meeting Meredith

Thomas saw his baby sister for the first time Friday afternoon right after I was discharged from the hospital. He's been talking about her for months so I was really happy for him to finally meet her - even if there was a door with a window between them. He smiled at her and seemed to understand who she was and he was definitely curious and interested in this new little baby. He continues to talk about her and knows that we go to the hospital to visit her, even if he doesn't actually get to visit with her. This morning he was playing with some bath frogs and named them - the large frog was either mama or daddy and the two little frogs were Thomas and baby Meredith. It was the sweetest thing and I hope his fondness for his little sister only continues to grow when she comes home.

Unfortunately, Meredith will remain in NICU for a few more days as she adjusts to living in our world. She's healthy and doing well, she just needs to gain the necessary strength to eat consistently and adequately. She tires both at the breast and with a bottle so she's often fed the remainder of her food through a feeding tube in her nose. Every day she gets a little bit stronger so hopefully it won't be too long now. I haven't taken many photos of her that I want to share on this blog, but will hopefully have some new photos soon to post!

Thomas is a big brother!

Our baby girl, Meredith Jane, arrived earlier than expected - Tuesday, April 24th at 7:14am via c-section. Five weeks and one day early, but she's a healthy 6lbs 3ounces and is 19" long. She looks very similar to Thomas at birth with lots of black hair. Both Meredith and mama are doing great and will hopefully go home together later this week! More photos to follow...

a new gig for Bela?

new tricks!

Thomas' new trick is the somersault. He loves to say "Thomas somersault" before placing his head on the floor to begin the fun. Sometimes he makes it all the way over and other times he makes it about halfway over. Either way, he has a blast and does them several times throughout the day. We assist him when we catch him doing them, but he does fine by himself. I've recently signed him up for music and art classes, but maybe I need to find him a tumbling class!

.

A second new trick is playing hide and seek while shopping. At a fabric store this afternoon he was running up and down the aisles having a great time. Every once in a while he'd stop, stand still behind something and repeat "Mama Mama Mama" until I asked "Where is Thomas?" He would then squeal with delight and jump out from his hiding spot to show me his laughing little face. So cute and so much fun -- who cares if shopping takes us twice as long!

Dan Zanes & Friends

We took Thomas to his first concert earlier today -- Dan Zanes & Friends. I wasn't sure what Thomas would make of a concert when I purchased our tickets (the crowd, the dark venue, the loud music, etc.), but was I in for a fun surprise! He had the best time and enjoyed it even more than I had hoped. It was so much fun to watch Thomas and his cousin J jump up and down smiling and laughing and then later to see Thomas dancing in the aisles. I don't think we've ever seen him so wound up. It was great family fun!

Thomas is fortunate to have so many different cousins of every age who all live near us. He loves hanging out with all of them and J is definitely a favorite! With just one year and a day between them, I can already see many good times in the years ahead. My hope is that they'll always have a very special friendship -- something closer to brothers rather than just cousins.

T & J watching the show from the balcony. This dirty handrail got clean between their clothes, hands, faces and mouths. Blech.

23 months - "Baby, you are camping!"

Last summer we discussed taking Thomas on his first camping trip. Friends had had mixed experiences and for the most part they weren't positive, so this discussion probably lasted all of about 5 minutes. A one year old, two energetic pointers and a couple who aren't even avid campers doesn't add up to a family camping trip that is going to happen anytime soon. Truth be told, we will probably hold off for a couple more years before venturing into a weekend of camping since baby #2 is expected next month.

.

However, with a kitchen remodel underway, it often feels like we are camping. Every single time we sit down to eat a meal with our paper plates and plastic utensils, it feels like we're camping. We don't have a stove or oven to cook with so we're limited to whatever can be heated in the microwave, cooked in the toaster oven, or picked up/delivered to our house. Because of this, we've found ourselves telling Thomas several times that we are camping.

.

We're just over a week into our estimated six week project and it's actually been much better than I had imagined. And there have been some good changes made during this last week. More fresh fruit for us all, less coffee for M, no more Ghiradelli hot chocolate in the morning for me... I think we are probably actually eating healthier and I see far more benefits to losing our kitchen for this short period of time than simply getting a new kitchen in the end.

the pink pig

Thomas received this stuffed pink pig in his Easter basket. When he pulled it out of the basket, he immediately gave it a kiss. Since then, the pig has been seen walking around the neighborhood, riding in the car, kissing all of us, reading books with Thomas, riding his quad with him... You probably get the idea. Whatever Thomas is doing, this little pig is somewhere close by!

Happy Easter!

The Easter bunny left a basket of goodies for Thomas at our house this morning. The only thing he didn't care for was the single PEEPS that was placed inside a plastic egg (if you've tried them, you know why he didn't like it) and one of the pages of his new Curious George book bothers him. Curious George is fishing and decides to try reaching into the lake to catch a fish with his bare hands, only to fall in. This upsets Thomas so we've taken to conveniently skipping this page while reading the book to him. Thomas' favorites were the new Hot Wheels he found inside two of the plastic eggs. He's been carrying Hot Rod Car and SuperCar around with him most of the day.
.
To say it's been a fun-filled, sugar-coated and exciting weekend for Thomas would be an understatement. An Easter egg hunt and his cousin's 2nd birthday party yesterday followed by Easter Sunday and a family gathering at his Grandma's house today. Whew! This little guy is going to need a good night's sleep tonight to recover from his late nights and full days!

Enjoying birthday cake at his cousin's birthday party. Three cousins born within one year and a day of each other makes for some fun gatherings! It was pretty cute to see the three seated at the bar eyeing the cake and watching F blow out her candles. Good times!

Easter bunny

This morning Thomas met the Easter bunny at our neighborhood Easter egg hunt. Before the hunt began, we took a couple of quick photos and he gave her a hug and a pet. He really seemed to like her. After the hunt, he walked up to her again and she gave him a carrot. The entire way home all I heard was "rabbit gave me carrot" over and over and over. Meeting the Easter bunny was more exciting for him than the actual egg hunt!

"more water"

Thomas enjoys spending time outdoors and helping us with the yardwork has become a fun thing for him to do. He has his own little shovel, rake, wheelbarrow and watering can. His mama doesn't have much success with actually growing things in the yard, but maybe with Thomas' help it'll be different this year. One thing is for sure, everything is receiving plenty of water these days!

PUPPY love

Thomas has this great little book titled "PUPPY Love". It has become one of the standards in our rotation of naptime reads. When it's time for a nap, I always ask him to pick out two books to take upstairs and read to duck duck and uh-oh and this one usually makes the cut. We've read it so many times since he received it for Valentine's Day that he has the book memorized. Each page has an adorable puppy on one side and a cute little saying on the other. He knows them all, but my favorites to hear him read are...

.

"Ah, true love... yes, that's what THIS is."

.

"When I'm naughty, I need hugs."

.

[Note: No, we did not adopt a new puppy. Pictured above is his pal's new puppy, George! He's so soft and cuddly. I just love puppies...]