Viva Las Vegas! and Paris?

The whole fam headed into the desert to celebrate Christmas. And I mean the WHOLE fam. Jeremy's parents flew out and we all stayed with my parents at their new digs. I was expecting some warmer weather, but it was chilly (my parents claimed it was a dry cold, lol). On the big day my grandpa (the girls great-grandpa), my aunt and my cousin came in too. It was a lot of fun seeing everyone and watching the girls. My parents sent Jeremy and I along with his parents on a helicopter ride into the grand canyon. It was awesome! http://homepage.mac.com/chrisnoonan/PhotoAlbum45.html
That night Jeremy and I headed into town on our own. We started at Bellagio, which was fantastic, then crossed the street to Paris. We decided to grab some dinner, but had to wait 45 minutes for a table. Well, what are you going to do? So we sat down at some nickel slots. We each put in a dollar, but upon realizing you need $2 to bet all the lines, we put in 20's. Well, I doubled up pretty quick, and Jeremy was steadily losing. 5 minutes had passed. So we cashed out and decided to look for something else to do. That's when I saw it. The Tiki Torch slot machine seemed to be calling my name. We walked over, and Jeremy announced it was a penny slot. Oh. We did a walk around, but I thought no, let's play it anyway. $40 in a penny slot. That should kill another 30 minutes. The credits were in, and I hit bet max. That's when something strange happened. Three little pearls lined up, and there were free spins, and the winnings started adding up as I pressed the automatic spin button, and 'coins' started shooting out of the image on the screen. Jeremy announced I had one $10. Wow. But the thing was still spinning it's free spins, and then I had more free spins, and more coins and Jeremy is laughing in my ear. I hear him say, "$1, $10, $2, $10" He's reading off the winnings from all the lines that won. The next thing I know, we're looking at the winnings count, which is much higher than my credits remaining. In fact, it says over $100. But it's still spinning. I'm just laughing at this point. There was well over $300 by the time it was done. Jeremy asked, "You want to cash out?" I wanted to, but I had only pushed 2 buttons! I made a couple more spins because I felt like I should. And cashed out with $321.50. Not bad for penny slots! We then headed to the gift store, got me a t-shirt, and had a fabulous dinner and still had plenty left over. So if you ever make it to Las Vegas, head to the Paris and find my penny Tiki Torch slots machine. It needs some more deposits for my next trip out!

Going to school?

Cassidy went to her new preschool yesterday for an 'assesment'. She passed with flying colors. But when she walked into the classroom without me, my heart started to break ever so slightly. At least the crack started so that I am going to be very thankful to have Jeremy with me on her first official day, so someone can hand me tissues. It's a great Montessori school, and they have a great playground with a few goats, chickens and a duck. I'm sure Cassidy will have a blast.

Hanging with the Cassidy's

Yesterday was a very rainy day that meant no trips to the park, but we did get in touch with the other Cassidy's parents. They gave us an invite to come over for some food and drink last night along with some of their other friends. Our Cassidy proclaimed, "I want to go to the other Cassidy's house, and I want to go in the wagon, and she will say, 'Wow! You came to my house in a wagon.'" So we decided that was a good way to go since the clouds had finally cleared. All the kids played and seemed to get along well. No screaming fits, and only one person cried because of toy swipping. The parents all hung out in the kitchen and just ate on munchies and had a few drinks. Well, Jeremy had water, and Robyn had 2.5 glasses of wine. It was over several hours, and I didn't feel it until I got home. Thankfully Keira went down easily and Jeremy got Cassidy down without much trouble. We had adult conversation and talked about the kids with them. It was a nice mix. Hostess even pulled out a camera to take pictures of our Cassidy. I'm guessing she wanted proof to show family and friends. When Keira started fussing at 6:30 on the dot (her bedtime) every one was talking about getting together again after the new year. Woohoo!

How to start your own business in one week

Once we moved to Washington we realized why fleece is so popular out here. A) It's cold. B) It rains. We had some problems going for walks with Cassidy though. She would always kick off her blanket and it would fall under stroller getting caught up in wheels or dragged through puddles. Makes it so you don't want to put it on your baby anymore. So I came up with a "sock" to put over her that wouldn't fall off. I was so amazed that I couldn't find what I wanted in the stores. Well, Jeremy and I talked about trying to make it and how we could sell it, etc. Then we were moving into our house and then oops! 'out of commission' for the next year. Well, this fall, I busted out Cassidy's old "sock" for Keira. Again, amazed that no one had put it out there yet. So on Tuesday I whipped up a new and improved version. Which caused Jeremy to REALLY start talking about how to get them on market. I threw out the ever optimistic, "Yeah, but how do you find the place to make them and to do all the stuff that needs to get done?" Well, I threw down the gauntlet and Jeremy took the challenge. We have a web site reserved, a trademark registered, samples coming from fleece and tag companies, pricing for sewing contracts, and packaging options. How did this happen?? I'll post a link and some pictures soon. And I expect everyone to order one for every baby and pregnant woman they know!

