Cousins

Thanksgiving weekend was full of cousins. We had first cousins, first cousins once removed, and second cousins all in attendance. Papa Steve had to explain the genealogy of it all and then I had to look it up on the Internet to refresh my memory. Anyway, it was fun being with our cousins for the weekend no matter what their designation!

Thanksgiving 2009

We are thankful for so many things this year. First, the birth of our daughter and all the joy she brings to our family. The minute she was born it was as if she had always been a part of our lives. It is hard to remember what it was like when it was just the three of us, harder to imagine just the two of us and single life?!?!

We are also thankful for our wonderful family, a roof over our head and chocolate.

This year we spent Thanksgiving on Sugarloaf mountain with the Clarks. Grandma came up to Kansas City on Monday to spend the day and take Steven down to their house a couple of days earlier. This was Steven's first trip away from both of his parents for an overnight stay. I think the trip was harder on me than Steven but I guess that is how mommies are supposed to feel.

To Grandma's House I GO!

Tommy, Lyla and I headed down on Wednesday evening. Lyla did a great job - she slept most of the way down except for the few minutes when she decided to take the wheel...

It was a full house this year - 8 adults, 7 kids, 4 inside dogs, 3 outside dogs - we were definitely thankful for good weather and the wilderness to escape the crowd! Steven had a great time riding on Papa's tractor. It is an old Massey-Ferguson. If you come across a grill in good condition be sure to give Papa Steve a call because he's looking.

Pretend Play

Steven is becoming more fun each and every day! Even though I want him to stay little and not grow up it is so exciting to see him grow and change. He has really started to embrace "pretend" play. We set up his chairs the other night so that we could build a tent with a blanket thrown over the top. It then became a tunnel to crawl through. And finally it turned into a choo choo train that everyone had to ride, even Lyla. Steven was a great engineer!

Go Diego!

Tonight Steven and I watched the "green iguana saves abuelito's (grandpa's) strawberry farm" episode of Go Diego Go! Wow.

A Windy Wind blew all of grandpa's strawberry plants away so Diego had to bring him new seeds to plant. Diego asked the green iguana to eat the strawberries in the green house and they proceeded to take an adventure to get to the farm. Along the way they had to hurry because the green iguana had to "go" (potty, that is). When they got to the farm the green iguana proceeded to poop along the strawberry rows to plant the seeds.

I am all for the truth but this was a little too much for me. I am glad Steven is still too little to ask questions about this show.

Pumpkin Smash

Today was sooooo beautiful that we decided to take the kids to the zoo. However, our plans were nearly destroyed when Lyla decided to take a 1.5 hour nap starting at 8:30 this morning. We were almost ready to just take Steven on a walk around the neighborhood when she started stirring so we quickly changed plans back to the zoo.

We hopped in the car and headed out. When we got there we saw a sign that said the close in parking was full so we went to the back lot. We got the kids loaded into the double stroller and headed to the entrance. The line was really long - at least 15 people deep for all of the ticket windows. We are so happy to be Friends of the Zoo because we sailed past the line and went right on in. I am happy that there was such a good turn out at the zoo. In the two years we've been Friends of the Zoo we've never seen a line like that. It was great to see that the zoo is becoming more popular.

Since we are Friends of the Zoo we never feel like we are on a forced march to see every exhibit so each time we pick a few select exhibits and visit them for a little longer. Today we went to the tropics to see the baby Blue Monkey. She was born on November 4. We barely got to see the baby because she was hanging on to her mommy's belly but we got a few glimpses of her - so tiny! We also got to see the Capybarra moving around right by the glass. Steven had a stare down with him!

I have never been to the Gorilla exhibit in the 10+ times I've been to the zoo so we headed straight out to see them rather than circle through all of Africa. If you've ever been to the Kansas City Zoo you'll know why we headed straight there - Africa is huge and can take hours to traverse.

Today was the pumpkin smash at the zoo. The keepers put pumpkins in the animal enclosures and you can watch them eat/play/smash them. This is probably one of the reasons that so many people came to the zoo or perhaps, the great weather.

We got to the gorilla exhibit about 20 minutes before they put the pumpkins out. The Gorilla was on the other side and so we got out Steven's lunch and just hung out. A few minutes later the Gorilla meandered right up to the window of the viewing shelter. Wow! It was really neat to see him up so close. They are so human-like. After awhile the keepers must have called him because he wander back to his house and the keepers came out with the pumpkins and apples and carrots. After they put everything out and were safely out of the enclosure they let two gorillas back out. It was so amazing watching them "run" out of their house. I say "run" because they use their feet and knuckles to move. They started to eat the apples and carrots as Steven was getting antsy. We decided to go and just as we left the viewing area the crowd cheered. I guess we missed the pumpkin smash!

Steven's stats

We did a double appointment on Friday for the well child exams. Steven, at 2 years 2 months, weighs 27lbs 6oz and is 36 inches tall. We made it to three feet! He is hovering at the 25%ile for weight. I wonder who makes these charts (ok its the CDC) because he is pretty close in size to the other two year old boys at school.

He recently has taken to eating a lot of sandwiches. He loves peanut butter (just like his mommy) and will eat grilled cheese, too. Vegetables are still a foreign object. Any tips on getting him to eat his greens?

Totally 80s

We're going back in time! Lyla is wearing Leg Warmers! Thanks to Lori and Eleanor, Lyla's little legs stayed warm today in her pink polka dot leg warmers. Who would have ever thought those would be back in style. But I guess everything looks cute on a baby!

You can also see her two little teeth in this picture. I think she is working on her uppers but they haven't poked through quite yet.

On Friday we took her in for her six month appointment. A few weeks late but with all the sickness we postponed it for awhile. She now weighs 17 lbs 2.5 oz and she is 28 inches long. She is in the 65%ile for weight and 95%ile for height. She has dropped percentiles in weight - she started around 90%ile - but Steven did the same thing about this time. Doc doesn't seem to think there is anything to worry about because she is hitting all her milestones and generally a super happy girl.

Indian Summer

We are loving the weather! Last Sunday it was in the 60s and this Saturday it is going to be 70.


It was so nice last Sunday that we had to take the opportunity to go the park with the kids. We thought it might be our last chance to do so without winter coats...but we're probably going to be able to go again this weekend.


While we were at the park, Lyla got to swing for the first time. She really liked it! We've been reusing some of Steven's clothes for Lyla because she goes through 2-3 outfits a day. She is quite the spitter. We had her in a navy blue jumper and some little girls at the park kept calling her a boy. I felt kind of bad. I think I'll be more selective of the reused clothes we put on her when we go out in public!

Remember this one of Steven's first swing?

Time Change

I think that changing our clocks is our government's way of punishing parents of small children. We ate dinner at 4:30 tonight, naps were too early in the day and it is only 6:20 and Lyla is down for the night. I am just exhausted!

That exhaustion has nothing to do with the fact that Lyla isn't sleeping through the night anymore... it is all the time changes fault, even though it just happened today!