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Deckwarming & Katie’s Third First Birthday

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Today was the big day of our Deckwarming party (and Tom’s going away party) as well as a mini celebration of Katie’s first birthday (technically her third first birthday as we already celebrated in Michigan, then she had her actual birthday on the 10th, and then today’s gathering). It was a long, hot, tiring—yet fun—day.

Party-prep is so much work—it never seems like stuff will take that long…but it always does. I was VERY thankful to have hired Virginia to come watch the kids while we did the prep because then I didn’t have to listen to Katie screaming because I wasn’t paying attention to her…and I was actually able to get stuff done! I loved what Virginia posted on Facebook—it’s classic Owen:

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As usual, we had too much food (or maybe just not enough people?!) but then, I’m a Len and we apparently don’t know how to cook for less than 40 people (or are paranoid about not having enough food regardless of the number of people). 🙂 But everything was delicious.

The weather actually held out—it was touch and go for awhile with intermittent thunderstorms pretty much all morning and early afternoon—but it cleared up about 4 and was sunny and gorgeous (though the humidity was right at about 99%).

We had a good blend of old (Mitchells and Trimbles) and new friends (from my mommy group) and the kids had a blast in the playroom and in the pool.

Then it was time for the birthday cake. I had wanted to do something special for Katie so she didn’t fall into that “second kid gets squat compared to the first kid” thing PLUS after Owen’s Lego cake debacle I had decided I was never attempting to bake a cake again…so I asked our friend Ursula to make a cake. She has recently started making and decorating cakes and she’s ABSOLUTELY AMAZING (as opposed to my first attempt—see above Lego debacle post). Here’s the picture I sent her (that I found on Pinterest) along with her version on the right (I asked for the 1 on top instead of the ladybug and only two layers):

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[ Find the original cake here: Ladybug Birthday Cake from PinkCakeBox ]

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Amazing, right?

Also a big thanks to mommy-group friend Jacqueline who helped with my last-minute ice cream request (Doh! How could we have forgotten ice cream on our three trips to town?!) and pre-party kitchen cleanup (she arrived during the last 15-minute rush to get everything done, saw I was a bit overwhelmed, and jumped in to wash the sink full of dishes).

Some of the kids playing dress up:

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Having a blast in the pool:

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Wandering:

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She made such a mess that we had to hose off the deck (thanks, Roger!) and give her a quick bath in the sink with Dawn detergent (I hadn’t planned ahead to have baby soap downstairs). Here she is somewhat cleaned up, back with Virginia again.

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Since Owen was having so much fun in the pool and with the kids, we let him stay up late. This is about 9:30 right before he finally went to bed.

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Thanks to everyone who shared the day with me and Tom!! And you can tell we’re all getting older…everyone had gone home by 10:15!! 🙂

Owen is getting better about trying new foods.

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Amazingly Owen has been trying new foods! It’s still been VERY basic stuff…but we’ll take what we can get!

The other night I made a hamburger/tater tot casserole…and he tried both (separately) and liked them! We made hamburgers tonight and he ate maybe 1/3 of one! (We still have to bribe him—he couldn’t have more tater tots until he ate more hamburger.) And he likes things dipped it ketchup…AND yogurt…at the same time. (Barf.)

He tried chicken fingers—but he deemed them too spicy. (And honestly, they are a bit on the spicy side.)

He tried a peach and gave it a no. Even though he loves peach yogurt and eats the peach bits.

He even wanted to try gum (there were gum balls in one of his toys)—so Tom broke off about 1/4 of a piece—and Owen barely touched his tongue to it before saying “No thank you.” We made him actually put it in his mouth and start chewing—which he did…for about three seconds before spitting it out.

What a kid.

Owenisms 21

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Me: If you’d like, your milk is in the fridge.
Owen: [Thumbs up.]

Owen: Mama, you watch your TV. I’m going to go play with my Legos.

Owen: Mama, can I have my dessert? I was a good boy sleeping long.
Me: No. You haven’t even had breakfast yet.
Owen: OH DANGIT!
It took me awhile to figure out what he meant because he was up at 7. But then he hopped into bed and cuddled with me while I slept to 7:30. 🙂

Owen: Mama, I need a new B.
Me: Why?
Owen: Because I lost my next one for good.

Owen: Holding up a Lego trident.Mom, what’s this gold thing?
Before I can answer—
Owen: It’s a trident. Who’s the underwater king?
Me: King Neptune.
Owen: Mom, thanks for saying King Neptune.

As I’m lifting Katie up onto the couch…
Owen: I want to hold my sister.
Me: Okay, on your lap?
Owen: NO!
Me: ???

Owen: I’m done [with dinner].
Tom: Let me stick a fork in you.
Owen: No! I don’t want to get little holes because I don’t like it and I’d be sad.

Trying to put his scabbard in his underwear and finding it difficult.
Owen: Mama! I need pants!

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Before & After

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Every month or so we gather all the Legos, put all the correct pieces together, and see what’s missing. (I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before.)

Well, this month it was a net loss. We found four pieces that had been missing, about six of the same pieces were still missing, but then there were about eight new missing pieces. Ugh.

BEFORE

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AFTER

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DISFIGURED LEGOS

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We struck gold twice.

