Monday, November 4, 2013

Geoffrey - 4 1/2

Geoffrey is in Sprouts three days a week at Hilltop.

His teachers are Ms. Alyssa, Ms. Sarah, and Ms. Lynette.

His best friends are Tyler and Radley. He has some trouble with hitting and clawing when he is mad, but he is also learning to not give up and persevere with projects. 

Also, he's started making it through the night without pull ups, getting up to go to the bathroom most of the time now.

He is really working hard at learning how to pump on the swings. He just got the hang of it this weekend, and because he worked so hard, he got a fun reward - a visit to the vending machine! He also has learned how to ride a scooter over the summer, and he is showing a lot of interest in riding a bike.

He's also writing many of his letters now. 

He's very creative and has a great imagination. This year for Halloween, he was a dragon. (Katelyn was Minnie Mouse, by the way). He says that next year, he wants to be a washing machine, and the year after that, a witch. This weekend he asked me how many days there were in a year. When I told him, he started crying. "That's a long time until the next Halloween!"

Other cute things:

Geoffrey, "Mommy! I got a treat! I got M&Ms! And you can't have any!" Me: "That's not nice! I shared my candy bar with you!" Geoffrey, "Ok, you can have one M&M." Me, "Just one? I gave you two bites of my candy bar!" Geoffrey, "Well, ok, you can have two halves then."

Geoffrey
What does it mean replace the floor? Well, how did they stand?

Daddy some day I want to go on the sixty sixty forty airplane. That's the biggest fella'

Has it been once in a while, daddy?
What?
Has it been once in awhile? Because I really want to listen to a-goonk went the little green frog. 
(Because Grant always says we only listen to that song once in a while) 

Talking about Lego land." My favorite ride was the Walmart ride." The Walmart ride? "Yeah, the Walmart ride - the last ride we went on." (The last ride we went on was Mummy ride - the ride with the TARGETS. (Walmart, target... Eh what's the difference?)

" I asked grandma if she would stay longer and she said she would. "

Every day, I asked Geoffrey what he does in school. And every day, he says "I Peed, I pooped and I farted." So today, I said what did you do in school other than Pee and poop and fart and he said "nothing" and I said "did you learn anything in school today?" And he said "no, well actually yes. I learned how to wipe my butt good, I learned not to stand when i pee, and I learned not to sit on the urinal."

I look stylish with these stickers on.
 
At soccer shots, Geoffrey ran over and whispered to Katelyn, "Katelyn, f you need anything, just call me."

Geoffrey made a picture for Grandma Patty and this is how he described it:
This is Geoffrey's house that he wants me to send to you, grandma. The house has snow, because we don't have snow here. The purple thing is fake. Fake means it doesn't exist in our state. The state this house is in is called sea-fa-mary. 
 
When he sees birds flying in a V:
A birdy race

Geo was watching a TV show with Tammy. On the show, a teacher told the kids that they could be whatever they wanted when they grew up. Tammy asked Geoffrey what he wanted to be. Geoffrey said he wanted to be a trash truck. Tammy said, a trash truck driver? Geoffrey said "no, a trash truck. She said I could be anything I wanted to be."

Geoffrey sayings
"You scared my eye" (trying to make him flinch/scare. Him into falling down on the bed

Look it's a birdie race

 Look it's a cloud maker (the power plant blowing steam)

At the airport watching the planes and telling where the airplanes are coming from. That one is from from Michigan /  Florida /  Hawaii / Australia

Meat balls = neat bubs

I just want you, that's just what I want. 

Shoe out = chill out

Katelyn - 21 months

Katelyn is blowing my mind!

So all summer long we've been waiting and waiting for Katelyn to talk. Dr. Kasamatsu assures us that she was fine, that there was a range for speech. She pointed when we asked her to (Where is the doggie?) and she had a few words (doggie, shoe, mom, dad, cracker, etc.)

And it happened! Literally, over night. At the beginning of October, she was barely talking. However, two weeks into October, her vocabulary literally grew from 10-20 words to well over 100. SHe is naming everything! It is awesome! Besides naming things (moon, light, cookie, cracker, Geoffrey, swing, slide, meeyunk (monkey), love you, mote (remote) show, and every character on Mickey mouse clubhouse, for starters) she also does animal sounds (dog, cat, cow, chicken...) and sings the end of Mickey Mouse club house.

