Our little King and Queen

Last Sunday night our friends Tyler and Cynthia came over for a "baby house tour" and dinner. They are expecting twin girls in a few months after trying for 7+ years. They wanted to figure out what things they really need to get and what they can live without. They also wanted to take a look at car seats, strollers and baby carriers. Since Phoenix was in bed Axel was a great sport at helping Tyler figure out what baby carrier he liked better. Axel does exceed the weight limit but luckily neither carrier broke during the demonstration. 

This week has been really low key. I have been extremely lazy with taking pictures and having a great time just enjoying the kids. The weather has been so nice that we have been outside or at a park as much as we possibly can. 

When we were indoors this week Axel and Phoenix played king and queen. Here is a picture of the first day of playing king and queen in Axel's self built castle. 

Day two consisted of Axel dressing Phoenix in a cute tutu as well as the bow in her hair and other accessories pictured in these pictures. 

 The kids either get along great when Axel wants to share or one or both are crying as they both want to play with each others toys.

 Axel is quite amazing most of the time. He self regulates and often plays alone in his room if he wants to play with something that Phoenix will break or tear down. Or he is an amazing big brother and completely entertains her. He does a great job for the big age gap.

 Axel has continued to sleep through the night and has been eating like a champ. We have really increased his fruit and vegetable intake and I have stopped allowing him to eat dinners different than what I make Keith and I.

Phoenix is an incredible eater and has really helped the eating situation for Axel. Phoenix can't get enough fruits and vegetables and likes most foods. Her skin initially improved with taking out the eggs, soy, continuing to avoid nuts and tomatoes, but has recently started to flare again. The bummer thing is I don't know what it could possibly be and am not sure where to begin. I will eventually figure it out or she will eventually grow out of this by age 2 or 3, whatever comes first :)

Phoenix has slept through the night 4 nights in the past two weeks, but still gets up most nights to drink. I know that she likely doesn't need the calories, but can't seem to handle the extended crying, especially when it escalates at around the 20 or 30 minute mark. I wish someone could give me the magic remedy to get her to sleep through the night the quickest and the least painful way for her. Some say go cold turkey and ignore the crying no matter how long. Others talk about decreasing the quantity of milk or slowly diluting the milk with water until they become uninterested in getting up for the water. I have tried all at one point, but not for more than a few days. Any suggestions moms out there?

I leave you with Axel's new obsession....Mickey Mouse. Here is a drawing of the secret club house. There is a lot more detail that he explained to Keith, that I couldn't hear, while I was cleaning up the kitchen.

 Check back next week for a sneak peak of Axel's 5 year birthday photos and our first professional family photo! Just 2 more weeks until our little guy is 5 years old!

Sprinter or sinter....spring in winter or is it really summer in winter?

It has been unseasonably warm the past week or so. This weekend it felt down right hot in the direct sun with the temperatures cresting the high 70's. We have had a great time enjoying the beautiful weather, but at the same time I am so sad how bad our drought is. The stream behind our park is completely empty again! It was nice to see it partially start to fill up with the recent rain, but to have it empty 1 week later, is unbelievable to me! No rock throwing for us this winter!

We have been steadily busy with getting ready for Axel's birthday, getting ready for his 5 year photos, our first family photo, our dentist appointments and his 5 year wellness check. These are all of the events that are going to slowly tick away until we reach the end of the month and Axel's big day! As you can see from the picture below Axel continues to be full of personality. 

Since our last post he has been reading one book to us every night. He is getting better and better at sounding words out and he is starting to enjoy it more and more. He just finished drawing and writing a rhyme book today. I meant to snap a photo of it to post, but forgot. 

Axel had a dentist come to visit him at school on Friday. All of the kids received a new tooth brush, tooth paste, floss and a timer. Yes, a timer to make sure the kids are brushing the full 2 minutes that they are suppose to. I had no idea we are suppose to brush our teeth for 2 minutes at a time! Two minutes is sure a long time :)

Phoenix continues to amaze me with her fear less personality. She really does want to do everything Axel and other kids do. She is trying to go downstairs by herself without holding on.....scary for me.....I am a total wreck at the park!

