Owen learned something new & My new favorite craft...

Well, Owen has learned something new - he can swing himself on the "big" swing! This past week he wanted to swing and I showed him how to pick up his legs so that I could push him and then he just started pumping his legs and pushing with his feet and he was swinging! He is so proud of himself and is looking more and more like a big boy every day.



On another note, I had mentioned something about a new "tool" that I purchased recently - it was an embroidery machine! I have been playing with it when I get a few minutes and so far I'm really excited about it and wish I had lots of time to play! Here are a few things that I've done so far - the first two are on each side of a reversible dress that I am making for Anna Claire (it needs buttons and button holes and then I'll be ready to show off the dress) and the third picture is an applique and monogram on a shirt I did yesterday for a birthday party we're going to tomorrow.

New Pictures

Well, this weekend we had some time off from parties. Last weekend was Anna Claire's baptism and we had a wonderful time at Pan-Pan and Nanny's (Alex & Dee's) - they are great party givers! We had a relaxing weekend yesterday and today and just did stuff around the house. I made a rather large purchase this weekend that will help me expand my Lucky Duck Baby Knits but I'll let you all know more about that when I get a handle on my newest tool.

I had a request for more hats from a customer on Etsy as well as a request for a cocoon & hat from Dee for a shower gift that she needs so I'm into knitting again. As a result, we decided to have a little photo shoot outside this morning. And so now you get to see the cute pictures. I've also included some pictures from the baptism for you to see.

Enjoy!

Nanny Laurie with Owen and Paran James with Anna Claire

Pan-Pan with Owen and Nanny Girl with Anna Claire

Our family with Anna Claire's godparents - Deanna & James

pretty in purple

2 years old / 2 months old

Our babies are 2 & 2 - years and months, that is! Owen had a wonderful birthday party and got lots of great presents. He had a real "big boy" party with a fun jump and lots of friends and at the end of it all he needed a good bath and a long nap. He got his first two-wheel bike (with no pedals - it's a balance bike) and his first scooter so he's a guy with wheels!

Owen's development at 2 years:

• He is talking up a storm (no surprise) and has learned to sing the ABC song all by himself and he has added 11 to his counting
• He will count a small group of objects and can easily identify groups of 1 or 2 objects
• He will identify most shapes most of the time
• He asks what and where questions often (and will often answer himself)
• He eats with a fork and spoon and drinks out of a cup with just occasional spilling
• He is learning to pull his pants/shorts up and we're toying with the idea of potty training as he's used his little potty lots of times and can now sit on it and get off of it independently
• He uses lots of pretend play and loves to imitate grown up activities like caring for baby and cooking while playing - he also loves to roar like a monster and hit lots of things with long sticks!
• He will retell events in several sentences and tends to repeat these little retellings over and over (and over) again for a few days in a row
• He loves to draw and paint and will make circular shapes as well as lines with pencils, pens, markers, and crayons
• He still loves to read books and will sit through the reading of several books in a row - hopefully we'll get to storytime at the library most times this fall
• He identifies the post office, the library, Target, and the book store when we pass them or drive up to them (where do you think we spend most of our time if we're not at home? I'll give you three guesses...)
• He climbs up on small chairs and stools to reach EVERYTHING he shouldn't that is on the counter

Those are the top things Owen has been doing lately and I'm sure there will be more in the months to come. Here's the latest on our sweet girl:

• She was 14 lbs and 24 inches long at her 2 month visit last week and these are almost the same measurements as Owen at 2 months!
• She's smiling and cooing and we are loving it
• She is trying to reach for (and sometimes touches) the toys dangling above her on her playmat
• She holds her head up at 45 degrees while on her tummy (she's VERY strong)
• She rolls from her back to her side and looks like she wants to keep going and roll to her tummy so we'll see what she does in the next few weeks
• And, drumroll please, she sleeps 5-6 hours at night then goes back to sleep for another 2-3!!!!!!!! I have not done anything different than I did with Owen and I still don't know how to make babies sleep but I'm sure glad Anna Claire does!

