Children's Museum Trip

Making Snowballs at Home

The previous house owners left us a gift for the kids. Dax has been begging to do it since the day we got the keys. Finally, mommy says yes. The little machine made pretty good shaved ice I thought.

Rain

We'd been praying for rain since we moved in. One day we got a short shower. Dax & Calleigh were thrilled.

Settling In

The kids entralled by the tree trimmers climbing our tree and Dax loving all the sharp tools.
We are finally making some progress getting unpacked and settled. This picture acturately describes how the process has gone. I had all the clothes folded neatly in these cabinets. When I walked in shocked, Dax told me, "We put all the clothes in the drawer for you momma! We needed a place to hide."

New Home

We are moved in! We are exhausted. There are very few pics, but I will start up again soon. The house is still a disaster but we have it mostly here. The kids have had a blast running around the empty rooms before we moved in and they are loving all the space inside and out. They both slept great our first night here - each of them have their own room! This is our very first house in 8 years of marriage (school, school, and more school). We've never lived anywhere for more than 2 years so we are looking to finally settle in and stay a while. We are all super excited.

Our Tea Party at Mama & Grandpa's house

Dax is such a gentleman (except when he is drinking directly out of the teapot:) They both loves filling their mouths and spewing the water back out - oh what a civilized tea party!

My Super Hero (that loves to share with little sis':)

Never Let Your Child Do This!

So Dax is entertaining himself with a small can of play-dough while I work in the kitchen. "Mommy, say something so I can not hear you." (Proud Mommy thinking oh - cute, he figured out the earplug concept all by himself.) This conversation of "What?" followed by Mommy saying something and Dax giggling "What?" goes on for a few minutes.

Then Dax begins taking out the play dough - and a piece broke off and stuck in his ear. He goes to the mirror to get it out with his finger and pushes it further in. Then the drama - it hurts! I tried tweezers to no avail.

My pediatricians office connected me to the on-call doctor (not our pedi) who told me to go to the ER. (Mind you this is the second or third time this particular Dr. (who has cussed in front of my child in the office!) gave us this quick easy (for him) response.

Really - I have to go to the ER for play-dough?!! This is crazy. We finally reached a friend who gave us great advice and after lots of tears, holding Dax down and a promise of ice cream - the play dough came out.

You know that bulb syringe they give you in the hospital that you think is going to explode your newborns nose - keep it! Besides being a great toddler bath toy, it comes in handy:) You irrigate the ear with fast warm water from the bulb for anyone curious.

Calleigh is 18 months.

Okay, Calleigh B has definitely gotten the second child treatment. So I she's now 18 months and I'm sure I've written barely anything down. These kids keep a mom busy. We did the 18 month checkup and Calleigh is still tall. She's got a bit of eczema we need to work on (basically lots of lotion and very little soap), but otherwise doing great. She communicates quite effectively despite her minimal vocabulary. Her current words are: mama, mommy, me, more, mi(lk), dada, daddy, Da(x), boo, bir(d), bu(g), ball, bowl, baby, and ba (for everything else)

She also has some sign language and immitates movement song motions. She signs more, all done, where, plane, helicopter (mixing these up often), bird, ball, dog, cow, fish, rabbit, horse, pig (including the snorting sound), and a made up sign for open the door.

She is very opinionated (aren't most 1 year olds), but seriously - she has to choose her shoes and throws a horrid fit if you choose the ones that actually match her outfit. So if you see us out with crazy unmatched shoes, its because she chose them (same with Dax btw.) I chose my battles and this one just isn't worth it to me.

Calleigh loves to sing lullubyes using her lullabye word - "baby." So she keeps the tune of the song with the one word "baby" replacing all the actual words. She absolutely delights in hearing music she knows. We've been attending Music Together classes since she was itty bitty.

And then there is the fearless issue. Calleigh B has NO fear as far as climbing, jumping, falling (even into water.) Oh - how we have to watch this baby girl. She's managed to get a few head bumps and fallen face first into the water. You know that trust fall where you just fall flat and trust someone will catch you - thats what she does. Daddy likes plays with her and growls like an animal - she just giggles while Dax often runs! She tries terribly to keep up with Dax. She seems to be overcoming seperation anxiety that was so severe for a while.

Cal-B loves to pretend and immitate. She'll give food and drink to her babydolls; walk around wiping down the furniture and walls; and carry around the laundry as if to put it away. I have to appreciate that she notices (and wants to help) all the work I do because Dax is clueless!

Dax & Calleigh just adore each other. Dax helps Calleigh get her shoes on(what a help to me!) as we are leaving and instructs her on what she is and is not supposed to do. Today he found a mint as we were walking out the door. Dax: "Calleigh, if you are good and don't be bad at all then I will give you some mint later, but you have to be good." Calleigh just copies anything Dax does. They play fairly well togther as long as there isn't anything to be destroyed - like blocks, etc. Dax holds her hand and leads her around and she is so happy to oblige - most of the time.

Moody Gardens Family Outing

Cutest Party Ever.

We attended the birthday of Dax's friend. It was Star Wars themed. All the kids received costumes & light sabers. Just adorable!

Calleigh's a climber and she loves the sink.

Just a minute with my eye off Calleigh and where does she end up? In the bathroom sink:)

Swimming with Daddy