She also tries to climb this wall and the ladder on the other side. She has the right concept, but not the caution and know how to keep her feet from slipping.

Besides climbing, jumping and running like the big kids she also wants to feed herself. Oh my! She is a mess. She wants to use a spoon by herself and often refuses to have help. She is extremely picky too. She eats very well, but wants a variety of foods. Her favorite foods are blueberries and black berries. She also loves lamb, beef and bread.....especially pancakes!

On Friday while Axel was at school Phoenix and I went on a Burley ride to the park.  Almost the entire time she wanted to swing. She had fun watching the other kids swing as well.

The only time I could get her off of the swing was when she saw this bike. She figured out how she could make it go. What a hoot!

I forgot to mention in the last post that Phoenix's 7th tooth broke through her gums on the 27th of February.

The really big news that has changed since the last post is Axel is sleeping through the night. He told me that he decided he wants to be a big boy and even if he wakes he won't bother daddy and I anymore. It has been 2 weeks straight! A pure miracle. Phoenix has slept through the night twice the past week as well. Those nights have been a bit rough on Keith and I because she is waking about 3 times during the night moaning and kind of crying. She puts herself back to sleep, but then I keep waiting for the crying to escalate or for her to wake again and need to drink. It is almost easier to feed her around midnight because then I know that I will get 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep! Once Phoenix is sleeping the entire 12 hours like Axel, Keith and I will have to learn how to sleep through the night again too!

I leave you with this video of Phoenix and Axel. Phoenix loves to play hide and seek in her closet and she absolutely loves Axel. She loves when he chases her and scares her. They are so much fun!

Sacramento visit and more

Last Wednesday night we headed to Grandma Susan's house. What should have been a smooth 2 hour ride that Phoenix and Axel would sleep on,  turned into a 3 hour ride. The accident that slowed us down caused havoc because instead of being at Grandma's with the kids asleep in bed both kids were up until 10:30am as Phoenix was sitting in her vomit for almost the last hour of the drive. And the easy transition into bed was even more difficult as I had to get Phoenix cleaned up and put Axel to bed and then somehow get Phoenix to bed without her getting sick again! I am still unsure if Phoenix had a virus or a reaction (again) to broccoli. I let her eat a very small amount off my plate before leaving. It is hard to believe that broccoli has caused vomiting for days the three times she has tried it. Moral of the story is no more broccoli for a minimum of 6 months! 

On Thursday we headed to Auntie's new house. We had planned on heading to the park and running errands, but Braylin and Phoenix traded off naps for 4 of the 6 hours we were at her house. Luckily, we managed to get to the park around 2:30 pm and the kids got some good play time in before sitting in 30 minutes of traffic on the way home to Grandma's house.

Phoenix absolutely loves the swings. She went from one swing back to the other for almost the entire hour and a half that we were at the park.

We were able to manage to get a picture of the cousins together. I am looking forward to when they are a little older and can really play together.

On Friday we headed to Fairy Tale Land because Axel decided that is where he wanted to spend his morning. It was no big surprise that Phoenix loved it too!

She couldn't wait to climb in and out of everything that she possibly could. She went up and down the slides and laughed at the animals she saw.

I was able to capture my annual picture of Axel against the giant ruler. I know that he has grown, but I just wish it was at the same rate at his buddies. He was only a couple of inches shorter than his friends, but now he is 4-6 inches shorter than most of his friends. Good thing is he is doing a better job of eating a variety of foods, which I think will help, or so I hope!

On Saturday we headed to Connor's birthday party at Pump It Up Junior. Axel was his shy normal self again, but after about 10 minutes of trying to hold both kids I handed Phoenix off to Axel R's mom and started taking Axel up and down the slides. Amazingly, after about 5 times he said he didn't need me anymore and he started playing with his friends. He only cried once because he was scared, but soon overcame his fear. I was very proud of him.

Phoenix on the other hand was ready to explore from the beginning. She wanted to do everything that the big kids were doing. Her lack of fear amazes me just as much as Axel's overly cautious personality. They couldn't be more different if they tried!

