Monday, December 26, 2011

I Jimmy Kimmel'ed Naomi

Merry Christmas everyone. I hope you all had a wonderful day yesterday. We spent the day relaxing at home, letting the girls get some rest. Mikaela had a fever of 102 on Christmas Eve, so we kept everything low key, dinner on Christmas eve with my brothers, a birthday cake yesterday for Chris, and just a lot of hanging out in PJs. (and princess dresses for Naomi).

A couple of weeks ago, Jimmy Kimmel put out a challenge to parents to let their kids open one Christmas gift early, but make it be a really bad gift, video record them, and post it to YouTube.
The results were shockingly hilarious. I decided to try and prank Naomi by giving her a gag gift to open for being a good girl on Christmas eve. Here's what happened:

Friday, December 23, 2011

Mikaela's first day of work

Our daycare was closed today, but both Austin and I had to be in the office. Austin took Naomi to work with him, and I signed Mikaela up for backup daycare at the Bright Horizons by my office. Before I dropped her off, I brought her into the office to introduce her to everyone. She was completley overwhelmed at first, and was very clingy, but eventually started to warm up to people by the time it was time to leave.
She was happy for awhile to bang away at my keyboard pretending to work though. And according to the daycare teachers at the backup center, she settled in very quickly, despite the tears she gave me when I was dropping her off.


Monday, December 19, 2011

Naomi's Dance Recital

Naomi had her dance recital for her pre-tap/ballet class this past Saturday. She's had a dance recital with the dance class she does at daycare, but this was the first real dance recital she's been in. The recital was at the Nutley Middle school, on a real stage, with a dress rehearsal, backstage waiting wing, dressing rooms, photo shoots, costumes, stage makeup etc. All in all, her dance was only 2 mins, but it was so exciting and fun non the less.

On Friday, Nai Nai drove up for the show. She watched Mikaela while Naomi and I headed over to the middle school for the rehearsal. Each dance class had about 5 mins on stage, but had to be there 15 minutes prior to their slotted time. And of course everything was running a bit late. It was mass chaos with little kids running around everywhere. I seriously felt like I was in a terrible nightmare scene from toddlers and tiara's.
Naomi was a little impatient as we waited in the audience for her class to be called up. She kept asking when it was going to be her turn to go on stage and dance. But at the same time, she liked watching all the other classes on stage and had her eyes glued to the stage the entire time.
When it was our turn to go backstage and lineup, she practically ran backstage. Some of the other girls were a little antsy and nervous, and their mom's were worried about whether their kids would dance, or melt down on stage. I was more worried about whether Naomi would melt down when her turn was done.
They ran through their dance number once on stage. Naomi did a great job, following the teachers and was very focused. I seriously am shocked by how a girl who is as shy as she is, and takes forever to warm up to people, even friends we see almost every week or every day, can get up on stage and have no stage fright whatsoever.

The next day was the day of the actual show. We were supposed to get there an hour before the actual show started, but I knew that we would end up just sitting around waiting, and didn't want to press my luck with Naomi behaving and being patient enough. So we went a little late, probably giving ourselves 30 mins before the show to get there, get dressed, have her photo taken with the photographer and touch up her "stage makeup". Yes stage makeup was really just mommy's makeup, and it was possibly the one thing she was most excited about. She actually tried to tell me that she was supposed to wear mommy makeup for the dress rehearsal as well. She didn't win that argument. The entire time we were in the dressing rooms, she kept asking for touch ups, wanting more glitter, more lipstick, more blush, more eyeshadow. Even while waiting in the wings she was asking for a touchup. Everything was really light though, so she didn't look like a crazy toddler in a pageant show. There were definitely some kids with mascara, bright red lipstick etc, but I just couldn't bring myself to put much more than pink gloss and some light eyeshadow and blush. I had no issues with glitter overdose. It was a winter recital after all! Luckiy all the other girls in her class had similar minded parents, so she wasn't begging for red lips or heavy makeup. Thank goodness.
For the dance, she did such a great job. She got distracted halfway through the number, and was just staring out at the audience while doing a reptitive plie, it was hilarious seeing her doing the same move over and over while the other kids were moving on to doing little turns etc. But then she realized she wasn't following her dance teacher, and started doing the moves later on. When the song was over, she nearly jumped for joy she was so excited by the applause, and you could tell she didn't want to get off stage cause she was the last one off and was still standing on stage as the curtains closed.
Sure enough when I went backstage to pick her up, she was fussy and kept saying she wanted to dance more. Thankfully going back into the audience, Austin greeted her with a pink bouquet of flowers (because as Naomi would say "PINK IS MY FAVORITE COLOR!"),. That cheered her up a bit.
Then they had to go back stage again at the end of the show and take a final bow with all the other classes. I made the mistake of taking her boquet and asking Austin to hang on to them. When we got backstage and all the kids had their flowers, she was upset and kept asking for her flowers the entire time she was on stage, and didn't end up smiling at all. But honestly, not many kids were cause it was pure CHAOS with all the kids marching on stage all at once to take a bow, and all the parents rushing the stage to try and get a photo (despite the rules that no video and no photos were allowed during the show).

