Funny Millie things...

I was telling my friend, Dawn, the other day that I wish I had a recorder on my during the day so that I record all of the funny things that come out of Millie. Her most poignant moments are usually while she's going poop. She wants privacy, so the door is closed, but still cracked open a little bit so that she can see me, and she just says the absolute most hysterical things. Usually the conversation goes something like this..."Mom?" "Yes, Millie" "This poo poo REALLY wants to come out! It says Millie I just want to come out of you RIGHT now!" "Great job, honey. Get it out then" {a few seconds later} .... "LOOK MOM!!!!! A "bat" poop!!!" {meaning that the shape of the poop is in the shape of a bat.

She's also trying out these new phrases that she hears. So this afternoon we were sitting on the sofa doing a connect the dots and she picked the page she wanted to do and then said "Be my guest!" before she started.

We thought that we would try to watch some of the classic kids Christmas shows this year with her. So we Tivo'd Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and watched it the other night. Well, I haven't seen it in over twenty some years, so I had completely forgot about the Abominal Snowman in it. Needless to say, Millie said she NEVER wanted to watch that again, ended in tears b/c the monster was too scary, and couldn't sleep that night until she came into our bed with us! She said she didn't want to watch it again until she was ten. Days later she is finally over it (sort of). We also had to put How the Grinch Stole Christmas book up back in the attic b/c it's also too scary.
What she DID get out of the Rudolph show was the whole Santa's reindeer thing and now this is all the new imaginative character play: she's dasher, I'm dancer, and Blaise is Rudolph! Poor Blaise...he's always the small, sad, picked on character(Rudolph, Percy, Dopey, etc.)!

On a side note...Millie has continued to amaze us with her memory and intelligence. She was able to hand write her OWN Christmas list: PAINTS, BOOKS, TOYS (of course with my help spelling), and can count to ten in Spanish. She also continues to be fascinated by "real" adult-like chapter books of hers: Wind in the Willows, Winnie the Pooh", etc. and will be content flipping through the pages just looking at the typed text and intermittent pictures for hours on end. She carries them in her backpack and like to take them places with her.

K

Millie in her BIG girl new coat

We went to Playhouse Disney LIVE the Sunday after Thanksgiving and had a fun afternoon. We saw Little Einsteins, Winnie the Pooh & Tigger, Handy Manny, & of course the highlights - Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, & Donald. Millie received this new coat from my Mom. She found it while shopping with my grandmother in Pittsburgh and they just had to get it for her. She wore it to the show and I thought she looked so grown up in it that I had to snap a quick picture of her in it.

K

Blaise Turned One on Sept. 6th!!

Under the category of better late than never....

We had a big blow out party for Blaise's first birthday. About 30 of our friends, kids, and my parents joined us in our backyard for a great time. We rented a big moonbounce for the kids and it was warm so we had waterslides, and pools set up for swimming. Everyone brought a little something so we had a big spread of great food, sloppy joes sandwiches, and a Curious George birthday cake. Oh, and of course, a pinata filled with candy for the kids (a highlight of the party). Blaise had a great time taking it all in and loved going in the moonbounce. He had his own smash cake and as you can see from the pics, LOVED it.

Kate

Halloween 2007

Millie was Thomas the Train this year and Blaise was a monkey. Blaise had just learned to walk about a week before Halloween so it was perfect...he had the whole Frankenstein walk down perfectly for the holiday. Millie was SO in to trick or treating this year and wanted to go to THIRTY houses (and they did!). She got a whole loot of candy, and spent the next two weeks, counting it, playing with it, sleeping with it, etc. She did eat some of if but really only wanted her one piece after dinner.

Seven Months Later....

Here we are 7 months later and the kids have grown so much. Scrolling back through the pictures I have posted I can't believe the change in them. Wow.

The first picture is a typical breakfast ala Blaise. He now eats us out of house and home, but is very, very picky (NO vegetables and very few fruits!!), and wants to self feed with utensils and bowls, so he's just a mess from head to toe after every meal. But he's so cute and smiley that it's hard to be frustrated.

