Visit

Matt's brother came to visit with Quinn and Reid. It was a really nice visit, and I thought that the kids did really well. The Meche's also came over to play and all of the kids played really well together. Quinn slept in the room with Regan and they were only up until 11:30. Which I thought was pretty good. The only bad thing is that we still have a monitor in Regan's room so that she can call us to go potty. So, when they started playing with the vanity it sounded like the moniter was on the vanity. Even though it is actually across the room. Quinn pooped out first and told Regan it was time to go to bed. But Regan is a night owl like me. Quinn kept telling Regan to go to bed and stop talking. So, Regan would stop talking for a minute and then she would ask Quinn a question like.... "Do you like princesses?" And Quinn would answer the question and then Regan would start talking again. But she eventually did go to sleep. I thought they would be up until the wee hours of the morning, so I thought 11:30 was good. Regan was exhausted yesterday, though. She took a nap and she went to sleep pretty easily last night.

Addison's Physical Therapy

I took Addison to Physical Therapy on Thursday. She hadn't been since November. She has little to no interest in walking and is afraid to stand without holding onto something. But she tolerates a lot more from the therapist than she does from me. So, the therapist and I decided that she should go every week until she starts walking. Which will hopefully be soon, because she doesn't want me to hold her but she doesn't want to walk. It is especially challenging at dancing, because I don't want her to crawl around on the dirty floor. So, I am stuck holding a squirmy baby for an hour.

Regan Got the Baby

Matt picked Regan up from school today and was a little concerned to see a note attached to her backpack. But he soon realized that it meant that she got the baby in the King Cake. All of the classes have been having King Cake for snack during the Mardi Gras Season. Regan has been keeping me up to date on who gets the baby everyday. She is very excited that she got the baby today. Now I have to go buy a King Cake for Friday.

Addison's Length Check

Addison grew 3/4 inches. So, he doesn't want to send her to the Endocrinologist yet. I have to bring her back in a month to have her measured again.

Regan's Swim Lesson

Regan started swim lessons today. She really enjoyed them, and they said that she did really well for her first day. I'm not sure if they knew that she had had them before, though.

In other news... Addison stood by herself for a second this evening and even tried to take a step until she realized that we were not holding onto her. I think she is scared to do it. She likes the security of hanging on to something, but I know she can and will do it eventually. She has also started to purposely drop things. We have a giraffe toy that you put blocks in its mouth and it makes a little sound. She loves to put the blocks in it and looks at you like you can clap for me now. She loves to clap and put her hands up for touch down, but likes to do it more on her own terms than on command. She will clap if we start singing patty cake and she tries to do the spider motion when we sing the itsy bitsy spider. But the funniest (to me) thing that she does is if you ask her to give you a kiss, she gives you her cheek for you to give her a kiss.

We Got Her

As some of you may know, Regan has been driving us crazy lately with the Strawberry Shortcake Toys at McDonalds. She wants to eat there morning, noon and night. All because she wanted Orange Blossom and Blueberry Muffin. Well, today I looked online and they do not have a Blueberry Muffin. But they did have an Orange Blossom. So, I called all of the McDonalds in town and finally found one with an Orange Blossom. The only other one that we didn't have (of the ones that they have) was Rasberry Torte, and I got her while I was there. Regan has promised to stop asking to go to McDonalds for a while. At least until they have a new line of toys that she likes.

Addison - Croup

Addison has croup. But she only has the cough. The pediatrician says that everything else looks good. She is on an oral steroid for three days and we are running the humidifier.

She still has not grown. They are giving her a couple more weeks and then we will probably be referred to a geneticist and an endocrinologist.

Regan's Allergies

I took Regan to get her allergies tested today. Unfortunately, she is allergic to year around things and she is highly allergic to cats. He said that she is allergic to a lot for a three year old and that she probably won't grow out of it. He did say that her allergies are worse in the winter. She might eventually have to have an inhaler but for now he is putting her on Singulair and Zyrtec with breathing treatments as needed. But he said that if she is doing well in the Spring we can wean her off of the Singulair for the summer. He did say that some exposure to Cat's is okay, but day to day exposure is not recommended. She doesn't have any food allergies except for Strawberries. Apparently it is a food that does something to the cells in your body and makes people itch. So, she won't go into anafalactic shock if she eats them..... but they do make her skin itch.

The things that she are allergic to are Cats; Tree pollens of Maple, Sycamore, Ash, Oak, Red Cedar, and Cottonwood; Grass Pollens of Bermuda and Timothy; Mold Spores of Hormodendrum; and Weed Pollens of Mixed Ragweed, Kochia and Marsh Elder.

Washington D.C.

