Abby's Third Birthday Party

Last week we went up to Rochester for Abby's third birthday party. It was at a bounce house play place called Kango Play. They had tons of cool toys and play places, and we all had a really fun time.

There was a big area where the kids could ride on cars and tricycles. Leah took a ride in a little car and she really liked it. When her butt was on the seat, her feet couldn't reach the ground, so she had to stand up and walk the car along. She loved it though.

Walking around with Daddy

Cameron riding one of the trikes

Some of the trikes didn't have any pedals, so we put Leah on one of those and pushed her around on it. She really liked that too.

Kiddos on bikes! We took a bunch of pictures of them together but couldn't get one where both were looking and smiling. Here is the closest we got.

I like to ride my bike (especially because my feet don't touch the ground) !

Smile!

After playing for a while, it was time for dinner. Dinner was pizza! Abby enjoying it.

Cameron ate it like a champ too.

Leah really enjoyed the pizza the too.

She liked it so much, she finished a slice and asked for "more". Here is Leah doing her sign for more - she signs it as a finger pointing to her open palm.

Yum, yum, Mama delivers the requested pizza into Leah's mouth!

A close up of the amazing desserts that Jaime made. Delicious cupcakes with chocolate cake lollipops. Sooooooo good.

The birthday girl with her cupcake! Gotta love the little hat that Jaime made for Abby too, so cute!

Cameron obviously enjoys the dessert!

Sweet smiley Leah girl!

After dinner and cake it was time for opening gifts. The kids all formed a circle around Abby and hovered while she opened presents. Here she is, elbow deep in wrapping paper.

When gifts were done, we headed back out to play. The place where we rode bikes before was now a roller skating rink. All of the kids wanted to check it out. Cam did really well - it makes us excited for him to use his rollerblades this summer!

Well, he did well most of the time. Tim caught him mid-fall in this picture!

Abby ready to skate

Cam hanging on for dear life

Cam and Bridgette skating together - yet another photo to add to the file for their rehearsal dinner when they get married some day!

After Cam was done skating, it was time for some games. Skeeball!

Cam had trouble getting the ball all the way up the ramp into the target. More than half the time, the ball came rolling back down the ramp. He loved it anyway.

A very nice employee gave Abby a huge handful of tickets that she had cleared out of a game that was stuck. Abby was super excited to get them! Also, this picture shows off Abby's gorgeous outfit, which Jaime made!! So cute!!

The play place also had a climbing structure up above everything. Cam loved climbing around up there.

Tim took Leah up there too and she LOVED it. She is a nosy little monkey, so she loved being able to look around at everyone from up above.

It was a great party and we had so much fun. Happy 3rd Birthday, Abby!

Cam Cutes: 80s Boy!

On Wednesday, Cam stayed home from school recovering from being sick. Here is a picture and a quick post from Nana:

Here is a picture of Cameron in his retro chic outfit that used to be worn by Uncle Matt and possibly Uncle Paul. He is standing next to a picture he made on one of Nana's antique toys -- a Lite Brite -- that was used by his Mama and uncles.

Leah Lovely: Tricky Leah!

Today, Cam and Leah were playing together in the family room. I decided to run upstairs and put a load of laundry into the washing machine, and I asked Cam to call for me if Leah left the family room. I was up there for about a minute and could hear them playing, so I kept loading the machine. All of a sudden, they sounded much closer, so I called to Cam and started heading towards the stairs. I said, "Cam, where is Leah?" He called back, "Umm, about half way." Half way what? I was thinking... that is, until I got to the stairs. There, on the landing half way up the staircase, sat Leah and Cam!! I asked Cameron how Leah got up the stairs, and he said, "She climbed up herself. I came up behind her to make sure she didn't fall." Leah just sat there smiling, obviously very proud of herself!

My thoughts:
1) Hmm, apparently Leah can climb stairs. I have seen her go up and down one step, at Nana's house, but never more than one. So Cam was the only witness to Leah's first trip up the staircase.
2) We have been saying that we need to get the gates up... now we REALLY need to get them up.
3) What an amazingly considerate older brother Cameron is. Of course, I wish he had called for me when Leah left the family room, like I asked him to, but the fact that he thought to follow behind Leah and make sure she was okay is super sweet.
4) I am definitely out of the running for Mama of the Year. Leaving an almost one-year-old alone downstairs with a three-year-old is NOT a good idea.

What a tricky little monkey we have though! We love our Leah pea!