It was definitely chaotic, but it was so much fun. She has another recital with the daycare on Thursday evening. It'll definitely be much more laid back for everyone, so that will be a nice change in pace. But I'm already looking forward to the next ballet recital in June.



Saturday, December 17, 2011

Mikaela 11 months



She's reached the final month in her first year of life. 11 months. Unbelievable. She's changed so much. There are definitely times I feel like I've missed so much of her baby days. It really is true when they say that sometimes the second child gets the shaft. Naomi is so vocal about her needs that half of my time with the girls is spent catering to what Naomi needs and wants. Mikaela on the other hand, is so laid back, such a chill baby. She's content playing on her own for long periods of time. As long as she can see you, she's happy. And when she's fussy, she just needs to be held and cuddled with and she'll be content. Maybe my inability to smother her non stop has made her into an easier, laid back kid. Or maybe she's just cool the way =)

In any case, she's such an amazing kid, Austin and I are definitely lucky parents.

In her 11 month, Mikaela has gotten a lymph node infection, a random virus that made her skin break out in bright red rashes, and is pretty much a non stop leaky faucet of snot. Ah the joys of daycare.
She's growing at a slow and steady pace, at her last sick visit at the doctors, with all her clothes on, she weighed 16 lbs 2 oz.
She loves to eat. This hasn't changed. She much prefers adult food vs baby food, and often times flat out refuses to eat anything mushy. Especially when she sees us eating other things for dinner. She'll point, gesture, scream, nod, cry, until she gets a taste of what we're eating.
She loves saying hi to everyone, cracks herself up constantly by playing peek a boo with her toys, and anyone that will play with her. She loves to pass things to you, and ask for them back. She knows how to sign for "all done" She can wave bye bye, blow raspberries, and is constantly imitating the sounds and gestures that she sees other people making.
Her daycare teachers say she's so social, and she's starting to become very vocal and loud. She has a little boyfriend at school too. They follow each other around (crawling) and apparently like to rest their heads on each other. He's a younger man though, only 9 months. Total Cougar.
She sleeps through the night with no problems at all, and actually is much easier to get to sleep now than Naomi ever was. knock on wood though, cause now that' I've bragged about it, we'll probably have a month of bad sleep nights. But every night, I lay her down in her crib while she's wide awake and she just rolls over on her belly and watches me leave the room, and eventually falls asleep.
She's a total Wei when it comes to the sleeping genes too...because as early as I might put her to bed, she'll sleep in every morning. There are days when Austin will have to wake her up so that they can get to daycare on time! We are definitely lucky in the sleeping in department. It's not quite the same as pre-kids, but when we hear about parents that have to wake up everyday at 5am..phew, my weekends are really nice.
It's the last month of the year, the last month of MIkaela's "firsts" in her first year of life. I'm totally getting nostalgic now, which means it's time to end this post. Happy weekend everyone.

