Zoo Trip

Dylan Rae picks flowers everywhere she goes. She can find the teeniest, tiniest flower unseen by most in a field of weeds. And there's no stopping her from picking it. She loves to make bouquets and give them to people.

Peyton likes his "peacock hair" and insited upon having it for this trip to the zoo.

Launching Rockets at the Park

Todd brought two rockets to the park to launch with the kids. He's had these rockets since he was a kid, and always wants to bring them places so finally we did it. These first two videos are of a rocket he made.

... about 2 seconds pass between that video and this one ...


There was a stow away parachute man stuck inside the rocket, making it off balance - hence the turn and rocketing back toward the earth. The parachute man didn't make it - he melted.

So Todd brought out the other rocket. I missed the countdown and takeoff, but this video starts about a second later.

We never saw it again.

It was a rough day for rockets.

Lauren Laughs

Yesterday at the park Lauren laughed for the first time. Not surprisingly, it was in response to big sister Dylan. It was sort of like a cough and a "coo" mixed into one. I wasn't sure at first, but she did it again and again. It was so cool! She first smiled on March 16, then exactly a month later she turned it into a laugh. So sweet.

(You can hear Dylan giggling in the video too)

Lauren Talking

04.19.10

This video is Lauren "talking" and smiling. She does a lot of this lately. Our whole house goes quiet when she starts talking, followed by a giant collective "Aaaaaw" from all of us. Dylan and Peyton both like to "interpret" to us what she's really saying. They hear very interesting things - Dylan told me today, "She thinks I need a treat or something." Dylan scrunches up her nose and says "or something" when she's not telling the truth. This particular interpretation was accompanied by the nose scrunch.

Whapatah

04.04.10

This video is Dylan & Peyton telling stories in the car. Peyton says, "Whupatah," (by the time I took this video it has already transformed into "whupatime") and Dylan says, "Once upon a time." I wish I could've captured more of their funny little sayings on video. Unfortunately this is one of the few. This video could be used by scientists all over the world to describe the difference between little boys and little girls. Peyton talks about cactus and poop while Dylan talks about rainbows, flowers and unicorns. I should note that they are exposed to exactly the same things every single day.

Kowalski family from May 28, 2009 to April 4, 2010

May 28, 2009: Its been a long time since our last update. The pictures were just put up and aren't organized very well yet.We've been busy: egg hunting, horse races, folk festivals, polish festivals, swimming, splash parking, bike racing, chicken cooping and more that I've forgotten I'm sure. Yes, you read right - we have 4 chicks & a duckling. They're 4 weeks old. Peyton is talking in full sentences now; its so funny to hear them have their own conversations....more later

June 20, 2009: Another makes three! Yep, it's true. Dylan Rae and Peyton will be having a little brother or sister soon. Technically my due date is Feb 1st, but given my track record we're hoping for the middle of January. Christmas at Linda's might be a no-go for us this year. We'd be really sad to miss it, but I won't be able to fly and sitting in a car for 18 hours (twice) while 8 months pregnant doesn't sound very appealing to me. Note that my due date is only two days after Dylan's due date ... She was 4 weeks early, Peyton was 3 weeks early - maybe this one will be only 2 weeks early. In the mean time, we are looking forward to Aaryn & Jeannette's baby's arrival - any time now.

August 16, 2009: So our old computer is kaput. We're trying to get the photos saved, so some are still missing. This is an incomplete album. I need to get the software installed for my other camera still ... many, many more photos still. I'll send an update later ... sorry it's been so long!



August 29, 2009: Peyton is working on potty-training now - doing well as long as he doesn't have a diaper/pull-up on. Don't get me wrong, he does his share of cleaning up accidents! Dylan has been sleeping through the night without a pull-up for at least a few months now without any accidents. She graduated to a real bed even.Dylan is learning her letters, she can recognize about half of them I think. I probably should have been working with her some more. She's very interested in letters right now. Her favorite pass time (aside from watching TV - ugh!) is coloring. She loves to color and when she finally gets bored with it, she uses the crayons/markers/whatever as little people and plays with them. Its been so hot we've spent a lot of time doing indoor activities. Its even too hot to swim - we swim in the mornings or evenings only. She's finally gotten picky about what she'll eat. I've heard all kids go through this, I just figured it would've started sooner. She'll take one look at something and decided whether or not it is "Yucky, Mommy!" - despite the fact that she loved it a few days ago. She goes to bed without dinner many nights these days. I keep thinking that she'll wake up starving, but doesn't! She's just as picky about breakfast too. Especially if I use a forbidden term like Breakfast, Lunch or Dinner - eew gross. She only likes snacks. Sometimes we'll have a "snack" of eggs and toast at 8am - and that's OK. But if I dared call it breakfast it would have been "yucky". Peyton is two and acts like it. He is into everything all the time. Climbing on the counter to get "potty treats" is his favorite pass time. He gets into the fridge and pantry and helps himself to whatever he's not supposed to have. Dylan doesn't tell on him, until I ask who did it, then she points her sticky fingers and tells me, "Peyton got in the pantry!" Peyton loves to wash his hands. When the house is quiet, I can generally find him in the bathroom washing his hands - if I take to long, he'll have found other things in the bathroom to "wash" as well. He likes to talk back and tell other people to "Go way!" and "Leef me alone!" He even tries to tell me to "Go to time out!" You can probably see how my days play out. Little Baby Kowalski is growing and doing well. I feel great aside from some lower back pain sometimes. We go in for an 18-week ultrasound next week. And no, we're not finding out the sex - at least not until January 2010.I haven't been able to upload the pictures from my big camera yet, but when I do there will be a gazillion to go through - I see some late nights in my future (maybe that's why I haven't loaded the Canon software onto the new computer yet).

September 4, 2009: Today we went in for my 18-week ultrasound. The kids had mixed reactions to the "movie" they saw (there was a little TV for us to see the screen). The ultrasonographer was great and let us see lots and lots and gave us a little extra time just to watch the baby because he/she (we didn't find out) was so active. Baby is doing great and progressing exactly on schedule. It was really neat to get to see inside and get this sneak peak.I'm more than halfway through my "normal" gestation.

September 6, 2009: I did it! I uploaded all of the pictures from the "big camera" and have shared some here. They go all the way back to the middle of May, but I put them in the Jun/Jul/Aug album ... for now. I've also added photos to the September album. Enjoy!

October 12, 2009: Our last lake trip this season, our first theme park (Legoland), a trip to the beach - all in all it was a full month! Peyton & Dylan are almost the same size and we get asked quite regularly if they are twins. Aside from knowlege (colors, counting, etc.) and the ability to pedal a bike, they're basically on the same page. Peyton likes to wear Dylan's dresses and do whatever she's doing, but still holds trucks and tractors very close to his heart. We're in the heart of terrible 2s - enough said.

November 16, 2009: All is well with the Kowalskis these days. Dylan is pretty even tempered and follows the rules well for the most part. She does have her moments, especially in the evening, when her preteen self emerges and she's full of attitude and drama though. Peyton is constantly laughing, crying, screaming, hitting, giggling, running, hugging, throwing things, cuddling, or otherwise being extremely active. He loves trains and especially cabooses (do they even exist in real life anymore?) One of his favorite stories is The Little Red Caboose, and he is sad because he always comes last; he says, "Oh Smoke!" and so Peyton likes to say, "Oh Mokes" (when a word starts with an S and another consonant, he tends to put the S at the end). I think it is really cute. Dylan use to do that and I miss it. They're changing so fast. She says everything correctly now and I don't know when it happened. Peyton has a few words that he says wrong and I don't correct him. "Boogers" comes out like "Boh-gers" and it makes me smile. They're both getting exciting about the new baby coming. Dylan is sure it is a girl and gets mad if you say it might not be. Peyton thinks Dylan is his "broh-der" so he's not really sure about the new one. I am 29 weeks today, so we'll find out in a couple of months!

January 11, 2009: It seems like we've been running non-stop these days. Well I guess the kids have been & I've just been watching open-mouthed from the sidelines. The amount of energy they have is amazing. I've learned (and am still learning) that it is best to let them get as much of that energy released back into the wild outdoors as possible. It can wreak havoc on one's sanity if untended to. The kids are getting bigger and older every time I blink. Peyton's vocabulary and enunciation is amazing for a little boy his age. It is really cute that he mispronounces some words, but he's quickly getting over that and it makes me a little sad inside that he's growing up so fast. He's on the downhill side of potty training. He knows what he has to do and where to do it, so he just needs to do it. Since the holidays we've had some slippage, but I hope to get back on track soon. It's really nice that the kids are old enough now that they can play by themselves and let me know when they need help with something. Peyton can pedal his own bikes now! Todd got the kids a battery-powered quad (Power Wheel) and a princess car too. They have become really good at maneuvering them around the patio and the yard. I have to admit that I'm impressed. I hated them at first because of the high level of frustration that went with them. Dylan has become quite the little princess (despite my best efforts to make her a tom boy). Don't get me wrong, she can wield a stick with the best of the boys, but she'll do it wearing a tutu and a crown if she can. But then again Peyton would wear the same if he could. Dylan & Peyton are both enrolled in Ballet/Creative Dance this session. They have a great time and they get to do it without me having to be in the room - an added bonus. She prances around the house doing "pillow-ettes" and jumps. She's gotten more particular about what she wears and how I do her hair. She has a specific number of ponytails she wants (I keep it down to 1 or 2) and in specific places on her head, pointing in specific directions, etc. In the end it all looks the same anyway, but with more or less crying during the process. She loves to color! And paint, and cut with scissors, and do anything crafty! Coloring is her most common passtime. And she loves to give away her artwork. Both kids really love reading stories - even by themselves, but more so if they are read to. Dylan is still a touch taller than Peyton standing up, but when they sit next to each other Peyton is a little taller. He's got a long torso and short legs like his mom - Dylan is more leggy. Dylan just turned 4 at the end of the year and Peyton will be 3 on February 7th. Somewhere in between we'll be adding another birthday. Little Baby Kowalski hasn't been born yet, but I am farther along now than I was with either Dylan Rae or Peyton. Technically I'm 37 weeks but Baby measures a week or two ahead of that. It could be any day, any time. We'll keep you updated!

