Christmas 2012

Christmas 2012 was a fun year for the Benedicts!

We put up our decorations during Thanksgiving. Geoffrey helped put up the tree and put most of the ornaments on by himself!

 We did some very special things over the holidays. We took two trips to Disneyland and even got to eat at Goofy's Kitchen.

 We visited Santa's Wonderland in Irvine. Here Geoffrey wrote a letter to Santa asking for a bullet passenger train that moved by itself when you pushed th button on top. He said in his letter that Katelyn was not a good girl this year because she cried a lot, but that she was a baby so it was ok and Santa should still bring her a present. We also had a chance to meet Santa himself! Geoffrey told Santa about the bullet train he wanted. Katie wasn't so syre about Santa though!

We also went on the cruise of lights with Nonna and Grandpa. We did pre-Christmas with Nonna, Grandpa, and Aunt Heather. and Christmas Eve as well.

On Christmas morning, Nonna and Grandpa came over to watch Geoff open his Santa presents, while Grandma Patty skyped from Michigan. Then Aunt Tammy got Lexi and we skyped Grandma Patty and Grandpa Bobby again and oopened their presents! Our evening ended with Christmas at Grndpa Bob and Grandma Dee Dee with ALL of the cousins!

Geoffrey has really enjoyed Christmas this year! He has been watching his Christmas shows and really loves "Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas." He does not like "Twice Upon a Christmas" because in the third sketch, Pluto gets lost. This seems to really bother him. He also didn't like Home Alone because Kevin gets left alone, too. It is so funny to hear him reciting lines from his favorite shows though - including imitating the inflections... "It's here... CHRISTmas time!"

He is learning some Christmas songs - favorites being "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" and "Deck the Halls with Bells of Folly," in which he sticks out his tongue and moves it side to side while singing "Fa la la la la la la la la..."

Gratitude was hard to come by this year, with instead an instance on more presents and more candy. WE will continue to work on this!

He is slowly starting to realize that Katie is becoming a little person and potential play mate. He will at times ask Katelyn to come play with him,  which is nice. At other times, he is very impatient with her, too.

Geoffrey has some trouble speaking up to other adults - for example, asking for things or saying thank you when someone gives him something - but I was quite proud of him for asking Santa what he wanted (a bullet passenger train that moves by itself when you press the button on top.) It took a while, but he finally did it!

This Christmas Geoffrey got a few games and he really enjoys playing them! We have been playing Chutes and Ladders, Candy Land, and Who Shook Hook? and he is doing well with taking turns and following the rules! Now we just need to work on being a gracious loser.  (o;

Katelyn 9 months - a year

Wow - It has been WAY too long since I've blogged!

Katelyn - Almost 12 months!

The last few months have been amazing! Katie has grown up SO MUCH!

Eating - Katelyn eats very well. It took her awhile to catch on, but by 11 months, she had mastered picking up food to feed herself and now she pretty much only wants to self feed. She drinks water from sippy cups, too,, and occasionally drinks milk, but she pretty much prefers to wait for Mommy to get her milk calories. She is such a busy nurser, too - sometimes she will "do yoga" while nursing - standing on her feet and sticking her butt in the air like down-face dog. So cute! In a few days, she will be one, and we will switch her to cows milk on days that I am at work.

 

Sleep - WELL... ahem... Katelyn got a cold... I started feeding her again in the middle of the night, and we are right back to the same old thing (waking up to eat at least once between 1 - 3). I had planned to sleep train her over winter break but that hasn't happened either - I was sick for the first few days and now she is. Sigh... to be continued!

Katelyn is still crawling EVERYWHERE and really enjoys her mobility. She is also cruising - she loves to stand and play with things, "walk" while holding on to things like her walking toys, and she even stands for a few seconds on her own when she doesn't think about it!

She has six teeth now!

Katelyn is really getting ready to talk. Her favorite phrase to repeat is "Oh Wow!" And she will happily have an "oh wow" conversation with anyone who will engage her! She is also busily practicing all sorts of other sounds and volumes.

She is also quite the couch potato - she will sometimes sit and STARE at the TV. Its actually sort of disconcerting - but compared to Geoffrey, she is more exposed to kids shows so I guess it makes sense. However,, she is also quite capable of tuning it out and playing busily. (All those studies of TV time rush through my head...)

