Andrea's Swim Class

This morning I was able to go to swim class with Andrea and Daddy. I've been hearing about how well she's been doing, and I was anxious to see her in action.

She's pretty much fearless when it comes to jumping into the pool. She leaps off the edge and goes right under! Daddy's still there to catch her, but she loves jumping into the pool. She must have done it at least a dozen times during her half-hour lesson. None of the other kids in her class are doing that yet!

"Woohoo!"

(sorry the video is so dark--mostly natural light in there)

She is also good at blowing bubbles in the water, and swimming on her belly with Daddy's help. She's still not thrilled with floating/swimming on her back, but she's getting better.

Andrea will be starting aquatics class Preschool A in the Fall, when she'll be in a small group with an instructor--and no Daddy or Mommy! But I'm sure she'll be ready for that.

Kevin Making Friends: Real and Otherwise . . .

Yesterday morning, Kevin and I walked (well, he rode in the stroller) over to Michelle and Parker's for a playdate. There were five moms and babies there, most of whom we'd met before at swim class or the movies. Kevin was pretty shy and quiet for the first hour; he didn't make too much noise, or play with the toys, but he sat back and checked out the other babies. That seems to be his social style, in general. Then, once he got bored with watching, he finally decided to join in.

Kevin, Jackson, and Parker

It was a bit hard for Kevin to play with Jackson and Parker, because those two are always on the move: proficient crawlers who are cruising furniture, and almost walking! But Kevin found a good companion in Sadie, who just turned six months old, so she isn't mobile yet, either.

Kevin and Sadie didn't say too much to each other, but they were also the two quietest babies there, so I think their personalities suited each other well.

They spent a lot of time touching and examining each other's clothes and faces. Like I said, they both seem like quiet observers, exploring and absorbing it all in their own solemn fashion.

That isn't to say Kevin wasn't involved in some good, old-fashioned baby mayhem. When Sadie went for a diaper change, Kevin and Jackson got into the extra baby food Jackson's mom brought to share with the group. Apparently, the plastic containers make great stacking and rolling toys!

***

I think yesterday's playdate sparked Kevin's interest in other babies. I show him Baby-Kevin-in the-mirror all the time, but he usually doesn't react, until he notices Mommy-in-the-mirror (and then he smiles). Today, during Andrea's nap, I went to put away some laundry. I suddenly heard Kevin squealing and jumping around like crazy in his exersaucer. I went in the living room to see what he was so excited about. He had discovered a new friend . . .

. . . Kevin-in-the-TV!

You have to watch the video to see just how thrilled he was by the appearance of this new playmate! :))

Aunt Stephanie's 30th Birthday

On Saturday, we went to Aunt Stephanie's house to celebrate her 30th birthday. Daddy had to work, so Gram and Grandpa gave us a ride out there. I think Gram was causing trouble in the back seat. She was sitting in between Kevin and Andrea's car seats, and Andrea kept saying, "Hands away! Hands away!" because Gram was tickling her!

***

Uncle Tony's family were at the party, too. His 2-year-old nephew, Adam, is generous with his hugs; but Andrea's got a major preoccupation with other kids invading her personal space. Poor Adam--he kept trying to hug her, and she would yell or push him away! But once Andrea got distracted by her cousin Isabelle's new climber/slide, she relaxed and played nicely with the others.

The climber/slide was a big hit with the kids, and they also had fun playing with some beach balls and soccer balls in the yard.

The static electricity from sliding made Andrea's hair stand right up!

***

Isabelle's having fun at her mommy's birthday party!

(By the way, Andrea usually calls her Izzy. Many people at the party were calling her Isabelle. So, Andrea came up with her own blend: "Izzy-belle!")

***

Kevin liked watching the kids play, and he got to play with a ball, too. (Adam made sure he had one to play with. He was so cute with Kevin--hugging him and bringing him toys.) Grandpa and Kevin sat together and enjoyed the sunshine. The sunglasses Mommy bought for Kevin this week are getting a lot of use, thanks to the good weather we've had!

***

"Happy Birthday, Aunt Stephanie!" Isabelle and Andrea helped her blow out the candles.

***

Mmm . . . berries and ice cream . . . so good . . .

***

You know how I mentioned the kids liked playing with the soccer balls? Well, so did the BIG kids. Tony and Rod (who arrived after work) got into a competition to see who could head-butt the soccer ball the longest distance across the yard. Geez. Men.