January 25, 2010: (from Aaryn) Lindsey and Todd now have a new baby girl.Lindsey gave birth to Lauren Taylor Kowalski, sometime after 2pm today in Tucson, AZ. Lauren is 8 pounds, 2 ounces and just about 20 inches long. Both baby and Lindsey are doing well.
January 31, 2010: The big news this month is Lauren Taylor! She was born on January 25th at 1:49pm, and weighed 8 pounds, 2 ounces and was 19 3/4" long. She's a very good baby and a champion nurser. I'm still recovering from the C-Section (my third now), but feel better every day. Dylan Rae & Peyton are very, very excited to have Baby Lauren home. She's the first thing they look for in the morning and are always concerned about where she is and what she's doing. Dylan is her personal caretaker and loves to sing her songs and soothe her when she's fussy. She has so much patience with Lauren and wants to learn and help. This is a huge difference in Dylan; she doesn't normally have a whole lot of time for patience with things she doesn't master instantly. We're really lucky to have such wonderful friends & family who have brought us food and chocolate (I say chocolate separately because it deserves its own category) both at the hospital and here at home - Lifesavers! A big Thank You to all who have helped in their own ways! THANK YOU!

March 7, 2010: (to the Olssons) Been meaning to do an Olsson update since Lauren was born. She will be six weeks old on Monday - how time FLIES!! Well everything with the C-Section and recovery has been good, although a little harder than before. Lauren is a good baby and is taking to a routine really easily. She's not very excited about being in her carseat/infant carrier unless we are in the car and moving. So I made a sling to carry her in that is exactly the same as one that costs $60 with a fancy label- it cost me just over $8. I also made one for Dylan & her babies with the leftover material (they sell for $20). I've been on a crafty streak lately I suppose. I also made a Snuggie (https://www.getsnuggie.com/flare/next) for Dylan, and one for her friend. I don't know that I saved any money by making it myself, but I made it very fancy! Rhinestones! Embroidered initials! Fur cuffs! And an embroidered dragonfly on the breast! Dylan Rae is very fancy these days and her fancy vocabulary is ever-expanding. Today we made cookies and she said they were exquisite!Dylan & Peyton are in a Ballet/Creative Dance class (emphasis on "creative" I think). Peyton is going to be our rhythmic one - he's got some good moves! He's the only boy in their class and most days he annoys the girls by poking them and touching their hair, but when it's time to dance, he gets his groove on! Mostly I can get us all out of the house without him realizing that he doesn't have a tutu on, but if he notices, he gets the biggest pink tutu in our box! He wants me to put glittery clips in his hair and he loves to wear head bands like Dylan. Dylan has lots of girlfriends that are her age, but we don't know anybody that is just Peyton's age and we don't know any boys that are even close to his age. Poor guy is constantly surrounded by girls! And the ones that go to preschool understand now that girls aren't supposed to play with icky boys and they tell him so. Poor guy - he ends up being the monster that they run away from all the time. He doesn't mind most of the time - any excuse to run and growl. In a couple of weeks they're starting a sports class on Saturdays so Todd can help (it is a parent-participation class and so we'll need two parents). I'm looking forward to next year when they can both be in gymnastics - it's not as girlie as ballet, but you need to be 4 instead of 3 like ballet.As most of you know we have chickens and ducks now. It's fun to let them our to "free range" in the yard during the day. I think it would be exhausting to be a chicken - they never sit still. But it makes them interesting to watch. Unfortunately we just lost our female duck, Lucy. We're not sure what happened to her, but she quit laying eggs and slowly became lethargic until the day came when she woke up dead, as they say. Her mate, Patty (who we thought was a girl, but as she matured we realized that Patty must be short for Patrick), seems fine. Waddles around with the chickens. I don't know if they mate for life or not, but I don't think we'll be getting another girl duck. At least not yet. With two hens we still get two eggs a day and that seems to be more than we eat, so I think we'll stick with what we've got for now. The Desert Tortoises are coming out of hibernation (2 adults and 3 babies). I haven't seen the adult male yet, but the rest have been out. Casey (our 10-year old lab) is doing great - still follows me around the house and manages to get tripped up under my feet as often as she can. And our two 10-year old cats are still around, at least at night. During the day they are nowhere to be found and the moment the kids' doors close at bed time they appear. Todd is picking up football officiating again already (an adult year-round league) here and there, but other than that I think his time away from work is taken up reworking our budget over and over again. Well that and taking care of the aforementioned animals. As for me, I have been trying to be crafty with my sewing machine (in short bursts while the kids are sleeping). I read a lot (nursing Lauren gives me a lot of time for that!), which I LOVE. I am in a book club with Jeannette, Aaryn (although I don't think he has actually read any of our books), Dawne, some Dooley's, and some friends. That is fun because it's made me read a lot of books that I otherwise would never have read. I still read 2-4 extra books each month though. What can I say - I love to read. The big kids are at an age now where I can sit on the patio and read while they play outside. Just this week I've been weeding and planting things we've been growing in pots. The ground is so nice and soft from the rain, I just had to take advantage of it. Since the surgery I've been watching the weeds grow, taunting me, sticking their tongues out at me, singing "Nanny Nanny Boo Boo - You Can't Get Us!" Well HA! Out came the Hula-Hoe! Now I can't cover ALL of our yard with that, but Todd gets out his Weed Dragon and his pyromaniac self comes to life. Combined, we are a force to be reckoned with! I think that about covers it.

March 15, 2010: Lauren is almost two months old now and coos and "talks" a lot. She holds her head up well and loves to watch her big brother and sister play. She's sleeping in her crib now (not through the night yet), but scootches all around her crib when she's mad. She's finally starting to take a pacifier (sometimes). I'm not a big fan of pacifiers, but this girl wants to suck on something ALL the time! She'll suck on my pinkie finger, but then I have NO hands ... not so good with two toddlers to chase after. So far Lauren's favorite thing (aside from eating) is having a bath/shower. She LOVES it! She loves having the water on her and will stop crying instantly once she's in the water - even if she's hungry. Once the water is turned off, she might start up again, but the whole time she's in there she's happy. Once she even fell asleep. Right after we brought Lauren home from the hospital, we were up in the middle of the night changing her diaper and she was crying and crying, as newborns do when you change their diapers, and we hear Peyton's voice between wails ... "Baby Lauren! That's enough! Baby Lauren, that's enough!" He never came out of his room, but he wasn't happy that she woke him up. When she's fussy he wants to put his finger in her mouth so she can "drink the juice from my finger" because he sees me stick my pinkie in as a pacifier. Today he told me very plainly that "Baby Lauren has NO hairs in her nose."Both of the kids are very protective of her and want to help as much as I'll let them. Dylan continually tells me, "Mommy, make sure and support her head." She is so patient with crying and fussiness - even while Lauren's sharp nails are scratching her. I'll ask her if she wants me to take her and she tells me that she's fine and can calm Lauren quickly with her beautiful made-up songs about anything and everything around her. I keep trying to get a video of it, but haven't yet. Today Dylan & Peyton were playing dress-up and Peyton looks at his Hello Kitty watch and exclaims, "Oh My! Look what time it is!" and Dylan says, "Oh! What time is it?" to which Peyton responds, "It's time to DANCE!" They crack me up - I can say that for them. I may want to pull my hair out a lot of the time, but they keep me laughing.

April 4, 2010: These past few weeks have been a little hectic. We weighed Lauren at home and she was almost 10 pounds about a month ago. Then she got sick (little runny nose and a cough caught from "the bigs") and seemed longer, but thinner. So I brought her into the doctor's office for a weight check. She was back down to her 2-week check-up weight of 8lb 5oz. Eek! So I started nursing her whenever she cried, day and night instead of trying to let her fall asleep with a pacifier or my finger. A week later she was up to 8lb 11oz (babies this age should gain from 1/2 to 1 ounce a day), so she was back on track. I wanted to make sure she was still on that track and took her back the following week. She was 8lb 9oz - double Eek! So the doctor suggested that I give her formula for an entire day (day and a half really) and pump. Well I pumped less than half the amount of breast milk that she drank of baby formula. So when I went back for her next weight check a day and a half later, she had gained 11 ounces (9lb 4oz). Holy Moley! So I've been giving her bottles of formula, bottles of pumped breast milk, and nursing her (I'm taking an herbal supplement to increase my milk supply). I went back today, 4 days later, and she gained another 11 ounces (9lb 15oz). She is such a sweet baby (she was before too, but not sooooo much), and smiles all the time. She's awake for much longer and is much more content and talks so much more. The difference is amazing. I love feeding her a bottle too - she's awake and looks at you, Dylan loves to help feed her (which she couldn't do before), Todd is a huge help feeding her at night. So I'm getting the best of both worlds; when I want to feed her a bottle I can (like when we're in a hurry or if somebody else would like to do it), and when she's hungry while we're out and about, we can take a break while I nurse her (zero storage & clean-up). Dylan Rae and Peyton are still doing an amazing job with her. The hardest thing is keeping them moderately quiet while she's napping. It's often hard to tell when they're having fun or fighting. They have reached the age where I hear myself telling them to "take it outside" a lot. Peyton loves to help with the chickens and duck. He has a new chicken now who loves to be held and Peyton loves to hold her. She is the same kind as one of our older chickens, Digger, so he named her Little Digger - the other Digger is now Big Digger. The duck has been banished out of the coop during the day because "he's killing my Little Digger!!" Peyton says. Right now Dylan Rae is telling me to write, "I love my baby sister." She is such a girly girl, her favorite color is pink, her favorite animal is a unicorn, she loves princesses and dresses and wearing fancy shoes. She's telling me now to write, "I love my brother."Now she wants to type; here goes: xcvvbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbnnnjkiop Now let's see if she can type her name, here goes: dylanYay! Ok, I'll spare you the rest.