She still loves to hold on to and play with little things - especially balls. She is also quite keen on playing with Geoffrey's toys as well - which sometimes goes over well with big brother - but usually, not so much.

Katelyn will be one on Friday. Wow.

Guess where we are going tomorrow?

Is it a regular frogs bounce house? Is it a regular scooters jungle? Is it a regular store? Is it a regular Walmart? Is it a regular Taco Bell? Is it a regular Del taco? Is it differentter then lyon's house?

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Slushy magic

Thank Goodness for downloaded shows, on-demand, and DVR. Jeffrey almost never watches commercials, because the only TV shows he really watches on Disney Junior. However he has one show that he watches that has a commercial on it for something called slushy magic. Every time he sees the commercial he says, " I want that!" Today, he spotted it at the store. "Is that slushy magic?" he asked. "I'm really excited because he said you can do it over and over again." He was, of course reciting what he had learned from the commercial. I think we are going to get him one for Christmas.

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Geoffrey - Preschooler

So Geoffrey is adjusting to preschool. Drop offs can be rough - at first he would scream and one of the teachers would need to hold him - but he seems to be doing better. Lately it has been a few tears and whimpers but that's it. The teachers all say that after Grant leaves Geoff is fine within five minutes, and he seems to have a blast playing there! Grant pointed out that he likes that Geoffrey has fun after the initial drop off- that there are other students who seem to mope the whole time their parents are gone. So I am glad that Geoffrey enjoys it.

When Grant works, he says that Geoffrey follows Ms. Lynette all over the place. Sigh. I spend far too much time worrying if his behavior is "normal." I ask Grant all the time, "Is he the only kid who cries?" "He doesn't play with other kids. Is the only one who doesn't?" "Do you think he bugs the teacher following her around?" It is so funny that I wanted him at a play-based preschool yet I am constantly worried if he is "normal," while Grant was concerned about him being in a more structured program and is perfectly relaxed with Geoffrey doing his thing.

Oh - they also are starting up a fun - non-competitive soccer program caled TOt Shots. Last Tuesday was a free class so the kids could try. Geoffrey liked it so I think we are going to sign him up!

Now that Katie is more mobile, Geoffrey is very concerned about his toys. He isn't very understanding yet and he can be kind of rough with her. Fortunately, Katie just loves the attention so for now it mostly amuses her.

Geoffrey also has this fantastic excuse that he uses with Katie and Cori, "I can't because I don't know how to share." Stinker.

Other fun Geoffrey sayings:

At the pumpkin patch Geoffrey was ready to go home. "I'm ready to go home. I'm full of fun."

Geoffrey brought his blanket, pillows, and four or five stuffed animals to the bottom of the stairs after his nap. I asked im what he was doing and he said, "That way if I fall down the stairs I can be comfy cozy."

We went to the Verizon store and Geoffrey picked up a box with a car charger in it and sauid. "This costs 4G dollars." (I am also impressed by the reading!)He also said, " I need a phone. I don't have one yet. Also a car."

We had a tickle fight one morning and he named our bed, "Tickle flower garden."

Katelyn / 9 months

So, I was planning to blog after Katleyn's 9 month visit - however, due to changing insurance types, her appointment got postponed. So I am waaaay behind!

In addition, Aunt Tammy and Uncle Andy are living with us for awhile, and I just had Back to School Night - so things have been sort of crazy!

So what has Katie been up to?

Eating - she is eating solids like a champ. We've been giving her small pieces of table foods - toast, cheese, pizza - pretty much whatever we are eating except for the allergy stuff (eggs, honey, nuts...) and she is doing great! SHe seems to love to eat! She's been doing slightly better with drinking milk at home, and she seems interested in drinking water from a sippy cup, too. She's still not doing full feedings from the bottle, but she's eating so many solids that she is fine during the day. She has not yet learned how to pick up food herself, but she'll get there!

Sleep - About three weeks ago, I cur her middle of the night feeding. At first, I offered her a bottle instead of me - for about 4 night. She didn't drink it and ended up just going back to sleep. Then I spent a few nights just picking her up and rocking her and then putting her back down. She tended to fall asleep pretty quickly. She even did a few nights where she slept straight through to 5 or 5:30. (She's been going down around 8:30 - 9:00) Then she started waking up again, and a few of those nights needed me to come in a few times to pick her up and rock her before she fell asleep. I have been implementing a new step to sleep training each weekend - so I have Friday and Saturday to adjust and I can sleep in if I need to. However with Tammy moving in and back to school night, I got off a little bit.

