Roll Over

Casey is at school today and Garrett is napping at the moment.  Last night we ditched Garrett's late night (10:00 p.m.) feeding.  He didn't seem to notice.  I went up to get him at 7:30 this morning and he was still snoozing!  He escapes from his swaddle in the middle of the night and about 1/2 the time he talks to himself and then falls back asleep, the other 1/2, he starts wailing until one of us goes in and reswaddles him.  We are trying to wean him off the swaddle during nap time, but it's hard because he sleeps so well when he's swaddled!!

We started feeding Garrett oatmeal with his morning bottle.  Well maybe not exactly feeding him, more like shoving it in his mouth so he can push it back out with his tongue.  It's a game to him and he smiles and laughs and talks throughout the "feeding."  Today, he seemed to have swallowed more than he pushed out of his mouth, so I'm taking that as a win for me today!!

We had Garrett's 4 month doctor appointment on March 14.  He is 26.5 inches tall and 15 lbs 2 oz.  He is in the 90% in height and 40-50% in weight.  He had to have 3 shots, which he was NOT at all happy about.  He was a little fussy the next day and a half because of them.  He has been working on rolling over.  At the doctor, I put him on his belly and he flipped over onto his back immediately for the first time.  He has done this a couple times with Stan too, but never when we ask him to.  Stubborn.

Casey has been enjoying her brother more and more.  The other day she went and sat next to him in his exersaucer and made funny noises to him.  She still likes playing the music on the exersaucer and then dancing ballet to it.  She is a ball of energy and says the funniest things.  I wish I could remember everything or at least remember to write them down.  She knows what she wants and how she wants it done and is not afraid to voice her opinions.

We take Casey skiing every weekend and she has gotten pretty good, though her focus is still not all there.  She can talk or sing the entire way down.  And it's a long way down.  This past Saturday at Breckenridge, after a meltdown on the mountain, she decided to "meow" the rest of the way down.  Fine by me...much better than crying!!  It's has been Spring weather out here, so we've been enjoying outside a lot.  Casey has been riding her Strider bike, playing at the playgrounds, sidewalk chalk on the driveway, driving Daddy's remote control car, playing with the sand and water table and the sandbox.  She keeps busy!!

Mom and Dad have even had some fun this month.  We went to see the Green Day Broadway Show, American Idiot in Denver on the 11th, with our friends, Mark and Amy.  Amy's sister babysat the kids!!  We went to Copper Kids Night Out with Brian and Sarah.  And this past Saturday we went and listened to some reggae music at Breckenridge after taking a few runs with the kids.

My family starts arriving tomorrow night for the week.  So we should have a lot of pictures for the next post!!

Congratulations to Uncle Dave who will be in Miami for 1 more year and then off to UAB in Alabama for Radiology Residency!!

finger painting...casey likes playing with her shirt off a lot, so she is either in a dress or shirtless

"i love my exersaucer"

i think he looks like mommy in this pic

little brother and big sister hanging out

riding up the lift at breckenridge with mommy and daddy

A Little Laugh

"Mommy, can you make vegetables every night, because I really love them."

This was Casey on Tuesday night.  She kept asking for more broccoli, cauliflower and carrots.  After a few extra servings we had to threaten, "no more until you eat your fish and rice."  Seriously!

Casey has been helping Daddy raise dragons on the ipad.  She has been getting back to going upstairs and playing by herself, though she still tries to coerce us up to play too..."Mommy, the birthday cake is almost ready."  At night, she has decided to be afraid of the dark, and doesn't like her room as much as Garrett's room, the green room.  I think it's just a way to prolong bedtime.  The past couple of weeks at bedtime she keeps asking if we will sleep with her because she doesn't want to sleep by herself. 

Garrett is Mr. Smiley and he is now laughing a little.  He is doing great with his schedule.  He now goes down for nap very well, barely cries and when we go in to get him up to eat, a lot of times he is awake and looking around.  When he sees us, he gets a big smile on his face.  He still loves his bouncy chair, especially in the morning and tries his hardest to grab at the animals hanging out of reach.  He also loves his activity mat and his exersaucer a lot.  We are ready for him to start rolling over, so his flat head can start rounding out.

