Ready , Set, Play!

Mommy has a new helper now that Baby Andy is getting bigger and it's harder to lift me. We took Kaitlyn to Ready, Set, Play the other day and she was such a trooper, she went in all the little bouncy things with me!This place is basically a huge bouncy world with about 15 different play areas. Suzy just LOVES it. She's such a vestibular kid, is anyone surprised?
Pure glee and excitement.
Mommy is so glad Kaitlyn was there. A few months ago, she was able to squeeze through these little play areas. But now, no way!

How Suzy spent Father's Day

A little golf with Daddy and Pawpop

A mirror of reflected sayings....

A few weeks ago, Suzy had a short tummy bug. Then, Mommy got it. For days, she perseverated on how we both "threw up" in the bowl. I was actually very proud of her for being able to do this at the age of two. Just to be safe, I would wrap her in a towel to help aid in minimizing mess. So, today, after we got done swimming and she announced that Emmy had a tummy ache, I wasn't too surprised at what she did. I was, however, taken aback at the conversation that occurred between her and Emmy. She is such a "little mother" and I'm so touched by how very sweet she is.

"Emmy needs to throw up. It's OK, It's OK. Feel Better. AAAAWWW what a bummer. You can do it. It's OK. Throw up, baby. I will get a rag for her. I need a big rag." It was really sweet. It was also very eerie how as she was talking, it was as if she were playing back a little tape recorder with the exact words I used with her. Just a little reminder for me that these wee ones really do soak up all that you say to them. It truly makes me want to be a better person when I think of how she is like my little mirror......

"Something Else"

I know people say to "write things down" so that's what I'm doing tonight. It seems Suzy is starting to say such cute things and I just can't remember them even the next day or when Rob gets home. But, today, I remember.

We read in the "big blue chair" every night before bed and last night she climbed up into my "lap" (more like the distal portion of my leg really) and announced, "My baby brother is taking up a lot of my Mommy's lap!"

We have a neighbor who is helping me with chores and lifting of Suzy during the mornings. When Suzy woke from her nap, she announced, "Kaitlyn is my boss. I'm gonna be the boss of Baby Andy". We'll see how well that works out for her!

On Friday, we went to my clinic to take a friend out for lunch (to Chick-A-Lay) and Suzy announced that Daddy was working at an office and Mommy works at the clinic. After a few moments of thought, she announced, "I work at Ready Set Play". I'll try and post pictures from our adventure there later. It's basically a big bounce house that Suzy LOVES.

My favorite for tonight, however, comes from bedtime with Daddy.

As he is leaving the room.....
Suzy: "Daddy, I need some more water."
Rob: "I just filled your cup, Suzy Bear."
Suzy: "I need something else."
Rob: "What do you need, Suzy?"
Suzy: long pause "Something else."
Rob: "Ok, what is it that you need?"
Suzy: "Something else."
another pause
"I need my birdies to sing to me" (We have a noise machine that has birds - it reminds her of the Doggy song from her music classes.)
Rob: "Your birdies are already on, Suzy."
Suzy: "Then I need the other birdies."
So, Rob switched to the other type of birds on the machine and all was well. I guess we have officially hit the "stalling" stage of bed time. But, still, it was pretty cute and creative on her part. I am reminded of my friends, Ashley and Andy, commenting that while they were in China people could just say, "I have a thing" and all was well. No questions asked. I guess Suzy just needs, "something else".

I had a great birthday this weekend and we celebrated with some friends from our bible study. I feel so blessed to be given the gift of time from such wonderful friends. We started the day at the water park pool. Then off to lunch with Grammy and Pawpop and dinner with everyone again at the house. It was one of the best birthdays I've had in a very long time. I'm optimistic that this will break the chain of my "yucky birthdays" of the past several years.


The sheepish grin is because Suzy blew out the candles on Mommy's pie before everyone was done singing! Thank you,Gwyneth for taking such a great shot to capture this moment!
Suzy was quite a fan of the birthday hat.

One of the best memories of the night was after dinner getting three of our four girls clean in the tub together. It was so cute. There was shaving cream everywhere! (Hence the milky water - it's just the soap.)

Some of our very close friends have a little boy, Nate Dog, who Suzy absolutely ADORES. Here she is with Aunt Ashley.This was the absolute highlight of her day. She got to help change baby Nathanial!
Pure bliss. Hardly a diaper gets changed now without Suzy requesting to be a helper. I wonder how long this will last?
I just love her expression here. She is absolutely enamored with him.
Aunt Ashley and Uncle Andy are so sweet they even let Suzy help out with Nathanial's first few rounds of solids. We are so blessed to have such great friends in our lives.

Fun with cousins!

Last week, Rob's sister and her family came for a visit. We had a great time. Here are a couple of pictures from our trip. It's hard to get three under three to all look good in the same photo. If you think Suzy looks like me, guess who I think Holly is the clone of? My sister, Laura, had my mini-me in my nephew, Jimmy, and it looks like Rob's mini-me is his niece, Holly!A little cousin love!

The ultimate incentive.... GUM! Suzy will now do all business in the potty with a little promise of some gum. At first, she would just swallow it. But now, she's even good at just chewing (with lots of inspection between bites) and then putting it in the trash can. I really wasn't all that excited about potty training this close to the birth of Baby Andy, as I'm sure she will most likely regress anyhow. But, since I'm craving sweets and gum is on the OK list - she's been requesting mine. To try and stall it off, I told her that gum was for when she is older, like when she's old enough to poop in the potty. I thought I was buying some time. Two days later, voila! Who knew? Anyone want to take bets on how long before it's stuck in her curls?

Since Daddy's company was bought by Dell, we had a perk of having really great seats at a Round Rock Express game at the Dell Diamond. I'm really getting into this baseball thing. I've been to three games now and I ask to go again and again!I'm not sure what I'm cheering for, but this is sure fun! I especially like the music they play.
I tend to take after my Mommy a bit here. I LOVE the funnel cakes! (On a side, this was one of the last yummies before the diabetes was diagnosed. Mommy cheats, but not that much!)