follow the leader

Ryan and Charlie started a new game tonight. It's basically "hide-n-seek" without the hiding part. Or a little like "Follow the Leader" but more like "Try and Get Me" (if that is even a game). Ryan gets down on all fours and crawls away from Charlie. And Charlie follows her wherever she goes and tries to catch her. And I mean WHEREVER she goes... hence the pictures here. It started easy like from the couch to the chair or into the kitchen but then...Yes, you've guessed it, that is our dining room table! I never thought Charlie would follow Ryan under there AND all the way through the middle of the chairs lengthwise but she did over and over and over again. They were having so much fun. What a wonderful sister moment.

bringing back binky

Ryan took a pacifier (aka binky) from the day we came from the hospital. The way it calmed her was remarkable. We loved every moment of it! I guess you could say that we are parents that swear by the powers of a pacifier (that and the infant swing, if you were to ask Steve). Well, we assumed that Charlie would be the same way. It couldn't be further from the truth. For months, we tried every binky under the sun. She wouldn't take any of them. I would even go to say that it quickly became Steve's mission in life to find Charlie "the" binky that would change all that. Well, eight months later (and now a little nervous with the questoin, "why start now?")... you can see here that Binkies are not only a necessity in the mouth but there need to be several around her just for cuddle sake.

playdates are getting mobile

You'll see here that our playdates with Aidan, Thomas, and Carson are no longer stationary. The munchkins are on the move. Watch out! This particular playdate was in Manhattan Beach at Megan and Thomas's house. We celebrated lunch Hawaiian Style since they just returned from their Hawaiian vacation. Aloha! p.s. the picture with the boys in the plaid shorts is just too much... love it!

the answer

You are all too smart! I can't fool any of you. You sure know our Grace girls well. Ryan is the top pic and Charlie is the bottom. Definitely sisters though, huh?

how well do you know the grace girls?

Here's a little quiz for you all? Can you tell the Grace girls apart? They are exactly the same age in these photos. Which one is Ryan and which one is Charlie? Make a guess and I will give the answer to our little quiz at the end of the Memorial Day weekend!

2 nu trix

Charlie learned two new tricks today. I sure wish I had known about "blogging" when Ryan was this age. I missed documenting her small moments this way. Anyway, the top picture is Little Miss Charlotte standing in her crib. Steve was on the treadmill and I was just standing there talking to him and we both looked over and there she was... standing up. She looks pretty proud of herself! In the bottom picture Charlie is eating her first "chewing" food. We call these "stars" in our house. They are little "puffs" (much like cereal) that come in fruit flavors and veggies. These are sweet potato veggie puffs. Yummy, I bet you all want to go out and get some for yourself they sound so good, huh? Well, Charlie sure liked the experience. I don't think she got too many in her mouth but she enjoyed the attempts.

good news on the homefront

Do we all look happy in this picture? That is because the Grace family got some good news yesterday from Ryan's orthopedic surgeon... no casts this summer for Ryan! (Well actually this pic was taken at Carson's birthday but we just got it from our friend Dana and wanted to incorporate it into a post). We will continue with the stretches twice daily and the hightops everydayand he will recheck her in 6 months. He said that she is making good progress with the measures we already have in place. Yay!

timmy's graduation

Aunt Mary with Charlie
Cousin Timmy, the graduate, with Charlie
Aunt Casey with Charlie
Cousin Patrick with Ryan

On Saturday, we ventured up to San Marino to help celebrate Steve's cousin's graduation from Culinary School. Timmy was outwardly happy that friends and family were there to help him celebrate. And as you can see from the pictures, I was just as happy because I don't think that I held Charlie more than 5 minutes the whole day. My hands weren't totally empty though, I did hold a margarita from time to time! Thanks for having us Carey family!!

charlie's bota

As you can see, Charlie can pretty much get herself anywhere with this little army crawl she has caught on to. My mom, Nonna, calls little cozy places like this "botas". Whenever she is over she likes to make them with Ryan with blankets and chairs and any other item that will help create the "bota". She has passed that word onto our family. She must have passed on the genetics of the "bota" too because you'll see here that Little Miss Charlotte Sandra (Nonna's namesake) has figured out the "bota" thing all on her own.

the jonathan club

Michelle and Carson invited us to the Jonathan Club last week for a little time in the sun and sand. The sun never really did poke it's head until we were just about to leave but the sand was a perfect attraction for the little ones. Carson and Charlie had a great time and are for sure becoming fast friends. Michelle and I got a chance to just hang out and she treated us to a wonderful lunch. Thanks Smith family for letting us be your guests!!!

little brown torpedos

Now that Charlie is sitting up so well, she has graduated to the big girl bathtub. I highly recommend it to all the new moms out there. This way she can sit up and play with Ryan or splash the water or both! Bath time justs keeps getting better and better. Look how much fun they are having. Although... on this night of the maiden voyage of this particular bath aparatus Steve asked me, "which one do you want to get out first?" I replied, "Ryan. Let's let Charlie play a little longer, she's having so much fun." Keep in mind that we ALWAYS, without fail, get Charlie out first until this particular night. What happens... the moment (well within a minute) Ryan got out, Charlie gets this very serious look on her face. (See photo) I only noticed it because I was trying to get her to smile for the camera. I realized what was about to happen and quickly went for her. But I was too late. All of a sudden... an explosion! Right there in the water. Little brown torpedos floating everywhere. I know all you moms who have had your child poop in the bath before are either laughing hysterically or grimacing horribly. We quickly gathered up the child, Steve said, "I told you we should have gotten Charlie out first", threw away all the toys, and the sanitization of the entire bathroom began. What a night!

someone has joined the army

You guessed it... Charlie is beginning to do the official "Army Crawl". These pictures here are from yesterday. Now since then, today I put her on the rug in front of the TV while I got Ryan's breakfast ready. By the time I turned around she was on the hardwood around the corner from the couch. I'm either not keeping a close enough eye or she's one fast little bugger! Check out the "step-by-step" footage I got from yesterday...

