Spring Update 2014
Note: Now that Vincent is older, i am wrapping up his “updates” into just a seasonal general family update, instead of doing a dedicated post. I will do dedicated monthly (maybe!) updates on Melanie since she’s still so little and changing quickly.
We bought a double stroller so we can take both kids out on walks, and use it whenever else we need it. Right now it works with Melanie’s infant seat in the back, and Vinny sitting in the front. But later, as Melanie grows out of her infant seat, she can sit up in the front, and then Vincent can sit or stand in the back bench.
We have been trying occasionally to introduce to potty to Vincent. When Grandpa Mike was visiting one weekend for his house search, i had Vincent naked after breakfast since I wanted him to use the bathroom. He didn’t want to, so he ran out of the bathroom and was in the kitchen playing with is book. It was only a couple minutes and then i see him running to the toilet! Too late, i backtrack and see a trail of poop, with the bulk of it … UNDER Mike’s shoe, because he has excellent timing and stepped on it right after it happened on the floor. EWWW!
On Sunday, April 27, i decided to try to put him on the potty throughout the day. He ended up peeing in the toilet a good amount, 4 separate times! He as very proud of himself. Pooping — well he had his big boy underpants on and he realized too late he went poo, but he did go run to the toilet right afterward! And then pooped a little more once he got there. Not fun to clean up though! Eeee. So i think we are holding off on the poop part for potty training, but he can pee in the potty pretty good now.
Vincent loves to watch Paw Patrol. I clicked onto Nick Jr’s website one day and played a few episodes for him, and he’s hooked! They have it on TV too, so i should record it for him. He also loves Timmy Time, and the Baby First TV shows.
Another one of Vincent’s most recent obsession is singing Bob the Builder. It is his first actual attempt of singing a song. He sings it all day long – at daycare, in the car, during playtime, at dinner, in his room.. well you get the idea.
This month he’s really improved his animal sounds. He can say them for turkey, cow, pig, monkey, cat, dog, bear, lion, sheep, horse, frog, snake, dog, bee, rooster, chicken, owl, birdie, bee, and probably even more. We have a book that has Animal Sounds that he really enjoys reading at bedtime. He brings out all his stuffed animals!
He is definitely talking a lot more. He can say a lot more words now, like yes and no, cold and hot, dirty, Pop-pop (grandpa) and Oma (grandma), oatmeal, ice, pee, poop, most of his colors (he seems to like purple and gets it mixed up with blue), some of his numbers, and a lot of animals. Still though, many words are hard to discern. Like the other day he wanted grapes but he kept saying “lake” and it took me forever to figure that one out. That’s the only reason I want him to talk more is so that we can communicate with less temper tantrums. He recently been a good at trying to “mimic” or repeat what we are saying when we tell him a word. So he seems a lot more interested in learning to speak. YES!
Vincent got his second haircut at the barber. His first haircut wasn’t too noticeable, so this time we had them trim it a bit shorter and use more of the razor. Dad said he did great, and of course the best part is getting to choose a lollipop! On the photo above, the left is before, and the two on the right are after.
I went back to teaching my RIPPED classes after about 3 months off during maternity leave. It feels great to be back! I feel good and can make it through the class just fine, but my abdomonials are really weak, so i need to keep working on that. Before i took my leave, i was teaching 4 classes a week. U-JAM on Monday nights, Turbokick/RIPPED on Wednesday, and then RIPPED on Thursday and Saturday. It would be awesome if i could get back to that schedule, but i think for now i am going to start off with Saturday and Monday, then maybe add Thursday. For now that should be good!
Vincent is finally in 3 year clothes after fitting 24 mo/2T for over a year now. He is still in a size 8 shoe.
Grandma Lisa and Grandpa Mike are finally moved into their house! Though they are doing a lot of work to it to make it accessible. We have given them new nicknames so Vinny can say them easily — Pop-pop and Oma! He loves saying their name and is excited to see them. We’ve been having lots of dinners together and hanging out around the house.
We bought Vincent a tricycle right before i went back to Maternity leave because we had a couple of days off from daycare and i thought he would like it… but he didnt really like it that much. He is still too small for it.
We practice shaving with daddy in front of the mirror. He was studying dad like a hawk and mimicking everything he did. Too cute.
We had a few visits from friends lately — Charlotte and Evan on separate occasions.
