Summer already?!?!

Kirsten and Ellie invited us over for a swim yesterday. The water was icy cold, but the kids didn't seem to mind.

Ellie and Kyle enjoying a cool dip in the pool! 

Welcome...

...to the world of baby shoes:

Robeez

Buskins

Pedipeds

And the good old standby, Striderite.

I am truly amazed at how pricey these shoes are. Occasionally, I see knock offs at babies r us, but my search for a pair of flexible sandals has been in vain. Kyle's feet are practically black by the end of the day from walking barefoot, but his little leather close toed shoes just aren't cutting it anymore. I think his ankles are so chubby that the shoes are digging in to his skin because of the ridges that are left behind when I take them off.

Ah well.

Happy Easter!

A few tidbits...

Kyle was a whopping 20 lbs 6 oz and 28 1/2 inches long at WIC yesterday (with his clothes and diaper on). So I figure he's a good 20 lbs minus the extra stuff. Also, he's been doing this funny noise lately that sounds like "oyoyoyoyoy".

Regretfully, junior is having trouble sleeping because of all the new stuff he's learning. We have just recently found him sitting up in his crib and *gasp* standing up in his playpen after we put him down for a nap. Look for a picture on Kevin's website in the near future.

Tastes like chicken...

Kyle is so pleased with himself. Today he was playing on his little tikes table and turned around to play on his leap frog table; while standing! Also, he falls down now and doesn't cry! He just smiles and smiles as long as he's standing up and walking around. One more thing, he now enjoys "tummy time" or playing while laying on his tummy. We're hoping this will encourage crawling in the near future. Lately he wants to be able to follow us wherever we go if we need to leave the room for a moment. I'm hoping this frustration will ease a little once he can move himself around!

Tonight for dinner, he ate sweet potatoes with chicken, the strained baby food version. It was so funny because we think he kept eating just because he liked the taste, not because he was still hungry! This was his first introduction to meats.

Kyle also got to see his first real fire engine up close and personal tonight. We went out to eat and the firemen stopped by to open up the truck for all the kids dining at the pizza place. I wish we'd had the camera!

Kyle continues to add new signs to his repertoire: he now does the signs for more, cat, ball, and bed. And lastly, afternoon diaper changes have become quite the adventure. Kyle will scream and twist and turn to not have that diaper changed, but Kevin discovered that he loves to be rolled over while he's turning. This past weekend Kevin was doing the afternoon diaper change and I heard laughing from the bedroom; went to check it out and Kevin was rolling Kyle over again and again on the bed amidst screams of glee. The diaper even got changed!

We'll be in Phoenix this weekend for the Easter holiday! I'll update after we get back!

Now I lay me down to sleep...

We've been struggling for the past week or so with Kyle's nighttime sleep. At first we assumed his discomfort was due to teething, but that seems to be over (at least for now). He has been wearing some new jammies that aren't 100% cotton, so I'm thinking that might be the problem.

Last night we stripped him down to his diaper and he slept in our bed with us...I think it's the most uninterrupted sleep all three of us have gotten lately. Additionally, he woke up happy! I kept saying last night while he was crying, "This isn't Kyle! I just want my happy baby back!". Today he is doing really well compared to the last few days and we'll be using all cotton pajamas tonight.

Walking

So we have a new stroller; I decided to buy it a couple weeks ago after Kyle and I test drove it around babies r us. I'd been looking for a happy medium between the infant car seat stroller and the bare bones umbrella stroller. Basically I wanted something that had cup holders, an underneath basket, reclining seat, and a tray for Kyle to bang his toys on. And of course, it'd be nice if it was light and compact. Well, for about $10 more than what the bare bones umbrella stroller costs, I found this stroller and just love it. However, one feature I had yet to try out was the reclining seat. Every time I'd recline it when Kyle seemed on his way to dream land, he would frantically grab on to the toy tray and sit straight up in alarm that his seat back had just fallen out from behind him.

Today we were on a rather long walk since junior had taken all of a half hour morning nap and entertaining him at the house was just not working. Of course, he started to drift off to sleep since he was still exhausted and I reclined the seat. Panic set in, so I showed him how to lay down in the seat, popped the pacifier in his mouth and he was out in 10 seconds flat; I knew that seat would come in handy someday :o).

Since being pregnant and having a baby I seem to be incredibly absent minded. I'm constantly on a scavenger hunt for my keys and lately I've been neglecting to attach Kyle's pacifiers to him, so they usually get dropped somewhere between here and the Tucson mall on our walks. Well, we hadn't tried a regular orthodontic pacifier with him in quite a while, since the kind he learned to use were the bulb like newborn type. Regretfully, those are also the expensive ones. So, tonight we bought the orthodontic ones at Target; three pacifiers for $2.50. I washed em up, offered one to him and he took it! Thank goodness we now have four pacifiers floating around the house. We had been surviving with just one the last couple days.

On a few more exciting notes, Kyle officially has his "two front teeth". They broke through the gum line last week after a few restless nights and cranky days. Also, he "said" his first baby sign language word: more. Check out Kyle signing in action. His favorite baby talk lately is "da-da" which we like to think means he's referring to Kevin...

Kyle loves his baby classes, as do I! It's nice to talk to a few other adults in the middle of the day! That's about it!