Birthday Update

 

After much planning, we had the kids' birthday party at Kerala's art studio. The party was an art themed party with the kids doing various art projects. There was a Pablo Picasso table (homemade scultping clay - cinammon and apple sauce mixed together), Jerry Garcia table (tie-dye t-shirts), Georgia O'Keefe table (flowers made out of coffee filters), Jackson Pollack table (splatter painting on canvas) and a Monet Table (water colors). Everyone seemed to have a great time and the kids were able to take home some fabulous handmade goodies. The only negative of the party was the fact that Kerala and Kian were both coming down with a stomach bug. The next week was horrendous at our house with everyone getting sick, which included our nanny and my sister Kim who flew in from AZ for the parties. Kerala and Kian made it through the party but you could defintiely tell they were pretty low energy.

With the kids' birthday came their one and three-year dr's appts. Overall the kids are doing really well. The only area of concern that came out of the visit was the fact that I have two very skinny kids. The doctor wasn't overly concerned, especially since they were both getting over a stomach bug, but we do have to go in for a weight check in a few weeks to make sure the kids get back on track. The doctor also gave us some tips on potty training which we are still implementing.

 

As far as a general update for Kian, he is doing fabulous. He is still not walking, but he is going crazy verbally. His favorite phrase is "thank you" and he says it non stop. It's pretty cute because he will give you something and then say thank you. He also will waive when you say "adios" and say something that sounds somewhat like "adios." I need to count how many words he has, but it sure does seem like a lot at this point.

Kerala is doing great. We have pulled out her bike wit the warmer weather and she is pedaling like crazy. It's actually great to be able to walk to the park with her pedaling on her bike. It's definitely a slow walk, but I am quite impressed that she can make it the whole way there and back.

And for the family news...we sold our condo (yay!). We are now starting to look for a house and hopefully will find something before we close on our condo at the end of May.

 

Family Vacation

We are in Vail and having a blast. Kerala had her first ski lesson and Troy and I couldn't have been prouder. The class was a solo class - so her first experience without us or her nanny. Yesterday, we picked up her ski boots, helmet and goggles - all of which she was super pscyhed about. We talked to her about the class last night and how she would be in the class with other kids and a teacher. She seemed pretty pscyhed about it, but we weren't sure how she would do when we actually had to say good bye to her. Dropping her off at the class was a bit of a mad house - there were a ton of kids there, some of which were screaming incredibly loudly about not wanting to do the class. We were a bit concerned because as we were standing in line to drop Kerala off a little girl was screaming and kicking behind us. Kerala held my hand a bit tighter than normal, but when it came time for her to go - she walked through the classroom door and didn't even look back at us. We were able to check her out during the class and she was having a blast. She kept going up the magic carpet and down a little hill (with much assistance). At one point, she also kept trying to hold a little boy's hand, but he wasn't really intersted. She did seem to make a friend and from the sidelines we could hear her and her little friend talking about how they were going to ski on the big mountain. We originally signed Kerala up for a half day, but when we went to pick her up she said she wanted to stay for the full day. At the end of the day, we picked up a very tired but very happy little girl.

While Kerala was at ski class, Kian tried out the ski resort's day care. I was pretty hesitant about putting him in it, but we heard great things about it and I was able to check it out yesterday before enrolling him in the class. Kian apparently fell in love with one of the staff people and she told us that he was definitely her favorite kid during the day. They said he had a blast and got pretty attached to some of the other little ones.

With Kerala in ski class and Kian in the resort day care, Troy and I were able to enjoy a day on the slopes with Kim and Kyle. We were having a blast until a lady collided with me pretty badly. Fortunately, I was wearing a helmet so I am fine, but the lady ended up hurting her head which was pretty scary. After the collision we ended the day doing some pretty easy terrain.

On our trip, Kian has developed a few new words. The house we are staying at has a stuffed moose above the fire place, so he has been pointing to it and saying something that kind of sounds like moose. He also said book and Troy has finally acknowledged that Kian has been saying "Kerala."

The Big One and Almost Three Party

 

This past Saturday was Kian's one year birthday. We celebrated it by having a party down at Troy's mom's house. We also combined it with Kerala's three year party. In the past, we have held two parties on one day - the am party was for family/friends and the afternoon party was for friends with little ones Kerala's age. This year we decided to do the family/friends party on Kian's birthday and the crazy kids party closer to Kerala's birthday. I like this format better because the two parties on one day was absolutely exhausting and left little time for us to enjoy and take in the special day.

We had a great time down at Troy's mom's house. Kerala and Kian were pretty psyched about the party and getting to spend time with the gang from down state. I am so happy that Kian is over all of his illnesses from February - he was in a fabulous mood at the party. Since the party, Kerala has been talking about her friends, Bonnie, Sandee and Jeff which has been pretty cute. Kian was psyched about the cake and Kerala was willing to help Kian with his smash cake. The kids were also pretty psyched about Grandma Smith's doggie Harley, who is really gentle and sweet with the kids. The only negative was that Kian had a pretty rough time sleeping. Kerala, on the other hand, did fabulous sleeping - she went to sleep on her own and on the way home on Sunday she told us she was going to sleep and shut her eyes and slept the entire ride home. Overall, we had a great trip - thanks Grandma Smith for the lovely party.

As far as milestones, Kian stood quite a few times by himself today. Also, we introduced milk to him yesterday. I am psyched about the milk introduction because I'll start reducing the number of pumping sessions I have at work. Kerala is doing really well - she has been super into the alphabet and knows the sounds for most letters and has been sounding out some words with Troy. She loves books, so I think we will have an avid reader with her. Kian on the other hand is still developing his love for books - a lot of times he still wants to chew the book.