We spent the day inside watching football, making pumpkin moon pies, and having fun with our family. Still, we are not ready for this!
Luckily, we live in New England and we didn't have to wait long for warm weather to return. Yesterday, it was nearly 70 degrees. Gotta love it! I DO love the nice weather because it means we can get outside. I am already dreading a long winter indoors with the kids. Since I bought the triple stroller, we have been going for walks 3-4 days a week- sometimes more- and it has been beautiful most days! We usually go about 2 miles-- lots of exercise for me!
Speaking of walks- the boys are learning theirs! They love to be in their walkers, and while they don't really get very far, they are getting the idea. They know how to make the walkers move, they just don't steer very well. It is getting to be like bumper cars around here!
This picture was at the end of a long day- you can tell that Maired (proudly wearing her Boston Celtics robe) was beat!
Apparently, Mairead is not quite ready to give up her status as our baby. I found her in the walker the other night, happily watching Blues Clues.
One episode of Blues Clues (Mairead is OBSESSED with this show) includes a parade, so Mairead walks around the house yelling, "March! March!" while stepping in rhythm. Her aunt, Jen, heard about this and had to help out with a proper parade. After they returned from a trip to Florida, Jen and Mmmmike showed up a the house banging a drum and waving a tambourine. Mairead watched from the window while they paraded up to the house and came in with her new surprise. She LOVES the drum, and whichever adult is closest has to play the harmonica while she drums or waves the tambourine. Thanks, Jen and Mike!
It's hard to get pictures of all three kids, but they were playing together the other day so I tried. Unfortunately, I was shooting directly into the sun, so it is a little dark. They love playing together, especially the boys. They laugh hysterically at one another, and they particularly like to watch Mairead. She talks to them and brings them toys-- such a great big sister! Jack is NOT a great big brother to Ben. Jack has a hoarding problem. Whatever toys are in a 3 foot radius, Jack wants... ESPECIALLY if Ben is holding said toys. No matter how many toys Jack has, he immediately checks out what Ben has, and takes it from him. It's pretty funny, but I hope he learns to share soon!
Ben is more interested in rolling around, crinkling paper, and trying to crawl, so he doesn't mind. Speaking of which, Ben DID crawl last week! He is really good at getting up on all fours, and he moved his hands and knees last week. We were so proud! Jack pretty much couldn't care less about crawling. He is also a little bit 'behind' Ben- I think he is still catching up from those 5 weeks in ICU. He is a smart one, though... he always knows what he wants and how to get it!
Jack
Ben
Mairead is learning all kinds of new words. Some favorites include: ghost, witch, snow, and owl. She is, as I said, obsessed with Blues Clues, so we color pictures of the characters, talk about them, paint pictures of them, read books about them, and watch DVDs starring them. She is learning to sing the songs from the show and the other day, she got some mail from Nana and Grampy, so it was MailTime! If you have seen the show, you know that this is a big deal.
She saw the cardiologist the other day for her 2 year follow up, and while she did NOT enjoy the EKG, it was totally normal. They did not do an echo since a 2 year old is not the ideal candidate for that. We will go back when she is 4 or 5 for a final check, at which point they will do an echo to rule out a hole or malformation in her heart. The cardiologist, who I really like, does not suspect that there is one, but he wants to be 100% sure. But, he is confident that she is a healthy little girl and she has no restrictions. He said, "She is totally normal. Well, except that she is cuter than average." I think so, too!
Thanks for checking in with us- I am looking forward to posting Halloween pictures!