This weekend, however, I started not picking her up when she woke up in the middle of the night - just talking to her. She does this weird thing, though, where she sits up and cries - and I get nervous that she is so tired she can't figure out how to lay back down. So on Friday, I laid her down but didn't pick her up. Grant helped too and it took er about an hour to go to sleep. (the complicated part is when she's fussy - like making noises every few minutes - but not full out crying - to go in or not to go in???) Last night (Saturday) she slept straight through to 5:30!

So this week, we will continue with not picking her up if she cries to hopefully get her to soothe herself through the night. Eventually, if I can get her to sleep until 6:00 or 6:30 (her morning feeding is usually around 5-5:30)I wouldn't mind getting her to bed a little bit earlier - she's currently waking up around 9:00 and it would be ok if she woke up around 8.

Crawling - Katie is crawling like a champ now. She can get anywhere she wants to go, much to Geoffrey's chagrin - ha ha. She is also quite proficient at pulling herself up to standing. She has a new lion that she got from Julie and Penelope Fox that she can pull herself upto play on, and she likes her musical table, too.

She has been grinding her teeth lately. It is very disconcerting - that sound.... :::shiver::: She also still has that big bump in her mouth, so that's probably my biggest concern at her upcoming dr. appointment. If they say it has to  be removed, well, that can't be pleasant. They may just say that it is fine, but I worry because It has been there for such a long time...

Another tooth!

Katelyn Has her Fifth tooth! Top on her left second one over from the middle

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Crawling

So miss Katie is crawling! It's a new skill and she is still easing into it, but she has a cute little thing she does. She does a really great "traditional" crawl with her arms, and then she does more of a hop forward with her legs (on her knees). It's really cute! She is starting to get the idea of moving her legs one at a time but she defaults to keeping then together and doing her hop thing.

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Geoffrey's first two days at Hilltop Preschool

Geoffrey started preschool on Monday, September 10, 2012. He is in the seeds program at Hilltop Preschool in Fountain Valley. He will be going on Mondays and Tuesdays.

Luckily, I (Grant) was also scheduled to work that day, so we didn't have to worry about me leaving him by himself the first day.  Geoffrey was very shy at first, hiding behind my legs.  As soon as he saw the playground he was off and I probably didn't see him for an hour, he was having so much fun.  I had talked up the fact that he was allowed to go barefoot at preschool and his shoes were off from the moment he stepped on the playground until we left at the end of the day!  He finally came in for snack time and checked in with me. 

Geoffrey spent most of his time playing by himself or alongside other kids.  Once inside, he had a lot of time playing in the "loft" where the babies were.  He was playing up there with 2 other boys!  He was very cooperative and had no problem staying with the group.  At lunch, I sat down and joined him.  When the day ended, Bobbi met us to see Geoffrey for a few minutes. After she left, he played on the playground outside while I cleaned inside.

Geoffrey's second day of preschool was Tuesday, September 11, 2012.  I was not scheduled to work this day and had not arranged any childcare for Katelyn, so Geoffrey was definitely going to spend some of the day by himself.  We got to preschool a little before 930.  Katelyn and I stayed with him on the playground until about 10, when i tried to leave.  He had a fit and ran after me screaming.  I told him that I would stay a little longer.  I figured I would stay until snack and he would be more distracted.  it didn't work.  As soon as I told him I was leaving, he started crying and clinged on to me.  Lynette, the director and also one of the Seeds teachers asked me if she could help.  I told her I thought it would be better for him if I left quickly and that I didn't think he would cry for long.  I gave him a kiss and told him I would see him after lunch.  He immediately started screaming and Lynette picked him up.  I quickly left.  As I left I heard him scream "PUT ME DOWN", and Lynette said "I will in a moment".  I quickly left and didn't look back.  When I got to my car, parked on the street behind the preschool I could still hear him screaming.

I returned just after lunch when they were sitting down to story time.  Geoffrey didn't see me come in.  When I came in, one of the dads who was working told me he cried for about 10 minutes and then was fine.  All the kids were sitting on the carpet, and Geoffrey was directly in front of Lynette actively engaging in the story. You could tell he had really taken to her, but also that he wasn't used to large group situations.  For example, when Lynette would turn to a page that interested Geoffrey, he would stand up, point to what was interesting to him and start talking over Lynette, who was reading the story.  When this happened, one of the girls behind him whose view he was blocking said "I can't see".  Lynette then said "Geoffrey, when you are done looking at the picture, could you please sit on your bottom so everyone else can see?"  Geoffrey sat right down. 

