Buffalo Grove Days Carnival

The only ride for Caitlyn

 Josh enjoyed flying the space ship so much he went again, and sat in front when he figured out that the joystick "controlled" if you went up and down.

Just some cute pics of the kids

Dress up

Caitlyn in the monkey costume

Photos this week

Josh's babysitter and him made minions in anticipation of the new movie

 Eating an apple from her tree

 A beautiful butterfly in our backyard

A trip to the zoo

Snack at a friends house

Found her pockets

Rainy day

Coloring nicely together

Caitlyn's tree

Like we have for Josh, we now have a tree that will grow with Caitlyn.  Sorry honey, it took us a year to get it!

It's an apple tree and she's already eaten two apples from it!

For the birds

Caitlyn was trying to catch some small birds at the park

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Where did they go?  Ask her to say I don't know the next time you see her.qa

 They are over there!

Josh Caitlyn and Jared holding hands after dinner

Joshua update

I suppose it would be good to write an update for Josh as well.  Josh usually wakes up after Caitlyn in the morning, in a good mood, though sometimes I have to wake him up for school or camp.  It is a daily struggle getting him dressed, though he can do it.  Cheerios and Chocolate milk is practically the only thing he wants for breakfast, though he will eat pancakes (and recently asked for the french toast we were eating) if he helps Jared make them.  If he's reminded and sometimes he remembers, he puts his dirty dishes on the counter.  Plays well with Caitlyn or independently though he is very rough.  Almost menacing.  I don't know where he gets that because he doesn't watch that kind of stuff on TV and no older siblings.  I doubt it's from camp or school, so I have to believe it is innate.  Love to jump and tumble on the couch.  Growl.  will get shoes on quickly for school or camp, but if we are running errands, it's a fight.  He can open the car himself and climb in, get the top buckles buckled, but the bottom is still to new-stiff.  He does remind me to buckle him...I hate to admit how often I forget to do it!  We've never driven off with him not buckled, so that is a credit to him.  He likes to play with his leap pad or magna doodle in the car, or take pictures with his old camera.  He usually walks slower than I know he can.  he enjoyed camp this summer, though like school it is impossible for me to get any information out of him regarding what he did that day.  At least at camp, Mrs. Weinstein would come out to tell us so we could have some idea how to chat with them!  When we get home, I try to make him bring something in, to help me and learn some responsibility, but it is often a fight there too.  During the school year, he was very good about putting his backpack and shoes away.  I htink because his camp bag was heavier with a lunch box, ice pack, change of clothes and wet towel, it was too much for him.  I guess we'll see how school year changes things.  While Caitlyn naps, Josh watches TV or a movie. Despicable Me was  a HUGE favorite this summer.  sometimes plays on the iPad.  WEdnesdays and various other days I've had a babysitter, so they will play as well.  I really have to fight with him to do his quiet time box.  If I am able to spend some time together, he asks for different things.  He's really good at Wii and sometimes likes to color.  Marbles sometimes.   His vocabulary is really growing and often I wonder if he hears phrases from camp or babysitters, or if he comes up with them himself.  I think he has a hard time tuning out background noise when I speak.  He does have some moments where he says things that are so intelligent, I am surprised and pleased.  When he gives me a hug or a kiss spontaneously, it's so great.  Lunch is often Peanut butter and jelly.  I try to get some variety in with a fruit leather or fruit snacks.  he doesn't seem to like craisins or apricots any more.  but we have been very surprised that he likes green apples, sliced only with the apple corer, no seeds present.  He'll sometimes eat carrots if they are slightly heated up.  For dinner chicken nuggets are always the favorite.  lately, he'll eat pork though too.  Loves to be read to at night.  Books do seem to tire him out, Jared usually puts him to bed.  When I do, though once he is in bed, we review our day.  Mostly it is me.  sometimes he has a few insights or random questions, but mostly he is tired.  Sleeps with the overhead fan, table fan on.  barely visible from under the covers with the lamp on.

Caitlyn update

I have been meaning to write this for awhile, so I am sure there have been milestones passed but this is what she is up to at 19 months.

