Three Months

My newborn is gone. He's been replaced by a thriving 3 month old infant. We turned another month today. With my daughter, I had What to Expect the First Year out on the coffee table and consulted it regularly on what milestone she will/should hit and when. I often looked forward to the next month to see what will come next. This time around I have cracked the book once when we started our colic episodes and haven't glanced at it since. Obviously I don't have the time I had then but it also doesn't interest me. I just want to enjoy each short stage as it comes because we all know how quickly they pass. It's clear by the chunky, thunder thighs, contagious smile, and more frequent giggles, that he is doing well and that is good enough for me. The only milestones I'm aware of are the ones he is hitting in my heart. Unfortunately, the nights are still rougher than I would like but if the little bugger would just stay healthy for more than a couple days we might just get some solid rest.

Oh the big sister. I am surprised each day at how much attitude and opinion can come from a person of her size. She certainly knows what she wants and will figure out how to do it all on her own. In hindsight, I made the mistake of buying the Charlie & Lola book titled, I Can Do Anything Thats Everything All On My Own.

This week she had it in her head that she must do crafts. She begged and begged for new paints and a paintbrush. I have reserved painting as a special activity for playdates, holidays, etc because I just have enough messes to clean up as it is. I figured she is older now and so it was off to the craft store we went. I must admit, if it weren't for all the fantastic WASHABLE products by Crayola, I would have resisted. She insisted on carrying the paintbrushes on the errands that followed, eager to put them to use. When we got home I started her with watercolors. It was a hit. She spent a couple hours of concentrated effort on her art until I pulled her away (crying) to take a nap. I brought out the craft paints in the afternoon, which she preferred. The water color paints weren't dark enough and not as fun to dip the brush in. She painted a picture for Mommy, Daddy, Keaton & Rocky the cat. Here is mine.


I love it!

Happy January

A new year.

I could use this clean slate to say I will be a more consistent blogger, but let's be real. I've got a blossoming little girl, eager to enter the world of the "big kids", a two month old that will be mobile and curious before I get a chance to blink, a house that needs attending to, and some pretty lofty business goals. I best not forget to include the role as wife, the most significant, for all the others would not exist had I not chosen this beautiful life six years ago.

With that said, I started this portal in cyberspace to provide a little chuckle and it soon evolved to a place where I preserve a few memories for my little girl, and now my son too. I'm committed to continuing to post whenever I can and using it as a place where friends and family can keep up with the highlights of the two amazing kids God has entrusted in my hands. I appreciate how it forces me to sit down for a chunk of time and reflect on the kiddos lest I let all the memories get away from me and will quickly get filed in the back of the memory bank. My recall for life events is not so good. I'm happy to have a place to visit and view pictures to keep these memories fresh. So really, it's a selfish endeavor. I post for my own enjoyment and if you choose to take a peak now and again, thank you. I will try to be as entertaining as I can.

We went to Disneyland over the weekend. As we were exiting the park I realized we had just spent 12 hours at the "Happiest Place on Earth" with a two year old and two month old. It felt like an amazing feat. Both kids were asleep as we headed back to the parking lot. A total success. My daughter was stunned most of the day. Not quite the reaction we were expecting but who can blame her. We rushed her into the Disney Playhouse Show first thing where she saw her best friends from The Little Einsteins right in front of her eyes. All the buddies she has enjoyed on TV every morning for the past year were walking and talking a few feet from her. At one point she almost started to cry out of joy, or perhaps fear that her world as she reasoned is suddenly thrown in to chaos.

She seemed to enjoy it all. We went on a number of rides and was even able to bring the baby on a few. The fireworks show was fantastic and well worth sticking around until 9:30pm. Disney knows how to do it and I still get that giddy, magical feeling inside when I walk in the gates and get my first glimpse of Main Street. I hoped to post some pictures but that will have to wait until the family "supercomputer", where all the family memories are archived, gets fixed again. Oh well, to be continued.