After the story was over, he got up and finally saw me, then came over and said hi.  We sang the goodbye song and then went and played at the park next to preschool.

Week one went well. I think he is going to really enjoy this school, especially once he gets the hang of going there on his own!

Two Random Katie facts

Katie rarely puts things in her mouth. It is very weird to not worry about giving her, say, a crayon to manipulate without worrying but I have yet to see her put anything in her mouth except for her own hand.

SOmetimes, katelyn will lose her voice, and then she gets a sort of scratchy, faded out tone to her babbling and crying.

Play Time Problem

Last night, Geoffrey and Katelyn and I were up in the play room. Katelyn was using one of Geoffrey's trash trucks to practice supporting herself on while on her knees. Geoffrey said, "Katelyn I want to play with that!"

I replied, "Geoffrey, Katelyn's using that right now. Can't you use another trash truck right now?"

"Well, That's the only side loader that I want to play with right now. That's the only one."

"Hmmm..." I said. "Well, is there a back loader you could share with Katelyn?"

"Oh!" Geoffrey says looking around at his fleet of trash trucks, "Oh, Sure! She can use this one!"

So he gently takes the side loader away and then sets the front loader (which is the same size) right where Katelyn would need it.

Problem Solved!

First Week Back / Summer Thoughts

Katelyn:

Katie has been more and more mobile. She is really good at rolling over and sitting up, and she still gets up on her hands and feet. She's not crawling yet, but she will be, soon. Still, she can do some major scooting. Or sometimes she will lay down, roll over, and sit up again just to see what new place she ends up in!

She has cut all four front teeth now!

She had a generally good attitude this first week back. On Thursday and Friday, Grant had orientation for Geoff's new school, and I, of course, was  back at school as well, so on Thursday Tammy came over to babysit with Danny and on Friday Donna and Gary were here. Katelyn (both of the kids, really) did well. There were occasional bouts of fussiness, of course, but mostly she was just fine.

THis week she has really been upping her game with solids. Grant made her carrots and she seems to LOVE them. She's also had some banana and avocado this week. I think the increase in solids is really going to help withthe fact that she isn't getting much milk during the day. She doesn't drink from a bottle or a sippy cup. Grant does mix milk into her cereal and her veggies, but she gets the bulk of her breast milk from me -

Which leads to sleep. Sleep training has been going well and she goes to sleep with little problems. I do nurse her right before she goes to sleep, but at least half - if not most nights - I still put her down awake - if she is not totally zonked I sing her a song to rouse her a bit or sometimes - if she is awake - I read her a story, aqnd then sing, and she still goes to sleep with little protesting. (She does sleep on her tummy, though. I put her in her crib and she rolls right over.) Still 0 she's waking up aprx. every four hours. This week she goes down at 9 and then wakes up at 1 and 4 and then 9 again. If she wakes up after 4, I don't wake her up to eat again and that seems to work ok. (Plus I get to work a little early.) On Friday, though, she woke up every three hours.

I feel like I should cut a night feeding so she learns to sleep longer, but I am still afraid that she needs t hat extra feeding to get enough breastmilk in her diet. She - of course - LOOKS quite healthy. She has those adorable rolls on her legs and she is well into her nine month clothes (she seems to be a very long baby, too, based on how her clothes are fitting...) Well, my plan for now is to go for another week so she can really establish solids as part of her diet, and then maybe next weekend I will think about trying to reduce or cut that 1AM feeding...

Geoff:

Geoff is happy to be home - although now he keeps saying he wants to go back to walt disney world. lol. He is loves playing with Danny, and has enjoyed having Cori and Andrew come over. Sharing is still an issue, of course. I asked him if he was excited that Katelyn was getting bigger and that she's be able to play with him more, and he said, "No because I don't want to share with her."
He was also complaining that Cori was coming over because he didn't want her to play with his toys. and I said, "Fine, do you want me to call Angie and tell her not to come over and play?" Geoffrey responds, "Well, she can come over for dinner and she can swim in the jacuzzi but that's all." 

