Aidan

Here's Aidan and his best friend Shaun. Keira has no hope of getting any sleep when the two of them are playing :)

He couldn't find the little teddy blanket for his bear, so he brought out a pillowcase so his teddy wouldn't be cold

Making green playdough popsicles and other yummy stuff!

"Stop taking my picture Mom!"

Piano

I bought Keira a little piano a couple weeks ago. She doesn't play with it, just whips out the plastic things with the tabs on top and chews on them. Hopefully as she gets a little older she'll realize what the real attraction is supposed to be :)

Sledding

I feel like such a bad parent for waiting until the middle of March to FINALLY get the kids to the hill that is within walking distance of our house... But I met some friends there and they said it was just their second time, so then I didn't feel so bad.
I wasn't sure how Aidan would take it, so the first time he and I went down together and then he went down on his back, his tummy, backwards...I don't know why I ever bother worrying about him - he's never shy and totally up for anything!

Here he is on his way down the hill

Walking back up chatting with his friend Nathan who is getting a ride on his mom's back

He never actually crashed into anyone, though he had a couple close calls as you can see here

Making friends with another kid on the long walk back

Keira sat at the top of the hill on a bench and got bored quickly. I took her down once and it was quite a quick ride because the snow was getting icy but it totally didn't faze her. Not that I wanted her to start yelling, but she wasn't even the least bit excited either!

Friday Mini Party

Every Friday Aidan gets to have a mini-party. He hauls his couch out to the living room and snuggles in with his blanket and teddy to watch a movie. Sometimes Keira even joins him on his couch - until she starts trying to steal the cheesies!

Roly Poly Keira

I was going to just do a quick post and then I started surfing the internet and now it's about time for me to get to bed, so no pictures tonight.

I've really been trying to get Keira to start crawling lately. She's going to be 8 months on the 25th and (this is bad, I know) Aidan started crawling at 8 1/2 months and....not to compare or anything :) The first time I put her down on her hands and knees she was soooo not impressed and just started wailing in the way babies have when they are really put out. Today though, I put her down on her hands and knees and gently rocked her back and forth and she totally got the hang of it. We tried it 2 times. The first time she rolled back into a sitting position and the second time she really got into the rocking and was grinning away. I really want her to do SOMETHING! I mean, it's not like she doesn't do anything, but she doesn't roll over (she's only done it like 3 times) and won't lie on her back unless she's sleeping...she does sit, thankfully. Even when I come in after her nap she lifts her head off her pillow to see what's going on - so cute - but it's like she just can't be flat on her back.

I think her arms have grown like 2 feet each lately! Now I really have to make sure wherever I put her down there's nothing within a 3 ft radius of her. Aidan says 'Keira has long arms!' She's still teething and her nights are just horrible. I've started putting her to bed a little earlier which helps a bit...last night she slept from 10pm-4am and then woke me up at 4, 5, 6 and 7. By 7 she really wouldn't go to sleep so I had to bring her back to my bed and although I tried my best and we didn't get up until 8 I only got about 15 minutes after that. Sometimes it's a little better but I really wish she would sleep more!! Hopefully that darn tooth hurries up so I don't go insane!

Oh, and here's something exciting: I've been working out every single day since Feb 10th!! Well, I did skip one day, but still, pretty good!! I feel better and I'm sure it's giving me more energy, but so far I don't think I've lost any weight :( Maybe some inches (or inch). By now it's kind of a habit, which is great. Yesterday I was thinking about not working out (Aidan had a party and after mopping the floor and cleaning up I was kind of tired) and then before I knew it, I was on the treadmill half way through :) Today I bought myself some new work out capris for summer - maybe I'll move my treadmill outside :)

ROE Family Visit

Mrs. Brewster, the teacher of the Grade 1 class Keira and I are assigned to through the ROE program, emailed me these pictures from Keira's last family visit.

Keira's always a pretty happy baby, but with all the kids so excited to see her, she's got a mile wide smile the entire time!

So many people to look at! The kids wave at her or call to her trying to get her attention. Sometimes she pays more attention to certain groups of kids than others and then we have to direct her attention to the rest of the kids because they feel left out.

That's Dawn in the blue shirt, she's the ROE Instructor that comes with us on the visits and then she also does a pre and post family visit on her own with the kids. These toys Keira is playing with are just for her on her visits - pretty cool! The kids like seeing how she's developed and that now she can actually play with them. Everyone has such a good time and the visit just seems to fly by.

Haircut

So yesterday I went and got a long overdue haircut. I dragged both the kids along since Michael was out in the field. It was the first and last (hopefully!!) time that's going to happen! I was just going to get a trim...and then I was agreeing to an inverted bob thing. I don't think it really works properly with my thin hair, but it looks okay :) It's certainly harder for Keira to grab a handful of my hair to pull out - and for that I'm thankful!