We finally got a bean bag chair to do bedtime stories in. Butters finds it to his liking.
Vinny has been “tucking in” his animals at night. He sleeps face-down, so naturally his stuffed animals do too. I got him a toddler sized pillow recently, too.
Vinny now knows how to open the screen door. By himself. Not a good thing.
Vincent loves to help with the laundry. He can help sort colors and whites, open the washer, put the soap in, put the clothes in, and start the dryer. I find it fun to include him on everyday chores. He likes learning new things and new words.
Fun Beach Day – First Day of June!!
My coworkers invited us to go to the beach today. We decided to go to Hidden Beach in Aptos. The weather was not really beachy, but we decided to fare it out and in the end i think it was a success! We even managed to all get a slight sun burn… ooops! Melanie’s first sun burn ;(
Robbie and Cheryl brought tons of food (surprise, surprise!) — we ate dogs and then also some of our own lunch we had brought!
In fact, Vincent not only ate a whole hot dog with the bun, but he also ate a PB and j sandwich, a banana, and a apple juice. Never have I seem him eat so much.
The Lovejoy kids were flying kites.
Vinny wanted in on the action, but by the time it was his turn, the wind went away.
Last time Dad and Vince went to the beach he liked being covered up in sand. So we made sure to do it again this time.
Melanie stayed up the whole time. I mostly carried her on my lap. She was fussy at first not was mostly just chill.
Vinny liked playing with the sand and throwing balls around.
We even got to see dolphins and sea lions in the water!
It was a bit of a walk from the parking lot to the car but at least we got exercise in!
I was telling Jeff that we should go to the beach more, we live so close we should take advantage of it.
Melanie is 3.5 months old!
I can’t believe how late I am with this post… trying to do monthly updates, but the months go by so fast! Melanie is now 3.5 months old!! And when your that young a couple of weeks can make a big difference!
Especially this month because Melanie has started going to daycare and Momma is back to earning a full time salary. Cha-Ching! Well sort of. Now we pay for double the childcare and double the diapers! But still making a lot more money than if I was a SAHM.
I enjoyed my 4 months off of work. Totally!! Had a chance to finally organize and clean my house after years if neglect. And I got try try some new dinner recipes. Really liked having time to cook dinner. But I was getting bored the last couple weeks before going back. I can only organize so much and the only outings I’d really do was go shopping and that’s not healthy. Lol.
Melanie is doing GREAT at daycare. She eats from the bottle well (up to 7oz at a time) and takes long naps! Model behavior. My sitter says she’s such an easy baby. She loves to smile when she sees anyone’s face.
Daddy made Melanie laugh on Mother’s Day by singing Row, Row, Row Your Boat. It was the best present. She also laughed lots with Peekaboo. It’s the cutest thing!!
She’s also getting strong enough to sit up supported on our lap. She can sit on the Bumbo too.
I’ve used both the Bjorn baby carrier and the Ergo. She seems ok in them. Not her favorite but will tolerate. She was so cute looking up at the trees in the Bjorn on a walk back home from the park.
This past week melanie has been “talking” to us on occasion. She will sputter from her mouth and make little raspberry sounds with her mouth. She likes to also do this when she’s nursing or drinking from the bottle. She still likes to use her Paci for naps.
She weighs 14.6 lbs and is in 6 month clothes. I don’t have much 6 month clothes for some reason most of what I have is either 3 months or 9 months.
She loves eating her hands. I’ve caught her staring at them as well.
We pulled out some of the “baby” toys for her to start playing with too. She loves her mobile as well.
When she was born, we checked her butt for a Mongolian spot (blue mark) but she didn’t have one like her brother did. But this month I suddenly noticed she had one. It must have appeared this month.
She eats every 4-5 hrs during the day. At night about the same actually. So I nurse before bed, once in middle of night, and then when she gets up. Not too bad but it’d be nice if she started sleeping through sometime sooner than her brother (who took till 10 months or so to do that).
She is still sleeping in the pack n play next to our bed, so i can just pull her into our bed when she nurses. We swaddle her, not so much now that she “scares herself” with her arms, but i think it keeps her arms warm at night 🙂
I keep telling everyone i am worried about her needing to wax her ears when she gets older because she’s got HAIRY ears! See!