Kowalski Family from January 10, 2006 to March 29, 2009

January 10, 2006: Meet Dylan Rae Kowalski These are her stats: Weight: 5 lbs, 15oz Length: 17.5in Birthday: December 31, 2005, 5:58am Our Story: My water broke the evening of December 30th (31 days before her due date). After we checked into the hospital, one last sonogram showed that Dylan Rae was breech & a C-section was scheduled for the morning. During the wee hours of the morning, contractions started & the doctor came early to ensure a safe Cesarean delivery (4 hours of contractions - eek). It just goes to show that you can want what you want, but you get what you get. I was adamant about having a natural birth with no drugs as far away from my birthday as possible - I couldn't have been more wrong :) 10 days later, we're all doing fine - a bit more groggy, but doing just fine.

April 2, 2006: She is such a doll and we are so lucky to have her. She brings us so much happiness!

June 4, 2006: She is just a joy & we are so, so happy that she's here.

July 1, 2006: Dylan is 6 months old already! She's been giggling and laughing for about a month, she's been rolling for a couple weeks, and she just cut her first tooth earlier this week! She's just full of fun & surprises.

August 7, 2006: She is 7 months now & still has just the two bottom front teeth. She loves to jump in her Johnny Jumper and drive around the house in the high chair. Her new favorite toy is a small saucepan. She hasn't quite gotten the wooden spoon thing down yet. She likes when I bang the wooden spoon on it, but she just chews the spoon and hits the pan with her hands. She's very ticklish and likes to play Peek-a-Boo. Eating cereal and baby food is very fun, so far the only thing she hasn't warmed up to is turkey. Can you believe it? I could live on turkey sandwiches! We have lots more to try still, though. She scoots herself around backwards and in circles & just started to get up on her hands and knees and rock back and forth. She thinks it is very funny.

September 2, 2006: Dylan is becoming more and more mobile all the time. She is crawling and pulling herself up on everything. She gets this look in her eyes when she sees something that she thinks she might be able to climb - she is so determined! When she does make it upright, she gets so excited! She likes to pull herself up on her exersaucer and play on the outside "free" part. The days of setting her down and looking/walking away are gone. My job just got a whole lot more demanding - but it's funny, the harder it gets, the more rewarding it gets, too. She finishes her swim lessons soon - she is such a good floater & loves to be in the water. The scary combination of Dylan's lack of fear and increasing mobility, make the cost of the swim lessons seem like nothing! Our pool fence goes up next week!

October 20, 2006: Dylan had her first fall. She tumbled down the two steps into the sunken living room, face first at full speed. I rushed her to the doctor wondering if I should rush her to the ER, but she's fine. A fat lip and a skinned nose are her war wounds - and they are the first of many more to come I'm sure. She got a popsicle at the doctor's office and she's been smiling ever since. She's a trooper!

November 2, 2006: Dylan is growing and changing so fast. She loves to walk along furniture and if you hold her hands, she'll take of running! She stands by herself now for a minute or two at a time. She has six teeth now - we haven't seen any new ones for about a month. I think she's taking a break from growing them for now. She talks all the time, mostly says "dada" all day long. Everything is dada: dogs, cats, toys, everything!!

November 17, 2006: She's done it!! Dylan took her first steps this morning! She was looking like she might, so I grabbed the camera & just happened to catch it on video! After I took the video she did it again a few more times and got bolder each time, taking bigger steps. She never ceases to amaze me - I am so glad that I get to spend this time with her, witnessing all of these amazing events. It's gone by so fast, I can hardly believe that she's almost 11 months old - in the blink of an eye she'll be a year old! She'll have a little brother or sister a little sooner than we expected. My doctor moved my due date up after seeing the ultrasound measurements giving a gestational age two weeks older than we originally thought. So the new due date is February 28th.I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

November 29, 2006: Dylan now weighs 20 pounds and is 28 1/2 inches long! Since she'll be over 20 pounds on her first birthday, we can turn her carseat around so she can face forward and see the world - she'll love that! She is growing so fast, she's outgrown her footed pajamas. Her toes get squished, but it keeps her warm. Her feet are so big; she's wearing a size 5 shoe now - no more baby shoes.She's just getting her 7th tooth (second bottom left) in now has been drooling like crazy. She's been a bit crankier than normal, but not much. She's so good. She takes just one nap a day now and sleeps for about 13 hours at night and wakes up happy. She took her first solo steps and is getting braver and braver about taking more and going longer distances - although she'd still rather just drop down and crawl most of the time. My softball team gave her the "Least Number of Walks" award.Dylan sure ate well for her first Thanksgiving! I think she had a little bit of everything there was. She doesn't even have to feel guilty about it!My doctor changed my due date to February 28th. So Dylan is going to have a little brother or sister a bit sooner than we first thought. I'm feeling good, Dylan keeps me running around that's for sure!

December 8, 2006: I've been trying to get a good video of her walking, but haven't. I added a short one of her walking a short distance in her play room - she's slow going, but she's a walker. Since we don't have any carpeting at our house, she has a little trouble at other people's houses - Aaryn says she looks like she's snowboarding because she hunches down and wobbles back and forth.

January 3, 2007: She did it! Dylan Rae survived her first year with Todd & me as her parents. Today she had her 12-month check-up and she's doing fantastic! She weighs 21 pounds, 2 ounces and is 29 1/2 inches long. Her height, weight, and head circumference are all right in the middle of the 50-75th percentile - she's perfectly proportional!She's up and walking all around now (as you'll see in some of the videos) and her balance continues to improve daily. She'll still drop and crawl every once in a while, but definitely prefers walking. She does about 4 American Sign Language signs now (milk, dog, more, and cheese - I think that's all). Any animal (and some times people) is a "dog" to her and she does the sign for dog. When she signs "dog" for out cats, we say "cat" and do the appropriate sign. She'll continue doing the sign for dog and probably thinks we're crazy for thinking they're not dogs, too. She had a wonderful Christmas and First Birthday. She really liked ripping the wrapping paper (even after it was off the box), and loved all of the new toys & clothes (hangers are fun toys, too!). Although she got a cold (and gave it to both Todd & I), she was quite a trooper.

January 22, 2007: Dylan's first day of snow! It's all melted and gone now, but we sure had fun this morning! She helped Todd make a mini snowman which is still standing (leaning a bit, but still upright anyhow) in the front yard.

February 4, 2007: Another month has passed - I can't believe how fast time goes by. Right now we're scheduled to have another C-Section on Friday, February 23rd. So unless baby Peyton has something else in mind, he/she will be born on Rodeo Weekend. Dylan is doing well, despite getting sick. The doctor said it looks like she has rotavirus, but is almost back to her normal self now. She's still pretty sleepy and doesn't much of an appetite. She's very curious these days - she's into everything and wants to climb, climb, climb. She'll climb up on anything she can think of - anything from a single book laying on the floor to the toy shelves in her playroom. We added brackets to the wall so she doesn't tip the shelves over onto herself. She's full of energy and life - it keeps us smiling. She is in a "daddy phase" and wants to be with him whenever he is here. It makes it hard for him to work on projects (as you know we have many), but somehow is much more rewarding.

February 7, 2007: Lindsey’s water broke this morning. We’re off to the hospital. -Todd

February 7, 2007: Peyton Matthew Kowalski was born at 10:59 a.m. at St. Joseph's Hospital. -Aaryn
Weight: 7 lbs, 5.9 ozLength: 19.75 inches

February 18, 2007: This morning Dylan was a dancing fool! I added a video of her dancing - it is too funny! Peyton is doing great; he's a good eater & sleeper. His favorite place is cuddled up next to Mom. He spends most of the day sleeping, but when he's awake he is very alert and interested in what's going on around him. His neck muscles are so strong; he holds his head up and moves it around really well. As far as personalities he and Dylan Rae are so different (at this age), but look almost identical! I can't wait for all of you to meet him! I am doing really well - my surgery recovery is going easier and faster than last time. I haven't had to take any of the Percocet the doctor prescribed; I've been fine with ibuprofen. I'm very excited about that.

March 8, 2007: Dylan seems to be adjusting to having squirmy Peyton in her life pretty well. If given the chance, she'd poke Peyton's eyes in an instant or pull on his little feet and hands. Dylan got sick with RSV and was under the weather for most of the week; she seems to be almost all better. She's starting to put words (sign language words) together to really tell you what she wants. Today she said "more eat". Peyton is getting stronger and more alert every day. He's looking less and less like Dylan, too. I think he looks a lot like his uncle Aaryn. His hair is dark still, and thin on the top - he looks like a balding old man. He has a hearty appetite and is growing fast. I think his favorite pastime is still cuddling - he's snuggles right up to your chest and falls fast asleep.

April 1, 2007: Life is beginning to have something of a routine again; albeit a hectic one. Peyton is growing so fast and changing every time I look at him. Dylan is growing more and more vocal and really, really wants to touch Peyton - especially his eyes. She's allowed to gently touch his body, but not his face. She generally grabs hold and pulls on his arms and legs, so she is told "No" about a zillion times a day & I'm sure she's as tired of hearing the word "gentle" as I am of saying it. She's pretty good about the new addition though. As soon as I sit down on the floor she comes and sits in my lap, claiming me for as long as she can. She really loves to read her books in her play room and generally reaches for more stories at bedtime. Dylan & Peyton are both outgrowing clothes so fast - thank goodness for hand-me-downs! Dylan is getting so smart - she picks up on so much. We are always shocked to see what she's doing when we're not paying attention. She loves to "talk" on the phone, "brush" her own hair, put on chap-stick, put shoes on your feet ... and more. She loves to imitate whatever you're doing. She gets a funny look on her face as she watches you do something new, and then she tries to do it.