Cassidy meet ... Cassidy?

So quite an amazing thing happened just over a week ago, but I keep forgetting to blog it. And when I say quite amazing, I'm not kidding.
I needed to get out of the house, and since the weather was awful, we thought to try McDonald's so Cassidy could play on the playland (see previous blog about when we finally got there). Well, apparently it was an early release day for all the schools, so Mickey D's was like a zoo. We just hit the road and ended up at a park near Jeremy's work. As we headed towards playground a little girl who looked around Cassidy's age, started running towards us. Her Mom said she was excited by the prospect of a playmate. So I prompted them to start conversation and Cassidy said, "I'm Cassidy. What's your name?" The other girl replied, "Cassidy". We looked at her Mom, and she said, "Did she say Cassidy?" "Yes" "Wait, her name is Cassidy too?" "Yes"
Well the Cassidy's started to climb on the equipment and us Mom's got to talking about the girls. How our Cassidy will turn 3 in February. At which the other Mom asked, "What day?" "The 21st" Turns out her Cassidy turns 3 on the 23rd!! Well folks, buckle your seat belts because we're just getting started.
Other Mom, "So where do you live?" "Education Hill" Other Mom, "Yeah..." "Abbey Road subdivision." "Yeah.... We live on 108th" "We live on 110th, which I think turns into 108th if you follow it around." Turns out she has also had a hard time meeting people besides a few neighbors. She also found a similar problem with her neighbors that we have, NOSY! Other things in common: She was on her way to be in her best friends wedding, and I just got back from doing that. I mentioned we were in Hawaii, they were there in April. Her mother lives outside of Boston, just like Jeremy's parents.
We are anxiously awaiting their return so we can get together with them. It's a small world after all.

Cassidy at McDonald's Playland

I was feeling under the weather today, and thankfully Jeremy took the day off of work to take care of his 3 girls. I decided I wanted 'bad' food for lunch so we figured McDonald's would be good. Plus they have an indoor playland so Cassidy could go down slides and generally run around and have fun. We were the first ones there, and Cassidy took awhile to venture in to the tunnels. Then more and more kids started to arrive. At first, Cassidy would just yell, "Daddy" and hope he would chase them away. It seems that she thought that this playland was ALL hers. After several attempts, she finally went in again, and actually played a little bit with some of the other kids. Then a few more seasoned playland 'vetrans' arrived. Well, they could tell Cassidy was a little more timid, so if she was starting to go for the entrance they would race around her and scoot on up before she could make it there. After one boy really cut her off, Cassidy made a disgruntled, "argh!" turned to us and said, "I'm very frustrated!" Then took off and in for one last time down the slide. Needless to say, Jeremy and I were laughing, and I'm pretty sure the other parents were green with envy that our little 'princess' not only put her emotions into words, but had such vocabulary to boot!

Operation: Sleep through the night

After Keira pulled an alarming wake up 3 times in one night, and since Jeremy always brings her in to me if he goes to check on her, we had to come up with a new plan of attack. We decided to go with the 'extinction' method. Sounds hard-core and tough because it is. We knew that Keira could handle it though. So after putting her down for the night, we closed her door, instead of leaving it open like we normally do. That way when she woke up at 2:30 am her screaming wouldn't be too loud for us or her sister. After 5 minutes, all was quiet. Then at 3:30 am, she tried a second attack. This time Jeremy broke down and went in, but he only returned her pacifer and was out of there. About 10 minutes later, all was quiet again. 6:45 am, which has been her too early wake up time the last 2 weeks, which was another reason we decided to stop with the waking up at night, she's sleeping like a baby. Of course, Cassidy woke up then. Keeping our fingers crossed that last night was the worst of it.

Batteries

It's amazing how quickly kids learn. Cassidy understood at about 18 months that if a toy wasn't working, that it probably needed batteries. So it's not surprising, that she tells me when a toy needs batteries. Yet, she surprised me yesterday. She was playing her harmonica and pulled away a little bit so the sound sort of went soft. Suddenly she looked up and said, "Mommy, this needs new batteries." "Really?" She puffed in half-heartedly and the harmonica made a squeally sort of sound. "Yes, it needs batteries."