However, I will say that he is, in his own way, trying. He will come over and take toys away from Katie, and then seem to second guess and give her another toy to replace the one he has taken. (Sometimes she cries when he takes toys away and sometimes she laughs - but if he thinks about is, he will replace her toy no matter what - as in, he doesn't just do it if she cries.) It is a start!

Geoffrey is still pushing boundaries at times, and whining/crying has become an issue - and it really irritates me, I must say! - but he doesn't seem to be nearly as bad as he was at the beginning of the summer. So hopefully he will grow out of that phase. 

Geoffrey starts preschool at Hilltop next week. It will certainly be interesting to see how he does there being left alone, how he enjoys it, and how it will affect him at home! Angie is coming over on Monday so that Grant has the option to stay with Geoffrey all day if needed so he can have at least one day to get used to the new place and the new schedule. He will be going on Mondays and Tuesdays. I am also planning to meet them at the end of his day on Monday so i can see how his first day goes! (I am so glad Hilltop is so close to Allen!)

4th tooth

Katie's fourth tooth - top, her right - is out. That is four teeth in three weeks. Really, she has been such a trooper! We haven't noticed any unusual fussiness or change in sleep habits! She's a tough girl! That's why we were so surprised every time a new tooth came in - because we didn't have any warnings to precede it.

Katelyn's third tooth

bottom - her left...

On our way home from the airport..

Geoffrey just said, "you and mommy can go on a date. Ok? Here is the plan. Take me to my house and I will play with uncle danny and then you and mommy go on a date. "

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2nd tooth

Oh wow! I have been so focused on Katelyn's 2nd bottom tooth coming out - because it feels like it will come out any day - that I didn't even notice that her top tooth came out! Top, her left. Not sure exactly when it came out, but the whole tooth is out all the way across - not just a corner - but just barely out. I actually saw it while she was laughing today!

katelyn - Little miss Mobile

Katelyn has gotten very mobile!

Starting in Hawaii, as I mentioned, she was getting up on her hands on feet - like a plank position - and then naturally scoorting backwards. The movement wasn't intentional - but it was a start. Mostly, she's happy when someone sits her up. But she's been more and more interested in reaching for things out of her arm reach - so she's been reaching for toys more often. At first, she would often fall onto her belly, reach for the toy,  and then get frustrated until someone picked her back up.

Lately here at Disney World, she's been able to reach things out of reach, keep her balance better, and sort of scoot towards things or rotate towards them a little bit.

And just the other night (Tuesday - Aug. 28th) she figured out - all of a sudden, how to sit up on her own from laying on her stomach! It was late and she only did it a few times, but on Wednesday, she really honed the skill and she really has it down now! A new frontier! Now if she falls, she can get herself back up! Yeah, Katelyn!

Today, she is not only sitting herself up, she's using the same movement to scoot herself closer to new toys by rotating and moving her butt. SHe's really learning how to use this new skill of sitting up to help her get to where she wants to go (at a very preliminary level) and at the very least, to rotate towards things she wants to see.

She also spends a lot of time rocking from a sitting position into a crawling position and then pushing back into sitting.
This motion - coupled with all of the planking and scooting backwards - just makes me think she is going to take off crawling any day now! SHe's got the lunging forward motion, and she has the muscular strength, all she needs is to figure out how to keep moving forward!

Her most difficult skill is still rolling from her back to her stomach - but she can do it - it just takes some extra effort!

Then - look at Geoffrey - she LOVES those train tracks of yours!

Haunted mansion

Geoffrey sees madam leota and asks, "daddy? Where's her legs and toes and stuff?"



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geoff memories

"I didn't just know that"

"But I hope it is scary" (When he hopes it ISN'T scary - like when he's crying on a new ride, "I hope it is scary. I only hope it is!"

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katelyn's first tooth

Came up on Tuesday Aug. 21 at EPCOT. Literally during the day. It wasn't there in the morning - it was stretched tight but not quite out - and there it was at night! She wasn't TOO fussy - but she did have an off day where she wasn't quite as happy as she normally is. Way to go, Katelyn!

Geoffrey - Trying Threes

Well, Geoffrey's reached a very... trying... stage. He has been PUSHING HIS LIMITS! It seemed particularly bad in Hawaii - now, I know we were on vacation and things were out of his regular schedule, but he's been leading up to it at home, too. It's a lot of not listening - (Geoffrey, don't scream, please... followed by more screams - just screaming to hear his voice.) Or you tell him to stop hitting and he will poke "well, I didn't hit..." kind of attitude. It is exhausting and irritating.

