Lydia's airplane ride

Lydia and I flew out to Utah last week. She was so excited! Here's two clips from our first plane ride in a year. She seemed to remember her last one where she was only just 1 1/4.

My baby is 2!

Sigh. My baby Lydia is now two years old. The day after we drove down to Orange County, was Lydia's second Birthday. Given the fact that there is not an over-the-top bone in my body, we had a family and friends BBQ at the Newport Beach Villas where we were staying for the week. We actually had Cooper's 5th Birthday party here as well, and it is just an amazing location. Set on the hill overlooking Crystal Cove State Beach, it's basically idyllic for a beautiful Spring day.

Early in the day Cooper and Catelyn were able to feed the Koi fish near the Piazza.

At the "park" location on the property there is a mini putting green, a sand box, a basketball hoop and a nice hill for flying kites. The kids tried to fit it all in.

We had some family and friends who we hadn't seen in a long time come out. It was great to see everyone to celebrate Lydia's Birthday. Thanks to all those who came. Here are a few pics of the birthday cake fun. (We had a few cupcakes for the kids and a cheesecake for the adults)

More pictures of kites and messy kids to follow.

Lydia's antics

The other day Lydia picked up a guitar pick that she found. "Whassat?"
Papa: "That is a pick"
Lydia proceeds to put it up to her nose and says "pick" while nodding her head.



While at the dinner table I ask Lydia "What's their name?" pointing to everyone in turn.
"Cupper, Cayen, Papa."
Cooper pipes up "No, his name is George."
Lydia "Monkey!"
Cooper then starts to choke on his food because he's laughing so hard. He couldn't stop laughing and ended up throwing up. At least nothing came out his nose...


Papa to Lydia: "Are you a Silly Goose or a Pumpkin Head?"
Lydia: "Ina Puckin Head" while nodding her head.



Lydia's new phrase is "Commeer" while running up to you to give you a hug



Cooper and I are playing Wii bowling:

Cooper asks "Can I play the Wii?" I answer, "Yes you may." Catelyn asks "Can I play too?" "Sure." Lydia says "Wii too!"

Sweet baby

Pictures with a story

So Lydia had already taken her bath and was all dressed for bed. It was Catelyn's turn next and she's old enough now that I don't have to stay in there with her the whole time. I guess I wasn't paying attention because I hear Lydia crying in the bathroom and yelling "Help Momma!" I run in to find this:This is the first time we have experienced the fully clothed bathtub experience. I really don't think that Lydia meant to get in the water. Catelyn said that Lydia had been leaning over the edge, putting her hands in the water when, whoopsy daisy, she fell all the way in. I said "Oh man." and ran to get the camera, even though Lydia was not happy to be in the tub.

Next up, Cooper discovered that one of the coffee tables in the house had hidden storage underneath. He laid pillows in it and he and Catelyn had a ball.

Here, Catelyn is modeling her handmade fashion dress. Good thing she wasn't using ductape because it eventually was used as necklace and blindfold...

Here's Lydia in the tent that Catelyn and our neighbor Tyler made in the family room. I love the pic because you can see Lydia's hair curling a bit. Yes, that's right, her hair is getting long enough to curl!

Here is a video from that same tent.. The girls were still sick at this point so you can hear Catelyn sniffling along with her very loud voice.

Lydia's letters

Yesterday I was talking to Mom about our grocery list while mom was sitting down at the computer, when Lydia climbed up on her lap. Lydia leans over to peer at the keyboard, points at the "D" key and says "D!". She then proceeds to name about 20 letters on the keyboard, all in random order. Mom says "Do you see what she is doing?!" Yeah, she's letting her brilliance shine. If Catelyn can read at 4 I'm wondering what Lydia will be capable of! PS Lydia just turned 20 months this past week.

Catelyn can read!

Well, it looks like this barely 4 year old knows how to read! Catelyn loves for me to read to her and we usually compromise on how many books I will read before she has to go to sleep each night. She loves to sit and listen while Cooper reads his homework books as well. Well, we have all sorts of early reader books on hand for Cooper, now that he's in 1st grade, and just the other day, Catelyn sat down with one.

