Walking, No Thanks, Play With My Sister YES!

Here are lots of pictures from the last few days... You want me to WALK? WHY? Ok, I will push the wagon with dolls and bears

Here I go

Ok, maybe it is fun

My feet have trouble catching up with the rest of me

A little help from your sister

Go Seth

He leans over and then his feet catch up

He was laughing, not crying

Watch out, I am coming through

I see my walker, I would rather go there. I can get around FAST in that.

Showing Seth how to use his new "weight"

Up, down, up, down

You are getting it

One arm up

We can do it together

You've got it

Now try two

Working out

Etch a Sketch Together

I will stamp you can write

Let me show you how

I want a stamper

Watch me

Do it like this

Now you got it. She teaches him so much.

Seth is going to be one tomorrow and he has no interest in walking. Savannah was a late walker, but she had interest for months. She liked to walk with walkers, walk with us holding her hands and she stood without holding on for awhile. If you try to take Seth's hands, he bends his knees and goes right down. If he uses a walker, his feet have to catch up with his hands and half way through he chooses to go down on his knees. He can get everywhere he wants to go by crawling and his is fast, so why walk? He is VERY interested in standing and standing on things and CLIMBING. Climbing is the best. He climbs the stairs and climbs up and onto anything he can, but walking---nah. Walking is too much work. I can get where I want to go mighty fine. It is ok with Mommy. He can wait a little longer. Once he catches onto walking, there will be no stopping him and he WILL be fast.

Savannah teaches Seth so much and they love to play together. She reads to him and sings to him and makes him laugh. It is the cutest thing and fills my heart with joy. We got Seth a baby rower and weights from V-Tech. Really cute. It plays music, does letters and numbers and encourages getting moving. He also loves to play with her with her toys (those that are safe). She knows what is safe and what isn't. She is so funny. I bought her a new package of "little markers" to draw on the plane. She asked what they were and I told her they were for her to draw with on the flight to Puerto Rico since it is long (I hope she will sleep). She asked if she could do the markers now and I told her no because Seth was awake and those are too little to play with around him and he will want to play. This was on Monday. Yesterday (Wednesday), while taking her into school we saw a plane in air. We looked at it and saw the vapor. A few seconds later she said, "My new markers are for the flight to Puerto Rico. Seth can't play with them. They are too little." Amazing.

We are looking forward to their parties this weekend and then leaving for Puerto Rico.

Picture Perfect...Well Maybe Not Perfect But It Will Do!

Waiting at the photo studio Sitting nicely at the photo studio waiting her turn

Too dark--the sun is shining in

These are the faces I get

Pretty in purple

Funny Face

Savannah's picture of a duck in water. I love it. She just sat down and picked up a crayon and drew it. I am impressed.

We had our professional pictures for age 1 and 4 to display on the "wall of fame" taken on Saturday. It is certainly a challenge since Savannah makes silly faces and has ants in her pants and Seth is 1 so you never know. All and all we got 54 shots before they were done and we got one nice one of them together a many of each child alone. Savannah's personality definitely comes through and Seth got mesmorized by the camera so he did not smile much. And Savannah was Savannah. A bundle of laughs and kept turning her head. But, she posed in a few and looks like an angel. Here is the link to the photos. The password is yuki and then click continue. You shouldn't have to sign in or anything.

http://www.photoreflect.com/scripts/prsm.dll?eventthumbs?event=0IFM020H

After the photos we went out to eat and it was a disaster. The waitress spilled red wine all over our stuff and the manager did not even care. We will never go back there.

On Sunday Rich took Savannah for her final ski lesson of season. She did great and had a lot of fun. Seth and I went shopping at a great open air outdoor shopping village nearby and had a ball. Old Navy had great sales.

This is a busy week preparing for the kid's birthdays and getting ready to jet out in ONE week to Puerto Rico. Saying I can't wait is putting it mildly.

Yuki's Back and a Special Giraffe

Back for good! Acting normally and playing with the kids

Seth's new giraffe

Let me have it

Did not even give me a chance to take off the tag

So happy together

Hugs and kisses for giraffe

My friend Yolanda sent another package today. Like Savannah's shoes were not enough. She sent a giraffe stuffed animals that moves and plays music for Seth and giraffe soft shoes for his birthday. She remembered that his theme in his room is giraffes. He loved the stuffed animal right away and held and played with for a long time. He did not even want me to take off the tag. There were also goodies for Savannah and Mommy in the box. Yolanda, you spoil us. Thanks so much!

Yuki came home from the vet yesterday declawed and neutered. He is doing great and acting normally. Playing with the kids, purring, chirping, and jumping around like nothing happened. I guess he immediately forgets, so to him it is like nothing happened. We are happy to have him home and all be together.

Rich is off today, tomorrow and Sunday and then back to work on Monday, but in less than a week he will be off for 10 days and we will jet off to Puerto Rico for a week for our birthdays. Paradise awaits. Unlike the white stuff I woke up to on the ground today. It was only a dusting, but is is cold and gray and raw out. Sunday is supposed to be in the 50's though.

A Visit From Auntie I

Auntie I comes with shopping bags of gifts. Seth likes his card

Look

Wow!

