Our week in video(s)...

Alex got to go bowling for the first time--cosmic bowling! After our friend Ehren's baby shower, they had a "bowlathon" at the local bowling alley. Alex had only done Wii bowling before, so she was excited to try the real thing! Marlon didn't feel like going, so he stayed home with Kellan and Alex and I got to have a girl's night out. Aside from the ridiculous smokey atmosphere that is so gross at bowling alleys, we had a great time! Alex loved hanging out with the adults--a bunch of our friends were there so she had plenty of people willing to help her and cheer for her!

We also took the kids up to Pittsburgh on Sunday for Storytime Live--3 adults, 4 kids in a car makes for an eventful trip, but they enjoyed the show, that featured Dora, Backyardigans, Kailan, and Wonder Pets. Check out Desiree's blog for a video of the kids on the way home (after they were on a sugar high about 15 minutes after finishing some huge choc. chip cookies!)--you may notice Kellan is quiet--he's the only one who didn't have a cookie :) and also the only child who didn't fall asleep at all at any point during the trip. Needless to say it was an early bedtime for him when we got home!

This is a funny video of Kellan that we took last night. Marlon was tossing the ball to him--and although he may be great at soccer, it doesn't look like he has a promising future as a wide receiver!

Another funny clip of Kellan (and Alex), as he thought it was funny to say "UH UH" to everything Marlon asked him...

Last video for fear of making this post way too big--here's a clip of Alex doing a little dancing to what she refers to as the "baby down down" song. I'm not sure where she's learned about the art of break dancing, but she sure seems interested in trying it as she throws it into every dance she does.

First Video

I'm attempting to post my first video of Kellan kicking the ball around. I'm not sure if everyone can view it--let me know!

Kellan-23 months

One more month until Kellan turns 2! He has continued to change this past month--I would probably say that in the past 2 months he has really begun to develop from a communication standpoint, becoming more verbal and more clear in his speaking. He's had an eventful month with getting his first set of stitches 2 days ago...and I have a feeling it may not be his last! (**Beware that this post may contain some graphic photos J) He is just such an active little boy, fearless in his play, and we often cringe as we watch him run head first into things, diving on the floor, knocking things over. He's been fortunate to not injure himself more often, and we're thankful for that! Here's what he's up to:

-He continues to improve on learning his colors. He is great at identifying green (thanks to his book where he learns about green train Percy!), blue, and does pretty well with yellow and orange.

-He loves to sing his version of ABC's (he has a long way to go!), and he is able to identify the letters M, O, E, and L consistently.

-He is still enjoying practicing his soccer skills. He has perfected the art of a one-touch pass (he's clearly left footed), and has been able to drop kick some of his lighter, smaller balls. I am waiting to catch some footage of him playing on my new Flip video camera that Marlon got me so I can post it to share!

-As I referenced above, he got his first set of stitches (technically only one stitch) 2 days ago after falling onto one of his favorite toys, a plastic racing ramp for little cars. His lip split and bled immediately and we made the decision to take him to Urgent Care (it was in the evening so the dr was closed). I can't say I enjoyed watching them give him a needle in his lip, or holding him down (with the help of 2 other nurses) while the doctor stuck what appeared to be a small fishing hook through his lip to stitch him. We had Marlon keep Alex out in the hall to prevent traumatizing her! He kept crying "Get up Mommy" and "Stand up, Mommy", letting me know he wanted me to pick him up. As soon as he was done and I was able to hold him, he calmed down. They gave him a bunch of stickers, which he wanted us to put on his shirt and his pants, and he had a few left over that he clutched tightly in his hands for the rest of the evening. We were in and out in less than 25 minutes, and he's dealt with the stitch pretty well. The doctor said with his age she expected that he would probably pull or chew on the stitch, and she said it would probably be out within a few days, although she would like to see it stay in for 7-10 days. The stitch is not a self-dissolving one, so I will have to remove it myself in a few days if he hasn't pulled it out by then. Oh the joys of having a boy!

In the waiting room with daddy, checking out his stickers

Arriving at home, sitting with his sticker collection

A close up of the big boo boo!

Here is the culprit toy (the one in the center) that he hit his lip on. It’s his favorite toy these days-he and Alex like to race cars down the track. He also like to put his cars on his train track and push them around.


We are planning a train themed birthday for him next month, and we're looking forward to having the family and cousins here with us to celebrate!

