brother and sister

Aiden loves to lay with Sky and Sky likes to have Aiden's attention. I laid Sky down on the ground to take a picture and immediately Aiden laid down next to her. He is very gentle with her and takes care not to bump into her too hard.

Exersaucer

Sky loves her Exersaucer. She gets to be upright, independent, and feels a part of the group when she's in her Exersaucer. She can also put pressure on her legs and stand, bouncy, turn 360 degrees, and play with the noisy, colorful toys. This is a great infant toy and I highly recommend it to all. I've also gotten a lot of mileage out of it. It was also Aiden's favorite toy too. They are also handy in the bathroom. When I'm taking a shower when no one else is home (and Sky is awake) I just put her in the Exersaucer and talk to her while I shower.


Just by the way she bounces in this thing, I can already tell she is going to be a very active girl. Once she starts crawling we won't be able to catch up to her...well, perhaps Aiden will catch her for us because he too moves at 100 mph.

Christmas 2007!

We had a great Christmas. We hosted Christmas at our house this year and everyone came up for a few days - Nana Beth, Babba, Ben, Jo Ann, Nora and of course Caleb and Meghan who already live in the area.



We all had a great time but I really enjoyed looking at things from Aiden's perspective. He loved loved loved waking up every morning and coming downstairs to a houseful of people. He and Nora would have breakfast together then off to the playroom then maybe an uncle or aunt would take them outside. They went ice skating at the Reston Town Center, they built forts, they flew helicopters, they took turns jumping on the trampoline, they colored, they played with play-doh...and the list goes on. Christmas is really all about the kids. I'm really looking forward to next year when little Sky "Tyse" (as Aiden says) joins in on the activities.
Aiden had a lot of fun opening presents it seemed like he was opening one every minute. By the time all the presents were opened, there was a huge pile of wrapping paper all over the living room.


I sat Sky in her exersaucer while we opened presents. That gave her a good vantage point and made her feel involved in the activity. Just think, next Christmas she'll be opening presents from Santa too.

Aiden hunting around for another present to open.


Adam and I treated our family to Christmas dinner at the Tower Club in Tysons Corner. Dinner was great and we had our own private room so the kids didn't disturb anyone. I brought Sky's boucey seat with us so that she could have a good place to sit while we ate. Here's Aiden and Nora taking turns kissing little Sky.


Okay, this last one is a terrible shot but its still pretty funny. Caleb and Adam made this fort for Aiden and Nora to play with.

my favorite photographer

Some professional pictures of Aiden and Sky taken in November 2007.

she serenades us

Sky has started to serenade us while we sleep. Unlike other babies that wake up for their middle-of-the-night-feeding by crying or grunting (Aiden), Sky gently wakes us up by serenading us. No joke. Once or twice a night, I wake up to very sweet and soft "deedle deedle deedel.....deeeeeeeeedle deedle deedle...deeeeeeeedle deedle deedle (this can go on for ten or more minutes). When I finally go to pick her up she smiles really big and starts waving her arms and kicking her legs in excitement. Then immediately after her feeding she falls back asleep. What did I do to deserve such a sweet kid???

Aiden turns two

On December 2nd, Aiden turned two years old. For his second birthday we took Aiden to his first "rock concert" with his old buddy Champ Mitchell and new friend Zander. He went to see the "Sippy Cups" perform at a local music spot. The Sippy Cups are a San Francisco-based rock band that plays music for toddlers. But instead of the usual kid stuff, they play classic rock like Pink Floyd, The Who, and The Ramones with one slight twist - like instead of "I wanna Be Sedated" its "I wanna be elated". It didn't actually matter what the words were...the toddlers were going nuts anyway. Right under the stage was the "mosh pit" were Aiden and about 30 other toddlers bounced up and down dancing and trying to grab silly string and bounce balloons on their heads. My boy rocked the pit the entire show. When the show was over his hair was a mess, his cheeks were bright red, his shirt was untucked, and his adrenaline was pumping.

After the show we had cake and presents at home. Aiden knew just what to do when the candles were lit. He even clapped for himself and yelled "Hooo raaaaaaay" after we sang "happy birthday".



Happy Birthday, little man!

Aiden's 24 month well check

Height 34.5 inches (50th percentile)
Weight: 26 lbs 4 oz (25th percentile)
HC: 19.5 inches (75th percentile)

bringing home the Christmas tree

This morning we went to a Christmas tree farm with some friends to get our tree. It was a perfect day and the farm was beautiful. Honestly, it was nice just to be outside....we don't have much time for that these days! Aiden had a great time. He ran through the trees like he's a cross country runner. When we finally found the perfect tree he helped Adam take the tree down. It was very cute.
Since it was so cold out and since she has an ear infection, we had left Sky home with Kelsey (our nanny). Can't wait 'til next year when Sky can join in the activities!

We had our "holiday card" picture taken professionally. It was a bit of an ordeal because as soon as one kid cooperated the other would resist. The shoot was at a daycare with lots of toys and animals so Aiden was way too busy to sit down for a picture. Sky was cooperative until she got too hot (the room was hot and her outfit was warm). We finally got the shot we were looking for and we were relieved to be done. When we got home, both kids were smiling and ready for more pictures. Wouldn't you know it. That's just my luck. So...I got my camera out and took these pictures.

so cool

Aiden discovered one of childhoods greatest fall activity...jumping in a pile of leaves. He played in the leaves for almost two hours.

Can you believe this is Sky?

Dullah was in town this past weekend and he showed me some old picture he had on his iphone. Check out these three pictures of Sky and me, Sky and Grandpa and Sky and Uncle Dullah. Can you believe how dark her hair is???

surfer hair "all gone!"