Thursday, December 8, 2011

December sick days

I've been home with the girls for two days now. I have to go back tomorrow, so Austin is taking the day to work from home. Thankfully we both have bosses that are understanding, with kids of their own, they both know how tough it is to have kids in daycare. Still it's hard, and we feel guilty, but it is what it is.
It's been a rough week for the girls though. Mikaela has swollen lymph nodes, and is on antibiotics that totally mess with her system and give her non stop diarreah. She's taking it like a champ though. i've totally enjoyed the two extra days at home with her. Other than the constant diaper changes, she's totally happy, and such a happy go lucky baby.
Naomi on the other hand has gotten the worst end of the sickness. She's had a high fever for over two days now, has a persistent cough that keeps her (and me) from sleeping at night, and ends up making her gag and then puke. She's been lethargic and just wants to lie down and sleep all day. I hate having to leave her tomorrow, but I'm glad Austin will at least be home with her. even now, at 11pm i can hear her coughing in her room. Poor girl. I hope she kicks this thing soon.

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Silly girls

Naomi and Alli, two silly 3 year olds, frenemies and best friends.





Thursday, November 24, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving

















Happy Thanksgiving!! Love, the Wei's

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Getting ready for Thanksgiving.



That is my grocery cart after hitting the store this afternoon. It was so heavy I could barely push it. Oh and by the way, the actual turkey wasn't even in there.
It's the first thanksgiving since Austin and I have been married, that my parents aren't here to celebrate with us. They decided to head down to Florida ahead of the holidays, so we are left to fend for ourselves. My parents normally do all the grocery shopping, AND my dad cooks the turkey (may I say the best turkey ever). We're still hosting Thanksgiving without them, so the grocery shopping and cooking rests on my shoulders. Hopefully I don't burn the bird! Needless to say, I'm definitely missing having my parents here to celebrate with us. We've definitely been spoiled having someone else take care of all the prep work, not to mention, Thanksgiving groceries are EXPENSIVE!

Anyway, wish me luck everyone. I'm taking Wednesday off to do some major prep work.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Mikaela 10 months

Mikaela turned 10 months on Monday. She's now officially spent more time outside in the world than she did in utero. Ok. Maybe tmi. But yes, it's true. Pregnancy is closer to 10 months than it is 9. 40 wks. ppl. Except for my kids like to hang around a little longer until they were evicted with drugs. So try 40wks and then some.

After spending all of October at home with my parents out of daycare, Mikaela has quickly adjusted back to life as a daycare kid. It was a rough first week back (not to mention her first week back at daycare was the week we had no power and were staying with friends, a good 30 mins away from the center). Her teachers all tell me she's quite the social butterfly. She is always smiling, waving "bye bye" and "hi" to everyone. She babbles all day long, and really does have such a sweet little girly voice. She is still incredibly cuddly. So much so that the teachers at the center all sneak into the infant classroom (Mikaela's class) to take turns holding her during their lunch breaks.
She's still super petite, but lets face it, I'm not really expecting that to change. She can crawl on all fours, no more army crawling on her belly. She's super fast too. She can also climb up steps with ease now. She's able to cruise with no problem, and has even managed to stand for a few seconds unassisted.
We had it easy when it came to babyproofing our place with Naomi. While she was curious about drawers, cabinets etc, she was pretty easy to distract. And once she learned something was off limits, she didn't really try to push her limits much. Mikaela on the other hand, is stubborn. She'll cry if you take away her "toys" and is not easily consolable. It definitely has had me thinking "should i give her this potentially life threatening plastic bag back so she'll stop crying!!!" She's strong too, especially considering how little she is. She can open every single drawer in our kitchen, and she's already figured out which cabinets have loosened baby locks so she can pry them open.
She's eating more and more table food and is starting to get picky when it comes to eating baby food. She much prefers homecooked babyfood as opposed to anything out of a jar. She loves tofu and pasta as well as cheerios and teething biscuits. She has the biggest sweet tooth, speaking of which, she has 4 teeth fully grown in.
She is mostly down to 2 long naps, although at daycare she sometimes takes 3 shorter ones.
She laughs a lot, and often times just sits around cracking herself up. And as usual, Naomi is her favorite person who can make her laugh all day long.
She is really such a great kid, it's hard to only get an hour with her on work nights. Somedays I feel like I'm missing all of her milestones. Thankfully, she doesn't seem to mind, as soon as she sees me enter the baby room at school, she starts smiling, drops whatever she's doing and crawls as fast as she can straight into my arms. Definitely one of the best parts of my day!