I took a few more “close ups” of her using my camera phone while she was taking a nap on my lap in the sunroom. I think they are so precious! I want to remember her little features.
Stretch!! She’s doing this less and less now… i remember loving it when Vinny was new and doing this. <3
Happy Hollow
My BFF Taylor and her sister Kendall who live in Chicago now, were stopping by CA on their way to Hi for their brothers graduation. We got to spend the day with them at a kids park/zoo in San Jose.
Here are some pics from the day.
Tavi loved the baby. She blow bubbles!
Vincent loved the roller coaster as I knew he would. He did not like standing in line. He didn’t understand the concept of a line. He kept pointing to the front of the line wondering why we were hanging back so far away. Poor kid.
There was a zoo here, as well as a play area for the kids. Its pretty perfect for little ones.
We ended the trip with a nice cold iceee!
Fell asleep pretty quickly on the drive home. As soon as he got up when we arrived home though he freaked out that I took his melted icee away from him!
Happy Mothers Day!
My morning started off with Daddy getting up early to get Vincent up for the day while I “slept in” with Melanie (I use quotation marks because I can’t ever really sleep in, generally am a morning person). A few spankings later (vincent didn’t want to brush his teeth or sit still for a diaper change) I heard a knock on the door and in comes Vincent with a handmade card!
He leaves after I read it and Dad and Vincent head to the kitchen to make breakfast.
I get up and get myself ready for the day while Melanie sleeps. Lucky for me she decided to get up every three hours to nurse! Somehow she can go 5 hours during the day but night she loves mommy.
Anyway, head to the kitchen and get to eat chocolate chip taro pancakes and sausages. Yum. Vinny and I really liked em!
After Melanie got up we all headed to the park since it’s been a while since we’ve gone to Claremont. Actually the last time we were there Melanie was only a few days old. Weather was perfect. I walked around while Vincent played with dad.
After the park we went to Myo frozen yogurt — for lunch! Haha. Vinny loves ice cream. We couldn’t eat it all so we saved some for later.
Since I go back to work tomorrow and Melanie turns 3 months tomorrow I did Melanie’s photoshoot today. I also got a chance to get Vincent in with his vest and tie I bought during Christmas that I never put on him. Perfect match to the rose dress Patti gave Melanie.
A relaxing day for myself. Love being a mom and watching my kids learn and grow. Speaking of which, I heard Melanie laugh for the first time today! What a cutie. I’ll miss her so much while I go back to work! But I’m glad Vincent and Melanie will be together at the same daycare.
Wild Things in Salinas
We have a small zoo in Salinas with caged animals — they mostly come from the entertainment industry and are “retired”. We decided it would be a fun quick family trip to check it out since we haven’t been there before.
So we “had” to take a guided tour in order to see the place (i.e., no self-guided trips). We also were made to watch a video in the beginning which was pretty much nothing but promotions for their other “tours” of the zoo, which includes anything from the basic “daily” tour, to an overnight stay and feeding of animals.
We got off to a rough start because we got there early for the 1pm tour, and then we had to wait “forever” in toddler time, until the tour started since they were broken into 2 tours.
Once we were seeing the animals, Vinny got excited but only for a brief moment. We saw bear cubs first, then some big cats. That is a majority of what they have.
They also had some kangaroos, and lions.
Probably the best photo i got of the day was the croc.
Melanie started off fine, smiling even in her carseat. But as soon as the tour started (during the video actually) she was crying, and was generally fussy throughout.
We ultimately decided to leave early (before we could see the elephants up close( because Vincent could not “stay with the group” and he was also starving since it was almost 2 and we had not given him lunch.
So all in all, it was not really that great of a trip but we are glad we went and experienced it! I would not recommend it for young ones since you have to stick with the guide and listen to their “blah blah” that a toddler would not give a crap about. Haha!
Happy Easter 2014
Happy Easter from the McGirr family! We just happened to have these cute outfits for the kids that we received as gifts (purple shirt from Aunty Susan for christmas / green dress from Patti for Melanie’s birth), and so i decided to to an impromptu photoshoot in their Easter best!
I spent all day Friday getting ready for Easter. I probably… no i definitely, got Vincent way too many gifts and candy. Totally went overboard. (I guess i don’t have too much to obsess over while i’m on maternity leave!) I ended up separating them into three baskets. One from the Easter bunny, one from mom and dad, one from Melanie. Not to mention his Easter eggs and his presents from grandma Jerrie and grandpa Don and Aunty Jill. I forgot to take a picture of all the gifts in one photo. Oops!
