We flew from SEA to PHL on Saturday, 4/25. Blaine and Sarah were both very well behaved on the flight, and Sarah even took a 2+ hr nap!

Sarah and Uncle Tim:

Sarah and Uncle Fran:

Uncle Fran, Mom-mom, and Blaine at the Narberth playground on Tuesday.

Sarah got to meet Great Uncle Peter:

And spent lots of QT with Mom-mom:

She even got to meet her first cousins once removed — my cousin Maureen and her kids, Maren (6) and Rafe (4).  Blaine was in awe of Maren, who did a great job keeping an eye on him.

Blaine had an awesome time hanging out with Uncle Fran — here they are watering all the plants for Mom-mom.

Blaine also had a blast with Great Aunt Jane – here they are rescuing a sad-looking hydrangea.

Riding a scooter:

And arranging some flowers inside:

Sarah also got some bonding time with Doc:

We had such a great time with all the Mahoneys!  Thanks again for all the help with the kiddos!  I’m not sure how I missed getting any pics of Aunt Molly with the kids, but here’s one of her solo:

Some pics of Blaine on the big kid playground at daycare:

Helping to water our new little herb garden that we assembled for Daddy’s birthday:

Sarah gnawing on a bit of delicious fresh asparagus:

Blaine at the sandbox – still with perfect squatting form:

Sarah’s first time out in the grass… was not a big hit:

We’re trying to get her more used to it so she doesn’t object for as long as Blaine did.

Lastly, here’s a video of Blaine eating some spaghetti:

Sarah reached the half year mark on April 10!  At her physical she weighed in at 19 lbs 4 oz (92%).  Her main focus is on getting everything into her mouth; current favorites include napkin rings, her feet, and Mommy’s glasses.  She’s very vocal and enjoys making high-pitched screeching sounds and blowing bubbles.  She still hates tummy time and seems to have little interest in rolling over, but she’s making great progress sitting up.  She also loves stomping her feet and kicking water in the tub, kisses on her belly and ceiling fans.  She’s sleeping pretty well except when she’s sick, which seems to be pretty frequent with all the germs going around.  She’s fascinated by her older brother and gets upset when he is upset.  She despises getting dressed, but shows an extraordinary talent for peeing at exactly the wrong moment, requiring many outfit changes.  Strangers are always complimenting her blue eyes and her giant cheeks, and she’ll generally give them an adorable gummy smile in return (no teeth yet).

Here’s the month by month series:

Blaine turned two and a half years old on April 8!  He was very excited because it means he can go on the “big kid” playground at daycare, where he gets to ride a pedal-less tricycle.  At 2.5, Blaine has a surprisingly large vocabulary which keeps growing each day, and he now helps read his bedtime stories by filling in the end of most sentences.  He’s started refusing his mid-day nap far too frequently, which no one is happy about.  He has started occasionally eating his veggies again, but still prefers raisins, fruit, and anything sweet.  He loves pretending he is a pilot, bus driver, trolley driver, fireman (and any other role which involves driving a vehicle), cleaning supplies, mowing the lawn, and cooking.

On Saturday, Blaine and I went to the Volunteer Park egg hunt (Daddy stayed home with a napping Sarah):

Blaine was VERY excited to meet the Easter Bunny, but then decided the bunny was a little scary when I tried to take a picture (and I can’t say I blame him).

Despite the creepiness factor, Blaine was kind of obsessed with the big guy and wanted to follow him around the party afterward.  Blaine was pretty bummed when the Easter Bunny left to go home.

Sarah enjoyed the sun on our deck and the flowers from our clematis (?) plant.

Daddy took a flight to India Saturday afternoon, so we missed him on Easter Sunday.  When we woke up that morning we found the Easter Bunny had made a visit!  Check out the real grass in those baskets (thanks, Gram!).

I think the Easter Bunny (or in this case, Gram) intended the stuffed bunny for Sarah, but Blaine latched on immediately so I didn’t correct him.

He also wanted to make the stuffed bunny wear the bunny ears…

Sarah wore her bunny dress to celebrate the day (thanks, Aunt Suzanne!).

And Blaine loved his Curious George Easter book so much, we read it 5 or 6 times (thanks, Liz and Tim!).

He also loved playing with this vehicle block puzzle from Gram.  It was just the right level of difficulty, but I think he’s got it figured out now.

Later that morning we took a trip to the playground and played Blaine’s current favorite game – pretending the play structure is a plane, and Blaine is the pilot.

Happy Easter, everyone!

We started celebrating Daddy’s birthday the day before with a birthday dinner at home, cake and singing, since we had a parents-only dinner out planned for the actual day.

It was a lot of candles, but Daddy was up for the challenge.

