The Denver Zoo

Last weekend we took advantage of a beautiful weekend in October (well, Sunday was beautiful and Saturday was rainy and fall-ish) and headed down to Commerce City to visit Grandpa and Gigi.  We left home after nap on Saturday afternoon and got there a little after 5.  The plan was for us to leave the girls with Grandpa and Gigi so that we could go out for a little bit of a date, courtesy of a gift card that Tim gave me for my birthday.  Unfortunately once we got there Junie started having a tough time.  She was so upset!  I haven't seen her like that in a long time (since the last time she was at their house, Grandpa said).  I fed her and she still wouldn't calm down.  It was looking like we were going to have to skip our dinner; however, I managed to rock her to sleep and put her in her bouncy seat (it goes everywhere with us).  With the encouragement of our babysitters we ran out the door and went to dinner.  I spent most of the time worrying about June (I know I shouldn't, but what mama doesn't?!), until Tim got a text from Grandpa.  We had been gone an hour and a half or so, and June was still sleeping!  She NEVER naps like that in the evenings!  We ran with that good news and had dessert.  :)  She was still asleep when we got back, but Ava was still up bouncing off the walls.
We spent the night there (much better than driving home late like we've done before) and had a fabulous Sunday morning breakfast a la Gigi.  Then we headed off to the Denver Zoo!  Grandpa and Gigi had been wanting to go with Ava and we hadn't been there with her yet.  The weather was amazingly warm and sunny, without being two warm.  There are lots of mature trees around the zoo, so the fall colors were beautiful.  We saw LOTS of animals.  In some ways it was better than the San Diego zoo.  You can get closer to the animals and the size is not quite so overwhelming.  We spent around four hours there.  It was a lovely day.  Then we headed back home and got ready for the week.

Ava and Gigi checking out the giraffes.

Ava liked watching the seals swimming around.

So stylish in Gigi's sunglasses!

Of course, Ava had to climb on everything.  To get a better view, right?

Elephants!

June and Daddy

The train that Ava rode with Grandpa.  She was so excited!

"I hope I'll get to ride the train someday, too!"

You can't see the lemurs in this picture (they look just like King Julian!) but you can see some pretty fall colors.

And . . . out.

I'm disappointed that I didn't get any pictures of the monkeys in the new elephant part of the zoo.  There are hanging ropes set up for them to swing along and they go right over the pathway in one spot!  We stood for a long time watching a funny white one with a tiny head and a black one with extremely long arms.  Ava kept saying, "Silly monkey!"

Montana September 2012

A couple weeks ago we took our little ones and headed to Montana for some R & R with my family.  My sister, Jessica, and her family were there as well.  The big event of the trip was a party for my grandpa, who turned 80 in July.  We would have had the party in July except somebody ended up being pregnant and due mid-July.  Hmmm.  So the family decided to hold off until September, when the Kellehers would be ready to travel.  My aunt and uncle, Jacque and Duane, traveled up from Phoenix.  I hadn't seen them in years!  Also, my cousin, Brian; I don't remember the last time I saw him.

We also made a little side trip up to Fairmont Hot Springs and spent two nights.  Unfortunately their outdoor pool and waterslide were closed due to remodeling, but the indoor pool was just fine for the kids, and is as warm as bathwater.  We had a lot of fun!  Ava had never actually been in a pool before.  We bought her a little life jacket and thought she would be ready to jump right in.  Quite the opposite!  She was really timid at first and didn't even want to go in.  Finally after watching her cousins (who are like little fish!) in the water for a little bit, she decided she would go in with Daddy.  She liked it after that, even floating on her back with us just holding her hand!  She did remain a little hesitant, though, and made sure that one of us always had a tight grip on her.

It is always fun (and a little crazy) to have everyone together.  It usually only happens once a year!  Here are some pictures from our trip.  I failed to get any pictures at the pool, but otherwise there is a pretty good sampling.  

Aunt Jess teaching Ava how to play a game on Cameron's Leapfrog Explorer.  She thought that was pretty neat.

Everett had to stake his claim on his mommy.

Ava and Cameron playing under Nana's coffee table.  They are like two peas in a pod - crazy!

Two surly toddlers eating breakfast in the morning.

We tried and tried to get a good picture of them sitting together, but there was always one who wouldn't cooperate!

Eating lunch in our Suite at Fairmont after a morning at the pool.

Playing at the park at Fairmont.

