Wednesday, October 22, 2008

2 Months Old!


Wow, does time fly...Danielle is already two months old today. I didn't get really great pictures today, but I thought I would upload and post to commemorate the day :) Danielle is (as Malcolm said) smiling a tons and I really get bummed that I don't get to hang around all day with her and talk to her and smile with her. Instead she gets hauled around to this place and that and we are always on the go. It is so different from when we had Michaela, it will be interesting to see how that affects her as she grows older.

I did have to make a quick note of yesterday...I tried my hand at 'phishing' when I went with the girls to Lake Farm park and I was so excited when I had a Golden-Crowned Kinglet, some sort of warbler (Malcolm wasn't there to ID it for me) and some chickadees all within 5 feet of me, checking me out. It was awesome. I am sure people thought I was strange making that sound but who cares when I get birds that close to me...even Michaela was excited to see the warbler that close.


This past weekend Grandma Cindy came to visit and it was so nice to have someone to watch the girls while I did a few errands, got my hair cut and just enjoyed not having to continually keep them busy. We got a chance to talk and I had some conversations with someone other than a two-year old. You don't know how much you miss that until you don't have it :) Michaela LOVED having Grandma there and painted a pumpkin and got to go the park with her and was so very sad when Grandma started packing her bag to go home. So, anyhow THANKYOU Grandma Cindy for all your help!

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Nice to be back home

I was able to go duck hunting with Chandler, Dad, Matt, and Nick in North Dakota this past weekend. I appreciated being able to ride the train from Madison to Fargo rather than drive the 500 miles, even if I did not sleep very well on it. The ducks were not very abundant, but everyone got shooting and I know that I had fun. Nick was the only one that filled his waders this trip, but he had dry clothes to put on at least. We split wood, shot at ducks, played some cards, and hopefully made good memories.

As much as I enjoyed the hunting trip itself, the best part about it for me was that four days away from home reminded of how great I have it. Being away from Christine for just a few days is a great way for me to realize how lucky I am to have her as my wife. The girls are at the age where three four days can seem like an eternity, I think that they changed in the time I was gone.

Michaela decided to turn the night-light on last night after reading our bedtime story. I am a bit worried that she will not sleep as well with it on, but that is only based on last night of her talking and reading in her room at 1:30am. Rather than snuggling and going back to bed she wanted a clean diaper and to stay up...oh well.

Danielle is smiling so often it is awesome. As many of you noted on Danielle's first smiling post, it may have been gas at first but now she is cooing and smiling back at us regularly. Unfortunately Danielle also has the explosive diapers right now, but it is still great being home.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

The Mind of a Two-Year Old

Well, I am on my own tonight with Michaela sick and myself coming down with a cold as well. Malcolm is on his way via train to his annual duck-hunting trip and I hope the weather is great for everyone (whatever the ideal duck hunting weather is :) ) Anyhow, since I have the night to myself and I have a minute I thought I would share the thoughts of Michaela. I get such a kick out of her sometimes, I think God gives us these moments to help us handle the less than perfect other times!

Yesterday Malcolm and I went on a walk to the University Gardens and I looked over to see Michaela extremely interested in a flower, she smelled it touched and eventually pulled a petal off. As it fell to the ground she realized that she had 'broken' it and thought she should try to fix it (before anyone noticed, no doubt!) Anyhow, she proceeded to pick it up and tried to put it back on the flower, she tried a few times and then promptly left the flower and fled the scene of the crime not knowing Mommy had already seen it all :) I love the way her mind works.

Today she also put her pretending to a new level. I told Michaela that Danielle was going potty and she quickly left the room and came back with a wipe (for diaper changing) and first wiped her teddy bear, then her duck slippers, then her rhinoceros doll and lastly Danielle. Then she went and got another wipe and a diaper and proceeded to try and put a diaper on the rhinoceros, she did fairly well considering she couldn't get the tabs undone. Then brought the diaper to me to change Danielle...too bad she brought me her size diapers instead of Danielles, oh well it is the thought that counts. I am amazed at how much she remembers and is able to do things that she watches us do every day. She is a little sponge!

Gramma Gold is coming tomorrow and I know that we will have a blast, Michaela is always excited to talk to her and Gramma Kallevig and I know she misses them. It will help ease the pain of no daddy for the weekend. I am quite worried about tonight as Michaela always wants her dad when she wakes up at night (she has been doing really good, but when she is sick she wakes up at least a few times a night). I hope Danielle happens to be sleeping when Michaela wakes up or I will have my hands full.

Here are a couple pics of Michaela and her picking the flower and trying to put the petal back on.