Millie is in preschool M,W,F ams and is loving it. Here she is with Nana & PapPap after her schools Thanksgiving feast. The kids were dressed as pilgrims and had a Thanksgiving-ish meal at school. My parents were very excited to take part in it, as was Blaise who got to wear the pilgrim hat at the end of the program so he could be like the "big kids".

I have SO many pictures to post (Blaise's first birthday, Halloween, etc.). I'll try to catch up over the next few days were more posts.

K

Found my Tongue (from March 07)

Found this pic of Blaise that Andy took of Blaise in his excersaucer in March. He had just found his tongue at this point and loved to stick it out and blow raspberries with it.

K

The most recent pics

This is Millie making her Mother's Day cards for Nana, G.G. Howard, & Ita. Blaise smiling in his high chair covered in cereal.

K

Splish Splash We Were Takin' a Bath!

Here are Millie and Blaise in their first bath together. This was taken right before we left Beaufort. Blaise wasn't able to sit on his own yet, though, so other than a few quick snapshots, the together-bath wasn't all that great. Blaise had so outgrown his bath tub, though, that we thought we'd try him in the big tub, but instead we wound up buying him a new "Primo Baby" bath here and he loves that. It's like his own mini-jacquzzi. I'll get a pic of him in it and post it soon.

So 3 months later and we are back in Norfolk. I've been terrible about the blog but will once again try to get it going. To update everyone on the kids:

Blaise is creeping all over the house! Not sure if he's ever going to crawl on hands and knees officially. He's a fast creeper and loves to explore from room to room. He continues to grow and is wearing 18-24 month clothing consistently. He loves to be tickled, and laughs out loud. He is so social: smiles at anyone and everyone, loves: crowds, parties, activity. He loves to pull Millie's hair, eat her Eepy (blanket), and chew her books (much to the chagrin of Millie).

Millie turned 3 on May 2nd. At her request, we had a small Nemo-themed birthday party for her at our house with Andy, Blaise, my parents, and me. She loves animals -particulary puppies & bunnies, loves: Nemo, Winnie the Pooh, Thomas the Train and anything Baby Einstein. She can indentify classical music by the composer: "that's from Baby Bop!" (Bach) She still loves books but now loves imaginative play ("Mommy - you be Mother Bambi and I'll be Bambi"), watching her videos, & Curious George cartoons. We are potty training now and she has turned a huge corner with this and is finally ready. Like all of her milestones to date - she doesn them when she's ready.

Yesterday was Mother's Day and I was spoiled! I got to sleep in, made a big brunch complete with Dunkin' Doughnuts, and got lots of homemade cards and presents. We had a good day just the four of us. Made me reflect on my belief that all kids really need in life is quality time with their parents, to feel loved, and nurtured.

"The time and the quality of the time that their parents devote to them indicate to children the degree to which they are valued by their parents." M. Scott Peck

More Pics from Katy and Paul's Visit

Here are the rest of the pics from our great visit with Katy and Paul!
K

I'm back!!

Oops!! I haven't been blogging in a while, I apologize. We have been so, so busy with visitors and fun stuff that I haven't had a chance to sit down and write about it. Today, we are having a rainy old afternoon, so I thought I'd catch you up on what we've been doing.

Last I wrote, my cousins Katy and Paul were coming to visit us. We had a GREAT time with them and the kids just loved them. Millie wasn't too sure about Paul at first, but by the end of the weekend she was saying "I don't want Katy and Paul to leave"! Friday night, Andy babysat the kids and I was able to go out to dinner with Kate, Paul, and my parents and then Saturday Katy and I took the kids to a great new park that opened up downtown along the Beaufort River, while the other's went golfing. Saturday night, we took Kate and Paul to our favorite Beaufort restaurant, Saltus, while Nana and Pap Pap babysat.

Here are some pics from the visit.

