Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Four Months
Avery went for her four month check up on Tuesday. She weighed 17lbs 1oz and was 25.5 inches long. Both in the 95 percentile. Go Avery!! Here is her monthly photo:
Saturday, August 27, 2011
From earthquakes to hurricanes
What a week! Tuesday the earth beneath our feet shook and now we are being drenched by a hurricane! Hurricane Irene is upon us. It has been raining here all morning. The wind and the rain keeps getting stronger by the hour. The news stations are saying that she has made landfall in North Carolina, but is turning slightly out to sea. Hopefully that means the winds and rains won't get any worse here in Richmond. We have lost power once so far, but hope to keep it for the duration of the storms.
Olives?
Owen is a very good eater most of the time. He has his days, but here lately, he has been eating whatever we place in front of him. For whatever reason, I had not introduced peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. So two weekends ago that is what I made for lunch. Most kids would eat a PB&J sandwich in a heartbeat, Owen didn't really care for it. Today for lunch he tried it again and he ate the first half with no coaxing. For him to eat the second half of his sandwich, it took some bribery. With what, you ask? Olives. We cannot believe our two year old LOVES olives and in order to get him to take a bite of his PB&J sandwich we had to promise him another olive. What a kid!!
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Another first....an earthquake!
On Tuesday, a 5.8 magnitude earthquake centered in Central Virginia shook the east coast.
The quake, the strongest in Virginia in more than a century, was centered five miles from Mineral, about 36 miles northwest of Richmond, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Vibrations rattled New York, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and Atlantic City, scattering office workers.
The epicenter is approximately 30 miles from our house in Mechanicsville.
Mommy was working at home and initially thought something had hit the house. Then she thought the washing machine was unbalanced (but quickly realized there was not laundry going!). After a few more seconds she thought it could be an earthquake. Daddy was working at his office in Richmond. He and his workmates were stunned at first, but also quickly figured out it was an earthquake.
Mommy called Owen and Avery's daycare to check on them and everyone was fine and accounted for. The kids had had a fire alarm earlier in the day, so everyone was already on edge. Knowing that it occurred right during nap time for Owen's class, we found out that all the kids woke up during the earthquake and of course no one wanted to go back to sleep. Avery's sleep was restless for the remainder of the day as well, but most likely just due to her caregivers being a little tense from all the excitement.
Since the "Big" quake, we have had three aftershocks. One on Tuesday (4.2 around 8pm), one on Wednesday (3.4 at 12:45am) and one this morning (4.5 at 1:07am). Thankfully we have had no damage and no injuries from these crazy events!
The quake, the strongest in Virginia in more than a century, was centered five miles from Mineral, about 36 miles northwest of Richmond, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Vibrations rattled New York, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and Atlantic City, scattering office workers.
The epicenter is approximately 30 miles from our house in Mechanicsville.
Mommy was working at home and initially thought something had hit the house. Then she thought the washing machine was unbalanced (but quickly realized there was not laundry going!). After a few more seconds she thought it could be an earthquake. Daddy was working at his office in Richmond. He and his workmates were stunned at first, but also quickly figured out it was an earthquake.
Mommy called Owen and Avery's daycare to check on them and everyone was fine and accounted for. The kids had had a fire alarm earlier in the day, so everyone was already on edge. Knowing that it occurred right during nap time for Owen's class, we found out that all the kids woke up during the earthquake and of course no one wanted to go back to sleep. Avery's sleep was restless for the remainder of the day as well, but most likely just due to her caregivers being a little tense from all the excitement.
Since the "Big" quake, we have had three aftershocks. One on Tuesday (4.2 around 8pm), one on Wednesday (3.4 at 12:45am) and one this morning (4.5 at 1:07am). Thankfully we have had no damage and no injuries from these crazy events!
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Using the potty!
Owen uses the potty almost every day now! He is not consistent and is often too busy playing or coloring to tell us he has to go (we often hear about it after the fact). So he still wears diapers, but we are researching and talking to other parents about the next big step...PULL UPS!
Some of you may not care to read about our child's bathroom habits...but this is a big milestone! The first time he went in his 'special' potty was a week before he turned two. He went a couple of times the week leading up to his birthday and then he went a couple of weeks without going again. We started to offer a M&M if he went. The first time we did he asked "A green M&M?". We said "SURE! Whatever color you want, you can have! Green it is!".
More recently, he has started to tell us that he has to go. Sometimes we are certain he uses it as a delay tactic (so he doesn't have to shower/bathe or go to bed)...but we always let him try. More often than not, he is proud to stand up and say that he "went potty in the potty". :) We make a bid deal out of it and he gets so excited. But he never lets us forget to give him a M&M!
