Doctor's appointment

Abby had her 2 year check up yesterday. The boys enjoy coming along for appointments these days as they have learned that they all get stickers, regardless of if they are the patient or not. Abby was a pretty good patient. She got a little upset when she was weighed, but during the exam she was very brave. She had to have her finger pricked for a blood sample and she didn't cry at all. Sam said she was braver than he was at his last appointment. I don't know if that's quite true as Sam bravely held back tears and only a few escaped when he got a shot and Abby saved up plenty of tears when she got a shot later in the appointment. Matthew was definitely the loser in terms of bravery and he cried quite extensively when he got the flu mist in his nose. Oh how terrible!

The boys entertained themselves during the appointment by playing doctor. One of them would lay on some of the chairs in the exam room while the other was the doctor. The doctor would then grab an appendage and bend it back and forth aggressively pushing it this way and that while asking "Does this hurt?" The patient would then laugh and wiggle around and try to escape from the doctor's examination. When comparing the two doctors, I would definitely prefer Sam as Matthew was quite rough and seemed rather more interested in causing pain than in finding out what was causing the imaginary pain.

Abby is growing up so quickly. Here are her 2 year stats:
weight: 25.5lb (53rd percentile)
height: 36" (94th percentile)

Someone's two!

Abby just turned two, going on 15 it seems sometimes. We had the Kirchhoff family over for pizza and cupcakes and Abby had a grand time playing with her cousins. She relishes the attention and definitely is not shy about it. She opened her gifts and after nearly every gift she had to be persuaded to open another as she just wanted to play with her new gifts rather than open more. She got some jewelry, clothes, a baby doll, a toy kitty and puppy, and a book.  All have been thoroughly enjoyed especially the kitty and jewelry. In the pictures below Abby is wearing part of her bee costume (minus the wings) which she claims is a butterfly. She tried on the walrus costume (which is a tradition), but after wearing it for a few minutes she said, "Different one" and wanted to take it off. Hence, the bumble bee.

During the singing of Happy Birthday, Abby bowed her head and closed her eyes. She apparently was thinking it was some kind of prayer. It was quite cute. She perked up a bit to eat some of her cupcake, then declared "Want to sleep" and that was the end of that and she went to bed.

And here she is two years ago...

And one year ago...

Vacation

This past weekend we went up to Alexandria, MN with Ken and Cheri. The kids traveled well, slept well, played well and fished well. It was a nice trip and we stayed at a rental home on Lake Carlos. Despite some rain and cold, the kids had a lot of fun playing with Grammy and Papa and playing games and other activities that Mom and Dad don't usually do with them. Sam turned out to  be the best fisherman as he caught 8 or 10 fish, including 2 small large mouth bass (I think they're bass, see the picture at the end) from the dock. Matthew caught a few small fish and when asked how big his fish were he holds his hands a few inches apart. Apparently he hasn't learned to exaggerate with regard to his fishing accomplishments. Abby did not fish but did overcome her fear of the dock and kept us busy when she started running back and forth on it. She also slept well which we were a bit apprehensive about as she hasn't slept away from home very often and has used the "cave apparatus" at Longville and Grandpa Don and Grandma Sue's house when she's slept there. But she was completely fine. Ahh. I think road trips may be sooner in our future that we had thought before the trip. The cousins and Uncle Brian and Aunt Stephanie came up for a bit and the kids greatly enjoyed playing with them, as they always do. It was a beautiful trip, a beautiful time of year to be at the lake and we look forward to another trip up north next year. 

This past

Trip to the zoo

Today we spent a whopping 4 hours at the Minnesota Zoo. I was anticipating a trip of maybe 2 hours, but the kids were real troopers and really enjoyed themselves so we spent a lot of time there. Sam walked almost the entire time except for a short stint in the double stroller (with Matthew) when Abby was rebelling against sitting in the stroller. And by rebelling I mean screaming and thrashing about and making a general scene. She sure has a mind of her own these days and lets you know about it.

I haven't been the to zoo since I was 11 and it is a pretty amazing place. When I asked the kids what their favorite animals were they really couldn't say what they liked best. They were in awe of almost everything. Abby probably didn't like the monkey that jumped at her, hitting the window right next to where she was standing, as she cried a lot when that happened. Sam liked the Komodo Dragon which he told Jason was not the fire-breathing kind. Matthew seemed to like the goats and the farm part of the zoo best. He and Sam had loads of fun holding out their hands to the goats, pretending they had food, and watching the goats come over to them and stick their heads through the fence. They would erupt in laughter as they teased the goats.

Both Abby and Matthew meowed at the cougar and the lynx in the Minnesota exhibit. Sam howled at the wolves and coyotes and hooted at the owls. None of them animals meowed, or howled or hooted back. Maybe next time. My favorite were the grizzlies. They are just huge...and scary looking...but cool nonetheless. Abby frequently told the animals "Don't take my snack!" when we'd stop for a look and I'd reassure her that her snack was safe. She also said, as she grabbed my leg, "My mommy!" whenever another small child would walk close to me, which was often. Here are some pictures of our trip. The boys took a lot of the pictures as they really enjoy trying out the camera these days.

Left to their own devices...

The boys discovered that balloons will float above a fan pointing upward. I had given them balloons last week and a stick made out of rolled up paper bags and they got to hit them around a bit inside the house. We kept the balloons around for a few days and just let them play with them whenever they wanted. One afternoon when they were having some time in their rooms (some afternoons I have them go to their rooms for about a half hour for some time to themselves while Abby's napping), they excitedly called me up to see what they had discovered. They were both in Matthew's room and after spending some time with the fan on, blowing around their balloons while they kicked them and batted at them, they came up with the idea to lay the fan down on the floor, pointing up, and they discovered that the balloons would hover up above the fan on the column of air. They were having great fun and afterward they brought their fans downstairs so they could have more fun with the balloons and show Jason when he got home. After her nap, Abby didn't get into the action much, but she did pause long enough for a quick picture.