April 10, 2007: I just wanted to send an update after Dylan's 15-month check up and Peyton's two-month check up. They’re both doing great and growing like weeds! Dylan is 32" tall (90th%) and weighs 23lb 10oz (50-75th%) and didn't even flinch when she got her shot. Peyton is 24" long (almost 90th%) and weighs 12lb 14oz (75-90th%). He wasn't as tough as Dylan when he got 4 shots in his legs. No tears squeezed out, but he let us know that he didn't like it one bit. He has a bit of a heart murmur, so we're going to a cardiologist to do an ultrasound. His pediatrician says that its probably just the valve closing still (babies' blood flows the other way before they're born?) and is not unusual, but wants to make sure it's nothing serious.
Peyton slept through all of the Easter festivities, but Dylan had a fantastic time! We spent the afternoon/evening at the Dooley's (Uncle Aaryn's in-laws) and hunted for Easter eggs (Dylan & Dad found a $5 egg!),ate, played a wild game of No Rules Table Tennis (Dad's head is considered in-bounds), ate, made over-seas phone calls with Aunt Jeannette's cell phone, ate, played Guess The Jelly Belly Flavor, and ate. Needless to say, fun was had.
I've been wanting to take Peyton's picture on the little lamb rug like when Dylan was 2 months - but I couldn't get him to fall asleep, so he's awake (but promptly fell asleep after I got him redressed and put away the little lamb).
Peyton still gets up a couple times at night to eat, but Todd & I take turns now so I've been getting more sleep (not really enough, but more). I'm hoping that he'll follow Dylan & sleep through the night at three months - my fingers are crossed. It's better than a few weeks ago when we was regularly getting up every two hours though!
Peyton is so strong, he holds his head up well and lifts his chest up when he's on his tummy. He's got to work on his arm and crawling muscles so he can defend himself and crawl away from Dylan's poking finger. Todd has a great story about changing both kids' diapers in the back of the Pilot when Dylan discovered Peyton's penis. Dylan desperately wants to help feed Peyton. I gave her an old bottle so she could feed her doll while I feed Peyton. Now she comes at him with the bottle all the time too - luckily it has a soft rubber nipple.
Life is busy around here - there's always a diaper to change, somebody to feed, a naptime story to be read, a walk to be taken, and a mom who just wants to go to the bathroom. So next time you find yourself alone in the bathroom with silence surrounding you, think of me and what I won't experience for about 15 years.

May 1, 2007: Life is super busy around here; Dylan is starting to run now. That is quite fun, let me tell ya. She loves to pick the strawberries off of our plants (ripe or not) and eat them (green part and all). When she sees that I see her, she turns and runs the other direction. She’s climbing, climbing, climbing still. She’s getting much better, but I still constantly worry about the getting down part. I tend to help her more than I probably should, but it makes me so nervous. She goes up the rock steps in the back yard really well, but tends to be careless on the way down. There is always a layer of dirt on the rocks and it gets slippery. So I intervene and hold her hand. She figured out that she can climb onto the dining chairs (which she could then climb onto the dining table from, and then there’s the chandelier …). She’s doing well with her sign language and is adding a few spoken words to her vocabulary. She says Uh-Oh every time she drops something, and she’ll say Hi when she sees somebody new. She still thinks lots of things are “dogs”. She knows about 10 or 12 signs now. If you ask her where things are she’ll point to them, but doesn’t say their name – like body parts, people, flowers, etc. She likes to smell the flowers and she wants everybody else to smell them too. Everyday she “helps” me water our wildflowers by picking the flower and putting it under the stream from the hose. She’s so smartJ.
Peyton is such a good boy. He seems to really like jumping in his Johnny Jumper on the porch, or sit in the bouncer in the dining room and look at the lights in the chandelier. He also likes the infant swing that Dylan wasn’t very fond of. He’s just started to watch the fish in the mobile turn in a circle. As long as he’s not hungry he’s a very content little boy (big boy!). He sleeps really well; we read a story in his room 8pm (then Dylan gets another story in her room) and he sleeps until about 7am, getting up once in the middle for some milk & goes right back to sleep. Tomorrow we go to the heart doctor to check out his murmur. I’m sure everything will be fine – I don’t think he’d be so healthy if he had a problem that was serious. He smiles all the time and makes lots of baby coo sounds – Dylan didn’t smile much and hardly made many baby noises until later. So this is such a treat for us. Dylan loves to give Peyton hugs. She’ll take a break and look at him and then hug him again. She’ll rub the side of her head again his and make an “Mmmm” sound. It is very sweet. She also likes to help burp him – she’s really good at patting his back. She especially likes it when a big belch comes out. She raises her eyebrows and says “Oooh!” – She’s so funny.

May 2, 2007: Peyton's cardiology appointment went wonderfully today. He has a very healthy heart. While he does still have a murmur, it is an "innocent murmur" which is common in babies his age (and older). He is a whopping 14 1/2 pounds now! At Dylan's 6-month check up she was only 14 pounds, 2 ounces, and he’s not even 3 months old yet. I can't remember the length and we didn't get a copy of it, but he is growing like a weed! As long as his height and weight stay proportional, I’m glad he’s growing. Dylan liked playing with the latex glove balloons and tongue depressors in the exam room. Fun Fun Fun!

May 17, 2007: Peyton is talking and smiling so much these days. He especially loves when Dylan Rae lies next to him and talks to him. He just smiles and talks right back. It is very sweet. Dylan still doesn’t obey the “gentle” rule and wants to touch his eyes and the inside of his mouth. And she’ll walk right on top of him if he is in her way. She loves to rub her head against his, but sometimes she goes in a little too hard and they both end up crying. I guess they’re both pretty hard-headed. Can’t imagine where they got that trait.
Dylan loves to climb, climb, climb still and is getting better about not standing up on top of things. She knows she has to stay sitting down when she climbs up onto a chair and I think she knows she’s not supposed to climb onto the coffee table – she’ll look over at me as she lifts her leg up to climb to see if I’m going to tell her not to. She climbs right up the changing table and onto our bed now. She loves to throw herself around on it (thanks for teaching her that, Todd). My first two sets of stitches in my head were from jumping on beds closer to the ground than ours (thanks for teaching me that, Aaryn), so I discourage that. Dylan is sort of running now. She does get both feet off the ground at the same time, but it is not really in a controlled manner. It’s pretty funny to watch her try to escape if somebody is “getting” her. There’s a lot of vertical movement – she gets up on her tiptoes as if that’s going to make her go faster and she kicks her legs way out in front of her.
Peyton has been sleeping through the night for about a week now (and a few random times before that when he fell asleep in his car seat while we were out). We go through the whole routine with both him and Dylan (dinner, bath, story, bed) and he caught right on. They go to sleep at about 8:30pm; Peyton wakes up around 6am and Dylan wakes up around 8 or 9am. It is very nice and I can only imagine how lucky we are.

May 21, 2007: Peyton did it - he finally rolled over. Friday night he woke up in the middle of the night. When I checked on him, he had rolled onto his tummy. He did the same thing Sunday night. Next I'm ready for his first giggle. It is coming soon. He’ll probably laugh at Dylan; he loves her so much. Whenever she’s near him he smiles - even when she’s poking his eyes. The smile just makes her stick her fingers in his mouth. He just adores her.
Dylan is sick again. She's had a runny nose and now a fever. This evening she seems better than she was earlier in the day. She's a tough girl so I'm sure she'll get over it soon. Peyton has a bit of a runny nose, but so far no fever. I'm keeping my fingers crossed (and trying to keep Dylan's fingers away from him.

June 2, 2007: Todd found a deal to pick up an RV in Los Angeles and bring it to Mesa, AZ for refurbishing. So he took Dylan Rae and flew to LA, rode in a limousine to get the RV, then picked up Uncle Brian in San Diego, and came back home to get Peyton and I. We all packed up and drove up to the Gila Box National Riparian Area up near Clifton, AZ. It was beautiful and lush. But because it is the only source of water for miles and miles, people aren’t allowed to camp down by the water. So we had to camp up on the ridge above the water out in the desert. There was enough shade and a light breeze most of the time that we were able to stay cool. The kids napped in the RV, but other than that we stayed outside. Dylan Rae has never been so dirty in her life. That was our first camping trip with the kids; it was great! Dylan flew in an airplane, rode in a limousine, and drove an RV – what a trip!
Dylan seemed to be going through a “rough time” (aka: bratty toddler stage) for a while. I don’t think she’s completely over it, but her mood has definitely improved over the past week. She has 4 more molars to get still (they generally come in before they’re two years old) & they could be coming in now, but I dare not stick my finger in there to check. The first 4 molars broke through fairly easily – she didn’t show much irritation with them anyway. It was the pediatrician who first told us that they were breaking through. She’s still climbing, climbing, climbing. No climbing onto the table or bookshelves is allowed, but climbing up onto the chairs or sofas are OK as long as she sits down when she gets there. She went through a biting stage and seemed to get over it, but now she started biting again. I think it is because there is another tooth coming in, but I have no sympathy when she bites.
Peyton smiles and coos all day long. He especially likes when Dylan Rae is near. His whole face lights up when he hears her come into the room, and he coos back at her when she talks to him. He even smiles when she pokes his eyes, which I discourage, but so far it is to no avail. He can roll over onto his tummy but doesn’t do it very often. He is such a happy, content baby – It makes having two so close in age much easier than it has to be. Peyton has his 4-month check up in a couple of weeks, and Dylan will have her 18-month check up next month. Time is just flying by. I’m trying to capture every moment (hence the zillions of photos online), but it is just happening so fast.

June 3, 2007: I knew a giggle was coming soon - Peyton just giggled for the first time this morning. Again, it was Todd who worked it out of him (he got Dylan's first giggle, too). A simple blowfish to the neck with slightly stubbly wiskers did the trick. At first I didn't think anything of it, just another giggle - Wait!! That's a giggle! That's his first giggle!

