Sour Grass, Climbing Fences, Riding bikes

I included this first picture for two reasons. One, to show the big height difference that continues between Rishaan and Axel and second to show how adamant the boys were that I don't take their photo. Can you see Axel yelling "no" and Rishaan's glare? Sooo funny!

 Axel continues to like to build and design things.

He talks about becoming an architect all of the time and frequently asks questions at what they design. He wants to design homes, play structures and entertainment facilities. Below you can see a theater that he designed for his dinosaurs. 

 On Thursday we went to Connor's bday party at Pump It Up again.

 Both kids had a blast. The lighting was really bad so the pictures I took didn't turn out very well.

 Here is the party crowd eating dinner. I was so proud that both kiddos ate pizza. Axel had two pieces and Phoenix ate one. They both wanted to earn birthday cake, which happened to be ice cream cake.

 With the week off school we were able to enjoy a lot more time together. The kids had a fun morning at Jack Fisher Park.

 You can see Axel being his charming self the entire time at the park. He is such a good brother when he wants to be.

 And Phoenix is having the time of her life following brother around and having brother play one on one with her.

I love these two to pieces!

 I thought I should include Louis for once. He is back to his old self at the pneumonia. He is such a wonderful dog. He puts up with days of very little attention, but knows that the days were are home more he gets plenty of walks and outdoor time.

 A neighbor told us about the millions of yellow flowers around are neighborhood. They are called sour grass and are edible. They taste like lemons, so Keith and the kids had quite the snack eating flower after flower.

 Phoenix kept saying more!

 Today Axel decided he wanted to climb the fence. I was so proud of this very boyish, child like act. He doesn't often do things like this.

 He climbed back down instead of climbing over, but it was cool to see regardless.

 This evening the kids rode their bikes.

Phoenix had so much fun riding with her brother. You can see both kids gleaming year to year!

Valentine's Day and Baseball Practice

Angela started potty training Phoenix a couple of weeks ago. Here is Phoenix on the toilet last Thursday when I went to pick her up after work. She hadn't had a bowel movement all day so Angela was trying to get her to go. I ended up catching her squatting while she was playing a couple of hours later and quickly slid the toilet under her. She was so upset with me that she wouldn't finish going in the little potty. I tried to act excited that she went in the potty, but she had decided from that point on, she is not going to use the potty at home, period. She ended up finishing in her pants while we were walking Louis in the park after dinner. She now only goes at Angela's. I don't want to push her so we have been 100% diapers at home the past few days. I will be curious to see what happens at Angela's tomorrow. 

On Friday I was able to join Axel at school for his Valentine's exchange.

He was working hard to get his paper airplane Valentine's into his classmates bags.

After the exchange of Valentine's was Axel's favorite part....cupcake time!

Here he is with Claire, Teagan, Jensen and Liam.

On Saturday I made Axel heart pancakes that apparently taste better than regular pancakes!

Daddy surprised mommy with flowers and beets! He had planned to make his own arrangement out of fruits and vegetables, but ran into these flowers while in the process. He decided buying the pre-made flower arrangement was easier, but still wanted the organic golden and red beets :)

The kiddos were surprised with a new bat and glove. Axel needed a bat for baseball and Phoenix wants to do everything Axel does so they were both happy. We headed to baseball practice after breakfast. Here Axel and Daddy are doing jumping jacks.

Phoenix is trying to catch, throw and hit all at the same time she is watching the warm up.

Daddy and Axel skipping along.

Axel and Daddy having a blast running liners.

Our little hitter...... Axel hits and throws fairly well. We just have to work on the catching and fielding, but that will slowly come with practice.

The boys ran around the bases at the end of practice. Phoenix wanted to run too.

Here is Axel coming down the home stretch into home plate to complete his second baseball practice ever! He really seemed to enjoy himself. We hope he will continue to have fun even if he doesn't continue baseball in future years.

Axel has off of school this week. I only have to work a couple of days. We are looking forward to family picture on Thursday, a fun birthday party Thursday evening and a get together with friends on Saturday. Hopefully, I will be able to post pictures of Phoenix and the family next week!

