Daddy's Day!

Dear Daddy,

We would like to thank you for being a wonderful daddy. The time you spend with us is so special. We love going to the parks, the zoo and the Children's Museum with you. When we take walks in the neighborhood, you always make it a priority to stop off at our friends houses, our favorite swings and our two "kid friendly" zip lines. We love when you read to us, watch videos and act silly with us. We love when you take us to the basement to play; build forts and play "troll".

We know mommy is so grateful that you are able to go into work early and come home in the late afternoons. The much needed break you give her when you take us off her hands for an hour before dinner keeps her sane. We know that we are a handful and some days are tougher than others. Hopefully all the hugs, kisses and smiles we give each other; makes the harder days a little less rough.

Love,

Maya and Baby B

In regards to your day, mommy and us worked very hard in making your day very special. Hope you had a wonderful dad's day. As you recall, our day began early with a tasty home made breakfast. As our day progressed we visited the library, and dove into an art project(which was all mommy's idea). After a nice dinner, we ended our day by having a special dessert. With the constant nagging of the two things you wanted as gifts; mom finally gave in. Thanks to you dad..our shoes are in order and the door areas are clear.

Here are some great pictures from Father's Day.

Maya giving you our breakfast menu.

Daddy deciding on what to "order."

Daddy filling out our menu.

Our special menu!

Maya beating the eggs for our french toast.

While preparing and enjoying our breakfast, Brooklyn was fast asleep.

Maya helping to wash dishes.

Daddy giving us two thumbs up!!

Maya enjoying her breakfast as much as daddy; especially having her apple juice in a "special occasion" glass.

A priceless picture! Maya kept saying, "is today father's day? Happy father's day daddy."

Time for cards.... Maya liked opening the envelopes.

Mommy's crazy art project for daddy. The directions were very confusing, the mold was difficult to make, and it didn't quite turn out like I had hoped for. Next year we are doing something else.

Raspberry pie with whipped cream for dessert.

Pretty tasty!!

Daddy's two presents:

Our new backdoor shoe organizer.

Our new front door shoe organizer.

Happy Father's Day daddy!

We're back

Sorry it has been so long since our last post. For the last two months, we have been fighting one illness after another. Each of us, one by one have been hit with a nasty stomach bug and a terrible cold. Just when we thought we were on the mend; I (mommy) had a kidney stone and had surgery last week to remove the sucker. I don't want to jinx anything; but I think we are REALLY on the mend now. We are so tired of being sick!!

But, on a side note: Last night Maya and I were playing in the front room; when she asked if we could play with our Mr. Potato heads. Of course, I said yes. After we dumped the container out; she asked me if we could make our family. Of course, I said yes again. She asked me if I could put the arms and legs on all of them and I did. One by one, she assembled them. She was very careful in choosing which pieces went on each of them. After almost an hour of putting them together; here is Maya's idea of our family:

From left to right: Daddy, Mommy, Maya and Brooklyn.

Stewart and I thought she did a great job. We love the fact that she chose a mouth with the tongue sticking out for her! Besides daddy not having a mustache, she was right on. Her creativity is amazing!

I promise, I will post some current pictures of the girls soon.

Sisters

It is so nice that our girls are having so much fun with each other. Brooklyn is now babbling (squealing), smiling, laughing, pushing herself up, rolling over, scooting backwards and almost sitting up by herself. Maya is a typical two year old; loud, funny and full of energy. They always have to know where the other one is at ALL times. When one of them sees or hears the other; they smile and start "talking." Maya talks (shouts) at B and B squeals to Maya. Here are some cute pictures of the two of them.

When it is Brooklyn's night to take a bath, Maya is ALWAYS wanting to help wash her. We now strip Maya down to her diaper, because some how she ends up soaking wet! Go figure?

The two of them love music. Maya was showing Brooklyn how to drum on the tambourine.

Of all the instruments that we have in our house, Maya likes the recorder the best.

While I am getting ready in the mornings, the two of them like to look at books in their room. (If I didn't know any better, I would think that Maya is really reading to her!).