We still swaddle Garrett when he sleeps and he sleeps through the night, except, when he gets out of his swaddle he is awake and grunting and crying until we go up and reswaddle him.

Our weeks are pretty routine, with Casey going to school Monday morning, TGLS Tuesday morning, school all day Wednesday, ballet Thursday and school again Friday morning.  This past weekend we had our friends Geoff and Sarah and their kids, Kaelin and Graham, visiting.  We went sledding on Saturday at the rec center.  Kathy, Dillon and Connor met us there too.  Luckily we had gotten snow on Friday, so the sledding hill was in great shape and the kids had a blast.  Sunday was Daddy's bday.  We enjoyed Dairy Queen ice cream cake, then the kids went over to Sarah, Brian and Rowan's for dinner while Mommy and Daddy went out for a 4 course meal at Ski Tip Lodge in Keystone.

Casey and Garrett want to send a belated happy birthday to Aunt Lisa (March 3) and Daddy (March 4).

Enjoy the pix.

sledding...Dillon is in the back

carrying the tube back up the hill

close up

the kids

Happy Birthday to Daddy

tummy time

A Visit From Grampa

Grampa came to visit. He arrived Monday afternoon, just in time to pick Casey up from her half day of school.

Tuesday, Grampa, Casey and I went to Keystone to ski. After a few runs on the beginner hill, Ranger, we took a nice long Schoolmarm/Silver Spoon run. Only one big crash. I was down the hill taking movies and instead of turning, Casey decided the easiest and fastest way to get to me was to point her skis straight at me. She took out a big yellow "SLOW" sign before finally falling to a stop.

Wednesday, while Casey went to school, Gramps and I went to Breckenridge for the morning. We skied all of Peak 7 and a run on Peak 8.

Thursday, Gramps went to Keystone all day and got to explore the other 2 mountains, North Peak and the Outback. Casey had her last ballet class. The parents were allowed in to watch and take movies.

Friday, Gramps, Stan and Casey went skiing at Keystone. She is great at snowplow, can turn, especially when she is following someone. She still loses focus, so it is much better when she is following and every so often we have to remind her to turn towards the trees. Her favorite part of skiing is going through the tunnel off of the beginner hill and skiing through Grampa's legs. Oh, and all the treats she gets throughout the day.

Casey and Garrett had fun playing with Gramps for the week. Casey got in loads of Ipad time, putting puzzles together, playing memory and listening to "The Monster at the End of the Book" with Grover and Elmo. Garrett entertained Gramps with his talking, standing and smiling.

Garrett is still working on his naps. He sleeps for the first 40 minutes, then cries on and off for the next 45 minutes. He slept in our room while Grampa was here and woke up at 4:30 the first couple nights talking for about 5-15 minutes, then slept until 5:30/6:00, then woke again talking, grunting and then finally crying. We are trying to get his wake time to be 7:00 a.m. The last couple nights he didn't wake at 4:30 and slept until about 6/6:30, so he is getting there.

Casey is still warming up to her little brother. Every once in a while she will pay attention to him and notice that he is smiling at her. He LOVES to watch his sister. And smiles at her constantly! For the most part, however, she is into her own thing and doesn't want him to get in her way. You can tell that she notices when the attention is on him. She feels the need to make as much noise as possible to make sure we know she is there. She is asking us to play with her more often and has been a bit more whiny and feisty with us. She has been into "cleaning" lately. She will wet a washcloth and go around the house and wipe things down: her toys, the baseboards, doors, pretty much anything. Sometimes she will say that one of her stuffed animals drooled somewhere so she has to wipe it up. Another activity she likes to do is pack up ALL of her toys in bags and boxes and say she and her stuffed animals and baby dolls are going to a hotel.  Great imagination!

Safe travels to Grampa who should be back home tomorrow. We all had fun playing!!

Best wishes to Blair & Chad who are expecting a baby boy any day now.

Enjoy the pix and videos...

