Here comes Rolling Thunder 2010

250,00 motorcycles rolling down i66 right now. Cole's not sure if he
likes the rumbling and honking this year, but Kira doesn't seem to mind!

Our Little Parrot...

For months now we've known we have to watch what we say, but we still forget now and again...today was one of those days. Dave tried to do something, got frustrated and yelled "Are you kidding me with this?!" Not ten minutes later we put Kira in the high chair and went to get the food from the kitchen so we could all sit down and eat. Kira started crying (poor girl was starving!) and Cole yells, "Quiet Kira!" So I said, "Cole, Kira is hungry. Don't yell at her. We'll all be there in a minute and she'll stop crying." So he says, "But she is making a lot of noise!" And I said, "So do you but I don't yell at you to be quiet like that." And his response? "Are you kidding me with this?!" OMG! Dave and I were in the kitchen and Cole and Kira were in the dining room so they couldn't see us but we were silently laughing so hard! We were doubled over the sink trying to hide our faces. Too funny!

Kira's 6th tooth!

Kira now has four teeth on the bottom and two up top. (The 4th bottom tooth came in yesterday.) Not only that, but she is also cruising from one thing to another - like walking along the coffee table and then reaching out to and stepping over to the couch. She'll also walk while holding our hands! She's growing up so fast!!!

What's Cole Watching These Days?

At age one Cole began watching Baby Einstein videos once a day. I thought this would come in handy when I got pregnant again b/c I could put on the TV while napping next to him on the couch after work. No such luck! He always got so excited by the animals he would point and squeal with delight and want me to look. From there we progressed to Sesame Street when he was almost two years old. He quickly became an Elmo fan. We then added Clifford the Big Red Dog. (He watches one show when he wakes up in the morning while Dave and I get ready for work and another show in the evening when we get home - 30 minutes each time for a total of 1 hour a day.) Now he has added two more shows to his repertoire. Dinosaur Train (a favorite of mine) and Curious George. We love singing the theme song to Dinosaur Train together...check for a video of that soon ;-)

Preschool Prep

In September Cole starts pre-school two days a week. Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Nothing extreme! Just a little something to get socialized. (Though I do feel he gets social interactions through our many playdates, I think it will be good to introduce him to be a bigger group of kids and also get him used to a little bit more structure. As they call it - structured play time!) So, it's no Harvard-feeder school, but it's what we are looking for :-) Anyway, in order to try and (a) get him excited to start there and (b) motivate him to potty train we set up a preview today for him. Kira was still sleeping so I stayed home while Dave took him over for a visit. When he got back he was crying because he wanted to stay there!!! Definitely a good sign. Let's hope it goes this well when he truly starts in the fall :-)

Another tooth!

Kira's fifth tooth has come in this week! It's another top one so she finally has her two top teeth - and three bottom ones.

Showing Louisiana pride!

Sent from my iPhone

New phrases

Cole has expanded his vocabulary, yet again!  His current phrases crack me up.  They include the following:

• Check this out!
• Can you believe it?!
• Oh,I get it.  (As he nods reassuringly)  

It doesn't matter how many times he says it, I'm always surprised and amused when he does! 

And a looosiana boy...

And here's a looosiana boy if I ever saw one... Standing in the
pouring rain and lovin' it! Reminds me of when we would play in the
ditches in the rain.

Kira's having a blast

At mcdonalds without mamma Herr to watch her go go gadget arms!!

Twinkle, Twinkle...

Every night our bedtime routine consists of 1-3 books (depending on how early we start the bath and bedtime routine), followed by lights out and me singing three songs to him (Dave sings different songs).  First, I sing Hush Little Baby, Don't Say a Word (the mockingbird song, don't ask me the real name because I made up all the words to it when he was a baby and have been singing my made-up verses ever since!) and I follow that with "Twinkle, Twinkle" and finally end with "Rock-a-bye Baby."  About a month ago Cole surprised me by singing along - to all three!  I wonder how long he's known all the words...and now after lights out we sit on the couch, turn on his monitor and listen to him sing himself to sleep.  His favorite this week is "Old MacDonald Had a Farm."  Too cute!

mulch

Dada and I went to Home Depot to get mulch and I LOVED it watering it. 

Kira's teeth

Kira just got her fourth tooth yesterday!  Now she has three on the bottom -- the first two came in the end of January, exactly one week apart, and the third bottom tooth came in one week before her baptism -- and now she has her first top tooth.  Top left if you're looking at her! 

Oh my goodness!

So, we've learned these past few months that Cole picks up on everything we say!  In February Cole learned two new phrases -- the first one came out when I yelled at him for something (Lord knows what - probably because he didn't want a new diaper on - that's his new thing.  Which is great, except he'll only pee in the toilet, not poop, so he still needs it!)  He turned and said to me, "Mama, calm down."  OMG- i tried so hard not to laugh but then had to call Dave at work and bust a gut b/c it was too funny to have my 2 year old tell me to calm down!  The second one was when he walked into the room and said to me and Dave, "what the hell is going on in here?"  I looked at Dave and then laughed so hard I cried!  Thankfully he has not repeated either phrase - just one time each despite the uncontrollable laughter that followed each pronouncement. A few weeks into March he learned a new one -  I asked him to do something and he told me I had to "hold on a minute."  His two news things this month (April) are "Oh, I get it" and "Oh my goodness"!  What's even funnier is that not only does he listen, absorb and repeat everything we say - but he uses the same tone! 

This week (Thursday) when I was working from home I had two early morning phone calls.  Whenever I'm on the phone I ask him to be quiet, of course.  So after I got off the second call he turns to me and Kira and says "ok, now please be quiet, Cole has to make a phone call."  He then proceeds to pick up his walkie-talkie (attached to his ride-on fire truck) and holds it up to his ear.  "Hello?...hi...I'm in the basement...just playing...yes...ok, I'll talk to you later...bye."  It was HYSTERICAL!  He paused as if he was having a real conversation and someone on the other end was listening...and I love how he went Hello? and then Hi like I do...too funny how much he mimics us!