3 months old / Disneyland

Xander is now 3 months old. He is doing really well. He just rolled over onto his side while on his back this weekend for the first time. He is laughing more and more now, generally when you tickle his cheeks or blow raspberries on his tummy. He has found his hands and loves to stare at them and of course put them in his mouth and chew on them. He tries to sit up when he is laying down and is getting pretty good at using his tummy muscles to pull himself up. He is still growing like a weed too. He has outgrown all his swaddling blankets, his bassinet and bucket car seat. Well the last two he really didn't outgrow, but he never seemed comfy in his car seat and he is so big in the cosleeper that he always ended up with his head touching the top of the bassinet. So we have moved him into his big crib and big car seat. He is having a little trouble adjusting to the crib and not being swaddled at naps, but is still sleeping great at night. I am sure he will get used to it soon.

This past weekend we spent Saturday night at Disneyland. It was Xander's first trip to the park and he did amazing. He is so mellow and pretty much chilled out in the stroller, Daddy's arms or my wrap. He hardly ever fussed. Ais was really excited to go, she loves the park and it has been ages since she has gone. This was a big trip for her too, it was the first time she was able to stay up for the Electric Parade and fireworks. She loved both and is still talking about the Blue Fairiy. We also had an amazing room at the Grand Californian overlooking the park. Ais loved being on the balcony and watching the "space Choo Choo" (monorail) zoom by. It was a really fun trip and I got to take Ais on a ton of rides. Last time I was in the park I was pregnant and horribly nauseaous and couldn't handle anything. Even Small World made me sick, so it was fun to take her this time. I even took her on the roller coaster in toon town, which she did ask to go on, but probably never will again. She didn't like it too much and cried for most of the ride. No Space Mountain for her for quite some time I think.

Here are some recent pictures.

Xander just hanging out in line for Whinnie the Pooh

Xander's first pair of mouse ears.

On the balcony of our room.

Our first family of 4 picture in front of the castle.

Ais and Mommy riding Dumbo. Ais loves Dumbo and wants to go all the way to the top and stay there.

Ais, Daddy with Ais' favorite character Minnie Mouse. Ais met tons of characters in toon town while I was nursing Xander. She met Goofy, Minnie, Pluto and then we all went to Mickey's house to meet the superstar himself.

And here we are with the Mouse himself.

More adventures

Can you believe Xander is almost 3 months old. I sure can't believe how fast time has gone. The little guy is doing great for an almost 3 month old too. As of last Friday night, he has slept through the night from 7:30 p.m -6-7:30 a.m. Four unbelievable nights of rest. It is so amazing to me, since Ais didn't sleep through the night till about a year. Xander did a full laugh the other day while I was kissing his cheeks. He also is starting to babble more and more. He was working on mamamamama yesterday. It was so cute. He can sit up for a few seconds on his own and almost rolled over from his tummy to his back. He didn't quite make it, but I am sure he will soon. He is a really happy little guy and so mellow. We are so lucky.

The little miss is doing well too. She has been getting better with her mood swings and is mostly back to her silly old self. Of course, we still have melt downs, but either she is having less of them or I am getting used to them, because it hasn't seemed so bad lately. She loves playing catch with Daddy and singing songs from Gymboree.

We have been busy as usual. We went to Arianwen's 2nd birthday party, had a picnic with Grandma and Grandpa B, Brian and I went to Sienna's (Brian's best friend from High School) wedding last weekend. And last but not least, we all went swimming at Grammy Sue's and Grandpa Terry's house on Sunday at the family summer birthday get together. Xander had his first dip in the pool and seemed to enjoy it. He never even fussed, just relaxed and yawned a bit when he got tired. On the same day we got to meet Baby Shawn. Baby Shawn is 6 weeks older than Xander and is just a cutie pie. It was so fun to see the two little guys together at last.

Anyway, here we go with the pics. The photobucket site has been updated too.

Aisling watches Arianwen open her presents while chilling on her trike.

Only my daughter would enjoy wearing her hat this way.

Xander watches an Olympic beach volleyball match. This is pretty much the view I have of Xander most of the time. I think the back of his head with his little ears and blonde swirly is so cute.

