The Kids Are Growing Up

Ryan has had two developments. First, he went up a diaper size. Sure, not very exciting. BUT, he is now a size 4 ... and his sister is a size 5. Yup, they are only one size different in diapers :) Second, he has been "talking". He has been saying "na na na na" for a while. In the past week or so he has started saying "ana ana ana" (sounds like ahhhhna). It just so happens thats the babysitters name, and if you could see the googly eyes he makes at her, you'd be pretty sure he was trying to say her name. I'm not 100% sure, but I think it might be his first word. He also has been saying "da da". He just babbles it, but he will repeat it to you if you ask. He doesnt seem to know the connection, but we have been working at pointing at Daddy and letting him know he's "da da".

As for Brooke, she recently got measured at the doctors. It's been a while since we got her measurements so I thought I was pretty interesting. Although she is tall, her growth seems to have slowed down a bit. Right now she is 38 inches tall, and 33.8 lbs. Here is where she falls on the growth chart! (Ryan will get measured at his 9 month appointment, right now we have no clue how big he is).

Eating Lunch Outside

Sunday She Said

"Mommy! Where are you?"
(silence)
"Mommy! ¿Dónde está?"

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"Do you hear my mouth?"

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"Do you hear me singing with your ears?"

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To Ryan: "You look pretty messy"

Happy Birthday

Brooke was up all night coughing last night. You know what that means. Mommy & Daddy were up too. It started almost exactly at midnight - ironic, because today is my birthday. So from 12 - 4 AM we were in an out of her room, trying various treatments (both asthma and cold-related) to get it to stop. The coughing continued, and as 4 hit I started to worry that she would wake up her brother. So, we brought her into our room. I closed all the curtains and hoped I could get her to calm down and rest a little bit.

Nope.

She took the invitation into our room as a sign to start goofing around. I'll admit, I was a bit ticked. I was tired. I stayed up till 11, and her coughing got me up at 12, so by 4 am I had gotten ... less than one hour of sleep. I was mad I had another sleepless night. I was mad that her coughing has such an impact on all of our lives. I was mad that she continued to wiggle, jump, and squirm all over my bed. But then ...

"Happy Birthday to Mommy. Happy Birthday to Mommy. Happy Birthday dear Mommy, Happy Birthday to you!"

Yup, I got a 4AM Birthday serenade.

And it was awesome :)

Guess What Time It Is Again?

First Tooth

Ryan cut his first tooth.

We decided to celebrate by going to Costco - the only store where Brooke and Ryan can sit next to each other, unless we bring our own ride. Its a party in a cart.

Learning To Write

Brooke can write a few letters, and she can write one word pretty clearly (at least, in my eyes!). Can you tell what it is?

Milkshake Tears

To celebrate Father's Day we decided to go out for some ice-cream. Everyone got had icecream while Ryan drank his milk. Luckily, he is way to young to know what he is missing :)

Brooke insisted on getting a chocolate shake. She has had plenty of chocolate, and her favorite donut is a chocolate one. But, I was leery, as we dont allow her to have chocolate milk (I worry about her refusing regular milk after tasting the chocolate version). But, it was a special day and I figured ... why not?

Things were all fine and dandy for a minute. Then the tears started to flow. "I dont like it" she cried. Mom & Dad were a bit confused. Daddy gave her some of her ice cream on a spoon. "Do you like this?" he asked. "No" she replied.

She kept insisting she wanted ice cream. She didnt understand that its all ice cream. Finally, Daddy went up and got her a vanilla shake, something she has had quite a few times before. She was happy :)

Guess Who Got A Blue Sucker From School?

The Leaky Diaper Adventure

A few nights ago Ryan leaked though his diaper at night. Not just his diaper, but his pjs, sleepsack, sheet and mattress pad too. Thought it was a one-off thing so I put his diaper on better the next night. It happened again :(

This is pretty common when a diaper gets too small, and considering what a big guy he is, I figured that was the case. I went up a diaper size. It leaked. Then I tried folding over the top of the diaper (I read some people online suggesting this). It didnt leak! Well, for one night. He woke up wet again the past two nights.

After some internet searching I found two additional tips:
1) Go up two diaper sizes
2) Get Diaper Boosters.

This morning we took a walk to Babies R Us to get them both, and had quite the adventure!

