Visitors and Rubix turns 4 months!

Axel took another few days of chess camp last week. Here he is with Chess Master D.

Axel earned chess pieces as a prize for memorizing poems about chess that chess master D wrote. Axel is still a snake, but has decided he wants to become a Lizard or even Gator next year because his friend Kedar is working towards becoming a Monster. which is just under a chess master.

On Tuesday Grandma Sonia and Grandpa Bruce arrived. We were able to spend the afternoon together and enjoy Taco Tuesday at Casa de Szolusha for dinner. On Thursday, after they spent Wednesday in Sacramento we enjoyed the day watching Axel and Phoenix have swim lessons and then by going to the Tech Museum. Phoenix loved the dance floor that responded to touch and movement by changing shapes and colors. 

Axel and Grandpa loved the space exploration section of the museum.

 You can see how excited Grandpa was to be in this small capsule. The kids were not nearly as excited as Grandpa was. Grandma Sonia says that Grandpa would go to Mars if he was given the opportunity.....

 The Tech Museum had great exhibits that the kids and adults were able to participate in. The museum wasn't nearly as big as I thought, but definitely a good couple of hours of fun.

I think we will try to go back again next year!

On Friday morning we headed to Happy Hollow. We haven't been there for a long time. I can't remember if the last time was before Phoenix was born or when she was an infant, but it has been atleast 3 years. They added some fun new play equipment. Here is a tight rope that Axel really enjoyed for the first time.

The Merry Go Round is always a kid favorite. Here is my conservative Axel with Grandma. I was proud of him for going on since he isn't usually one for going in circles. Luckily, Grandpa went with Phoenix. All of the pictures of them were blurry, but Phoenix picked out a princess horse she said and enjoyed riding it.

 The kids played a long time in the big jungle gym area and then rode a couple of the rides. Here is Phoenix on the car ride. After a fun filled morning we spent the afternoon at home.

Besides, it was Rubix's 4 month old day so I needed to get pictures. Here is the not so little guy.

 He loves to stand, just like Axel use to love to stand.

I tried to get him sitting, but as you can see he was falling over. He appears to be in the process of dropping one of his feedings at night. He has gone two nights with only waking once. He is also falling more into a schedule with 3 naps a day for most days and an occassional 4th nap of the day. He is starting to put himself to sleep in the middle of the night. He talks for about 5 to 10 minutes after he eats and then falls asleep. This is the only time he can do this, otherwise he still needs to be walked for a minute or two or needs the binkie.  He is also going to sleep much more easily at night. the first night that he did this was Saturday night when everyone was over. I was able to put him to sleep and join everyone in the park across the street. It was such a treat for me to not have to spend hours getting him to sleep. His wake cycles are usually 1.5 to 2 hours now. He is getting much stronger and can almost sit in his high chair unsupported. 

He is loving the exersaucer. You can see here he is leaning forward, but today, Wednesday, over a week later he stands bearing weight and moves himself up and down and back and forth. Axel thinks he looks like a bobble head because his movements are still a bit jerky, but it is amazing at how quickly he is gaining strength and coordination. 

Here is a random picture I took on Friday that I thought was too cute to not include. Oh, how I love my boys!

On Saturday Axel had another swim meet. Daddy worked the entire 6 hours as head timer and announcer. Axel dropped about 5 seconds on his back stroke and free style. Grandma and Grandpa enjoyed watching him swim, just as much as I did.

 Saturday after the swim meet we had Grandma and Grandpa and the Jolleys over for dinner.

After dinner everyone enjoyed popsicles and playing in the park. The kids came in for bath time and books.

 We then had to say our goodbyes to Grandma and Grandpa as well as the Jolleys. We were glad that we were able to have such a great evening before Grandma and Grandpa had to fly back to the Midwest.

Grandma Susan made Louis a collar. He finally tried it on Friday night. What a handsome fellow he is!

Rubix had his 4 month check up on Monday. He weighs a whopping 15 pounds 7 ounces, which puts him at the 47th percentile. He is 26.5 inches and has a head circumference of 17 inches, which are both the 89th percentile.

I got down the music and activity table this past Monday. All of the kids have been enjoying it!

 Axel continues to take swim lessons. Yesterday he started breast stroke. He is going to race it for the first time this weekend. Here is a cute picture of Phoenix as we watched Axel's swim lessons.

I started back to work yesterday. I prepared myself for the worse because the transition has never been easy. Kaiser did not let me down. To make a long story short I did not have access to any of our systems which makes seeing patients quite tricky. Luckily, I got access today 15 minutes before I had to leave and was able to cut and paste all of my charts from my email into the charting system.

Rubix did great because he is at home with Annika and the kids. Axel is enjoying Bible study camp this week. The theme this year is Walk this Way. He learned today that it is not about what we do, but about how God uses us for his works and purpose. Amen to that!