K

An Afternoon at the "Beach"

Yesterday we finally had a nice sunny day so we decided to take advantage of it and after Andy came home from work, we all headed over to the Port Royal "beach". It's technically not a true beach in that it's along the Beaufort River, but it has sand, water, & shells so we call it the beach and Millie loves it because there are no waves. It was 5:30 pm in these pictures and about mid-60's with a nice breeze.

The kids were sick again for the past week. Just as they were both getting better, Millie got another bug and then quickly passed it to Blaise. They both still have that lingering croupy cough, but at least they are both sleeping better. One night, we had both awake at 4:30 am crying because they were so stuffy and congested. I had Blaise rocking him in our room, while Andy took Millie into the TV room and fell asleep with her on the sofa. He almost slept through work! He jumped up at 7:30 am and put Millie in the bed with me and had to be at work by 8:00am - oops.

Blaise slept through the night last night (at least as close as he's ever come)! He slept from 9:45 pm until 5:30 am. I pray that this pattern continues, this I could handle. We have also added some mashed banana to his cereal and he seems to love it, eating two big bowls full at a time. He is growing like crazy and is pretty much consistently wearing 9-12 month clothing (he was 5 months old on Tues). He's truly a happy guy and so smiley and content. He loves to watch Millie and just follows her every move when she's around.

Millie is amazing us everyday with something. Her sense of humor is forming and she loves to tell jokes and hear knock knock jokes. She also loves to repeat phrases that she's heard and use them in what she thinks is the appropriate context. For example, the other day she was walking along the "beach" with my parents and she stepped into the deeper water and got her shoes wet. She looked down and said "Oh...that's terrible!" (I think she picked that up from my dad because he says that a lot). My parents cracked up because it was so darn funny and so now she says "that's terrible" all the time and thinks it's so funny. She is getting very good with the concept of numbers and adding and subtracting. We practice by adding up her Nemo figurines and then subtracting them and asking her how many are left. She seems to "get" it.

Today we went into the Psychiatry clinic to visit Andy at work and we all went to lunch. We went for Mexican and Millie discovered that she loves Enchiladas! Well...she is one quarter Mexican :-) She was calling them "salsaladas".

Tommorow my cousin, Katy, and her new husband, Paul, are coming to visit us. They will stay with my parents at their house. We are looking forward to their stay and spending time with them. They'll get to meet Blaise for the first time.

K

A Busy, Busy Week

Hello! Sorry that I have not posted in awhile. Nana & Pap Pap (my parents) arrived on Sunday morning and we have had a fun, but very busy week with them. Millie is loving having them here and is just now getting that they are visiting us, but not staying with us. We have been to "kitty cat" park (twice), Friendly's for ice cream (twice), swimming at the Y, the Charleston Aquarium, shopping at Wal-mart, a birthday party at Chik-Fil-A (Milllie's first school-friend b-day party!), and preschool on Wednesday and today. Whew! No wonder we are all tired tonight.

Blaise is feeling better and his cough and nasal congestion are just about gone now. After months of very little sleep, we really didn't know what else to do to get him to sleep. We had let him "cry it out" a few times and he would eventually fall asleep, but only stay asleep for a short time and waken again. Something wasn't right, he wanted to nurse all the time but would fall asleep eating only to awaken an hour or so later. So, I called our pediatrician back in VA because the ped here thought it was just a "bad habit". She said "sounds like he's not getting enough to eat, are you sure he's getting enough milk from you?" Well, that night we tested her theory. When Blaise woke up the first time (about 2 1/2 hours after he went down) instead of nursing him, Andy gave him a bottle. He drained a good 4 1/2 ounces in about 5 mins and wanted more!! He took another 1 1/2 ounces and then fell asleep for five hours! Poor baby hasn't been sleeping because he has been so hungry. When he would fall asleep nursing I would assume he was done and but him back in his bassinet, but now I stimulate him while he's eating and then burp him, change his diaper and then feed him again so that he is getting enough milk to last him longer. His has really worked wonders and he sleep so much better last night. The ped also suggested that we start him on rice cereal since he has already tripled his birth weight and is grabbing at my sandwich as I try to eat around him. So this afternoon I went out and bought a box of rice cereal. I gave him his first bowl for lunch and he downed it, smiling. For dinner, Andy fed him and after two bowls I finally had to say, "OK, that's enough!" Looks like we have a great eater on our hands - yahoo!!

