Crazy Caits!

Each day Caitlin's personality is shining through more and more...she is quite the little character. Although she appears angelic in public, she's usually up to no good when she's at home! She has become incredibly independent - refusing to hold my hand and trying to dress herself. Her favorite phrase is, "No mama, I do it myself."

Regardless of what she's doing, she is so much fun and always brings a smile to my face...even if it's sometimes out of exasperation!

Caitlin wearing Ryan's sunglasses upside down. She loves any kind of sunglasses and she loves, loves, loves her paci! She isn't allowed to have it unless she is in her crib, but occasionally she'll get a hold of one (usually thanks to Ryan) and she comes and flaunts it!

Here's Caitlin all decked out in her birthday party bling! We went to one of her buddies' party on Sunday afternoon and she had fun going through the goodie bag this morning before breakfast.

Caitlin has recently started silently hiding somewhere - it's really frustrating. Ryan never did this - he would hide, but get bored and start talking. She'll sneak away somewhere and I'll start calling her name and she won't answer. I've found her under her crib, in my closet, and this afternoon...she was tucked back behind her crib. Luckily, her feet gave away her location. Sometimes, I have to search a good five minutes before finding her and I start getting anxious that she may have escaped outside!

So here is how I found her this afternoon. I think she believes that if she is still and silent, she's invisible to Mommy!

New artwork

Caitlin got a hold of black permanent markers today while I was getting lunch ready. She drew a nice picture on the hardwood floors. I quickly got online to try and figure out how to remove the marker. I tried just about everything suggested (nail polish remover, WD-40, milk, toothpaste, dry erase markers, Lysol, and erasers) and I still cannot get all of the marker off the hardwood. I am now shopping for a new, larger area rug to cover up this beautiful masterpiece!

More than she bargained for

We've been taking full advantage of the beautiful weather by spending every afternoon outside. I bought this little kiddie pool last summer, but never inflated it. I got it out a couple of days ago and it's been a hit. Caitlin refuses to put her swimsuit on, but ends up completely soaked after playing in it. Ryan will wear his swimsuit, but I was washing it yesterday, hence the tighty-whities.

As you can see from the video, Caitlin took a tumble after playing "horsey" and got quite wet. I thought she might get upset, but she stood up and I snapped this picture.

Bicycle built for two

As I mentioned a few days ago, Ryan and Caitlin play so well together. Yesterday afternoon was no exception. I was working in the yard and they played for well over two hours - digging in the dirt, playing with the water table, looking for "buggies," and riding this little trike. At first, they were taking turns riding it. It didn't take them too long to figure out how they could both ride. Ryan sat in the seat and Caitlin sat on the trunk area. They drove around the driveway like this for quite some time!

Ryan's New 'Do

Two of Ryan's buddies, Gabriel and Adrian, are sporting cool summer buzz cuts. I was inspired to try my hand at cutting Ryan's hair. I think the first attempt was a success. Ryan was an all-star and sat very still - of course, the promise of chocolate chips was a huge motivator!

Maybe I'll get good enough with the clippers to cut Mike's hair when he gets home!

BEFORE

AFTER

Little fish

Ryan absolutely loved swimming lessons. It was a great experience. This week, there were two instructors for three kids - and one of the little guys was afraid to get into the water, so Ryan basically got one-on-one instruction. He loves the water and now confidently puts his face in the water. We're pretty busy during the day these next few weeks, but I'm hoping to get him back in the pool for another set of lessons at the end of August.

Daddy presents and popsicles

More daddy presents arrived this week to mark the passage of month number four!! Woo hoo!! Ryan got a squirt gun and Caitlin got a stuffed Mickey Mouse.

When Ryan first started using the squirt gun, I thought it was a huge mistake to have given it to him. It ran out of water waaaay too fast. After I showed him how to refill it with the hose, all was fine. I told him he could squirt the grass and the plants and he did pretty well with that rule except for the few occasions when he squirted me or the windows. Squirting me was an accident (or so he says) and for the windows, he said he was "washing them because they are really dirty." Hmm...smart little guy.

Ryan with his super soaker.

Thanks, Daddy!

Caitlin still loves anything snuggly that she hold and pretend it's a baby. In fact, recently she's been bringing tons of animals in bed with her at night and throws a fit when we leave the house and I tell her she has to leave the animals behind. She is especially fond of this little Mickey Mouse figurine at my parents' house, so I thought that she should have one of her own. She loves it and insists on carrying it all over the place. It's very sweet.

Caitlin and Mickey

It's been nice enough for popsicles this week, so Ryan and Caitlin enjoyed one on the deck yesterday afternoon. Caitlin has a unique way of licking the popsicle! Gotta give her credit though - she made it through the entire grape popsicle without a drop of it on her shirt!

Concert in the Park

We joined our friends, Stephanie, Taylor, and Paige and went to hear the Brian Waite Band perform at Kirkland's Marina Park. The weather was beautiful, the music was fun, and the kids thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

Ryan at the park.
Caitlin and Taylor singing along.