Casey & Mom skiing Keystone

treat time

skiing with Grampa

pilot Garrett

Grampa hanging with his Grandkids

I'm so cute...

the fam

 

 

 

 

Busy Bees

The past couple of weeks we were getting back into the swing of things. Casey had 1/2 day school on Monday and Fridays, TGLS (Toddler Gym, Library and Swim) on Tuesday, Ski School at Abasin on Wednesday and Ballet on Thursday.

She loves school. She really loves her teacher, Ms. Cheri and seems to be quite a helper. I walked in one day and she was sweeping up a mess on the floor into a dust pan. She didn't stop when I came in, just kept sweeping, until finally Ms. Cheri told her she did a great job, but it was now time to go. She started full day of school on Wednesdays today and she was very excited about it!

Tuesdays is TGLS. I drop her off at the library, where they have storytime and a craft or activity. They then walk across the street to the Rec Center for a snack, songs and gym time. Then they swim until we pick them up at Noon.

For the past 3 weeks, Casey spent Wednesday mornings 9 - 1 at ski school at Abasin. She basically had a private lesson with her teacher, Colleen, who was outstanding! Casey knows how to snowplow, turn and stop. A couple Saturdays ago we went to a birthday party at Abasin Beach all day and Casey was tearing down the bunny hill all by herself. This past Sunday, we took her to Breckenridge. We each got to take her on 1 run down a green run. It was a long run, and she did great following us down, turning when we turned, slowing down when we did. Oh, and she talked the entire way down.
"Mommy, where are the bears."
"They're sleeping."
"Are they sleeping in caves? Where are the caves?"
and on and on...
We will try and get video next time.

Thursday is ballet. Casey LOVES ballet. She especially loves getting to wear pink tights, a pink leotard, a pink skirt and pink shoes. The teacher says she is a bit shy during class. Casey does not like to be center of attention in social situations (completely opposite when she is at home!!). She has learned a few moves and shows us her moves randomly throughout the week.

While Casey is keeping very busy playing and learning, Garrett has been busy growing. He is on a good schedule now eating at 7:00 a.m., 10:00 a.m., 1:00 p.m., 4:00 p.m., 7:00 p.m. 11:00 p.m. and then still waking at 4:00 a.m. most nights to suck down a bottle. He did sleep from 11:30 p.m. - 6:30 a.m. 2 nights in a row last week. He is eating 2-4 ounces at each feeding. He's been staying awake for about an hour/hour and a half to eat and play, then naps. He has been smiling a lot, especially when you smile at him. He is also cooing and "talking." He likes to stand and can hold his head up really well now. For the most part, he's a pretty chill and happy baby. Casey is warming up to him, but definitely notices he gets a lot of attention from us, so she does her best to get the attention back on her by talking non-stop or just simply moving herself into our line of vision.

smile

more smiles

he loves the bath, he looks around, loves the water, doesn't mind when it runs over his face. once i take him out and put him on the towel, he cries...so sad to be out of the tub.

posing in front of a merry go round carved from a block of snow at the breckenridge ice sculptures

another ice sculpture

never too young to ipad

the activity mat is fun!

A Visit from Aunt Marcy and Cousin Jack

After Casey's Abasin ski lesson last Wednesday, we drove to Denver to pick Marcy and Jack up from the airport. Thursday we went to the pool in the morning where the kids took turns riding down the water slide with Aunt Marcy.  We then headed to Ullr Fest in Breckenridge for a silly parade. Though the temperature was REAL COLD, the kids had fun watching interesting floats especially once the candy started being thrown.  Jack really enjoyed the guys running down the street with only their underwear on.  Casey agreed, saying they were chilly.  After pizza at Fatty's, the kids crashed when we got home after a long day.

Friday, we took Casey and Jack to Abasin for a full day ski lesson.  We got a few runs in too, my first time snowboarding this season!  Casey had the same teacher she has on Wednesdays, Colleen, and after a not so productive morning, she finally learned how to turn in the afternoon.   Jack seemed to really enjoy his lesson and asked to go again!

