Belated Thanks to Nick & Anna

When we had to go to the hospital to have Luke we relied on our good friends Nick and Anna to come over to stay with Myla. They were gracious enough to give up most of their Sunday, which we all know is quite a sacrifice when you don't have kids. Myla had a blast with them and we knew that she was in good hands. At least I assume she had a good time because when we got her back her diaper was on the right way (inside joke) and she talks about them all the time. Thanks again, guys!

Walks on Campus

One of the things we tried to do as often as we could in the weeks leading up to Luke's birth was taking walks on ND's campus. It is a great place to take walks since you don't have to worry about traffic, Myla can just run all over the place, and there are plenty of benches where Kasey could stop to rest. Myla's favorite spot is a wall near the main building where daddy lets her walk around the flowers! Here are a few pictures from our walks as well as a video of Myla acting like a goof. I love that she didn't know she was being taped and was just acting silly, waving her arms, and walking funny in her own little world.

Breakdown

I love the progression in these three photos:

Also, Luke is throwing up that same gang sign again in the first one. Should I be worried?

Let's Go Play Putt Putt!

One of the more enjoyable activities we introduced Myla to this summer was Putt Putt. The first time we went she just kind of walked around with us holding her ball and little plastic club and didn't really want to try and play. We knew she wanted to go back when she started doing this weird thing where she would say "Let's go play putt putt, let's go play putt putt" in a strange raspy voice as she wiggled her fingers in front of her face. Words don't do it justice but it really made Kasey and I laugh.

As you can see from the videos below, she started to get the hang of the game. I love the one where she misses the ball and then slyly hits it in the hole with her hand.

Corn-on-the-Cob is Fun to Eat!

Myla isn't always the best eater as she seems to go through phases where she can't eat enough and then will refuse to eat three meals in a row. However, I have to say that she is a pretty neat eater for being two and rarely makes a big mess. This summer she tried corn-on-the-cob for the first time and loved it so much that it might even give mac 'n cheese a run as her favorite food. Here are some fun pictures and a video of her just going town! It cracks me up because she really tries to get every single kernel off the cob. I love how in the second video when the holder falls out of the ear of corn she takes the time to replace it before eating again.

Posting Catch-Up

So things have been really busy around our house for a few months. It is hard enough for me to find time to contribute to our blog, but in the months before Luke was born and especially now, I hardly have time to catch my breath. I have a lot of good Myla footage on my iPhone from all the time we have been out and about without the camera and have been meaning to share it for a while. This week I will have several postings that are all pre-Luke, but I didn't want them to get lost just because little man showed up.

Let's start with a couple of pictures from our trip to the Smoker's lake house back in July. Our good friends were gracious enough to invite us to spend the weekend with them away from all the hustle and bustle of South Bend. this was Myla's first venture into a lake and she loved parts of it and didn't love other parts. The part she loved was jumping off the dock and into the lake. She was really cute with her little life vest on and actually jumped for the first time rather than just falling in like she does at swim lessons. Her and I spent about two hours one morning just jumping off the dock over and over and over.... She didn't like our boat ride and I'm not sure if it was the noise, the wind, or just the end of a long day.

We ended the weekend with a stop at a local institution for lunch and found another thing that Myla loves - ice cream! Here are a couple shots of her and Kasey enjoying a treat.

Sisterly Love

Myla loves to hold Luke. Luke is not always such a fan, but he's a good sport about it. I'm not sure if it's that Luke is big or that Myla is little (probably both), but in this photo it looks like it won't be long until he catches up to her in size! Myla had better exert her authority while she still can.

First Bottle

Matthew gave Luke his first bottle the other night, and he did great! (Luke that is, not Matthew. Matthew is an old pro so there was no question he'd be great.)

New plan

It's been hard to get a well-written and carefully thought-out post up lately, but I realize you readers probably don't care too much about that. You want pictures, you say! So the new plan is to just post a picture or two more frequently so you can see how things are going for our new family of four. Here's a cute one of Luke sucking on his thumb the other day.

2 Week Checkup

We had Luke's 2-week checkup this morning, and all is well. He now weighs 9 lb., 13 oz. and is 22 1/2 inches long. That's some impressive growth since birth, even with the corrected birth weight of 8 lb. 11 oz.! So he's eating well to say the least. Percentiles are 93rd for height and 73rd for weight. I find it remarkable that 1/4 of all boys are actually bigger than this at 2 weeks!

We've been a bit slow with the posts, but hopefully I'll get some up soon, now that we're in a more regular routine. Stay tuned!

First Day Home Alone with Two Kids: Successes and Failures

Successes:
* Only entertained Myla with television for <30 minutes (two Bob the Builders and a Thomas the Train)
* Brushed teeth.
* Managed not to cry myself while coming down the stairs with a crying Luke in my arms and a crying Myla asking to be carried.
* Ate lunch. Though this only happened because Matthew came home to help on his lunch hour; otherwise I would not have eaten all day.
* All three of us survived.

Failures:
* Entertained Myla with television.
* Other than brushing teeth, did nothing to maintain personal hygiene.
* Total time with both kids sleeping: 10 minutes.
* With both kids in the car and Myla doing something I deemed dangerous, I told her if she didn't stop I would stop the car and make her walk home. I realized how ridiculous it was before I even said it, but had nothing else to go with. Fortunately the whole thing went over her head.

Day one was a bit rough but I'm a fast learner, so here's hoping for a better Round Two! :)