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!

sky is really changing

I feel that we're out of the "new born" phase with Sky. She is now three months old, weighs 16 pounds and is 25 inches long. She holds her head up very well, she's cooing and smiling all the time, she is easily engaged in conversation, and best of all she's pooping only two to three times a day (the first few weeks it was almost every diaper change).

My bet is that she is going to be a great conversationalist when she grows up. There is nothing this little girl enjoys more than sitting on your lap, looking you directly in eyes and just "talking". Even when Aiden is screaming in her ear she is content and interested.

virginia tech fans

See video clip here:


Saturday was game day. The Virginia Tech Hokies played the Duke Blue Devils and killed them 43 - 14. Aiden and Sky enjoyed their VT football first game together as the littlest VT fans. Aiden is now twenty-two months old and Sky is three months old. Both big fans of VT (for now).

daycare

Aiden started day care full-time last week. Although he gets a little anxious when he is first dropped off, he really enjoys himself at daycare. Today when I was picking him up at the end of the day his teacher said, you know "Aiden is very very excited about every activity". I said oh great! I'm glad he is taking part in activities. What activity does he like best? "He enjoys building bridges out of just about anything". Guess it runs in the family....

right on schedule

This week we had Sky's two month check up. I cannot believe it has already been two months. She is doing very well. She is 15 lbs 12 oz (yes, almost 16 lbs at two months). By way of comparison, Aiden was 15 lbs at four months! She is also tall - 24 inches which is the same height as Aiden at two months.

I'm also very proud to have Sky on a sustainable schedule. This little girl has a very good internal clock! Here's her schedule:

8 am - Wake-up
9 am - First feeding

...nap, wake, feed, nap, wake, feed, nap...

6 pm - Bath
6:30 pm- dinner
7:00 - down for the night

2 am - night feeding
5 am - early morning feeding

Aiden still goes to bed at 8 pm. He is really getting a lot better about following directions, listening, and just generally "behaving himself". Life is good!

sky blue eyes forever?

Both Aiden and Sky were born with slate blue eyes but right around eight months Aiden's eyes changed to hazel. Sky's eyes on the other hand have lightened over the past two months.
I'm wondering if this means she'll keep her blue eyes. I've heard that a baby's eye color can change in the first year. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for blue eyes. How appropriate would it be for a girl named Sky to have blue eyes?!

Now that you've seen a close up of her eyes at two months, please take my poll and tell me what color eyes you think Sky will end up with.

Gone fishing with Gramps

Aiden, Nora and Gramps (Rossi) went fishing under the bay bridge in Virginia Beach. Here's one of the fish they caught making a plea to Aiden for his help to get back in the ocean.

best cousins - best friends

Aiden and Sky spent the weekend in Virginia Beach with their cousin Nora. Aiden and Nora had a great time playing in the sand, fishing, chasing each other, sharing toys, finger painting, eating ice cream, and riding the marry-go-round. Here they are sharing a beach towel after rinsing off in the outdoor shower.

I have lots of great memories from my childhood but the ones that stand out the most in my mind are all those great weekends and summers with my cousins. I hope Aiden, Nora, and Sky make lots of memories of their own.

i swing my beat at the playgound

...you know?

Nothing like some one on one time with my Daddy! Aiden loves to answer any question with "Daddy!!".

Me: Aiden who made you breakfast this morning?
Aiden: Daddy!!!

Me: Aiden who gave you that new police car?
Aiden: Daddy!!!

Me: Aiden who's shirt is this?
Aiden: Daddy!!!

Me: Aiden who took you to school this morning?
Aiden: Daddy!!!

The cutest part about it is that he knows he's lying! He gives you a little smirk and loves to see you look shocked at his answer.

fun in the sun

We spent the weekend at Virginia Beach -- now that the dust has settled from moving our home and our offices, we're trying to pack in as much fun as possible before the end of the summer. This past weekend we went to the beach with my parents which is really nice because we get some help with the kids and real home cooked meals.

Although it was as hot (97 degrees) and humid as could be - Aiden spent almost every waking minute outside. It was so hot we had to take turns taking him outside because none of us could stand it out there as long as he could.

bad hair day

Sky is changing everyday - getting bigger, longer, more alert, hair is getting lighter and is generally looking less like a new born. One thing that hasn't changed much however, is her hair that stands straight up at the top of her head. Here she is praying...."please god, don't let my hair stick up like this."

Sky is a month old

Today Sky is exactly four weeks old and here are her baby stats: 11 lb 05 oz and 22 inches tall. She is a great baby. She eats well, sleeps well, poops and pees well. Even with Aiden pulling her feet, touching her face, rubbing her head she sits calmly sucking on her pacifier. The only thing that upset this baby is hunger….but, when she's hungry, she's shy about letting us know. She goes from cool, calm, content baby to pissed off, head banging, red faced, angry baby in 30 seconds…I guess she is already taking after her mom... ; )

the playground

Today we had a playground installed in our backyard for Aiden and Sky. When Aiden woke up from his afternoon nap, he noticed two men building playground in the backyard. WHAAA?? How could this be? A playground? In our backyard? NO WAY!!! The rest of the afternoon he was glued to the window saying "oh oh oohhh!!!" with a HUGE smile on his face.