Dylan's first word!

The verdict is in. After months of speculation on what his first word would be, he finally settled the debate yesterday. His first official word is ... drumroll please ...

CLAP!

We have been tell him to "clap clap clap" because he always responds with a big smile and a few chubby-handed claps. Yesterday, he started clapping and saying "cwap cwap!"

So cute!! And he said it several times, always accompanied by clapping, to assure us that it wasn't just a fluke.

(I have to admit I'm a little relieved that his first word wasn't a bad one. Especially since Kelsie has recently been fond of saying "dammit!")

Another year older

Had a very nice birthday yesterday, got some great gifts, Brian and I had an awesome dinner in SoHo. All in all a great day. As much as I loved all the gifts, I have to say this card from Kelsie was my favorite. She made it at school. It's nearly impossible to read on these pictures because her writing is so faint and the flash drowns it out, but on the front she wrote MOMMY and on the inside she wrote I LOVE KELSIE. Although, she insists that it actually says "I love YOU" and is signed Kelsie. She's just learning to write her letters and I know this required a lot of teacher involvement, but it's the most I've seen her write on one project so far and she was so happy about it. Nearly brought tears to my eyes.




Of course, she's most proud of the red heart.

This is kind of fun ...

http://www.dothetest.co.uk/


Cool way to get their message across.

Big questions

Most of the country is discussing big questions like how to cope during a recession, whether a black man can be president, how to protect the environment, etc. But here are the questions that are being pondered in the Pierce household ...

* Why doesn't ketchup melt? (Kelsie)
* Can I throw this at Dylan's throat? (Kelsie)
* Can we sleep in a hotel tonight? (Kelsie)
* What does that spell? (Kelsie - referring to ANY combination of letters ANYwhere)
* Can I have butter on this? (Kelsie - referring to ANY food ANYtime)
* What's inside the moon? (Kelsie)
* I didn't watch that cartoon very well. Can I watch another one? (Kelsie)
* Why didn't anyone tell us having 2 kids was so exhausting? (Brian & Corie)

Saturday morning cartoons

Fun with Aunt Betsy!

The kids love it when Aunt Betsy comes over. She babysat on Saturday and they played dress-up, much to Brian's dismay. (hee hee)




And in case you've been following along and are curious, Dylan didn't throw up once on Aunt Betsy this time!

Inside the mind of Kelsie

When left to her own devices, Kelsie comes up with some pretty creative ideas. (That's my mom version of saying she's a whack job.) Recently she told us she was going to get ready for her party. We were not aware of any party, but that's irrelevant. About 30 minutes later she comes out of her room dressed like a princess and invites us to her party. You have to look closely -- the picture does not give the full effect -- but notice that she put all of her books in stacks everywhere in her room (except on the bookshelf) and then topped the stacks with toys or fanned-out books. We were told these were the decorations. Clever.




On another recent day, she decided that the floor was a big puddle and she needed to create a trail of stepping stones from the living room to her room:





The most amazing part of this one is that she actually cleaned it all up by herself.

Dylan's on the move!

Click the green arrow to play.

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Since I last posted ...

...Dylan was out of school for an entire week with a nasty stomach bug. Poor guy was miserable. Then I had an incredibly painful toothache that led to emergency oral surgery. Now the resulting swelling in my cheek has made me look like a chipmunk storing nuts for the winter. Or like somebody in a fat suit (Nutty Professor). Brian is calling my cheek my "lovely lady lump." But I'll let him since he has been an amazing help while I was laid out in pain/drugged up/grumpy/trying to sleep through it all. The pain is gradually going away and I have high hopes that I'll feel human again next week.

So, that's my excuse for not posting. There have been a couple high points in the midst of the craziness. Kelsie has started writing some words. "Stop" and "soccer" are her two favorites right now (it was S week at school). Dylan has started pulling up to standing everywhere he goes and he's trying to cruise around, and he now claps on command. Kelsie says she's "sooooo proud of him!"

I'll post some pictures shortly.