Oh--can't forget to mention that at 23 months Kellan had his first trip to the dentist with Alex yesterday (the morning after getting stitches!). He got a quick check up and a gentle brushing with flouride, and he was very excited to ride the train, get more stickers, and play with the trains in the waiting room and the play area. Alex also had a great visit (despite crying pretty hard for the 2 minutes it took the dentist to look in her mouth and brush her teeth!)--she still was unsure about whether or not a drill may appear at any moment--hopefully by her next visit she will realize that regular check-ups are not at all painful!

Not forgetting about big sister Alex, she got to go on a little Valentine's Day date with her daddy to the WVU women's basketball game. She had a good time (especially because she got a special treat of cotton candy!).

Big sister and little brother snuggling on the beanbag chair together (I tried to capture the moment quickly before it disappeared!) The kids have been spending a lot more time together since Alex has been home from school so much due to the snow--I think Kellan really enjoys having his sister around to play with!

snowed in

Updated: Check out my neighbor Desiree's blog to see some videos of the kids sledding. It's pretty cool to have a huge newfoundland dog that can pull kids on an inner tube up a snowy street!

We've been more or less snowed in since Friday when we got around 16 inches of snow, so we've been spending many days playing in the snow, sledding, shoveling, and making a snowman! Alex loves the snow, and Kellan could take it or leave it, although it does seem to be growing on him. I've even gotten to enjoy some sledding myself, something I haven't done in years! Alex has looked forward to going out to play every day when she wakes up--she especially enjoys sledding. We have a perfect trail set up in the backyard that has gotten pretty slick as it's iced over, and our neighbors have a more "advanced" slope that we also have been using, complete with a bank turn to keep the kids from going down the hill into the fence! Here are some photos, starting with a view of our neighborhood on Saturday...

Happy girl to be playing in the snow

Happy boy despite the fact that his daddy was pelting him from above with snowballs--in typical boy fashion, he thought it was hysterical (although he didn't really care for getting hit in the face)

A long day of playing in the snow led to something almost unheard of in our house, Alex fell asleep and took a nap! Ahhh, I love the snow.

Once Alex's nap ended, we ventured to the neighbors' house to hang out with other snowed in families for a family pot luck and game night--as usual, there were tons of kids in attendance and a good time was had by all.

All the girls

Kellan doing what he does best, play ball. He was using a ball belonging to Ellie the dog. Fortunately she didn't mind sharing.

Day 3 of playing in the snow. The sledding course has gotten pretty quick--I even got Kellan to go down a few times with me. Fortunately we have not yet done damage to our fence when we slam into it. :) In true Kellan fashion, he finds a way to play ball outside in the snow. He enjoyed kicking the ball down the sledding hill since it was smooth and flat. Sophie would chase after him and the ball.

Our first snowman--on day 3 the snow finally became good packing snow, and we were quickly able to put a snowman up. Alex was kind enough to share her hat with the snowman, who we named Frostina.

As much as I'm not a fan of snow, I will say that we've really enjoyed the past few days! Alex will be sad to see this snow melt eventually so we're trying to enjoy it while it lasts!

what have you been doing?

Here's a little of what we've been up to. We've been enjoying some slightly warmer weather (although it's a bit wet these days!). Kellan and I have started spending our mornings at the gym, which we are both enjoying. Marlon and I got to have a date night out with Jud and Desiree last week without children--something that we don't get very often! We've been doing a lot of decluttering in our house. We've disassembled our pool table and converted our downstairs area into a play room for the kids. We've thrown away A LOT of stuff that we've had stored for years but never use. Alex has started her spring semester of dance with her favorite teacher, Miss Liz. Kellan is talking up a storm-his vocabulary has really exploded over the past month. He just got over a multi-day bout with diarrhea and a bit of a fever--I'm really glad that seems to have passed!

Here are a few pictures taken over the past few days.

I found Kellan sitting on my bed, with his shoes still on, wearing a random pair of sunglasses (crooked, I might add!). He kept saying CHEESE with an expressionless face, so I had to capture it with a camera!

We got to spend a little time outside on Saturday afternoon, and the kids went straight to all of their favorite warm weather activities--chalk, bubbles, and bike riding.

It's been a long time since we broke out paint in the bathtub--this is something Kellan had never experienced so it was fun to watch he and Alex make a mess painting before eventually getting clean!