Most amazingly, she can identify every capital letter in the alphabet! It is crazy! We will be out and she will start identifying letters off of signs, or out of books. She LOVES the alphabet and anything related!

She is also quite the climber. She will climb way up high on jungle gyms with no fear, including trying to climb rainbow ladders and sometimes walking right up to the edge of platforms. It is quite scary. She is really coordinated playing ball, too.

This year, she is doing Ms. Lisa's class with Daddy. She loves playing, circle time, and snack, but doesn't love crafts.

My adorable ABC girl.

Katie was Minnie Mouse for Halloween. At first she was shy but by the end of the night she loved reaching into the candy bowl to pick out a piece! 

Making midnight music in the moonlight mighty nice. mmmmmm

Monday, May 27, 2013

Katelyn - 16 months

I am the worst mom ever! I can't believe how little I have blogged this year - anywhere - here or the vacation site!

Miss Katie:
SO now that she has the walking thing down, she is just growing more confident with her motor skills. She loves to climb things, and she recently learned how to climb up the stairs. Climbing down was more challenging, but she's getting the hang of that - too. SHe has trouble when she gets to the landings. She's also started climbing the stairs at the park, too, but she's not quite ready to go down slides by herself.

Speech:
Katie is taking her time with talking. At her 15 month visit, we really didn't feel like she had many words - she signs more, and she would say "foo" for food and point to her mouth, and she would repeat mama, dada, and oh wow. Around 14 months, I wasn't too worried because I felt she was really focusing on her walking, but I wouldn't mind picking up more words soon.

Now, well, she has a few. Definitely mama, dada, shoes, and ball. She seems to be imitating things more, too. (uh oh, good girl, uncle, granma She keeps pointing at my ear and saying "I (eye)." She makes lots of sounds, and babbles and definitely understands when you say things to her.

 When she falls (not hurting herself, just unexpected) she says "oh!" It is very cute.

She loves to play. She likes balls - at the kids museum in Palm Springs she was having a blast playing with all of the different sized balls in the courtyard. She has been putting Geoffrey's ring toss rings on her head and walking around. She also loves to ask us to put on her shoes. She loved her Violet dog. She loves to take things in and out of boxes and move things around. She still loves TV and singing, especially certain songs. She also loves when Geoffrey plays with her. SHe thinks he is hilarious!

Food: She eats anything now, although she LOVES bread. I don't know how she survives on just bread - seems like it, anyway! (cereal, crackers, noodled...) Carb girl! She still nurses, and drinks lots of water and milk.

She is so adorable. She still has fat rolls on her legs.

We are going to get the bump in her mouth checked out soon. She got her incisors on top two weeks ago (again, at the same time - almost all of her teeth have come in pairs) and the bump has gotten much bigger - so we are afraid she is going to chew on it!


Friday, April 5, 2013

Running away

Well, I guess I will just leave and go to another house. I'll go to another house I will get mad at me. I'm just going to get on my scooter and go away. But I will miss you too, and I'll come back later tonight. Maybe I'll find house with Other kids. And we can rider scooters together. Don't worry, the Hausel be somewhere in S. New Britain Ln. So bye. I'll miss you. Bye

Sent from my iPhone

Saturday, March 30, 2013

Geoffrey's Four Year Interview

20 questions

1. What is your favorite color? Green, actually green, blue, and orange, and purple.
2. What is your favorite toy? trash trucks and street sweepers.
3. What is your favorite fruit? pears, strawberries, and apples
4. What is your favorite tv show? Daniel Tiger and Doc McStuffins
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Tacos
6. What is your favorite thing to wear? socks
7. What is your favorite game? Toy Story Yhatzee, Candyland, Who Shook Hook, Operation, and Busy Town
8. What is your favorite snack? Pears
9. What is your favorite animal? Cow and a giraffe and a horse
10. What is your favorite song? "Candle on the water" with you driving cars on me. (Knick Knack (This Old Man) Call me Maybe, Bad ROmance, Another one Bites the Dust)
11. What is your favorite book?  Smash Mash Crash, I Stink
12. Who is your best friend? Cori
13. What is your favorite food? Tacos I like the best
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Go in my car, drive it down the kill (driveway)
15. What is your favorite drink? milk and water with ice
16. What is your favorite holiday?Halloween and Easter and Christmas
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? My Teddy Bear (his blankie)
 18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast?  Waffles and cereal
19. What is your favorite restaurant? Taco Bell, Arby's, John's Incredible Pizza, and Del Taco.
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? A Trash Truck Driver, and I really want to drive Freight Trains.