After an hour of playing the kids settled down to sing happy birthday to Connor and ate some pizza and had some cake.

Axel doesn't want to try restaurant food yet so I made sure to bring him his lunch. He says if the pizza was homemade he would try it. Ha! I have created a monster :)

 On Saturday night daddy took Axel to the Monster truck show in Oakland with Axel R and his dad. The boys had an awesome time. Daddy took the camera, but didn't take any photos :( Both Axel's are already talking about going back next year!

 

On Sunday we had a nice relaxing day of family time. I have been feeling under the weather for over a week, but just can't seem to fight off what is slowing me down or get the full blown cold. We will hopefully have a nice and relaxing weekend this weekend as I need a break!

Phoenix seems to be feeling better. She had stopped eating for a few days and her eczema became so bad it was almost weeping. Her cheeks became very red as well. We decided to follow the eczema diet for a few weeks to see how she responds. I am not sure if it is coincidence, but her skin looks remarkably better after 4 days on the diet. We eliminated soy, eggs, tomatoes, seeds and nuts from her diet. The book also suggests eliminating dairy, but we want to wait and see how she responds to this diet first. Her appetite has been very good the past couple of days and she is only waking once at night again. 

Axel's appetite has also improved over the past 5 days. He is sleeping really well and becoming more and more charming. It is so cool to see him maturing and developing his personality. He has become so much more cooperative over the past couple of months. I am amazed! We are currently working on two very important milestones to prepare him for kindergarten. The first one is practical and a must.....he must wipe his own butt! This is a very big deal to a child who is a little OCD like his mom. He doesn't want any stains on his underwear and thus fights the battle of practicing. He wants to be perfect now! The other milestone is reading. He is starting to read, but again he doesn't want to take the time to really learn the words because he wants to read all of his books now! I know he will learn both of these skills over the next 5 months before kindergarten starts, but I just find it amusing at how similar he is to his mommy and daddy!

Valentine's Day and more

Axel is the most thoughtful child. As I posted last week we pain stakingly made 56 pieces of soap for his classmates, teachers and neighbor friends. At Target, Axel found this cookie mold that he picked out to give to daddy. I said he could pick anything out. He knew that a giant heart cookie is exactly what dad would appreciate the most and he was 100% correct. It only took us two days to eat the whole thing!

 Phoenix and I headed over to Axel's school party on Friday. I think she almost had more fun that him. She climbed up on the chairs and tables and played with their play kitchen.

 Axel was glad to see us because he knew he would FINALLY be able to pass out his Valentine's.

 He was more excited to pass out his soap then to receive all of his Valentine goodies from his friends. It was a long process to have all 20 something kids individually pass out each Valentine to each child. It took almost an hour. If I was restless, I can't imagine how the kids felt patiently waiting for their turn.

After school we went to Rishaan's house to give him his Valentine. Unfortunately, he was still at school so Nishka and Phoenix said hello for a bit and then we headed back home for some play time. 

 This kids had a blast drawing and painting. Or should I say Axel had a blast drawing and Phoenix had just as much fun pretending to do everything that brother did.

 Most of the time Phoenix played on the chairs and with the back door. She is already trying to open the door. She is not quite strong enough to turn the lock and not quite tall enough to open the latch. I am sure she will have it figured out as soon as she is tall and strong enough!

On Saturday morning the kids played the drums as they often do. They both love music and making noise!

 On Sunday, Axel helped make homemade orange juice. Our friends have a huge tree and keep giving us 20 oranges at a time!

 Yesterday evening we went to a classmate's birthday party. Axel had trouble warming up. It took almost an hour for him to play with his classmates. It just so happened he warmed up once the other Axel arrived. We asked him what was wrong and he said that he didn't have any friends there until Axel showed up. Funny that he goes to school with them three times per week and doesn't believe he is friends with most of them except a few select boys.

We have enjoyed a nice restful day today. Axel has the week off school so after my very short two day work week we are heading to Sacramento to see Auntie's new house and visit with her on Thursday and then a visit with Grandma Susan on Friday before heading home for a super action packed Saturday. Axel has his buddy Connor's birthday party Saturday morning and then the Monster truck show on Saturday night! check back soon for more Szolusha fun!

