A new year

Here is the first post of 2010. We didn't really do anything to bring in the New Year, in fact didn't even make it to midnight (but what's new there!) Amy has been able to start back at daycare after her month off recuperating. She is in a new class with new teachers but seems to be adjusting well. She is especially excited because now she is old enough to start the ballet classes they have on a Thursday. While Grandpa Jeffrey was here we went and bought her leotard and shoes that she needs. She looks so damn cute. This week they are doing tap which I think will become her favorite because she loves putting the tap shoes on and dancing in the kitchen on the hard floor already.
Caitlyn on the other hand continues to be my "mischievous" child. She is 1 and I already had to the front office! She bit someone at school the other week while fighting over a toy. Thankfully she hasn't repeated it. She is walking more though and is very proud of all the extra things she can do now (usually revolves around getting into some cabinet she shouldn't be in. She had her 15 month check up on the 7th Jan and she is now 30.75" and 21lb 14oz. She's like her sister though in that she is not saying any words yet. So she probably won't talk until she after her 2nd birthday too.
Grandpa Jeffrey went home on the 8th and we miss him. While he was here Amy had an obsession with counting red cars and McDonald's. So now during the week we keep a tally so that she can tell him on Sunday's when he calls how many she has seen. Both girls have also seemed to carry on the game of squirting water on me while in the bath. Thanks for teaching them that one Grandpa Jeff!
It has been really cold here in San Antonio (well for Sth TX anyway). However, I'm about to get a lot colder when I head to Boston tomorrow for the week. I think the high all week is 38. Hopefully there are no snow related travel delays. I am busy today washing and getting the girls stuff ready for them to spend the week with Jerad. So I'll go and finish that and post again later.

Christmas 2009

What a busy week we have had. Grandpa Jeffrey arrived last Friday and while Amy isn't allowed back to daycare until the New Year (because of her pneumonia/asthma) she has been spending her days with him (telling him what to do!). Last Sunday we went to Jennifer Garner's house to decorate Christmas cookies. Amy was a little shy at first but was then having a great time with all the other kids. During the week I took Dad and the girls downtown for dinner and a ride on the boat along the Riverwalk so we could see all the Christmas lights. It was a long wait in line for the boat but definitely worth it once we got on - Amy loved it and wanted to stay on the boat. Caitlyn was looking all around too and clapping her hands. Although little Caitlyn fell alseep pretty quickly on the way home in the car!

Christmas morning was exciting for the girls and I think Caitlyn was better at tearing apart the wrapping than Amy. Both girls got plenty of things to play with and mum had trouble finding places to put it all. We spent Christmas lunch at the Eckert's place. There was plenty of food and drink for everyone. Caitlyn spent most of her time trying to get to the stairs and Amy loved playing outside with Stephen's daughter Maddie. Amy even came inside wanting her own scarf and digital camera so she could be like the older girls!! The most exciting Christmas present of all though would be that Caitlyn has started walking :-) She only takes a few steps at a time but it is so cute to watch. She'll be into everything now. The day after Christmas Grandpa Jeff and I took the girls to the park - where we were once again instructed on what to do by Miss Amy - this time we were to push her high on the swing. Caitlyn loves the swings too and seems to like going higher than Amy.

So long between posts

To those of you that follow this blog i am sorry it has been so long between posts. Life has been very hectic and i just never seemed to find time to get to this. So here i go trying fill in the last 2 months!

September was fun when Grandma Liz came over for a 5 week visit. The girls loved it of course and Amy for some reason calls her Grandmother instead of Grandma - sounds very formal when she says it. Amy is really talking up a storm these days and singing little songs to herself - it is so cute. Caitlyn is saying sounds but not real words yet. She is really cute when she blows kisses and plays peek-a-boo. Caitlyn is a real cheeky little thing. Both of the girls are now in daycare at Country Home. Amy loves it and goes running in to play with Miss Samantha each day. It was embarassing the other day when I went to pick her up and she proceeded to tell me (in front of all the other kids) how some other kiddies had been naughty and were running in the calssroom. Hopefully she will learn in time it is not wise to tell on your classmates! Caitlyn surprised me and actually cries some mornings when I drop her off. She is usually so laid back and doesn't get bothered by much. She of course is fine within minutes of me leaving.