At The Park & Kevin "Singing"

At The Park

We took advantage of the return of nice weather and took a walk to the park. Gram and Grandpa G. joined us. Grandpa pulled Andrea in the wagon, stopping frequently to give her a mini-marshmallow or Smarties to eat. (Talk about travelling in style!) Gram walked with me and Kevin, who was enjoying a stroller ride.


The kids love the swings (well, it's all Kevin can go on--but Andrea really does love them!). Grandpa does fun things like push Andrea really high, spell out her name in the sand, make her swing go crooked, and give her mid-air high fives!

***

Kevin is still more of an observer. He likes the swings now, but they seem to relax him more than excite him. He likes to sit in the swings and watch all the people in the park. Today, I gave him my sunglasses to play with and he didn't want to give them up!

(nice face in the above picture, eh?)

***

We're encouraging Andrea to try out the "big girl" swings. This is the second time she's been on them. She's still pretty nervous, and will only stay on for a minute or two. She hangs on tight and keeps her eyes on the ground!

***

Kevin "Singing"

Kevin's very vocal this week. It's amazing how the babbling has suddenly gone into overdrive, and we hear a constant stream of "Mum-ma" and "D-D-Da" at home. Of course, he never does it for the camera, or when anyone else is around!

The other sounds he's been making lately are just plain funny. I call one of the sounds his "singing"--it's hard to describe. The other sound is this weird, deep, wheezy inhalation that he makes; it's just goofy-sounding! Naturally, he would do the silly stuff for the camera:

Silly Kevin!

Kevin's really starting to show his personality. Overall, I find him very serious and studious; he wants to investigate everything, and usually babbles quietly to himself. He can also be very stubborn, and is not shy about expressing his opinion when he's displeased. For example, if you try to take away something he's examining, or a toy he wants to play with, he will yell at you!

Then again, when he's not teething, he's a content little guy. He's usually quiet, and has lots of smiles for the people he knows and loves. He also appreciates surprises and funny faces! Sometimes I think he has a bit of a mischievous side . . . I have a feeling the phrase "It's always the quiet ones" will be applicable in the future!

We love to make Kevin smile and laugh. He has the best dimple in his right cheek!

Kevin's silliness was in high gear last night. At supper time, I was trying to get him to say "Mama," but his new favourite word is "Dada." He also likes to get the spoon halfway in his mouth and blow bubbles into his food! It's ridiculously messy, but I think it must feel good on his gums or something.

Here's a video of Kevin during dinner yesterday. Note his reaction to my coaxing, and the arc he achieves with some of his food spray!

***

I took some pictures of Kevin after his bath last night. I was trying to get him to smile nicely for me, but he was too busy laughing at my assistant (Brigitte), and he was thrilled to be sans diaper! I think the pictures turned out great anyway. :))

Big Feet & Little Feet

Big Feet: I recently found a pair of my slippers under the bed. I remember I had hidden them there about a year ago, because I was tired of Andrea stealing them, and leaving them in odd places. The last time she had them, she couldn't even walk yet (14 months old) so she wore them on her hands. :)) As soon as she saw them again, they were on her feet! They looked ridiculous, but I was impressed she could walk so well in them, considering they are even big and awkward on MY feet!
She has also become attached to my summer robe, which she calls my "Princess Dress." I can only wear it until she spots it--then I have to surrender it to the little dress-up queen.

***

Little Feet: Kevin's little feet were going crazy this morning in his exersaucer. He was in a really good mood, and it looked like he was dancing! It made think of Flashdance and the song "Maniac." Of course, the more and the sillier I sang it, the more Kevin kicked his legs!

***

When I went to pull up that baby picture of Andrea and the slippers, I was amazed at how much her pictures looked like Kevin--but in pink. :))

She was fairer, and her face was a bit rounder (she did weigh more than him at this age), but the eyes, nose, and eyebrows are almost identical!

Kevin's (not quite) First Trip to the Park

I wanted to call this "Kevin's First Trip to the Park," because it's the first time he could actually do something at the park. However, he was there several times before, as an infant. Here's a picture of Kevin's real first visit to the park, when he was one month old. All he could do back then was suck on his fingers!

Now, Kevin's eight months old, and he could try out the slide and swings and for the first time!

This is fun!

***

Mama, I'm not so sure about this . . .

Is this thing secured safely?

***

Michelle and Parker met Andrea, Kevin, and I at the park this afternoon. Again, I can't help but think back to the first time we met up at a park, when the boys were about 2 months old. It was Fall, so they were all snuggled up in their strollers.

