A walk in the park...

This past weekend we took the kids to the park to celebrate Marcos' birthday. And while there was a lot to do, the kids found joy in the playground. They had a petting zoo, and a pony ride, and Makenna did her best to be patient with the animals. She followed the ducks and quacked behind them. She pet the baby goats and kept calling them "puppies." But once she got on the swings, that was all she wrote. She didn't want to have anything to do with anything else, as long as one of us was there to keep her swinging, she was in heaven! She didn't care about eating, she didn't want to go down the slide, it was all about the swings!

Isaiah enjoyed the swings as well, but wasn't obsessed like his big sister. When he got bored of it, he let us know. He did have a blast watching all the kids taking their turns at hitting the piñata! It's almost as if he found humor with the inability to break the paper maché boot! It kept him entertained for the moment until the piñata finally broke. By the time we packed up and headed home, both kids were exhausted, and so were we for keeping up with the two! All in all, it was a fun day, even with some other "bebe kids" putting sand in Makenna's hair!

Happy Birthday Marcos!

Isaiah having fun on the swing
Makenna pets the goat she calls "puppy"

Monday, Monday

This past weekend, we had a couple of events to bring the kids to, and you'd think that with all the activity, it would tire them out. But not our kids! We always call it a night when they start to show their telltale "signs." They'll both start to rub their eyes, Isaiah will become fussy and clingy, and Makenna will start to get into stuff and push buttons. These are all good indicators that we watch for to let us know that it's time to go.

What's funny about it, was that once we started heading home, the kids got their second wind, so by the time we got home, it took twice as long for them to wind down! At both events this weekend, it was much of the same. We saw the signs, said our goodbyes and headed out. Once we got on the road, both kids were screaming and laughing like they had just started their day! Sometimes it's hard to figure them out, but as everyone else with kids knows, it's a learning process; one that requires a lot of patience and understanding. That being said, we're doing our best to make sure we're going through this learning process in a cool, calm and collected manner. The four of us are all learning together, and since Enza and I have a slight advantage over the kids, I think it's fair that we shoulder more of the responsibility =) Sure, there will be times when we can't take it, but because the kids don't know any better, we've got to be the bigger people. I'm sure all of our attention to detail will pay off in the future. At least I hope it does ;)

Isaiah and Mommy

Makenna and Daddy

Happy Friday!

Makenna has always had nothing but love for her little brother. From the days of kissing Mommy's belly, to his first days in the hospital, an up until now, she's always wanted to give him kisses, touch him, and hug him. As he's grown, she's always been in his face, almost to the point of being obnoxious! Now that Isaiah's mobile, and working on being upright, Makenna is loving it! It seems as if they're slowly developing a close bond, one that only the two of them will understand. There are times where Enz & I just sit back and watch the two interact, and it's like a little mini movie. Makenna will give Isaiah a toy to play with until he gets bored. Then he'll crawl around looking for something to get into, all the while Makenna will follow him and move stuff out of his way so he can crawl freely. They'll stop and "chat" when they find something interesting, and then they'll laugh and scream at each other, all in good fun though! When they laugh hysterically, it's contagious. It's highly entertaining and just fun to watch!

We're hoping that these two continue to develop their bond as they grow up so close in age. Sure, there will be days where they get on each other's nerves, and there will be days when they do nothing but fight. But then, that's to be expected. The next step, is when Isaiah is up on his two feet all on his own. That's when Enz & I will really have our hands full. Until then, we'll enjoy the comic relief these two provide =) Happy Friday!

Makenna's got nothing but love for Isaiah!

Grumpy and Happy

Growing children...

