Easter Weekend 2009 (April 11 and 12)

Saturday

On the Saturday of Easter weekend, Gram and Papa Gagnon had an Easter egg hunt for the kids at their house.

Hannah's First Easter :))

Hannah found an egg!

Kevin found some eggs, too!

After all the eggs were found, Gram and Papa sent the kids upstairs for an extra surprise--special Easter gifts!

Kevin and Hannah have to put up with our whims . . . they can't protest too much.

Thanks Gram and Papa! Group hug!

After the egg hunt, we stayed for a visit and a tasty lunch. Of course, the kids were too excited to eat much, and were more focused on the sugary treats. Andrea was thrilled with Gram's Marshmallow-Peep-and-jelly-bean-topped cupcakes. Cupcakes, with more candy on top? Andrea's favourite!

Kevin demolishing a Peep--it didn't stand a chance!

As Papa cleaned up after lunch, the girls amused themselves by sticking flower and smiley-face shaped post-its on his behind. I can't believe the things he lets these kids get away with. :))

Kevin discovered the cupboard with the pots and pans. Notice that he was "decorated" by Izzy and Andrea, as well (although he pulled most of them off).

Easter Sunday

The Easter Bunny came! He left a little trail of chocolate eggs from both Andrea and Kevin's beds to their bedroom doors. In fact, Andrea woke us up by running into our bedroom with her hands full of half-melted chocolate eggs, and she was so excited about the eggs in her room that she could barely tell us what she'd found! When Kevin saw the eggs on his bedroom floor, he crawled right over, grabbed one, and popped it into his mouth foil and all! (Don't worry; we got it in time.)

The Easter Bunny also hid chocolate eggs all over the living room. As many of them were at/near floor level, Kevin actually started finding the eggs first. He also spotted the baskets right away. Once Andrea started finding eggs, she was so thrilled with each one she found. Considering there were about forty of them, it was funny how she exclaimed over every single one she found!

Kevin checking out his Easter basket

Andrea sporting her chocolate-scented bunny ears

Kevin: "I'm only wearing these so Mom will give me more chocolate."

Andrea received a special Easter dress from Grama Marty and Grampa Rick. She still loves being a princess, and wanted to put it on as soon as she saw it in the morning. Of course, I made her wait until we went out in the afternoon, so she wouldn't wreck it (mean mommy that I am). Once she got to put it on, I had no problems getting her to pose for me. She knows she's beautiful. ;))

We went to Gram and Papa's for a visit and supper. Kevin had left some of his eggs there from the day before, so he had some treats to enjoy while we were there.


Are there any more?

Gram and Papa have a princess bike that they bought for the girls to play with when they come over. Papa was giving Andrea a ride around the basement.

Kevin wanted a ride, too! Daddy wasn't thrilled with Kevin being on the princess bike, but what can you do? All his cousins there are girls!

Both Andrea and Kevin enjoy colouring. Gram made sure they were playing nicely (and they were!), while the men watched the Masters golf on TV.

Did I mention that Andrea loves to dress up, and to pose?

(I like this one because of the cowgirl hat; it goes well with the dress sent from Montana!)

***
Papa always likes to give the kids a bath when they come over in the evening. Of course, it's more like a swim and Gram and Papa's big tub!

Kevin enjoys simple, repetitive activities. He seems to enjoy focusing on/analyzing things. Pulling the strings through these cards kept him entertained for ages.

Andrea, on the other hand, is a social butterfly and must move from activity to activity to be entertained. At the end of the night, I think she was working all the sugar out of her system. She was pretending to be Bouncing Tigger. Gram would push down on Andrea's head just like you would do with the toy, and Andrea would bounce like the toy! (Hey, at least it made her nice and tired for bedtime.)

Overall, Easter was a lot of fun this year. Kevin was able to participate more, and Andrea was really excited and enjoyed all the Easter activities. :))

More Kevin Progress :))

Kevin is making lot of progress right now in his development. I wanted to mention some things before I forget!

He's saying more new words over the past few days: "Empty" (referring to his juice cup), "Night-night" (saying goodnight to everyone before bed), and "Hiding!" (he has a new game where he closes himself in the closets, and I ask, "Where is Kevin hiding?").

I've also gotten him to stand up and walk with his walking toys. He's still pretty hesitant about it, but seems to enjoy it once he gets going.

He is also pulling himself up to standing well now, and frequently cruises the furniture. He loves climbing stairs, especially at Gram and Papa's house.

He is also starting to nod his head "yes" to things that he wants or agrees with, which is new, and point to things that interest him. He likes to point to objects and have me tell him what the word is for them. His comprehension seems much stronger, as well; when I ask him to do things like "Go get the ball, and bring it to Mommy," he responds appropriately. He is also doing a lot more independent babbling this week, like he's trying to tell me things. I can't understand it, but it's great to see these sudden leaps in those pre-language skills he's been working on. :))

***

That's it for now. It might be awhile before I get a chance to post about our Easter. It was busy and fun, so I have lots to say about it, but not much time to do long posts this week!

"Hockey" and "Bubbles"

The title of this blog refers to Kevin's two newest words. :))

Daddy has been trying to get Kevin to say "hockey," well, since Kevin started making sounds. Suddenly, a couple of night ago, he repeated it while he was in the bathtub! Now, he says it all the time. Daddy has even made up his own "hockey" flashcard to put in Kevin's word bowl. I'm not sure what the speech therapist will think of that!

***

Yesterday evening was beautiful--sunny, and about 60 degrees. Daddy I and took the kids for a wagon ride to the park, so they could get some fresh air, and go on the swings. Andrea's also been asking me to do bubbles lately, so I brought them along with us to the park. When Daddy was blowing bubbles, I got Kevin to say "bub-ble" several times!

***
Kevin and Andrea did their annual HOP for Muscular Dystrophy at daycare yesterday. Here they are, sporting their bunny ears, after school. Notice they got into their Easter treats from daycare the instant they got home. Gotta love Kevin's chocolate face!

I'll be posting about more Easter Weekend fun in the next few days. :))