While Grandma was here Caitlyn turned 1. We had a little party for her at home but it was rescheduled to a week later because Amy had been sick with a tummy bug. She had a little cake all of her own but needed some encouragement to get in there and get messy with it :-) Amy loved it because she seems to think all the new toys that Caitlyn got were for her. She might as well enjoy it now because I am sure once Caitlyn is bigger I know who will win those battles out of the two of them!

Fall is here of course, so last month Blake and Amy had fun at Lovecreek Orchards (about an hour away in Medina, TX) at the Harvest Festival. They built scarecrows, painted pumpkins, petted the farm animals, went through the maze and just had a great time. Amy is also looking forward to next weekend when she goes to Blake's 3rd birthday party.

We had a bad week the other week. There was a Saturday night where poor Amy was coughing literally all night long. I took her to the med clinic on Sunday morning and we were sent to the ER at Methodist Children's. After 9 hours, blood tests, chest x-rays etc she was admitted to the intermediate care ward with pneumonia and has been diagnosed with asthma. Our poor little girl looked so tiny in that hospital bed with tubes and monitors everywhere. She was a real trooper though and takes her medicine every day, she even did well with getting her iv put in. So now we have daily albuterol and flovent morning and night. We go back to the doctor on Friday and we'll see what they say for long term treatment of her asthma.

Despite Amy just getting out of hospital we were still able to have a fun Halloween. We headed over to Jennifer's house to go trick or treating with Nicholas and Olivia. The kids all looked so cute. Amy was a pink pirate, Caitlyn a pink leopard, Nicholas was Harry Potter and Olivia was Piglet. The kids had a great time and certainly bought home plenty of candy. Mummy will be rationing it out for weeks to come.

The other exciting news is that Grandpa Jeffrey is coming to visit us for Christmas/New Year for 3 weeks. So plenty of fun to come.

Caitlyn walking (kind of)

Well it was a week of firsts this week. On Tuesday Amy had her first day at daycare. She seemed to really like it and was talking to me all the way home in the car about pre-school. In fact when she got home she had a little bit of a meltdown and kept saying she wanted to go back to pre-school NOW. On Thursday however, when she had day 2 she was in tears in the morning when I dropped her off. That afternoon when I picked her up she was fine though. She said in the car that she didn't like Miss Betty (the morning teacher) but Miss Samantha in the afternoon is nice. The only downside of daycare was that Amy of course picked up a little bug and all weekend has had a runny nose and cough. She seesm to be doing well though and tells me she "feels much better after having her med-med". But then 10 minutes later she'll say she "feels terrible". I hate seeing her sick but she is so damn cute! We'll see how she does this week at daycare.

Also on Tuesday when Amy and I got home, Caitlyn had started saying her first sounds (Ba-Ba-Ba). Then this morning at breakfast Caitlyn got up herself behind the walker and started walking!! So of course I had to get a video of it. She certainly loves getting all over the place and into everything she shouldn't. It's hard to believe she will be 1 soon. Our little girl is definitely growing up fast. She has the cutest little smile and giggle. Even when she is in trouble she is a cutie.

We were going to go to Seaworld today as the weather finally seems to be out of the triple digits. But with Amy sick it will be another day at home for us.

Amy is starting Daycare

Today was the last day of the summer semester at Little Gym. We have not registered for the Fall/Winter semester as there has been a change to class times. The class for Caitlyn would start at 9 and Amy not until 10:30. With the 45 minutes wait in between and the fact that your entire Saturday morning is then shot -we have decided to have a break from Little Gym for a semester. But this Tuesday Amy is starting Daycare. She is going to go 2 days a week to Country Home Learning Center (near my work) http://www.countryhomelearningcenter.com/
So on Tuesdays and Thursdays she will drive to work with mummy and then I will pick her up on my way home. I hope she has a fun time there. They provide breakfast, lunch and 2 snacks, she gets a nap after lunch and lots of play time (inside and outside) in between. Most of all I hope she makes some friends there and enjoys interacting with the other kids. I've been trying to explain to her what will be happening and for a while there she somehow had the idea she was going to Seaworld and would see Shamu! Now she tells me she is going to play with other kiddies! With Amy at Daycare it also gives Caitlyn some time just with Dad - no competition for his time from big sister. So I'm sure it will involve some golf games!!

Well I'll post some pictures later in the week on Amy's first day of daycare.

It's been a while between posts!