Groovin' to the music!

Best buddies

Ryan and Caitlin are 20 months apart, which proved very challenging when they were younger, but now it's wonderful. I wouldn't choose to have them any farther apart. They are great playmates (most of the time), co-conspirators (against me!), and love being with each other (so much so that they freak out and wonder where the other one is if they are alone with me -- I think they are worried that I forgot the other child somewhere!). Hopefully they'll still be buddies when they reach high school and they are only a year apart in school.

We feel truly grateful to have these two little blessings in our lives. They bring challenges and frustrations, but they also bring a whole bunch of joy!

Ryan reading to Caitlin.
Sheer exhaustion after a long day with no naps or quiet time. I had to keep them up so they would go to bed early so I could get some work done.
Goofing around in the living room.

I'm a little teapot...

Another musical performance by the McGee children. Watch Caitlin carefully - she's hysterical, as usual.

What did you just say??

One of the kids' favorite activities right now is to "slide" down the stairs. There's a six-inch piece of wood on the edge near the bannister that they like to slide on. At first, I tried to stop this potentially dangerous activity, but I gave up. I figure that if they hurt themselves or tumble down the stairs, they'll stop. In the meantime, they aren't doing any damage to themselves or anything else.

This morning, they were on the stairs and I heard Ryan slide a little bit and then yell, "Oh, crap!" Then he would slide again and yell the same thing. I wasn't quite sure that's what he was saying, but as I listened closer, I knew I wasn't mistaken.

I asked Ryan what he was saying and he answered, quite confidently, "Oh, crap!" I asked him where he heard that (because of course mommy *never* says stuff like that!) and he answered, "From the big boy at the park where you were teaching Stroller Strides." I told him that we don't say words like that and perhaps a better option would be, "oh, wow!" or "oh, man!" We'll see if that works...

I knew Ryan (and Caitlin) would eventually figure out some "bad" words, but I thought it wouldn't happen quite this soon - I thought we could at least hold out until the fall when he started preschool. He's growing up too quickly!

Swimming lessons: week 1

Due to Ryan's overwhelming interest in swimming over vacation, I immediately signed him up for swimming lessons this week. He has loved every minute of it! Here are some highlights of the week. We have one more week of lessons beginning on Monday. I love that he is so comfortable in the water.

Kicking all by himself on the kickboard (notice the cool shark goggles!).
Swimming with his instructor, Dano.
Caitlin, watching from the sidelines with appropriate sun protection.

Swimming with the kickboard - although he's not really going anywhere!

Putting his face in the water and then dunking his entire head. Yay, Ryan!!

Gotta wear shades!

The bright and sunny weather allowed the kids to finally wear their sunglasses that we both nearly two months ago! Of course, Caitlin's lasted a whopping four days before she broke them. Oh well, they were cute and functional while they lasted. Now it's back to hats....

And yes, these pictures were taken while I was driving in the car, but I was safely stopped at a light when I took them. :)

Pool Progress

Last summer, we took Caitlin swimming at my parents' neighborhood pool and she absolutely freaked out. It was a hot day and there were lots of kids splashing in the water - I think it was more than she could take!

The next time she got into the pool was during our trip to Whistler. The first day, she would barely put her toes in the water. She wasn't upset, just highly skeptical of the situation.


The next day, she started out standing on the steps and then wanted to come in. That afternoon, we put on the water wings and she was good to go! She still hasn't put her face in the water, but she likes being in the pool and is no longer afraid.

Ryan's Whistler Fun

Here are some pictures of Ryan enjoying his week at Whistler. He really enjoyed the pool and loved golfing with Grandpa.

Jumping into the pool to Grandpa Pat.
Balancing Act
Ryan wading in Lost Lake.
Ryan and Mallard jumping on the bed.
First time on the golf course.

Doing the happy dance!

A couple of my friends pointed out to me that we're finally under the 100 day mark on our countdown! YAY!

And to make things even sweeter, we have an official return date (of course, with the Navy everything is subject to change, but hopefully we'll be seeing Mike in mid-October)!

Vacation Recap

Vacations with kids are *totally* different than our pre-kiddo trips. Gone are the days of sleeping in, lounging around, and doing absolutely nothing! We have a great time at Whistler, but it was really exhausting. The kids had an absolute blast - swimming and playing - so that made it all worth it.

The most challenging part of the trip was the lack of sleep. Caitlin slept terrible the first three nights we were there. It was unseasonable warm, which didn't help things because our condo was an oven, which made sleeping difficult. Ryan slept a little better, but he still woke up screaming every night we were there. Ugh. My kids are good sleepers, but apparently they don't handle a change in routine very well.

At any rate, we had a fantastic time and it was nice to get away from everything for a few days. Mom and Dad: thanks for letting us tag along - I know it wasn't very relaxing or restful for you - sorry!!