read through all of his stories and visited with some aunts and uncles and then went back to the room, thinking that Sadie was asleep. She wasn't. After some frustrating moments, Andy took over settling the kids and I went back to the lobby, my family was getting together that evening for a pre-wedding celebration.

Andy was able to get the kids settled and I was able to visit with family and we all got some sleep that night.

The kids were real troopers through the wedding and the reception, going without naps (although Sadie did sleep in the car through the ceremony). At the reception, they had a blast dancing and listening to the music. Sadie loved the dance floor and all the cute little girls that were following her around and taking her picture. Grandma and Papa brought a set of 4 puzzles for Caleb so that kept him busy. He sat in the corner and worked on his puzzles for much of the time.

We left the reception and then drove into DC to stay with Andy's college roommate John and his new wife, Andi. It didn't take too long for the kids to warm up to John and Andi, especially after they discovered that they could read stories. Caleb was very happy to sleep on the futon in their spare room and Sadie only protested a little to be spending another night in the pack n play.

On Sunday, we had breakfast and played a little before heading home around lunch time. Again, the kids were great on the road and we're very happy to be home. Caleb actually clapped when we pulled into our driveway and Sadie bounced up and down as Andy carried her into the house.

It was a pretty good test run for traveling this Christmas and I'm not too worried about how they'll sleep when we're away from home.

Caleb's New Friend

So I just had to post this silly little bit- Caleb has a new friend... his belly button. For the past week or so he's been talking to his belly button when we change his diaper

"hello, belly button"
"see ya later belly button"

Well, yesterday it made an appearance to watch the steeler's game. We were letting Caleb watch a little before going for a nap and while saying "go steelers" and "touchdown" he also said "hey belly button, watch steelers?" Then he lifted up his shirt so belly button could see.

and

We've been teaching him "see ya later alligator" and "after awhile crocodile" and then added "see ya soon, goon." Yesterday, while saying good bye to g'ma and g'pa he said "see ya later" and then "after awhile goon." Close but not quite there yet :-)

You never know what these kids will say.

The Birthday Party

Well, another weekend gone and Sadie's 1st birthday party is gone with it. It was quite a hit. We had the party at Uncle Jason and Aunt Lindsay's house (thanks again guys) that they were so nice to offer up and to frantically finish installing floors for it- they've been gutting and remodeling this house for several years and are in the home stretch but had a lot to do to get it up to party shape. Now, you're probably wondering why we would have the party there of all places... well, our house is just not big enough to fit all of our family in it and Jason's place was conveniently located half way between here (Pittsburgh) and Derry (where all the rest of the family would be coming from). The closer location also made it easier for my grandma to come.

Andy's mom and dad came in Thursday evening to stay in Pittsburgh for the weekend. G'ma brought Caps for Sale which was a big hit with Caleb. He's been going through Mike Mulligan withdrawal having to take that back to the library. They also managed to bring out two ride on toys that were a big hit. One is a tricycle that has a handle out the back so that an adult can help push the kid as he's pedaling. Caleb took that to the park on Friday and loved it but his feet don't quite reach the pedals yet. The other toy is a car that also has a handle for pushing out the back.

For Sadie, they brought her very own baby doll stroller with a baby to ride in it. This was a hit with both kids. Sadie immediately started giving her new baby hugs and Caleb helped her to put in the stroller. Then they took turns pushing it around the room. Sadie was a little wobbly and had trouble leaning too much onto the stroller- then she would fall over. Caleb learned that it was funny to let the stroller drop and say "oh-no, baby go boing."

On Friday there was a lot of playing with the grandparents and getting ready for the party.

Saturday was the big day. We got a bit of a late start and then traveling out, ran into traffic on 376. We didn't get to Jason's until 2:15 (the party started at 2) but it was all family and they understood. The kids had lots of fun running around the big open space and quickly discovered the empty cabinets in the dining room. Sadie had lots of fun crawling into the cabinets and Caleb had fun shutting the doors on her. There were no tops to the cabinets so she could peak out over the edge and laugh.

After playing and snacking for awhile, we opened presents. Caleb helped open and Cousin Claire helped carry around and read the birthday cards. Sadie liked taking the tissue paper out of the bags but seemed a little unsure about it all. She got some really cute outfits and the little people airplane and mini van were a big hit with all the kids. She also got a little toy cd player that makes music and some soft stuffed animals. She's had lots of fun playing with her new toys and standing her ground when big brother tries to take them from her.

Next it was time for cake. She sat in her chair in the center of the room and we all sang. Then it didn't take long for Caleb to start sticking his fingers into the cake- to help her get started. Sadie didn't need any help though. After getting over the feel of the icing, she discovered how it tasted and then there was no stopping her. She had a blast eating her cake and enjoying all the attention. Caleb and Claire sampled her cake too and then tried to share it with the g'pas and g'mas who were watching.

My mom helped me get Sadie out of her chair and we took her to the bathroom to rinse her off and get her into some pjs. She had icing all through her hair but the clothes weren't too bad. In the bathroom, she was very excited because she thought she was getting a bath but there was only a shower stall so Sadie had her first shower and didn't like it very much.