Where does the time go? For those of you that follow the blog regularly I'm so sorry I only got around to posting once last month - no excuses I guess. Since my last post I turned 1 year older! It was a fun birthday, friends at work bought me candy, starbucks voucher, took me out for lunch and we had cake. I got another cake when I got home too - lucky I like chocolate cake!

Amy is talking up a storm everyday. She is so cute trying to sing her ABC's and counting to 10. She has even started making up her own songs and just singing away to herself (and to Caitlyn of course). It took her a while to start talking but she is doing just fine now. She of course has also mastered how to tell Caitlyn "No" when she doesn't want Caitlyn touching "her" stuff. Most of the time Caitlyn just laughs and continues doing what she wants to do anyway. Can't wait to see some more sisterly love as they grow older. All in all though they love playing with each other and I'm sure in no time they'll be scheming with one another.

I have also had my first trip away for work since Caitlyn was born with a week long trip to Boston at the end of July. Poor Jerad was counting the days until I returned I think. It was a busy week and it was nice to be in cooler weather for a change, but equally nice to get home. The heat here in San Antonio this summer is incredible. It is officially the hottest year on record with 42 days in triple digits and the summer isn't over yet! I am surprised that we have not gone to stage 3 restrictions yet - I guess I better not speak too soon.

Caitlyn turned 10 months old this week. I really can't believe where the time has gone. It doesn't seem that long ago we were adjusting to having 2 kids and now she is crawling and pulling up on furniture. She also has 7 teeth with others coming in. She has a cute little smile but definitely has a gap in her front teeth - looks like we may be up for braces if her permanent teeth come in the same way! But then again, it looked like Amy had a big gap in her front teeth when they first came in and now they are fine.

One of my favorite times with the girls is still bathtime each night. They love splashing and playing together. I place the small tub inside the big tub and usually Amy sits at the end of the bath but lately she has started getting into the small tub with Caitlyn! It's gets very squishy in there when they decide to both try and start kicking.

Caitlyn's 9 month check-up, Circus & Tinkerbell!

So much has happened since our last post. Last weekend we enjoyed the 4th July weekend and went downtown to see the Ringling Brothers circus with Blake and his family. It was a great show. We were allowed in 1hour early so we could get up close to the animals and see some of the performers. Then the show itself lasted 2 hours plus an intermission. Amy and Blake loved seeing the tigers, elephants and acrobats. Mummy and Daddy were impressed with the 7 motorcycles that rode around inside a metal cage. It was certainly a full afternoon and everyone was tired that evening.
On Monday Caitlyn turned 9 months old so during the week she had her check-up visit with Dr Gideon. Caitlyn is 28" tall (70th percentile) and 18lb 6oz (40th percentile). Luckily this time she only needed 1 needle instead of 4 - she seemed to handle it OK. Big sissy went along for moral support too. Also during the week I bought a new camera since my old one had started putting this pink line through the top of the photos. When I bought the new camera I was amazed at how much you get for your money these days. I paid nearly half of what I did 5 years ago for the first digital camera I had and yet this new camera has double the features it seems and is tiny.
Jerad and I are continuing to plan for when we move back to Australia. We have my house back home on the market and then we plan to invest the profit so we can build something when we go back. So we have been looking at different house designs online and getting an idea of what we could afford.
Yesterday was time for little gym again and while we were there they have started selling little girls dance costumes (they now have a dance class for 3+ yrs). One of the costumes had Tinkerbell on it so I couldn't resist getting it for Amy. She wore it all day yesterday and it was quite the drama last night when it was time to take it off! Needless to say I have hidden it today. Amy and I also had a fun night last night - the girls "camped out" in the play room. Amy slept in her little indoor tent while mumy slept on a mattress on the floor outside the tent. Amy kept talking and talking and of course not wanting to go to sleep until well after 10pm. It was hard to get Caitlyn off to sleep in her room too as she seemed to sense she was missing out something and was crying from her bedroom. She came to the playroom with us for a little while but after 3 attempts I did get her to sleep in her crib.
This afternoon I am taking the girls downtown with Jackie, a friend of mine from work. It is the annual River City Dog Show and another lady I know, Kathy, is showing 2 of her golden retrievers in the agility course. I'm sure Amy and Caitlyn will love seeing all the dogs down there and it gets us out of the house. Maybe Amy can start training Domino and Buka after she sees how well the other dogs do :-)