Geoffrey's Fourth Birthday

Geoffrey had been talking for weeks about staying in a hotel. So we gave him the option of taking a birthday trip instead of having a birthday party. I explained that this meant he wouldn't have a party and he wouldn't have as many presents, and he said, "That's ok! I'll have other birthdays!"

I was quite happy about this - I didn't really have it in me to plan another birthday party and we really didn't need more toys, so it worked out really well.

We went to San Diego for Geoffrey's birthday trip! We took the train down as soon as I got out of school on

From the train station at Old Town, we walked to our hotel, the Old Town Marriott Courtyard. We were all pretty tired, so we had pizza delivered.

The next day, we went to the San Diego Zoo. We had breakfast first, and then took the bus. We got annual passes to the zoo so we can go back and visit all year. Geoffrey wanted to see the elephants and the giraffes, so we took the sky way up to the top and then worked our way down passed Elephant Odyssey. THen we went to look at the giraffes. We headed back up and then took the moving walk way back to the top. We had a snack, and then rode the sky way down. We visited the petting zoo and played on the playground. Then we took the skyway back up and down again before heading out for the day!

We took the bus to dinner at Fudd Ruckers, and then went to the grocery store to get some snacks. We had thought about going swimming, but we were so tired that we just went to bed!

The next day, we went to Sea World, too! We got annual passes there, too - teachers get free passes! Sea World was awesome - we saw the dolphin show and the Shamu show, saw the sharks, turtles, and penguins, visited the arctic express, and played in Sesame Street Bay of Play. We also rode the sky way and the tower. Lots of fun!

We went to dinner at Blue Water Grill, and then back at our hotel, we went in the jacuzzi before we went to bed.

On our way home, we went to Old Town and got candy from the candy shop. We also ate lunch at "Bentowich," a yummy new restaurant in Old Town.Then we took the train home!

We also celebrated Geoffrey's birthday with a family dinner at Stonefire Grill. Nonna, Grandpa Gary, Blake, Grandpa Bob, Grandma Dee Dee, Tammy, Lexi, Andy, Angie, Cori, and Drew came to halp celebrate!

Katelyn's First Birthday

Katelyn's First birthday party took place on January 5th, 2013. We had Katie's birthday party at the same place that we had Geoffrey's - Huntington Central Park, over by the lake.

Katie's birthday party started at 11. When we arrived, there was a dog agaility thing going on, which was fun to watch.

The weather was BEAUTIFUL. Warm, and sunny! THe only down side was that the grass was super wet. Still, we had brought a parachute that we used as a tarp, and later dad brought a tarp as well. We set up toys on it, like a tunnel, ball pit, barn, house, and other things for the littlest kids to play on.

The bigger kids loved the duck food we brought - we really should have rationed it better! Some of the younger kids didn't get any! Still, people enjoyed visiting the lake. Cori and Josiah tried to lure the ducks to the party with a trail of duck food!

Lunch was yummy - we had pizza and chicken nuggets, strawberries, veggies, and chips.

We did the Dol (the Korean choosing ceremony) again - and Katelyn's was very clear. She went for the tambourine first (musician), followed by the saw (which means that she will be handy), and then picked the stethoscope (medical), and then she picked the mouse (techie.) Our musical surgeon! Lol!

Katelyn enjoyed her strawberry cupcake! She started out sort of unsure, but then she dove right in!

We had a great time, and I really appreciated everyone who came to celebrate Katelyn's big day! Mommy, Daddy, Geoffrey, Aunt Tammy, Lexi, Uncle Andy, Grandpa Bob, Grandma DeeDee, Grandpa Gary, Nonna, Uncle Blake, Katherine, Reid, Brooklynn and Tristan Urey, Jamie, Cooper, and Landon Wells, Julie and Penelope Fox, Megan, Chris, Josiah, Taylor, Tristan, and Luke Hartshorn, and  Amy, Meghan, Amanda, and Emilie Mahan all came to help you celebrate!

