Just for Size

Katherine hit the 18 month mark last Friday, October 7!  She had to have a camera, aka 'cheese,' in order to cooperate for her picture.  She had her 18 month check-up today and is weighing in at 19.2 pounds and is 31.75 inches long.  She is obviously small, but the doctor said she is parallel on the growth chart to other baby girls her age in growth, just smaller.  I hope that makes sense-the doctor explained it in a way that it made sense, but I'm not so sure that my explanation does.  He plans to continue to monitor her weight to make sure she steadily gains.

To celebrate 18 months (not really, it just sounds nice), she went to her grandparents and the fair the following day.  We already knew it, but she confirmed that she is our little daredevil.  She loved the rides and had no fear!  Zach took her on the Ferris Wheel and said she yelled, "Weeee!" the entire time while peeping her head over the side.  Of course, there will be pictures!

The Blues

We've been trying to recuperate around here and get back to 100%.  Jackson was sick with a stomach virus all day Sunday, stayed home from preschool on Monday (which he was none too pleased about), and Katherine went to school and ended up coming home early.  We received a call from preschool saying she had been involved in an incident on the playground.  Thankfully Zach's office is next door and was able to get to her in a few minutes.  Apparently some of the 2 year olds were misbehaving and when the teacher started to try to correct their behavior, they all froze, one lost his balance causing several to fall and they landed on Katherine.  Talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time.  She has two scratches on her face (one is very small), had a goose egg on top of her head and several other bruises scattered about.  When we arrived, they had a huge bandage on her face and I was terrified to take it off and see what was under it.

On the way home, Katherine was trying to take the big band aid off and Jackson kept trying to explain to her by yelling that she had a boo boo and needed to leave her band aids on.  {I'm sure he was a little jealous that he didn't have a band aid!}  When we got home, they both relaxed a while on the bed and Jackson was pretty concerned about her for a few minutes.  Then he asked me to get her off of him. 

 Our poor little sweetie was pretty shaken up until well after we made it home.

The damage
(taken the following day when she wasn't quite so beat up looking all over).

It wasn't as bad as I had prepared myself for, but it's still a pretty big cut for such a small little face.

Moving on to today . . .

 Jackson brought home the "Me Bag" on Tuesday.  It's like Show and Tell where they bring something they like and tell about it.  The teacher limits it to 3 items--she obviously has experience because Jackson was cramming everything he could into that bag.  He finally settled on his John Deere tractor, Percy, and a triceratops.  Tom Baby was supposed to be in the bag, but he fell victim to one of Jackson's 'upsets' on Sunday and is still recuperating.  Jackson is able to sleep with him again, but I'm not sure that poor little teddy bear will ever be the same.

 When I picked Jackson and Katherine up today, I asked Jackson's teacher how he did with the Me Bag and she said he did great.  He can be shy and his teacher admitted she thought he would be pretty quiet when talking about his items, but he surprised her and did really well!  I think she is also making an effort to talk to him individually a good bit each day.

I tried to get a picture of the two this morning, but this was the best I could get.  Jackson gave me a glimpse of a smile, but Katherine just gave me a dazed look the whole time.

One more of Katherine.

We are well aware of the danger involved, but she loves sticking things in her ears and up her nose.  Whenever she finds a match, she says "Birthday" and then sticks it in her ear.  :)

Sneak Peak

We've received some Halloween magazines in the mail recently, so Jackson and I looked through them and saw a train conductor costume.  I asked if he wanted to be that and he said, "Yes!!"  I've learned to act quickly with Jackson before he loses interest, so the next day I found him a pair of overalls and ordered a little hat to match.  I picked him up from preschool after buying the overalls and had them in the car and he had to try them on at that moment.  So while still in the parking lot and in the car, he stripped down to his undies and put on the overalls.  In true Jackson fashion, he said they were too big and wanted them off as fast as he wanted them on! 

Then he said he wanted to be a  policeman.

  

 I managed to talk him into trying his outfit on again this past week and he wore it around for a time while eating a little candy.

 Someone else found the conductor's hat

 Katherine's outfit came in yesterday, so we had to try it out!

So far, she likes it and will keep the hat on!

At this point, we have a handsome train conductor and sweet ladybug.  We'll have to see if that stays the same once Halloween actually arrives!

A Fishing Story

Jackson mentioned a few weeks ago he wanted to go fishing and he brought it up again yesterday, so Zach took him to the store today to get outfitted!

