Butterflies, Picnics, and Fun, Fun, Fun!

We’ve been trying to make the most of life lately by getting out of the house and doing new things with Owen and Sydney, especially  now that Owen is to the age where he can actually enjoy new things and can be a little more independent (Sydney just kind of comes along for the ride).

This past Sunday morning, we went to Frederick Meijer Gardens and Owen LOVED it, he was so excited to see the “daa-ta-fys”!  Once we got into the butterfly area he really started exploring, bending down close to check out butterflies and telling random people that there were butterflies.

     

He was so in awe that he would just stand there and look around…

Or, he’d put his hands over his mouth and start laughing with excitement! 

He loved when the butterflies would flap their wings, he said "daa-ta-fy, clapping" cuz he thought they were clapping. adorable.  He also LOVED the water and spend a great deal of time checking that out too!  There were also some guys in the water doing some maintenance and owen was so excited to see 'men, water' - it was one of the highlights, well besides the butterflies! 

We ventured outside but it was so cold we didn't stay long.  Owen did get to dig for a little bit in the sand and check out the water and walk up in the tree house. Sydney needed to eat so mama and Syd went inside and just chilled out in a little lobby area so she could eat.  It was such a big morning for him and a little past his nap time, so little man fell asleep on the way home!

Monday was so beautiful that we decided on a whim to go on a picnic at Dunton Park.  So we packed up some food in a cooler and headed out.  Owen kept saying ‘Mickey, notha Mickey' and pointing around - we thought maybe some of the kids he saw riding their bikes had something 'Mickey' on or something, then we figured out what he was referring to, can you?

After we finished eating we took a little walk on the boardwalk and went out on the dock to see if anyone was catching any "gooey fish" (as Owen calls them, cuz that's what Mickey fishes for). 

After that, Scott went to go pull the car around to the playground area and Owen, Sydney and I walked over to the playground.  Owen didn't want to walk with me on the bike path - so he ran across the field on his own, it was so cute seeing that little guy all by himself in that big space (can you spot him?!)   He was running pretty fast at first and then he walked the rest of the way.  I don't think he realized how far away it was.  When he finally got there, he climbed up on a bench and took a little breather and had to scope out the situation.  He was obsessed with the slide once he started playing and must have gone down it 20 times. Check out the concentration here…

He could climb up the stairs, which were all enclosed, all by himself and he would count the stairs every time as he went up, smart little bugger.  We had a good time watching him enjoy himself out there and I even had fun on the little spinny cup type things that you sit in there - if you haven't been there - you should really go and try them out all you do is sit down in it and let gravity take you around  - you'll get SO dizzy but its fun!! :) 

And what better way to end a perfectly pleasant evening – well a trip (first one of the season, at that) to Captain Sundae – of course!! (and yes, he kept his sunglasses on the WHOLE time we were out and about!)…
Owen is at such a fun age, as you can see by the adventures we’ve been having lately – but he’s also quite a handful! His newest saying is “no, no, no” – gotta put an end to that one soon! Other than that, he’s just growing up so fast!  He is such a little boy now, not even a toddler anymore!  He changes so much every day!  His hair is also growing!  Check out this styling new do…

He is still loving to read too – here he is kicked back reading while Papa was changing his diaper. cuteness.

He is also still enjoying being a big brother – we tried to get a pic of them in their cute little shirts but this is the best we could come up with

runner up…(ha! he looks like he is trying to palm her head and go play some ball and she looks super enthralled with the situation!)

Sydney is also growing so fast! She's out of newborn sleeper outfits, but still fits into some of her newborn pants and tops. I'm estimating she's probably about 10 1/2 or 11 lbs – because when we went to he dr when we found out she had an ear infection, she was 9 lbs 11 oz.  She has been sleeping some 5 hour stretches, but usually 4 at night.  She's still sleeping in her bouncy chair, cuz its the only place she will sleep!  I try her crib but she hates it, and I get to the point where I'd rather have my sleep then go back and forth to her room trying to soothe her and get her to sleep in her crib, so I just give in to the bouncy.  I figure she's still so young yet, I have time to get her in her crib. 

Her newest trick is smiling - she started last weekend and its SO cute!  (stay tuned for pics, we’ve yet to capture a good one) Her whole face lights right up and she does big wide open mouth smiles.so sweet!  She’s also starting to figure out she can ‘talk’, still not really getting it, but she is making more and more ‘noises’ all the time!

I have also been trying to take pics of her on Owen's blanket that Great Grandma Kole made for him - just to get some size comparison - here is Sydney at 6 weeks

and Owen at 6 weeks

Well, I could go on an on and on, but I’ve got to stop!  So, there you have it, our life lately!