This morning Owen went potty right when he got up. And ... true to form ... he requested an orange M&M. Downstairs at breakfast, Owen had this conversation with Avery (who was sitting in her bumbo seat on the table):
Owen: I went potty, Avery baby.
Pause
Owen: I went potty, Avery baby and got a M&M.
Pause
Owen: I got an orange M&M, Avery baby.
Pause
Owen: I got an orange M&M and put it in my mouth! [small pause] It is orange, Avery baby.
Some of you may not care to read about our child's bathroom habits...but this is a big milestone! The first time he went in his 'special' potty was a week before he turned two. He went a couple of times the week leading up to his birthday and then he went a couple of weeks without going again. We started to offer a M&M if he went. The first time we did he asked "A green M&M?". We said "SURE! Whatever color you want, you can have! Green it is!".
More recently, he has started to tell us that he has to go. Sometimes we are certain he uses it as a delay tactic (so he doesn't have to shower/bathe or go to bed)...but we always let him try. More often than not, he is proud to stand up and say that he "went potty in the potty". :) We make a bid deal out of it and he gets so excited. But he never lets us forget to give him a M&M!
This morning Owen went potty right when he got up. And ... true to form ... he requested an orange M&M. Downstairs at breakfast, Owen had this conversation with Avery (who was sitting in her bumbo seat on the table):
Owen: I went potty, Avery baby.
Pause
Owen: I went potty, Avery baby and got a M&M.
Pause
Owen: I got an orange M&M, Avery baby.
Pause
Owen: I got an orange M&M and put it in my mouth! [small pause] It is orange, Avery baby.
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Updates and Conversations
I have not been very good about blogging this summer. It sure has been busy around our house with work, school and two little ones. Everyone is doing great. Honeywell and Otis are keeping us well employed. Clint is less than three months away from graduating with his MBA. And Owen and Avery are thriving both at school and home.
Owen has had a busy summer at school. We enrolled him in the little summer program they have there. Each week there is a different theme ranging from "Camping" to "Eric Carle". The week of "Camping", they made s'mores and camped in their rooms. The week of "Eric Carle" they did things based on his books. Every Monday the kids get to play in a "Moon Bounce", which Owen gets so giddy about. He talks about it in the morning before school and then tells us how he jumped in the moon bounce without his shoes on when we eat dinner that evening. On Thursdays, the ice cream truck visits the school. The first week they had it, Owen kept telling us that he had yellow ice cream. We figured it was vanilla. Turns out, the ice cream man puts a little menu out for the kids and they get to choose what ice cream they want. Apparently Owen picks the popsicles most of the time. Usually it results in a change of clothes for Owen and from his dirty clothes we can confirm what 'color' ice cream he had. And on Fridays, they all get to play in the sprinkler. He goes to school that day in his bathing suit and once that suit is on...Owen knows what is going to happen at school that day. Again, he gets very excited about sprinkler day.
Owen continues to amaze us each day with what he knows and what he can say. He is starting to carry on little conversations with us. Of course, he has a lot of questions including "WHY?". He has the five WHYS down. More like ten or fifteen WHYS actually! Here is a sample of what we heard this week:
After Avery spit up on Daddy:
Daddy: Oh oh
Owen: What is the matter, Dada?
Daddy: Nothing Owen. It's OK. (Trying not to draw attention to the fact that Avery spit up because Owen does know the word and action "spit")
Owen: Did Avery-baby spit up?
Daddy: Yes, but it's ok.
Owen: Did Avery-baby spit up on your leg?
Daddy: Yes, she did.
Owen: Oh, it's ok Avery-baby.
On the way to school with Mommy:
Owen: Are we in Mommy's car?
Mommy: Yes, we are.
Owen: Are we in Mommy's white car?
Mommy: Yes, we are in Mommy's white car.
Owen: Are we in Mommy's white car to go to school?
Mommy: Yes, sir.
Owen: Are you driving Mommy's white car, Mommy?
Mommy: Yes, I am.
Owen: Oh. I am driving Mommy's car. No, I am riding in Mommy's car. To school.
I could go on and on....he says the funniest things sometimes.