So it's been about a week since I've been able to post anything new on the kids, so it's kind of hard to remember what they've done or gone through. The little big man has developed quite an appetite as of late, but then again, that's really nothing new. He's starting to eat a lot more solid foods, as we've been giving him a taste of things to come. Isaiah really likes pasta with chicken broth, and can eat that until it comes out of his ears! It's almost as if he doesn't realize that he's full, and the only way we know to stop is when he's got that "glazed over, food coma" look. If we don't pay close attention to that, he'll just keep opening his mouth! He also enjoys potatoes, regular or sweet purple, lentils and rice, and breads of any kind. Looks like he's really into his carbs! It's all good, he needs it for all the activity he's been going through lately. This kid loves to be mobile, more so than Makenna at this age, although he has yet to master a real crawl. He's still stuck with the belly crawl, but he's damn fast!

Isaiah's new thing is that he's into standing up. We finally put away his activity center to allow him to gain more strength in his legs as he learns to stand on his own. After a long crawl across the room (or the house for that matter), he still finds the strength to pull himself up to the standing position to play with whatever he has available at that height. And Makenna's loving the fact that he's upright as well! At times she overwhelms him with her shrieks of delight and then he'll start crying because he gets startled. She just really wants to be able to play with him so badly!

Makenna is a trip, plain and simple. She continues to develop such a strong personality it's unreal. Talking to her is like talking to a little adult. We can see in her eyes that she can understand what we're telling her, and we're amazed at how quickly she's learning new things. Lately she's been trying to put words together in sentences, and although she's only doing a couple at a time, we really can't believe she's already at this phase. Gone are the days of seeing her smile when we come home. Now that's replaced with a delightful "Hi Daddy" or "Hi Mommy!" And after a long day at work, that's one of the sweetest things to hear!

Happy 9 months Isaiah!

How time flies, and that's the truth when we come to realize that Isaiah is 9 months old today - just 3 months shy of hitting the one year mark. WOW! The little big man hasn't been himself these last few days, as he came down with a bit of a virus. Makenna, too, was a bit under the weather, but seemed to pull out of it faster than Isaiah. Perhaps its the fact that he's younger and unable to express exactly what's bothering him? Who knows? But these last few days have been tough on the kids and us as well. When they don't sleep, we don't sleep, and when we don't sleep, tempers flare! Hopefully the little big man has seen the worst of it, and things pick up soon. Last night was actually a better night than the previous few, although he did wake once pretty early this morning. He was able to soothe himself back to sleep which meant we were able to get back to sleep too =) For now, we'll keep an eye on him, but it looks as though his spirits are lifting! Happy 9 months young man, and Happy Hump Day!

Flexing his 9 month old guns...

A bit lethargic, but still in good spirits... Makenna's feeling better, and has a smile to prove it!

Halloween weekend!

Although the day has come & gone, the memories of Isaiah's first Halloween will never be forgotten! For starters, our little monkey was, well, a little monkey! As with many kids his age, he didn't know what to make of his costume. I know he was hot in it because I was sweating just watching him try to move around in it! Makenna was our little butterfly this year, and without realizing it, we kept her in the same "theme" as her first Halloween (last year she was a bumblebee). Who knows what she'll be next year?

We didn't go trick or treating this year, but we did pay visits to the grandparents. Those trips netted a lot of candy anyway. Add that to what we had leftover from giving out treats at our house, and we've got enough candy to keep us fat and happy until next Halloween! Besides, the kids aren't eating much of that stuff at this time, so it's more for Enz & me =) Not many trick-or-treaters this year, although there were a handful more than last season. Even Marino had his share of kids, as he got out a couple of time to greet the numerous ghosts, ghouls & witches that showed up at our door. While Isaiah lay crashed out in his crib, Makenna stayed up to help hand out candy, and had a great time seeing all the different costumes and "talking" to all the kids! We're definitely looking forward to next year when Halloween will have more meaning to these little ones!

Isaiah the monkey and Makenna the butterfly

Our little monkey man was sweating in his costume...

Even with wings, Makenna couldn't fly
Mommy strikes a pose with her little ones

Isaiah's first pumpkin
Elmo paid Makenna an unexpected visit