Mother's Day

First of all, I would like to wish all the moms out there a very special Mother's Day! In addition to my own mom and Steve's mom, the Grace girls send an extra special "Happy Mother's Day" out to Ryan's godmommy, Katie Houghton and Charlie's godmommy, Michelle Smith! A very warm Happy Mother's Day to you! Today we celebrated with Jack, Sandy, Liz, Steve, and Jeff. We had the group over for brunch. Jeff and Steve worked very hard to prepare all the delicious food. Ryan and Charlie were a bundle of joy as always. Here are a few pics to show the festivities... All the girls on Mothers' Day (Charlie was sleeping)

Nonna and Charlie just hangin' out.

Jeff got a little unexpected Mother's Day present of his own. Good aim Charlie. Jeff never knew what hit him (literally). He thought Charlie just "drooled a little."

Three generations wearing their shades and playing with play-dough. What else do you do on Mother's Day?

playdate at the beach

On Saturday we met my brother Mike, sister-in-law Nancy, and cousin Katie at the park down on the beach in Seal Beach for a playdate. Ryan and Katie had a lot of fun playing together. Charlie had fun playing in the sand and watching the older girls. We went down to see the water. Ryan was pretty afraid. Charlie didn't know any different. And Katie took the opportunity to bond with the littlest one. psst... I think she is ready for a little brother or sister. She was so nurturing. Thanks for inviting us. See you soon!

so darn cute

Post bath time is always so much fun!!

dr. cox just called

Our pediatrician just called with great news! Ryan went to the hospital on Monday for a scheduled Nuclear Medicine VCUG (Voiding Cystourethrogram) . This is her second. For those of you who recall, Ryan has been on a daily preventative antibiotic to keep her from getting UTIs and if it didn't correct itself, she might have had to have surgery to change the positioning of the tube that attaches the bladder to the kidney at about 4 years old. But in the meantime would have to take this antibiotic every day until then. If you would like to understand the process better, go to http://www.inova.com/inovapublic.srt/ifhc/vcug.pdf
Good news, the doctor reported that the problem has corrected itsself and her VCUG came back negative. Yippie! This is such a relief! We are so happy to hear this news!

hola amigos

Today was our weekly (well, more like biweekly) playdate with Aidan, Thomas and Carson. The mommies enjoyed a little Mexican fiesta lunch while the kiddies played. Now that all the kids are sitting up so well, they can really play together and entertain one another. We're now on our second round. We switch off hosting so next time will be at Megan (Thomas' mommy) down in Manhattan Beach. Shoot, if we all lived a little closer we might do this even more often!

Nonna's Slumber Party

Nonna Kudron stayed the night on Tuesday night with us. She had a dentist appointment in town that day. She took all the grace girls out to dinner. It was great fun and little chaotic too. Charlie wanted to grab everything from her highchair and Ryan wanted Mommy and Nonna's complete attention. Gotta say, mommy and Nonna didn't get alot of side conversation besides the typical Barney and Elmo dialogue with a little "no, no don't hit your sister" every once in awhile. When we got home, we put some sheets on the blow up bed and both Charlie and Ryan liked getting a little snuggle time with Nonna before bed. What a special treat! You're welcome anytime Nonna.

charlie and carsie

Carson and Michelle came over on Friday to hang out. We went on a 4 mile walk (whew... it was tough but felt good) and Carson and Charlie got to play. They were really intrigued by one another. Thanks for making the drive Michelle and Carson! We sure had fun!

Charlie all dressed up before her friend arrives!

The girls sharing toys.

The girls getting interrupted by their mommies. Don't they look like they are guilty of something?

They are!!! Well, at least Charlie is! Did you see the picture at the top??? That happened right before this pic. (I can't seem to get that one to post under this one. Sometimes I just don't get why the blog does what it does. Oh well, you get the point, right?)

sister time

It's amazing how much the girls are playing together. Charlie sitting up has made all the difference. Ryan is really practicing how to share with her sister which is great but...Charlie's new skill is learning how to grab things. These two things don't really go together. Ryan tries to be really nice by sharing one of "her" toys and then Charlie thanks her by taking something else right out of her hand. Ryan doesn't really get it yet that Charlie doesn't know any better.

carson's happy cake

Here's a picture of mommy and her fashion forward Ryan at Carson's first birthday party. Ryan kept calling the party "Carson's Happy Cake". I guess you can tell what part of a birthday party is most important to her... the cake. We had a great time and Ryan and Charlie had so much fun playing with all their friends. Also, thanks to Michelle Smith for this picture (I stole it from another blog that she had posted on). Good learning for all you bloggers... I learned that you can right click on a pic from another blog and save it to your own file permanently. Yay! Thanks again!

"another song"

Ryan is really enjoying dance class. The whole experience is just so fun for her. When we arrive, there is a play area to keep the tots busy before class begins. Both times we've been it's been difficult to remind Ryan that we are there for dance class not just for the play area. But once I can get her into class, she doesn't want to stop dancing. After every song she yells, "Another song!" All the other parents laugh. Mommy had a nice surprise yesterday. Turns out one of the other mommies that showed up yesterday went to high school with me. It was great to see a familiar face. She told me that in one year, Ryan will be in her first dance recital. I can't wait!