Bumps, books and bonus

When my dad came over the other day, Zoey was running to meet him and wiped out on the driveway.  She got a nasty looking bump on her head.

The second day of the photo challenge was your kid sleeping, but that did not work out.  I woke Sam up and did not even risk Zoey.  I only tend to take pictures sleeping if it is almost time to get up or the light is really good and no flash is needed  Day 3 was your kid reading their favorite book.  Sam was reading her new book, so it is a current favorite.  She loves to read and is doing really well, actually sounding out some words now.  So impressive.  My mom has done so much with her.

Zoey loves this book,  You can see the smile on her face.

 Day 4 was your kid running and playing.  Zoey got up really early today, so we had plenty of time before school.  The girls were having a great time.

And here is Zoey in my hat from last night just because it is cute.

I love pictures, but I do not always take the time anymore.  I am so glad I started this photo challenge with my friends.  It gives me an excuse to keep the camera out and download the pictures.

15 month stats

I realized I left off Zoey's stats in the last post.

At 15 months, Sam was 31 inches (50-75th range) and 18 pounds, 13 ounces (about 2nd percentile).  See http://southernkellings.blogspot.com/2009/05/15-months.html

Zoey is an amazing 32.5 inches, which is 95th percentile and 19 pounds 8 ounces, which is 6th percentile.  Another long and lean girl.  This doctor is more laid back and suggested adding butter and pushing whole milk drinking.  Zoey does eat so well, but she is so busy and I think probably grew up a lot recently.  I do not think she looks too skinny, and Sam turned out to be a healthy weight so I am not too worried, just a bit surprised.  There must be some short, fat kids to make these curves.

Zoey continues to amaze with all the words she knows.  She will say almost anything, but refuses to really say Zoey.  And she calls Sam "Sista" and sometimes will say "'Mantha".  She also has been demonstrating imagination and keeps up that tendency to climb.  She is a constant ball of energy, a delight, and a handful.

Goodbye May, Hello June

It is hard to believe May is over and June is already here.  And we are already 3 weeks into our 10 week summer session.  Some days I think I have taken on to much and other days I know.  Today was one of those days, but you get through.  And hopefully good news will come someday on some front.

Here are some leftover pictures from May.  A picture of Sam twirling in her 4th of July dress that she loves so much she has to wear as soon as it is clean.   Thanks Grammy!

Some pictures of Zoey outside.  It was hard to get her close enough to get a close up without her coming at the camera.

Blowing a kiss, she says "Muh."  So cute!

All smiles.

And a bit of mischief.

Today's playdate was a firestation tour followed by donuts for national donut day.  Sam with Fireman Jonathon.

Sam in the firetruck.

Zoey being difficult.

Sam listening and Zoey in constant motion.

For the month of June I am doing a photo challenge.  I have a photo assignment every day.  Today was me and my kid.  I am not a huge fan of photos of myself to start with and adding a flipped around camera or a timer never makes them good.  So I tried a bunch of things and this was my favorite.  It ended up a bit blurry, either misfocused or the movement.  And I did not tell Sam I was picking her up and flipping her over.  

And a big shout out to our delightful niece who has a birthday tomorrow.  We love you Isabelle and cannot wait to see you in July!

The May Curse

It has been a super busy May.

I had a wonderful Mother's Day.  Sam made wonderful drawings for me at school.

I got wonderful gifts, including an afternoon of shopping without the girls.  And Nick cooked a delicious dinner and did lots of cleaning.  And I got some snuggle time with the peanut and munchkin.  What more could a girl want?  

On the day after Mother's day, Sam's school had a cute mother's day tea, complete with songs, brooches and hats for moms to wear.

 Sam and Nick built this great tower one day.  Nick just lifted Sam up, she did the rest.

 Zoey is often smiles, but she is pretty attached so she can get cranky if I am not around.  But she is often easy to distract.  She is still eating well, but not a huge cow's milk fan.  She is also learning words so rapidly and getting better at communicating with signs too.

She is also a very loving baby.  She did not cooperate here too much, but she does blow a kiss, which she loves doing now.

Check out this street sign we saw on the way to visit friends.

Nick and I celebrated 10 years of marriage a few days ago.  We decided to try an overnight trip and leave the girls with my parents.  Nick and I had only been away from Samantha while together before for packing up our first Huntington house and finding the second.  I had bought a groupon for a sunset cruise in Clearwater and we thought it would work to use it then.  The plan was for me to put Zoey down for a nap and leave.  Unfortunately, Nick got sick in our anniversary.  He said he felt alright, so we decided to try and make it.  He ate light all day, but come cruise time he was a bit green around the gills, so I made him go back to the hotel and rest while I went on the cruise.  He did not want to ruin it or waste both tickets.  I did have some fun, but then that night it was my turn to get sick.  So we cancelled the morning on the beach, watched some tv, checked out, and headed home.  I spent most of the rest of the day in bed.  I am calling this post the May curse because in 2008 I got appendicitis on my first Mother's Day and in 2010 I got and then gave to Nick a stomach bug.  Maybe it is only the May curse in even years.  But it was a bit of a bummer that our trip did not go as planned.  My parents held down the fort well, although Zoey did not cooperate much as she was awake a lot more than she should have been.  But she was pleasant the next day and napped really well today too.  Maybe one day soon we can have a better trip.

Here we are right before we left.

And a couple of shots from my solo cruise.

I'm Elmo and I know it! aka Belbo love

We recently had a lorax playdate.  Here is Sam sporting a Lorax mustache, which she still sometimes calls a mustack.

