4 Years later and this is what we got!

Today is our baby boys 4th birthday. It seems like yesterday that he was in my belly kicking the life outta me (we should have been known this as a glimpse into our future). Then a tiny little 7 pound, 10 ounce baby in our arms. That's not even as big as our smallest cat.  


Jory is now past what is considered a toddler and now a kid. He measures at 42 inches and 36 pounds. I have to recheck all the carseats to make sure he hasn't outgrown any of the limits. He is tall and thin and still (and will always) be one of my favorite people to squish hugs out of.

He loves to play with water, zooming his trucks and cars all over the place, andmaking anyone laugh. He loves it when I tickle him all over. He uses his towel as a cape and pretends he is Batman. His best friend is Josh and his best girlfriend is Elana. He loves to take the bus to school and his favorite after school activity is gymnastics. His favorite foods are cereal and munchkins. He loves to brush my hair and put all sorts of clips and bows in it. He is really good at playing on the computer like his daddy and he loves to make projects and is very creative when he wants to be much like me.

My baby boy is sweet and loving. When he is on the mood, he loves to give hugs. I always cherish when he wants me to snuggle him. He cares so much about the people around him. He will get sad and try to comfort when I am crying because he whacked his knee into my nose or he will tell me that I have to sing to Mira when she is fussy.

I just find it so amazing that this little tiny person has been in my life for only 4 years and he is one of the most important people I know. Happy 4th Birthday, Jory Seth!

Instant happiness

Every baby has a switch. Most of the time this switch will work and on rare occasions, it will have no effect. Mira's switch is our big fat blob of a cat named Andre. If she is hysterical, I can always just walk into the room that Andre is in and she will turn into the happiest baby in the worl.  You would have never known she was crying her eyes out just seconds ago. He is a hefty 22/23 pounds, black and lazy as can be. The two of them are competing in weight, however, Mira has gotten to a point of being able to take him on.  

When she naps, she usually sleeps on my bed and wakes up to her furry friend at the foot of the bed. She actually wakes and looks for him because he is most likely there. She will spot him and look at me, smile, and then head straight for him. With all her might, she will get to his fur coat as fast as she can, giggling the whole way there. When she finally gets there you would have thought she just conqured Mount Everest. Happy as a dog with a jar of peanut butter she will grab and torture this poor animal. The funny thing is, he will go to snip at her to get her to stop but he wont move. (or hurt her) 

Family update

We apologize for the lack of posts around here. This family has been under attack by almost (and I really mean ALMOST) every germ out there. For awhile it was one germ at a time and then this past weekend we got hit like Hiroshima. Hopefully we are all on the mend and there will be no more sickness here. Mira has been the healthiest of all of us (most likely due to her great breastfeeding skills) and here she is to tell you the whole story. 

She was in the middle of dinner when she decided to speak up. Nothing like a little squash to spice up the story.

An unexpected achievement

Just before bedtime yesterday Jory was playing with Mira and trying to make her laugh. Its one of his favorite things to do with her (besides hugging her so hard that he knocks her over and into something). While he was playing with her, she did something I didn't quite expect her to do just yet. Take a look: 

After my initial shock and thinking that from here on out we are officially screwed (she is stronger that I thought and I have to move the crib mattress down) it occurred to me that it made sense. She has been working really hard at crawling and that takes the whole body to do. Plus swinging at the cats as they run past is not easy either.

Sequence of events

Jory si always quite particular abot how certain things are done. His milk cup has to be placed exactly at the top right corner of his cereal bowl. You have to sit on a specific cusion on the couch.

Name spotting

When we got pregnant with each of our kids we tried really hard to find a name for them that was different but not outrageous. With a pretty common last name like ours, this is a way that they can say there is no one else with that name. Unique was our goal and I believe we have achieved that.  However, in the spirit of being different we didn't want names that people would question if we were on drugs when we chose them or if we just flipped through the naming book and closed our eyes and pointed. You would be surprised what kind of odd names are out there. Because the names are on the 'different'  side I always get excited when I spot someone with one of the kids names. I know there is a character from a novel and a musician named Jory. Once in awhile I'll email someone with the name Jory just to see if they like their name and how they got it (if they know why their parents gave it to them). I typically get good responses if you are wondering. Even last year, a girl on American Idol by the name of Jory made it to Hollywood. She didn't make it too far, but still, her name was on TV. The other night after I got Mira to sleep I was watching my usual detective shows that help me wind down from my hectic day and I started to watch a new episode of Psych. I had to watch a particular part where they mention some ones name about a dozen times before I settled that I did hear it right. The name was Mira. The episode was called "There's something about Mira". I was so excited that I jumped out of bed and ran downstairs to tell Ryan. Other than the actress, I have never heard the name before. Pretty exciting.

Anyway you can get there

Mira is on the move. She is not on her hands and knees doing a crawl. She has found a new way to get where she wants to. Because she is an expert sitter, she has figured out that while in the sitting position she will rock herself that she can move foward. She is not very quick while on the carpet, but on New Years Eve while we were eating some pizza Daddy was trying to entertain her. Well, she is quicker than we thought.