Ava loves the slide!

Whee!  Down goes big E!

Ava was all about helping Nana water her flowers.

June says, "Hey, I'm here, too!"

Nana has a new-to-her, beautiful grand piano.  The kids were only allowed to play if an adult was supervising.  This time I was playing chaperone.

Play, play, play.

Jammie play!

Aunt Jess playing ball with the boys during the party.  Is that a great shot, or what?!

Papa Ernie, the Grill Master!

Party time!

June was partying, too, rocking it in her bouncy seat.

Birthday cake!

Hurray!  Sugar right before bedtime!

Birthday boy!  Not a very clear picture, unfortunately.

The morning after the party.  Can you say Mickey Mouse Clubhouse coma?

Junie likes to wiggle it!

Photo Book

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Two Months and Growing

Our little Junie is two months old!  It's true what they say . . . time flies when you're having fun!  She seems to be getting happier and happier these days, and her fussy periods are becoming shorter and less frequent.  She doesn't even scream in the evenings anymore . . . as long as Mama holds her.  :)  She has been sleeping through the night consistently for about a week and a half.  In fact, she has been sleeping 9-10 hours each night, and that's with me waking her up in the morning!  Of course, that doesn't mean I get 9-10 hours of sleep, but 7-8 isn't bad for a mom with a little one!

June is full of smiles these days and she smiles the way Ava did when she was a baby--with her eyes!  She has a beautiful little smile.  She is starting to coo more and is experimenting a little with her voice (right this minute she is squawking a little . . . I think she wants me to pick her up!).  She loves doing tummy time, as long as she isn't already mad about something.  She is doing very well with holding her head up on her own and since she can do so, we can now carry her around facing forward, which she seems to really enjoy.

We are excited to take her on her first trip to Montana soon (except for the whole 8 hours in the car thing) so she can see Nana's house and meet her Aunt Jess, Uncle Brandon and Cousins Cameron and Everett!  She is a joy and a delight and such a fun addition to our family!

Here are some recent pictures of our little Juniper:

Playing on her mat on the floor.

Having trouble staying awake after feeding time.

All smiles!

The Bouncy Seat:  June's third parent.  :)

Lying on the bed with Big Sister!

I used to hate it when Daddy held me, but now that he can hold me like this I love it!  :)

Cheese!

Little Fish

Ava LOVES water.  So much so that it's pretty ridiculous.  In fact, it's starting to drive me crazy.  I would say that about 75% of the naughty things that she does somehow involve water.  :)  A few weeks ago she figured out how to turn on each of our bathroom sinks by herself.  In her bathroom she stands on her step stool and then gets one leg up on the counter so that she can reach the faucet and turn it on herself (by the way, one of her new favorite sayings is, "Do it self!").  In the half-bath/laundry room she moves her other stool around to the side so that she can turn the water on and then moves it back to get her hands in the water.  And--most annoying of all--in our bathroom she stands on the toilet seat and leans way over so that she can turn on my sink and play in the water.  And this is where she gets into the most trouble.  That girl finds all kinds of different objects to fill up with water.  Her favorite is this:

Her baby's sippy cup.  She unscrews the lid, climbs up on the toilet and fills it up time and time again to drink from it (also filling up her diaper!).  One day I found her doing this and there was water everywhere.  I mean, all over the door even, which is across the bathroom from where she was standing.  I'm still not sure how she accomplished that.  Last night, after dinner, she snuck up and grabbed my glass off the table and I found her in the bathroom filling it up.  The other day she was trying to fill up her empty chapstick container that she plays with.  The girl will drink water out of ANYTHING.

She has had this love of water for a long time.  I've never known a one year old that loved to drink water as much as she does.  We have to limit how much water she drinks.  She drinks from her Camelbak water bottle like it's her job.  It often becomes a problem, as she soaks through diaper after diaper (and outfit after outfit).  I never worry about whether or not she is hydrated . . . not even when she's sick!

Not only does she love to drink water, but she also loves to play in water.  All the time.  Anywhere.  Any water.  Nasty water on the side of the road.  A wet spot on the couch where Mama just cleaned off the crayon that she got on there.  The water (which is actually not water!) in Mama's contact lens case.  If there's a liquid around, she WILL find it.  Yes, she drinks her bathwater.  I know it's gross but, honestly, there are only so many battles I can fight.  We do discourage her from drinking it after we have washed her up with soap . . . but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen!  Last time Nana was here she turned Ava on to bubble baths.  So now we always put a little soap in with the running water to make bubbles.  Well, she still drinks the water as she plays, saying over and over again, "I drink soap."  Apparently it never occurs to her that it tastes bad.