Harajuku then and now

I'm a huge Gwen Stefani fan. Ever since highschool when No Doubt was still around, I was obsessed with her awesome voice, funky style, killer abs, bleached blonde hair, blood red lipstick...she was definitely my girl crush. So of course I'm a huge fan of her Harajuku line. When I was pregnant with Naomi, one of the first things I bought for the soon to be baby girl Wei was a Harajuku onesie. See her modelling the onesie below (incidently she's 9mths old in this pic...one month younger than Mikaela is now). Super cute right? Mikaela rocks this onesie now too.
From Naomi 10 months

Naomi at 9 months wearing Harajuku Kids

On Sunday, the Harajuku Mini for Target line launched, so needless to say, after church I dragged the family to Target so I could swoop in and buy some of the new line. Gwen Stefani did not dissapoint, although the quality isn't stellar, the designs of some of the pieces are super cute. And for Naomi, the frillier and poufier the skirt on a dress is, the better. So it wasn't hard to convince her to put on one of her new dresses today. You can't see it in this pic, but, there are layers of skirt and tulle on this outfit...it's definitely not a normal everyday dress, but for miss fancy pants naomi, it'll do just fine.


Naomi at 3 1/2 wearing Harajuku Mini for Target

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Halloween

I'll always remember Halloween of 2011. Yes, it was Mikaela's first time trick or treating. It was the first time we've gone with two kids. It was the first time we got to do a "joint" costume, the girls dressed up as Lilo and Stitch.
But it was also the first time we got to go trick or treating 3 times, with one of them being in November. Due to the power outage, and us being displaced for a week, the girls has the good fortune to be able to go trick or treating at school (we arrived late and missed the parade, and Mikaela slept through the entire thing anyway), trick or treating in Glen Rock with our friends and trick or treating on Nov 4th when we finally got to go home and our town celebrated the rescheduled affair.
It was so much fun. Naomi totally came out of her shell and for the first time understood what it was all about. Mikaela had a blast looking at everyone, and everyone thought she was a boy..of course she WAS dressed up in a boy's costume, and by the end of the night we weren't correcting anyone..just mumbling "poor mikaela" (I made up for it by dressing her in the frilliest, girliest outfits for the next 2 days).
It was definitely a halloween to remember. Here are a few shots we've finally managed to upload.

From Halloween 2011

Asleep for day care's "Trunk or Treat"

From Halloween 2011

A preschool full of Disney Princess obsessed girls

From Halloween 2011

Cutest alien ever

From Halloween 2011

The dynamic duo Lilo and Stitch. Seriously so had to get a shot of them together

From Halloween 2011

Trick or Treating in Glen Rock...snow on the ground

From Halloween 2011

First time trick or treating

From Halloween 2011


From Halloween 2011


From Halloween 2011

First treat


From Halloween 2011

Flying Stitch

From Halloween 2011

The whole gang

From Halloween 2011

The last hurrah - Trick or treating at home...in November

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Power-less

Last weekend we got hit with a bad snow storm that left us power less for a week. Yes, a snowstorm at the end of October. Go figure. Thankfully, our good friends hosted us for the entire week. It was tiring having to go back and forth from their house to daycare, to work, and to ours to get more clothes etc. But we're thankful for such great friendships, that all we went through was some displacement and lost power with no damage or injuries, and all in all it really was a great time spent with friends. Naomi had a blast with the older kids, and even had "sleepovers" with them, refusing to sleep with Austin, Mikaela and I. We had home cooked meals every night after work, and good company and drinks after the kids all went to sleep.

Naomi and Mikaela ended up getting to celebrate Halloween 3 times. Once at daycare, once in our friends town, and once in Nutley, since our town was in a state of emergency, they postponed all Halloween festivities until November 4th. So on Friday, Austin and I booked it home so we could take the girls trick or treating, Naomi made out like a bandit, and everyone thought poor Mikaela was a boy (it didn't help that we had her dressed up as Stitch from Disney's Lilo and stitch, and that after awhle, we stopped correcting people).

We had a blast, spent this weekend recuperating and catching up on laundry, and restocking our now empty fridge. It was and exciting week, but we are definitely glad to be home.

PIctures to come from our triple halloween fest!