Millie was invited to her first "school friend" birthday party this week! Her little friend, Will, turned 3 on Wednesday and he had a party at the local Chick-Fil-A restaurant Wednesday night. The restaurant had one of those big indoor playgrounds so after the kids ate their dinners and Will opened his gifts they were all able to run around together and play. Then they had cake and ice cream and got goodie bags to go home with! Millie had a GREAT time!! She did so well. She wore her party hat, ate her dinner, played with the kids, and kept telling me "this is fun!"

Tomorrow I will try to post more and tell all about the trip to the Aquarium.

K

The end of swim lessons!

Last night was Millie's last swim lesson! She definitely won the "most improved" award. She learned how to kick while on her tummy and back, float on her back, go underwater, blow bubbles in the water, and jump in from the side of the pool. She loved them and said her favorite part was jumping in the water (see pic below). Shana, her instructor, was a great teacher and Millie will miss her. We definitely have a water bug on our hands and will be spending lots of time at the pool for the next few months. Pretty soon we'll have to get Blaise there as well.

Blaise is still fighting his cold. He has a runny nose, cough, and laryngitis, so when he coos or cries, it is with a hoarsy voice. He had a rough early morning today - not sure if it was from his cold or his reflux (or both). He seemed to be in pain and just couldn't sleep.
Poor baby.



I told Millie's preschool that her last day would be February 23rd. They will be very sad to see her go. She is just excelling there and I am so thankful that we found that school. She loves her teachers, Ms Ann and Ms Teresa. When I picked her up from school today, Ms Ann had the hiccups and she joked with Millie: "Millie will you take my hiccups home with you?" Millie didn't say a word, but looked up at her and started to pretend to hiccup! Today at school they made pinecone birdfeeders. We will hang Millie's on a tree at Nana & Pap Pap's rental house.

We are so glad that some of our friends and family have looked at the blog and have left us comments. Leave us a comment if you are here - we'd love to hear from you!
K

We're feeling better today!

After four days of two sick kids, we are all starting to feel better today! Millie's cold progressed to a bad runny nose and croupy cough and then she passed it to Blaise and me. His first cold, poor little guy. He's faring well though, and is in good spirits today despite a runny nose. I have only had the sore throat, so I'm not sure if that's all I'll get yet.

We ventured to the library today because Millie wanted to get some Curious George books. When we got there they were all checked out! Luckily, I found one misshelved, and she was very happy that we at least found one! Her love of books is genuine (which makes Andy and I so happy!) and immediately upon coming home from the library she ploped herself on the sofa, still in her jacket, and started reading all of the books we checked out. She is still a huge Finding Nemo and Cars fan, but we are slowly adding in other things again like, Curious George. She is also learning independent imaginative play, which I attribute to her going to preschool, where she doesn't have Mommy or Daddy to play with her. I certainly will miss her preschool when we leave Beaufort and have to start working on getting her into a preschool in Norfolk.

Speaking of leaving Beaufort, we found out this week that Ann (the woman that Andy is replacing here in SC) will be back in the U.S. on February 6th! She will take two weeks of leave and then will return to work. So, they have told Andy that he should be done here by latest, March 1st. This is great news because our apt. lease ends Feb. 25th and instead of extending it, we decided that the kids and I would go back to VA on the 25th. So even if Andy can't come home with us, he'll only be here by himself for a few days. My parents will be here visiting for the month of February and they will help me move back to VA on the 25th.

I had an appt. for Blaise to have some portraits taken on Wednesday, but had to cancel the appt. since we were all sick. I will try to reschedule it for next week. I want to get a 4 month picture of him since he can push himself up while lying on his tummy. I owe grandparents pictures of him, and a more recent shot of Millie, and will work on that when we get back home. Here is a pic of Blaise being read to by Andy. We are try to read to him as much as we did to Millie at a young age. His favorite is his truck book.