Mini of Wheats

Cassidy's new favorite cereal is Frosted Mini Wheats. For some reason, she thinks they are called "Mini of Wheats". Which sounds so "My lady would like the Mini of Wheats for her morning meal". She also calls it brek-Fast. After all, when you explain how to pronounce words to a toddler, you catch yourself wondering why it's spelled break fast, but pronounced brekfust.

Thanksgiving went well for us. Jeremy and Keira both woke up with colds. So I thought the day was going to be tougher, but the 2 of them took a nice long nap so Cassidy and I could head out on a walk. That seemed to make the day go smoothly. So much for having time to relax though, as Cassidy was sick the next day and had a fever on Saturday, and Jeremy is still awful sounding.

Giddy-gift-itis

I'm going to be writing the New England Journal of Medicine later today to tell them to look into a disease, Giddy-gift-itis. I know that I have it, and I know it must be genetic as my Mother has it too. I can't count the times my Mom has called me all a titter over some gift that she has just found. Doesn't matter who it's for, but it does seem to be worse if it's for me. Then I have the same problem. I usually blow the greatest gifts for Jeremy by giving him a hint, which he guesses right away! This year I have 2 perfect gifts for him. One that I already told him b/c he guessed it. Jeremy has learned that I do this and now, he is very kind and offers up that he doesn't want to guess. I know he could get it, so that's why he doesn't want a clue. He can be good to me. But really, it is the PERFECT gift. Now let's see if I can hold out until Christmas!

Am I crazy?

Now before you answer that, I know many of you are chomping at the bit, it was a rhetorical question. I'm referencing my desire to return to the work force that caused me to pull out my resume and update it and look for jobs in my field. I guess change is always difficult. It's only when I think about going back to work that the girls do something very cute and or funny. When they are crying, or when Cassidy tells me it was an accident, I think about how wonderful a place is work. Only time will tell. And so will an interview or two.

I'm an aunt!

Jeremy's an uncle and Cassidy and Keira have a cousin. Kaleb and Christiann had their baby, Arianna, last night. Those are the details I have. I'm a bit down on the chain of knowledge. I'm not exactly sure what being an aunt will require of me. I'm guessing, lots of presents, some teasing about how crazy her parents are, and perhaps loud or messy toys on occasion. Hmmm...I need to see about getting a tamborine to go with that fuzzy blanket.

Petty but happy

So I live next to a "Martha Stewart" happy home-maker mother of 3. We swap grocery shopping days, so that we only have one baby with us on the trip. Cassidy loves going to their house as they do things like paint or play with play-dough. Cassidy always throws a fit when it's time to leave. I mean, who wouldn't love a place where you just played with messy stuff all the time?? Yesterday her girls even brought over dress up clothes. Which was actually fun, to see all 3 of the girls looking like princesses. Cassidy had the Cinderella dress, but was quick to yell at the other girls, "I'm not Cinderella, I'm a beautiful princess." Jeremy brought Buddy back from the kennel while the girls were over, and he went to edit some of the Hawaii video in his office, when the girls asked to go in the office. So I let them in, and they saw the hula dancers. Well that was it. Cassidy wanted her hula skirt on, and thankfully we had another hula skirt so the neighbor girls could try it on too. Next thing I know, tulle was flying off, and grass skirts were donned. When their mother came to pick them up, a resounding "No" came from her girls. Woohoo! I know it's cheap, but in way it was a victory in the 'mother-hood' game.

Tidbits from Hawaii

Aloha! We made it to Hawaii without too much trouble. Travelling with the girls is always a challenge, especially if you have to move car seats and haul them around the airport. Our first night there, we picked up some food and brought it back to our townhouse. My Dad decided to say a short prayer along the lines of, "Thank you, Lord, for this meal" to which Cassidy said, "You're welcome". The wedding was great and we had a blast at the luau with the girls. Cassidy loves the 'hulas' and has been wearing her skirt and dancing non-stop since we've been back. As a parent, you think your children are beautiful, and I always worry that I might be the only one who thinks that. Keira took care of that though coming back through Lahaina after the rehearsal party. A woman stopped and said, "Oh my God! She's an angel! Have I died and gone to heaven because she's an angel!" So maybe I'm not the only one who thinks my kids are adorable. We made it to the beach one day, and Keira enjoyed several helpings of sand. She made it into the waves, while Cassidy stayed and played in the sand. It wasn't until we were gathering beach towels that Cassidy declared she was ready to get in the water. She had a blast once she was in and then we had a terrible time getting her back out. Let me just point out that sand gets everywhere when you go to the beach, and for the girls it was worse than that b/c they can't tell me where any is hiding. It took days to get it so they would stop leaving sand trails! We kept the girls coated in sunscreen, so you can barely tell we were there for a week. We had a great time and Jeremy and I are already trying to figure out when to return.

