Keith started his fourth year of his five year residency program. It is hard to believe that we have already survived three years, but we still have two more years to trudge through. He is really beginning to spend more time in the OR, which is much more rewarding. When he tells me stories of the hospital, I picture the halls of Seattle Grace and the shenanigans of Izzy, Alex, Meredith, and Christina. I get many eye rolls when I try to compare his hectic days to the dramas of Grey's Anatomy.
With Kirby's naps gone during the day, I find my evenings spent on the computer working for either Stephens & Soetenga, writing swim workouts for MultiFit, or keeping the financials for my friends' new fitness business endeavors. I try so hard to spend the days on the floor building blocks or outside pushing swings so when does one do the cleaning and laundry? Oh I know...the wee hours of the night watching some good ole Friends reruns. I have folded many underwear with those friends of mine.
So that's what Mom and Dad are up to. Boring stuff. Aside from all that, we are busy keeping up with this.....
We went to Nashville for July 4th festivities at Twoey and Weezie's and Austin and Michelle's wedding. The whole trip was a blast. We started the trip with a visit to Opry Mills where these two rode in a train. He was ALLLL smiles and loved it. Thanks Memaw!!! We also did a little shopping at Opry Mills and picked out some "different crocs" for both Kirby and Susanna Rose. I believe Kirby tried on four different pair before he decided upon the ones we bought.
The wedding was beautiful and of course the reception was a blast. I couldn't keep Susanna Rose off the dance floor. At one point in the night I took her dress off her so she was running around in her diaper and bloomers.
We spent some time with the Trailov crew. These kids danced and danced and danced. Kirby learned some moves from Christian! They had such a blast. Kirby left saying that Christian was his best buddy cousin. I was lucky enough to go to a dual swim meet for Emilia and Lucy. AND only former swimmers would be excited about this, but we were home for City Meet weekend, and I got to see both the girls swim. It was so much fun!!! Kirby even made it to Lucy's day, and watched her swim two races.
We made it back home after our long trip to Nashville, and it took me a full week to recover from all our travels and fun.
Susanna Rose finally began to walk around 14 months, and now she is full on running. One of her favorite things among many others is to just make laps around the house - through the living room, hallway, kitchen, and around again. She loves to get into the pantry and take the big box of goldfish out. It is as big as she is. And then she takes off and runs with it. She loves to chase after Kirby and especially after Quillen. She has learned to say Kirby, and it is the cutest thing. If she wakes up before Kirby, she is looking for him and saying his name. They play quite well together as long as she isn't disrupting his order. He loves order; she loves chaos.
We've had the most pleasant summer. It has been so mild and has helped us soak up as much sunlight as we can. We spend most mornings out and about and typically head outside in the hood after nap and sometimes even after dinner to shake out all our wiggles.
We have eaten picnic lunches and dinners.
We have definitely had our share of popsicles. And my goodness, the amount of entertainment a slice of watermelon can provide for a three and one year old is unbelievable.
I feel like when we don't know what to do, we pack a lunch and head to the zoo (thank you, Mimi and Deda, for the best Christmas gift EVER). One afternoon, Susanna Rose was refusing her nap after the ole thirty-minute-carried-fake-out-nap so I threw everyone in the car, and we spent the afternoon and early evening at the zoo. Keith was even able to join us after work. It was one of our best visits. Kirby still LOVES the dolphins and the dolphin show. I love them as well as the lions. What amazing creatures. Susanna Rose likes the dog show. She loves herself a puppy!
We made cookies. I even busted out the kitchenaid mixer.
And we have acted silly.
We have acted really silly. This girl is a ham. Let me tell you. I would have never suspected it in the first nine months of this little life, but she loves to giggle. She is still very serious in front of a new face and will size you up, but when she is feeling it, she will do whatever she can for a giggle, and she will follow it up with belly laughs of her own. Makes my heart sing. I've had a couple people say to me what a happy girl she is, and it makes me so happy to hear.
I feel like everything has really started to click for Kirby this summer. He can put his floor puzzles together all by himself. He can strap himself into his carseat. He picks out his clothes and jammies. He is even going potty by himself and getting dressed and brushing his teeth by himself.
His birthday bike was not a very big hit. AT ALL. He never wanted to ride it. He said it was too big. He just wanted to put his helmet on and race his little tykes car. (Ay yi yi). I was desparate to get him out of that car so I ran out to Target and got him a scooter. It took a few days, but he finally starting loving it. I even see Susanna Rose on it from time to time. He would scoot around on the sidewalks while I walked Quillen, and if he got tired, I could throw the scooter and him in the double stroller and speed along.
The scooter seemed to be doing the trick because the next thing I knew he started asking to ride his bike. He seemed very lazy on it at first and didn't want to push his legs very hard. I would have to get him started, and he would push his legs about two times and stop. The next thing I knew, he was riding all the way home from our stop sign without stopping...that was after it took us 15 minutes to get to the stop sign. And then two days later, I was pushing the stroller and walking the dog alongside Kirby riding his bike. At one point, I was even having to run to keep up with him. I think he likes the "wind in his hair." So awesome!!! Perhaps I can bust out the jogging stroller rather than the monster stretch limo stroller.
At the park, he has always shown a lot of hesitation. He is not the most adventurous soul, but all of a sudden, he is climbing the ladders and even the rock climbing wall. He heads to the highest level and goes down the biggest and tallest slides. He goes up and down and up and down and back up again.
And talk about clicking. The swimming thing. He has it figured out and LOVES it. I've been very resistant to putting Kirby in a lifejacket or the puddle jumpers or any type of flotation device. I thought it would keep him from learning to swim on his own. Boy was I wrong. When we were on vacation, he was begging me to let him swim, and I kept saying no because I was solo and Susanna Rose was awake. Someone gave him puddle jumpers to borrow, and the next thing I knew, he wasn't riding a unicycle in the water anymore. He was in the proper swimming position. Then the next thing I knew, he had his face in the water and was swimming around like a little water bug. Oh, I hope I remember that sweet sight for the rest of my life. It is just so cute. I ran out and bought our own pair. I really love them because I can get in the big pool with both kids and not worry about him as much. I don't have to be hands on. I've begun taking them off from time to time, and the boy has begun to swim. We are talking swimming freestyle. Arms out of the water freestyle. He did it for the first time this week, and every time he did it, I was squealing and dancing around in the water with Susanna Rose on my hip. (I'm lucky I know the guards at the pool because otherwise, they would have thought I was crazy and that one of the three of us was in need of rescue!!) I love watching this boy pick up on everything around him. He's even learning to share and take turns. Just growing up before my very eyes.
MSTH:
ReplyDeleteGreat update! Kirby and Susanna Rose are growing, maturing, and exploring new concepts every day. Congratulations on a job wee done as their mother.
Love,
Dad/Deda