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So, when we were home on our recent vacation, we got out some old slides. I wanted to show them to Tom and Owen…but I was also hoping to find pictures of me in some of the outfits of mine that I’ve been putting on Katie. And we struck gold twice.

Green and floral shirt, circa about 1975-76.

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And from October 18, 2012 (see original post here).

I’m thinking the shirt HAD to have shrunk, as I was obviously about 2 or 3 years old when I was wearing it…and Katie was 3 months old. I guess I’ll keep it around and try again when Katie is older, just for laughs. 🙂

And no, mom, I don’t think she looks like me. But I’m digging your plaid pants. 🙂

The second outfit is a blue jumper, seen here on me about early 1974 (unless I was sitting at three months by December 1973) with a doll in almost the same outfit.

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And on Katie on November 11, 2012 (see original post here).

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There is NO way that we look even remotely close in these pictures…in fact, I think I look a little like my older cousin Greg and Katie looks like, well, Katie. 🙂

Stay tuned for more old slides…

Jumping in the pool

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At first it was the same old same old…putting his face under water and generally being a ham.

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An underwater picture of Spongebob floating face down. It’s confusing because the sky was completely cloudy.

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And then daddy came out and joined us once he put Katie to bed.

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And then things got a little crazier.

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His “Superman” jump!

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Katie got bit!

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So, Katie loves playing with Charlie. For the most part, Charlie doesn’t mind—but every once in awhile she’ll have enough and give Katie a swat (she has no claws so it’s not dangerous). Sometimes Katie stops…sometimes she doesn’t. Once in awhile Katie gets a quick nip and it shocks her but doesn’t really hurt her.

Until tonight.

She got bit HARD. At first we didn’t think too much about it but she was screaming harder and louder (and longer) than normal…so I took a peek…and saw blood. Yep, Charlie bit her hand so hard it drew blood. Poor kid. ((A day later you can still see the teeth marks and bruising.))

Happy first birthday, Katie!

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First outfit of the day…a white onesie (with design that could be covered up by the sticker) from Gramma Jean. I didn’t put her in the matching pants because they clashed with the sticker. 🙂

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Here you can see the actual onesie. She started ripping the sticker off after the first 100 photos. 🙂 This is also where she loves to play—the coat rack. I’m not sure what she’ll do when we finally get hooks attached to the bottom level for their coats!

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Post-nap outfit change! This one is from Grauntie Sue! It’s scary because it’s size 18mo and fits pretty well.

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Katie’s first five steps!

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So all day I’ve been trying to get Katie to walk—to no avail. Tom comes home and was playing with her and I was in the kitchen and he yells “She’s walking! She just took four steps!”

Of course she did. 😐

I’m home all day every day yet she chooses to walk in the first five minutes she’s alone with daddy. Stinker.

So we immediately tried to get her to so it again—which is usually the kiss if death—but she did it!

So she took her first real steps the day before her first birthday!!

Screamy, Sneezy, and Snotty

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Guess who woke up with all three Ss this morning?! Plus drippy, too, I guess.

😐

Best we can tell, it was allergies of some sort (the snot—though plentiful—was clear). And she was definitely pathetic looking—red-rimmed and runny eyes, sneezy sneezy sneezy, and continuously dripping (and sometimes spraying) snot.

Good times.

Busy Brother

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Katie was up—and screaming—so I asked Owen to go in and keep her company for a few minutes while I took a quick shower. This is what I walked in to see (though in the pic I’d already grabbed her from the crib):

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He had dragged his big bear AND his turtle into her room…and was reading from her books (well, reading in so much as it’s a picture book that has “one star, two cats, three balls, etc.” in pictures on each page).

Then when I got her out of the crib…I saw his two other bears in there!

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What a busy brother he’d been during my five-minute-or-less shower!

And down our street as well…

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So, since the satellite view was new, I just decided to check out the street view as well…

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My first simultaneous thoughts were “YAY! A picture where the grass is finally green!” and “Wow, it’s been since we got the new car!” (Which seems like yesterday but it’s already been 1-1/2 years!)

The clues:

  1. We got the car in January 2012.
  2. Old photos show the water-sprinkler seal in use on April 17, 2012; this corresponds to when my mom and Dave were visiting—April 14–21, 2012—as she gave him the seal.
  3. The backyard pool went up on May 5, 2012, and I think we got rid of the seal then.

So, the best I can date this photo is April 17–May 5, 2012.

ETA: I checked the street view online (vs. mobile) and it says it was generated in October 2012…so I went back and checked my photos and yep, we had the seal out then, too.

Chicken x 2!

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Owen tried BBQ chicken the other night. Holy cow. He liked the chicken but didn’t like the sauce, so we rinsed off a bite and he ate it! So TWO bites!

So we ate a quick lunch at Costco today after shopping—Owen had pizza, but Tom and I shared a chicken bake and he tried a piece of the chicken from it! And said he liked it!

Of course I don’t expect him to make a full meal out of it anytime soon…but baby steps.

A big thank you to Daniel Tiger’s Neigjborhood that has an episode where they try new foods. I can never remember the jingle so I make something up and Owen always corrects me by singing it himself!

Here’s the full song (not the best quality since it’s not direct from the show):