Zadie Turns Two!

I am SO thankful for our Zadie Zoo and really enjoying the stage she's in. So far -- knock on wood -- we haven't experienced the terrible twos and Zadie is generally fun to be with. I love this latest stage because she is putting sentences together and turning into a little human. Haha.

This celebration was a little more low-key than last year's party when Grandma Linda was visiting, but we had a great time and Zadie was particularly excited about people singing her "Happy Birthday." And the cupcake, of course.

I'm going to do another post later with a short video clip, but here are some photos from today.

Here is Zadie enjoying her cupcake with chocolate frosting and sprinkles. And two proud mommas.

I like this photo because it shows how attached Zadie is to her Uncle Hank and also because it shows off her cute birthday outfit. She had fun wearing her tutu all day and even took a nap in it. Thanks, Grandma Linda, for sending it!

And a big thank-you to Aunt Susie for throwing a little celebration for Zadie, cooking a nice meal, and baking a cake and cupcakes. You do so much for our family!

First Haircuts!

Zadie and Skip got their first official haircuts today, although Skip has had a few previous ones at home (which is part of why he needed an official one!). You can't tell much of a difference for Zadie except that it looks a lot healthier in the back. Skip looks like a little Marine.

We've been telling Zadie she was going to get a haircut for her second birthday for a while now, so she was pretty excited on the walk over, but once she got in the seat she was like a zombie (see above photo for evidence!). It was like someone had cast a spell on her. The good news is that she was a very good "patient," but I was starting to wonder if she was pooping and that's why she was so glazed over! She brightened up once it was over and she got a lollipop, though.

Skip was surprisingly okay with all the cutting and even the buzzing of the clippers. Hopefully this shorter haircut won't further accentuate the poor child's flat head!

A Nick Photo After All!

It turns out that we actually did take one photo during Nick's visit two weekends ago and I didn't even realize it. Here's Nick romping around with Zadie. Zadie was pretty darn sad when Nick boarded the Greyhound home, let me tell you!

Good News on the Adoption Front

I also wanted to share that Skip had a big court date this past Thursday and everything went well. The birth mother's parental rights were terminated, which is the most important step towards Skip becoming officially ours. We are really fortunate to have a case that is moving so quickly through the system (relatively speaking, of course). And, more importantly, we are very fortunate to have such a healthy, sweet, and good-natured baby!

Assuming everything goes well, we think we will be able to officially adopt Skip by May or June.

Catching Up...

I wish that I blogged more regularly and that this was a more accurate reflection of our children's lives, but I think one of my main obstacles is that I feel the need to post a photo for every post and that involves taking a relevant photo and downloading it to my computer. Somehow the idea of getting the cord out and hooking the camera to the computer stops me cold. So I'll try to be better about just posting random little posts here and there and not feel the need to have a photo.

Because I didn't take any photos while he was here, I never posted about my nephew Nick's visit. We love when Nick comes to visit because he's up for anything and he's like a sponge who wants to have new experiences. Plus, he's really helpful with the kids and we use him like a pack mule. :)

During his time here, we went for a bike ride along the beach, went to a modern dance performance downtown, had a picnic with a bunch of friends to celebrate Tori's birthday at the Getty Museum, watched some good movies, and went bowling at a chic downtown L.A. bowling alley. Also, Nick beat me and Tori for the first time ever in Scrabble, much to my irritation.

More recently, we spent the past weekend in San Diego. It was raining a lot, so we didn't do much outdoors, but we got in a few short walks to our favorite spots (Ono's and the Spare Room consignment store). And we had a great dinner with my parents at our very favorite restaurant, Kemo Sabe. That dinner was the very first time I can remember the four of us having dinner since Zadie was born, so thanks to Austin and Anabel for babysitting! We also got to see some friends and Zadie got to play with Nathan, who is only six weeks older. All in all a great weekend!

Siblings

I've been meaning for quite a while to write about the relationship between Skip and Zadie. People always ask us how Zadie feels about him and whether she's jealous. For the most part, Zadie is incredibly protective of him and thinks he's a lot of fun. One of her favorite first words was "SHIP SHIP SHIP," which she would say every time we left the house -- as if we were going to leave Skip behind.

Now that she's a little older, she's taking on some big sister duties and likes to help feed him his bottle and also change his diaper. The diaper changing habit is a bit of a problem since I often return to a room to find him completely naked and Zadie standing with a diaper in her hand. She's not so good at putting a new one on.

The best part about their relationship so far is how much Skip adores Zadie. He thinks everything she does is hilarious. I can be trying to get him to laugh with no luck and all Zadie has to do is walk up and say one word to him and he giggles. He really thinks she is the coolest person the planet.

The only real conflict in their relationship is Skip's major tendency to pull hair. Zadie likes to play pretty physically with Skip and logroll him over and over, but Skip always wins because he pulls her hair. Then Zadie screams, "Ship bull hair! Ship bull hair!"

Skip Turns 6 Months...and Eats Solids!

Skip turned six months old on January 3rd and he's hit some big milestones lately. He's been sitting up for about three weeks now and a few days ago he had his first try at solid foods.

We recorded Zadie's first meal way back in July of 2008 and it was pretty funny because Tori gave her zucchini and she definitely didn't like it. But I guess Tori is softening up because she gave Skip sweet potatoes for his first solid foods. He is FAR more interested in his first meal than Zadie was. He struggles to get the hang of the whole swallowing thing, but he's pretty enthusiastic about trying it. I'm hoping this means he is going to be a less picky eater than Zadie.

Skip had his six-month appointment a few days ago and things are mostly good. He's doing really well developmentally and with his height and weight, but he still has flathead. We're looking into helmets and have a consultation next week for it. The doctor says it isn't affecting his brain growth, but it's still not fun to have a misshapen head!

His exact specs were 27.25 inches long (76th percentile), 17lbs, 5 oz (50th percentile), and 16.75 something head circumference (24th percentile). I was surprised that when I compared this to Zadie's 6 month numbers Skip was actually slightly ahead of her in height and weight. I always think of Zadie as so much bigger.