Louis Gets Pneumonia

We have had some amazing weather this winter. A couple of weeks ago the kids threw rocks in the stream.

 As you can see from this picture, it was a gorgeous day out.

The kids still love bath time.

 Especially when daddy takes a bath with them.

On Monday the kids and I came home to foamy white vomit in Louis' room. He was shaking and taking shallow quick breaths. His vomit turned into blood within an hour. Keith rushed him to the Emergency Vet when he got home from work. He was diagnosed with pneumonia and for the first time in his 12 years had to stay over night away from home. He did great considering the circumstances. They put him on IV fluids and antibiotics and he is on a course of 14 days of oral antibiotics as well. We take him in for a follow up xray and appointment on Valentine's day to make sure that he is fully recovered. Keith was very excited to pick Louis up and put him in the new sweater Grammy Carol made him. He was really worried that he wasn't going to be able to enjoy it. This was a realization to all of us that every day with Louis is a blessing and his days are becoming more numbered then we like to think.

 Angela started potty training Phoenix on Monday. She is wearing diapers for nap time and at night, but during the day Angela has been great about putting Phoenix on the toilet every hour or so. She has gone pee pee once each day in the potty. At home she was able to go poo poo for us again. The funny thing is starting on Friday when Phoenix was home with me she asked to wear diapers. I didn't argue since we were gone most of the day. She says she wants to go potty at Angela's with Aisha because they are doing it together. I am completely okay with that and hope that she is able to get the hang of it more and more while at Daycare. I will definitely not complain about having Angela do most of the hard work :)

 The rain started on Friday and we have been blessed with three straight days of warm rain. It has been so nice to enjoy the weather. The kids had a great walk home from school.

While most parents think that I am crazy for walking to pick up the kids in the rain. The kids think I am great for letting them splash and have fun in the rain.

 With mid 60's for the highs the rain has truly been enjoyable to be in despite the high winds at times.

 The kids continue to be best friends and enemies. Axel is an amazing brother and helps Phoenix out all of the time. Phoenix absolutely is in love with Axel.

 They play together more and more and most of the time enjoy each others company. Axel does retreat into his room to play with big boy toys and has to do big boy homework at times, but Phoenix doesn't mind.

 Axel is all signed up for A-ball. Yesterday we got his cleats, pants, belt, undershirt, socks and glove. He has his first practice this coming Tuesday. Daddy is so excited that he is on the Red Sox. Daddy is one of the coaches and Axel has a few of his classmates on his team.

 Although he closes his eyes to catch the ball, he has quite a good arm, taking after both his mommy and daddy. We are so excited for him and Axel is finally getting excited too.

The rain will end just in time for his Tuesday practice and games start in March. Hopefully, I will be able to snap a few photos of his first practice!

Phoenix Turns 2!

We started off the week with Daddy making yummy donuts on Sunday night. We all enjoyed them on Monday morning, after we ate oatmeal first! Daddy wanted to make the entire week special for Phoenix. 

Axel being his over the top cute self !

On Monday morning we headed to the park to get out the donut jitters while Daddy went to work. After a morning of fun play we headed home for lunch and nap time.

After nap time we made play doh. Later that night we were able to skype with Grandma Sonia and Grandpa Bruce. It was an action packed and very fun filled day. I really enjoyed the day off with the kiddos!

On Wednesday morning Phoenix got all dressed up for her birthday! Here was a quick selfie of the kids and I before heading to school and work. I made chocolate chip pancakes, but Phoenix woke up with a cold and didn't eat any. Axel scarfed down a whopping 4 pancakes and thoroughly enjoyed the chocolate chips!

Here is Axel in his new sweater that little Grammy made him. He absolutely loves it. It happen to be color spirit day at school on Wednesday. The kindergarteners were told to wear purple. Axel wore a tie die shirt with purple in it and this sweater that had a little purple in it as well.