A happy boy, complete with his usual drool

Checking out the first few drops of paint, trying to figure out what to do with it

He quickly gets the hang of it

Alex showing him how you can cover yourself with paint!

Dirty hands

Kellan at 22 months

Our little man is only 2 months away from turning 2 years old! He is such a joy to have around--he makes me laugh out loud every day with something he says or does. He and Alex have become great playmates. They love being chased by daddy, running around the house shrieking and squealing. No new pictures since we've been hangin out at home most days, not doing anything exciting! Here's some of what he's been up to:

-He is counting up to 13 most of the time. We are still working on letters of the alphabet---he can say random sections of the ABC's. He's improving with his colors (his favorites to say and point out are blue and orange).

-He loves reading--his favorites books right now are his new train books that he got for christmas and "That's not my tractor"

-He still loves trains and playing/throwing/kicking balls.

-He is all boy--he loves to sit and watch sports with his daddy--soccer, basketball, football...he will shout out "SCORE!" when someone scores a goal or makes a basket. I see the watching of many Eagles games with Marlon in his future!

-He's becoming much more verbal--he still sometimes calls me Jenn to get my attention--he thinks it's funny now. He loves telling Sophie what to do by saying "GET DOWN SOAP-E", "STOP SOAP-E", "C'mere Soap-E". He loves giving Sophie "cookies".

-He loves looking at pictures and naming all of our family members. He names everyone but Renee (sorry Nay--not sure why he gets so hung up on your name! We're working on it with him!).

-His eating habits are still the same--he loves him some fruit! Blueberries, bananas, pineapple, you name it! He doesn't like cheese or sandwiches. He loves chicken and steak, rice, yogurt, green beans and peas. He is pretty much his sister's polar opposite!

-He is still drooling pretty consistently (Which is VERY annoying!) but we're hoping he will outgrow it. I'm pretty sure it isn't just teething (although it does seem like sometimes it isn't too bad and other times it's ridiculous, so that could make it worse from time to time). I think he just isn't swallowing when he needs to so all the saliva just comes out of his mouth. We plan to look into getting him scoped at the ENT if he hasn't improved by his 2 year dr's appt. Our pediatrician hasn't been concerned but it's just frustrating to still deal with him soaking shirts and dripping saliva onto anything he plays with!

-He is wearing 18-24 month clothes and a size 5 or 5 1/2 shoe (I know, the boy has little feet!)

-He enjoys TV but not as much as his sister. He likes watching Max and Ruby with Alex--he calls it MA RUDY and it sounds so cute! He also likes Sesame Street and Word World.

We have enjoyed 22 months with this little guy and can't wait to celebrate with him in March as he turns 2! We love you Kellan!

ride that train

I will begin this post by saying that all of these photos are courtesy of Renee, the now "professional photographer"! Thanks for taking pics Renee!

This pic of Alex has nothing to do with our train ride into the city, but I thought it was a cute one so I threw it in.
On a very cold, windy day we packed up the kids and boarded the train to Philadelphia. The kids were very well behaved and enjoyed the train ride, which was about an hour. Kellan stood up most of the time, looking out the window and jumping up and down on the seat.

Once we arrived we headed straight for the miniature train display in Market Street station. This display is a train lover's dream--I think my nephew Nolan would happily have spent the entire day there, watching the various trains drive around, pushing the buttons to make different things move. Kellan also loved watching the trains--I can't tell you how many times I heard him loudly yell "TRAINS" everytime he saw them!

We then headed over to Macy's (formerly Wanamaker's) to check out their light show. I hadn't been to see this since I was a kid, and I have a memory of going to watch this with my parents so it was cool to be able to take my kids to see it.

The kids enjoyed hanging out on the floor waiting for it to start--Kellan was a wild man rolling all around on the (less than clean) floor, laughing and playing with Mia.

After the show, we walked through the Charles Dickens display of A Christmas Carol before heading back through Reading Terminal Market, grabbing some food, then making our way back to the train. The kids enjoyed the ride home as well, with Nolan being the only one to fall asleep--he slept most of the ride home, while Kellan and Mia were awake through their nap time and were jumping on the seats, eating snacks, and having a good time.

It was great to spend the day with Jon and Renee and family, as well as Renee's mom. I look forward to taking the kids again next year :) Hopefully Marlon will be able to join us next time!