One of our many nighttime routines is to sing songs with the girls before we turn the lights out. Here we are singing row row row your boat.

Our picnic at the zoo.

These next three pictures are so precious:
Maya's all time favorite book is Pat the Bunny. Maya told me the other day that she wanted me to lay Brooklyn on the floor next to her so that she could read her that book.

Maya trying to help Brooklyn pat the bunny.

Maya trying to help Brooklyn play peek a boo with Paul.

Maya showing Brooklyn how to play the game Master Mind. She really doesn't know how to play except she likes to play with the pegs. As soon as B is more mobile, we are going to have watch her closely so small pieces don't end up in her mouth. (WARNING: CHOKING HAZARD!!)

We love to hear Maya talk about Brooklyn. Here are some questions that we think are so funny:

1. Is that my sister? Our answer> yes.

2. Is that my sister talking? Our answer> yes.

3. Is that my sister crying? Our answer> yes.

4. Does my sister have a dirty diaper? Our answer> yes.

5. Is that sisters bottle? Our answer> yes.

6. Is my sister having her formula now? Our answer> yes, that is all she eats now.

7. Is my sister naked? Our answer> yes.

8. Is my sister funny? Our answer> well, she thinks you are.

9. Is my sister sleeping? Our answer> yes and let's try and be quiet.

10. Did I wake sister up? Our answer> Yep, you woke up sister.

And the winner is:

Is sister looking at me? Our answer> yep. Followed by, "That's funny!"

STRIKE!

On Sunday, we decided to take the girls to Chuck E Cheese for a family outing. When we got there and saw that the line was out the door to get in, we made the executive decision to go bowling instead. Stewart and I had talked that someday we would love to take Maya, but we just didn't think it was going to be so soon. (I have to admit, I really wasn't sure how it would go). After driving around for awhile, we finally found an alley that had an open lane. We went inside and Maya was instantly overstimulated; a place full of people, loud noises and a new setting. We walked to the counter, paid for our game, received our lane and got shoes. The guy working the counter was even nice enough to find a ball for Maya.

"Mommy, these shoes are funny. They look like clown shoes."

Game time:

Wait a minute...before we started, mommy had to explain a few rules:

1. We only roll our ball down our lane.

2. Only the person who is bowling can be on the lane.

3. Mommy or daddy has to help you get your ball down from the ball holder. Never put your hands where the ball is coming up!

4. Carry your ball very carefully and don't drop it on your feet!

5. You must have fun!

When Maya first picked up the ball, she said, "Momma, help Maya! Maya's ball is heavy."

Maya's 1st frame..
"Can I go now?"

"Ready, set, go!"

Just FYI: After the first frame, Stewart was trailing Maya. We both joked that maybe he should sit down with the bumpers up and roll the ball.

Maya's 3rd frame..
"Maya stand up and roll the ball like mommy and dadda?"

You can tell that she was pretty impressed with herself! Check out that face.

Maya's 5th frame..
"I stand up and push the ball again!"

"What are these dots for?"

It seemed like it took FOREVER for her ball to travel down the lane. Oh well, we were in no hurry.

Nice roll Miss Maya!

Daddy was very proud of Maya.

Our 10th frame..

Getting ready...

"Maya did it!"

Our favorite picture!

The end result!!

Maya, you did a great job and mommy and daddy are SO proud of you. Can't wait to go again! If you are wondering where Brooklyn was the whole time, she was in her car seat watching us. We promise you Maya, we will take you to Chuck E Cheeses sometime this week. Deal?