One particularly irritating - and scary - moment occurred in Hawaii. He had been obnoxious at the beach - splashing people int he face - not listening, etc. We went to the pool to rinse off from the beach. As we were finishing in the pool and getting everything together, Geoffrey started his screaming thing. "Ah! Ah! Ah" Very loud and obnoxious. We asked him to stop and he wouldn't, so we put him on time out, where he proceeded to scream for about 5 more minutes before finally getting quiet. When he was done with his time out, he walked back towards me - I had put Katelyn in the ergo baby carrier (the one I wear) and I had the bag in my hand - and Geoff heads to the pool. "No, Geoff, you don't have your vest on, and we are going upstairs now..." so Geoffrey keeps inching his way, backing towards to pool and watching me with that - "what are you going to do? You can't stop me. You know if you come towards me I'll turn around and run straight into the pool..."  I told him - over and over, "No, Geoff, we're done, please don;t go in the pool, Geoff, you don't have a vest on...etc." and what does he do? He jumps in the pool. Grant was around the corner cleaning sand off the buckets and I had Katelyn in my carrier. Luckily, he jumped right by the stairs and he could stand just on his tippee toes, and I could grab him running down the first two steps. Scared Grant and I SO BAD, though.

Sigh. I know this is part of him learning how to become independent. It doesn't define him. But it certainly has been a difficult time as a parent!

Katelyn - 7 months

Katelyn is 7 months old now! She is so amazing. She has grown so much! Not just size, but maturity. She is such a happy baby! She did SO WELL in Hawaii! She was happy to let Nonna and Grandpa play with her and hold her and she was just so fun and easy going. She's really hitting her stride!

She loves to sit up and manipulate things with her hands. She has amazing fine motor skills! If you give her a new object she will look at it and twist it and turn it in all different directions! She can sit up for long periods of time with no balance issues - she learned this quickly. One day I sat her up and she was thrilled to look at the world from this view - and to have her hands free to play with things - she sort of skipped - or fast forwarded - through the tripod balance and just started playing with things.

We're waiting for some development in the gross motor area - she rarely rolls over (I don't know yhet if she can do it when she wants to - I think it is still pretty much an accident) and she can't get herself into a sitting position. When she is on her tummy, she can push up on her hands and feet - like plank or downface dog, but she isn't crawling. However, she is scooting backwards - but I htink she finds that frustrating as it isn't the direction that she's trying to move in!

Katelyn has an odd little (bump? blister? skin tag?) on the inside of her mouth - on her lower lip. It's been around for a few weeks - we noticed it right after her last doctor visit (of course). It doesn't seem to bother her, but we'll ask about it at her next visit if it is still there in October (or if there seems to be any issues with it!)

No teeth yet - she has some definite bumps - I could feel them when we first left for Hawaii and we thought for sure at least the bottom right one would pop up on the trip - but it still hasn't yet! That's ok with me because she it a biter!

She is eating more during the day, but she still gets a few good meals at night - so I definitely need to work on that in the fall! I am also going to try to get her using a sippy cup so that she's drinking from another source when I go back to work!

I love my Katelyn so much! I love how many compliments we get on what a good baby she is!

Hotel in orlando

Tonight we are staying in a spring hill suite.


Omg! Geoffrey is so spoiled! He walked in to the hotel room and said, "but where is the living room? This is just the bedroom!" 😳

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Struction Zone

Geoffrey says Struction zone. I just taught him how to say construction zone. As he repeated it back to me a little piece of my heart broke. One less baby word in his vocabulary.

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Katelyn 6 1/2 months

Katelyn has been doing so well with her sitting up! She can't get there herself, but when I put her in a sitting position she will stay up for quite some time - and she LOVES to be upright! She hates to be on her back when she can't see what is going on, and she will constantly look up in a crunch fashion. She gets very frustrated when she is down because she can't get up. I'm trying to give her lots of floor time but she sometimes just lays there and plays, or stomach crunches, or cries instead of trying to roll over or sit up herself.

She also sat in a restaurant high chair at brick oven pizza last night here on Kauai and also the other night at Kieko's Paraside - that was her first time! She was wobbly but did really well, and last night I put the ergo baby carrier in the high chair for a little extra padding...

