Caitlin Goes to Florida

Caitlin and I spent a great"girls' weekend" in Delray Beach visiting Caitlin's Great Grandma Rhoda and Great Grandpa Danny. She did pretty well on the way there, especially considering it was a full flight and she was on my lap. Thankfully the woman next to me was patient and the stewardess had a 9-month old at home, so when Caitin had a blowout and I needed to get to the bathroom quickly to change her, both were very accommodating. Caitlin was all smiles for most of the weekend, except for the occasional tummy ache (can't wait for the Prevacid to start working!) and had a great time with my grandparents, who made her smile and coo the whole time. You don't see too many babies in Delray, so Caitlin was a hit where ever we brought her, and it was fun to watch their envy when we told them she was their 9th great-grandchild! My oldest friend Stef came up to spend the day and meet Caitlin too, which was a total treat for me. Finally, on the way home there were some extra seats on the plane, so I got to bring Caitlin's carseat on and she slept the whole time allowing me to read an entire People magazine - score!!

Meanwhile back at the ranch, Bill and Isaac had a great "boys weekend" in DC -- Bill's first time single parenting for more than a few hours. They had a blast, packing the weekend with fun activities and more fries, grape soda and other treats than I really want to know about...These are some pics I got by email to reassure me that they were alive and well ;)

Making the most of beautiful fall weekends!

We have been having the most beautiful weather this fall, and we are definitely taking advantage by spending a lot of time outside - Isaac's favorite place to be! This past weekend we had a quick visit with Papa Rich that included buying the biggest pumpkin we could find (of course) and spending the morning outside at the new Riverfront complex that is being built by the new baseball stadium. The restaurants and other commercial establishments won't be open until late next year, but there is a beautiful outdoor space with lots of grass for the kids to play on and a great fountain that they can play in and underneath (we are sitting under it, though you can't tell).

We also spent time wandering around on the Mall and playing on the Merry Go Round, and at the Zoo where Isaac was at first scared the ginormous fish in the Amazonia exhibit were going to eat him but eventually he warmed up to them and enjoyed watching them eat - shocked that "fish eat grapes and bananas too mommy!"

Last weekend we took a drive out to Larriland Farm where we picked a LOT of apples and spinach. Isaac was amazed that he could pick and eat apples off the tree, and the novelty didn't wear off until he ate THREE huge apples (sharing some with us of course)!

Finally, just some cute pictures of the kids from the past couple of weeks.

Cute video of Isaac practicing his ABC's - he usually gets it right (if you don't count the TVE substitution for TUV) but was a little shy in front of the camera ;) We had another one of him counting 1-10 in English and Spanish, but I think I deleted it accidentally :( He did great at the doctor last week, finally broke 24 pounds (24.4) and moved up to the 6th percentile-yay!! He and Bill also got much-needed haircuts last week -- a quasi-disaster. The person who said she cuts kids hair all the time at the place Bill gets his haircut may have overstated it a bit and when Isaac had a bowl cut in the front and a mullet in the back, the guy cutting Bill's hair saw the furious look on my face and agreed to step in a fix it. Looks cute now, but is a LOT shorter than we wanted. Oh well...


Another cute video of Caitlin babbling. She's doing great too, and even gave me a full belly laugh last week for the first time when I had both kids to myself for 2 days while Bill was in California!! Just like her brother, she immediately got the hiccups mid-laugh! At her two month checkup she did drop from the 80th percentile to the 66th in weight though (weighing in at 11.7) because she is still having some stomach issues. We tried Zantac but it didn't go so well, so next on the agenda is Prevacid which we start later this week once our *&%# insurance gives the green light to the doctor's prior authorization. Given that she has reflux just like her brother did, she takes it a lot better than he did and is a real trooper without too much crying most days (not making any gender statements, just saying...) We also took her back to the cardiologist to check out her ASD (tiny hole in her heart) that is still there (0.9 mm) so we have to go back again in 6 months. The cardiologist said she is not concerned because it is so small and that it should have no impact on Caitlin's life whatsoever. Hopefully she's right...

Visits from Kristin and the Schrutt Family and Isaac's 2nd ER visit

We had a very full week! "Aunt" Kristin who was in DC for business and added on an extra night so she could cuddle with Isaac and meet Caitlin. Both fell in love with her instantly, Caitlin gave her lots of smiles and when Isaac gave her his hundredth hug, she said "thanks for the sugar, sugar" and now that is Isaac's favorite catch phrase of the week.

Kristin left Wednesday morning and then Aunt Jen, Uncle Max, Jaden, Talia and Arielle came in from Colorado. Bill found them a basement apartment for rent on Lincoln Park just a few blocks away so they had their own space, but were within walking distance so we could spend lots of time together. It was SO much fun to watch all the cousins hang out, now that Isaac is old enough to actually play with them. Jaden and Talia (7 and 5) were so patient and wonderful with Isaac even though he is younger, and Arielle (2.5) and Isaac were inseparable. We LOVED having them here and were very said when they left. Here are some pictures of playtime around the house, at the park, and at Eastern Market.

We also took a big field trip to the monuments. We did a LOT of walking, but the kids were total troopers. Even though we went to the top of the Washington Monument, the White House and World War II Memorial, I think the metro was the universal favorite attraction for all the kids.

Remember in my last post when I said Bill told me that with a little boy I would be seeing a lot worse than a split lip? Well, who know he meant that I would literally be seeing it - in the same week?!? Isaac decided to jump on top of a yoga ball and ride it into the radiator, smashing his head. When it happened he cried (not as much as with the lip!) and I scooped him up thinking he just banged his back - until I pulled my hand away from his head and realized it was covered with blood. Thankfully Jen and Max were there because while I comforted Isaac, they were able to check out the damage and we all decided that we needed a trip to Children's ER. Bill came home from work and Jen, Max and the kids babysat Caitlin and we headed to Children's. Two hours later, and about a hundred trips up and down the elevator to entertain Isaac who was acting totally fine, he got THREE STAPLES in his head - and DIDN'T EVEN CRY!! I must say, I was as impressed with myself - because I didn't freak out or pass out when I saw the blood! We have some really gross pics, but I'll just post this one so you can see what we were working with. In any event, he got the staples out yesterday and didn't cry then either - all is well, and I'm hoping this is the worst, at least for now!