It's Winter, It's Spring, It's Winter, It's Spring

So I'm starting to worry, of course over things I can't control! We are having the kids pictures on Sunday and it all started when I realized it was day light savings. (Which, according to other parents, is just a mean joke to people with children.) When I booked our session back in December, 10:00 a.m. was a good time - just after a nap, before lunch, they should be in a pretty good mood. But now with the time change, I have no clue when they will nap or if I should wake them up early (I can't believe I just wrote that!) in order to keep them on OUR schedule. And then what if they get a cold and we have to deal with snotty noses or (ick) we get a cold. I guess when you spend a good chunk of money, you want EVERYTHING to go as smoothly as you can plan it (the optimal word being PLAN; who am I kidding anymore, now that I'm a mother). Maybe I just needed to get that out - I feel better already. I promise I realize that "parenthood" is more about letting it all be; I'll let you know how it plays out.

This week has been SPRING! Thank God for my mom and our great sitters, who have been getting our kids out for walks whenever the weather allows. Our nanny is talking about the zoo later this week also. Maybe someday when I come home from work, I will have the motivation to take the babies for a walk - considering we have this fancy double stroller I haven't used yet. And I guess Drew is pulling up to stand, but not in front of US! The sitter said he did it a couple times this week. We've also found him standing next to a toy or chair but neither one of us saw how he got there! Ah, my mysterious little man.



He loves the quick-baby-mess-pickker-up carpet sweeper!




Weekend morning pajama time!




This may look sweet, but I think she's just trying to get down.



Headstrong

Last post I talked about how Kelsey won't use a sippy cup - she actually will get angry and swing at it if you put it in her face. So I polled some online mom friends to see if they had any tricks I could try. I wasn't nervous about her NEVER using a sippy cup but I thought I have a month to work on it, so why not. And Drew took to the cup so effortlessly, I was preparing to go to battle with Kelsey:)

Well, I shouldn't have been surprised that my stubborn little girl will do what she wants, when she wants! Tuesday night she crawled into the kitchen by me and the diaper bag was on the floor. Kelsey reaches in and pulls out a sippy cup and starts chewing/sucking on it! What the...? I approached her slowly,  so not to scare her (I'm talking about her as if she's a wild animal!). I grabbed some milk out of the fridge and slid the cup out of her grasp to fill it up. I gave it back to her and she drank out of it like she's been practicing in her sleep! What a stinker!! I have a feeling Kelsey and I will be battling for years to come;)

In Drew's world, it feels like he's been teething for a month! I mean, come on, give the kid a break! I think he officially has 5 teeth and is working on 1 more. The first two were pretty benign but these last 4 (all on top) are causing him great angst! He will chew on his fist; he will even grab Kelsey's hands/fingers to chew on! He isn't always his happy self. The evenings mostly consist of trying to keep him occupied so you don't have to listen to him whine (something he is REALLY good at so the whining is EXTRA irritating). Thankfully it doesn't keep him from napping or sleeping at night. I guess we shouldn't complain since it's his only downfall, but teething turns our usually mellow, happy little dude, into an ill-tempered monster.

11 months

I know it's been a week; but I didn't know if you wanted to hear about these kids just being kids:) We are making some changes preparing for them to go to bottle-less and drink milk at their first birthday. So far I've taken away 3 of their bottles during the day and replace them with food or sippy cups. Kelsey DISLIKES sippy cups and I tried to get her to drink out of a straw, but she doesn't swallow it - just lets it run out of her mouth! They are eating all kinds of foods - I haven't found anything they won't eat. And it's so relaxing to watch them play by themselves or together, but essentially not needing an adult to help entertain them. Oh, and Kelsey's starting to cruise a little on the furniture! Drew is still working on pulling up to stand; he gets to his knees and is done.

One good thing about not posting in a week is that there are plenty of pictures to catch up on!!



Investigating all the new places she can get to now.




 A new ball!





So happy, she's just gotta clap!





This is what happens when one kid stands and the other crawls
and they end up trying to play in the same place.
(you missed the stepping on hands & crying.)





