The Long Awaited Update....

Well I keep meaning to blog about Thanksgiving and Christmas and then I just don't want to do that much catch up so I'm going to just start with NOW--April! Ok with you? We had a great Thanksgiving and Christmas and leave it at that.

We are coming up on their 5th birthday! I cannot even believe it.

Some updates or things you have missed--

1. Ryan is currently going to an Occupational Therapist (OT) for fine motor skills delays. He has a hard time writing, holding the pencil correctly, and doing tasks like buttoning/zipping and basically anything where using the fingers is involved. He also doesn't cross his midline when catching/throwing balls so he is working on that too. That started in January and already he has made progress. We go once a week for an hour. He loves it there so it's no problem going. It's expensive though!!

2. Ryan fell off his bike on the driveway and got stitches on his chin on April 5th. That was our first trip to the ER. The smell of the hospital soap brought me right back to NICU days. Interesting how a smell can trigger memories. He said he was doing a trick. Of course the accident hasn't slowed him down in any way.

3. Kaylie has come out of her shell (a little) socially. She plays with the girls on the street and actually talks to them now. Still only says just a little bit at school. I'm a little worried about Kindergarten next year. I hope she will come out of this social anxiety with age. She is completely different at home so why can't she be that way at school???? Drives me nuts.

4. Still no hair regrowth for her. She lost her last batch of hair in March 2011 and we haven't seen more than a light fuzz that never seems to grow. It just falls out again. So far she doesn't seem care that she has no hair and doesn't appear bothered by it. She has wondered why she has no hair and everyone else does. I tried to explain alopecia to her. I have shown her other kids with it so she knows she's not the only person with it and I have a few books that we still have to read. I know next year there will be a lot of questions from kids at their new school. I really want her to be able to tell them what it is but with her shyness I don't think that is going to happen. She loves to do my hair. I can rock 'the 20 hair clips at one time' look really well. She may end up a hair stylist one day. Who knows.

I really like this age. Still hard at times with strong willed personalities and the fighting that goes on. They are becoming so much more independent and actual kids, not babies anymore. They question everything. They are learning and growing everyday. It's exciting to witness.

That's all for now folks!

Halloween 2011

Our Pumpkins




My Ariel and Lightning McQueen

They enjoyed trick or treating around our neighborhood. We have plenty of houses and tons of kids. It's a happening time around here. There was one house with a guy dressed up and acting like a gorilla that Kaylie did not like at all. Ryan was intrigued by him. Grandma and Pop Pop came to man the door while we TOTed. They had a party and parade with some songs at school too.

September 2011

They started PreK this year. Their teacher is Mrs. Mazzucca. Here they are on the first day.

LBI Vacation 2011

We headed to Long Beach Island for the third year in a row for our family vacation.
View from the deck

The house

The Get Along Gang

Top of the ferris wheel at Fantasy Island

First solo ride

Kaylie Bay

Kaylie in the ocean for the first time. Took her half the week to even go near the waves. Once she made up her mind, she went.

Kite flying

The Cousin Posse. Only kids with sunglasses allowed.

Old Barney

We had great weather all week. The kids had a great time playing with their cousins and loved being at the beach. The kids are still talking about the sea lion that washed up on the beach, the rotting jetty, ice cream, cotton candy, rides, and elephant ears. A great time had by all.

July 2011

We spent July 4th down at the shore.

Looking festive.

Patriotic

At the beach before dark to get a spot for fireworks. They loved them and had a really great day.

Someone is sleepy.

A few days later we hit the shore again. This time they had their first go at mini-golf. It was interesting to say the least. Cousin Hunter "teaching" them.

Ice cream afterwards on such a hot day was necessary.

It was one of those melted before you can even get it in your mouth kind of days.

Playground afterwards.

Then we went to our town fair. They had no rides this year, so it wasn't as exciting as in years past. They still got to ride a pony though.





We spent a lot of time at our development pool. They loved it. I saw them progress from being timid of the water to just jumping right in doing cannonballs by summer's end. They were still wearing a swim float this year. I hope to get them lessons next year and maybe ditch the swimmies. We'll see. This was the first year I was brave enough to take them to the pool myself too.

Trip to The Philadelphia Zoo

We took their first trip the zoo. We went to The Philadelphia Zoo. What I remember most is that it was a really hot day.

Flamingos

Crazy bear that just walked back and forth a million times. Poor guy.

Rhino

Ry holding the map here. He became obsessed with knowing where we were on the map at all times.

Cheetahs

Monkeys

Lunch. We got attacked by geese while eating here. Apparently they must have been fed at one point and now they are all over the place. The kids were not happy with this, and neither was I!

Prairie dogs

It was a nice time at the zoo!