K

It was a PJ day today

Millie woke up the am with a bad runny nose and cough so we decided to make it a PJ day and stay in our pajamas all day. It was chilly and rainy here anyways, so it was a good day for it. Millie is very much in to nicknames these days. She basically puts a "ey" on the end of a name and that is the nickname. So Blaise is "Blaisey", Curious George is "Georgey", her Tow Mater truck is "Matey" (see pic above). I asked her what Daddy's nickname is and she said "Andy" and Mommy's nickname is "Kate". I said what is your nickname and she said "Mil Mil". Too funny.

Blaise has found his voice!! He has discovered squealing and it's hysterical. He squeals all of the time and just thinks it's the most fun thing ever. He is SO close to rolling over from his tummy to his back. He just can't get all the way over just yet. He was half way there this am and I was cheering him on, "come on baby Blaise, you can do it". Millie wanted to help out so she reached down and pushed him over - what are big sisters for? Blaise also found his thumb today! Not sure if this will be a new thing or a one time thing. He still loves his paci as well. Here is a pic of Blaise getting tummy time this am.

K

Pizza Girl

Last weekend, we decided to make homemade pizza. I had a recipe and we thought we would try it for something different. So I kneaded out the dough and made some sauce and then Millie spread the sauce and added the toppings. We then baked it and ate it for dinner! "It was DE-licious!" according to Millie. It actually wasn't too bad!

Today at Millie's preschool they had a "Muffins and Moms" day. I dropped Millie off at her normal time, 9:00am, and then went back to the school around 11:15am. Her class had made blueberry muffins for us! We all went into the auditorium and her class sang the mom's two songs and then we ate the muffins. It was really cute. Millie, was brave and didn't cry, (but didn't sing or dance either - nor did most of her class!) She was so proud of herself and so was I!
I had brought my camera but wound up leaving it in the classroom so I didn't get a picture of it - darn.

This afternoon when I put Blaise in his bassinet, he lifted his whole chest and head up off the mattress and just looked right up at me like..."Mom, I want to keep playing!" I couldn't believe it. I shut the door but kept it cracked enough so that I could see him and he kept looking out at me. It was so funny! After a few moments, though, he put his head down and went to sleep. His night sleeping continues to be very erratic - up at least 7 times last night.

We are looking forward to a quiet weekend here in Beaufort. Andy is on call so we will lay low.

K

Swim Lesson Update

Today I got to take Millie to her swim lesson at the YMCA. It was her 6th lesson and one of the other Mom's remarked today that Millie has gone from "Frightened to fearless" in six short lessons. She now jumps off the side of the pool, by herself, goes underwater, and then attempts to swim to the side. If I try to support her, she reprimands me "Mimi self!" Shana, the instructor, is a 9th grader on the swim team and she is very sweet with the kids. There are only 3 other kids in the class: Sammy, Rachael, and Millie. She did great today and it was so fun to see her progress. The only bummer was that there was no hot water in the locker room after the lesson so we were CO-LD!

Blaise had a rough day for some reason today. Wasn't his normal smiley self much and didn't sleep well today. Andy put him to sleep around 6 pm tonight and he has already woken up to eat - not a good sign. He got a hooded towel as a gift from Mrs. Paul (one of my mom's friends) that has a prince crown across his head. We took a pic of him with it the other night. He's our little prince.

K

Millie and Blaise in the Bob

We treated ourselves to a good double jogging stroller and bought the Bob Revolution Duallie. We love it and call it the "Cadillac". Here are Millie and Blaise in the stroller. Millie would rather ride in it than walk, if you can believe it. Blaise just likes to chew on the straps.

K

Welcome to the Van Slyke Family Blog!

I am trying to figure out this whole blog business. Thought it would be a good idea to start a family blog to keep our extended families up to date on what we are up to. The kids are growing so quickly and this will be a good place to write down all of the milestones they hit and remember the funny things they do and say. Also, I can post pictures of the kids here. I will try to figure more out and add some more fun stuff so that my blog is not so empty and boring!
K