Tax Party

Tax season is finally over and Jennifer and Jason decided to celebrate! We had a great time. Lydia was really overwhelmed but enjoyed herself more and more as the evening went on. It was really sweet to watch her playing with Betsie again.

Lydia getting a pretty pink flower painted onto her face.

Aunt Mary and Betsie.

Uncle John, Betsie, and Jennifer enjoying the cookout.

Rachel, Uncle John, and Betsie.

Claire enjoying her own special cookout.

Lydia was a bigger fan of the Big Wheel than the bounce house.

Jason and some of his buddies.

Mary Evelyn coming down strong.

Lydia LOVED sitting and bouncing on the slide and watching everyone else come down.

I know it's a fuzzy picture, but I have proof that both Jennifer and I did the big slide. (Much to Lydia's delight!)

Here I come! Graceful as ever!!!

Claire thought we were super crazy for being out after 6:30. Insanity!!!

The Grand Finale! Lydia finally decided it would be fun to slide down with her daddy!!!!

Fun With Cousins

Two of the girl's cousins came over to play for a few hours yesterday. I love that Lydia is finally enjoying other children. She actually wants to play with them instead of treating them as competition for toys.

Lydia and Betsie dancing to the wonderful tunes of Barney.

Claire was forced to sit back and watch the action as always.

We Passed!

Claire returned to the doctor for her weight check, and she gained 1lb 9oz for a grand total of 12lb 1oz! Woohoo! We will reweigh her in 3 weeks to make sure that she's continuing to progress on her growth curve.

Outsmarted

Hmm. I believe that Lydia is winning the potty training game. She receives a piece of "potty candy" (sounds yummy, right?) if she has success in the bathroom. Unfortunately, she really doesn't care to move out of diapers, so even candy is not very rewarding for her. However, she has figured out a way to get her candy without having to put forth the effort of potty training. She lets her animals go to the potty for her. This morning she told me that Elmo had done his business and needed a piece of candy. I thought this was a cute way to encourage interest in the bathroom, so I agreed that Elmo deserved candy. When Elmo told Lydia he was too full to eat his candy, she decided she should help him get rid of it. Cute huh? Now all of her animals are using the potty for candy. Smart girl. Smart girl still in diapers! Gullible mother running out of candy.

4 months, 10 pounds

Recently Claire had her 4 month well check with our pediatrician. We knew she was a little thing but had no idea that she was losing weight instead of gaining. She's only 10 lb, 8 oz at 4 months. That's 12 oz lighter than she was at 11 weeks. So, obviously, fattening up Claire has dominated our household. We're supplementing her feedings and eliminating her exposure to dairy products as there's also a concern she may be slow to gain weight due to allergic reactions affecting her absorption of nutrients.

On a brighter note, the pediatrician was very impressed with her strength and alertness. She may be small, but she's spunky!