Ready for Purdue's Marching Band

Bath time, Fun in the Snow, and Ice Skating

I've started bathing these two together to save time at night. It's pretty hysterical to watch the two of them play. (Not necessarily play together) Kyri gets lost in her own world with all of the bath toys, making them talk to each other, etc. Then, Tessa the Tidal Wave comes splashing through and disrupts her whole scene. Kyri usually is pretty accepting of her wild sister and gives her a role... "Here comes the Evil Sea Monster to attack us!!" This makes Tess get even crazier and usually there is water all over the floor by the end!

I just couldn't resist...

Gotcha!

(She thinks she's pretty cool now that she knows how to squirt the toys.)

On Thursday night Tessa was up all night with the flu, so I took off work on Friday. Luckily, Tess was feeling better by the morning and was just extra sleepy. During one of her naps, Kyri and I got to play outside in the snow for a little bit. Like most kids, she LOVES the snow and would stay out there all day if I let her.

The next day I decided to take our blizzard baby out to play in the snow for the first time. Since she is such a daredevil I really thought she'd love it.

But, this picture shows her true feelings about it. I'm not sure if it was really the snow or if she was just ready for a nap. We'll have to try again another time.

She was only happy when someone was holding her.

Also this weekend, Kyri got to tryout her new skates that she got from Santa. We went to an ice rink in Bolingbrook, and they had these little walkers for beginning skaters. It was great because Kyri was able to skate without us holding onto her. She had so much fun traveling all over the ice on her own! After our first lap around, she looked up at me with huge eyes and said, "Mommy, this place is so cool!"

When she was in the middle of the rink, with the "big" junior high skaters, she kept skating up to them and saying they were her new friends.

This place even has characters skate on Saturdays and Sundays!

Our little figure skater

And Tessa entertained everyone while she waited in the lobby!

Tessa is really getting good at walking and prefers it over crawling now. Here she was doing laps in the lobby while we got a snack. (Tess also tried to steal another skater's snack, too!)

My Dancer!!!

Today Kyri took her first dance class at my old studio. I was really nervous that she wouldn't like it because she was really shy during the summer park district class that she took. This time, though, she went out there right when Ms. Penny asked them to and participated in everything! She tried really hard and was excited with each new dance they did. It was so cute!

We almost had a meltdown before class started, though. All of the other girls were dressed in leotards and skirts. I chose the Flashdance "Maniac" look for Kyri instead...leg warmers and oversized shirt. Yeah, not a good idea. Once I got her ballet slippers on, she said, "Now I need to put my skirt on." I didn't bring her a skirt. What is wrong with me?? How could I not put her in the classic ballet outfit like all the other girls? How could I not think of that?? She cried and had the saddest look on her face when I told her I didn't bring her a skirt. Ms. Penny said that she would get to wear a tutu later in class for one of the dances they did and this seemed to work. She quickly composed herself, which shocked me. I really thought that was going to ruin the whole class experience, but she quickly said, "I've calmed myself down Mommy and I'm ready to dance." Haha! So cute. She went out there and did great! Never had to come cling to me in the little observation room once! She was a little behind the other girls because they were all in the session before this one, and Kyri started in the middle of this session. (She wasn't allowed to start until she was 3.) She held her own, though, and I was so proud of her. I got teary eyed at one point, and then I almost completely lost it at one point. All of my memories of the looooooong hours I spent at that studio came rushing back to me, and I was just in complete disbelief that my little girl was now dancing there. So cool! Hopefully she will continue to love it as much as she did today. If so, she will be performing in her first recital on June 9th!!

She even got to try tap, which I think she liked the most!

Oh yeah, we also went to Kyri's 3 year check up after dance class today. She weighs 26.5 pounds (10th percentile) and is 26.5 inches tall (37th percentile). The Dr. said she's meeting all of her milestones, too. We will just keep on working on getting her to use utensils better. He had her try to write her name...not even close! But she could spell it and tell him her full name! : )

Happy New Year

Our New Year's Eve was pretty low key this year with 6 little girls running around. Bryan and Kay came over with Aubry, and Owen and Donna came over with Charlie, Gwyneth, and Lillian. Since we knew the girls wouldn't all last until midnight, we celebrated the New Year on Rio de Janeiro time... 8:00 our time. It was fun!

An attempt at a group shot...

(Aubry was too busy playing)

These three crack me up!

Aubry Rae

Donna and Charlie

Bryan and Kay (and Baby A and Baby B)

Party Girl

Tessa's First New Year's Eve!

On Jan. 1st we went over to my parents' for a pajama party.

Here's one half of the room.

Here's the other half.

And here's the show off!

Although Tessa had been taking steps here and there for the past few weeks, now I think we can officially call her a walker. Of course crawling is still much faster for her, but she is walking more and more for longer stretches at a time. She is very proud of herself, too!! : )