Sleep Diaries

I'm noticing a trend in some of the blog entries, since I often feel like writing when the girls mess up thier sleep habits. Instead of calling people and begging for sympathy, I just sort of throw it out in cyber-space so it's out of my system and I can take a nap at some later hour instead of calling folks. LOL. Cassidy is mostly over her cold, but last night Keira decided to get it. She had been fighting off a runny nose all afternoon so it wasn't a huge surprise. We had a nice relaxing evening, both girls down by 6:00 so we could watch the Red Sox win game 3 of the World Series undisturbed. After the game was over is when it all started. Keira woke up around 9:15, stuffy and miserable. Nothing made her happy. Jeremy, who is a kind and loving husband, decided to take her downstairs so I could get some rest. Then around midnight, only a short hour or so after Jeremy got her down, she was up again. I took my chance to be kind and let him sleep. Well, it didn't last long as Cassidy woke up. We swapped kids about 30 minutes later. About 2 hours later when Cassidy was still not asleep and she wanted to go talk to Daddy, I chased her in to our bedroom. Thankfully, he and Keira were asleep. So I managed to get Cassidy back to her bed for a few more minutes before she went and woke up Dad, who put Keira back down and then took Cassidy to bed...again. So a breif 30 minutes later, Keira's up again. Now it's 3:30 am and I've had about 10 minutes off and on since 12:30!! Thankfully, Keira ate and went right backk down. But the noise was enough to have Cassidy up and have a rather loud conversation about drinking water with her Dad. So we all ended up downstairs for a few minutes. I think it was about 30 minutes later before I didn't hear Cassidy make any more noises. And, of course, Keira was up at her normal time this morning, 7:00 on the dot, and Cassidy just wandered down at 8!! It's going to be a long day!

Getting ready for Hawaii

We leave on Thursday morning to Maui for Ashley's wedding. Friday night Cassidy came down with a cold, so this weekend was a whirlwind of trying to get things done, wiping noses and packing. Thankfully I don't need shorts and swimsuits right now, so our clothes are packed and we are ready to go. Highlights from our weekend.

Jeremy said to Cassidy, "Wow, you are so smart." Cassidy replied, "I AM so ... sm..smort."

Keira has been eating solid foods quite happily. She gets very excited when she sees a Cheerios box, and has become quite demanding when she sees us eating food. Last night she was letting us have it so she could have some quesedilla. She would hold on to Jeremy's leg and bounce and make grumble noises until he ripped off another piece of tortilla.

We don't know for sure yet if we will be posting more from Hawaii, but I'm sure we will have tons of stories and pictures when we get back.

Seattle, WA: Hot spot for black market babies

All you have to do is take your kids out into public around here, and someone will offer to take them off your hands. Either free of charge, or offering you money. Exhibit A) While strolling the mall with Cassidy after we first moved, an older couple was crossing our path when the gentleman said, "I'll give you a million dollars for her." We did the polite smile and laugh, but I'm pretty sure he was serious. Exhibit B) Nothings says healthy baby like shopping at Trader Joe's, and while doing some shopping yesterday an older woman going for the grannie look asked Cassidy if she could take her baby. Imagine! Little Keira was all decked out in fuzzy pink, so she was adorable. Well, Cassidy said yes, but thankfully I was there to do the polite laugh and quickly stroll away.

**Just in case someone is dim enough to not realize, I don't think people are trying to take the girls. Just thought it sounds funnier in a story.**

Bubble gum for Breakfast

A 2.66 yr old sure has funny ideas about what is good for breakfast, BUT sometimes you let them decide. Back story: Tuesday we started heavy with toilet training and yesterday (Thursday) morning I told Cassidy that if she went on toilet all day she could have ice cream. Well, that motivated her, and she did it! Unfortunately, she passed out on our bedroom floor before we could get the ice cream. I slipped on a diaper and put her in bed. Well, at 4 am, Cassidy came in and woke us up, she told Daddy she had to go and they went to toilet and she went back to bed. If that's not amazing enough, at wake-up time we were all talking in bed, when Cassidy took off out of room. I heard the lid of the toilet go up. Pick up your jaws! Yes, she figured she had to go, and went in got on the toilet all by herself. So this morning we said, "What do you want for breakfast? You can have whatever you want." "Gum! Bubble Gum!!" Cassidy had a nice piece of sugar-free wintergreen for breakfast!

