Caityn's new obsession

These photos were all taken last week.

Sunday:



Monday:

Tuesday:

Wednesday:

Thursday:

Friday:


Saturday:



Hmmmm.....I wonder what it could be?

My Valentine's Day Gift

Last night I received a Valentine miracle gift. And no, it wasn't from Abel. It was from SEAN!! HE DID IT!! I am pleased and proud to announce that after one year and 5 days, young Sean Robert has finally, finally, FINALLY...slept through the night...for the first time...IN HIS LIFE!!! Woooohooo!!!

I put him to bed at 7:30pm and didn't see him again until 6:30am the next morning. Not too bad! I did hear him whimper a couple of times during the night, but he fell right back to sleep before I even thought about getting up out of bed. And I actually did hear him wake up near 6am, shaking the sides of his crib and playing with some toys, but he never cried or called for me, so I assume he went back to sleep for another half hour.

I had planned on "getting tough" with him this weekend, but then earlier in the week he woke up crying in the middle of the night and wouldn't go back to sleep for nearly two hours! Then the next day I realized that he was getting his first set of molars. Poor kid was just in pain! So I didn't actually do anything special to get him to sleep through the night last night. Well... he did miss his morning nap yesterday. Perhaps that had something to do with it?

He's also just about nearly weaned too. For the last few days I've only nursed him once throughout the day, and today, so far, not at all! He is, however, screaming his brains out right now and refusing to take a nap. Grrr...

Dance classes...Take 3!

Last summer I started Caityn in a preschool ballet/tap class with two of her friends. She LOVED it...for the first couple of weeks. But then something happened and she became afraid of the teacher. Then school started and she had to switch classes away from her friends. She cried every time I brought her to dance class, so the teacher told us that maybe we should take a break for a few months and try again later.

So around November, Caityn started asking about dance lessons again, so I brought her back. She still wasn't ready. She still cried.

Then on Wednesday we were reading a book about Zoe going to dance class, and she said "Probably I can go to dance class too!" Really...you won't cry this time? She insisted she wanted to do it, so we went back again on Thursday for another shot at this dance thing. I only brought her back because we still had alread paid for a months worth of lessons back in August that she never took. There was a different teacher there, and maybe that really was the issue, because she did great! No crying at all, and for the most part she followed along and tried her best to copy the teacher.

This was the best photo I got inside the studio. The lighting was really bad. She was still one of the tiniest kids in class!

At home striking a pose!

"I got a sticker!"

One of Caityn's favorite shows to watch is Ni Hao, Kai-Lan. It's the only Chinese she's learning when Yeh-Yeh and Ni-Ni aren't around. This was my attempt to give her a Kai-Lan hairdo. Notice my child is NOT wearing a shirt...in the middle of winter! First thing she does when we get home is take off all her clothes!!

Another fun fashion statement...Daddy's socks. She woke up this morning (in only underpants) and was cold. She put on a shirt, but didn't want to put on pants. Daddy's socks make good leg warmers!

Measuring up

Caityn at one year old:


Sean at one year old:

After marking his height on the chart, I saw that Sean is really only about an inch taller than Caityn was at one year.

Birthday Party!

Yesterday we celebrated Sean's birthday with a bunch of his and Caityn's friends. I can't believe we got 15 kids (all under 4 years old) to sit still long enough to get a group photo! Lots of snacks and lots of frosting. Thank you to everyone who came to help us celebrate. Sean loved all his gifts!

Happy Birthday Sean!

My baby turns one year old today! Most people say they can't believe their child is already one, but it's been one LOOOOOONNNGGG year with this kid. I love him to death, but man...he was one difficult baby. Here's a look back at the year past.

And here's some birthday highlights from yesterday's party with the family:

Doing what he does best....shove food in his face.

Very excited about the Elmo on the wrapping paper.

Opening presents with Mommy

Loving his birthday cake. He didn't cry like his big sister did.

Check out my cool new car!

Fabulous Valentine's Party

This morning we celebrated Valentine's Day with all our Fabulous friends. The kids all came dressed in pink and red, there were pancakes, syrup, donuts, and other sweet treats, and of course Valentine cards. It was such a fun morning. Sean ate up the whole place and Caityn had fun running around with all her friends.

Art and craft table

Decorating Valentine goody bags

Sean loved all the food!

Savoring his pancake

Powdered donuts make for a cute photo op.

Playing Ring Around the...Support Beam??

Valentine Card handout

Checking out the loot

Sean couldn't have cared less about the Valentine cards. He was more interested in stealing other kids toys.

Fabulous group shot