It's a Boy-and It's Early!

Well surprise surprise surprise! I have a baby brother. Yeah yeah, I know I've had him for 36 weeks in theory, but he was all hidden in Mommy's tummy. Yesterday he pulled the ultimate stunt and decided to come and join us in the real world four weeks early. Mommy went into labor about 3:00 Saturday morning and Leighton Steven was born at 8:34 AM weighing 7 pounds, 5.75 ounces and is 20.25 inches long. (Yes, I know, a bit big for four weeks early...many people have questioned if the due date was off by four weeks...)

Mom and Leighton are both doing great. Daddy is also doing very well and is quite excited that there will be another boy in our house now. Me, well I'm just tickled pink with the little guy. He's pretty darn cute and I like to kiss him and watch his funny faces.

It's a lot quicker for me to post pictures on our flickr site, so please take a detour there for more pics of our newly expanded family.

From The Big Sister,

Taylor McKenna

Whirlwind Weekend

Late entry: Grandma Jan supplied this picture yesterday...it's me eating the yummy crab legs last weekend when we visited Papa Owie:



Daddy is a traveling man this weekend, so Mom and I spent lots of time with Papa Bob and Grandma Jan. When we left the house yesterday morning, I made sure I was well prepared for a day out and about, with my backpack and my purse.

Good thing I was prepared because Mom and Grandma drug me all over the metro area. We went to a consignment sale in Eagan where Mom bought oodles of clothes for my baby brother. I guess she's facing the reality that the little guy is going to be here before we know it and most of the clothes I wore would not be of the appropriate coloring for him. Grandma rode herd on me while Mom shopped and she said it made her very tired. Then we hit some garage sales, but came up empty. Next it was on to Target for some random Target-type stuff. After that I finally got a break from my car seat and hand-holding and cart-riding foolery when we went to Grandma and Papa's to play and have lunch. I had a nap there and when I woke up, it was out again to the fabric store for some projects Mom and Grandma have in the works. I had lots and lots and lots of fun running all over the store. Grandma said it made her tired. Again. Then it was back to Grandma and Papa's house for supper. I was tired from my busy day and had to go home to sleep it off right after dinner.



Today was another busy day with lots of grandparent time. We met Grandma and Papa at church, but Mom swiftly swept me off to the nursery. Last time she took me there I was all for it, but this time I pitched a bit of a fit. One of the nice nursery ladies held me and cuddled me when Mom left and I decided it was an alright thing. The nursery is cool because I can talk and giggle in there and nobody shushes me like they do in the sanctuary. After church we had lunch then I took a really good, long nap. After nap time we had to go to another fabric store since Mom and Grandma didn't find what they needed yesterday. This time they brought Papa along to ride herd on me. I heard them giggling while they watched Grandpa chase me around and put things (mainly candy) back on the shelves.

After shopping we went out to eat at my favorite restaurant-Red Lobster!!! Being the seafood aficionado that I am, I shard shrimp with Mommy. I also gobbled down the Lobster Fondue appetizer and even ate some broccoli. Yummy!

Grandma and I played outside a bit before it was time to go home. We found this neat pond by the restaurant with a little boat floating in it. That's us pointing to the boat for Mommy:



When we got home, somehow I was still hungry, so Mom got me some apples and milk. I spilled milk on my shirt and decided I should have a bib. For quality control purposes, I tried out one of the bibs that goes with an outfit Mom got for the baby. It worked quite well, but may be a bit small for me.




In other news not caught on camera, I did a great job potty training today. I used the toilet five times today! Four times at home and even one time at the restaurant. Mom let me wear a PullUp to dinner because I'm such a big girl. We're not sure what the next step is or even if there is a next step...perhaps today was a fluke...I guess we'll see what tomorrow brings.

TTFN,
Taylor "Big Girl" Oster

Checked Up and Checked Out.

Last week I went to the doctor for my Two Year Well Check. I'm all good according to my doctor. I weighed in at 32 pounds, 4 ounces and I'm 35.75 inches tall (that's 2 feet, 11.75 inches if you're wondering). I'm still hanging out up in the 95th percentile for weight and the 92nd for height. I make no apologies for the numbers-you all know the genetics I'm working with here.

My appointment was actually quite fun. I got to wear this fun dressy while I waited for the doctor to check me out:



And I got to have a sucker and sticker when it was all said and done. Mom and Dad were very impressed at how well I handled having blood drawn from my arm. Dad held me (which made Mom a little nervous since my old man doesn't handle needles and blood all that well himself) and I didn't even make a peep when the nurses stuck the needle in my arm to get the blood out. Easy peasy!

This weekend we went on a road trip down to Papa Owie's. Mom, Dad and I drove down yesterday and spent the day hanging out at his house. It was too rainy and yucky to play outside so we all got a little touch of the cooped up fever. But we went out to dinner at a cool restaurant and that was a nice break. I ordered the corn dogs with french fries, but I was MUCH more interested in Mom's crab legs. I may only be two, but I've got a very refined palate.

Today we headed further south to Cresco, Iowa to have a belated Easter celebration at my Greataunt Judy and Greatuncle David's house. The food was fantastic and a nod to tradition, I was told. (It was my first Noe Easter experience.) After dinner it was time for the kids to have an Easter egg hunt. There aren't many of us kids to participate-not like back when Mommy was a kid-but we still had a great time. Here we are: Meg, Nate, me and Madeline, all waiting to get started. (I'm told the hunt is usually held outdoors in Judy and Dave's fantastic backyard, but due to weather, we hunted in the basement.)



My Megan helped me find eggs after she had found hers. What a great cousin!

