Kaylee takes the leap, and Levi's all boy

Sometimes I forget to write about new experiences Eric has had with the kids, him talking to his mom yesterday reminded me to post that Kaylee is now leaping into the swimming pool (yes we did get a pool liner and if you'd like to come swim just call!) into his arms! Before she'd just reach down and let him carry or assist a 'jump' in. It happened when she had a little playmate over, and all of the sudden she has the courage during a bit of showing off, to literallly make the leap!

When she first got in the pool this year, she had forgotten all she could do, last year she was swimming independently with a life jacket, Eric coached her and she is back to her confidence but is swimming without a life jacket and in her daddy's arms instead.

Looking forward to many more fun times in the pool this summer, hope you can come splash with us. As ever, Levi is stll the water baby, only mildly upset when he gets a faceful of splashes from his sister or a neighbor. He doesn't cry, just shakes it off...like a real man! I don't know if I've mentioned but he is 'all boy' as they say. He chases after bugs, doesn't cry much, gravitates to balls and has good body and spatial awareness. He's unafraid and explores everything one that he's mobile, we had to put the rumba (roaming vacuum) up because he couldn't be kept from their fun buttons and beeps! More next time!

9 month dr. Visit.

Levi had his 9month doctor appointment today. Everything went as expected. She talked to me about doing cry it out with him, so I can take or leave that advice. I'm very very tired, never been so sleep deprived in my life! So I might take the advice. Main issue, they share a room, how can you let them cry it out without waking the other sibling, or do you need to separate the baby to the living room or something!?

Stats:
21 lb 12 oz, 68 percentile (thought this would be higher, he's a big boy) Eric pointed out a lot of babies get transitioned to formula at this age and begin to gain more weight.
28.5 in long, 75 percentile?
49.5 head circumference (above the top curve)

She asked me a whole bunch of questions...can he say dada,mama, can he bang toys together, can he pull himself up, does he babble,and on and on, the only question he " failed " was can he clap his hands. Eric said later he has seen him do this after all. Anyways, there were no shots I was relieved about that. They're always a bit traumatic for the babies ( and me) .

I've learned it's much easier to leave kaylee with someone during these appt, she had a ball playing at the neighbors with their girls. It the first time I let their teenagers "babysit" kaylee. Kaylee's gotten to be virtually no work for them, since she gets so happy to spend time playing with their two younger children, so I didn't worry about it. Plus a dry run of 1.5 hours is better than trying 4 the first time.

Happy 9 months old to Levi

Levi now is scooting several feet on his tush - hands included to help. He said Dad and Woof this weekend. Very cute!

Happy 9 months my Mr. Congeniality. I will never get enough of your sweet little smile, that lights up your little face (I love that I can see dimples under those pudgy cheeks). You are so darling!

New tooth on top, 3 total!

Yesterday we gave Levi some ibuprofen because he wouldn't stop whining and wasn't his usual happy go lucky self. Today I heard a grinding sound coming from his mouth, at first I thought, "oh no, his grinding his teeth like his momma!" then... I realized how is he grinding if he doesnt have a tooth on top - lo-and-behold he DOES have a new tooth on top! The pain meds did their work yesterday and he was a happy boy!

We went out with auntie Krissy and played on the playground, with Levi being almost the same weight as kaylee, he makes a great teeter totter companion. He squealed in delight at it, smiling through every new bounce (held carefully by his auntie of course)!

Yesterday Eric had work friends over to BBQ, Levi ate so much potato salad I couldn't believe it, lately the rule for kaylee has been - eat as much as your baby brother and you'll get dessert. She didn't get dessert, she barely ate a thing, distracted by the excitement of having visitors! We were bragging about how well Levi could eat with just two teeth, turns out he had a bit of help from that new top tooth after all!

It's a beautiful day, were going to go out now and enjoy ... Enjoy yours too! Happy weekend!

P.s. On the work front, we had our open house for the surgery project I was the project architect on, on Thursday. It was great to see it with equipment and furniture after seeing it all through programming, design and construction. The staff had wonderful things to say it was so great to hear it from their perspective and also their thoughts about how the patients would benefit from the new space. Oh my gosh, I was so excited it was almost as exciting (25 percent of the excitement?) of having my own children...I'm such a dork! The stories of what it was, process of how it came to be and now is, are in my mind as I look at the beauty of the end result! So proud of my team and my firm! Can't wait for the next phase and how they do on Monday with their first day of surgeries. I will have to post photos here...

On the crawling front

I forgot to mention that Levi has somehow been getting around, with a combo of scooting on his butt, an amazing reach/flexibility, lots of time and tenacity he's been able to move a few feet to get who and what he's after. He crawls a bit but it's more of slithering on his tummy, not even an army crawl, and he can move from sitting to all fours without falling down. He also loves to stand up and see the room from a new vantage point at the coffee table. He loves to perch standing in the tub. Without weight as a concern, he's very mobile in the tub and has been for quite some time.

The Sun is Shining!

We've been really busy since Eric had to go on a trip to Canada for a week. Being alone with two little ones was, as expected, a lot of work. We had help from Grandparents and my sister though, which was very nice and fun for the kids. We spent time at the park, were at Chuck E Cheese during the tornado warnings (not a good place to take cover, glad it didn't hit our area) and went to MOA on the rides and for ice cream.

Eric has opened the pool up. We now have a new liner after the storm that took out the MEtrodome also took out our pool cover. It looks great. We are waiting for the weather to get good enough and then we'll swim. We've been hitting the hot tub a lot lately. Kaylee is now tall enough, 36", to walk around the hot tub by herself so I can attend to Levi.

Levi started to say "Gog" at Jackson. He also started to wave excitedly at Jackson when he sees hiim, squealing in delight and raises his eyebrows. Dogs are fun for kids! Levi loves the hot tub and the swing set. Levi has been sitting on the little scooter on the driveway and enjoying bubbles. Now the baby toys outdoors are very alluring to Kaylee, which I don't get because the outdoor big kid stuff is so much more fun, in reality.

Kaylee said to me while I put on suncreen, "Put that one me so I won't cook like a hot dog." I'm sure she's not able to do an analogy yet, but she must be repeating what her daycare provider says to her, nonetheless that was funny to hear her say.

We had a nice Memorial Day picnic and I got to meet our second cousin. It was fun to see him and the rest of the family. Both kids enjoyed the food and the playground. And slept well on the way home.