June 12, 2007: Today Peyton had his 4-month check up and he is doing great! He’s 261/2” long and 16 pounds, 11 ounces – he’s a giant! He’s a little thin for his height, but you’d never know it by looking at him. Dylan was built so differently than he is. He is as big now as she was at her 9-month check up. In another month Dylan goes in for her 18-month check up. They’re both growing so fast. It’s amazing that Dylan can thrive with the majority of her diet being Goldfish Crackers and dried blueberries. She started eating meat again, but still no spinach or green beans – bring on the carrots and peas though, she loves them! Peyton really wants to suck his thumb. I discourage it as much as I can, but I think he’s going to do what he’s going to do. As many people know I sucked my thumb for waaaaaaay too long and it was quite awful. I will spare you the gross details, but I don’t want my kids to have to go through that. I don’t really want to give him a pacifier (a friend pointed out that a pacifier is in all of their baby pictures); I’m hoping that he’ll find other ways to soothe himself. But to get rid of a pacifier is much easier than to quit sucking your thumb. We’ll see.
Both kids are very healthy and doing well. Dylan got to feed a giraffe yesterday at the zoo; she thought that was really cool. She pointed at all of the birds and did the sign for bird all morning. She even did the sign for turtle at the zoo, too. We’ve been trying to teach it to her for a while now. It’s a two-handed sign, so it’s harder to learn. She doesn’t say many spoken words (Uh-oh, ouch (any cactus or pokey tree is “ouch”), dad, dog, hi, oh (hello), I think that’s about it), but she knows about 15-20 signs and strings together three and four-word sentences. When we were driving in the RV for an entire morning she signed “dad” “all done” “driving” – it was pretty funny. We weren’t done driving, but she wanted to get out of the car seat. A few days later she said “all done” “crackers” “more” “berries”. She finally understands that cats are not dogs and does the sign for cats when she sees Toonces & Reece instead of the sign for dog. She even understood that the tigers at the zoo were cats and did the sign. She thought the llamas were dogs though.

July 3, 2007: Dylan had her 18-month check up today and is doing great! She is 32 ¾” tall (90th percentile) and weighs 25 ½ lb (75th percentile). She walked right up to the real scale this time and stood still while the nurse weighed her. She didn’t even have to go lie on the baby scale. Her 10-15 word verbal vocabulary, 30+ word sign language vocabulary, and the fact that she can string together 5-word sentences (“cracker” “all done” “more” “berries” “please”) using sign language put her off the charts! She is just the most brilliant child that ever walked the face of the earth I think.
We’ve been going to toddler story time at the library a few times a week and she just loves it. She’s learning to do all kinds of new things. She especially loves when its time to dance. She loves to “shake her sillies out”, stomp her feet and clap her hands. Her favorite is the bean bag song. You’re supposed to put the bean bag on your head, on your knee, on your elbow, etc. and a few times throughout the song you shake the bean bag. Dylan mostly watches the other kids put their bean bags on their body parts, then does it one step behind – but when it’s time to shake it watch out! She loves to shake it! She has so much fun at story time we go to three different libraries so we can do it throughout the week (sometimes even more than one a day!); it’s so much fun. And we still go to the splash park once a week to get wet and run around. She loves all of the exposed belly buttons to poke!
She’s still climbing, climbing, climbing all the time, but she’s getting better and knows that she needs to sit down once she climbs up. She’s getting better at drinking from a real cup and eating with a spoon (those two things require a lot of patience and cleaning on my part, so it doesn’t happen as often as it probably should – I’m only human). She really likes to “help” me clean. After she’s done eating she’ll wipe down the counter where she eats. When I’m sweeping, she takes the dustpan and swooshes it around my pile, it is oh so very helpful. J
Dylan has gotten over her crabbiness. She went through a terrible crabby stage from about 13 months to about 16 or 17 months. We’re all very glad she’s so happy again. I don’t know if it was because of Peyton or because she was bored or what – but I’m glad it’s over! She plays by herself more now; she’ll go into another room and find something to play with. Sometimes she’ll bring it back and want to play with me, but sometimes she’s content on her own. If Peyton is around, she’ll want to be playing with him – he’s the funnest. She loves to bring him toys to play with or hats to wear. When I’m feeding him she likes to climb up onto the chair and help hold the bottle and pat him on the back when it’s time for a burp. Random kisses and hugs from Dylan are the norm now.
Peyton is getting much more interactive these days. He rolls over both ways and will end up across the room some times. When he’s on his tummy he’ll turn around in circles to see what’s happening around him. He doesn’t sit up on his own yet, but loves to stand up if you hold his hands. Tell him how cute he is and he’s sure to smile. His most favorite thing in the world is Dylan. Sometimes it is hard to feed him while she’s playing because he’ll try and turn around so he can watch her. Sometimes I’ll look down at him and he’s looking at her smiling with milk running down his chin.
Days go by fast and I’m exhausted all the time, but we’re having a great time. Of course some days are harder than others, but we get through it.

July 28, 2000: Dylan Rae & Peyton are becoming the best of friends. Peyton starts to giggle even when he catches sight of Dylan in the room. Dylan loves to give Peyton blowfishes and kisses all the time. Sometimes she forgets and tries to take a little nibble - then they both have to cry. She got over her biting problem for a few months and now it has started again. I wonder if it has to do with her last set of molars coming in ...
Peyton is starting to sit up on his own now. He gets excited and rocks back and forth; sometimes he falls over, but he sits up for a long time now. Yesterday he got up on his hands and knees and rocked back and forth for a little while at Story Time at the library. He's getting ready to crawl. He still hasn't started sucking his thumb, just randomly putting anything and everything into his mouth (fingers, toes, clothes, etc.). So I am hoping he won't be a thumb sucker. I think we've dodged the pacifier, too. This weekend we're going to start giving him rice cereal. He's definitely showing signs of being ready for solids. His hair is starting to come in a little bit more on top - he still has the Charlie Brown hair around the sides and back that is thicker, but mostly bald on top. Last weekend we went and applied for the kids' passports and there is an orange glow on Peyton's head so it looks like he has red hair. He’s completely outgrown the infant car seat that we can carry around & we’ve graduated him to a rear-facing toddler seat. He’s starting to get the idea of holding his own bottle, but he’s still pretty spastic about it. He doesn’t stay very still for very long.
Dylan is so full of energy - she loves to run. Being chased is one of her favorite things. She'll pretend that the dogs are chasing her (they're really just trying to get away from her). She'll squeal and chase them around the house. We've been dogsitting Kiley and she puts up with Dylan Rae much more than Casey does. It's been nice to have her here. She really likes to put shaped blocks into the shape sorter. She'll sit for half an hour organizing the shapes. She doesn’t like to share with other kids (at all!), but will give Peyton toys to play with while she plays. This past month her vocabulary has skyrocketed! She is very interested in what we’re saying and watches our mouths as we enunciate words for her. Last night she tried to say “Peyton” – it sounded more like “Pah Tah” but I’ll count it. She is such a good helper. She loves to help feed Peyton. She’ll hold the bottle and pat him on the back when it’s time to burp. Then she shows him the sign for “milk” and gives him the bottle again. Another one of Dylan’s favorite pastimes is stomping on bugs. She doesn’t really stomp ON them, just near them. Then she shows us the bug and does the sign, and then more stomping. It’s very entertaining.
We go to the pediatrician in the beginning of August for Peyton’s 6-month check up and shots.

August 8, 2007: Today Peyton had his 6-month check up and is doing great! He’s growing so big; he weighs 19lb, 14oz already and he is 27 ¾” long. I weighed Dylan on the scale at the pediatrician’s office and she weighs 27 pounds. I should be a body builder lifting these two every day – you’d think I’d be in better shape, eh? Peyton is sitting up well on his own now and rocks back and forth on his hands and knees – it won’t be long before he takes off crawling. He really likes to eat real food (if you can call it that), and can’t seem to get enough of it. I think he sees Dylan Rae eat all the time and wants to do what she does. Dylan sees him eating baby cereal and now she wants to eat it too. Sometimes I make a bowl for him and a bowl for her; it’s good for her and she likes it, so why not?
Today I missed my first opportunity for Dylan to go poop in the toilet. We had just spent time on the toilet and we talked about saying “poo” when she needs to go. When she’s on the toilet she strains like she’s trying to poop, but I think she’s just playing. A few minutes after we were done doing saying “Boooooo” and straining on the toilet she comes up to me and was saying “boooooo” and straining. I thought she was just playing. Then I smelled it. I can’t believe she was trying to tell me and I brushed it off as nothing. So I guess we’re officially potty-training now. Lovely.
We’ve had a wet monsoon so far, but the house hasn’t flooded away yet. The little wash in the front yard (that flash flooded last year) did run a little, but I think it was mostly run off from the neighbor’s yard. Dylan loves to splash in the puddles that form on our back patio and has learned to rinse off her muddy hands in the puddles. She is a freak about her hands being dirty. Even when she’s eating (with her hands, mind you) she wants them wiped off many times throughout the meal.

August 13, 2007: Underneath all of Peyton's drool I found his first tooth today! He leaves drool puddles everywhere he is; we knew a tooth was soon to erupt. His bottom left tooth is just peeking above the gums - its barely showing, but boy you can feel it.
This is when everything starts happening so fast. He's sitting up on his own now, he's got his first tooth, and I'm sure he's moments away from making his first crawling steps. He gets up on his hands and knees for long periods now teasing us that he's going to do it. I am sure it'll be soon. I'm so excited for him, and scared for me...

August 23, 2007: Peyton's third tooth broke through this morning! His top right tooth is just barely peeking through. This one seems to be a bit more uncomfortable than the first two - poor guy. When he cries, Dylan gives him hugs and kisses to make him feel better. Sometimes she pats his back and says "bah" (her burp sound) thinking that he'll feel better if he burps I guess.
Both kids are doing well although Dylan has been quite moody lately. She cries when we tell her "No" and when she wants to go outside in the 100 degree heat and I say we can't. She says lots of words now and picks them up pretty quickly if you ask her to say them (simple ones, of course). She says a few names now: her friend Aliyah was the first (Ah-Yee has now turned into Ah-Yee-Ah) and Great Aunt Nan (Nanana or Na-Nuh). Sometimes she calls me Mama and some times she calls me Mom or Ma - Todd is Dad or Daddy. She's learning lots of animal sounds now, too. There is a donkey that lives behind us somewhere and she makes the donkey sound now when she hears it. She's also recognizing and sorting colors & is really good at putting the shaped blocks into the shape sorter. Peyton gets up on his hands and knees and rocks and rocks - he gets his knees moving, but his hands stay put so eventually he does a face plant or goes spread eagle and has to start over. Dylan was the opposite - she would move her arms and end up pulling herself around.
Peyton is taking two naps now. Right before Dylan's nap and right after her nap - so from 10am until about 6pm one of them is sleeping (I lost my "me time" and it means I'm kind of housebound these days). But it also means that I get more one-on-one time with each of them and that is really nice. It's good for them.