Too Busy for Toilet

The title of this blog works for both myself and Cassidy. Now that Keira is crawling all over the place and I am working on getting Cassidy to use the toilet every time it seems that I literally have no free time. You see, I used to think I had no free time, and now that I really have NO free time, I see how lucky I was.

Yesterday Cassidy did a whole day in panties. She's worn them, but with varied success. Seems if she wears pants over the panties, she doesn't feel the need to ask for the toilet. We're working on that. It doesn't happen over night, and if it did, I would be the first to tell you. I really thought she had it yesterday, and then we headed out to Gymboree for a play class with Keira. Half way through as she was talking to me she grabbed her pants. I asked, "Do you need to pee?" A quick shake of the head said "no", but the puddle forming at the base of her feet said otherwise.

So today Cassidy is playing next to Keira, and I need to go. So I decide that while they are busy I should make my break. Well, just 3 seconds after getting seated, Keira starts to cry. Not just a little fuss like, Where did Mommy go?, but the full on wail of, Cassidy just hit/pushed/took away my toy.

So the latest in the Noonan household is: It doesn't matter your age, we are all 'too busy for the toilet'!

Blog Talk and Mt St Helens

So last night while I was making dinner, and the girls were blissfully entertained by PBS, Jeremy read me an article about blogs that my Mom had sent. It was very odd to hear about other parents who blog about their kids and the cult-like following they have attracted. So far, I believe I only have a few family and friends, but you never know. Perhaps someone in Paraguay has happened on my little blog and falling in love with the life and times of Team Noonan. I mean that entry on poop really was something.

I'm sure most of you have heard about Mt St Helens and her grumblings. The media here have termed it 'clearing her throat'. We have been keeping up to date on her steady progress towards a hopefully safe eruption. We have also been tempted to take a drive down to see her and perhaps take our picture there with the girls. Don't worry grandparents, we already decided against it. We saw Dante's Peak one too many times to risk it!

Miss Manners and Happy Baby

You do your best to teach your toddler manners. Please. Thank You. You're Welcome. But only your toddler can put them to use. You can encourage all you want, but it really is up to them. Cassidy is iffy on the 'please', and good with her 'thank you', but she LOVES 'you're welcome'. This morning after I poured her milk into a bowl of cereal she politely said, Thank you. I smiled and said, You're welcome. "No! You don't say 'you're welcome'. You say 'thank you"." ...ok... So I say, "Thank you" and Cassidy cheerily responds, "You're welcome!"

Keira doesn't say as many funny things, seeing as she doesn't talk, so I have to remember to tell you stories about her as well. Kiki has shown happiness to be with someone by grabbing their face and trying to put her mouth all over them. It's quite funny to watch someone else being mauled by a baby, but when you are the one with a finger up your nose and a slobbery mouth heading right for your eye it doesn't seem so cute! So I'm very pleased that Keira has found her play mirror. She sees herself in the mirror, sees that 'oh so cute' baby and just hast to give her a kiss. It is very entertaining to watch her attack the mirror with an open mouth. And it seems to satisfy her need, so doesn't slobber on me as often. Phew!

Keira, aka Kiki, also seems to have a 'Robyn' trait. Cassidy had it too. She always wakes up happy. It's a joy to pop your head in the morning and be greeted by a face that lights up into a huge grin. Of course, if you want an extra few minutes to get dressed in the morning, don't go peek.

Work and Money

Yesterday after Jeremy left for work, Cassidy went to the baby gate, let herself through and closed it behind her. Then she announced, "Mommy, I'm going to work." We've explained on several occasions that even though Daddy would love to stay and play with her he has to go to work so he can get money to buy clothes and food. I said, "Great." And then she said, "Mommy, I'm going to work and give you monies." No joke. Not bad if I get her to work and give me the money. At least she's starting out with a good work ethic.

Sacramento Visit

Well, we headed off to Sacramento for the weekend despite both girls having colds and Jeremy coming down with it too. The entire trip was for the girls to see their great-grandpa. Which they did on Sunday, as well as my Aunt Kathy, my cousin Teague, and Sam and Dee. It was great for Jeremy and I. A few hours of talking and swimming with no worries about what the girls could be getting in to. It was fantastic! When everyone was leaving, Oma and Grandpa had to head out for a bit too. Good thing as Cassidy told them, "Goodbye Oma and Grandpa. Get out." I guess she needed some quiet time after all that. Under the category of kids say the darndest things: Cassidy woke up yesterday morning, and her tummy was making a lot of noise, so I told her to tell Daddy to get her breakfast. So she said to him, "Daddy, get up and get me breakfast." Jeremy said, "Ok, can you say 'Get me breakfast please'?" Cassidy responded, "No! No, please. Get me breakfast." We had a great visit, and it was just enough to make us think about visiting again.