Saturday, we took Jack and Casey skiing at Keystone.  We rode the Gondola to the top and did a few runs at the covered magic carpet learning area to get them warmed up.  We then moved onto Ranger, the beginner lift.  Casey is able to go down the whole run by herself in snowplow (pizza) position.  She knows to open her snowplow wider to slow down and that if she is going too slow she needs to make her snowplow smaller or even to straighten her skis (french fries) in order to go faster.  She doesn't have the strength to get herself up yet, but she knows to get her skis together to make it easier to be pulled up.  The last run of the day was SchoolMarm, a 3 mile green run.  Casey made it down half way by herself, but started to get tired (falling a lot more, but laughing every time she fell).  I put her in between my legs the rest of the way down.  WOW, I am NOT in shape for that!  But we made it and the kids were mostly happy.  We all enjoyed the hot tub that night.

Sunday we took it easy.  We walked up to the lake and playground.  Marcy, Frisco and the kids walked out onto the frozen and snow covered lake to make sure it was solid and to watch the kite boarders. 

Monday, we went over to Breckenridge to ride the Gold Run Alpine Coaster.  Pretty fun! 

Marcy and Jack left yesterday.  Jack and Casey for the most part, had fun playing together.  Though they both definitely know how to push each others buttons.  Garrett enjoyed being spoiled by his Aunt Marcy and cousin Jack.  To show his appreciation, Marcy got to witness first hand (literally) free poop...while changing his diaper, he let 'er rip all over Marcy's hand. Isn't he cute?!

So all in all we had a really fun weekend!  Looking forward to more visitors!

Casey had TGLS yesterday (Toddler Gym, Library and Swim).  She seems to really enjoy this class.  She gets to check out a new library book each week.  Today she had another Abasin ski lesson with Colleen.  She was in a good mood the entire day and got to ride the lift.  They worked on turns more today by going around cones.  She is working on knowing when to point her skis across the mountain (for turns) and down the mountain (for speed).

Enjoy pix.

uh boobidy boo

Swimming with Aunt Marcy and Cousin Jack

Looking out for Ullr

defrosting and waiting for pizza

what a hysterical bedtime story

ready to shrow the not so much pow

at the top of keystone's ranger run

cousin jack, such a big help

yes, frisco is still around

happy boy

just chillin'

family photo

gold run coaster time

Back in the Mountains

It's snowing today!  Which is much needed out here in the mountains.  The resorts are hurting for snow.  I think the weather gods are waiting until I can get back on my snowboard, which is in a couple weeks.  Let's hope.

We spent our last week in VA with Gramma Lois.  We got to Roanoke on Tuesday, opened presents from Gramma Lois, then headed to Great Aunt Linda and Great Uncle Marvin's house to celebrate more Christmas with Auntie Cousin Blair, Uncle Cousin Chad and Grayson.  Casey and Grayson had tons of fun running around and playing together.  The rest of week we had visits from Great Aunt Donnie, Karen and Great Aunt Joyce.  Saturday we drove to Blacksburg to see Sweets and Maryann and to get some new VT gear!


We left Sunday to head back to CO.  Though we had a lot of fun on the East coast, Casey was very excited to be home.  As we drove the last leg of our road trip home, Casey announced that she missed her toys very much and asked us if we would unpack ALL of her toys right when we got home.  She told us that her toys missed her very much too.  Within minutes of getting home, the loft looked like a tornado had come through.  However, Casey is also very good at cleaning up (for the most part).  She knows where everything goes and if something is in the wrong place, she thinks its funny and has to put it in the right place.


Casey went back to school Friday.  On our way to school she was very excited and said that her teachers were going to be so excited to see her and that she was going to go in and say, "I'm back!"  It didn't go quite as planned.  She got really shy and teared up a bit when I left, but when when I picked her up she talked all about her day.


Casey has quite a personality that keeps growing each day.  She talks non-stop all day and cannot sit still.  Her favorite word these days is "Mommy" followed by a random statement or question or just some random thought.  She also feels the need to start talking right when mommy and daddy begin to talk to each other.  So we're working on how to not interrupt.  We are also working on dinnertime routine.  She has gotten good at coming to the table for dinner (which was a struggle for a while).  Now it's getting her to focus on eating at dinner.  She wants to talk and look around and move around, which means it takes forever for her to get through dinner.