September 3, 2007: Dylan & Peyton just got a new swing & slide. They love it! The only downfall is that now Dylan wants to go outside ALL the time. It's still in the hundreds during the day here. Somehow the heat doesn't seem to phase her. Peyton is still working on getting that 3rd tooth in. It's a tough one. We're headed up to Colorado Springs for a few days - Peyton's first plane ride!

September 11, 2007 (Aaryn wrote): We see Dylan and Peyton once or twice a week and it's always a treat. I'll let Lindsey give their update, but I'll say one thing about each of them: Dylan is really into saying "Noooooooo!" and screaming, which is actually pretty funny, and like Gina said, Peyton is a little smiling Buddha who is really starting to get active and loves to jump. I'll let Lindsey fill in all the rest!

September 11, 2007: In Dylan's defense, I think she learned the word "no" is very powerful and wants to harness some of that herself. She is also learning about teasing which is very interesting. She'll tell you "no" when you're tickling her, then she leans in for more tickles. That's pretty complex, but we always knew she was a genius. (Side note: I spelled genius wrong the first time - eek.) Peyton is still not crawling, but can get into a sitting position on his own now and somehow gets himself all over the room. He prefers a knee-foot-hand stance since we've been back from Colorado. Our trip to Colorado Springs was great. Both plane rides were easy – Dylan even flapped her wings to help us fly.
The big news around here is poo though. Dylan did her first poo in the toilet on Sunday. This morning she did her second. Although Dylan cried when it happened, it was very exciting.
Todd is going back to the missile program he was originally hired into: AAMRAM (Air-to-Air Medium Range Missile). When he worked on AAMRAM before he was doing testing and moved to Javelin (an over-the-shoulder missile) and worked specifically with the CLU (Command Launch Unit) to work on design. Next week he'll be back on AAMRAM doing analysis. This will really round out Todd's Raytheon experience (design, testing, and analysis). He submitted his resume for several different jobs in and away from Tucson. It would take a rather large salary increase for us to be talked into leaving home though.
I am not doing anything other than playing with the kids and hauling them around town to various kid-friendly functions. I am very dull these days. I talk about poop and nap schedules.

September 18, 2007: Peyton finally did it! He is officially crawling now. He’s been making his way around the playroom for quite a while now, but not on his hands and knees. Whenever we’d lay him down on his tummy, he’d push up on his hands and pull his leg out in front of him and sit down on his bum. Last night, for the first time, he put one hand in front of the other and one knee in front of the other and crawled over to a toy, then sat up and played with it. So he’s on the move now. Dylan just started saying “yes” … quite a relief. When she woke up this morning I asked if the stinky smell was coming from her diaper and she said “yes”. In the past couple of weeks she would’ve said “no”.

September 27, 2007: Dylan Rae & Peyton are starting to play together now. Dylan's been trying to get him to play with her for months now. She'll bring him books and "read" to him. She takes away whatever he's playing with to give him a new toy every few minutes. Right now she's taking clothes out of the laundry basket and putting them on his head "boo!" she says (peek-a-boo). He is starting to pull himself up on things now, so a constant eye must always be on him.

October 2, 2007: Peyton is in that phase where everything is happening so fast now. He just barely started crawling, then he started pulling himself up on things, and just yesterday he "cruised" from the chair I was sitting on to the ottoman then to Dylan's Pooh table in the playroom. Dylan is talking a lot more now and will try and say just about anything you ask her. Sometimes her responses are pretty far out there and may have a few extra syllables but she's trying and it is adorable.

October 13, 2007: We have a new nanny named Kendyl. She is so great with the kids. I'm working a couple of days each week with a faux finisher and having lots of fun while Kendyl comes to play with the kids. She's studying to be a kindergarten teacher the kids just adore her. After she leaves Dylan says "Ken-oh bye bye" and waves out the front window over and over the rest of the day.

October 22, 2007: We just got back from our trip up to Wilcox to pick pumpkins and our camping trip at Mt. Graham. We had a great time camping and saw some beautiful Fall colors (for Arizona anyway). Both of the kids got really, really dirty so that means they had a good time, too. We also got one of those big Rainbow playsets, too. It has a big slide and a fort and swings and a gymnastics bar - it is way cool! Dylan played on it as they were assembling it and got really, really dirty. Good fun!

November 1, 2007: Dylan is talking so much now - to her, everything is either big (beeeg) or heavy (hoppy). She helped Daddy carve a beeeg, hoppy pumpkin. She's got some sort of stomach flu and managed to get through Halloween night without soiling her costume. Peyton got his 5th tooth on the top right, and is working on the 6th (hence the drool all over his costume).

November 5, 2007: Peyton has 5 teeth now and Dylan Rae pooped in her own little potty all by herself. That's the biggest news around here right now.

November 21, 2007: Peyton went in for his 9-month check up and is doing great. He's growing so big! He's 30 5/8" tall (above the 95th percentile!) and weighs 22lb 9oz. He's up and "cruising" on everything and still LOVES to bounce and jump! Dylan Rae is talking, talking, talking. She's been doing really well with going poo poo on her little potty. When she farts (which is pretty often), I ask her if she needs to go poo & she tells me "just fart".

December 4, 2007: Peyton is standing up on his own now for short periods of time & is getting better at walking while holding onto push toys. When you hold his hands to walk he used to just jump up and down & now he is starting to take steps. Dylan knows her colors and can count to three. She picks up everything you say and is learning the words to songs we sing a lot. She really likes to sing Jingle Bells and Barbara Anne (Beach Boys - Ba Ba Ba Ba Barbara Anne).

January 7, 2008: Dylan Rae's second birthday has come and gone. It's amazing! Wasn't it just the other day that she learned to crawl, then walk & run, and now she's talking (and backtalking). When did all of that happen?? And Peyton - whew! Surely he was just born yesterday, right? He's on the verge on walking, but no official first steps yet. He stands on his own for long periods of time now and can get up and down pretty easily. He's just as happy as can be - all the time! They're doing great!

January 10, 2008: Peyton has officially taken steps all on his own now! Three times yesterday it was witnessed - for sure now! In the morning he stepped from a new toy over to me in the playroom and then when Grandma Dawne (Amma) was over he took a step a few times not holding on to anything. Dylan Rae is learning more Spanish words. She knows Manzana is Apple and knows the sign for it as well. She also knows Milk, Leche & the sign. We're trying to teach her more and more. Peyton is learning a few signs as well.
They're both learning so much right now!

February 4, 2008: The kids are doing well … both are getting over booger nose right now. Peyton is up and walking, walking, walking. He walks so funny. He moves his head back and forth like a chicken and moves his arms around like a choo choo train and lifts his knees up high. It’s quite a sight. As soon as he figured out how to put one foot in front of the other, he did and didn’t look back. He still crawls sometimes, but mostly gets up and walks around. Dylan likes to push him down and say “crawl” and gets down and crawls with him. Sometimes she can’t help but remind Peyton that she is older and can push him around. I think she has no clue that he’s quickly catching up. She helps teach him new signs and asks him a lot of questions. She’ll cock her head and raise her eyebrows waiting for him to answer. “Peyton hungee?” is on of her favorites. When he cries she asks him “wuss wong Peyton? No kying” and hugs him. She’s much more generous with hugs and kisses now, she was pretty stingy about giving them out before. Peyton does a lot of pointing and says “dah” a lot. No official first words yet … he talks a lot, but we haven’t really seen anything that is surely a first word. He makes “mama” and “dada” sounds, and sometimes I think he knows, but I don’t know. It’s hard to tell, Dylan Rae doesn’t give him much of a chance – she’s busy talking, talking, talking. J

February 21, 2008: Peyton & Dylan had their 1- and 2-year check ups & they're doing great! Peyton is 32" tall & 26 lbs; Dylan is 35" tall & 29.5 lbs. They're growing fast - and Peyton is doing his best to catch up to her. During Dylan’s check up she told the doctor what instruments to use and where to put them. It was pretty funny. She was very interested in what the doctor was doing and gave Daddy a check up too. Dylan talks and talks and puts together long sentences. Peyton is picking up some signs, but mostly does them when we do them first - same with spoken words and sounds. He'll imitate most anything you do. He loves to clap and applaud his own accomplishments. He really likes to put balls through the basketball hoop and then clap. He’s walking around pretty well now and gets away from me pretty quickly. He loves to dance and bounce. During the day he is very good about entertaining himself by playing in the playroom or “reading” books for varying amounts of time, but in the evenings when I’m trying to get dinner ready he likes to be held and get his hands in whatever I’m doing. Dylan is the same – she brings out her stool so she can see up onto the countertop better “me see it” she says and generally “me helping”. Dylan & Peyton take turns ringing the dinner bell that Uncle Ayner & Aunt Nette got for us – they’re both mesmerized by it. Dylan says “dinner time!” Dylan makes up songs on her own now. Mostly they have just a few words that she sings over and over with different pitches, but it’s pretty funny. She doesn’t allow anybody to sing her Grover (from Sesame Street) song. But you can make up a song about anybody else and sing it – she’ll demand it sometimes. She’s learning the alphabet song & gets the letters in the right order, but forgets many of them – she just keeps on going. She’s starting to put some of her own shoes on now, although she has no idea which one goes on which foot. Some days Dylan is the sweetest, most caring big sister & says Please and Thank You all throughout the day; and some days she is not and does not. She doesn’t bite anymore, but she’s picked up the habit of pushing. When she knows I’m watching sometimes she’ll just walk up with her belly sticking way out and bump somebody over. Peyton cries and then just gets up and moves on while Dylan has a time out. Many times he tries to go play with her while she’s in time out and Dylan tells him “No Peyton – me Time Out”. We’re not having a whole lot of progress with potty training. If she has a diaper on (or pull-ups or cotton underwear), she uses it. If she’s naked from the waist down, she’ll poo on her potty, but she’ll pee all over the floor. I try not to get frustrated; I know that she’ll get it sooner or later. I’m just glad we have concrete floors!