To be continued on this next video...


I'm so proud of all my bookworms!
Here is Lydia joining in the mix.

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1.02.05

18 months!

My baby turned 18 months old yesterday!

• She's getting so much more independent, having fun in Nursery and playing with her siblings.
• She enjoys sitting down with a book and reading to herself. She says "E, E, A, O"
• She's climbing up on all sorts of things these days and saying so many words.
• I've even been able to get some bows in her wispy hair.
  
• She loves the water and loves to be on the receiving end of the hose.
  

• She enjoys singing with her sister and now "exercises" as well as does yoga with the our new "Yoga Kids" video. (Thanks again Michal!)
  
• She's still enamored with Signing Time and pretty much will only eat if the video is on.
• She still is a habitual left-thumb-sucker.
• She's loved abundantly!
  

Watch what you say

Lydia has been seeming to add words to her vocabulary daily.
Yesterday at church she dropped something and said "Oh shoot!" It's really funny coming out of an 18 month old mouth. Especially when her mouth is on a still virtually bald head.

Tea set and Lydia's signs

Martin gave Catelyn this adorable tea set that comes in a wicker basket. It really is so cute and she's loving it.

Meanwhile, Lydia has been watching the Signing Time videos with her siblings and soaking it up like a fish. She signs so much that I am amazed every day with what she comes up with. Just tonight we were in the backyard with the kids, playing in sprinklers and picking raspberries. Our neighbor came by with some peaches that she had picked at a friend's house. We handed Lydia one and said "here's a peach" and Lydia puts her hand to her cheek and signs "peach". I'm sure she hasn't watched the video that teaches the word "peach" for at least a week! I know I shouldn't be so surprised by how smart she is but she really amazes me.
By the way, whenever the theme song comes on Lydia lights up and starts throwing her hands around for "Signing time with Alex and Leah."
I'll try and get a video of her tomorrow but here's a picture of her yesterday signing "water".

PS, I just sat down and wrote all the signs that I can remember that she knows and it's over 50. That's not including the words she actually says.

PS, here she is Saturday morning.

4th of July and Catelyn turns 4

I didn't get any pictures from the 4th of July since we were flying across the country on that day so I put the kids in their outfits today. Today also happens to be Catelyn's 4th birthday. I took over 20 pictures, none of which I thought were perfect but here are a few anyway.

Matching dresses

The girls wore matching dresses to church today. They have about half a dozen matching dresses that I try to get them into every so often.
BTW, you don't know how hard it is to get these girls both to look at the camera at the same time. I think Grammy did an amazing job! :)
PS, when you are around Lydia, you tend to forget how bald she is. Seeing her in these pictures is so funny.

Lydia's luxurious locks

I took a few clips of Lydia walking around with my brush. This was the shortest but w/ my slow dial up I thought something was better than nothing. If this doesn't take 35 min to upload I may add another.


Here's an update w/ one more video.

Lydia's 2nd and last surgery

On Friday the 30th of May, Lydia had her second and final surgery on her tear ducts. This time the Dr was removing the tubes that he had placed there the first operation. The procedure was super quick, they just gave her some gas, she went to "sleep" and the Dr sniped the tube and pulled them out through the nasal cavity. She didn't have to have an IV this time and she was back out to my arms within half an hour. (They kept her in the recovery room for a couple minutes)Before her surgery the nurse came by to take her vital signs and Lydia managed to coax the stethoscope from her. In typical Lydia fashion she kept asking "Whassat?" She sure is going to be one bright kid, with her second words being "What's that?" And I promise, it's not just something we think we are hearing, she really is asking "What's that?".
This picture reminds me of Curious George.
After surgery she is starving because you can't eat or drink after 12:00 the night before. We had a sippy cup and crackers on hand.
I'm so glad that we found this doctor that had a solution for Lydia's perpetually clogged eyes. The difference has been remarkable. Here is a pic of her back in Dec.

and one just before this last surgery.


















(oh and that nasty green bruise on her forehead is from her throwing herself down on the brick hearth earlier that week.)
PS, note the non existent hair growth.

Picture update

I uploaded some pics from one of the cameras this morning. As a result, you are now going to see a new picture of each of my children, and a baby turtle. Enjoy.