Avery is a very content baby and enjoys watching Owen play and listen to us read. She is on a really good schedule and for about six weeks now she has been sleeping from 8:30p until 6:30am (or longer) consistently. She gets a bottle and a pants-change at 10pm but hardly wakes up. Avery started daycare four weeks ago and is doing very well there. She is sleeping more at daycare than her brother ever did at her age. She started off drinking three 4oz bottles at daycare everyday. Miss Sarah and Miss Jen kept telling us that she was devouring her milk, so I kept adding to it everyday until on her eighth day of attending, she was drinking three 6oz bottles. Here at home she loves her play mat and piano (both of which I need to take photos of).
Today, we all spent some time outside. Daddy set up the sprinkler for Owen to play in. He also played with his Hummer. Avery and I watched from the comfort of a chair that Daddy placed on the covered porch in the shade. Here are a couple of pictures;
Owen has had a busy summer at school. We enrolled him in the little summer program they have there. Each week there is a different theme ranging from "Camping" to "Eric Carle". The week of "Camping", they made s'mores and camped in their rooms. The week of "Eric Carle" they did things based on his books. Every Monday the kids get to play in a "Moon Bounce", which Owen gets so giddy about. He talks about it in the morning before school and then tells us how he jumped in the moon bounce without his shoes on when we eat dinner that evening. On Thursdays, the ice cream truck visits the school. The first week they had it, Owen kept telling us that he had yellow ice cream. We figured it was vanilla. Turns out, the ice cream man puts a little menu out for the kids and they get to choose what ice cream they want. Apparently Owen picks the popsicles most of the time. Usually it results in a change of clothes for Owen and from his dirty clothes we can confirm what 'color' ice cream he had. And on Fridays, they all get to play in the sprinkler. He goes to school that day in his bathing suit and once that suit is on...Owen knows what is going to happen at school that day. Again, he gets very excited about sprinkler day.
Owen continues to amaze us each day with what he knows and what he can say. He is starting to carry on little conversations with us. Of course, he has a lot of questions including "WHY?". He has the five WHYS down. More like ten or fifteen WHYS actually! Here is a sample of what we heard this week:
After Avery spit up on Daddy:
Daddy: Oh oh
Owen: What is the matter, Dada?
Daddy: Nothing Owen. It's OK. (Trying not to draw attention to the fact that Avery spit up because Owen does know the word and action "spit")
Owen: Did Avery-baby spit up?
Daddy: Yes, but it's ok.
Owen: Did Avery-baby spit up on your leg?
Daddy: Yes, she did.
Owen: Oh, it's ok Avery-baby.
On the way to school with Mommy:
Owen: Are we in Mommy's car?
Mommy: Yes, we are.
Owen: Are we in Mommy's white car?
Mommy: Yes, we are in Mommy's white car.
Owen: Are we in Mommy's white car to go to school?
Mommy: Yes, sir.
Owen: Are you driving Mommy's white car, Mommy?
Mommy: Yes, I am.
Owen: Oh. I am driving Mommy's car. No, I am riding in Mommy's car. To school.
I could go on and on....he says the funniest things sometimes.
Avery is a very content baby and enjoys watching Owen play and listen to us read. She is on a really good schedule and for about six weeks now she has been sleeping from 8:30p until 6:30am (or longer) consistently. She gets a bottle and a pants-change at 10pm but hardly wakes up. Avery started daycare four weeks ago and is doing very well there. She is sleeping more at daycare than her brother ever did at her age. She started off drinking three 4oz bottles at daycare everyday. Miss Sarah and Miss Jen kept telling us that she was devouring her milk, so I kept adding to it everyday until on her eighth day of attending, she was drinking three 6oz bottles. Here at home she loves her play mat and piano (both of which I need to take photos of).
Today, we all spent some time outside. Daddy set up the sprinkler for Owen to play in. He also played with his Hummer. Avery and I watched from the comfort of a chair that Daddy placed on the covered porch in the shade. Here are a couple of pictures;
Sunday, August 7, 2011
More pictures
Avery received a beautiful dress from Denise and Toni (friends of Gram and Pappy). She wore it to church two weeks ago and we snapped this quick picture before we left.
Back in July, Sandy Smith (Mommy's cousin's daughter) from Memphis was in Richmond for a lacrosse tournament. We were so excited that she was able to stay with us one night before heading back home. She is a beautiful young lady! We enjoyed having her here!
Back in July, Sandy Smith (Mommy's cousin's daughter) from Memphis was in Richmond for a lacrosse tournament. We were so excited that she was able to stay with us one night before heading back home. She is a beautiful young lady! We enjoyed having her here!
Avery is THREE months old!
This picture was taken last weekend when Avery turned three months old. Shows you how busy our household is that I am just now getting around the blogging and posting the picture!
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