Yawn

Well, Keira has a cold. *groan* It didn't hit until close to midnight, so at least I had a few hours of sleep before the crying started. Jeremy had been up playing in an on-line poker tournament so he missed out on those precious hours. (Even with a screaming baby distracting his play he placed in the money.) Thankfully, he decided to let me sleep (although it's hard to get good sleep when there is a baby screaming in the house) since he was already up. I took the 5 am shift and got her relaxed and ready for sleep, but she just couldn't drop off. So after an hour of trying to get her to sleep, I passed her off to Jeremy again. The only interesting thing about all this is how I noticed that in the middle of the night when the baby is crying is the best time to go-off on your spouse. For example, when you offer some useful advice on ways to stop baby from crying, you might hear, "Why don't you stay up with her for 3 hours then?" Or perhaps after the baby has decided to use her new teeth and refused to stop crying even though her eyes are closed you might hear, "Here's YOUR baby. Why do they need pacifiers anyway?" Now that Keira is peacefully snoring away and Cassidy is reading books in her bed, life seems a little more rational. I would like to apologize to Jeremy for snipping at him in the middle of the morning. And I'm sure he didn't mean to snip at me either. ;)

I'm blogging this!

Jeremy teased me the second post I did that he was going to buy me a T-shirt that said, "I'm blogging this". I thought it was funny, but who would get it?? Then I'm having my mental breakdown in Target on the phone with Ashley, and she tells me, "You have to put this in your blog". Now every time the girls or Jeremy do something I joke, "I'm blogging this." My biggest problem is that it sounds too much like "I'm lovin' this" the new McDonald's ad campaign. So everytime I think of blogging now, I think "I'm blogging this" and yes I would like fries with it... or perhaps just an apple pie.

Last night we headed out for dinner, as Cassidy had taken a nap and so wasn't going to bed at 6. We went to our favorite chinese place, and after all day Sunday her telling everyone "Mi-hau" (chinese for hello, I think) she wouldn't say it at the restaurant. Cassidy picked that one up from watching Caillou, a PBS kids show from Canada. She has also picked up that there are monsters in her room, although she doesn't seem to be afraid of them, and that she needs medicine because she's sick. I'm just waiting for the episode on Euclidian Geometery.

"I'm busy, ho-knee"

Isn't it amazing how kids learn? How they hear what you say and then repeat it back to you at some odd time. Like when you are watching TV and she's playing with her Noah's Ark and animals, and you ask her to get you the remote and she says, "No, I'm busy." Oh really? You're barely moving that giraffe in your hand and you're busy, eh? "Please get Mommy the remote." "I'm busy, ho-knee." Proving that she picked up that we call people 'honey' as well. Now I'm just waiting for Keira to say "I've got a stinker"!

Trip to Target (sans Jeremy, Cassidy and Keira)

Perhaps I should preface this entry by announcing that my hormones are back on that monthly cycle. So today I headed off to Target, all by myself. *happy sigh* It was crowded and lots of little kids were there, crying, or just making noise. Then there was me, in the blissful state of non-with-me-childhood. Floating like a jellyfish with no real direction but somewhat of a purpose. More diapers, hmm..Majic Eraser, yeah that sounds good, there was something else, but oh look...shoes! So I found myself in the middle of the sale rack looking at funky flip flops when I HAD to call Ashley. Her wedding is in Hawaii this October, and suddenly I felt that she MUST have flip flops (remember how I opened this blog??). "What size are you?" "They have some with red and flowers, and a few white ones with sparkles." So after much searching I found a pair of white size 9 for her, and a nice red pair for her Mom. I even found cute little shoes for Keira that match shoes that I just got for Cassidy and myself. How grossly cute, I know. Get home. Man, did I forget chap-stik? That was half the reason I went!! (remember how I opened this blog??) Oh well. Start to tell Jeremy story of flip flops and pull them out to show him. WHAT?! Size 6 not a Size 9! I guess I'll be returning them and finally get my chap-stik.

