Play Time!

Play time for Serena means looking at her parents and smiling! And for Shilah it could mean many things, including pulling Serena in a wagon. Shilah also loves playing with Cosmo, and this week she has double the dog fun since we're watching our friends' dog. Playing is hard work, so at night we fall fast asleep...

Random Acts of Kindness

Today we parked along Highway 285 at the bottom of our neighborhood to watch hundreds of motorcycles ride by. The people were riding in honor of a girl who was shot a year ago in a high school in Bailey (the next major mountain town up from where we live). The riders start at Columbine High School (where 13 students died in a school shooting) and ride 40 miles to Platte Canyon High School (where 1 student died). People are asked to do random acts of kindness to offset random acts of violence. This morning we all sat on the hood of the car and watched the motorcycle riders, many of them waving and beeping. It was extremely powerful and moving. As you can see below, I finally figured out how to post video! So stay tuned for video of the girls!







If you are interested in more information, here is a link: http://www.iloveuguys.org/index.html

Wearing mama's clothes

Shilah likes to go through my drawers and pick out things to wear. Here is a t-shirt that obviously doesn't apply to her! Maybe it should say "Big Sister" instead of "Motherhood." Shilah definitely wants to do more and more things on her own. Most of the time it's OK, but the other day she wanted to drive the car :)
You've got another 14 years, little girl!

Smiles

Serena smiles a lot these days! She's starting to make cooing noises as well.

Fun with Little Sister

Shilah likes piling toys on her little sister. Luckily Serena is at an age where she could care less, but that will change soon! Shilah also likes sticking toys in Cosmo's collar-- that dog is a saint!

Hair Clips

The way I get Shilah to wear hair clips is to tell her I'm getting her hair out of her eyes. Here is Shilah trying to put Serena's "hair" back-- notice the clip on Serena's forehead :)
Below is a picture of a great sunset from our deck.

Ring Around the Rosie

Shilah loves doing Ring Around the Rosie, whether it's with daddy, Serena, or even Cosmo! It's neat to hear her sing and do nursery rhymes. The lower picture is of our cat Rhea, who enjoys marking her territory.

Mr. Mom

Yesterday morning I taught a Jazzercise class and in the afternoon I was at a Jazzercise meeting, so Shanti played Mr. Mom! It was nice being around adults all day, and I even went to dinner with my fellow instructors. Shanti took the girls to Gabe & Andrea's, and they all had a lot of fun! Shilah enjoyed going to the park & taking a bath with her cousin, and Serena did great taking a bottle all day.
This morning we had our traditional Sunday morning sit-down breakfast. Usually I make waffles & omelets-- yum!

Playgroup at the Zoo

This past Wednesday Shilah met her friends at the zoo again for playgroup. She had a lot of fun! Shilah has been wanting to walk (or rather run) instead of ride in the stroller or grocery cart. So she ran with her friends from exhibit to exhibit! And the best part of it all of course was the ice cream :)

2 month stats

Serena had her 2 month check-up today. She weighs 9 pounds 3 ounces and her height is 20.5 inches. The doctor says she is doing great in terms of progressing along the growth curves, even though she's only about the 10th percentile. Shilah did a good job comforting Serena after her immunizations!

2 Peas in a... Crib?

Here are our little sweet peas in bed together!

Dinner & Football

We went over to Gabe & Andrea's last evening for dinner and to watch the Patriots game. Their new basement is awesome! Shilah had fun tackling Emory, but it won't be long before he can pin her down :)

2 Months Old!

Serena is 2 months old today!

Dinner with Uncle Keith and Aunt Lauren

We went over to my brother's apartment yesterday evening and Lauren cooked us a delicious dinner. It was a lot of fun! Shilah had a great time looking for their cats under the bed.

Peas in a Pod

Shilah still loves to "hold" Serena. Whenever Serena cries, Shilah rushes to put the pacifier in. Serena seems to be developing a bit of a fussy period in the early evening, so the honeymoon is over :(
On the bright side, one important thing we learned from Shilah is everything's a phase!

Laundry service

Double the kids seems to double the laundry! Here's Serena relaxing in the laundry basket. She loved the spin cycle :)

Baby Girl

Shilah has been showing a bit of regression the last few weeks, which is why we've held off full-blown potty training. She's also very into the pacifiers. Here she is wanting to take a bath in Serena's baby tub. We have to admit, it's kinda cute! To offset regressive behavior, Shilah wants to do adult things such as help change diapers and brush her own teeth.

Awake time

Serena has still been sleeping a fair amount during the day, and it's great when that sleep time coincides with Shilah's nap! During her awake time she's very alert. I'm starting to work volleyball games for my ex-school, another semi-part-time job. Shanti has been really busy with work, since the end of NREL's fiscal year is coming up. Maybe us parents can sneak in a naptime too...

Chilly weather

Today was the first day since the beginning of summer with a true chill in the air! We ran our pellet stove for the first time this season. Shilah is all bundled up in her daddy's sweatshirt-- go Patriots! Maybe she's cold because of the orange juice popsicle...

Playgroup at the playground

Shilah's Wednesday playgroup met at Cornerstone Park this past week. Serena had fun just hanging out, and of course Shilah had fun with her friends! The core of this playgroup is 4 moms including me, and we've been meeting weekly for over 2 years now! All of us but one have 2 kids now. Shilah is at a stage now where she recognizes her friends and looks forward to seeing them. This week I'm hosting a playgroup on both Monday and Wednesday, so we'll be busy with that!

Hair-do's

Shilah has finally warmed up to the idea of me putting clips and ties in her hair. She usually keeps them in for a couple of hours at a time. I tell her it's either barrettes or bangs to keep the hair out of her eyes! Serena has a lot more hair than Shilah did at her age. We'll see how it all grows!

Growing girls

Serena seems to change each day! It's amazing how much babies grow & change in the early months. These pics were actually taken a couple of weeks ago. Now Serena is almost as big as our cat Rhea!