It was only 5 or so when all this ended but everyone was exhausted, so we packed up and came back home. The kids got second winds after resting in the car on the way in and then had fun playing with all the new toys before going to bed.

G'ma and G'pa left Sunday morning before we went to church. And we all spent Sunday afternoon relaxing.

New Video Clip

It's been a while since I posted a video clip- mostly because I've been so busy mastering my new still shot camera. Here's one from a few weeks ago of Caleb reading another ABC book to himself. I love that he's sitting in the push cart.



there will be a Sadie walking video shortly!!

Sadie's Doctor Visit

We were back at the doctor's today for Sadie's 1 yr checkup. Pretty uneventful except that she has a slight ear infection that we need to watch. This surprised us because she hasn't really showed any symptoms but at least we caught it.

She's 29.5 inches tall and weighs 21 pounds, very average in comparison with other kids.

She got a couple of shots and seemed to handle them really well. She was her happy little self all evening- so I don't think she's going to have a bad reaction to the shots.

Caleb got his flu shot today and really didn't like that but recovered once he got his promised pretzel. In his defense, I had to wake him up from his nap early so we wouldn't be late for the appointment and he's really been needing longer afternoon naps.

that's all for now

Happy Birthday Sadie-girl!

Sadie is one today!! and I think Caleb is more excited about it than she is but what can you expect. Lots has happened in the past year.

Sadie has grown into a tough little monkey. I have to watch her almost constantly because she loves to climb on things and has no fear of falling. At the grocery store she's like Houdini, able to get out of the shopping cart restraints in just 2 minutes. I'm tempted to stop strapping her in altogether because it just seems like I'm only giving her practice. Now she doesn't try to actually get out of the cart itself- she just likes to stand up and bounce and turn around to check everything out- but I think it won't be long before she realizes that she can climb from the seat into the basket.

Sadie very much wants to be a big girl and shows us that all the time. While she is quite capable of climbing up the stairs, she waits for a hand because she wants to walk up like her big brother. She's also gotten very good at coming down the stairs on her own but that still makes me nervous.

Sadie started walking over the past couple of weeks and is building up how many steps she can take. Last night, Daddy reported, she walked for the bathroom cupboard to the toilet while carrying a rubber duck in each hand (very impressive) :-) Sadie loves bathtime. She'll stand next to the tub, watching the water and then she's try to climb in by lifting her leg over the side. She's also started helping to carry her bath toys from the cupboard to the tub. In the tub, she loves standing up and looking at her reflection in the faucets. We had to do away with the bathring months ago because again, she would climb out of it. We're working on getting her to sit in the tub so bathtime can be a bit of a battle.

Her favorite toy is still her "Bear," a little bear head attached to a soft silky bit of blanket- it sounds weirder than it actually looks. Bear is her pacifier and helps her to calm down when she's sad.

Her favorite song is "Itsy Bitsy Spider" but she really loves any music and loves to dance.

Her favorite book is Brown Bear, Brown Bear and we know that because she will actually drag it over to us and sit in our lap to hear it (the only time she ever sits still). She also likes our cloth Noah's Ark book that has removable characters. She'll take out the girl's (Noah's wife and daughter-in-law) and carry them around the room. She really seems to like people. She loves the Little People and sets the up on the couch or lets them ride in the one car that Caleb lets her play with. Sadie also likes cars though and will roll them back and forth on the floor- just like big brother.

Outside, Sadie's favorite thing is the rocking horse (thank you Tom and Theresa for leaving that behind). She has so much fun rocking back and forth on it. She makes us nervous sometimes because she can get a little wild on it.

Sadie is talking a little but not much. She consistently says mama and dada and ba and we've caught her saying all done. I think she's put talking on the backburner while she works on mastering walking.

Also I would not be painting an accurate picture if I didn't mention that the girl loves to eat :-) She will eat anything but not everything ( I'll get to that in a minute). You can't even think of giving Caleb a cracker or a pretzel without giving her one. At dinnertime we're offering her lots of different things. She seems to favor corn. But during meals she'll randomly decide that one bite is not good so she'll drop it on the floor, then eat another bite.

It has been a fun year with this addition to our family. She's such a blessing. We love our Sadie-girl.

Happy Halloween

okay, so I'm a couple days late but I've been fighting a cold. We did have lots of fun on Halloween. Sadie was a monkey that we felt was only too appropriate because she will climb on anything. Caleb was a farmer or what I also like to call the "I'm a 2 yr old and I won't wear anything remotely resembling a costume" so he wore his overalls and a plaid shirt and carried around Puppy and Sneeze-Bear and was quite happy.

We waited outside for Daddy to come home from work and then walked up and down our street for a little while. The kids got a lot of candy for only having a tiny little bag to carry it. I wasn't really expecting people to give Sadie candy but she got plenty. We made it almost back to the house when Caleb decided that he'd had enough. We got back to the house and I mentioned chicken nuggets and milk and that was it. Even with all the candy- the boy wanted his chicken nuggets. He did get to try a reese's peanut butter cup and really liked that.

Sadie will get candy next year. Fortunately we also got some snack packs of gold fish and pretzels for her to enjoy.

happy halloween