I'm not sure how much Madeline understood of what was going on, but she sure seemed to be enjoying herself. (That's her mommy, Angela holding her, and behind her is her Grandma Carolyn and Aunt Erin-they are my mom's cousin's wife, my mom's aunt and my mom's cousin, respectively.)

We were having so much fun that it was tough to leave. But my parents finally decided when I was two and a half hours past naptime and was having a lot of trouble standing on my own two feet that we'd better hit the road. I was asleep in the truck in no time, safely tucked in the back with my monkey, Nuk, Dopey ears pillow, milk and Husker blanket.

It was a busy weekend, but a fun one. I'm glad to be home and I'm off to get a good night's rest so I'm ready to play with all my friends at daycare tomorrow.

Later Gators,

Tater

My Birthday!

My birthday news and pics are here now for your enjoyment. It was a beautiful day and we were able to play and eat outside. This is always good at our house since there isn't really room for a lot of people inside.

Here I am playing with Lacy. She's my dad's cousin's wife. And the mother of Baby Aidan, my first cousin twice removed.

Here's dad playing with Nick, his cousin and Aidan's daddy. From the stories I've heard (that's right people, I hear it all!), Daddy and Nick used to be quite the wild pair. They're a little more tame now that they're dads. Their wild fun these days is contained to the month of March when they watch a lot of hockey together and to Thursday night golf league.

The weather was so beautiful that I had a hard time staying near my guests to entertain them. I was enticed many times by my slide.

After lunch I got to go inside to open Happy Birthday Presents. I got so many great gifts-thanks everybody!! The really cool part about opening gifts was that Grandma Trish got to join us via webcam. She and Papa Steve weren't able to make the road trip, but she said it was almost as good as being there when she watched me through the computer. It was fun to show her each of my gifts.




I got this fancy dressy from my Germaines. Isn't it just so fun!?!?




After presents it was time for Happy Birthday Cake.



And of course, what would a birthday party be without a monkey cake?!?!




I blew out my candles in one try. That's cuz I'm a two-year-old now. We can do cool stuff like that.

I'm off to do two-year-old stuff now. Like drink 2% milk and eat peanut butter.

TTFN,

Monk

As Promised...

In my effort to (continue to) catch up, I present to you news of Dad's birthday and Easter...

We went to Buca di Beppo for Daddy's birthday last weekend. The place was great! So engaging and so many things to see and so many places to run away to. I can't wait to go back but I'm remembering now that Mom had to take me to the truck for a time out because I was refusing to stay in my seat (an expectation that my parents-for some annoying reason-hold in high priority) so I'm not sure we'll go back there any time soon...or to any restaurant for that matter. But I digress, back to Dad's birthday.

The food was fabulous-I had Chopped Anitpasto Aalad, Chicken Carbonara, Prosciutto Stuffed Chicken Breast, Spicy Arrabbiata Pizza, and green beans. Buca serves family style which is great for a toddler that likes variety.

After dinner, the server brought Dad a piece of delicious birthday cake and a big ol' fancy candle and we all got to sing to him. I'm really good at singing "Happy Birthday".

And now, onto news of Easter...

The day before Easter, Mom, Dad and I decorated our Easter eggs. It was lots of fun.




On Easter morning I woke up to find out that the Easter bunny had been to my house! And do you know what he did?!?! He hid my Easter basket (which I like to call my "Egg Bag") and all my eggs all over the house. It was great fun finding them and now I like to watch the video that Mom taped of the event.

After the house hunt, we all got gussied up and went to church at St. Patrick's Catholic Church in IGH. After that it was off to lunch at the Germaine's house. Yum yum what a scrumptious meal! I was delighted again to find a variety of foods to choose from, many of which were to my liking.

When lunch was over we got to have ANOTHER egg hunt. This one was outside and I had tons of fun running all over looking for eggs. These eggs were special because they were filled with money and candy, two things of which I happen to be quite fond.




Grandma Jan tried to get me and the cousins to pose for a nice picture...we did our best...

That's the nitty gritty on Dad's birthday and Easter. This weekend was my birthday weekend. You know what that means, don't you? I'm two years old now!!! But it was a busy weekend and I'm kinda wrecked what with the sugar and excitement ups and downs I've had, so you'll have to excuse me if I don't give you all the news right now.

Stay tuned...

Monkey Girl

Welcome Back My Friend!

My good friend Spring came back! I'm so happy! I remember her, but I don't know if she remembers me...I've changed quite a bit...see for yourself:

April 2008

April 2009

Regardless of whether she remembers me, I'm happy to welcome her back and I'm ready to play play play outside and enjoy all she has to offer.

Delightedly Yours,

Monk

The Big Girl Ni-Night and Her Lonely Maiden Voyage

Ah, the Big Girl Ni-Night. Isn't she a beaut? Here I am helping Daddy put it together. As you can see, I chose a captain's bed. The beauty is the double duty it serves: not only can I sleep in it, but it has oodles of storage underneath.


Here I am all cozied in with all my safety features: blankets surrounding the perimeter, bed rail, and pillows covering the hardwood floor along the bottom. Oh and don't forget the three pacifiers, sippy cup of water, pillow and Birdman the bear.

And here she is...cold, empty and lonely. Me? I was in my crib sleeping soundly.

Not to fear, that was just Try #1 and Mom and Dad chalked up the cataclysmic failure to the fact that bedtime is around 7:30 and this bed wasn't fully functional until well after 8:00, meaning they missed the window of opportunity for me to fall asleep without a hitch.

Try #2 was fully successful, as have been all nights since. Another reason Mom and Dad are glad they got a captain's bed: it's so high off the ground that I would NEVER consider trying to get out of it. I value my life too much!

I'm off to find a ladder to climb into my bed now.

Hugs!

Taylor