BBQ Sauce?!?!

Poor little miss Sydney doing much better with her stuffy nose and ear infection!  Not sure if she’s having an allergic reaction to the meds she’s on, or if its just bad baby acne, but she has quite the bumpy rash goin on – on her face and neck, poor baby, but it doesn’t seem to bother her much, so that’s a plus!  Other than that, she’s doing great – still sleeping SO much and eating every chance she gets – surprise surprise! :) 

Yesterday, we decided to take Owen to the ‘Day of the Young Child’ event in Zeeland – Gran watched Sydney and it was great just to get to get out of the house and to get away with just the three of us to give Owen some undivided attention.  They had lots of activities and tons of different trucks for the kids to climb into and check out.  Owen was terrified of the trucks as we walked up to the school, so we thought we’d check out what was going on inside, terrified again, this time of the balloons and loudness of it all – so we just kind of stayed in the halls where it was quiet then thought we’d try outside again – this time he warmed up to the idea of getting into the ‘big boat’ – and he even let the marine patrol officer lift him inside the sheriff boat so he could check it out!  He LOVED it!!

His next stop was this golf cart with Papa… 

Check out his little footsies! 

He  also got inside an army truck and all he could talk about was the big boat the rest of the day.  We went to Pizza Hut for lunch then headed home – not the most successful of outings – but not a total flop either - he was traumatized for about 2/3 of the time – but at least he  had a good time at the end!! When we got home we put him down for a nap and he slept for 4 hours!! wow, guess it wore him right out, poor little guy! 

Today, I was trying to keep Owen occupied when I fed Sydney, and I know how much he LOVES anything to do with feet (yes, my child has a foot fetish! ha! ) – so I gave him Sydney’s sock (doozer) bin to play with – he dumped it on her floor and laid down next to all the socks and had a great time checking them out and throwing them around the room, little stinker!!

 

Here’s my little man sportin’ his papa’s hat! :)

I had this super sweet dress I got for Sydney that I had to put her in before she grew out of (it has little felt bunnies and mushrooms along the bottom) Didn’t have any tights small enough for her – so she’s got some knee socks on instead, what a sweet girlie! :)  (too bad she wouldn’t really cooperate for pics though!)

 

she didn’t much care for those socks and kicked them off a few times – her she is chillin in her bouncy chair (trying to hitch a ride?!)

We had pork chops w/ BBQ sauce tonight (and of course just told Owen it was chicken so he’d eat it) and Owen learned a new word: BBQ sauce…(btw, Sweet Baby Ray’s Honey Chipotle flavor is quite yummy!) here he is using his new vocab – notice he’s a bit ADD – and gets sidetracked while trying to say it again when he sees some books!  pretty funny little guy! :) 

And just one last pic that was too cute not to post…we put on an episode of Mickey before bed time and he got super cozy with baby bear and Papa to watch it! precious!

One Month

Sydney is ONE month old today! Where does the time go?

So what is she up to? Well not much, after all, she is only one month old!

its hard for me not to compare her to Owen - but I do and I need to stop! She is her own little person and she definitely is not the same as her little bro was! He was so much more alert and not as 'newbornish' as she is - like EVER - and its not just because I don't remember this stage with him - he was just never the sleepy newborn like she is!!

She is starting to 'track' things with her eyes and will actually make eye contact with you now - so fun to get to know her little personality!

She is wearing newborn size diapers and clothes (although she just grew out of her first little newborn outfit - it was too short!)

She is eating every 2-4 hours

She still sleeps most of the day!



But she is having more and more awake periods - sometimes (though not that often) for up to five hours at a time - and unfortunately not always during the day!

She has slept one of her longest stretches yet - Friday night - 4.5 hours

she is still not sleeping well in her crib, and for the past few nights has just slept in her bouncy chair in our room because she has had a stuffy nose and breathes better upright. She just looks so tiny in her crib though!



she loves to cuddle w/ papa!



and to hang out with Gran (and pull crazy faces!)



but she doesn't always like the camera in her face



she still makes funny faces all the time and smiles (unintentionally still) all the time, here is another smile we caught...



She can't wait to meet these two little babies inside Aunt Al's belly!



Her little brother loves her very much - he likes to give her kisses all the time and find her toys to 'play' with! He even joins her for tummy time!





and he loves to hold her!



She has her brother's nose



her mama adores her...



She is starting to 'take more kindly' to bath time! ha! Well, once she gets over the shock of being cold and then getting in the water. I think we're getting ready to start the every other night bath routine with her right before bed, like we did with owen. Baths seem to zonk her right out and with Owen it was what we did to get him on track to sleep through the night at around 6 weeks old.