And, as a bonus Leah Lovely, here is Leah with her first pigtails!! (which, I agree, look more like antennae on an insect)

Visit to the Fire Station

Two weeks ago, Cameron got the chance to visit the Brewerton Fire Department. Tim's co-worker Art is a volunteer there, so he offered for Cam to come check out the place. Needless to say, Cam was ecstatic and loved every minute of it! He also talked a mile a minute, asking questions and making hilarious comments. Art has kids around Cam's age, so he was very understanding of our excited little motormouth.

Driving a fire truck! This was the fire department's new truck and it was really nice.

Sitting in the back of the new truck. There was lots of room for all of the fire fighters.

Daddy, Leah and Cameron on one of the other trucks

Art showed us lots of cool tools that firefighters use. Cam liked this axe that was as big as him!

The wheel of the firetruck was taller than Cam

Cam loved sitting up in the trucks

I think this was the jaws of life, maybe? It was some kind of tool used to cut through a car in a crash. It was very heavy and Cameron liked trying to lift it.

After seeing all of the trucks and the tools, Cameron got to try on some gear. He really liked wearing the helmet, even though it was heavy.

The jacket was a little big!

He liked the pants and boots too. After he put them on, he tried to walk and was able to take a few tiny steps.

Wearing one of air tanks

And the mask. It had a microphone in it so the firefighters can talk to each other when it is loud in a fire.

Cam and one of the trucks

Peeking out the window! Cam wanted to sit in every seat of every truck - driver, passenger, back seats.

One of the coolest parts of the fire station was the fire pole! It was pretty high so Cam couldn't go down it by himself, but we did lift him up onto it and he slid down. He told us, very matter of factly, that when he is FOUR, he will be big enough to go down the pole! Daddy did get a chance to go down the pole and said it was lots of fun.

Cam and Leah on the front of one of the trucks.

Many thanks to Art for letting us come check out the fire station - we all loved it!!

Leah: 11 months old!

It is amazing to think that Leah is 11 months old. In just a month she will be a year - I can't even imagine that! My baby is growing up soooo fast! In fact, I probably shouldn't be calling her a baby anymore because she is definitely heading into toddler-land. Luckily, other than a few cranky days from teeth, she is still a total sweet pea! Speaking of teething, Leah got her third and fourth teeth this month - her front top two. They are just barely popping through, but they have been working their way to the surface for a long time so I am glad they have popped!


Leah has become quite the mobile little monkey. She walks with a push toy and can cruise around the room holding onto furniture and toys. She doesn't quite walk yet, but she is so close! She can stand up on her own for a few seconds, but gets excited and topples over pretty quickly. It is super cute though, and she is so ready to walk! She wants to go places and can't seem to get there quickly enough. She has adopted a new crawling style, which we will try to get on video sometime - she half sits, half crawls, scooting around on her bum. It is hilarious.

Her fine motor skills are definitely improving too. She can use a lot of her big girl toys now - putting rings on a stack, putting balls into holes, and occasionally putting puzzles pieces into puzzles. We have been getting out a bunch of new (well, new to her) age-appropriate toys for her and she has been loving them. No more baby rattles for Leah!

Leah has learned a bunch of cute little tricks this month. She can do high five, blow kisses and has been learning sign language. She does "more" and "all done" quite well. We are still working on "please" and "thank you", but she will probably figure those out soon. The cutest thing she has learned to do is say "uh oh!" It is absolutely adorable, and she has quickly figured out the correct use of it... and she seems to revel in finding reasons to yell it out! She loves to throw stuff on the ground and proudly proclaim, "Uh Oh!"

Leah continues to eat like a champ - eating pretty much anything and everything we put in front of her. She loves meat, veggies, fruit, bread and dairy. Especially dairy - she LOVES her cheese! Leah has also started sleeping better - pretty much every night she goes all the way through to the morning. For a week or two though, she was consistently waking up at 4:30am on the dot. She didn't want to eat, just wanted her snuli back in her mouth. I think it is the teething. It made for a tired Mama though!

Leah also broke her finger this month - her first major injury (and it really wasn't major at all). After a couple hours though, she didn't even act like it bothered her at all, and when she smushed that same finger at daycare a few days later, she barely cried. She is a tough girl!

Leah had a doctor's appointment this month, to get her ears rechecked from an ear infection a few weeks ago and also to have her pinky checked out. She weighed 18 pounds, 12 ounces, so she is putting on some weight. I think she is still on the smaller side, but she will get big soon enough.

We love our Leah girl!