The most trouble she has gotten in with water came two weeks ago at Tim's company picnic.  It was held at the Island Marina in Fort Collins.  Basically it's a small lake in south Fort Collins with a few islands.  They set up big canopies, decks, tables and such on these islands and rent them out for parties.  They also have those giant water trampolines in the lake, paddle boats and canoes.  You have to catch a ride on a boat to get out to your island.  It's really quite fun.  We knew Ava would have fun playing in the water there, so pretty much as soon as we got there (they held it on a Friday, so Tim came home early from work and we headed down there together) we suited her up in a life jacket and Tim waded around with her.  It didn't take her long to spot those giant trampolines out in the water.  Since she also LOVES jumping, that was right up her alley.  My first reaction was to say that there was no way Tim was going to take our two year old out there, so he tried to hold her off for quite a while.  Next thing I know he was loading her up in a paddle boat and taking off toward the middle of the lake.  Oh my.  He tried to appease her by just circling around one of the trampolines in the paddle boat . . . yeah right.  Pretty soon he was hoisting her up and the two of them were jumping on the trampoline in the middle of the lake while their paddle boat drifted off.  I won't go into details, since this post is getting really long, but they did make it back to shore safely.  Minutes later Ava wanted to go back, but we corralled her toward dinner.

Ava's first boat ride out to the island

 After dinner Tim introduced her to the giant catfish in another part of the lake that the kids can feed with dog food.  She made me nervous the whole time by standing right on the edge of the deck.  I just had a bad feeling.  A little while later (right after I changed her diaper and got her out of her swimsuit, of course), Tim was holding June and talking to some coworkers, while I was cleaning up our dinner stuff and getting ready to take June.  Ava had been standing by Tim, but I looked up and saw she had wandered off to look at the fish at an unspecified dirt bank with no rope and a sharp drop-off into the water.  Lights and sirens starting going off in my head and I started making my way over there slowly, not wanting to cause a scene.  I glanced away at Tim for a second and when I looked back over she was no longer standing there.  Instead I saw her head just above the water and a crowd beginning to form where she had been standing.  Without even thinking I was over there in a flash.  In a split second I assessed the situation, heard Ava starting to cry and saw that she was moving further out in the water that was already up to her neck.  I threw down June's blanket and my Coke that I was holding and jumped in that nasty lake water, with the catfish.  I scooped Ava up and handed her to some guys who were standing at the edge of the bank.  One of them took my hand and helped me up and we were out in a matter of seconds.  And Ava and I were soaked in a matter of seconds.  The water hit me right about at my chest, so my clothes were pretty wet.  But what else are you going to do?  It's amazing how that instinct kicks in without any necessary thought or plan of action.  I know that any one of those people that Tim works with would have jumped in to get her if I hadn't gotten there first, and I am thankful for that.  But I'm glad it was me who had to do it and I'm SO thankful that that party didn't have to end in tragedy.  Many people congratulated me afterwards and a couple moms called me a "hero".  All I know is that if someone's kid had to fall in the water . . . I'm not at all surprised that it was mine.  :)  And now all of Tim's coworkers will probably remember me as "the lady who jumped in the lake to save her kid".

The best thing I can do is try to channel this love of water into healthy activities.  I set up a sprinkler in our lawn a few weeks ago and let her run through that.  Here is some video:

Of course her favorite thing was sitting on the sprinkler

Unfortunately it wasn't the greatest day weather-wise and got pretty cloudy and windy.  It was chilly so she didn't play for too long.  Last week I got out her baby pool on a hot day and she had a ton of fun playing in that for an hour or so.

Eating her first popsicle!

I wanted to do the pool again this week but it often clouds up and gets windy in the afternoons (although it never rains!) and that makes it a little cool for that sort of thing.  One of Ava's good friends (her parents are on our Discipleship Team) that we play with sometimes has a really neat water table that Ava enjoyed one day.  I think she would love having one of those, and it would be a little easier for me to set up quickly.  We have a Babies'R'Us gift card so I think we might go this weekend and see if we can get one on sale.  Why not feed the addiction, right?

There's a reason we call her Ava "Crazypants" Kelleher!