March 7, 2008: Dylan Rae & Peyton are doing great, despite the constant flow of boogers. Peyton just bonked Dylan Rae on the head today with a toy for the first time. Dylan cried and cried - I think she was flabbergasted. We'll see if it a sign of more to come ...

April 1, 2008: Peyton's got his first set of molars - ouch! But he got a frozen popsicle and felt much better. He's starting to do more signs now - mostly "eat" and "dog" - but occasionally he'll do some others. He'll copy the signs we do & try and say the word. He grabs our hands and wants us to do the sign. Right now one of his favorite things is to go look at the tortoises (aka:"tot"). He tends to talk verbally more than with sign language - but then again, we don't spend as much time doing signs as we could with Dylan.
Dylan has been very polite the past few days and says "yes please" and "thank you" a lot - unprompted. She's also on a big I Want My Mommy kick right now. She likes to be held (by me) and wants me to turn her around "like a baby" she says, she asks to hold my hand and says "lez walk mommy". Meanwhile Peyton is climbing up onto some wall or onto the dining table and trying to bounce up and down. He climbed a ladder that Todd had in the backyard - he got all the way to the top before we realized what he was doing (it took less than a minute). He's definitely a boy in that respect. He is starting to like books more - he'll pick a book off the shelf and climb up onto the sofa and "read" it by himself. He still doesn't like storytime before naps and bedtime very much, but he's getting better - he likes to turn the pages. He takes my finger and puts it on the fuzzy/feely parts of books that have different textures so that I can feel them too. When he wants to be held he grabs my hands and pulls them down to his waist - he does the same when he wants out of his crib after naps. It's pretty funny. Dylan is getting to be so smart. She's constantly surprising us with words or phrases we didn't realize that she knew or understood. The other day I was telling her that "pretty" is for a girl and "handsome" is for a boy. She came right back with "Mr. Dooley is handsome" (Mr. Dooley is my brother's father-in-law).
They're both doing well & growing fast.

May 8, 2008: It sounds so cliche, but it is so hard to believe that Dylan is almost 2 1/2 and Peyton is 15 months. They are both doing well and growing fast. Peyton is saying more words now. Mostly "no no no" when he's doing something he's not supposed to be doing; but also says things like milk (Mote), Casey (see see), kitty (tee tee), tortoise (tote), and who knows what else. He's constantly making noises and I could probably make out more of his "words" if he had my undivided attention. He gets his point accross using his hands - he'll grab your hands and put them on his waist when he wants to be picked up and puts your hand on the doorknob when he wants to go outside or on the fridge if he is hungry. When he's playing with toys he'll take your hand and put it on the toy so you'll play with him. He looks up and smiles ... dah dah tee to doo. He really wants to use a spoon and fork like everybode else at the table and does a pretty good job for a few spoonfulls, but then he realizes that it is really fun to play with and that is the end of that. He is infatuated with our tortoises and is constantly trying to climb into their yard. He points at them "tote tote" and bounces up and down. Oh - he also LOVES to dance! He'll point at the radio and start dancing (meaning he wants music), if I don't do anything, he'll take my hand and push it over to the radio and start dancing some more. He'll dance anywhere he hears music - grocery store, restaurant bathrooms, anywhere. He loves to dance! He's not just walking anymore either, he's running! And he's fast, too. That combined with his lovely hobby of picking up dog poop (with his bare hands and holding onto it like his life depends on it as I am trying to pry the turd from his death gripped little fingers) keeps me on my toes. Dylan Rae helps by telling him "doggie poo is dirty - eeew!" She wouldn't touch dog poop if you asked her too, but she has no problem smearing a poopy diaper all over her crib and everything in it. Absolutely disgusting. She is so polite about it though - when I come into her room and almost keel over from the horrid stench, she says, "Mommy, I went poo poo." Enough about that. Well, almost. She is mostly potty-trained - hardly ever has accidents with me ... outside of our house and with other people it's another story, but at home she's basically potty-trained. OK, now really enough about the poo. Dylan's learning how to hop on one foot and it is very exciting for her. She's very bossy and even tells the wind to stop blowing "Top it wind, top it" and tries to hold her hair still. If there are gnats flying around her eyes or ears she tells them to "top it" as well. She sings the alphabet song, but skips sections here and there "ABCDEFG QRSTUV Next time won't you sing with me", and one day decided she could count to 12. For months and months she counted 1-2-3 over and over and over and would resist when I tried to count with her and count higher than three. Then one morning she just blurted out 123456789 10 11 12. Now she skips 5 - "I don't like it" she says. Although there are many things she claims not to like - she is two afterall. She loves to read her books and will go into her room and close the door and read books by herself. She has memorized the ones we read a lot and can read the whole book outloud - she even says random things I'll point out like how many yellow flowers there are on a bush or something. She likes to sing songs and will make up words and sing really soft & high to her babies and when Peyton goes to sleep.

May 18, 2008: Suddenly Peyton is saying more and more words. When we're in the car Dylan tells Peyton to "say uh oh" and Peyton says "uh ... oh". He's been saying Uh Oh for quite a while, but it's funny to hear Dylan telling him to say words. Saturday he woke up from his nap and grabbed one of Casey dog toys and walked around the house saying "see see" looking for her so she could have her toy. He’s just becoming more vocal lately – more words and less babble.

June 13, 2008: Dylan's constantly surprising us with her vocabulary & understanding. She says "top it wind" (stop it) when it is blowing her hair in her face. She sometimes thinks that somebody bit the moon and lists the people who could've done it - Peyton's generally at the top of the list. A couple of nights ago she saw that it was "broken in half." At Peyton's 15-month check up he was 28lb 3oz and 33" tall (95th%!) We start swim lessons next week. They love being in the water and are completely fearless.

July 5, 2008: The kids are both doing well these days. Peyton is saying more and more words as is Dylan Rae. She says things like "I don't know what that is" all the time and is really into people's names. She says, "Mommy, what's your name ... Mommy? I'm Dylan." Peyton LOVES his daddy right now; cries when he leaves & randomly waves bye bye "Daddeee" out the window all day. Dylan wants to play inside all day and Peyton wants to play outside all day. They both really love to be in the pool. We're in swim lessons right now & both of them can hold their breath under water. Peyton is very comfortable in the water & has absolutely NO fear. He'll step off the last step and sink and just sort of stand there underwater holding his breath while I freak out and pull him back up. Then he takes a breath and is fine. He's a great kicker and uses his arms too. Dylan Rae is lazier about it and really just wants to hang on to you or walk on the bottom if she can reach. She really likes to go underwater with her goggles ("oggles") on and look around. To my dismay, she's completely addicted to TV. Sometimes the first thing she says when she comes out of her room in the morning is "Mommy, I want to watch Sessy Elmo" (meaning Sesame Street). We haven't ventured outside of PBS yet - so at least she's learning. She knows most of her letters and can count to 12 I think. She has some Disney movies that she also loves to watch - I think I can recite the entire movie "Cars". But I like it too though. Peyton still loves to dance and Dylan likes to spin around now. It's funny to watch her get dizzy.

August 8, 2008: Peyton is 29.5lbs and 34” tall, and Dylan Rae is 31lbs and 36.5” tall. We are awaiting the day that Peyton grows taller and/or weighs more than Dylan Rae; but it hasn't happened yet. Unless you count Peyton's head which has surpassed Dylan's. He's got a big noggin on him. Today we went for their 1 1/2 and 2 1/2 year check ups and they're doing great. The doctor pointed out that Peyton hasn't been in for a sick visit since he was 2 weeks old. That was when Dylan Rae got Rotavirus and passed it on to him. He was close to being hospitalized, but luckily he started getting better. I guess it was enough for him not to really get sick any more. Sure, they get booger-nose all the time, but that I can deal with.
Peyton has 35+ words that he knows and uses regularly (which is amazing!); he will repeat almost everything, but doesn't necessarily KNOW those words, so I don't count them. He really likes trucks (chah) and tractors (cha cher) right now. Any yellow truck, bus, semi, etc. is a tractor to him right now. Dylan shares his fascination with tractors. Dawne & Chip rented a big back hoe and the kids thought that was really cool.
Dylan is doing well with potty-training. I know that she knows how - it's just a matter of doing it. Her mood predicts how many accidents she'll have (and have to clean up). She hasn't been wearing pull-ups during the day at all for quite a while. Peyton has started to potty train himself. He'll say "poo poo" while he's pulling down on his diaper and we'll go to the bathroom and he poops! Not every time, mind you; but maybe 5 or 6 times a week. And he LOVES to sit on the potty. Sometimes he'll pee but that goes everywhere except in the toilet. I think Todd will have to train him on how to stand and pee. But we're not pushing it - I'll indulge him, but that's it.
Peyton is starting to use a fork now. He really likes to imitate what we're doing. He gets out the broom when I'm sweeping. He wants a turn on the potty whenever anybody else goes. He wants to hold the hose when I'm watering plants. He'll climb up into the patio chair next to me when we're sitting outside. He gets spatulas from the drawer when I'm cooking and wants to stick them into the pan; "hot" he says.
The kids each have their own stools in the kitchen and whenever I'm cooking they each pull their stools out and "help" make dinner.
Dylan is learning her manners and mostly says "please" and "thank you". I'm working on getting her to say, "May I have ______ please" instead of "You need to get me a ______." She's doing well, but needs reminding sometimes.
Both kids are getting better with Casey and don't pull on her tail and bang on her back as much. Dylan likes to help feed her at night and tells her to speak "Peek!" and sit down.

August 20, 2008: This morning Dylan was trying to tell me what she wanted, "I want a ... I want a ... I want a ... ugh! I can't talk!" She just got so frustrated - it was pretty funny though.
As you'll notice in the pictures, Peyton is a climber and doesn't bother with rules these days.
So we're getting ready for our trip to go see Uncle Brian in Oregon, then down to San Diego for the La Jolla Rough Water Swim where some family and friends will be swimming.

