Flittin' Around

Every year, a local garden hosts a butterfly exhibit. Since Sophia loves to admire the little critters that are in her mural and hang on her mobile above her changing table, we thought this would be a perfect day out. Besides, being in a tropical dome is much more pleasant than chilly winds that were blowing outside.

Keenan got to try on his big sister's hat. I have to say, it looked really cute.

The incredibly beautiful and blue Morpho Butterfly. The picture doesn't reflect it, but this butterfly was HUGE!

Colin had several butterflies land on his head while we were walking around. This one hung around long enough for us to show Sophia, who, as it turns out, is terrified of the winged creatures. I guess seeing them in a painting or on a mobile is different than one landing on your dad's head.

The aptly named Owl Butterfly...........

By this time, Sophia was hot and tired and sick of being chased around by butterflies. I think the adults had a much better time than the kids. The butterflies were so beautiful and such a great promise of spring.

Pop some bubbles with me...............

It has been many a week (maybe even months?) since I have participated in one of Donna's ( http://2happy.typepad.com/ )weekly photo challenges. It is about time that I make some effort to rejoin the blogging world. Even some of my friends have complained that my posts are too infrequent.

The transition from one child to two was far harder than I could have ever imagined. I am so very grateful that they are both in my life, I was just not totally prepared for the adjustments. The bumps in the road that we have encountered along the way may have contributed to the rocky transition, but in the end, few things in life are as you expect them to be, that is just the way life unfolds.

Donna was quite right in her observation that trying to get good photos with bubbles and kids is a challenging task. I'm not handy with any photo program, so these were our best effort. Sophia enjoyed the attempts but Keenan looked like he was less than impressed with bubbles or cameras.

A Hint of Spring Arrives

Keenan was a mere 10 pounds when he was placed in our arms at 4 months. He has been steadily gaining much needed weight and I swear, at just six months, he feels like he is knocking on the door of 14 or 15 pounds. His little match stick limbs now bear a greater resemblence to the Michelen Man and he absolutely looks like (and feels like) he ingested a fully inflated basketball. Forget double chins, I'm not even sure he has a chin anymore! It is so good to see him look healthy and strong. He is trying so very hard to crawl but his body won't seem to cooperate, just yet anyway.

In the meantime, Sophia loves, loves, loves being outdoors. She seems to like everything about it and is crushed when it is time to return to her abode. Today she became a little more tentative about the slide when she lost control and slid all the way on her back. It took a fair amount of persuasion to convince her that she actually loves to go down the slide. As has been his M.O., Marz continues to be patient and tolerant of his 20 month old friend.

Once again, I am struck by how many different expressions pass across Keenan's sweet face in the matter of a minute.

Today, the most glorious weather arrived un-announced (the powers that be had predicted rain-ha! We can only hope they are also wrong about the snow predicted next week). A balmy 73 degrees enveloped our little front yard that is straining to assert its' fledgling blooms.

Everyone and their mother (including mine) was out enjoying the unexpected treat. The heat got turned off for the first time since November and the windows flew open.

Although Sophia and Keenan enjoyed the sun, it must have been too much change for the wee little ones since they both screamed their way to the land of nod tonight. I mean AT FULL VOLUME, AT THE SAME TIME and IN THE SAME WAY (though on opposite sides of the house-how do they sense it?) Since I was on my own, it led to me frantically running up and down stairs until (after 45 minutes), I simply gave up any effort to calm and soothe, and opted to sit out on the back deck with the monitors turned down low (at this point, even Marz dog joined me in an effort to escape the din. After another 15 minutes, the cacophony finally stopped. That is when I finally sipped a glass of Cabernet and drew a long and much needed sigh of relief. I love my children more than words can ever express, but I admit that sometimes I cherish their bed times (the ones where they actually sleep that is).

Now I have upmost respect for all of the parents that are my friends. Having said that, now that I have two children so close in age, it has lead me to a new found respect for my fellow bloggers Maria-Mia http://salsainchina.blogspot.com/(with the cutest set of twins) and Donna http://2happy.typepad.com/ with her two beautiful girls who are so close in age, they might as well be twins. Ladies, I'm not quite sure how you do it, but my hat is off to you both!

Hammin' it up

I always thought that Sophia had a greater variety of facial expressions than anyone I knew, but I think her brother aims to give her a run for the title. They both crack me up. We are going to have to get a new camera because our digital camera (cutting edge 5 years ago) is simply to slow to capture all the funny and sweet things that they both do.

Notice the hat might look familiar (Sophia hand me down). Colin was a bit appalled that I put anything with pink on Keenan's head. I just shrugged, he looks so darn cute and at the end of the day, I can be a pragmatist. Although I have to say, Keenan seems to share his Dad's unfavorable view of this hat.

Trying to get all three posed at the same time was a daunting challenge. Colin was the only reliable subject I could count on. Multiple attempts later, this was the best I could do. Notice the nice, somewhat green, grass?

Let The Sun Shine.....

Well the sun has been shining in Michigan, melting much of our snow. As much fun as we had sledding, we are ready to see it go and hope we will be spared from any more this year.

Colin's family leave came to and end and Sophia became quite a handful when he returned to work. I think that she loves having a baby brother but she loves it more when there are two of us here ready to meet her needs. It was infinitely more challenging when she wanted to be picked up in the middle of feeding the baby his bottle. Lots of drama ensued.

When Colin got home from his trip, the whole family took a walk with the bike stroller and introduced Keenan to the jungle gym. Sophia was very proud of herself because she can now slide down on her own.

On a gloomier note, Kat's step dad was hospitalized with pneumonia. Her parents have had a rough month and we are hoping for his speedy recovery.

Rolling, Rolling, Rolling...................

For the past few weeks, if we put Keenan on his tummy, he would roll onto his back, but he could not seem to get past his shoulder the other way around. When we would put him on tummy time, he would cry, scream and generally make it well known that he did not like tummy time. All that changed a couple of days ago when he suddenly flipped over onto his belly and stayed there.

Since then, he has been spending at least 40% of his time on his tummy, he seems very intent on checking out his surroundings. When he decides to return to his back, he will spend 10 to 15 minutes checking out his hands. He really is such a sweet boy. He seems to be feeling better and he just becomes more charming with each day that goes by.

Better Late Than Never

We were finally able to get together with my parents, extended family and some friends for a belated birthday celebration. Everyone loved meeting Keenan and Sophia had fun bonding with her cousins.