Garrett is doing great and has not had any more breath holding incidents so far.  He is a growing boy and at 7 weeks now weighs 15 lbs (from our calculations).  We are working on getting him into more of a routine.  He eats about every 3 hours throughout the day.  After his 10 p.m. meal, he sleeps until about 4:00 a.m.  And then wakes again between 7-8:00 a.m.  We are putting him in his crib for naps, now that we are home.  He is doing okay, though he cries on and off for a couple minutes here and there. He is now smiling at us and can focus really well on our faces.  He seems to get a bit gassy, and is especially grumpy during the evening hours.  Hopefully once he gets into more of a routine he will lose this grumpiness.


This week we had warm weather, so we were able to take a few walks around the neighborhood and Casey got to ride her strider bike and play on the playground.  Other than that, we have just been unpacking from our trip.


Hope everyone enjoyed their holidays and we wish everyone a fun and happy 2012!

Casey and Grayson playing with her new stamps

bedtime

Garrett spending quality time with Gramma Lois

Animal with her new tag book

being a big sister, yes he is wearing a pink bib

big boy!

Christmas with 2 kids

We drove to VA for Christmas. Both Casey and Garrett were great on the road trip. Casey watched a bunch of movies, read books, napped, snacked and Garrett slept. We got to Grandma Gail and Grampa Tom's house on the 18th.

The week was a busy one with friends and family. We got to see Jessica and Maddie on Tuesday, then ended the day with dinner at Aunt Marcy, Uncle Stuart, Lily and Jack's house with Grandma Gail, Grampa Tom and Aunt Kelly. Wednesday, Dyani came over to visit. Then Aunt Marcy, Lily and Jack came over to ice Christmas cookies. The kids got a visit from Santa afterwards. Thursday we went to Rosslyn to have lunch with Aunt Kelly and to see her office, then headed to Sears for the annual cousin picture. Friday, we met Aunt Marcy, Uncle Stuart, Lily and Jack downtown to see trains at the Botanical Gardens and then headed over to the Natural History Museum. The weekend was a whirlwind of Christmas activity. Casey was very excited about all of her gifts. She also enjoyed helping Garrett open his gifts. Garrett basically slept through Christmas, like he did throughout the rest of the weeks activities.

Garrett is now 6 weeks. He is a little more aware of things, but is still sleeping a lot. He can hold his head up really well and has started to smile, we think for real now, not just gassy smiles. He found his voice and enjoys saying "AH" or "UH." He is spoiled rotten at the moment, being held all the time, so when we try and put him down on his own, most of the time he becomes fussy, so you pick him up and he immediately snuggles in and is content. We started him on formula before we left for VA. He now eats 3 bottles of formula during the day, drinking 3-4 ounces. He seems to like it, especially now that the nasty rash when he first started has disappeared.

Casey is 3 1/2 now and pretty funny. She plays really well by herself, even while at her grandparents house. She remembers what toys are at each persons house and gets really excited about going over to each house to play with the toys. She likes to play pretend. She'll tell you exactly what is going on. She'll play with her dolls/stuffed animals and have them go to bed or school or ballet. She also likes to play school, where one person is teacher and one person is student. Usually during school, she'll take coasters and start doing "Zoophonics" which is an ABC activity from her school. She can definitely be a little sassy, especially when she hasn't had her daily nap, which was often during this trip. For the most part, she is a sweet little girl.

We hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and we wish everyone a Happy New Year!

Enjoy the pix.

hanging with santa clause

howling at the brookside garden lights

the cousins enjoying the lights

garrett and gramps chatting

casey helping grandma gail make cookies

lily read LOTS of books to casey and jack this week...LOTS!  luckily she is a REALLY good reader

a surprise visit from a jolly old red suited white bearded dude

supposed to be icing the cookies not eating them

striking a pose at the top of aunt kel's office building.  you could see all of dc from up there.

doing the pencil in front of the monument made out of tree and plants

grandparents and grandkids in front of the capitol

the first of the gifts!

frisco got an elephant for Christmas.