I took this picture of Lydia mostly to show the Great Blue heron in the background (he's standing on the dock). This was the same day we were outside and Lydia found the baby turtle. She just about picked it up before I saw it.

Cooper and Catelyn were obviously taking a bubble bath. I started laughing so hard at Cooper and ran to get the camera.
Catelyn tried to make a bubble beard too.


I love my family and am so glad we have been able to enjoy this great adventure we have had in North Carolina.

More photo's from today

Lydia and Mommy.
This grass stuff is a bit yuckie.

Picnic in the yard

Weekend update:
Lydia is walking full time now. It rained last night and a little this morning. Cooper wanted to go outside and have a picnic but the grass was too wet so I brought the kid's picnic table outside under a tree.

This was Lydia's first experience walking outside. I still can't believe what a big girl she has become all of a sudden. It has been a beautiful day to spend at home with the kids.

Lydia's tear duct surgery

Ever since birth Lydia has had clogged tear ducts. Her first Dr appointment at 2 weeks I mentioned the green goopy stuff in her eyes. I always got the response "They usually grow out of it by the time they turn 1." Okay, but this is constant and in both eyes and it glues her eyes shut when she's sleeping....

Anyway, every Dr appointment I mention it and every time they say "she'll grow out of it." At her three month appointment her new Dr prescribed a prescription to put in her eyes in case it was an infection. (I guess she got a good look at all that green goop) She went through 3 different treatments of that prescription, but nothing of note ever happened. Finally at her 9 month appointment her Dr recommended seeing an eye specialist. He in turn recommended an even more specialized specialist in Chapel Hill who had pioneered a surgery of inserting tubes down the tear ducts to drain all that stuff down through the nasal cavity like it was supposed to be doing.

Well Lydia had her surgery this past Friday the 11th. We drove over to Durham Regional Hospital, a Duke University facility. I was a bit apprehensive, mostly worried about the aftermath of a baby having gone through a traumatic ordeal than the surgery itself. She couldn't eat or drink anything after midnight the night before. We were at the hosiptal at 9:00 am ready for a 10:15 appointment. She didn't end up going back for the surgery until 11:15 so she was one hungry baby. (Two other young girls had the same surgery before her, one 9 months and the other probably 18 months)

What a sweet girl she was though the whole time. All the nurses and people walking by thought that she was just the cutest thing ever. I didn't want her crawling on the hospital floor so I walked around the hall with her in my arms a lot while we were waiting. She made a lot of friends :)

Her surgery lasted an hour, during which I went down to the cafeteria for some lunch. They had given me a pager for when she was out of surgery. Right around 12:30 I all of a sudden got very apprehensive and walked back to the nurses station. The nurse said they hadn't heard anything yet but she would probably be out shortly. I asked to use the phone to call my husband and as I was telling him "she isn't out yet" the nurse got a page that Lydia was on her way over. Good timing I guess.

I was ready w/ a bottle of juice for her because I knew she would be starving. She was crying a bit (they told me to expect that) but looked great. I had been expecting bandages over her eyes or something but the only thing indicating that she had surgery was the IV in her foot and the monitors still stuck to her chest (oh and she had a bit of blood in her nose).


We stayed in her recovery little room for about half an hour, letting her calm down and rest and eat. She did throw up once which scared me a bit but after she got a good burp out from guzzling down that bottle she was much better. She wasn't going to sleep like the nurses expected so they discharged us and we drove home (she was able to sleep in the car). I got home just in time to pick Cooper up from the bus.

Peekaboo Lydia

Here's a little video of Lydia playing peekaboo. She coughs at the end, and it sounds bad but she was perfectly fine.
She's such a smart girl and loves interacting with people. Her first word is "Dada" and I'm sure her second will be "Hi" just like Cooper's was. She reminds me so much of Cooper when he was little. She even has the same gap in her teeth. :)
PS. Uploading videos from this dial-up connection is excruciating so I don't think I'm going to do many more of these. (If I can even get this one to work)
Yeah, that just took over 40 min to upload... I hope everyone enjoys my cute baby as much as I do.