Feeding - we bought some baby food today. So far she's had rice cereal, home made green beans, some avacado and some banana. Tonight she had baby food carrots. SHe deemed interested and had a few bites and seemed to like it, but she isn't close to having a whole meal yet - she loses interest pretty quickly. We will do carrots and rice cereal for the next two days and then me made sweet potatoes which we will do next!  

SItting Up

Katelyn is sitting up for longer periods of time! She can't get up on her own, but if we set her up, she can stay for quite some time! She LOVES to sit up! She sat in the sand and let the water lap up to her here in Kauai for about 20 minutes and LOVED it! She also sat in a high chair ( a restaurant high chiar) for the first time tonight and did pretty well! She was a little wobbly but as long as we kept a hang close by she did very well!

katelyn sitting up

Katleyn is starting to sit up for short periods when I put her in a sitting position! She LOVES to sit up. I also feel a tooth coming soon - can feel the bump - bottom, her right.

Geoffrey's Naps:

Geoffrey's Naps:

 

Geoffrey's sleep / naps are complicated. He only naps about 9 hours a night. But he will nap 3 hours during the day and he naps HARD. About half the time he wakes up from his nap he is drowsy and cranky for most of the evening. He probably needs to cut that nap, but it is such a long one that he seems to need it.

Medieval Times

On Friday, we went to medieval times to celebrate Andrew's 13th birthday. That morning, we also had a field trip at the aquarium with Geoffrey's preschool. So that made for kind of an interesting day. Geoffery fell asleep on the way home from the aquarium, but woke up 15 minutes later because he had to Pee. We were very proud of him for waking up to have to Pee, but that meant he didn't go back to sleep. When we got home we tried to put him down for nap, but he  didn't fall asleep. Until, of course, we left for medieval times. Then he fell asleep. So when we got there he was out like a light. We put him in his stroller and Katelyn in the baby carrier and headed on in. Well, the loud cheering was not exactly the nicest way for him to wake up. He was cranky the whole evening. I can't say really blame him, because it is sort of an intense place - dark crowded lots of cheering and being woken up like that, he probably didn't realize it was going on. Like we at saw Disneyland with him being a little bit afraid of the cars ride and star tours he  is definitely becoming more aware of what's going on around him. That's not to say he wasn't always aware of it but he's starting to internalize it more and project emotions to it… blah blah blah.

Anyways he warmed up towards the end and we were rooting for the Green Knight so that helped a lot. We got home and the next day spent most of the day packing and getting ready for Hawaii.

3rd and 4th of July

 

  As I said in my last post, this week was a busy week. On Tuesday we ended up going to Atlantis park for an Allen Play Date. That was fun -  especially checking out the new splash pad.  Geoffrey loved it and spent a lot of time playing there. We left around two, because my friend Summer was able to lend me her Ergo baby carrier, so we had to drive to South OC to get  it. That worked out well, and so far I really like using the carrier. We also got a call about it used double stroller, the city Mini, on craigslist. So we met the person at the block in orange by the Krispy Kreme, and got ourselves a new double stroller, which we really like. It's the black and red one, and I think it's going to be awesome to use it Disney World.

Wednesday was 4 July. This year because we were so tired, we decided not to go to the Fourth of July parade. Actually turned out pretty well, because we sort of had a block party. Jeff next-door accidentally rented two waterslides, so they put one in front of our house and one in front of his.

The sun never really came out but that's okay -  we had a lot of fun. The waterslides were a lot of fun to go down, and we heated the pool so it was nice and warm. Angie and the kids came over as did Tammy and Andy and Lexi and Tammy's friend Michelle and her granddaughter. We had good food and  fun. Geoffrey took  his nap late though and we woke him up at 7:30 because he was sleeping so late. He never really got happy. The fireworks freaked him out. He did well though and he was brave enough to sit out there with me. But he didn't  go down the park to watch the big scary ones. This is the first year that we were allowed to  buy them again in HB. That was fun, it reminded me of when we were little. Katelyn seem to handle the fireworks well. Katelyn also had a lot of fun and did a good job taking her naps. The hardest part about it was Belle freaking out about the fireworks. as usual, we gave her her tranquilizer, but this year she had a lot of trouble with her bowels and could not stop pooping.  Poor doggie.
Ali in all, though, it was really nice Fourth of July.