 Putting his "fish food" in the tackle box.

He picked out his very own Mickey Mouse fishing pole!

 Playing swords while waiting patiently

20 minutes later Daddy was already fixing the Mickey Mouse fishing pole

While "patiently" waiting, Jackson dumped all of the lures {that were just organized in the tackle box} into another box and mixed in puzzle pieces and measuring cups for fun.  The lures had to be separated back into the tackle box on 3 separate occasions.

Finally!  The big moment has arrived!

 When we first got set up, Jackson opened the tackle box and started throwing the lures into the water and yelling, "Here fish, here fishy!" like they were dogs coming for a treat.

 Jackson's hook was stuck on a branch, so Zach was trying to get it unhooked when he almost took a little spill into the water!

Jackson had a fun time, but we decided to leave when others started arriving to fish and Jackson wouldn't stop yelling at the top of his lungs for his Daddy to be careful while fishing and for the others fishing to be careful or letting them know very loudly they had caught a fish.  We never caught a fish and I'm sure it had something to do with all of the chaos running around on the bank! 

Chaotic and Dysfunctional

The title and this picture pretty much describe our day.

 Zach is out of town for the better part of the day to become a Certified Barbeque Judge (yes, you read that right) and the little ones have little colds, so we're making do while trying not to destroy the house too terribly much

Choc-lat Cake

Jackson started talking early this morning about wanting 'choc-lat cake', as he calls it.  This afternoon I told him if he took a nap, we could make one.  Naps for him are pretty sporadic these days and after sleeping about an hour, he woke up still wanting to make a chocolate cake.  So we headed to the store.  I think this is the first time Katherine has "helped" make a cake and she also received the benefit of Jackson's nap.

 They both would be perfectly fine just eating the powder cake mix.

 The cake is finally ready! 

The cake was ready around suppertime and we wouldn't let poor Jackson eat any cake until he had eaten supper.  Yes, we're horrible and dragging this bribery out as much as we can.

Hmmm . . . "This cake is 'dee-wisious!'" as Jackson put it.



Water

We've been busy the last week with this-n-that, but nothing has been picture or story worthy.  Today has been a stay-at-home-just-do-whatever kind of day, so we found ourselves outside this morning playing with water.

 Unlike her brother, Katherine doesn't really mind wet clothes.

Katherine is obsessed with socks and shoes.  Jackson had spilled water on himself and took off his wet socks and shoes so I put them in the sun to dry.  Several minutes later, Katherine noticed the socks sitting in the sun and was determined to get them back on his feet.

Trying to get the ever illusive picture of the two of them
looking at the camera and smiling.

And Jackson being silly not long before we went inside.  This was his second wardrobe change because of spilled water.  There were 3 total.

On a side note, Jackson's hair is going crazy again.  Remember how it took forever for him to just have hair, then he had sweet baby curls, then it turned to fluff and stuck straight up, then it went somewhat normal, and now we're at curls/waves/going nuts again.  I promise I really do brush his hair.

Meow Mix

Zach saw this commercial on tv this morning and commented that it reminded him a lot of this house and two certain children residing therein,

but mainly of one little girl.

(the video will appear, it may just take a minute.)

Later in the day, I remembered this picture I took this past January.

I think Zach knew exactly what he was talking about. 



Day 1

Jackson and Katherine finally had their first day of school today!  After a month off, Jackson was more than ready to be around his friends and out of the house on a regular basis.  The preschool offers classes for Katherine's age as well, so we decided to let her try it out.  In the past she has not been fond of the church nursery, but she did great today!

Of course, pictures had to be made before leaving the house!

Katherine on her very first day of preschool!

 

Katherine's teachers said she did great and was fearless . . . she even started going down the playground slide all by herself!

 Getting out of the door this morning proved a little difficult.  Jackson can be a little moody in the mornings when it comes to eating and getting dressed, and Katherine has her own sense of style.  I had Katherine dressed and her hair fixed when I turned around to get the camera and this is what she had done.  So much for trying to make her hair look cute for pictures and school! 

  

By the time we were actually all dressed and outside for pictures,

Jackson was excited (a complete 180 from just 2 minutes prior)!

Here's to what Zach and I hope will be a fun and wonderful year for our babies!

The Fun Never Ends

 3.5 years later and diaper boxes are even more fun!