We are going to do the same 'every month photo with a little buddy' with Sydney that we did with Owen - we did both the froggy buddy and her giant pink teddy bear from Gran. At first, we thought we wanted to do her pics with a different animal than the frog, but when we thought about it we thought it might be fun to use the frog for Sydney too, just for size comparison. We couldn't make up our minds, so we did both! It was hard to get a good shot, cuz she could only sit without flopping her head forward for a few seconds...





make sure you check out the entry below that I posted earlier today, I can't believe how awesome I am - two posts in one day! ha!
:)

Recap of the 'Haps' Since Last Time

We've been up to a lot lately!

Sydney had a 'photo shoot' a couple of weekends ago - so we could get her newborn pics done and try to get a pic of the four of us together! And her birth announcements are in the works!

Last Saturday, we had our first trip out as a fam of four - we went over to Gran's house for an early Easter Dinner. The kiddos both did great!

On Easter morning, Owen got a fun Easter basket which he had to go 'hunting' for - with some clues around the house.

Here he is finding a clue in an egg with papa


and jackpot, his last clue told him to look where the kitty sleeps - and he found his basket there...


the favorite item in his basket was his Mickey underwear!


oh, and the toosie rolls were a crowd pleaser too- "mama OPEN"



Here is Sydney in her 'Easter Best' :)





and i must admit - although I DID do an Easter basket for Sydney - complete with a couple board books, some cute little shoes and bunny ears - I actually left it in the closet and forgot about it until this week! ha!

Later in the afternoon we headed to Grandma and Grandpa's for an Easter Egg hunt and dinner. We also celebrated Dylan, Grandpa, and my birthdays!





and Sydney got to meet Great Grandma and Grandpa Kole



The weather can not really seem to make up its mind, we've had 80 degree days and snow in the past few weeks! Last week, we even had a crazy hail storm - it got dark dark dark and just came pelting down one morning, it was crazy! We just got pebble sized hail...

but Scott's parents got golf ball sized hail at their house and had some damage because of it - and they only live about 6 or 7 miles away from us!

When it was nicer out one day, we went out and blew some bubbles with Owen - he thought it was so fun! Although, when he tried to blow the bubbles, he thought he needed to put his mouth on the wand and taste them!





We also have been on a few quick walks around the block (which is about as much as I've been able to walk yet, but it feels so good to get out!) Owen LOVES his wagon rides! Here he is after one of of them...Mickey book and Mickey juice in hand (oh and Mickey and Goofy also had to go along for the ride)



Alyson's baby shower was this weekend. Tiffany (Alyson's sister-in-law) and I coordinated it, and the theme was two peas in a pod...everything turned out really cute and she got a lot of things that she needed to prepare for those little babes!

Sydney joined me at the shower and papa and Owen hung out at home - they went down to the pond and did some fishing - Owen had so much fun! Scott brought a blanket down there for them to sit on, and Owen wouldn't go sit on it at first - and Scott told him that he had to sit on the blanket to catch some fish (instead he just stood about 10 feet away) Owen said 'no, O-ey watchin' - then about 3 fish that were caught later - he couldn't take it any longer and had to go sit down by papa and catch one on his own! So cute, he is quite the little observer before he will jump in and participate! :)





Owen it amazingly, 21 months old now and he has been changing so much!! Here's what he's been up to lately...



he loves his baby sister, she is officially part of the family - mama, papa, sydney is what he says now when he wants us to do something with him...

Here he is playing with his sister





he is such a helper too - always wants to help get things for the baby and help mama and papa - he likes to help 'baby changin' (changing her diaper) and with bath time!



He is learning opposites, lately its been hot and cold and up and down. He loves to practice up and down and you could be walking with him and all of a sudden he'll fall down and shout out "DOWN" then he'll get up and shout "UP" pretty cute!!

He is still talking SO MUCH and pretty much repeats everything you say to him and then he remembers the words later - such a smarty pants!

He wears size 4 diapers
He is wearing size 24 mo or 2T clothes and even some 3T
Loves being outside and loves to play 'soccer' he can actually dribble the ball around the yard!
Counts to 10 - by 2s (we start and say 1 and go back and forth with him - so cute)
Knows Yellow, Blue, and Green
He associates crying with being sad (the other day we were watching Mickey and Goofy was crying - Owen said "Goofy cry....sad" and he'll say Sydney is sad when she crys too)
drinks from a big boy cup and insists on using a big fork and spoon when eating
is saying Yes instead of his Norweigan (or Yooper) 'yah'

Well that's all for now! Stay tuned for Sydney's ONE MONTH post coming soon! :)