I was able to change my work schedule on Wednesday to get off early in order to get to day care in time for cupcakes. Phoenix loves chocolate so I made chocolate cupcakes. We all sang happy birthday to her and she just stared at the candles. When it was time to blow them out the other kids kept blowing them out for her. After over 5 attempts Angela gave up. For some reason she was too shy or timid to blow them out herself and the other kids couldn't resist themselves :)

That didn't stop her from enjoying her cupcake. She didn't eat well all day because of her cold, but she did manage to eat a cupcake at day care and then a cupcake later for dinner. I didn't force her to eat dinner because of her cold and I couldn't say no to her having another cupcake when Axel, Daddy and I wanted to celebrate with her as well.

Axel went to a birthday party after school on Wednesday so when Phoenix and I were done at Angela's we headed over to the park where Axel and Daddy were. Daddy was able to take a half day off of work to spend the afternoon with Axel and then us. Pheeny was able to play and swing for over an hour. Once we all got home and ate dinner, we opened up presents. We got her a shopping cart, which has turned out to be a big hit.

Grandma Sonia and Grandpa Bruce sent a new tricycle. She was really excited to see it because she does love to ride bikes, especially other kids tricycles. Her legs are not quite long enough, but I am sure they will be soon!

On Friday after we dropped Axel off at school we headed to the doctor for Phoenix's 2 year check up. She weighed in at 23.5 lbs which put her at the 11%ile. She measured 2 feet 9.5 inches, which put her at the 50th %ile. The doctor thinks the drop in height is because of the way they have to measure the kids in standing versus lying down. It is hard to get an accurate measurement when they arch their back and their knees are still a little bent. We are happy with the growing despite her drop in percentiles. She is an amazing little girl and Keith and I feel so blessed to be her parents. She is funny. Yes, just like Axel, she has a wonderful sense of humor. She loves to dance. She is quite girly and loves to accessorize and dress up. She is very physical. She has to get outside and climb or run. She is quite smart and has a memory like Daddy and Axel. She is very in touch with her feelings and the feelings of others. She will tell us when she is scared and what she is scared of. Like, "Pheeny is scared, monsters are coming!" We have to thank brother for that one :). She gives so much love. She hugs and kisses those she loves. When she is mean and hits she will admit it, apologize and then kiss or hug to make up. She is just the sweetest little girl! Her favorite lovely is doggy, although she does not exclude other animals and dolls that she loves on different days. She mimics everything Axel does. She is very articulate and loves to read and do puzzles. She is getting into trains, magnitiles and little Lego's. She loves to cook in her kitchen. Her favorite foods are still fruits, with buttered bread and pastas next. She eats most foods though and has quite the sweet tooth like the rest of the family. She loves Louis our dog and takes great care of him. She loves to feed him, pet him and walk him. Oh, what a joy she is!

She was so sick on Friday, after our doctor's appointment and a quick stop at the park, she was having trouble sleeping because of her congestion. She woke up after sleeping only 45 minutes in her crib. For the first time in her 2 years I asked her if she wanted to sleep with me. She said yes. To my surprise she was out in 2 minutes. I just had to get a picture of our cute and precious little girl. I enjoyed a 15 minute nap next to her, but had to attend to her birthday cake that was in the oven!

When Daddy got home from work he got right to work on decorating Pheeny's cake.

I thought he did a great job!

Here is our beautiful princess yesterday on her birthday party day!

Auntie made great decorations for her.

And a crown that matched her dress perfectly!

And here is the birthday girl on her favorite person's lap, Annika, as we sang happy birthday to her.

And a quick family photo! I tried to capture pictures of Grandma Susan, Grandpa Brian, Auntie, Uncle and Braylin, but unfortunately they were all blurry. We had a lovely time with everyone.

After cake Phoenix opened up her gifts from the grandparents and Auntie. She picked up on the opening of gifts really well this year. She loved everything she received and we want to thank everyone who sent a card, present or email. Phoenix and the Szolushas feel very loved as always!

After our guests had to leave we headed to the park so Phoenix could go swinging. Daddy captured a picture of me riding Axel's bike, since Axel was too tired to ride it back to the car. We had a blast playing at the park until dark and actually had our neighbors join us and other friends we ran into, so it was a splendid day for Phoenix's birthday party!