On Easter eve, Jeff and I snuck into his bedroom and removed all his usual toys and stuffed animals in there and replaced them with some of his Easter gifts which included a Snoopy/Woodstock stuffed animal, coloring books, and eggs. When he woke up in the morning we could hear him from our bedroom making a ruckus. 🙂 He actually went to retrieve all his “regular” bed toys that we tossed aside and put them back in his bed.
Before I went to get him up for the morning, I hid all the Easter baskets and a few eggs around the house. The first egg he uncovered was while brushing our teeth.
After eating breakfast, he found the one in our bedroom, where dad, Melanie, and Butters were hanging out. which included his “big” toy of a firetruck with lights and sound. “Wow!”
I told him, “Firetruck needs to save the kitty!” and he ran into his room to get his stuffed kitty cat.
Other favorite toys included a light up “cars” fan and a light up bouncy ball.
He enjoyed the lil chocolates and candies as well!
After dad woke up we had our Easter egg hunt in the backyard. He went right at it picking up his eggs.
Mostly we hid then on the lawn but a few were next to plants and on the deck.
He needed hints to find some of those.
Inside the eggs I put a variety of candy, cereal, fruit snacks, toy monkeys, coins, stickers, and other small objects.
I made him a bracelet using my hair tye rubberband and some beads, since he really liked this other bracelet he got during his first egg hunt.
For lunch we had mcgirrsfins made by dad with the Taylor ham from our anniversary. Vinny took a couple bites and mom and dad had their own as well as vinny’s leftovers!
Vincent wanted to count everyone’s fingers after lunch.
Melanie loves smiling at what’s going on around her.
More photos from out photoshoot in the backyard.
He loves running in the “dog run” area of the house.
He proceeded to make grass stains on his pants!
Sweet Miss Melanie!
The dress is too big for her, because its a 6-9 mo size!
After nap time, we died Easter eggs.
Colors if the rainbow!
One of the toys from the marina egg hunt was a wind up bunny. Vincent loved watching them race across the table.
We had a ham and sweet potato dinner. Well we as in the adults. Vincent had a banana and cereal. He used to love sweet potatoes but now they are yuck. He actually wanted to eat a hard boiled egg but he only got as far to lick it then he didn’t want it anymore.
Our 6th Wedding Anniversary
Six years of marriage — we own our own house, and have a rambunctious son, a cheeky daughter, and a limpy kitty!
Since tomorrow is Easter, we started off the day by going to another free Easter egg hunt in Marina. We arrived with just a few minutes to spare! Vincent got 10 items. “No parents allowed” in the hunt area made it fun for the kids participating as well as the adults watching.
Vinny got 10 items this time (double his last hunt)! Cute wind-up bunnies, a rainbow frisbee, and rubber duckies dressed up as bunnies.
Melanie was actually awake for this one, but she couldn’t really see anything. Vincent showed her his loot.
After the egg hunt, we went home and had some frozen pizza for lunch. Then went for a walk around the neighborhood in the double stroller. Played for a bit more then put the kids to nap (as well as mommy).
We decided to go out to eat at Sapporo but it was an hour and a half wait so we tried beni Hana and it was only 30 min wait. Melanie slept the whole dinner despite the noise of the chefs and the waiters singing birthday songs!
Vinny loved the chef and started copying his moves as soon as I put on the chefs hat they give the little kids. It was hilarious. He was using his plastic knife and fork to chop up imaginary food. Then he tried putting his knife away in his pocket like the chef.
Chocolate ice cream on the house for our anniversary. Vincent got the most of it and loved it.
I bought Jeff a couple of gifts. The first being 8 boxes of Taylor Ham straight from New Jersey. It’s like the refrigerated cousin of SPAM.
I also had 3 square canvas prints made at Costco. One a portrait of Jeff and I, another a portrait of Vinny, (both from the Lovejoy shoot), and a newborn picture of Melanie. I put it up above the desk in our living room. Both Vinny and Melanie like to stare at them.
Melanie is 2 months old!
Melanie is growing so fast! We love her chubby cheeks!