Sunday, October 12, 2008

The Art of Phishing



Yesterday Malcolm and I went for our usual walk birding with the girls and Malcolm decided to try his hand at the 'art of phishing'. For those of you who do not know what that is; it is basically making imitating sounds of birds to 'lure' them closer. There are certain calls that are universal to the bird kingdom that alert birds to either come and help or at least come and look at what is going on. So, Malcolm spotted a group of Kinglets and Chickadees and worked his magic...he soon had 20 or more little birds in the tree right above him...looking him right in the eye! It was very exciting. I hope he will write a blog soon about it as it was very cool and he definately unterstands it better than I do. (Thank you Grandma Kallevig for the book :) )

Michaela is growing so fast and yesterday she tackled climbing all by herself on one of they toys on the playground, but I have yet to get a picture as I am too nervous yet that she will fall :} Danielle has enjoyed the last few outings being fully awake and watching everything, which is great as she usually has slept in the past, which is easier for us, but I like knowing she is starting to experience the world.

This morning we went to the zoo together and Michaela was Daddy's girl all day showing him stuff and Malcolm telling her all about the animals. I know she really enjoys getting him all to herself. Anyhow, thought I would post a couple pics of us from yesterday and today.


Thursday, October 9, 2008

Ooops! ...

So what does an almost two-year old do when they mess up (i.e. spill some juice, break something or some other 'oops') they first try to hide it...I have found things in the trash that Michaela has ripped by accident and come in to find her 'wiping' up a spill with a piece of clothing which then goes in the trash many a times, but tonight was new...

I was in the kitchen when I hear Michaela coming in 'crying' (it was really her fake crying but she was distressed nonetheless). I asked her what happened and she lifted her shirt to show me a newly permanent-markered bellybutton. For those of you who don't know, Michaela LOVES her bellybutton and almost everything has been poked or shoved in there at some point :) She must have realized after playing with the marker that it had actually colored her belly button and she had not planned on that and came to me for help. Unfortunately, being the mean mommy that I am, I immediately ran around the house trying to find the marker and what else she had markered with permanent marker, luckily it looked as though she started with her belly button and not the furniture. At this point I return to Michaela and decide I should take a picture of her to keep the memory except this only fueled her distress. Once she realized she had done something warranting a picture, she was embarassed and refused to let me see it anymore, let alone touch it. The rest of the night she went into bouts of screaming due to her newly decorated bellybutton and when I had to remove her shirt because she spilled juice on it...she screamed for like 5 minutes straight. When daddy got home she was in the bath with TWO washclothes clutched tightly in her hands covering her bellybutton and cried when we showed him. So, both of us spent the night telling her it was okay and that we loved her, but I don't think it mattered yet.

So, what does an almost two-year old do when they can't cover up there mistakes? ... Scream and cry. Poor thing, I felt so bad for her though I couldn't help laughing a little. It is a good thing she doesn't know that I am posting her new OOOPS to the world.

Monday, October 6, 2008

Smiles


Danielle is smiling a bit, although I am not sure if it is actually for us or if it is just a new movement regardless of the circumstances. Last night she smiled at me four times and then again tonight once. We don't have a picture of it yet, but here is a smirk at least.

Bundles of Joy and Headache


Christine and I had our hands full this weekend. It seemed like we were overwhelmed by both kids whenever in the car. Danielle does not ride extremely well in the car, and often is fussing before falling asleep. Her fussing causes Michaela to scream and talk louder than she normally does......and both of these lead to us getting huge headaches. The good part is that they usually stop being so loud when we get out of the car!!!

The weather was great on Saturday and we spent time outside, going birding a couple of times. The highlight was a close encounter with a immature red-tailed hawk. Even Michaela enjoyed watching him as he landed between Christine and myself. We also went to an estate auction, which may seem like not much but when you take two kids it can be quite the ordeal. How did everyone do it...how does Christine do it???

Danielle is getting stronger and is staying up longer. After sleeping most of the first months away, she is having periods awake where she will just stare at us and squirm. Michaela has done so well with the toddler bed. Even though she woke up twice last night, she went right back to bed and snuggled with her blankets and pillows. It is so nice to be able to go in to her bedroom, calm her and leave before she is completely asleep. One downfall of me leaving that quickly, is that she does wake up occasionally on the floor.

Friday, October 3, 2008

6 Weeks Old




Danielle is 6 weeks old today and we now have confirmation to our feeling that Danielle is bigger than Michaela was at her age. The 'unofficial' weight was 11 lbs but that was with her clothes on so I figure she is about 10 lbs 8 oz or so. Michaela was 10 lbs 3 oz at 2 months of age.

Things are still going well and we try to get out a few times each day while the weather is still nice...winter is coming! Yesterday, we went out to the park with friends Ben & Rachel and their two daughters Haven & Rory to grill. Michaela had a blast with Haven running around and chasing her and playing in the leaves. It will probably be the last time we grill out and as it was already quite cold out last night.

I thought I would also post a couple pictures of Danielle from today so you all could see how she is growing!