Gravity bites

They grow up so fast...this week found me trying to teach my precious three-year-old about the laws of gravity. This resulted from her attempts to fly--and her profound disappointment when she learned she couldn't. She was riding her beloved stick horse around the house (a common enough occurance) but this time she kept standing on things, jumping off (stick horse between her legs), then collasping in a mini-tantrum yelling "I want my feet UP!!!!" It took a few rounds of this before I realized that she wanted to ride around on her horse, off the ground.

It's a little sad to have to teach your baby about the rules of the world. Especially when those rules mean that she can't fly. Who wants to hear that? Sometimes as a parent you feel like the Great Crusher of Dreams--so often we have to be the bearer of bad news to the little ones we love. But, gravity is real and I can't make it go away! Even for my beloved B.

She seemed to take the news pretty well and has moved on to other pursuits. I'm sure she'll try again, though. Rules, after all, are made to be tested, at least if you're three--that's a law even MORE concrete than gravity. :)

Mia four months

Mia had her four month checkup yesterday. Our little girl is growing--she's now 14lb 14oz (75%) and 24 2/4 inches long (50%) and her head is 41.4cm (50%). She was her normal talkative self and the doctor said she's very expressive (Steve's comment: great, we already have one of those!) "Expressive" is the exact word I use to describe Bianca, so I know that it's code for "loud and dramatic". Can't wait for the teen years!

The doctor was very pleased (his words) with her--he said she's babbling at a six month level--whatever that means! :)

Here's a cute shot of Bianca reading to Mia from her "Big Sister" book--it was very sweet, she was trying to get Mia to turn the page.

Ready to play!

Sunglasses and a winter hat--that's springtime in the Pacific Northwest.

Weekend cartoons

Just chillin' with the sisters...

Second annual St. Pattie's Day feast

I love St. Patrick's Day--who doesn't love a low-stress, no-gift holiday that's all about green, beer, and silliness? And, we just happen to have Irish heritage courtesy of the McCarty side of the family, so what better reason to celebrate! We hosted our second annual St. Pattie's Day dinner on Saturday. We were bummed that Laura, Israel, and Ty couldn't join us, but we were thrilled to see John (and his pound cake and homemade lemon curd, too)!

We now officially have another girl on the move: Mia demonstrated her rolling skills for everyone. I almost always miss her rolls. I leave her on her back and turn around for one minute, then I find her like this:

She loves to stand too!

Corned beef and roasted root vegetables--just some of the Irish goodies on hand! We also had cabbage, soda bread with Irish butter, and lots of wonderful desserts.

Bianca sampling a rainbow rice krispie treat. In true princess style, she refused to wear any green and opted for pink instead.

B and Sarah--btw, Sarah checked her weight on my scale (our "official" biggest loser scale) and she is down 19 lbs! No fair--darn those teenagers and their fast metabolisms! Time to rededicate myself!

Baby bro John and Mom

Even Mia's diaper was green! I think Mia looks so much like Kendra--it looks like Kendra's holding her own baby!

St. Pattie's Day sweeties

We had a very messy, very fun St. Pattie's Day craft playdate here this morning--and I was too busy playing referee, I mean hostess, to take any photos. :)

Here's a video of our sweet giggly girl. :)

And here's another of B serenading her sister from a while back. :) Love how Mia sleeps through the entire thing.

Miss Mia

Time is flying--Mia is almost four months! She's pretty much over her bouncy seat and spends most of her time trying to wiggle her way out of it.

I got out her saucer this week. She likes to be upright--she loves to be at the same level with everyone else. This gives me a break from having her in her carrier all the time.

She's getting so strong--she's has quite the kung-fu grip and she's grabbing everything in sight, including my hair, my face, and during feedings, my boobs. Fun times!

Zoo Tots

On Thursday, we headed up to the Point Defiance Zoo for their Zoo Tots preschooler program. This week's lesson was about elephants--they listened to a story, played a game, make a craft, and visited the zoo's two elephants. We learned a lot--did you know elephants grow six total sets of teeth? She got to touch pieces of elephant teeth and toenails.

Working on her craft


Mia's first trip to the zoo! She had just woken up.

Looking at the elephants.

Bored with the elephants.

Holding hands with her buddy Ephraim. They are too cute.

Playing on the wooden sculpture in front of the zoo.

Next time they learn about sharks!

Shredded

February was one heck of a month here, one that included not much sleep and lots and lots of hard work. One reason: Feb 28 marked day 30 of my 30-day shred with Jillian Michaels DVD workout system. Soooooo....am I completely shredded? Do I hate Jillian Michaels? Am I going to stick with it? Not yet, sorta, and absolutely!

The workouts are 20-minutes long, 25 including warm up and cool down (which are both very short and to-the-point in true JM style). Before starting out I thought, how tough can a 20 minute workout be? Well, I'll go ahead and answer that one now: TOUGH. I've never felt like such a head-to-toe weakling. But she knows her stuff, and I progressed pretty quickly from level one to level two. Now, I can hardly believe it, but level two is getting easy. Level three, here I come (gulp).

She wants you to do the workout every day, and I managed to fit it in 5-6 days a week. It's almost addictive because I felt so great afterward. And it's really fun to actually feel yourself getting fitter and stronger day by day. I didn't lose as much weight as I wanted last month, but I think I gained muscle. It might actually be a 60-day shred program for me, before I get my desired results. Here's to the next 30 days! :)