Things have changed quite a lot! They're big boys who can play on the swings now. Parker had a riot; he was laughing, and sticking out his tongue, and leaning forward in his seat. Kevin was more cautious; his face was serious, studying everything, absorbed in his surroundings. He was so busy taking it all in, that I couldn't get his attention to encourage a smile!

Parker: "Yahoo!"
Kevin: "If I scrunch down some more, maybe I won't fall out!"

***
Kevin: "Parker, what do you think?"
Parker: "I like it, Buddy!"

***

Look at us! No hands!

***

When it was time to go, Parker was tired out from all the fun. Kevin was just happy to be back on solid ground. (He's finally smiling!)

***

When we got home, Andrea wanted to ride her bicycle for a bit. Kevin was very interested in the proceedings.

Kevin: "Hmm . . . where can I get one of those?"

Andrea: "Don't even think about it, Buddy!"

Here's Some Laughs

A few days ago, I was changing one of Kevin's diapers--and it happened to be a stinky one. Andrea came into the room, took one look at his diaper, and yelled: "It's a yucky Jell-o one!" Jell-o? How, and why, did she come up with that?! Anyway, I laughed so hard that now every time she sees me changing his diaper, she yells, "It's a jelly one!" even if it's just pee.

***

Last night I was feeding Kevin an early dinner, and Andrea came in, saying she wanted her supper. I jokingly offered her Kevin's bowl of pureed sweet corn and chicken. She took one peek at the brownish-yellow mush and declared, "That's too di-gusting for me!" Evidently, Kevin felt the same way. About two minutes later, he gagged and spit up his meal. I guess that means sweet corn is off the list for now. Poor Kevin!

***

Andrea has started to colour pictures with great concentration and intensity recently. Where before she liked blank paper and random colours, she now prefers colouring books, and only shades of pink and purple! She will sit and colour for several minutes, completely focused on her work. Well today, she ran out of pages to colour in her Dora mermaids colouring book. It was quite a tragedy! But Mommy's quick thinking saved the day. I got out one of her blank books, and drew some pictures of Dora with a black marker. Voila--colouring pages! However, it's times like these that I wish I was a graphic artist--or at least had some drawing talent. But I will share me and Andrea's combined effort here, because it is worth a laugh!

***

Kevin has the greatest giggles right now. The best way I get him to laugh is to pop up at him from somewhere below his swing or exersaucer, and say, "I'm gonna get you!" He even giggles like crazy when I disappear--I think it's a reaction to the suspense, knowing what's coming.

I've got a video here, but you can only hear the giggling. Unfortunately, I had the camera in a bad position, so Kevin is in the shadows, and none of my editing software could fix it. Thus, the picture above, which gives you a sense of the expression on his face when we are playing!

Family Fun Continues

We spent Easter Monday with family, too--just on a smaller scale.

***

Brigitte stayed overnight with us. In the morning, she spent some time reading to Kevin.

***

Ah, the beautiful sight of the kiddies playing peacefully together. It's a good thing.

***

When Daddy got home from work, we went over to Gram and Grandpa's for dinner. They had a nice chicken dinner for us, in honour of Mommy's birthday (which is Wednesday). Aunt Stephanie, Uncle Tony and Isabelle came, too. Andrea helped Gram put the candles on Mommy's birthday cake. (Thankfully, they only put on a representative amount!)

***

Gather around to sing Happy birthday, and help Mommy blow out the candles!

***

I told you Kevin got the tongue-twisting talent from Daddy!

***

After dessert and presents, it was play-time for the kids. Andrea spent a lot of time colouring, and Izzy did some, too.

***

Izzy played very nicely with Kevin. She gave him a plate, and pretended to cook him some food!

***

Andrea found a toy comb, and everyone had to have a turn getting their hair brushed.

***

Then Grandpa took the girls downstairs, to show us their "routines." He has special activities he does with them when they visit. He and Andrea get together for a few hours every Wednesday morning. I've heard what they do, but this is the first time I got to see it!

They like to play with the maracas. The girls were shaking the maracas and singing their ABCs with Grandpa, while he dinged the bell to the beat!

***

Andrea is Grandpa's soccer buddy. They always go downstairs to play soccer when she visits him on Wednesdays. I don't know why Andrea is so into soccer; neither Daddy or I ever played it, besides in gym class. But Andrea has liked kicking soccer balls since before she could walk!