Blaine enjoyed his cake (but we suspect the sugar did not help with his bedtime/night-time sleep…)

Here’s a sign Blaine decorated for Daddy, which is hiding a present (three pics of our house, from 1937, 1957, and 2015).

Daddy had the day off for his actual birthday the next day.  He got a lot of errands done before his trip to India on Saturday, but we also briefly visited the Volunteer Park Conservatory.

Later that day before the babysitter arrived, Blaine helped Daddy open all his presents.

And gave Daddy a card he’d made:

Sarah made it to the zoo for the first time on 4/2.  We met up with some friends for a very brief playdate in between naps, but we managed to see the gorillas, a jaguar and other rainforest animals, and we even visited those mean goats who stole Blaine’s hat last summer.

A few photos from March!

Blaine helped me wash the windows on the deck:

One day at the playground in Volunteer Park we spotted this tractor and Blaine was so excited to meet the driver, Carol.  He also gets so excited whenever the UPS delivery truck guy (Elez) comes to the house, which is pretty much every day.

He’s also still obsessed with mowing the lawn:

Sarah is working on sitting up:

She’s also trying very hard to steal any food she can get her hands on, including this stalk of broccoli:

I thought this pic was hilarious – she looks like an old man smoking a cigar (it’s actually a toy hot dog):

Sarah looks like a cute little elf in this sweater:

Sarah’s first trip to Marination (she got plenty in utero):

In a cute outfit from Aunt Jody:

Here’s a video of Sarah blowing some bubbles:

The month by month series:

On 3/2, we flew from Seattle to Maui for our first family vacation as a foursome.  Sarah was very well behaved on her first flight ever – she nursed, played, and took two naps in her carseat.

Sarah and I were seated directly behind Blaine and Daddy.

We stayed at the Puunoa Beach Estates condos on “Baby Beach” near Lahaina.  It was the perfect setup — soft sand, calm water, close to the grocery store and only a short walk into town.

Most days Daddy and Blaine would head to the beach after breakfast while I put Sarah down for her first nap.

Once Sarah was sleeping I was able to join Daddy and Blaine on the beach since our video monitor was within range!

Blaine loved playing with this boogie board.  Well, he loved dragging it around on the beach.  He wasn’t so interested in actually getting it in/near the water.

Blaine’s hair got progressively more “beachy” through the week.

After Sarah woke up from her morning nap I’d usually bring her out to the beach in the carrier before we’d all head back inside for lunch and more naps.

On one day we went all out and got Sarah into this adorable bathing suit we borrowed from the Siegels (thanks, guys!).  It was a bit snug, even though the size is 6-12 months.

Otherwise, Sarah spent much of her non-nap time in the carrier (since she seemed to want to be held all the time).

Post-naps we’d head back to the beach or the pool, or else take a walk.  We walked into the town of Lahaina a few times and on one trip stopped for some shave ice.

Otherwise, we ate almost all of our delicious meals (prepared by Daddy) on our condo’s lanai.  Once again Blaine loved this pink guava bread.  He also enjoyed the local pineapple, but was surprisingly uninterested in trying papaya.

When not being carried around, Sarah enjoyed stealing my glasses.

And Blaine explored every corner of the condo.  When he found these flippers he decided to pretend they were a dustpan and brush (the cleaning obsession continues).  He was also very excited about pretending one of the couches was a firetruck and we were all driving around putting out fires.

This trip was also a great excuse to get Sarah into all the summery clothes she hasn’t had a chance to wear in Seattle.  Fashion show!  Here’s Sarah in a dress from Aunt Suzanne:

And here she is in an outfit Gram brought her from Italy:

This one is a hand-me-down from Blaine (I believe it was from the Marshalls?):

On our last night we decided to risk a night out, and got spruced up for dinner at Cafe Mala.  Sarah wore this adorable dress Uncle Tim brought her from Australia:

We were seated on the outside deck on the water which turned out to be quite windy, and we were worried about Blaine and Sarah’s patience when the server hadn’t taken our order after 10 minutes.  But after we ordered the food came right away and we were out in no time (and with no crying)!  Phew.

Overall, we couldn’t have asked for a better first family vacation.

Sarah’s started sitting in the high chair (though she still tends to slump a bit to one side).

On 2/8, Blaine and I saw a bald eagle in Volunteer Park.

Some pics of the kiddos:

Sarah isn’t that crazy about the jumperoo, but sometimes it’ll entertain her temporarily.

Blaine sandwich.

Sarah is at the stage where everything goes into her mouth!

Sarah is also very into her toes at the moment.

On 2/16 we officially started sleep training.  The first few days were pretty rough because we also stopped swaddling at the same time, but pretty soon she was sleeping much better at night and during the day.