Naomi-isms

Naomi and Austin were trying to get a movie started using Austin's Apple TV. Something wasn't loading right, so Austin was fiddling around with the TV.

Naomi: "I KNOW Daddy. Maybe Jesus can help us turn on the TV".

(note: she did just learn about Jesus and the parting of the red sea earlier in sunday school....with Jesus ALL things are indeed possible....she did get to watch her movie afterall).

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Baby Steps


I came home from work yesterday to find that Mikaela has figured out how to climb up the steps leading to our kitchen. She's still a bit unstable, but kept getting better each time she did it. She does get stuck in a half standing position every once in awhile, and since she had socks on, every once in awhile she'd end up slipping and doing the splits. Thankfully she didn't get hurt, and it provided a few good laughs =)

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Naomi-ism's (3yrs 4mths)

At dinner last night we were talking about writing Santa a letter for what gifts Naomi would like if she was a good girl.

Naomi: "Wait wait wait. I KNOW!!! I want an iPad....because I don't have my own."

Monday, October 24, 2011

Mikaela 9 months

Mikaela turned 9 months two weeks ago. We've had some major milestones recently. She can pull herself up to a standing position in lighting speed, she can take a few steps while holding on to something (like our couch). She's getting more vocal. She's eating solids 3 times a day, she can drink from a straw.
She always wants to play with whatever Naomi is playing with. She has a stubborn streak and will get frustrated when she doesn't get what she wants. Her 3rd tooth is coming in, (her first top tooth). She laughs all the time, and has the cutest smile. She can clap her hands on command, and is starting to learn to throw her hands up in the air when we scream "touch down". She can wave bye bye.
She still has a little stranger anxiety, some days it seems worse than others, but overall it seems like she gets over it pretty fast and warms up to people.
She's down to 2 solid naps a day.

Here are her 9mth stats from the pediatrician.
Weight: 15 lbs (5% range)
Height: 26 inches (2% range)
Head: 44cm (50% range)

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Storytime

Naomi loves pretending to be a teacher while Austin and I get to be her students. While we were in Mexico, we had "circle time" like she does at daycare, then she told us a story. Ok yes, she's obviously princess obsessed, and clearly places high priority in beauty...but it's cute regardless.

Friday, October 7, 2011

Cabo

We have been in Cabo for the last week. It's our last day, and while we've had a blast, I think it's safe to say we are all definitely ready to head home tomorrow. It is hot hot hot here in Cabo, and we spend a lot of time trying to make sure the girls get enough time indoors and under shade. As much fun as it has been, I have to say, sand, sunscreen, baby fat folds and sticky fingers really don't make a good combo. Our villa makes for the most kid friendly stay, we have 3 bedrooms, plus a private infinity pool as well as an outdoor hot tub (which every time Austin uses, has to make some sort of Hot Tub Time Machine reference). Having so much space is great for the girls, and for us, to not feel so cooped up, and having our own pool is a huge perk. We don't have to worry about lugging tons of stuff back and forth to a hotel pool, we literally just open up the patio door, and voila, infinity pool anyone? Plus when the girls are napping or down for the night, Austin and I can hop in for a quick swim. It has definitely been the low key, relaxing vacation that we all needed. Here are some shots we had taken down at the beach yesterday evening.

Friday, September 30, 2011

Outwitted

Naomi cannot wait to grow up. A sure fire way to get into an argument with her to tell her that she is too small for something, or that someone is bigger than her...or heaven forbid, call her a baby. Austin and I constantly call her baby, not maliciously, but as a pet name. We're constantly telling her that even when she is a grown up, she will always be our baby, to which she'll respond, "no I'm not a baby, I'm a big girl"

The other night, she was tired and didn't want to walk up the stairs, so she asked Austin to pick her up. Austin responded, "what!!? you're not a baby, you can walk"
To which Naomi responded, "but Daddy, even though I'm a big girl, I'll always be your baby right? So you CAN carry me!"

=)

Standing



Mikaela is starting to pull herself into a standing position. She'll climb up on me, tables, pillows, you name it. She always gets into a position where her legs are spread wide apart, then gets stuck and has to call out to be rescued. (notice naomi NOT rescuing her in that pic)