She is fitting is size 3 month clothes for the most part. She is in size 2 diapers after being in size 1 for about 2 seconds it seems. The size 2’s are a little big, actually.
I never thought i’d be the mom that puts ridiculous headbands on their daughter’s head, but i admit some are pretty cute and really add to the photo!
She loves to watch me dance and workout in front of her. She loves to hear us sing and do hand motions. Sometimes she gets scared and cries when i sneeze. Poor girl.
A few minutes of tummy time a day is just enough for Melanie. She doesn’t normally like it very much, but i am not sure most babies do. In general, she hardly lifts her head this high. If she does i take a picture! LOL.
Though, one afternoon, in the sunroom, she fell asleep during tummy time! Quite odd.
She did great at her two month check up. She weights 12 lbs, 7 oz (90th), 22.5″ (50th), and has head circumference of 39cm (50-75th). She did have to get her first set of vaccines. Three shots and one oral.
She cried a bit, and wanted to be held more than usual the rest of the day, but other than that did fine. Doesn’t she look like a sumo wrestler?!
Now that she is bigger she can last longer between feedings. During the day 2-4 hrs still but at night she can go 3-5.5 hrs. She has her longest stretch from about 8pm to midnight which doesn’t work too well for me since I’m not actually sleeping during those hours but I really should just sleep when she goes to bed.
I am definitely noticing her gaining weight. I can no longer pick her up directly from the pack n play and into our bed. I have to actually stand up now to get her. Haha! We removed the bassinet, too. We keep her swaddled for nighttime sleep, but keep her unswaddled during the day and for naps. She loves her pacifier and her swing.
She is clasping her hands together a lot more now and bringing then to her mouth.
She smiles whenever I put her in her car seat or the changing pad. She loves to watch her brother and daddy when they are nearby. Sometimes it seems she smiles at nothing at all!
We put up the kick n play piano and activity mat for her to play in. We still have a few more toys in storage that we haven’t brought out yet since it seems a bit premature.
She coo’s a tiny bit, but not too much. Maybe once a day she’ll talk story with herself. 😛
Shave ice growth picture!
The boys and Melanie cuddling on the couch. Vinny was watching a movie so he didn’t want to look away to the camera.
As far as me, i’ve been trying to get to the gym a couple of times a week, and have also been doing my own workouts at home. Jeff watches her whenever i am gone, and gives her a bottle just fine. I have a bit of milk stashed in the freezer, so it is great that i can get out of the house without her when i need to.
It seems the only two activities i really do outside of the house with Melanie is go shopping and out for walks. Inside the house, she watches me cook, workout, and we play in the sunroom, listen to the radio and of course cuddle and take selfies!
Earlier in the month, though, we did take a trip out to lunch to see the Schipper girls in SJB (seeing Heather off!) and meet baby Jace. He’s so big compared to her! She is only 6 weeks old in this picture, and even compared to herself now, she looks tiny. She is wearing a cute dress from her Aunty Jill.
Grandpa Mike came for another visit to CA to look at a potential house to buy. They’ve finally found one and will be moving here in May!
Easter Eggstravaganza 2014
The Salinas Jaycees put on their annual Easter egg hunt over in Creekbridge. In the morning i dressed him in this new yellow shirt (now he is in size 3T) and put on his bunny ears and told him we are going on an Easter egg hunt!
He thought it was funny to jump every time i took a photo with the flash.
I dressed Melanie up in her My First Easter bunny outfit with a hoodie with ears on it. Double bunny in this picture since her swing is a bunny swing.
We drove up to the park, and the parking lot was full! They had plenty of eggs and lots of kiddos this year. Last year, they did the egg hunts by age groups, one by one. This year, they just did it all at once which makes more sense when you think about it.
We had to wait a bit till they let the kids pick up the eggs. At 11 o-clock sharp they did the countdown. 10, 9, 8… So hard to just stand there with the prize a few feet away from you.
He knew what to do!
It was cute to watch him pick up the eggs.
He picked up 5 of them. Not a lot, but he did it all by himself.
It was all over in about 10 seconds!
I asked him to show Melanie his eggs. She slept through it all.
But at least she looked cute in that bunny outfit!
We got a photo op with the peeps chick.
I really tried to get Vinny to smile, but he just had his serious face on the whole time. Did you have fun Vinny?!