Sent from my iPhone

 

Siri

Disclaimer! I have started doing some of my blogs by dictating them to Siri.. This way if I need to hold Kate I can still blog pretty effeciantly - but some of the blogs come out sounding kind of weird - it is hard to dictate in a way that sound natural in writing. So please excuse any odd explanations or run on sentences!

Disneyland - New California Adventure

Summer is here! The first week in July we had a lot of fun stuff to do. On Monday, we went to Disneyland to check out the new California Adventure. Steve was nice enough to sign us in again. We had a lot of fun. First of all, Geoffrey was tall enough to ride the 40 inch rides. There're quite a few ride you can ride when you reach 40 inches. We only tried a few, because we knew some would be too intense already. Even the ones we tried he wasn't too hot about.

It was funny though, because Grant and I were more excited than Geoff was. I don't think he quite got the fact that he was tall enough for these new rides. Although at every ride we went to he had to stand straight up against the sign, hold his hands up.... and he just made it.

The first thing we did was  go to California Adventure. We walked down the new Buena Vista Street, which looked really awesome and really enhanced the entrance to California adventure. Next we headed straight over to Cars Land to check it out. It was pretty crowded but you could tell that they did a really nice job with it. We ate lunch at the restaurant their - flo's diner or something like that?  Lunch was good, and then after looking at the buildings and some of the rides we headed over to soaring over California.

Soaring over California was the first ride Geoffrey went on with a 40 inch height limit. He went with daddy and Steve, while Katelyn and I sat on a bench and watched one of the new atmosphere shows - Minnie's Fly Girls. The show was great and Geoffrey seemed to really enjoy the ride although he was most excited about riding the train he saw at the end of the ride, which of course is the Disneyland train.

Or after Soarin, we headed over to Disneyland. Disneyland actually was not very crowded Monday in July. We got some fast passes but by this point Geoff had fallen asleep in the stroller. So we headed over to Frontierland and New Orleans Sq., and Grant and Steve rode Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, and Indiana Jones as single riders while Geoff and Kate napped. Once the kids woke up, we took Geoffrey on Big Thunder Mountain - he was a little skeptical about this one, but seem to like it and would probably be willing to do it again.

At this point, we headed back to California adventure. We went over to radiator Springs and got the baby swap which Steve and Grant then went to use while Geoffrey Katelyn and I wrote Heimlich's Chew Chew train in Bug's Land.  Grant and Steve seem to really enjoy the ride! Then we got some dinner over at that new restaurant by Paradise pier and Graham met up with us. After dinner Geoffrey and I rode radiator Springs while the others went on Heimlich choo-choo train again. I put Geoff on a side seat of radiator Springs instead of the middle because I thought he could see more. Unfortunately the seatbelt dug into his neck so he didn't seem to like it -  especially during the racing part when the seatbelt was against his neck. So I'm not so sure you is crazy about this one but hoping I can get him on again sitting in the middle to give it another try. This is another 40 inch height right. ("I liked it but not the racing part," he says. )

After radiator Springs, we went over to the new Ghirardelli chocolate fountain. Yes! We got my favorite ice cream sundae -  the strike it rich -  and enjoyed it immensely, except the fact that came in the ghetto plastic cup instead of the nice Glass one, but I guess I sort of understand itt since you can take the Sundae with you anywhere in the park and they don't have a way to pick up the glass, but still. After that Steve had to leave and the rest of us headed over to Disneyland. Graham waited with Kaitlyn so grant and I both could  take Geoffrey on Star Tours which is the last 40 inch ride we tried Geoffrey on. Geoff was a little nervous on this one. When we asked him if he liked it afterwards, he said no because of all the boom boom boom! But finally our brave little boy got to go on the ride that he wanted to go on all day long -  the ride he is obsessed with. That's right, the monorail. After the monorail he caught a second wind and so we went on the flying Dumbos and the merry-go-round a few times while Graham and Grant went on Star Tours and then Matterhorn single rider. I forgot to mention the Matterhorn has a new single rider line now that the bobsleds are smaller and only hold three people, and the height limit is taller. But the single Rider works fantastic. We used it earlier in the day and only had to wait less than five minutes while the regular line was at least an hour. Great system. Even when people start to catch on on how to use it, I think it will go fairly quickly.

All in all we had a really nice day at Disneyland. Now I'm getting very excited for Disney World!