Must Love Cats and Dogs

Back in the early years of our marriage, hubby and I were often asked the ol' when-are-you-two-having-kids irritating question. Oh, we just got a dog we say - we are practicing on him.

A few years later, still no kids. But we did add a cat to the household. Same question would come our way. Same answer given by us...only modified to include the cat.

Well, fast forward to today (13+ years after the appearance of our first furry friend) and here we are with 2 real kids of our own. And we discovered recently that, after years of joking around about the dog and cat being our practice kids, our real kids are really quite like our dog and cat.

Our son is the dog of the family. And I mean this in the best possible way. Like man's best friend, he is friendly and eager to please his owners, um, I mean,uh, parents. You tell him to stop doing something and he pretty much gets it right off the bat. (Of course, he is 4 now, so there are times....)

And then there's Little Miss K. Yup - she's the cat. She's not lazy and fat and antisocial like our particular cat, but there's no telling her no. As in, No Keira - stop eating that refrigerator magnet. (Take away magnet and put back on fridge.) Two seconds later: No Keira, stop eating that magnet.

Repeat.

Repeat.

Repeat.

She keeps going back for more, totally lacking that admirable dog-like obedience gene.

But we love them all, dogs and cats alike.

And, as it turns out, getting those practice kids oh so long ago really might pay off afterall.

March Gladness

OK....sometimes, it really is madness around here, but I didn't want the NCAA after me for name infringement and all. (Their headquarters are right here in Indy, so who knows who is lurking where!)
Anyway, spring is about to officially arrive and we had some nice preview days last week. We all got outside to enjoy the sunshine and Miss K thought her new swing was, to quote her brother, "A Blast!!!"


As of this past Sunday, Keira is 15 months old and has been with us for 3 months. She is starting to walk more and more on her own and she is getting her sixth tooth - hence the madness sometimes, instead of gladness. Besides mama and dada and gege, she says UP! quite plainly. I think she also said thank you at dinner tonight. Really. Ask her dad. And she loves to point and blab at our dog. I think she is saying "go go dog" or something like that....maybe because Quinn likes the PD Eastman book "Go, Dog, Go!", or maybe because the Mandarin word for dog is pronounced "go" and whenever she points to Odie I say, "dog...gou...dog...."
Or maybe she's just saying "Why don't you ever let me pull his tail!??!"

Anyway, she's doing just fabulously, I think. Did I mention previously that she's hit the charts now? The growth charts, that is. She has officially gained 3 American pounds and that puts her at the 8th-percentile for her age. She is in the 25% for her height. And despite the noodle lovefest she displayed in China, she won't touch them now. What have we done? Is she an all American girl already? She wouldn't eat them the last 2 times we got Chinese food. She will, however, eat macaroni and cheese. And she ate barbecue and danced to country music when we took daddy-o out for his 40th b-day dinner. Yup...the girl's gone country. (We don't even really like country music much ourselves, but I guess there's no accounting for toddler taste!)

Well, time to slide out of here for now. I'll leave you with a little fish-lip kiss from Miss K herself:
(She's discovered recently that instead of crying when mommy tells her no, it is much better to just crawl on over and give lots of kisses.....and who am I to argue with that??!)

The Sands of Time

My dear hubby got a 40th (yes- 40th!) birthday card last week that said "When it comes to the sands of time.....You've built yourself a nice little beach!" Find below the beach bums enjoying daddy's 40th. (Cake, it's all about the cake....at least if you're 4, and not yet 40!)


When asked to comment on their father's birthday, Keira says:
heh heh heh....he's how old?

Quinn has no comment, but dwells sadly on the thought of his dad being over-the-hill....


Later in the week, the old man proved himself still useful by taking the whole gang for a walk around the neighborhood! (Keira's first wagon ride, which she loved, of course.)


Later, in a musical b-day gift to her dad, Keira entertained.
First, a piano and harmonica concert (that is, using the harmonica to bang on the piano!).

And then, a few dance numbers!

Happy 40th B-day, Daddy! We love you!