Another Oldie

It's not often that I like candids of myself, but I must say that this one puts a smile on my face. You've got Katie nestled into my lap, a perch she doesn't like to relinquish to anyone. Michael is tackling his favorite target, probably to get a hair tug in. And I am just looking bemused by it all. Thanks to our good buddy Ms. Kim for sharing her photo with us!

Hola, Que Pasa?

In the better late than never category, we present this hilarious video filmed the night before Katie started preschool. Just watch and listen closely...Katie has some funny insights into what she will soon learn in school. As for Michael, he's just being his typical trouble-maker self. If anybody ever wants to come babysit our kids, this is what you would be in for at bath time!

Finally...Some Art!

One of the earliest benefits that we have noticed since Katie started school is a new-found interest in art. She has NEVER been one to engage in arts/crafts for more than a few minutes. She basically did the minimum necessary to get Mommy and Daddy off of her back to do something creative. But now she asks to paint and/or color daily, and even had a ton of fun decorating some of the thank-you cards we sent out this week. Shhhh....just don't tell her that we have basically pitched everything she's done...good thing she never peeks into the recycling bin. (Mommy cannot stand clutter and wants to wait until more ambitious projects come down the pipeline to start decorating the house!)

Bye-bye, Bottle!

It's official....our house is now bottle-free!! Michael switched completely over to the sippy cup and whole milk this weekend without missing a beat. If only we had been so relaxed with Katie on things like this. (Oh, who are we kidding, nothing is relaxed with Katie!) Anyway, Michael is becoming more and more of a big boy everyday. But we won't call him a toddler just yet....he has to let go and walk first (like his buddy, Teddy)!

Games, Goodies, and Giggles

Katie and Michael had the best weekend with their Papa and Grammy! This morning they got to have a second round of birthday cake so that the grandparents could celebrate Michael's first. Katie also got some rounds in of her favorite new board game, Cariboo Island. (Today she bested Grammy, 2 games to 1.) We really wish that we could all get together more often, but we'll just have to keep thinking about our next trip north...Thanksgiving!

Woe is Me

Michael, starting to reconsider the Brian Kelly coaching hire....

On a lighter note, the kids are thrilled to have their Grammy and Papa visiting this weekend. We've done a lot of playground-playing and yummy-eating. We will hopefully get a nice photo of them for tomorrow's entry. Stay tuned!

Speechless

Michael had his big 1-year appointment today, and the doctor was very pleased! She liked that he was cruising, clapping, and climbing. The only "red" flag for him? The fact that he's not saying any words yet... Let's just say he is the opposite of his big sister, Chatty Katty. Combine his motor skills with her communication ones, and we might have actually had a kid hitting his/her developmental milestones on time. Oh well, we guess we'll actually have to talk to Michael now. As for his measurements: he is 22 lbs. 12 oz. (40th percentile) and 30.5 inches (74th). His exercise regimen must be burning those calories!

Happy 1st Birthday, Michael James!

Birthday Eve

Can you believe that our little dude turns one tomorrow??? Everybody in our house, especially Katie, is excited for the big event. (She helped me to make cupcakes today....hence, she is very impatient for tomorrow's dinner.) Michael got a special surprise today. While Katie was at school, his little buddy Madeline (7 months-old) and her mom Maureen stopped by so that he could open his first-ever birthday present. He got a cool book and some sweet clothes, but the only thing that really excited him was the pictured shiny blue bow. Well, at least it was blue, right?

Playing Hookie?

Our poor, little Katie had to stay home from school today with a low-grade fever. Never fear, however...by mid-morning, even I was wondering why the heck she wasn't off playing with her new friends. She and Michael tore apart the house I was SUPPOSED to have cleaned in her morning absence, and then we all spent the afternoon at a nearby playground. Guess she's probably cleared to get back to school tomorrow...

Walk of Life

Michael is such a great crawler that he is still not completely motivated to figure out this "walking" thing. However, we've slowly been giving him more and more time with the toy walker (thanks, again, Bill and Maggie). Here's a short clip of him showing off his new skills.