Well... we finally broke down and cut Aiden's hair. In exchange for a lollipop, Aiden sat still (no more than 4-5 minutes) for my mom to cut his hair. She did a fabulous job. The short hair suits him but I still miss his Hawaiian surfer hair.

Here are some before, during, and after shots.

Elllllllmo

So Adam has this thing that whenever he sneezes, he gets a strange sharp pain in his elbow. I have no idea why, but I think its kind of funny. Well, the other day I was in the kitchen washing dishes or something when I heard Aiden sneeze. AAAAH - CHEOWWWW! Of course the first thought in my head is oh boy, he needs a tissue pronto before he touches Sky. Before I could even grab a tissues, I hear him running towards me --

Aiden: "Mommy, Mommy! Ouch Ouch! Elmo, elmo!"
Me: "Oh, did you find your Sesame Street book, Aiden?"
Aiden: "Noooooo. Elmo ouch! Elmo ouch!"
Me: "Ok, Where is Elmo? Is he hurt?"
Aiden: "Nooooo. Elllllllllmo." as he holds his ELBOW up to me.
Me: "Oh your elbow! Your elBOW hurts."
Aiden: "Yea-um" (that's how he says "yes") He then points to his nose and fakes a sneeze to explain to me that the sneeze makes his "elmo" hurt.

Like father like son...

four month check up!

Yesterday was Sky's four-month appointment. She did very well. She is still off the charts chubby and tall. According to her pediatrician she is also advanced developmentally - fully controls her head, uses her hands, keeps eye contact and babbles (she loves to talk).

At the end of the checkup she received her four month vaccinations. Two painful shots to each thigh. Ouch! I wish I had the guts to opt out of that! On one hand I feel that some of the vaccinations are totally unnecessary but on the other hand, we do live in a very integrated area of the country. People travel to the Washington Metro area from every corner of the world...and its better to be safe than sorry. Right? Interested in hearing what you all think. Please comment!

they call me "Blondie the Kid"

In response to your votes - Aiden dressed up as a cowboy for Halloween this year. "Blondie the Kid" was the youngest at our neighborhood Halloween party but I'm pretty sure he had the most fun. As you know, we moved into this neighborhood this past summer. Our first neighborhood event was a "Halloween Party" for kids ages 0 - 12. We had a multiple scavenger hunts (for various age groups), face painting, music, pizza, candy and drinks. Aiden did very well playing with the other kids. Since most of the party was in our back yard, he was a gracious host sharing his playground and showing other kids around our yard. By the end of the evening he was the center of the party. I barely had to watch him he was just doing his own thing. When I finally stopped him to come inside he had lost his cowboy hat and his gun, his chaps were falling off, his checks were red and he was sweating from all of the running around. I guess he was having a lot of fun.

At 7 pm while I was putting Sky down for the evening, Adam took Aiden trick-or-treating. They hit a whole 3 houses. He learned very quickly that saying "trick or treat" means you get more candy. Halloween must be a real crazy concept to learn for little little kids. Hmmm. I came home from school and suddenly there's a party in my backyard and all the kids are here, and oh they're all dressed in funny cloths and mom is allowing me to eat candy!?! Whao??

After trick or treating Aiden came inside and helped his dad give candy out to other trick or treaters. Each time the door bell rang, Aiden ran to the door as happy as could be just to give out candy. I think he may have even enjoyed giving out candy to all the kids more than trick or treating himself...wait 'til next year, kid.

Adam and I also enjoyed meeting our new neighbors...it was quite easy to meet people since we're Aiden's parents. Everyone kept approaching us and asking "Are you Aiden's parents" or "you must be Aiden's parents" or "how's Aiden's new little sister?" I felt like a celeberty!

the tick bite

Aiden has discovered a new fun activity - jumping in piles of leaves. When I first made a pile for him to jump in he looked at me kind of funny like - "are you serious? you want me to jump into that?" I guess to him it seemed too good to be true...like one of those things he's not allowed to do.

Aiden holding a very small pumpkin.

Aiden is wearing his new jacket I picked up at LL Bean. I had been looking for a puffy jacket for him for a while now. He looks like such a little man in it.

A few days after these pictures were taken, I found a tick on Aiden. You see, Aiden goes around saying a "a bee bites...a bee bites" which means a bug bites. Most of the time we ignore it because he says it all the time. Well the other morning shortly after waking up he said it again "a bee bites, a bee bites". As alway, I asked him "where does it bite Aiden?" and he said "a bee bites me ear" while pulling his ear. My first thought was maybe he has an ache but then I grabbed him and looked behind both ears. To my surprise and disgust, I see this THING stuck to the back of his ear. With my voice shaking, I called for Adam who was in the bedroom (I was in the bathroom) and said "Adam what is THAT". With one look he confirmed that it was a tick. A real TICK. To told me to grab some tweezers and alcohol and I did immediately. Adam very carefully took the tick off of Aiden. I ran downstairs and got a zip lock back to save the tick just in case we needed for testing. My heart was pounding and Adam was yelling "how could this happen? How did we not see that?" We ran downstairs and started our research on the internet. Within about 15 minutes, Adam concluded that it was highly likely that the tick was infected with Lime Disease and that Aiden probably had Lime Disease. We called the pediatricians office and she asked us to bring that tick in for testing. The next day first thing I took the tick in for testing and I took Aiden in for a visual exam to look for the tell tail circle around the bite. I had prayed the entire night before. My heart was in my throat from the moment I saw that damn tick. The pediatrician said Aiden looked okay but we really need to see what the lab results (from the tick) showed. For five days, I prayed, prayed and prayed some more. Finally on Friday, they called and said NEGATIVE!!!!!!!!! I cannot tell you the relief I felt at that moment. A conclusive NEGATIVE!

I am so glad that is in the past and I will check my kids for ticks every time I bathe them. Lesson learned! No more lessons needed!