What Happened to the 80s and Messy Faces

Totally 80s

So this weekend, Brandon and I had grandparents come over and we went to a Totally 80s party for our friend Judy Zafereo for her 30th birthday.

We got all geared up and bought outfits at the Goodwill store. Do we look like anyone you know? I think we kind of resembled Napolean Dynamite and Deb from the Napolean Dynamite movie. My shoulder pads in the jacket were huge! It was totally 80s. We also rolled up our jeans. I think the headband in Brandon's wig was the perfect touch, don't you? We went to dinner and then the skate Rink. Skating was great. Brandon, on the other hand, didn't fair as well. He fell numerous times and couldn't get the hang of it again. I had him beat hands down. LOL. I couldn't believe they still had tons of kids at the rink on a Saturday night.



Messy Faces

In other news, since when is it good for a baby to start spitting every time he is in his seat ready to eat his rice cereal or any other food? Brandon and I have been drenched in rice cereal for the past three days with little Jackson spitting every bite back at us. He just gets too excited. I think he really likes eating like the rest of us, but loves to blow bubbles when he is happy, not too fun when it is time to eat though. How can I combat this? It is funny; However, I can't be washing my hair in the middle of the day trying to get all of the rice cereal out. Here is to finding a way to get around the spitting.

Meanwhile, Kaitlyn has taken her Curious George stamp set and decided it was a good idea to stamp her cheek. She really enjoyed stamping everything with Curious George. I had to laugh after I came back with Jackson from changing his diaper. Maybe she just missed getting her face painted like in the fall or just wanted to keep Curious George with her at all times. LOL.

Spring just got busier

The theme of this week is, "Even though the days are long, the years are short." This advice was given this week by a friend referring to our kids' baby and toddler years. I can't tell you how long these days are right now, especially when the kiddos don't sleep well.

Although, I have to say, Jackson is amazing me day by day. He just goes with whatever is going on and is so flexible. He slept three hours today in his afternoon nap and about two hours in his morning nap. We also got out for a playdate at the mall's indoor playground with some friends.

What wears me out the most when we go out is Kaitlyn's activity. She could not stay in the playground area today, she had to go out and explore stairs several times, push other kids and jump off of stuff and hit her head. I had thought we got past some of these things, but they always seem to come up when she is hungry, tired or overstimulated.

However, the more outings and excursions we have, the better she is getting. I can now go to a store for at least 20 minutes and she stays by me. That is a huge improvement in the last couple of months. She also played with her friends very nicely most of the time. She is very engaging and energetic.

She also did very well at church and did not run off. Sometimes I think what else can we do, but in Kaitlyn's case, she has a very strong-willed personality.

Through all of this today, Jackson is just hanging out and watching everything. He loved seeing other babies. He is so easy to please. I pray that he will keep this up because Kaitlyn has worn me out.

Today, I signed Kaitlyn and Jackson up for the music program for babies and toddlers called Kindermusik. I think I got a really good teacher too. This program is based in music and helps with the development of language, creativity and sets the stage for a musical foundation. I think this will be super for Jackson, but also Kaitlyn as she begins to explore other activities this year like dance. Kaitlyn always loved singing and music in her Mother's Day Out program. We also receive a lot of materials to do at home. With this, I hope Kaitlyn and Jackson do not inherit my lack of rhythm.

Don't get me wrong, I don't want to overbook us. I think we would go insane. But this will be my first endeavor at trying to keep up with two kids with each one in an activity.

Storytime

Lately, there seems to be a change in one of my two kids almost everyday. I either hear Kaitlyn becoming more articulate or see a new idea taking shape in her head. Jackson seems to hit a growth spurt every month and will not sleep until he his belly is full.

Last night was just so sweet. I know Kaitlyn had to see that I thought she was so endearing because she looked at me and played up to my "ahhhhs." Brandon came home around 6 pm from work and was then going at 7 pm to play basketball. Around 6:45 he was about to leave and Kaitlyn asked him to play with her. She asked if he was going somewhere and then asked where her shoes and coat were. She said she wanted to go too. She looks forward to him coming home everyday to play legos or color or anything else she finds for them to do. It was just so cute to see how she wanted him to stay. I always find that when he hasn't been here for the entire weekend that she misses him more. Last weekend he went on a short trip to Houston for a wedding.

I also think Jackson brings out the "mama" in Kaitlyn. He is so easy going and just goes with whatever is going on in the house. He hardly ever cries if Kaitlyn is crying unless he is super tired. The last couple of days Kaitlyn has been helping more to change diapers and even held him in her lap to read him Curious George. He was enjoying the story until she was loosing her grip on him. I asked if he was too heavy for her and she nodded emphatically. He is pretty solid and wearing six month outfits and a few 6-9 month sleepers.

Pictures from January 2008

Here is a quick slideshow of our activities in January.

Jackson is eating rice cereal. Kaitlyn is playing with chalk. She is quite the little chef these days and made little pizzas, but wouldn't eat her delicious creation. Hmmm???

Jackson eating his fingers have become a daily routine and rolling around has put us on alert for keeping him safe.

Side Notes

We have had quite a week and a half with Kaitlyn getting Strep throat last week. She had a fever for four straight days and nights. We were worried about her, and felt so sorry that she was feeling so sick. We are now getting back to actually getting dressed during the day again. Well, it is nice for her just to sleep through the night again.

Jackson is as happy as a clam watching all the activity in the house. He has started trying some rice cereal and thinks of the feeding as another fun activity. He eats so much that we have been supplementing with formula a lot. I am not sure how much longer nursing will last but, we are trying to keep it up for as long as possible. He is definitely getting enough to eat now because he has been sleeping better, around 8 pm to 5 am, sometimes to 6. I can't tell you how wonderful it is to get some sleep the last couple of nights. The last time I got a good night's sleep or at least seven hours of sleep was in early July.

We must resolve a warranty issue with our computer monitor at the store so I am using my laptop right now. I am trying to see how I can download my photos on here so I can post some. Stay tuned.

2008 Has Started Off with a Bang!

Talk about a wild first two weeks of 2008. I worked last week to plan Kaitlyn's third birthday party and we even tried the place out first - a little indoor toddler bounce house called Pump It Up Jr. Kaitlyn loves to bounce like a monkey so I thought this would be fun for her.

This week, we have had a sick little monkey. Kaitlyn has strep throat and has a pretty high fever every day this week. She still had a little fever tonight and am relying on Motrin to help keep it down.

Meanwhile, little Jackson started drooling like crazy and rolled over today from back to front. He is all over. He is moving a ton! He can grab everything on the Baby Einstein mat. His favorite thing to do is to kick the hanging fish on the bouncy seat. Maybe we have a little soccer player. He can kick pretty hard!

And What Would New Year's Be Without...

And what would New Year's be without lots of fun activities. We celebrated daddy's birthday with a fun night out to Macaroni Grill and yummy chocolate cake. We also celebrated Kaitlyn's friends, Kali and Rhys' birthdays, along with visiting some high school and college friends to see their kiddos. We went to bed early last night and slept in this morning for New Year's. It was quite nice after the flurry of activity.