Our backyard after the wet, heavy snow Friday morning. Too bad it is
supposed to melt soon:(



Naughty Girl and REAL Food

Kelsey continues to bully Drew. She will take toys away from him, pull his arm off of stand-n-play activity table, and pretty much control who plays with what. Yesterday my mom and I witnessed her slap Drew when he wouldn't let her play with certain buttons on the activity table. I sternly told her "no" and tried to redirect her to play with a different toy. Drew was crying and the "I-didn't-do-anything-wrong-he-should-get-out-of-my-way" look Kelsey gave Grandma forced me to look away from her to keep from laughing. Then she started to smirk; someone's getting too big for their britches!

We are trying more new foods: yesterday was spinach, every night for dinner this week they've had rice, black beans, and chicken. And goldfish crackers are like crack for these kids; they even recognize the box and crawl over by me to get some. This new adventure brings me to new levels of FREAKING OUT people! We are progressively moving towards getting rid of the bottles by 1 year and eating 3 meals with snacks in between. Check that; we haven't "moved on" to anything. Just thinking about it stresses me out and I get anxious. Bottles are SO easy - pureed baby food is easy and not messy. Kelsey feeding herself is a disaster and Drew manages to "wear" everything he puts in his mouth. I am not ready for this milestone; another reason for them to stay babies:)



Having a "goldfish cracker" picnic!





She looks chubby here:)



Moving On

I don't think I have to tell anyone how long our week was, how sad this whole ordeal was, or how uneasy we've felt. I think this site sums up how wonderful the small community responded to last weeks tragedy: http://www.wisinfo.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2012302120054

Besides everything external from our home that has been going on, the kids are doing great! Kelsey is pulling herself up onto EVERYTHING - nothing is safe in our house:) We had to lower her crib mattress yesterday because I saw her standing up, trying to lift her leg up to pull herself OVER the railing! I actually made myself a little nauseous because I flew out of bed yesterday morning when I saw her trying to be a daredevil on the monitor.

Drew is doing so much better with "other" or "real" food. He isn't a big fan of textures and mostly prefers well-pureed baby food. Kelsey will eat pretty much anything on my plate - I don't have to worry about her. But anytime I tried eggs or cheese with Drew, he would gag and get upset, even with the melt-away puffs. So this weekend he was eating goldfish, cheese, animal crackers, potato chunks.

It occurred to me that I have to start thinking about their 1st birthday...SOON! I've discussed ideas with Craig, cut some things out of magazines, and picked out what they are going to wear, but now I have to get the actual party figured out. I'm not even going to THINK about them turning one...they are always going to be my babies;)



Sort-of playing together - usually Drew ends up crying because Kelsey is a bully.



It might look like they are both having fun, but Kelsey actually got stuck.
I took a picture first, because I couldn't figure out how she got there in the first place.



Wearing our "grown-up" sweaters:)





Again, Kelsey over-taking Drew's turn, showing off that she can pull up onto the toy
and he has to just take it!



Remembering...

Our blog has been quiet because of a tragic accident in my hometown that took the life of my 15 year old cousin Sabrina. For those of you that have not seen it in the news or do not live in the area, here is the newspaper report: crash

"Perhaps they are not stars, but rather openings in heaven where the love of our lost ones pours through and shines down upon us to let us know they are happy."

We are all still processing the traumatic event that has devastated the Campbellsport community, and prayers for the other victims and for the recovery of the girls still in the hospital are appreciated.

"You can shed tears that she is gone,
or you can smile because she has lived.
You can close your eyes and pray that she'll come back,
or you can open your eyes and see all she's left.
Your heart can be empty because you can't see her,
or you can be full of the love you shared.
You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday,
or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday.
You can remember her only that she is gone,
or you can cherish her memory and let it live on.
You can cry and close your mind,
be empty and turn your back.
Or you can do what she'd want:
smile, open your eyes, love and go on.”

Sabrina's obituary

Rub-a-dub-dub

Irecently graduated the kids to the big tub. I had been thinking about it for some time - wondering when it would be appropriate, would they be able to stay upright, would it be more work for me to keep them from slipping into the water, thus traumatizing them. In the last 2 weeks there has been a couple bath nights where I had to keep both kids in the bathroom with me. And trying to occupy one curious/bored baby while you clean the other is not fun.

Kelsey, of course loved it and clapped thru the whole bath. Drew was wary at first and kept giving me the scared/WTF-mom-look. He's just learing his stability and strength, where Kelsey can easily go from sitting to crawling. And Drew's botton seemed more slippery, ending up turned away from me and Kelsey. We aren't going to give up and I'm sure they will figure it out soon!