Last night, I finally got to watch a game. Izzy wanted to get into the game, too, and it became quite the soccer match! Andrea resorted to some aggressive tactics, but what Izzy doesn't have in size, she makes up in speed! They were so funny to watch.

Easter Sunday 2008

The Easter Bunny came! Kevin was awake first, and he surprised me by spotting the first eggs. I noticed he was leaning out of his swing to stare at something--he saw the shiny eggs nearby!

***

Andrea got up about half an hour later. She saw her pretty basket and dove in right away! The toy camera and the crown caught her attention first.

Then, she noticed the chocolate eggs on her couch. That led her into the egg hunt. The Easter Bunny hid about 20 mini eggs around the living room, in places that Andrea could find them with a little help. She was very excited when she found the eggs! She's a good egg hunter. Of course, she wanted to stop and eat some, too. :))

***

Kevin took a look at his basket while Andrea hunted eggs. He's finally starting to sit up steadily!

***

After her egg hunt, Andrea followed me around, taking pictures of everyone. She did that all day--you'll notice the camera is with her in a lot of the pictures.

***

I thought Kevin would like his soccer ball or ducky best, but he was barely interested in them. We couldn't get him to let go of the book! Kevin likes to play with and look at books. He must get that from Mommy. :))

***

Here's Andrea, showing off her princess-themed press-on nails. She loved them at first, but she couldn't get used to how they made it feel different to pick things up. So, they only stayed on for about an hour! But after we took the press-ons off, we painted her nails a pretty pink for later.

***

In the afternoon, we went to a big family dinner at Great-Gram's (Rod's grandma). Andrea was thrilled that she finally got to wear her "princess dress" again (she's been begging for it since we went for spring pictures), and was ecstatic over her new shoes. That's my girly-girl!

***

Here's Kevin sporting his Easter look. It's similar to the one in the spring pictures, but he outgrew that one, so I had to buy him a new one!

***

Since we were going to have Brigitte stay overnight with us, we invited her to come to Great Gram's, too. Andrea's always thrilled to have "my Brigitte" around.

***

Poor Kevin--the teething continues. Thankfully, he was so busy checking out all the new people that he forgot to let his teeth bother him much. Still, it was a non-stop chew and drool fest; I had bibs on him all day, and he was chewing on whatever anyone offered him. Grandpa seemed to think a little alcohol might help! No, it was just that the glass is hard and cool on the gums. :))

***

My drool-baby also exhibited a new talent yesterday, and he did it all day long. He can twist his tongue right over in his mouth! I can't do it, but I've seen Rod do it, so I know he got that genetic mutation from Daddy.

***

Great Gram wanted a picture of her great-grandchildren. You see, three have been added just in the past eight months! You know how it is to get a whole bunch of little ones to cooperate for the camera, though. But here they are: Isabelle, Andrea, Jordan, Baby Morgan, Jocelyn, Baby Addison, and Baby Kevin.

***

Kevin was intrigued by Baby Addison, who is only about 4 weeks old. I had been holding her, and Rod sat next to me, holding Kevin. Kevin kept reaching out to touch her arm and her head, and he was very curious about her. Even in the great-grandkids' pictures, he was reaching over and gently touching Addison's hair. Addie's big sister Jocelyn was a little concerned, but we assured her that Kevin wasn't hurting her baby. :))

***

We stayed pretty late for the little ones, so they were all put into pyjamas after supper. Here's Grandpa snuggling Izzy and Kevin.

***

Andrea was tired, but wired with excitement and sugar. So, she was playing a game with Gram where she would say, "I'm baby--I go to sleep," and Gram would pick her up and rock her like a baby. She makes quite a big baby! But then, she would say, "I wake up!" jump down, and try to run over to Aunt Claire--while Gram held onto her pyjamas!

***

Andrea disappeared for a while, and I wondered what she was up to. They told me she was in the kitchen. I could see the sly glances I was getting from the adults--what was Andrea up to? Oh, they were just encouraging her to help herself to the cake!

***

When I made her get out of the cake, they smeared whipped cream on a lid and gave it to her to lick! By then, I knew it was a lost cause. Pick your battles . . . :))

***

So, with the kids hopped up on sugar, and overtired from all their partying, we made our way home for bed-time. Kevin went right to sleep; but Andrea kept getting out of bed until about 10:45, and Brigitte was awake until midnight! But it was a good day. :))