starting to talk a lot.  Please.  Thank you comes out oo.  will repeat colors like pink green blue. purple.  Yellow seems to be her favorite these days.  Hello Kitty is a favorite character.  gets about 12 hours of sleep uninterrupted at night.  wakes between 630 and 715.  asleep by 8.  takes a 2 hour nap. asleep by 2.  enjoys watching Abby, Sesame street on TV.  that's the only segment of the show she really likes.  doesn't like milk, except with cookies, but likes "juice" and "iced tea", and asks for "more, please."  Yogurt, fruit, Cheerios are often recurring for breakfast, though she will try french toast, bacon, and muffins.  pancakes.  Josh and Caitlyn play well with each other and by themselves while I clean up the kitchen and get ready for our day.  Mega "blocks" or trains are great for her right now.  sometimes she'll ask for puzzles.  She can scribble with crayons or markers.  if the costumes are out, she asks for help to put certain pieces on.  particularly a purple vest.  will come sit down when it's time for shoes and she likes her pink or white sandals.  pink "crocs" especially lately, though sneakers are often very popular.  when we are home for the day, she wants me to take them "off".  She will walk herself from the front door to the car, and can buckle the top buckle in her car seat.  she's usually content there.  it seems to be a safe happy comfortable place for her.  she can reach most toys in the basket between her seat and Josh's, though instead of putting the toy back, it often ends up on the floor, so I have to re-load the basket each time we get out of the car for a stop.  pacifiers still end up on the floor, though if I catch her, I can remind her to put it next to her.  she will still eat a "snack" in the car from the snack trap.  She can eat from a snack bag, but it allows too much to fall out and too much mess in my car to make me happy.  she'll put her water bottle next to her though and can un-zip the diaper bag between her seat and the door if I leave the zipper pull on the wrong side.  Sometimes she'll hold my hand when we are walking in, but often she wants to do it herself.  She loves to hold Josh's hand, but he doesn't always want to hold hers.  This summer she had a lot of fun playing in the water at the pools, though she doesn't like the life vests, so it has to be in a pretty shallow part.  She can climb up the slide steps and slide down all on her own, she doesn't enjoy the splash pad part very much.  She'll sit and at lunch just like Josh on the bench.  She loves fruit.  If I don't give her something new, or protein first, she'll only want to eat fruit.  she can split the sections of the orange up, after I've peeled it.  Likes bananas "nanas".  Grapes "gapes"  "apple".  She's hard to corral, as is Josh at the end of the day at the pool.  I used to be able to count on her falling asleep on the way home, but she seems to purposely throw her pacifier "ba" on the floor.  Fights naptime usually too, but books, song, bed, and she has no fuss for naptime. sleeps with a baby pillow, and a blanket, though she usually kicks it off.  Her favorite toys in her bed, are her "baby", "kitty" minnie mouse, twinkle toes, and bear.  We leave the humidifer on mostly as white noise to drown out the noise from around the house.  She usually wakes between 4 and five in a good mood and we play a bit more, sometimes outside.  At the park, she loves the "swing"s and can climb up the stairs and go down the slides all by herself.  She's very independent at the park, aside from the swings.  She will get in the cozy coupe "car" but can't walk herself.  doesn't enjoy pushing it, so she just wants to be pushed.  she likes to use chalk and kick the soccer "ball" around.  Likes to play in the play house and our swingset in the pack.  Thinks it's funny when she makes a break for it from the patio through the gate if it is open, and she is a fast runner.  She knows where to sit for dinner and uses a fork and spoon well.  Though she still gets a bib for things like yogurt "gogurt".  beware if "cookies" are out because she'll want them.  "Fish" too.  She doesn't say all done any more, just wants to get out, or perhaps sit on Jared's lap.  She'll often go to the fridge and play with the magnets there.  she'll ask you to take the lid off the pitcher with 4 cups and cube toy that Josh got from Adam.  And the cups are always left on the floor for me to step on!  She can walk up the stairs by herself if there are balusters but our railing is too high, so she crawls.  Though at the the end of the day, she just wants to be picked "up".  She has sat on the potty with some success but very little interest so far.  sometimes she'll want to flush the toilet.  She does seem to know that her body is different than Josh's so I don't know how much longer combined baths will last.  sometimes she wants to get out of the tub, sometimes it's a fight, but does does like to be wrapped in her towel and getting dressed for bed is often a struggle.  she tolerates having her hair combed, won't let you keep barrettes in her hair much longer than a few seconds, though she points to them and does want them put it.  Her hair in the front is long enough to warrant something to keep her hair out of her eyes, though it doesn't seem to get in her way.  She has beautiful curls in the back.  I can't wait to see how her hair grows in.  I waver back and forth if I should get her hair cut to shape it.  or if it's just not worth it yet.  At least by my sister's wedding in December we'll get it cut so it looks good for pictures.  hopefully those next four months will give some length.  Bedtime is the same as naptime, though it is met with more resistance, probably because she is more tired.  She likes to pick her books.  books with "baby" pictures are a favorite.  She knows horse cow noises.  and lots of animal names, too many to name.  starting to under stand some numbers.  starting to identify some colors.  Can blow her nose sometimes.  hates to have her finger and toe nails trimmed.  I'm sure there's more, but that's a good picture.

just thought of a few other things.  other foods she likes are mac n cheese and grilled cheese.   Loves to hang on the monkey bars, josh's bed and other things that are just the right height.
calls her brother "brother" but only when I ask what his name is does she say "josh" or "joshua".  Calls herself what sounds like KayKay

Making apple pie

Cathy's Birthday

started out with breakfast at IHOP

 then to the Botanic Gardens...such a beautiful not HOT day.  for the first time, we borrowed an adventure backpack and the kids enjoyed the binoculars and magnifying glasses.

on the way out, Caitlyn would not leave these bike racks alone!

Ketubah!  I thought this was funny

not, 310 years old, but thanks to everyone who came over to help celebrate!

Beach Day!

The beach was part of my summer bucket list.  I had originally though we'd go to Evanston, like we did a few years back, but Jared suggested we just drive straight east  on Lake Cook road to Highland Park and see what we could find.  Yelp suggested Rosewood Beach, so we headed there.  However, you either have to have a HP resident sticker on your car, or have the forethought to purchase a sticker at the village hall during the week.  :(  we couldn't park in the lot.  We could park in the downtown Ravinia Business district and walk about a half mile*

The kids had fun playing in the water, in the sand collecting rocks, and lunch.  It was beautiful, just about 75 degrees.

*plus several slippery steps down to the beach, with two kids and double stroller.  We smartened up on the way back.  I walked back to the car by myself and drove the car and picked everyone up in the parking lot, parking double illegally: no sticker and in a handicap spot!