Happy 32nd Birthday, Erik!

Erik celebrated his 32nd birthday this year. With his birthday landing in the middle of a work week, it didn't end up being the most relaxing and enjoyable birthdays. There were still three sets of diapers to change (though Cairo is pretty far along with potty training), meals to prepare, toys to clean up, snotty noses to wipe, tears to dry, and the list goes on. So, while we had a special dinner of barbecued chicken, dessert of ice cream cones, and a few presents, everything was much like normal.

Don't feel too bad for Erik, though. A few weeks prior to his birthday he got to celebrate by having a weekend away with the boys surfing in Santa Cruz. Posh rooms were a birthday present provided by Heather.

Here is Erik, with a classic cheesy smile, showing off one of his birthday presents.

Jonah Bear at 6 months

Just like Cairo, Jonah poked through his first tooth when he was exactly six months old. Jonah, so far, has been teething like a champ. He doesn't complain too much, though he does try to chew on everything he can... including his sippy cup.Jonah's six month checkup showed that he is in good health. His weight and height are between the 50th and 75th percentile. He weighed in at 18 lbs. 6 oz. and was 27 1/4 inches long. His head though, measured in the 95th percentile. Just like Cairo he as a bid head for his big brains. Jonah was also able to get his flu shot and three other vaccinations. He took the shots like a champ. The next day he was in for a surprise because we went to a vaccination clinic and got his the first dose of his H1N1 vaccine as well. Despite being pricked and prodded two days in a row and poking through a second tooth, Jonah was in a good mood.

With Cairo, solid food was interesting. She has a very sensitive gag reflex. We stayed on finely ground food for a while, as she would still gag and puke that up. Xander took after Cairo, though, to more of an extreme. So, when Jonah came along I expected much the same. What a difference! Jonah likes chunky food, is already going though the chewing motion, and is eating food that is as chunky than Cairo did at 10 months and Xander did at a year... and boy does he like his food. He all but attacks the spoon eat time it comes near his mouth, then hums as he happily eats it.

Jonah, though pretty laid back, is a bit of a grump. Every time my sister holds him he starts to cry. Much like I was when I was a baby, he is very particular about who gets to hold him and would rather have mommy and daddy than anyone else.

Cairo and Jonah playing on their soft, fluffy pillows Grammy got them from Disneyland. Cairo's is an elephant and Jonah has a panda bear (that kind of resembles him).
Jonah loves to cuddle and make out with the pillow. In fact, he just loves to cuddle and suck on fabric in general.

Of course, if Jonah is going to make out with his pillow, Cairo and to do it too... and better. "Anything you can do, I can do better. I can do anything better than you!" -A song from Annie Get Your Gun

A Humboldt Thanksgiving

This year I got a whole week off for Thanksgiving. So, we packed the kids up and headed north. During the week Erik and I got a much needed break from the hectic day to day schedule we normally have and the kids not only had their mommy and daddy all to themselves for a few days, but they also got to visit and play with family and friends. Each day was a good combination of relaxation and activities.

For Thanksgiving dinner we went down to Ferndale and gathered around Grandma and Grandpa Tipple's table... except for the kids. For once, I wasn't at the kid table! :o) Before dinner Cairo, Mei, and Cousins Carrie and Cynthia played and used up some of their always present energy.

Cairo on G & G Tipple's bridge-
Playing ball in the front yard-

The kid table, complete with special cups from the San Fransisco zoo (thanks Aunt Helen!). What a feast-

Dessert- Yum!


While we were in Ferndale, we headed up to the Ferndale cemetery where Grandma and Grandpa Dedini's ashes were put to rest. The cemetery is a beautiful and rustic cemetery on a hill that over looks Ferndale.


The pictures on the headstone are bees (a reminder of Grandpa Dedini) and hydrangeas (a favorite flower of Grandma Dedini)-



During out stay we also met up with some good friends and had a few play dates. Here is Auntie Katie with Cairo, our friends Steve and Trinity's daughter Deja, and Miss Lili B.

Multi-tasking!