Peek a boo

Doing art

Art projects are right up Savannah's alley

Dressing a princess puppet

Putting on her accessories

A new way to eat watermelon

My aunt paid us a surprise visit for 26 hours. She called at 8:30 a.m. and said she was in our driveway. Remember, she lives 3 hours away! Wow! This was the third time we tried to plan a visit since early February and it kept getting postponed due to weather and such. So, we were so happy to see her. She brought bags and bags of gifts for the kids from Valentine's Day and their birthdays. Savannah got a whole bag of butterfly toys, clothes and activities, including books, art projects and even a butterfly hut and net. When the weather gets nice in a few weeks we will order the catepillars and watch the metamorphes and then let the butterflies free. She also got a princess puppet where you can change the dresses, hair, and accessories. What could be more fun than that for a little girl? Seth got a Radio Flyer wagon walker that Daddy will put together this weekend, a Pooh bath stacking toy and lots of cute clothes for Puerto Rico, California and the summer. Thanks Auntie I. You spoil us silly! We love you and your visits. Thanks for coming!

Yuki will return from the vet today. He was neutered, declawed, and got his vaccines. It is just like having a baby. Savannah has been asking for him and she knows he will come back without claws and he will no longer scratch. The vet called and said he was doing great, was frisky, and getting a lot of attention.

Savannah is exceling in her letters and numbers from the Leap Frog series DVD's. Between that and going to Montessori in September, I am sure she will be reading by kindergarten. She is so motivated and interested and that is the most important thing. She loves reading, books, and learning.

This weekend we are bringing in the car, signing Savannah up for swimming, getting the kids pictures taken for 1 and 4 years old and then going out for Japanese food at Sakura Garden. Yesterday, March 3rd, was Girls Day in Japan. That is a day that you pray for happiness, health and prosperity for your daughers. Japanese culture is such a big part of our lives, that I am going to start celebrating it with Savannah. I am going to order her the special dolls for next year (when she is almost 5 and will truly understand) and dress her up in her kimono. May 5th is Boys Day and we will be celebrating that this year. Last year we were just home from Japan and Seth was a newborn and we were so sleep deprived.

We are very excited that in a week Seth turns 1, 2 weeks Savannah turns 4 and we won't say what Mommy turns, but we are all going to the beaches of Puerto Rico and we can't wait.

New Shoes

Wow! Color shoes in my size. Let's try them on.

She was so excited she couldn't even wait for me to get her socks.

Trying them out!

Look! I love them. She did not take them off until bath and bed!

My friend Yolanda is one of the sweetest and most considerate people ever. I met her on ebay and we became instant friends. She lives in CA, so I have never met her in person, but just love her and her family. We keep in touch through the Internet, blogs, e-mail and Facebook. I sent her a big box of clothes for her younger daughter of Savannah's outgrown and never worn clothes and shoes (no time or patience to sell them any longer) and in it were these sneakers that Savannah had LOVED, but outgrown. Well, her daughter also loved them. Since I told her how much Savannah loved them, but I could no longer squeeze her feet into them, she and her husband searched the Internet and found ONE place that still carried them and had them in her size and they sent them to her for her birthday. Now she has "colors shoes" as she calls them. So, I told Yolanda when Savannah outgrows these her daughter will still have colors shoes to enjoy too. That was just such a thoughtful and touching thing to do.

Thank you for brightening a little girl's day, birthday and her feet!

It's March

Drinking milk from a cup like a champ! Having milk together

My cup or yours?

This is fun to drink together.

Savannah just went over with her milk cup and laid next to Seth and the next thing I knew they were drinking milk together. How sweet!

Where's Seth?

How do I get this on my head?

Like that and wa la it's a hat!

Was planning to give away the baby bouncers, but they are still very much used and loved by Pumpkin and Yuki

Savannah and lamby reunited. Lamby spent a little longer in Lake Placid than planned.

Well, we made it to March and in 11 days Seth will be one. Hard to believe. Last year this time was a different story and now we have our precious son who is almost one. We are looking forward to their birthday party and Puerto Rico and celebrating our baby boy turning 1 and our big girl turning 4.

In anticipation of Seth's big day I have been giving cups of milk and formula mixed, but mostly still bottles and mostly formula. Well, this past weekend I gave 50/50 milk/formula and mostly cups and he did great. I truly believe having Savannah as the role model makes this an easier transition for him. He wants to be just like his sister and his cup looks more like hers now and she encourages him and goes by him and they drink milk from a cup together. For her it was 33 months on a bottle and a 2 year struggle to convince her milk in a cup is great. For Seth, it appears it is going to be a pretty easy and fluid transition.

We accidently left Savannah's prized stuffed animal (she only has two she is really attached to and she has had them both almost since birth_, Lamby in Lake Placid. Luckily, it was recovered and safely mailed home to her. They are now reunited. I tried very hard to find a replacement Lamby, but Russ-Berrie does not make that exactly lamb from 2006 any longer. So, I did get a similar one, but it would never be an exact replacement for lamby. So maybe now we will travel with Lamby 2, so nothing happens to Lamby 1.

Happy March to everyone. March is a bittersweet time for us. Five years ago I lost my mom and then last year we lost a referral, but BOTH of my precious children were born in March and we got both of their referrals in March and we traveled in March to meet and pick up Seth. So there is joy and distractions to take some of the sadness away. I will always have to be up and cheerful and excited for my children's birthdays, which I always we be because they are truly gifts from the heavens above and are a blessing every day of our lives.