Way to Go, Dave!

Prior to October, the longest race Dave had ever run was a 5K. But yesterday, he completed his 2nd 1/2 marathon within the past 5 1/2 months. He's got the running bug! The race was in DC, which I think is so cool. He ran around the tidal basin and past all of the beautiful, famous monuments. He beat his previous time by 5 minutes, so he was happy about that. I'm just impressed he did it at all since all of the training for this was done during the months of January and February -- in the FREEZING cold (which is why I sat this one out!) And don't you love his race number? He took the first three letters of all of our names and put it on his number. I didn't know he had done that until race day. Go Dave!

Our Lucky Charm

Our little Tan-man turned 9 months on St. Patrick's Day. I can't believe he is already 3/4 through his infancy. It's going too fast! I took him to his 9-month appt. and he weighed in at 24# and was 29 3/4" in length. This put him in the 90th %ile for weight, almost the 95th for height and he was above the 95th (in other words "off the chart") for head circumference. So, Dave now refers to him as "our A+ baby." He's had his two bottom teeth for a while, but just cut his top two teeth. He's wearing size 12 month clothes and the same size diapers (5) as Lacey. He is a snuggler which I love, but still doesn't consistently sleep through the night, which I don't love. Happy 9 months, Tanner!

What the Heck?

I was at the store the other day with the kids and this girl (I'm guessing she was in her teens) came up to us, points at Tanner and then said, "Is that a girl?" She doesn't say anything before or after that question. I responded that he was a boy and she just walked away.

Now, I fully realize that most babies, including mine, look relatively gender neutral. It is therefore the parent's job to dress them in the appropriate attire, so that they then look like their respective gender. Tanner was wearing jeans and a blue and navy fleece. I came home and took a picture to prove my point. Am I not doing a good enough job dressing him like a boy? Does he not look like a BOY in this picture, taken about 30 minutes after the comment was made? And even if you weren't quite sure (since I guess maybe baby girls could wear navy and gray fleeces too), if you had to guess, wouldn't you at least GUESS it was a boy? What the heck?!

Our First Rally

We just got home from Washington DC attending our first rally. It was located in front of the White House. I have always had political opinions, but I have never been a part of a rally, I have never marched for a cause, I have never protested anything in a public manner. So, this was all very new to me and, I'll admit, definitely out of my comfort zone. Dave was a good sport for going with me. He believes in the reason for the rally (which I'll go into in a minute) 100%, but this was definitely my idea to actually be a part of the rally. The kids were good sports too considering it was a coldy, rainy, overcast day.

This is US Congressman Christopher Smith who is trying to help David Goldman bring his son home.

Tanner was the youngest member of the rally!

So, why did we rally? Well, in September I happened to be watching the Today show on NBC. A man by the name of David Goldman was on the show telling of his plight in trying to get his son back. He was very happily married to a woman who was originally from Brazil. They made a home for themselves in New Jersey and had a little boy who they named Sean. Like any parent can relate, the bond between he and his son was immediate, strong and thriving. When Sean was 4 1/2 years old, however, David's wife took him to Brazil. The plan was for David to go out a week later and then for the three of them to return to New Jersey a week later. Instead, his wife called him once she was in Brazil with their son and said that she wanted a divorce and wanted to keep Sean in Brazil. Well, to make a really long story short, David has been fighting to get his son back ever since that day in June 2004. To make matters even worse, his wife tragically died during childbirth (she met and married a Brazilian man), so the only living parent Sean has is his father. Even so, Brazil will not return Sean to the United States. I just took one look at my kids and thought if anyone ever took them, I would do everything in my power to get them back and I would want everyone who was willing and able to help me. So, I got on the website (www.bringseanhome.org) and I have been involved ever since!

Ouch!

Ever since Tanner started crawling the stairs a couple weeks ago, I have been paranoid about him falling down the stairs. It never occurred to me that I should be more worried about myself! On Tuesday night, I went to brush my teeth before going to bed, but the toothpaste wasn't there. This is due to the fact that Lacey's favorite past-time is removing the toothpaste from it's rightful place and then carrying it around, squeezing it out and depositing the tube at a location of her choice. So, I went running downstairs in my thick, well-worn socks and at the top stair, my foot just slipped out from under me and I went tumbling all the way down. It's all a blur, but on the way down, I just remember thinking "I hope this doesn't wake up the kids!" Then, when I reached the bottom, I remember thinking that every part of my body hurt. The thought process was something like this "My arm. My back. My arm. My tailbone. MY ARM!" Next thing I knew, Dave was there looking at me with a contorted face -- contorted due to the fact that I could tell his face was trying to decide whether it should express a look of concern or burst out laughing. I gave Dave a look to help him decide not to go with the latter. Anyway, I am doing much better now, but my arm is all yellow and bruised now and hurts whenever anything touches it. I just wish if I was going to walk around with an ugly as sin arm, I could at least brag about hurting it while doing something a lot cooler than falling down the stairs!

A Week of "Firsts"

Tanner was all over the place this week! There is a stair between our kitchen and family room and he has been able to go up this stair without a problem for weeks now. But he's never attempted the actual stairs -- the 13 daunting steps between our main floor and upstairs..... until last Sunday. Out of nowhere, he bee-lines it for the stairs and was at the top in about a minute. It's like he just decided he was going to do it and did it! That very night, he woke up in the middle of the night. I went to get him and there he was standing up in his crib waiting for me! And he's been standing up waiting for me every single time since! He's only 8 months old, but I feel like he's leaving that "baby" stage and it kind of makes me sad. But it's also fun to see him grow and develop. He has a sweet, observant little personality. But he's getting harder and harder to keep track of! (Apologies to my 6th grade teacher for ending that sentence in a preposition.)

Quote of the Day - by Dave

I've noticed that a lot of blogging mothers have all these random, crazy and funny quotes from their kids. Why is it that all my Quotes of the Day are from my husband??

Anyway, here goes:

After feeding, bathing, dressing, etc. the kids and finally getting them down for the night, we both collapsed on the couch tired from the day. Dave reaches for the remote.

K: No. We can't watch TV until we clean up this family room.

D: How about we play a game?

K: What kind of game?

D: Like Dancing with the Stars.

K: Dancing with the Stars?

D: Yeah. You dance around the room, cleaning up as you go, and I'll lie here on the couch and rate you.

K: (Just give him a look)

D: Or, if you prefer. We can play American Idol. You can sing as you clean and I'll sit here and talk in an English accent commenting on how good a job you're doing.


(For the record, we both cleaned up!)

Winter Wonderland

We woke up to snow this morning. LOTS of snow! It's so pretty, but so cold!

Despite the cold, Lacey was all about going outside. Her mother, however, lacked that same desire. We compromised and I let her play out on the screened in porch which had a dusting of snow and the "feel" of being outside. Lacey seemed content with this compromise, but Dave has since told me that I was a Bah Humbug mom for not letting her experience the "real" snow. I now feel a little guilty about that, but luckily she's down for a nap now, so I don't have to feel guilty enough to actually bundle us all up and venture outside in this freezing weather!

A Hair Rasing experience..... Last night, L was playing around with a blanket that resulted in some serious static cling! It was so funny!