Head out of the garage, rockin and rollin in the double wide. It felt funny. I looked down and noticed a flat tire. Good thing there is a bike shop with a pump right down the street. Went to the bike shop, pumped the tire. It was still flat. Turns out, it was a blown tire. Good thing this bike shop also does speedy repairs.

Ryan drank his milk while Brooke ran in circles, and next thing we knew we were back in business. We continued on our journey, but hit another small delay:

CONSTRUCTION!

Of course, we had to sit there and watch them work. Due to some major changes in the stripmall that holds Babies R Us, there were trucks and workers everywhere. Pretty much a kids dream come true :)

We finally made it to our destination and back home again. We ended up with a pack of diapers, the diaper boosters, and a jump rope. Despite the way we started off, we ended up with a pretty good outing.

Self Admiration

Ryan checks out the handsome guy in the mirror as he listens to some music.

Milk Beard

The milk mustache is a milestone Ryan won't hit till he's drinking out is a big-kid cup. For now, the best he can do is a milk beard.

Strollin

Learned a valuable lesson today. The double-wide lifestyle only rocks if you dont have to fit through the doors of Walgreens :(

Sunday She Said

Recently, Brooke refers to her "work" on a daily basis.  When she doesnt want to do something, or doesnt know how to explain something, her "work" comes into the picture.  Here are a few examples:

Mom: Let's change diapers
Brooke: I change diapers at my work

Mom: You need money to do that
Brooke: I have money at my work

"Work" is also a cool place where she is very grown-up and neat things happen:

"I have a sink at my work"
"I take a bath at my work"
"I put my shoes on myself at my work"

She also has a pretty strict boss.  She informs us all the time she has to "be at work in 5 minutes" or that she is "late for work".  Often she tells us this at 6 or 7 at night. 

Finally, I decided to get a better understanding of what she does at work.  She started talking about it tonight, and how she "does it at work with my friends".  This was the first time she mentioned friends and work in the same sentence, so I decided to snoop around.

Mom: Who are your friends at work?
Brooke: Kitties.
Mom: Kitties?  Anyone else?
Brooke: (Says or makes up some random words, which is also common)
Mom: Sounds like you work with animals.  Are you are vet at work?  An animal doctor?
Brooke: Yes.
Mom:  What do you think Mommy does at work?  What is Mommy's job?
Brooke: Taking care of Brookie.
Mom:  What is Daddy's job?
Brooke: Taking care of Mommy.

She is a pretty smart cookie.  I'm still not sure how I feel about my 2-year-old devoting so much time to her "work", but she seems to be handling the work-life balance quite well so I'll let it be for now ;)

Breakfast Al Fresco (Ryan Is 7 Months Old)

Last night I got three hours of sleep (and it wasnt consecutive). I can blame three people for this: my future sister-in-law and double trouble (of course). I got in late last night and knew I was going to be short on sleep, and I accepted that fact because it was for a good cause. BUT, Ryan and Brooke BOTH got me up in the middle of the night, and both woke up early. Which, of course, I should have expected to happen :(

I'm pretty tired. I'm having a hard time functioning, in fact. I was worried I'd fall asleep while taking care of the kids today (Daddy isnt home this morning) and needed something to keep me awake and keep the kids happy. So, we walked to Starbucks and picked up some goodies and then ate breakfast on the front porch. It worked. The kids were happy and it helped me wake up a bit. Yay!

Ryans 7 Month Check-In
Weight:21 lbs 9.5 oz
Height:? inches

According to What to Expect the First Year, at 7 months Ryan... should be able to

• feed self a cracker X
• razz (make a wet razzing sound) X
• coo or babble when happy X
• smile often when interacting with you X

will probably be able to

• sit without support X (still wobbly though!)
• bear some weight on legs when held upright X
• object if you try to take a toy away X
• work to get a toy that's out of reach X
• look for dropped object ? Not sure?
• rake with fingers an object and pick it up in fist X
• turn in the direction of a voice X
• babble, combining vowels and consonants such as ga-ga-ga,ba-ba-ba,ma-ma-ma,da-da-da X
• play peekaboo X

may possibly be able to

• creep or crawl
• pass a cube or other object from one hand to the other X
• stand holding on to someone or something X

may even be able to

• pull up to a standing position from sitting
• get into a sitting position from stomach
• play patty-cake (clap hands) or wave bye-bye high five
• pick up tiny object with any part of thumb and finger
• walk holding on to furniture (cruise)
• say "mama" or "dada", indiscriminanately

X means Ryan can do this at 7 months