Be Our Guest

On the 21st, my cousin Kim sent me a Facebook message that she and Jordyn wanted to come and visit. She said they could be there as soon as Monday so I told her, "See you Monday!" They got here around 5 that evening. Since it was getting close to the kids' bedtime we just hung out at home.

Tuesday we decided to spend the morning at Betty Brinn Children's Museum. Since Eric has a GE discount there we got in for free! Whoo hoo. Jordyn LOVED this place! They have a kids grocery store that she thought was so much fun and we had to pry her away from. Kim is thinking about setting up her play area like the store!

Jordyn checking out the Baked Goods section

Then we headed over to the Backyard for children under 3. There was so much fun stuff for both crawlers and walkers, without getting trampled by the big kids. Garden, slides, baby play area, greenhouse... so many fun things! I think Jordyn could have played here all day and Nicholas LOVED getting out of the stroller and playing. One of his friends from Gymboree was there as well!

                                        

Kim, Nicholas and Jordyn in the Treehouse

The next hour Jordyn just ran from exhibits playing for a few minutes and then off again! After Betty Brinn we decided to have lunch at Alterra on the lakefront. Uhh... BEST. LUNCH. EVER!! This place not only has great views of Lake Michigan, it is the most delicious food you will ever taste. You can't decide if you should save it so you can slowly enjoy the food, or scarf it down as quick as possible!! The rest of the afternoon/

evening we hung out at the house so everyone could rest for our fun on Day 2!  

Wednesday was Zoo Day!! At the beginning of the summer Eric and I bought a zoo pass that covered admission for me and a guest plus parking and I think we have gotten great use out of it!! The last trip that Kim and Jordyn were out for, our trip to the zoo was quick since Kimmy wasn't feeling well. We made up for it this time! We saw the birds, monkeys, fish, small animals, cats... and much more! The kids were both in excellent moods so it made for a fun trip!

Thursday, and the last day of there trip, we were pretty low key. Our plan was Gymboree and the the Botanical Gardens, but we decided to not go to the gardens so Kim and Jordyn could rest before the drive back to Iowa. That morning we went to Free Play time at Nicholas' Gymboree. The kids got to play on all the equipment, plus do bubbles, parachute and puppets. I keep telling Eric when we move back to Iowa I am going to open one of these! The kids had a BLAST! After Gymboree we went and ate lunch at the food court followed by a little mall shopping. We were sad to see Kim and Jordyn leave that evening. I don't know who had more fun the kids or the adults. Can't wait to do it again!!!!

                                                  

                                 

Oh!! The funniest thing happened the first day! Kim, Nicholas and I were hanging out in the living room and Kim was saying how she couldn't believe Jordyn was still sleeping. So Kim went to check on her. Well, Jordyn was awake... and playing in Kim's make up!!

                                     

Crawling and Climbing and Teething... OH MY!!

From 7-8 months Nicholas has developed A LOT!!!

CRAWLING

At the beginning of 7 months he took his first couple of crawls... now we can't get the kid to stop! He and I go to Gymboree a few days a week so he can crawl in a more open environment. Most of the time he doesn't crawl like a normal he has one leg that he is trying to walk on while crawling, or sometimes he crawls with his feet and hands!

Normal crawling

Nicholas crawling

CLIMBING

So, if you have been to our house, you know that we have a sunken in living room. No more than a week after he started crawling, he figured out how to climb up those two stairs. Now that means he has access to the whole house. Even if I try to block it off with stuff he pushes them aside to climb those stairs (because there is no wall on the other side, we can't put a baby gate there). Also! As soon as he gets up the steps he sits down so he has to have a spotter or else he will tumble back down! Don't worry, Eric caught him when we figured that out!!

                                                  

The other day he was chasing his bottle that was rolling away. Somehow it got up the shelf on the end table and Nicholas climbed up after it. He is pulling himself up on everything as well so I figure in the next few weeks he will be trying to take his first steps!

Ignore the dust.... Nicholas was able to....

TEETHING

So far Nicholas has his bottom two teeth in, but we are thinking the third is coming along soon. He doesn't fuss too much, nothing that Baby Orajel can't fix! He usually has a runny nose and that is about all. I have heard that when the incisors come in it is a lot worse, but we will see. Our main problem is trying to find things for him to teethe on... he doesn't use a pacifier and anything cold just makes him mad that it isn't food. Oh well, we will get it figured out eventually!!