Happy Birthday, my sweet Katelyn!


Overwhelmed

I am so overwhelmed - I can't believe how far behind I have gotten on my blog and on my website. I don't know how I will catch up! So - here it is - almost April, and I am just going to get caught up on their birthdays!

Saturday, March 2, 2013

"You scared my eye" (trying to make him flinch/scare. Him into falling down on the bed

Look it's a birdie race

 Look into cloud maker

At the airport (dropping off Nonna and Heather), Geoffrey named the airplanes as they were coming in by saying where he thinks each one is going to or coming from. "That one is from Michigan, Florida, Hawaii, Australia...

Meat balls = neat bubs

I just want you, that's just what I want. 

Shoe out = chill out 

Am I old enough to drink soda with castines? (caffeine)

Walking / Communicating

So, Katie is really getting close to walking. She is taken 4 - 8 steps at a time. She is fearless, too - sometimes, she will let go and take off as fast as she can, and then sprawl forward full on. Very daring. She is doing well with standing up from sitting without holding on to anything.

Words: Well, we;re not sure that she's said any yet, although we think we may have heard "food" and "ball." She babbles a lot and repeat sounds. She seems to sign "eat" "more" "all done" and "Yeah" (clapping) but again, nothing is super clear.

She loves her tumbling class. She likes circle time, playing under and on the parachute, and crawling through the tunnel the most!

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Geoffrey's birthday reply

Every time someone says happy birthday to geoffrey, he replies,"happy birthday to you, too!"

Sent from my iPhone

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Four

"Tomorrow's my birthday!" "How old are you today?" "Three." How old will you be tomorrow? "Four. But I don't want to be four. I like being three."

Monday, January 28, 2013

Katelyn - 1 year

Katelyn is one year old now! I can not believe my Little monkey face is already a year!

Her birthday party was awesome. We had it at Huntington Central Park. I will blog about that more later.

Her doctor's visit went very well and she is on track with everything. They still want us to go to an oral surgeon to got her mucocele checked out. She also had an ear infection, bit since her runny nose had been getting better, we thought that it was on the mend so we opted to hold off on antibiotics.

She got four shots that day - poor thing!
Her height is 28.5 inches and her weight is 20.7 lbs

SHe has been talking up a storm. Sometimes she will go on and on chattering away. She can say "more" and "ball" with meaning, and she says mamamama and dadadada all of the time, but we're not sure if she's using them with meaning yet. Oh wow is still a favorite, too.

Just in the past week or so (she is now 12 1/2 months) she has really started to to stand on her own for short periods without holding on to anything. We're trying to get that first step but she's not quite there yet!

She loves to eat and is my little foodie. It amazes me how much she will put away sometimes. She will try almost anything. Oddly enough - not a big fan of bananas - but seems to enjoy most other foods. She also made the switch to cows milk with no fuss - no mixing or anything -and she drinks it just fine from a sippy cup. She still nirses with me in the evenings and in the morning before I go to work.

He night time ritual is "Guess How Much I Love You" followed by twinkle twinkle and'/or the Katelyn song: "Katelyn, Katelyn I love you, my baby girl so smart and cute. I love your laugh I love your smile, I love to watch you play for awhile. Katelyn Katelyn smart and sweet, you make our family happy and complete." THen she goes to bed and falls asleep on her own. She is sleeping straight through until about 5:30 ish. I'm quite happy with her progress although I;d love to push that an extra 30 minutes. SHe goes down around 8:30 - 9:00 and starts her day around 9:00 the next morning. She will occasionally wake up before 5:30 but if she doesn't go back to sleep on her own, a quick visit with a "mommy loves you and we;re close by" usually suffices (her crying will intensify for a few moments and then she will settle back to sleep. 

All in all she is quite the happy girl. SHe puts up with rough playing from Geo and loves to be around people. SHe can play happily by herself for time periods, but she LOVES when other people play with her. I love my Katie!

Sunday, January 20, 2013

standing up

Katie is standing up more and more often without holding on to anything for longer periods of time.