We just got back from visiting family in D.C. It was so much fun. A good mixture of relaxation, sightseeing and family time. Addison was a little fussy due to being off of her schedule and she was not to sure of my aunt and uncle's dogs. She really didn't like them at first, but tolerated them by the end. We got to meet my cousin's baby who is just adorable. He and Addison competed in a cutest baby contest, but neither would concede the title.

While we were there we went into D.C. twice. Once for some sightseeing and then to go to the National Zoo. For the sightseeing portion we attempted to go to the Natural History Smithsonian, but it was a mad house. We managed to eat some lunch and see the Hope Diamond and that is about it. The girls did not want to stay in their strollers and with the crowd we were afraid of losing Regan. So we went on the "Washington Mall Death March" as my uncle calls it. Sorry Uncle Sam for any permanent damage we might have caused to your hip. After seeing some of the sights, Matt says that he now feels like a full fledged citizen.

We went to the National Zoo on the last day of our trip. My cousin's were nice enough to brave the cold and go with us. I think it might of been the highlight of Regan's trip. We saw a Panda for the first time ever, and we commemorated the event by buying a stuffed Panda to add to the large collection of stuffed animals that we already have. Regan is our resident animal lover (Addison wants nothing to do with them) and I think she might have found a kindred spirit in Chad. They watched the Gorillas together. The Gorillas were eating their lunch which consisted of a healthy diet of grass. So, Chad asked Regan if she eats grass. Which she replied with "Well, (she starts every sentence with "well" these days) sometimes my sister picks grass and puts it in her mouth (which is true.)" So, Chad says do you eat grass. And she says....no, I eat big girl food.

All in all it was a very nice trip. Oh! I forgot to mention that we also met Betsy's boyfriend Ryan (he does exist). He was very nice to drive out with Betsy and have a family night of gambling (Aunt Carla gave us all a dice game for Christmas) and red beans. It was even nicer of Betsy to drive out because; being the young, traveling, non married chick that she is she had flown in that day from a turnaround trip to the liberty bowl. But, of course, she had to visit with her godchild who rewarded her with a wary look.

As I was saying, it was a great trip. Even with getting up at 4:45 this morning to catch an 8:30am plane. Which I actually recommend for traveling with small children. The plane was not full, so we had an extra seat next to Matt. And both girls took a nap.

Christmas

We have been out of town, so I am a little late posting this. I realize that Regan's pile is way bigger than Addison's. It is an understatement to say that it is much easier to shop for Regan than it is for Addison. And I figured that I could get away with it this year. She didn't seem to mind.

Christmas PJ's

Regan is very excited for Santa to come tonight. She finished making candy cane reindeers with my mom. She wanted to make sugar cookies again, but I talked her into tollhouse cookies for Santa. And we are leaving carrots for the reindeer. We just put Addison to bed, and now we are going to go drive around and look at some lights. Then it will be off to bed, so that Santa can come.

Regan's Best Friend

Regan loves Mc Donald's (which she calls Old Mc Donald's) mostly for the toys, I think. We went today and she played in the play area. They were playing music and she was dancing. It was very cute. Then she climbed up on Mc Donald's lap. Luckily I had my camera with me.

Puddles of Fun

The kids were using the bike as a sprinkler. Only in the south can you play in puddles in December.

Addison's 1 year well visit

Well, our little trouble maker has not grown in length since her nine month appointment. They are not to concerned about it, because her head is as big as ever. They said the most important thing is her head growth. But I have to take her in in a month for a length check.

Here are her stats:

Weight: 20 lbs. (35%)
Height: 28 in. (18%)
Head Circ.: 18 3/4 (98%)

Addison's Birthday Parties

We had a small party for Addison in Lafayette and a small party in New Orleans. And we went to a party inbetween for Quinn. We have been very busy, and I am glad it is all done. Planning a birthday during the Christmas Season is hard.

It is funny how different two children can be. For Regan's first birthday she wanted no part of the smash cake. She still doesn't really like sweet stuff or having dirty hands. She is much more of a salty girl.... like her mommy. Addison is the complete opposite. She enjoyed both of her smash cakes. The first one was a cupcake and she put so much of it in her mouth I thought she was going to choke.

Nutcracker

I took Regan to see the Nutcracker ballet this evening, and she did really well. The intermission through her off a little bit. And by the end she was ready to go. But we made it through the entire performance.

Cookies

We baked and decorated sugar cookies today. Can you tell what Regan's favorite color is?

Swinging

The couple of evenings ago we were outside playing on the swingset. I ran inside to get something and I told Regan to stay with her sister. I came back and she was swinging her sister.

Regan's First Tea

Georgina and I took the girl's to their first tea today. It was really cute, and they really enjoyed it. They had a Ms. Clause, a Snow Princess, Santa Clause, a Snow Man and a Rudolph. As you probably guessed, Regan liked the Snow Princess the best. She took two pictures with her.