Sunday, May 30, 2010

The GIANT May Post

May?

It was more like Mayhem.

Damn. It was a busy month. Like, for everybody.

First, we start with Play Dough Katie.



The creativity bug has stopped at our house and I think he is here to stay. The artistic juices are a-flowin'! Not only have we got Play Dough and Legos, but we have crazy drawing too. You name it, Katie will try to draw it. Here is Katie sketching out a princess with a bow on her head.....


Mikey decided that he needed to start working a little harder at the crawling thing and managed to figure out how to do a nice push-up. Daddy was very proud.



The beginning of May brought with it some awesome summer-like weather. (Sigh. Where or where did you go, Mr. Sun?)

We took advantage and took a hike to the beach.

Katie wanted to bring an umbrella she had found in the car on the hike with us.

We acquiesced, knowing full well that it might mean drama later in the day ("I'm SOOOOO tired of carrying this umbrellllllaa"). As much as we fretted about the damn umbrella, when we got to the beach it gave us great shade and some guy even commented, "They were smart bringing that umbrella."


Mikey enjoyed his first trip to the beach. He had a great time trying to eat rocks, seaweed and driftwood.


Then there was this jem on Mother's Day.

Mikey and Katie's Splash-O-Rama a.k.a. Bathtime Gigglefest.

Loved it. Really I did. It makes my heart smile looking at this picture.


It was around this time that Mikey became emboldened by his spectacular hike (ride on Mommy's back) to the beach and his new found push-up proficiency because he began to go CURRRRR-AAAAA-ZEEEEEE.

He clapped his hands together. He started to wave. He began to inch worm his way around and managed to pull the mobile in his crib down onto his head. He pushed his way up to a sitting position. And, hold on to something ladies and gents! He slept through the night! Okay, so it was just that one night. But, that was something, I tell ya. He was on a roll, man.

Next up, Preschool Outdoor Movie Night.

Mikey had a good time, even though he was not allowed to eat any popcorn or any balloons.


Katie, on the other hand, ate about three bags of popcorn and managed to bogart all the pink balloons at the party.


The movie was played on a giant inflatable movie screen in someone's backyard.


It was a pretty awesome set up. The only problem was that we had to wait for it to get dark. And, well, here on the West Coast at this time of year that's not until about 9ish. We didn't get to stay for the whole movie, as it was a bit too intense for a tired Katie. Oh well. She did get to watch a few Mickey Mouse cartoons.

Did you know that Cinderella frequents our backyard and serves tea on our deck? Dudes, check it....


Here's Katie with an "Apple Smile". It was a recipe in her High Five Magazine. Apples slices, cream cheese and mini-marshmallows. She ate everything except the cream cheese and the apples.


Next on the agenda was a visit from GmaF, Auntie Kelly and Cuzzin' Joey.

It was just too cute for words watching Katie and Joey pal around. They held hands just about everywhere they went.


I know it doesn't look like it, but in the picture underneath are the Prince and Princess in their magical flying car jetting to Mexico to get some flowers. They ran into some crazy bumblebees on the way there but the Prince threw a stick at them and scared them away. They blew a tire sometime after that and flew to the tire store to get some new tires.


Our visitors were also able to join us for a night of preschool bowling. I didn't get many pictures since we had to corral the kids from jumping in other peoples lanes or getting their fingers smooshed in the ball return.


We also took a visit to Northwest Trek and rode on a tram to see Northwest native animals. We saw lots of deer, lots of elk, lots of bison and even baby bison. And, finally, I got to see real live honest-to-goodness moose.

And then, just like that, it was time for GmaF, Auntie and Joey to go. It was too fast. Sigh.

Next stop, the last day of preschool.

Katie has such a good time there. Can't you tell?


It was a great preschool year. Katie met a new friend and had a great time playing and learning with all her preschool buddies. We can't wait to start Pre-K next year!

While Katie was saying goodbye to another year of preschool, Mikey was saying hello to mobility! He finally began to crawl. At first, it looked a little wonky and disjointed, but he quickly figured it out. Now, he can move himself around the living room with ease. We're happy that he can get himself around, but not so happy that he seems to be most interested in the things that he shouldn't have. He thinks everything is food. Legos, paper, underwear....Sigh.

I think we also figured out what Mikey's first word is/was: "VRRRROOOOMMMM" - the sound you make while pushing a toy car. His sounds more like, "MMMMMMMM", but he only does it while pushing a toy dump truck. I think he also has four more words. "Mmm" for Moo, as in cow. "MaMa" and "DaDa" and "Boo", as in peek-a-boo.

Mikey wants you all to know that he is okay after getting an "owwee" at the doctor. It happened right here.


Had to check his iron level again. Not quite up to par on that one, so we gotta keep taking the supplement.

And last, but not least, it was Bye Bye Binky Day this past Thursday. Katie didn't want to just throw them away, she wanted to send them to someone who needed them. So, she packed them up in envelopes and sent one to Cuzzin' Joey and one to Cuzzin' Matty.


The day went good. I took Katie and Mikey to lunch at Red Robin - a kid friendly burger joint. Katie then got to go to the toy store and pick out one stuffed animal to cuddle with when it came time for sleep (she picked an orca whale and named it Splashy). We had also promised her a while back that she could get a goldfish if she gave up the binky (yes, we tried to bribe her). We went to the pet store and got an aquarium. We couldn't get a fish because we had to make sure the water was de-chlorinated for him.

We kept her busy all day so that at night she would be really tired. Falling asleep that first night was hard for her. She cried and told us she wanted her binky. After about a half dozen visits to our room, she finally laid down and fell asleep. It took a few nights, but now she seems to be able to put herself to sleep with not too many problems. We're so proud of her.

Coming soon to a concert venue near you......


Sigh. Pulling up to his knees already.

That didn't take long. He also conquered climbing up the one step from our living room. There is no slowing him down now.

24 hours after we filled the aquarium and treated the water we went back and Katie picked out her fish.

Meet Flip Flop the Fish.


Katie has spent most of this weekend giving Flip Flop her version of "love". Which means lots of talking to him about all sorts of stuff in a loud voice and lots of accidental bumps into the tank. The poor fish is scared witless. He hides behind the fake plant or the volcano most of the time.

Here are Katie and Flip Flop eating breakfast together.


And so, that was May.

There's only one day left. Huzbend will be riding a 100 mile bike ride tomorrow. We'll be doing some grocery shopping. Other than that, maybe Flip Flop will come out of hiding or maybe Mikey will learn to walk.

Hey, you never know. It could happen.

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