Thursday, July 30, 2009

coney has it....




greta and i had a 'date' today at coney island. my mom came and hung out with otto at our house so that greta and i could meet up at coney with my friend erin and her daughter quinn. we had the best time! greta and quinn rode rides while erin and i chatted. we had lunch, walked around, and enjoyed the morning. all the way home, greta kept yelling "ride rides!" like it was the most fantastic thing ever...even though i think they rode a total of 4 rides. and man, oh man, was she exhausted! thanks erin and quinn for such a fun day. and greta for being so much fun to be with...

Monday, July 27, 2009

my own magazine



so the flash broke on our camera....so there won't be too many pictures of the kids while joe is away. unless it's really sunny. this picture is a little dark, sorry.
we picked up a free copy of high five magazine (put out by highlights...remember highlights?) at the doctor's office. it's a magazine for toddlers and greta loves it. i might have to get her a subscription, but so far she seems content to read the same issue over and over. you should hear her say "mag-a-ZEEN!"

Saturday, July 25, 2009

kisses


completely on her own....i swear. thank goodness the camera was nearby. she's the sweetest...
i'm sure we'll be showing them this picture in 15 years or so when they're fighting over who's turn it is to take the car.

while the papa's away....

we do a "nakie" dance before bedtime
while listening to bishop allen and johnny cash.

Friday, July 24, 2009

markers in the mouth















Align Left



























we think greta might be getting her two year molars. lately she has been putting EVERYTHING in her mouth....including the green marker.

five guys



so now that greta has no allergies that we know of, we had a celebratory dinner of Five Guys Burgers and Fries. greta loves fries...and apparently loves cheeseburgers. here she is with all that remained of her cheeseburger. she ate almost the entire thing. you can sort of see the food coma setting in.....

splash park


even though the temperatures were cooler this past weekend, we headed over to sawyer point to check out the new splash park. it used to be the concourse fountain, which was sort of a wading pool that greta and i had a chance to check out last summer.

it is such a plus of where we live that we can walk across the bridge to all that sawyer point has to offer.....including the two awesome playgrounds and this splashpad. on this particular day, we had the place to ourselves. greta and joe played in the water while otto and i sat and watched. greta loved it! we'll probably visit the splashpark a few more times this summer.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

who are these kids??

otto rolled over on sunday. from his tummy to his back...i thought it was a fluke. but then he did it again this morning. rolled over. ROLLED OVER.
and guess what else he did today? he laughed. otto, greta and i were sitting in the kitchen. i was holding otto while greta sat in her highchair. i was just cooing and gooing at otto as usual, and he started laughing. and then greta and i both started laughing. and then he laughed some more. it was priceless.
so our boy is rolling over and laughing.
our girl...what is she doing? she's saying things like "wait a minute!" and "oh my goodness", and pushing her own cart at the grocery store. she's getting mighty close to putting her clothes on by herself, and she climbs into the car and into her carseat without help. she even moves the straps when she does this so that we can buckle her up easier.
they grow up so fast. truly.

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Cousins

I have a feeling these two will spend quite a bit of time getting into trouble together.
 
In thus pic they are engineering the AC unit.

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Saturday, July 18, 2009

Otto in the Bumbo

Otto has a very expressive face... and usually it's saying to mama and papa...what the heck are you guys doing now.

Otto is getting a lot stronger and can hold his head pretty well. He's able to sit in the bumbo now for a little while, and I think he'll really enjoy sitting up and looking at what his sister is up to.





Allergy Free

Greta went back for allergy tests and it appears her egg allergy is no more. We also had here tested for 13 nuts an she's. All clear there too. Next step is to gk back to doctor and feed her egg to make sure that goes ok.
 
Here's a picture of her back for the test. Top left is what it would look like if she were allergic. The small dots are what it looks like when she's not. She was a trooper for the test. It will be so nice to not worry about foods anymore!

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Hiking at East Fork Lake

We took advantage of the 70 degree July weather and went for a hike at East Fork Lake. Which appears to be a very under utilized park. We had a great time though.

Greta loves her new backpack... this is after the hike we went on... She loves making funny faces for the camera.


Greta and I went 'exploring' while Otto was eating. She thought it was pretty fun to go hiking on her own. This is a great example of how cautious Greta is. She uses the tree to brace herself as she tackles that huge log (aka tree root) in the path.



It's so hard to ride in the backpack and sing songs, when you're shoe gets stuck in the straps of the backpack... it's VERY distressing.



Here are some of our other adventures for the day...click to view.