Hope that everyone else is steering clear of the viruses going around with the change of season. We have one sick household here! But we're hanging in there and hoping to all be healthy by Michael's first birthday...

Old Friends are the Bomb!

 

Even though all of our kids are turning a page in a new chapter in their lives (pre-school), we think that they still enjoy spending time with their oldest buddies the best. Katie had a double treat today, spending the morning at a farmers' market with Sam and the evening at dinner with Connor. Thanks to both moms (Julie and Maureen) for helping us get through this long week....Mike has been away in San Diego since Monday! Julie sent me some fabulous pictures of the kids at the park - seriously, don't they seem so happy?

Go Fish!

Since we didn't have school today, we invited our buddies Lyla (3.5 years-old), Anamarie (2 years-old) and Angela over for a dress-up playdate. Of course the girls did their "girly" stuff for awhile, but then Angela got them all engaged in a fierce game of "Go Fish!" As this was Katie's first time playing, it was pretty amusing to watch. First, she laid all of her cards out for everybody to see. (We'll have to work on her bluffing skills.) And, then, she repeatedly asked other people for cards she didn't need. You see, these were Dora the Explorer playing cards, and she really just wanted to collect her favorite characters. So, we'll hold off on that Vegas trip for now...

Just Mommy and Me

Hey, Michael here! Boy, was it a really cool day today... I got Mommy all to MYSELF for three whole hours!! It all started with Mommy waking me up from the middle of a really solid sleep (my first morning nap). I couldn't understand why she was waking me up and I wasn't very happy about it. She basically pulled me out of the crib and strapped me into the car seat without so much as a hello, a sippy cup, or a paci. How rude, I thought! But, then we drove to this magical place full of kids, mommies, daddies, and lots and lots of toys. I couldn't get enough of looking around at all the sights. I think Mommy was a little worried about dropping Big Sis off at this place, but Katie was great! She didn't even turn around to give Mommy a hug before running in to her classroom. Harumph - if it had been me, I definitely would have hugged Mommy good-bye.

As for Mommy and me, we had a great morning where I got all of her attention to myself. We stopped at the grocery store for a few things and I got to pick out my own balloon. (No Big Sis to rip it out of my hands!!) Then we came home and played with cars and blocks and a bunch of Katie's toys. (Shhhh, don't tell her.) Finally, I had a little snack and fell blissfully back to sleep for a bit.

When I woke up, we went back to the magical toy place and picked Katie up again. She looked really happy to see us and told us she missed us. Awwww, I love my Big Sis! A cool day, indeed.

One Down....

Hey, hey....Katie survived school today! Well, today was the easy day, anyway. Her preschool held its Orientation Day, where parents were invited to stay with their kids for an hour-long introduction to the classroom, teachers, etc. While a little anxious in the hours leading up to our appointment, Katie was a rock star once we arrived at the school. She warmly greeted her teachers, looked around the room, and got down into the business of some serious play. She was in heaven with the dress-up area, pretend kitchen, animal figurines, and play-doh. She even went off to play with some new friends by the end of the hour. Luckily for her, her class is quite uneven with the boy:girl ratio. There will be only 5 boys to 9 girls...just the way Katie would want it! The real test is tomorrow, when Michael and Traci drop her off for the day. Wish us luck!

Oh, and here's a peek of Katie playing with her new friends Peyton, Christina, and Hannah. They were all making their mommies some lunch. Traci was lucky enough to get some sushi, fruits and vegetables, and a cookie!

Dressed for Success

Traci purchased Michael some new button-down shirts in advance of his upcoming 1-yr. photos. We got a good chuckle out of getting him all prepped for church with his new pre-professional look. This pic was toward the end of the day (e.g., shirt a bit more wrinkled, hair a bit more disheveled) and doesn't do it complete justice, but we are loving our little Alex P. Keaton!