Growing friendship and PHEENY WALKS!

Axel and Phoenix continue to grow closer in their friendship as brother and sister. Phoenix loves to feed herself and anyone else she can. She got creative in the picture below by feeding Axel his yogurt with her hands. She has been really into learning how to use a spoon, brush and toothbrush. Speaking of tooth brushes I forgot to mention that Phoenix had her left top front tooth come in on her birthday and then the right and left top incisors have also come in over the past few weeks and now Phoenix has 6 teeth!

 Phoenix has no fear and wants to tackle and do whatever big brother does. Here is her attempt to climb the twisty big ladder. Although she only made it on the first step she still had a blast!

 Axel has started to become more dare devilish himself. Watching other big kids he has started going down the slide head first. Phoenix quickly follows him but she goes feet first on her belly.

 Besides sharing food, Axel and Phoenix make music together, ride the push bike/indoor scooter together, play peek a boo, play in the tent with stuffed animals together, cook in their kitchen together and

 their favorite of all, play in the bath together!

 They especially love it when daddy joins them because daddy thinks of funny games like putting the foam animals all over their bodies.

 Keith and I love seeing the two of them enjoying each other. It is so much fun. You can see from the picture below how much Phoenix wants to be like her big brother.

 She continues to be a little dare devil herself. Here she has Axel's marker in her hand because she was pretending to draw on the dry erase board, but she was easily distracted by this small chair. She absolutely loves to climb, stand and jump on small chairs. It is awfully cute, but extremely nerve racking as Keith and I await the inevitable fall that will come one day as she rocks the chair back and forth too much and topples over on her face.

 The big news of the week is that Phoenix started walking! Friday February 7th after her nap and snack I set her down on the floor. When I looked up at her she decided to take a couple of steps. I quickly grabbed my phone and was able to capture her first trek across the kitchen. It was as if she decided she was finally ready and was so happy and excited about the event. She continued to walk the rest of the night and continues to practice her walking throughout the day.

 Because Phoenix has had 3 teeth coming in all at the same time she has been randomly self soothing her gums with a bottle nipple and occasionally a Binky. I love this picture and her love for dogs, stuffed or real :)

Auntie Shannon bought Phoenix some girlie accessories for her birthday. I decided to put this on Phoenix and show her in the mirror how cute she looked. She absolutely loves it. She takes it off and then tries to put the head band back on. Absolutely adorable :)

 

Axel continues to be a joy as he becomes even more articulate and self aware of his emotions and feelings. He decided he wanted to make his Valentine's for school. He remembered a project of making soap in his arts and crafts book. We headed to Michael's and purchased the necessary supplies and now we have 4 packs of 4 soaps for his teachers and 30 smaller heart soaps for all of his classmates and a few other friends. It took about 6 total hours, but Axel had fun every minute of it and wanted to make even more soap since we had some left over supplies. I suggested saving the supplies for another day :)

 On a side note we have been enjoying the rainy weather and play dates with friends. Next up is a Valentine's Day party at school on Friday, a birthday party on Sunday and then a week off of school where the kids and I plan on visiting Auntie in her new house and Grandma Susan. Another birthday party and a Monster truck show follow for a busy and action packed 10 days!

I finally have Phoenix's one year photos and all of them are in envelopes. I intended to address them and get them in the mail, but the rain made me change my mind. Now that we have a break in the rain I do hope to get them in the mail by Tuesday so keep your eye out for a photo in the mail!

Phoenix 1 year photos!

This week has been really low key. I haven't taken any photos because I have been working hard at living in each moment and really enjoying the kids. There have been a few instances where I really wish I had my camera or phone, but when I really think about it, it's really nice just being with them. 

Here are the photos that we had professionally done for Phoenix. I will be able to pick up the rest of the prints next Thursday. Hopefully I will have them mailed out by the end of next weekend, but you all know how that goes :)

She did really well. I wish our photographer was a bit better because he missed some really cute moments.

 All in all, I do like most of them!

 Enjoy!