More sleep news

Many of you know that Cassidy has been having some 'sleep issues'. Just when we thought that things were getting to a reasonable state, she decided to start over and while Nana and Grampa Noonan were out visiting, Jeremy and I were exhausted from trying to get her back on schedule. Ugh! But now it seems that Cassidy is over her issues with 'going' to bed, and last night she decided to finally get caught up on all of her missed sleep. She went to bed at 3:30. That's right, ladies and gentleman, you read correcctly, she went to bed at 3:30 in the afternoon. Even more amazing, was when she didn't come in to wake us up until 5:30 am. Which seems like plenty of sleep, but ha! no, our little princess needed something to eat and to play for an hour, and then it was back to bed for another hour and half! Woohoo! No more dark circles under her eyes, and a happy toddler. Life is getting better.

Who needs sleep?

So Jeremy and I have finally found a baby sitter and have been attending 'date night' for most of the summer. How nice it was to get out by ourselves ... for the first month. But then Cassidy decided to stop taking naps, and not going to bed until 9:30 at night. She was sleeping the same time as I was so I knew she had to be tired. I was! Well, we did a lot of work, and Cassidy is now more rested, but she's ususally in bed by about 6:30. Which would be 1 hour after date night starts. So we have been taking 'brief' dates. Which usually just involve some dinner. Date night has became a pain for me since Cassidy usually stays up past her new bed time, and gets tired, and then stays up later, and is fussy. So that 45 minutes of peace and relaxation just doesn't compare to the 2 hours of torture after. Well, last night Cassidy had fallen asleep when we got home. Woohoo! I was looking forward to relaxing and getting some of 'my' stuff done (reading a book, working on crafts). Ahh...it was so nice and quiet. Went up to bed at 9. Thinking, what a perfect date night. So at 10, was it a surprise when Keira started fussing? No. Was it a surprise that she was up from 10-12 screaming her head off if you laid her down? No. She has a cold, so she's been pretty stuffy Was it a surprise when she woke up at 6 and didn't want to go back to sleep? No. And what about when Cassidy came in at 6:20? No. So we are changing 'date night' to a 'date afternoon' on the weekend. Now I have to see if I can take a nap while the Keira's napping and Cassidy's watching Sesame Street. *yawn*

Poop

If you are weak of stomach (aka, my brother), perhaps you should skip this blog. It is all about Poop. We will start with the funny and end with the gross. In the process of 'potty training' you point out everyone and thing that goes pee pee and poop to help your child understand that it's a natural process. For example, you point out that your dog is going poop. Little did we know our little angel would become obsessed with poop. It turned out to be her best friend. She would go over and look at the poop, then run and shout, "Come on, poop, let's go!" Or she would point out things like, "See, poop, look at the airplane. Do you see the airplane, poop?" Very cute, if not slightly emabarassing as a 2 year old's voice is loud and carries. Who knows what the neighbors thought!
Now Keira's dealings with poop have been more of the 'explosive' in nature. She has several times gone through 3 clothes changes before lunch. As Cassidy had probably 3 incidents where she 'exploded' it was a shocker to have a baby so adept at shooting it out the back. We have become used to her incidents and only need a few minutes to clean her up now. And then, there was this morning. *begin dramatic music* It was a quiet morning, Keira had been snoozing in bed with Mommy and Daddy, when Cassidy came in asking for breakfast. We put Keira in her crib and all headed downstairs. After a few minutes I heard some happy noises from upstairs, so I blissfully went up to retrieve my sweet baby. When I walked in, everything seemed to be fine, and then I saw it. It was down her leg, up her tummy, and I was walked in to the room, I saw all over her back! And when I say all over her back, I mean the back of her shirt was Crayola color 'baby-poo'. I'm assuming from how it had soaked into the bumper that she was leaning against it when she did the deed.
As a mother of two still in diapers I could have filled several entries with stories of poop, but I think this covers the range and I'll leave it at this.

Smart Kids, a curse?

I remember my Mom telling me how amazing are little ones memories. I had my first experience with Cassidy the other morning. While getting her dressed we were talking about the dog on her shirt. She suddenly told me that Oma (that's my Mom) has a dog. Which isn't true. So I thought perhaps she was telling me a story. So I asked what is the dog's name. She paused, and I suggested, 'Sparky'. She immediately said, "No. It's Shelby." And like in a movie, my memory flew back through images to May when we visited my parents in Lake Tahoe and there was a dog who played on the beach with us one day and it's name was....SHELBY! Amazing! A steel trap I tell you. Good thing I don't drive in bad traffic anymore!