Stay tuned tomorrow for Katie's first day of pre-school!

It's Baaaack!

It's a pretty exciting time of year for Katie. Not only does she attend school for the first time on Monday(!), but she returned to her beloved dance class after a summer hiatus. She was pretty stoked for class and even begged to get dressed in her leotard and tights as early as possible. (This coming from a girl who can throw a pretty classic tantrum about getting ready in the morning.) Her favorite teacher in the whole world, Miss Monica, was back at the head of class, so of course Katie loved every minute of it. The only bummer: preschool has depleted the class of many of Katie's ballerina buddies. And what did the increasingly mobile little brother do during Katie's class? Michael used the 45 minutes to crawl everywhere and destroy everything in his path: leaves pulled off of indoor plants, tissues tugged out of a complimentary box, magazines ripped off of side tables, and an entire box of musical instruments dumped. And this is supposed to be Traci's relaxing time???

Crawl-Soccer

Michael has invented his own favorite game, Crawl-Soccer. He will bat any ball all around the house with his head, hands, or feet...usually all on his own. It's a great game for busy parents, as he can amuse himself with it for awhile. Here's a little taste of it at our favorite indoor play area, but he was plenty distracted by all of the other toys and people.

Pretty, Pretty Princess

Farewell, Summer

 

We had such a wonderful "last" weekend of summer! We spent lots of time outdoors, whether climbing trees, getting piggyback rides, or visiting friends. We ate too much yummy food at various friends' barbeques, and we even managed to get one last swim in at Connor's today. Now, we have to hunker down and get ready for cooler weather, shorter days, and the start of school.

Nahhhhhhhh, who are we kidding...it's supposed to be 90 degrees tomorrow!!

Kickoff

We kicked off the start of college football season with some prime T.V. viewing of Notre Dame's win over Purdue this afternoon. O.K., well, I watched the game. Michael napped. Traci kept tabs on the score via her Droid. And Katie really only watched every now and then to look for the "zebra man" (a.k.a., referee). But we looked good, as Traci had brought us all back some new apparel from the ND Bookstore from her recent trip to South Bend. However, this was the best photo we could get of the little rascals modeling their new gear. A good start for the new coach, but we'll see what the Irish have next week against Meeeee-chigan...

Bittersweet

We have survived an unusually brutal summer with many awesome playdates, including today's with Mo, Connor, and Madeline (pictured). Unfortunately, these days are winding down to a bittersweet end. All of our older kids will be starting preschool in a little over a week, which means that it will be much more difficult to get together. We are all on different schedules, many of us have a younger child to schedule around, and we all live at least 15-20 minutes apart. It's hard to imagine letting many weeks fly by without seeing Patrick crazy-dance, Connor play chase, or Lyla climb the monkey bars. Alas, we are getting to the stage where our original playdates will be the luxury, not the norm. Now we are just all counting down until Fall Break....

You are Cordially Invited...

To the birthday party of one Mr. C. Turtle. As you can see, we've saved you a place alongside every Disney princess, Dora & Boots, many cute animals, some Matchbox cars, and even a rubber snake! Good fun was had by all: we sang, danced, and even ate pretend birthday cake. Good fun, that is, until Michael-zilla came in to topple everybody. Just another typical day of imagination at Casa de Katie....

11 Months and Counting....

It was this time last year that we were convinced that Michael would arrive at any moment. Little did we know that we still had 3 weeks before we would have to force the issue! We forgot to give you an 11-month update for the big guys, so here goes:

LIKES: Feeding himself just about anything, Chasing his sister, Playing peekaboo, Snuggling up to Mommy or Daddy, Taking baths, Napping, Sharing a room with Katie

DISLIKES: Sleeping in past 6AM, Being shut out by a closed door, Sunscreen applications, Sitting outside in the direct sun

NEW TALENTS: Eating with his 5(!) teeth, Standing on his own for a few seconds, Almost clapping, Cruising, Dancing on his knees