Taking care of two jobs at once- cleaning the babies while doing dishes! Now, if we can only train them to clean the dishes....

Halloween!

For Halloween, Erik and Cairo carved one of the two pumpkins we grew this year. Cairo helped daddy gut the pumpkin and told me that she has to get dirty 'cause she's a kid.

After carving the pumpkin, we took Cairo trick-or-treating down Myrtle Ave, here in Monrovia, and called it a day. Though Cairo wasn't able to eat the candy, she had a lot of fun smelling it. She kept taking the candy out of her bucket, smelling it, putting it back, grabbing another, and doing it again. I am not sure that she realized what it was and that it tastes so yummy. Good thing for us!
The pumpkin we didn't carve-
Sienna watching the pumpkin carving-
Guinness and Sienna itching to join Erik and Cairo on the lawn-

Hmmm, looks kinda like Jonah (minus the tooth)-

Grammy curling the little princess's hair-
Princess Cairo-
Jonah was supposed to be a frog. With all the germs and the flu out there, we decided that Jonah would spend the day at home. Grammy took him on one small field trip, though, to Meme Debbie's house, where he begrudgingly donned his frog costume for a photo op.

Movin'

Jonah is on the move! We can't leave him alone on a blanket anymore. If we leave the room for even two seconds, he makes his move. He rolls as fast as he can (and he's getting faster) until he hits some type of barrier, like a chair. He can roll both ways now, so their are endless options. When he stops rolling, he stuff anything he can get his hands onto into his mouth. Last night he was making out with the corner of the chair until I moved him. Though this video doesn't show his rolling skills, it does give a picture of where he's off to.

Jonah is also working REALLY hard on sitting up like a big boy. He likes the sitting position. His core is getting stronger and it won't be too much longer before he can hold himself in the sitting position all on his own.

When Cairo and Xander are bust yelling and screaming and having fun, Jonah doesn't want to be left out. He's been working on his screech quite a bit lately. When he is next to you and decides to scream he really gets your ear drums vibrating.

Jonah is also moving up with his food. Lately, he as had been really interested in our food and intently watching us eat. A few days ago I decided that it was time to introduce him to solids. For the first two days he got rice cereal and gobbled it down. Next, I introduced him to apples. He really gobbled that down. It takes a few bites to get started, but Jonah eats like a champ and spits very little out. He turns his little motor on and hums "mmmm" while eating each bite. Jonah is doing a much better job than Cairo of figuring out solids.


For the past several weeks Jonah has been waking us up in the night to eat and play. It has now become a habit... a habit I want to break. For the last two nights I've let him squawk in his crib. He doesn't really cry in the night to be picked up; rather, it's as if he is saying:

"Hey, hey you mom! Come and get me.

Now Mom!

Come on, I want you!

Here I am, still waiting!

Dare you make me wait! This is unacceptable!

Moooooooommmmmmmmmmmyyyyyyyyyyy!"

The first night he did this at 4:00 for about 25 minutes and then fell asleep. Unlucky for us, our fears and reason for putting this off were realized when Cairo woke up and wanted to play. We convinced her to go back to sleep in our bed and, even luckier for me, she fell asleep on my head. That was comfortable. This past night, Jonah woke up at 5:30 (and woke Cairo up again), squawked for a few minutes and fell asleep again before I have a chance to pick him up. We will see what tomorrow brings.... hopefully this solid food will work its magic and hold him off through the night.

Yucky Hives!

For some reason Cairo came out with hives all over her body yesterday. Today is Halloween and she sure does look scary because the hives are still here. I called the doctor and she is having us give Cairo some Benadryl, but the splotches are still there. We aren't sure what is triggering it, but it may be an allergy to lemon grass? That is the best guess we have right now. The doctor said that we may never know what caused it. Anyway, instead of having a princess for Halloween, it appears we are going to have a scary princess. BEWARE! Mua-ha-ha-ha-ha!

It is hard to see the hives in these pictures, but they got worse as time went on.



Update: It appears that Cairo is allergic to milk.