September 10, 2008: We just got back from a two week vacation or Oregon to visit Todd's brother Brian in Portland and Aunt Vaughne & Uncle Ron on the coast, then down to San Diego for the La Jolla Rough Water Swim where we cheered on Aaryn, Jeannette, Carly, Becky and Emily. The kids did really great and I think they grew while we were gone. They look so big now!

September 23, 2008: We had a great time on our vacation, but are glad to be back home and settling back into our normal routines. Peyton saw lots of cha-chers (tractors) and had fun pointing them all out. He waved bye-bye to all of the airplanes he saw. Dylan was a champ and had only a few accidents; potty training is going well. She was a great listener and stayed close to us all the time. By the end of the trip she was asking ME to hold hands.
Peyton's talking lots and uses a spoon & fork very well. Dylan loves to color and tries to color objects instead of random markings on the paper. She is pretty good about her manners, but needs reminding some times. As you’ll see in the pictures, Dylan got ahold of a pair of scissors and gave herself a haircut. It’s too bad that mullets aren’t in style these days. It was mostly her bangs that she cut, so it’s not that terrible. Unfortunately there’s nothing we can really do to make it much better. It’ll just have to grow out.
They’re starting to fight like brothers and sisters do. But if I take Dylan with me some place without Peyton she asks me over and over again, “Where’s my brother?” and tells me, “I miss Peyton.” Although Dylan is much better behaved when he’s not with her. So even though Dylan doesn’t take naps normally during the day, she is sweet and well-behaved, giving me a little bit of a break.

October 6, 2008: Everything is going well. Peyton talks more and more every day & Dylan talks more and more for him; "Peyton is hungry," or "Peyton wants to go outside." We're getting ready for Halloween. They've already got their costumes and we're planning on trick-or-treating at Uncler Ayner & Aunte Nette's house.

October 22, 2008: Peyton says "no" as an answer to EVERYTHING these days. It's pretty funny. He looks right at you and says it with a very plain face. Sometimes he even says it when you ask somebody else a question. He's so funny. And he now knows how to open all doors and even unlock the deadbolt. He doesn't know how to twist the lock on the handle yet though (at least he doesn't know that he can). We're on our toes around here. Dylan is doing very well with potty training. We still have some rough days though.

November 4, 2008: The kids had so much fun trick-or-treating in Uncle Ayner & Aunt Nette's neighborhood! Dylan was a dragon and Peyton was a skunk; they looked so cute. They really got the routine down & were a crack-up!
Peyton understands everything we say now and walks around naming the things around him: "dog. chair. horse." Dylan is basically potty-trained now. We've gone almost two weeks without an accident. She's very proud.

December 15, 2008: Dylan & Peyton are getting very excited about Christmas & love to see the houses all lit up at night. Peyton is talking a lot and puts his own little sentences together. Sometimes the words aren’t all real, but generally at least the first and last ones are. It’s the ones in the middle that might just be for show. He repeats everything you say and remembers sooo much. He climbs out of his crib now. I’ll need to convert it into a toddler bed, but put stuff in front of it for him to climb onto in the mean time. Every night he wants us to read him the “dah feen” book. It is a Miami Dolphins book with a cut-out on every page that shows a picture of him. So he is quarterback & the main character of the book. Dylan still loves to read and especially likes the books on the top shelf that only Mom & Dad can reach. Somehow they are the best ones. She’s addicted to TV these days. She’d watch it all day if I let her (we still haven’t ventured beyond PBS yet), which I don’t. She’s really interested in who is a boy and who is a girl – girls wear ponytails and boys don’t.
I just got my Christmas present for the next hundred years – a Canon 30D digital SLR camera. So hopefully you’ll start to see some amazing shots of the kids in the upcoming albums on snapfish. Also, I’ve been told that you cannot copy pictures from snapfish anymore; they want you to buy it. If you would like a particular photo, I’d be glad to email it to you, just tell me the title and consider it done.

January 4, 2009: We're winding down from the holidays and now everybody but me (fingers crossed) got some awful stomach bug. The kids had a great time seeing lots of family that we don't get to see very often & eating lots of candies and cookies. Peyton really likes "choc-ick". He had a great time with all of the holiday music and dancing - he's quite the dancing fool! Aside from dancing he does anything and everything that he sees Dylan Rae doing. He talks and talks, and he surprises us with words and phrases that we didn't know he knew. We just bought life jackets for Todd's new boat (you'll have to ask him about that) and Peyton knew right off what it was "boat jack-ick" and wanted to wear it.
Dylan is in complete denial about turning three. She insists that she is two and that she already had a birthday. After Christmas she got her official first haircut (we're not counting the encounter with the scissors she had with her bangs a few months ago) and donated her ponytail to Locks of Love. She was so good at the salon; she sat still (mostly) and made faces in the mirror while Josie chopped away. She looks so much older with her little bob haircut. It's very cute though. She's getting very good at counting - not just spewing out the numbers, but actually counting things and stopping at the right number.
Peyton can count to three, then says random numbers after that. But he likes to count when we're doing things like stairs. His transition from a crib to a toddler bed has been very smooth. He still naps for 2-3 hours each day and sleeps for about 12 hours at night. No more naps for Dylan Rae; we have some together time while Peyton naps. When Dylan Rae wakes up in the morning she checks on Peyton to see if he's awake yet and if he's still sleeping she'll go back to bed and check back later. She loves her Peyton. If I take Dylan out with me while Peyton stays home with Todd, she asks about him and tells me that she wants her Peyton. On the rare occasion that Dylan takes a nap, Peyton will wander around the house calling for "Din-in" - "where Din-in going?"
Dylan is fully potty-trained during the day and has been waking up in the morning with a dry Pull-Up for maybe two weeks now.

February 18, 2009: Peyton just had his 2nd birthday. At his check-up he was 36 1/8" tall. That translates to just a touch over 6' as an adult. (Double your height at age 2) and 32 1/2 lbs. Dylan Rae is 38 5/8" tall and 33 1/2 lbs. I'm getting asked if they're twins more and more these days. At the doctor's office, Peyton immediately went to the sink and wanted to "wash hands, Mommy" and later found a toothbrush in my purse and started to brush his teeth. He ripped off tiny peices of the paper from the exam table and put them in the trash too. At the end of the appointment Peyton was the only one who needed and shot and Dylan was very sad and cried, "I wannna get a shot!" The nurse said that I had very unique kids. She had never seen a kid cry because they WEREN'T getting a shot before. Ah, sibling rivalry ... the story of my life these days.Peyton is starting to potty-train; although we're waiting for it to be a little warmer so he can just run around without pants like Dylan Rae did. He is very interested and LOVES to get potty treats! Some times he'll squeeze out two teeny, tiny droplets of pee and ask for a treat, then sit back down and squeeze out a couple more and want more treats, and sit down again ... you get the picture. After getting peed on many times, we figured out that if he sits backwards on the toilet (facing the tank) his pee goes down into the toilet instead of strait out onto whoever is helping him (a good hint for anybody out there that is going to be potty-training a boy anytime soon). Now he has learned to aim it downward into the toilet himself, but he's used to sitting backwards and still does. He tries to sit backwards on the training potty sometimes too, then corrects himself. Dylan has her fair share of accidents (although not all of them are really "accidents"), but she's doing great and wakes up most mornings with dry pants. Dylan's favorite day of the week is Friday when she gets to go to gym class. Next session starts in March when she and Peyton will finally be in the same class - that'll be fun. Now that it is getting warmer we're spending more time outside. Dylan has learned to pedal her bikes and zooms right around the yard. She really likes to find similarities in things; anything she sees that is blue is "like Mommy's car" and she talks a lot about when she was a baby "and I had no teeth" (a few friends are having babies and Aunt Jeannette too). One day when I was doing laps at the park she pretended to birth a whole bunch of baby turtles. She is insistent that Aunt Jeannette is "having a baby boy and a baby girl" (ultrasound says one - no worries).Peyton repeats EVERYTHING you say and is learning very fast. He knows his colors now, too. Not which ones are which, but he knows the names and randomly assigns them to crayons & markers. He loves to run and run "going fass, Mommy" and points out anybody or anything that is running (people, horses, dogs, etc.). He still loves tractors, trucks and motorcycles. And he loves to chase and scare the cats. While Dylan Rae wants to watch "moofies" all day (I don't let her), Peyton is comfortable playing outside by himself. I have to make sure all the gates are closed and locked because he tries to escape and go over to the neighbors house. He really likes Neighbor John who is a firefighter and thus home a lot. He's building a shop in the back and regularly has "chra-ters" over! When ever we go outside he looks for Neighbor John and calls out to him if he sees him. It's very cute. Dylan Rae used to have a crush on him we think. She would look for him and ask where he was, but clam up when she saw him and tell him "I'm being shy".Wow, this one got pretty long. Thanks for hanging in there :)There aren't many pictures after Peyton's party because we're all getting over being sick - yuck.

March 29, 2009: We've been busy playing and taking advantage of the warm weather we've been having. We spend a lot of time outside playing, planting and rearranging the yard. Peyton likes to count but when we get to 3 he says “Time Out!” Dylan is learning to count by 10s. Peyton really likes Potty Treats so he wants to potty train. It is still very hit and miss with him, but sometimes he goes on his own, mostly with pee. When he poops in his diaper he tells me right away, unless he’s busy playing then he’ll tell me “no” when I ask. He is still very good at playing by himself. But we have to keep a close eye on him because he can unlock the doors and go out back or into the garage. So far he can’t open the front door (different handle), but we’ve ordered special locks that he won’t be able to reach.
Todd almost lost Peyton in Costco the other day. Dylan and I were getting drinks ready in the food court and Todd came to help. When he got back to the cart (which was about 15 feet away) Peyton was gone – he was left standing next to the cart, not in the seat. We scanned the area and I went directly to the exit to look for him and tell somebody that he was “missing”. When I got there I turned to see if Todd had found him – no. I turned to tell the lady at the exit and she was looking down saying “woah, woah, where are you going?” I looked down and Peyton had just come back inside. He was BEYOND the people who check your receipt! We were lucky, but Todd is not allowed to EVER take the kids anywhere alone.