Friday, July 17, 2009

Sunday, July 12, 2009

to our 21 month old word wizard



another month passes, and a million more words and phrases learned. you are speaking in sentences now sometimes, like when we got back from the park and you said, "otto asleep on stroller ride". and indeed, he had fallen asleep. and then we got inside and you saw the picture of otto from the hospital and you said, "otto asleep in picture too". and yes, he is sleeping in the photo. the word "too" is in your vocabulary a lot lately, and so is "again". for some reason this just cracks me up. it seems so big kid to be able to relate something enough to use "too", such as when we were going upstairs for naptime and i said that you were going to take a nap, and since we had just come back from tom's house you said, "tom napping too!"
you have also been relating words....for instance, your papa has taught you nicknames for everyone in the family (monkey girl for greta, little guy for otto, papa the great, and mama ding dong). for anyone reading along, i don't really approve of this but it's pretty hilarious to hear greta say "mama ding dong". anyway, we were coming into the house and you pointed to the doorbell and said, "mama ding dong"....i thought your papa and i were going to cry we were laughing so hard. or when you saw water on tv and starting singing the words "in the water" that are from a song on your cd papa made you.
you talk nonstop...we know you are getting into something or pooping (or sleeping) if you aren't talking. and you continue to impress with your repetoire of songs....which now includes silent night. this is because for the past month or so, you have wanted to read christmas carol books before bedtime. mama finally went and bought a few new books, and now those have replaced away in a manger and the others....one of the books is goldilocks and the three bears. we read it twice and you remembered the name goldilocks. it amazes me that you will sit and listen to the entire story. that book is a favorite, as is gingerbread baby (again with the winter books), and pat the puppy.
you love to play outside, and have enjoyed having your water table. inside, you basically like to move your toys around from place to place, and push them in your shopping cart or stroller. you have been doing some more climbing, and you like to climb up onto the window seat in the kitchen or try to climb into your highchair.
you are still a fantastic eater, but i think you are catching on to the fact that you like some foods more than others and are starting to eat only those. to accompany that, the word "no" has become a popular answer to many questions. you like to say, "a couple minutes??" when told it's bedtime or diaper changing time.
you are pushing the limits a bit more, and we're not sure if it's delayed reaction to otto's arrival or just the fact that soon you will be two years old. but you really do listen and so far, your temper tantrums are few and far between. you will get frustrated and kick, and then when you are finally able to do what ever was frustrating you, you tell yourself, "there you go greta" or "all by myself".
and although i am glad you can do so many things by yourself, i love it when you say "mama carry" which means you just want me to hold you for a minute. i wish i had all the minutes time could offer, i would hold you the whole time.....

Saturday, July 11, 2009

the mother of all playdates


on saturday, the nawroths hosted a super-sized playdate. i don't know how many moms, dads, or babies were there. i would guess 15 kids or so....
that may sound crazy, but it actually was a ton of fun for adults and kids alike. thanks nawroths!

we didn't get enough of the gillards at the first playdate, so we decided to head over to their house for dinner. the picture is of greta enjoying a popsicle, which she finished off in about 15 seconds.
what a fun day!

Friday, July 10, 2009

Hiking

Got a sweet new hiking backpack from Deanna and Greta and I gave it a whirl with a walk aroun the neighborhood. It was a hit!

Sent from my iPhone

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Thursday, July 9, 2009

peppers

cute video of greta helping me prepare dinner. she isn't quite clear on the idea that when we MAKE a meal, we aren't eating. but to be truthful, who doesn't snack a bit while cooking?? i mean, i've never bitten into a whole pepper before while making dinner, but maybe greta's on to something....



sad face

this is the face of someone who's mama (and food source) arrived home a bit late from a haircut. FEED ME!!

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

to otto, our 2 month old talker

you are two months old now, and in those short 8 weeks you have truly gathered up a lot to tell us. you LOVE to talk, you will stare at us until we make eye contact. and as soon as we do, you start cooing and gooing, making all sorts of vowels sounds. you even take turns, turning all your sounds into a conversation. and smiles...oh man do you smile. you have several different smiles, but i think my favorite is when you smile with your mouth open all wide, all gummy and slobbery and just plain joyful.
you still move a TON, sometimes ending up perpendicular in your crib to the way we put you down in there. you kick and kick and kick....sometimes if we lay you on the boppy pillow on your belly it seems as if you might send yourself rocketing over it head first when you push with your feet!!
you love to watch greta and will smile at her when she talks to you. you like to lay and look at your butterfly mobile, and you LOVE to watch the spiders in the bouncy seat (thanks janet!). all your movement can really get that seat bouncing, which then sends the dangling spiders swinging around....and then you get startled by their movement.
you are a good eater. you are pretty quick with nursing, although you are still spitting up out your nose quite a bit. you seem to like being outside, and if you are crying sometimes it helps to take you outside and walk around with you. although, you don't really cry all that often. you cry when you are hungry or if you need a change of scenery (as in, "mama i am truly done looking at these dangly spiders, can you please get me out of this bouncy seat!").
and you love to be on your belly. giving you a bottle has proved to be a bit of a challenge until papa discovered to sort of lay you on your side (as close to being on your belly as possible) and it seems to be going more smoothly.
thank you for being such a mild, easygoing little guy. we would love you just the same no matter what, but you are truly happy and sweet and i can't wait to see what sorts of things you have to tell me about tomorrow.

Saturday, July 4, 2009

Friday, July 3, 2009

otto's first baseball game




otto went first class all way for his first reds game. we had diamond seats (thanks deanna!) and headed to the ballpark to show otto how to truly enjoy the game in style, while greta stayed home and ate pizza with "mamaw joan". we enjoyed the all you can eat food inside, the all you can eat food delivered right to your seat, and the 3rd row seats behind home plate. awesome! although, otto might feel a little let down next time we visit the ballpark and have to sit out in the bleachers.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Greta Loves Baseball

Watch out Harry Caray... Greta is on the move. Check out the duet between Greta and Papa on Take Me Out to the Ballgame. Not bad for a 20 month old. Stay tuned for the rendition of the Bengals Fight Song, which she also knows, but didn't have the patience for taping this evening.

This isn't her best rendition, but it's pretty good... missed a line in the middle, but still pretty awesome...

chatty

i am not sure if i like this video because i just love to hear greta talk, or if it's because she looks so darn cute. either way, enjoy...

curious george





last tuesday, on what could have possibly been the hottest day ever, we (greta, otto, and i) met up with janet and ella at the zoo for storytime. this particular storytime came with the promise of meeting curious george. we got to the zoo early, and saw a bunch of animals before storytime. when we headed to the storytime area, we realized that it was CROWDED, and that we really had no chance of seeing or hearing the story. so we hung back, which meant we were actually in perfect position (read: first in line) to meet george. greta was pretty excited...she ran over to george and tried to touch his face during the photo op. and in all the excitement i forgot to get otto a picture with george. oops. sorry otto....

greta