Yesterday morning, while waitng for Nana and Grampa Noonan to arrive, Cassidy asked to watch TV in Mommy and Daddy's bed. We let her, and came downstairs to play with Keira. After several minutes, "Daddy!" comes from upstairs, so Jeremy yelled back up, "Yes, Cassidy?" "I want a peanut butter granola bar." "Then come downstairs and I'll give you one." *pause* "No, Daddy, you bring it upstairs." "But everyone is downstairs, come down and you can watch TV and have your snack." "No, Daddy. *I'm* upstairs, bring it upstairs." How do they figure things out so quickly??

Computers vs. Babies

In the short 2.5 years since we have had children, computers have been an essential and daily part of our lives; from pictures on the web, to editing videos of Cassidy's first steps and even creating Blogs about our lives. Cassidy showed many talents with her way of finding shortcut keys that included how to go back several pages on the web with just a few clicks of the backspace. Who knew that one? We actually found a toddler sized toy laptop and had to buy it so she could have her own 'com-pew-der'. Well, did we expect any less from our latest addition to Team Noonan? Of course not. She has shown the same interest in the devices. She will drop her cute little bumble bee toy and dive at the keyboard any chance she gets. So Jeremy had no problem letting his latest bundle of joy mash on his keyboard while he locked the keys on his brand new mack-daddy laptop that he special ordered (aka, his 3rd baby). You see where this is going, right? All was good, until, oops, baby spew, right into the keyboard. Jeremy was no longer able to log in as the keys were jammed. After several attempts to clean it out, he finally called about a replacement keyboard and that fixed the problem. Babies 1 Computers 0

State Fairs

I talked with Ashley and my Dad this week, both mentioned going to the CA State Fair. Aww, the CA State Fair, what memories it brings. It is always the last weekend of the summer, Labor Day weekend, which somehow causes the temperature in Sacramento to sky-rocket to unbearable as everyone heads off to the giant asphalt of Cal Expo. For the record, it was 98 yesterday. We would head to the exhibit halls to escape the heat and learn one tidbit of new information that makes it worth going year after year. For 5 years Jeremy and I lived in NC, just minutes away from the fair grounds there. Now, August in NC can be just as hot as CA, so southerners have figured out that fall is a much better time for outdoor activities. I forced Jeremy out to the fair on several occasions, as being a Sacramentan (does that imply more that I'm from Sacramento??) it was a rite of passage for the end of summer to go to the fair. So in NC, it was more like an embrace of the fall. Fresh apple cider, the last of the season's corn roasted and then dunked in melted butter, BBQ....drool. But my whole 'memorable' life, I've had the choice to go to the state fair or not, so imagine my surprise as I now live just minutes away from Seattle, and yet, the State Fair is hours away. Everyone here talks about the fair in Puyallup. Puyallup. You're chance pronounciation is as good as mine. Oh, how I would trade my beautiful 74 and sunny today for 100+ and a chance to go to the fair in minutes!!

Musical Notes

Cassidy has always had a love for music. She loves to listen to different types (although she has preferred bluegrass, a tribute to her NC birth) and is fascinated by different instruments. So when she found a harmonica last week, it was no surprise that it became her favorite toy. It's cute the first few minutes, but loud harmonica does get tiring after awhile. So while she was in her 10th minute of playing loudly I decided to pull a Mom technique called distraction. I just happened upon a spider in the bathroom and knew that would get her attention. "Cassidy, come look at the spider." Sure enough the harmoica ended and Cassidy came running in to say "Hi, spider. How are you?" Ha ha, Chalk one up for Mom- but wait, what was that she just said. "You want harmonica, spider?" and the pitter patter of her feet running. Could it be? Yes, next thing I know she's playing harmonica to the little guy. Well, I wouldn't call it a backfire because it turned out to be one of the cutest things I've seen. By the way, I haven't seen the spider since. I'm guessing he decided to move to a quieter house.

Scary Monsters

Yesterday morning the girls woke up early but cheerful. So after a quick bath, it was time for getting dressed so Daddy could get to work. I came in carrying Cassidy's clothes and she screamed playfully, "Ah, you're going to get me. Scary Monster!" Seemed like a good game to me. So I started making the required growl noises, and marching around in slow motion while waving her little pants and shirt in the air. After a loop of the upstairs the 'pants monster' caught her and successfully got her shirt on. After the release it was on to more growling, giggling and racing around upstairs. Cassidy ran in screaming for Daddy about now, and I thought what a great way to let her know that everything is ok when you're with Daddy, by saying, "Ah, monsters are scared of Daddy's." After running away screaming I ran and hid in Cassidy's big girl bed, fully expecting to be chased by Daddy and Cassidy. So after several minutes of waiting with the covers pulled up over my head, I gave up to see what they were doing. So unfair to have her end the game! By the way, she did get her pants on too!