Grandma and Grandpa B went to Parnell park with us for a picnic and some play time. We went to the same park that I used to go to when I was a kid. It is still a pretty cool park even though the old equipment I used to play on has been replaced with newer stuff. They still have a little zoo with some chickens, goats and turtles. It also has a donkey there, I think it may be the same one that was there when I was little. It looked really old....

Xander takes his first swim. He didn't seem to mind the water at all.

Along with his first swim. Xander takes his first ride in the Honu Kayak.

Uncle Jack and Brian introduce the new baby cousins to each other.

Baby Shawn and Baby Xander. Awwwwww.... So sweet.

Summer Fun

So as usual we have been busy and have been enjoying our summer with lots of outings and fun days with Grandmas and friends. I am really going to miss our visits with Grammy and Grandma B when they go back to work in a few weeks. We have had so much fun this summer and they have been so helpful as we have been going through this transition to a family of 4.

Anyway, so here's the update.... Aisling has been going through a serious spat of the terrible 2's. I am hoping this is just a phase and that I will get my sweet little girl back to normal soon, or maybe this is normal. She's really into doing everything herself and if things don't go her way she just melts into a whinning pile of toddler goo on the floor. Sometimes all you can do is laugh other times I just need to take a deep breath. The last big blow out was at Gymboree when Grammy came to visit us and she threw the biggest fit because the teacher put the parachute away, the same thing that happens at every class, but this time it just got to her. Well, aside from the yin and yang she is currently bouncing between she is still super funny and a good girl. She is getting really into girly things and loves dresses and bows in her hair. She currently is freaked out about bugs (except rolly-pollys) and dirt and today at lunch she stepped in gum and I thought we were going to have to burn her shoes the way she was freaking out about it. It was kind of funny too, she was walking like her little foot was broken trying not to step on the sticky part of her shoe. Oh the life of a 2 year old....

As for Xander, he is really starting to come into focus. He is smiley and has even laughed a couple of times. He loves his bouncer and the toys that are attached to it and he still loves to talk to his little animal blanket when he is having a diaper change. He has gotten the hang of sucking his thumb, which has really helped at nap times and night sleeping. He is a real sweetie pie and is so mellow. He loves to chill in his bouncer, on the floor or just shnooze in his swing. He still is a big cuddle bug and loves to be in the wrap or just held tight in your arms. He really just does melt your heart. Oh how I love my little gentleman.

So here are some pics from the previous weeks. As always there are more pictures on the photobucket site.


Xander and his favorite toy. He just stares and laughs at it all the time. It is so funny apparantely.

Aisling went to visit Grandma's school and joined the other kids for her first finger painting.

Aisling and Grandma enjoying a dip in the pool. She had a great time kicking and splashing and dunking Mommy and Grandpa under water.

Xander is just trying to figure out how to eat all that popcorn without teeth. We took Ais and Xander to see Wall-E last weekend. They both did great. Xander ate (milk that is) and then slept for the whole thing. Aisling still loves Wall-E and was really excited to see it again.

Fintan and his Mommy Ingrid came for a visit this week. The kids really played together well. Fintan was a bit shy and Ais was really whiny and screamy when they first arrived, but after some dino chicken nuggets and some 2 year old conversation about the fan over the table they were the best of friend's. Here they are playing at the park. Ais loved to watch Finny go down the slide. Ingrid and I have been waiting to see these kids play so well together since we were pregnant over 2 years ago. It was the best and so cute.

Here is one of the romantic moments we managed to capture between the two. There were lots of hugs and kisses between the two tots.

Grandma Kettle and Xander just chilling out at her place yesterday. Xander slept for quite a while in his Great Grandma;s arms.

Here we all are at our trip to get ice cream with sprinkles at Grandma Kettle's place. Aisling was really excited to get sprinkles on her ice cream and talked about it forever. She loves sprinkles. She was a little freaked out by the noise that the machine was making. She kind of gets scared by loud noises, but after a minute or two and the lure of the sprinkles she went into the little soda fountain for her treat with her Grandma and Great Grandma.