Well that's the latest on our babies (I guess I should say our big boy and our sweet baby girl) and here a few pictures from the last couple of weeks.

a sleeping beautyOwen's first two wheel bike and helmet!Curious George and Owen's favorite color - yellow -

were the themes for this party (can you tell?)a boy enjoying his birthday cake!

Cute kiddos

Anna Claire is six weeks old now and I believe she weighs about 12 pounds! She and her brother have been keeping us busy but I wanted to share a few cute pictures of the two of them.

Here's a smiling baby girl...

and here's a boy who wants to do what Daddy does
the two lawn boys

Despite the heat, Owen had a great time cutting the grass with Daddy. He loves to be outside and I know we'll be enjoying the backyard a lot as soon as the weather cools a bit.

All smiles

Anna Claire has been smiling the last few days and today we just got a picture because, her daddy makes her SMILE! I just love that she's smiling now.

New Pictures!

Well, Anna Claire is officially 1 month old and Owen is 23 months old! We are planning Owen's birthday and can't believe it will be his second - time flies, doesn't it? Anna Claire is doing well; she nurses every two hours or so and sometimes will go three at night. She is sometimes a night owl and is bright-eyed until midnight or one (those are very longgggg nights...) but sometimes she goes to sleep at 10 or 11 and does her every two hour thing. I think she's trying to sort out night/day/naps/sleeping stuff. She's had her first outing to the library and to the hair salon (no cut for her though) and she tolerated both well. She HATES her car seat and we are hoping that improves (or we won't be going anywhere more than 20 minutes away unless it is a very big necessity). Owen's newest "thing" is to ask for help and then scream, "no, I do it!" so we're having some interesting days with that. I've taken a few pictures and wanted to share them with you and we'll have "real" pictures taken of both of our cuties on Saturday so we'll be able to share those with everyone too (I'll try to get them in the mail soon but I'm sure there are a couple of you still waiting for Owen's 18 month pictures so we'll see). I'll be back soon with more pictures.

Oh, also, the picture at the top was the best one we took with the two of them together. The others featured mostly a crying baby girl with a smiling boy and then an annoyed boy with a crying girl. Oh well, you take what you can get, you know?

our two cuties dressed up for a birthday party

bright-eyed girl

our "Art" session on Tuesday - we LOVE crayola washable paints and a really big old t-shirt!!!

Aunt Laurie's crafty idea (I think I will be cutting the monogram out of the shirt and making a little pillow or something with it after she grows out of it because it's too cute not to)

Anna Claire had a doctor's appointment today - she's 3.5 weeks old! She weighs 9 lbs, 13 oz, is 21.5 inches long and her head circumference is about 14 inches. She's bright eyed and alert for 1-2 hours a few times a day and loves to eat and snuggle. She's had a little problem with belly aches and so I'm laying off dairy for a few days to see if it improves as per Doc's suggestion. She got an A+ from the doctor today and we'll see her again at two months unless needed sooner.

Owen is doing great as well - he is Mr. Independent these days and really enjoys making a mess, I mean, doing things for himself, especially feeding himself and climbing on chairs and stools to reach things. He really loves his baby sister and wants to hold her (and pick her up - yikes!) and touch her head and kiss her. He's actually been sleeping on his new "bed" (his crib mattress on the floor with a bed rail on one side) since a couple of weeks before Anna Claire was born and he is sleeping through the night - I never thought I'd see those words about my kid before 10 years old... I'm so glad I don't have both of them waking throughout the night - that would really send me over the edge.

Well, Anna Claire is sleeping and I just put Owen down for his nap so I'm going to try to get a few minutes of sleep myself. The first picture is from today and then the others are from the last week. Enjoy!

3.5 weeks old - on our way to see the pediatrician

2 weeks old

sleeping on her daddy
the three amigos - with one not so happy member of the group

a girl in and on handknits

put 'em up!