We're back!

What a fun trip!

For those not sure of the vacation plans, we went back to Texas where Miss C got to meet 3 of my siblings (Aunt A, Uncle W and Uncle D) as well as their spouses (actually only one spouse, Aunt L) and her cousins (Cousin B, Cousin M, Cousin J and Cousin A). Talk about a busy vacation!

Ok, first, the flights went well. We spent the night near the airport the day before the flight out. That made it a little easier the next day (until I realized, after the flight took off that my cell phone and car keys were in the room still. Alas, I got them back today. Yep, not fun but nothing we couldn't handle). Other than my error there, the entire trip was a great success. We got to see everyone (almost everyone...) twice.

Rather than get into too much detail here, I am going to throw in a few photos so you can see the visit. Unfortunately, i didn't spend as much time behind the camera as I wanted. I am hoping Aunt L will be able to send me her photos as well.

The rest of the photos are here. It really was an awful lot of fun seeing Miss C interact with all of her Texas cousins. Hopefully we can do this somewhat regularly.

Hope you all have a great Memorial Day Weekend!

Quick post

Sorry to have been so slient recently. Been busy with work and well, life. We are getting ready to start our vacation adventure. We (Miss C and I) are getting ready to drive to the airport so we can fly out to visit family (Aunt A, Uncle W, Aunt L and all of her cousins).

I am a little nervous because its a 5 freaking hour flight and the last time I flew alone with Miss C she was 4 months old and easy to cart around. I have packed our bag and one carry on (fingers crossed). I did get us each a seat because, as you all have probably noticed, Miss C is pretty tall and we need space! I have a snack bag along with the carry on (we can each have one for crying out loud) but I will try to put everything in the carry on before the flight.

The drive to the airport is why I need the separate bag (its 120 freaking miles). We are actually staying downtown tonight and flying out tomorrow (early flight, direct). I just finished running by the dollar store to get some last minute things for the flight (a couple of new books and dicast cars, little stuff for when she starts to get bored on the flight).

For myself, I packed my Kindle. I also packed a portable DVD player and some DVDs that Miss C selected (Elmo's World is currently the rave with her).

We will meet up with DH on Saturday (he is on travel).

Wish us luck and understand if I remain incommunicado for a little while. I promise to take lots of pictures and post once we get home.

Wow, just, yea, wow

Remember when we talked about kids making rapid advances when they are young? And how their vocabulary expands?

Well, we forgot to mention the really sweet stuff about when they start to read their own books out loud. Now, we know that most of the words aren't well, words, but I hope you enjoy this video. Tell me what you think.

Family Photos

We got some family photos done (I know, finally!) so I thought I would share one with you here and put the rest here. What do you think?

So cute!

So, Miss C has basically fallen in love with wearing her "pretty dresses", as she is now fond of referring to them. Additionally, we are wearing nighties to bed over pjs because, well, they are dresses we wear to bed, right?
I am not sure if its the grown up part of the dress, the age or what, but I think its awfully sweet. Hopefully I will be able to get her to stop moving long enough to get a picture of her in one!

Until then, I leave you with a relatively recent (relatively being the word) video of Miss C on her tricycle:

22 Months already? Not your regular post (For Maddie)

Miss C turned 22 months old yesterday. Usually I try to put in a list of her achievements and milestones but this week I have been a little distracted. First because DH is sick (infection, probably something along the lines of tonsillitis based on how those look) but also because I have been following another Mom's blog for a while and she just lost her little girl.
I don't feel right trying to explain her story (see this blog or through Poobou, another young Mom's blog here) but this family's tragedy has shaken me to the core. I always knew my little one was a miracle but I never realized just how few children are actually born without any complications. Those who aren't, those little ones who need extra help, don't always get to reach the milestones I am so fond of sharing.
In deference to this family's loss, i am not going to post my normal monthly Miss C update. Instead I am going to ask you all to help prevent this from happening again by sharing another Mom's March for Babies pledge site. If you are able to support this team, a team made up of parents and friends trying to do more, or even walk your own March for Babies, please do so. Little ones need all the help they can get.

Someone is becoming a big girl

Everytime I think Miss C is at some certain stage in life, she goes off and grows up on me. DH is going on travel for the summer and will miss our 2nd birthday here. In order to give him an opportunity to play with Miss C and the gift he intended for her to receive then, DH went out and picked it out a couple of months early. His argument, Miss C is getting to be a big girl and big girls need their Daddies to help them learn certain things.
This is a picture of what DH got Miss C.

As you can see, adorable as it is, Miss C hasn't quite figured out how to pedal and is just a shade too short (hard to imagine!) so I ran over to Wally World this morning after a short stop at work and picked this up.

As you can see, it is just a little smaller, about perfect for now. It does grow into a bike with training wheels, a little smaller than the other one, just right for growing into. I think Miss C is really starting to get the pedaling thing down (I did load a couple of videos too, in case you want to check them out.).

We did already institute the "you shall wear your helmet if you want to ride your bike/tricycle" rule and Miss C doesn't seem to have any problem with that.

What is the right age to start riding a tricycle or bicycle? How do you teach your little ones to pedal?