Zoey is in love with Elmo.  She currently calls him "Belbo."  I got her this Elmo bag.

She also really enjoys this parody video.  We usually just pull it up on Youtube on my tablet.  Now when she sees me using the tablet she say/signs "More Belbo."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/13/im-elmo-and-i-know-it_n_1204247.html


We also went to the main library which is right off Lake Morton where lots of birds live.  We took old bread and bagels.  Zoey wanted some of the bagels, even though she never seemed to like them much at home.  But we managed to feed the birds.  The sawans were nesting.  We managed to get pretty close. We also saw some baby ducks.  So cute!

Today's playdate was at the playground and splashpark.  Zoey loved the playground, but was not sure about the water shooting up.  She kept coming to the stairs and climbing around.

Sammy the Fish

Sam has been a busy and impressive girl.  She continues to learn to read.  I signed her up for preK at the school we are districted for.  She already can do most everything on the needs to know by the end of Kindergarten list.  I hope she will not be too bored in school for the next few years.  

She had a small ballet recital at her school carnival.  

She also just finished her week of swimming lessons.  We are so proud of her.  The week started with tears and fear and ended with confidence and smiles.  She learned the basics of breathing and strokes.  Next year she will be able to learn the actual strokes.

She even chose to swim to her teacher in a few cases.  Such confidence to swim to the middle of the pool.  She did have a few issues with taking a real breath since she often did not need it.

Zoey stays a busy girl.  She spends a lot of her time pushing something around. 

                                           

She is also picking up words and signs so quickly.  She is even showing some imagination.  She learned the word hat and a few weeks ago she put a book on her head and said hat and smiled.

Zoey has had a bit of a rough time, but stays mostly smiles with some crankiness.  She has had a mild cold or harsh teething with snot.  When we were at a playdate recently, she sat down and tried to take off her shoes.  I asked her to leave them, but she kept at it.  I thought there might be mulch in them so I went to take them off. When I did, an ant bit me and it hurt!  I noticed spots showing up on Zoey.  The poor girl got probably 20 or so bites and never cried.  She still has pink bumps.  What a trooper!

A cute Sam and Nick moment.

 The girls are starting to actually play together more.  Sam is so good about sharing and helping Zoey.  She is such an amazing big sister.  We are all so lucky!

She loved this flower hairclip and wanted a picture.

 Right before Easter we had some bunny pictures taken.  Zoey was not too cooperative, wanting to grab the bunny and such, but Sam had a great time.

The USF-Poly split is official and so much is uncertain now.  We will be teaching this summer and fall.  We are also doing online courses for Marshall.  We are hoping for a sale of the Atlanta house soon.  Followed by good news from the new University.  But only time will tell.  We have gotten good news for papers lately, good reviews and 1 moving into official in press status.  So that was nice, but we are hoping for some stellar news.

Happy Easter!

Wow, life has been a blur lately.  Zoey is a busy, busy girl.  She is walking or running everywhere.  She is picking up about 1-2 words per day, including the frequently used "walk".  Some still need translation, but I have reprised the role of baby whisperer.  It is amazing to watch her bloom.  She is our climber, standing up in a chair in the blink of an eye.  Luckily one of her words is "sit" which she ironically says when standing when she should not, like in the bath tub or on a chair.  So she gives herself away.  She loves carrying around baby dolls ("baby") and water cups ("wawa").  She had another bout of teething, but stays so happy except when her temper shows.  Samantha has been learning more and more and can now read 3 books.  She knows a lot of sight words.  Her progression is amazing.  She is really thriving at the Swilley preschool :)

Sam is such a girly girl.  She loves dresses.

We went to a manatee center, but it was too warm to see any, so we hit the mall on the way home for a little shopping, some lunch, and a ride on the carousel.

Zoey thought it was fun, she even said "wheeee".

Their bond is so amazing.  What a precious gift, having a sister that loves you so much!  I hope they continue to get along.  Sam can make Zoey laugh like no one else and Sam loves playing with Zoey.  She is so good with her.  Although we are going to have to work to keep Zoey from becoming a brat since Sam tends to give in a little too easily.  Zoey is getting used to getting her way.

Zoey is into everything,so when I have to get something done it means pack and play for a short bit.  She gets so upset sometimes.  You can see her face is red and splotchy from crying, but she saw me with the camera and gave me a big grin.

She is always on the go and loves to have a bag, another of her words.  She tosses it over her shoulder and carries it, even if it is way too big that it makes her trip.  She is a determined girl.

Sometimes when you get her from a nap, she greets you in a different state.  She got her arm out.  The other day when I put her down in a dress, she removed her diaper and wet her entire crib.  My mom was watching her that day and found a big mess!

Spaghetti night.  She is still a great eater.  Although she has her favorites, she seems to eat most anything.

Her eyes are pretty much green now.  Check out the comparison.

Sam and Zoey had a nice Easter.  Zoey got her favorite things, a book, a doll and a car.  Sam got a nice assortment as well.

Sam loves to rhyme and sing.  She made up a great song, but when the camera came out, it was not quite as good.  Still entertaining though.

And here is an entertaining one of Zoey dancing.

We are so thankful that the semester is drawing to a close. Just a few more weeks.  Then we have 1 week off and back to summer classes.  In addition, the governor got the conforming bill about the USF split and a decision should be made soon.  It has been so long with the uncertainty, it will be nice to at least know which way it will happen.  There is some worry that if it does get vetoed, there would be no money for USF-Polytechnic since the budget says Florida Polytechnic University and the main senator pushing the split is the leaving head of the budget committee.  We are hoping it turns into a choice for Nick and a real job for me.  But only time will tell.