Big B, Little B, B, B, B

Isn't that a line from some Dr. Seuss book? Anyways, these are just some of our nicknames we call Brooklyn. If you haven't guessed yet, this post is going to be all about Baby B. She is growing up so fast! In just 3 days, she is going to be 5 months old. (It doesn't seem that long ago that we saw her for the first time). Things have been going well. She is a very happy baby who smiles a ton and babbles non stop. I love when B starts to babble and Maya will look at us and say, "is B making funny noises?" When we tell her that she used to do that, she says, "that's funny!" It seems like Little B is very ticklish and when she laughs her giggle is so darn cute. Her tummy time has definitely paid off; as she can now roll over. It doesn't take her long to go from her tummy to her back and back to her tummy! We learned this the hard way when last weekend, she rolled off our bed. She can no longer be on a couch or a bed without pillows! Sitting up is her next "milestone." Not only does she like sitting in her bumbo chair, but Maya likes it too. She also does well sitting in our laps or on the floor with just holding our hands. She spends a little time each day both in her doorway jumper and exersaucer. One of her all time favorite places to still hang out is in her swing.

Brooklyn's all time favorite place.

At her 4 month well baby check-up. Why is it that they love playing with that paper? It must be the sound it makes.

Her weight: 12.5 lbs

Her length: 24.5 in

Asleep in the front carrier.

Tummy time in the kitchen.

"Scrub a dub dub, Big B in the tub."

She will almost always giggle when you tickle her. She is very ticklish under her chin, on the inside of her thighs and under her arm pits.

More tummy time in the front room. These tummy pictures are hard to get, because normally by the time we get our camera, she has already rolled over!

Oops...Big B is waking from her afternoon nap. I guess our post about B needs to end. Until next time---keep making great strides Brooklyn.

We love you SO much!

A Special Valentine's Day

Last Friday, Maya and I had a special invite to go to her preschool (that she will be attending in the fall) and spend the morning in the classroom. She was so excited to go and see other kids. Ever since we made our decision on where to send Maya; there has not been one week that has gone by that Miss Maya doesn't ask when she can go to preschool. It is so adorable! Here are some pictures of Maya playing and participating at her first Valentine's Day party at preschool.

The first thing Maya spotted in the classroom was the drinking fountain.

A little boy came over to her as she was standing in front of the drinking fountain and told her that there was a step stool against the wall that she could use to reach it. Maya looked at the boy and said, "I'm a big girl, I can reach it." The little boy looked at Maya and said, "me too." It was so darn cute.

During dress up time, Maya loved wearing this purple hat. She kept asking me, "mommy, how do I look?" Each time, I would say the same thing, "you look awesome."

Since Maya was a special guest, she got to wash her hands first for snack time. She loved the fact she could see herself in the mirror while washing her hands.

While waiting for her snack, she told teacher Heather that she was REALLY hungry. She then told teacher Heather that she needed her snack NOW.

Maya loved her snack... apple juice and a blueberry muffin.

During quiet time, Maya found a book to read. When I asked her if she wanted me to read it to her, she quietly said, "no mom, I can do it."

During open play, two girls asked Maya if she wanted to play with some farm animals and the barn. Maya looked at them and said, "ok, but Maya wants the mommy pig and the babies." Both girls said ok and the three of them played together.

For the Valentine's Party, each of the kids got to exchange valentine's cards with each other. The staff made some cards for Maya so that she would have cards to open too. She even got a piece of candy from teacher Heather. After the cards were opened, each child got a sugar cookie to decorate. Teacher Heather gave each child some frosting, some pieces of licorice, chocolate chips and a handful of jelly beans. Here was Maya decorating her cookie...

Maya placing a jelly bean on the frosting.

Carefully putting a chocolate chip on.

Now the licorice was a bit tricky! After a few tries, she finally figured out that she needed to push harder in order for the licorice to stand up.

Teacher Heather encouraged the kids to taste the frosting. When Maya tried it, she said, "this is yummy!"

Maya then saw some of her new buddies licking the frosting off of their knives and she thought she would try it too.

In the end, she cleaned off her knife.

As teacher Heather came over to wrap up her cookie and package up the extra candy, Maya looked at me and said, " Maya eat cookie and candy for dinner." I gave her a smile and said, "maybe after dinner?"

As the morning wrapped up and it was time to go, Maya went around the room and gave hugs to her new friends and teacher Heather. It was a great day. On the way home, Maya asked me if she could come back to preschool another day. I said, "of course you can."

It was really fun to see Maya interact with the other kids. She had a fabulous time and has already asked if tomorrow she can go to preschool!