Kiki's Silent Symphony

Ray had a Stop Motion assignment for class, so he decided to photograph bubbles as Kiki blew them. He took many pictures and as I flipped through them, I was struck by Kiki's expression and posture. It almost looks like she is conducting a symphony of bubbles to music that only she can hear. Here are a few of my favorites.

I Think I'm Rubbing Off On Her

As Kiki's language begins to develop rapidly, I'm starting to see signs that she is really paying attention to the things she hears us say. Case in point, after I helped her get her Crocs on this afternoon, Kiki kissed me and said, "Thank you, dude."

I'M BACK!!! With a Kiki First

So I've been SUPER busy at work for the last 2 months or so. So very busy that I have barely had time to see my dear little family, let alone blog!! But I'm back for today, and with a glimpse into a first in Kiki's life. Today she had her first HAIRCUT!!

I know, I know, she's nearly two and a half and she's never had a haircut, but it just never seemed necessary before. But we were ALL getting tired of having to sit and do Kiki's hair every morning, and the back was starting to get tangled A LOT!!

I needed a cut today, so I took Kiki with me and she got her first snips. Here is a little teaser. Visit Ray's Flickr Page for the rest of the pics (and lots of other great pictures, too!)

Sad and Happy

Some sad news in our family. As of our last ultrasound, one of our twins, Baby A, no longer has a heartbeat. We are clearly quite sad about this, even though we only knew we were having twins for a few short weeks.

Now our focus goes to making sure that Baby B's stays put and stays healthy. This is a very uncommon stage of pregnancy for this type of death to occur, so we are still waiting to hear from the experts on what to expect for the future months.


But on to a happier topic...a funny story about my #1 girl, Kiki.

The other morning, we were driving to work/school. When we go to work, we take the expressway and, these days, it is still dark out.

As we drove, Kiki and I were chatting back and forth, but suddenly, she stopped responding to me.

"What can I do here," I thought. "I can't turn around a look to see that she is OK, because I'm driving, and it's dark anyway!!"

Then I remembered the rumble strip at the side of the road. I made a plan to drive ever so slightly off the road to hit the strip for a moment, and to see if she would react to the sound. I made my move and heard that horrible "Mrrrrrraaawww" sound the strip makes.

And from the back seat I heard, "That COW is LOUD!!" Guess she was fine, and just ignoring her dear old mom.

She's a Dancin', Dancin' Machine

Once again, Kiki has some new moves...

Superbowl III

It's time again for Kiki's annual Superbowl picture in the jersey Uncle Jeff gave her. Hey, Uncle Jeff, I think we might get one more year out of this thing! Hut! Hut!

Superbowl 2010


Superbowl 2009


Superbowl 2008

Tinker Bells...

Kiki has a new must-wear outfit for bed. It's all we can do to keep her Tinkerbell pajamas clean. Luckily, her love of her magenta cowboy boots, which must also be worn to bed, will often distract her and satisfy her enough for us to convince her to wear a different pair of PJs for the night.

So in love is she with her Tinkerbell pajamas, she can now be heard around the house singing an ode to her loved night clothes.

"Tinker bells
Tinker bells
Tinker bells all the wa-a-a-ay!"

Living on Strep Strip

We are a bunch of sickies. Or at least I was and now I'm here with two more. I got strep throat two weeks ago, so when Ray's throat started to hurt this week, he got checked out, too. The result was a big old POSITIVE!!! Since Kiki had woken up that morning we figured "better safe than sorry" and took her in for a test.

We were quite happy when her test came back 95% sure she was negative. Unfortunately, Ray got a call midway through the day today that the test had been sent for a more comprehensive analysis, and our little Kiks was also a strep throat victim.

Ray picked her up from school and they spent the rest of the day together. On the way home, they made a stop at Meijer for some meds and lunch, and passed the time while her prescription was prepared in the toy aisle. Here is a video of their midday antics.

A Day at the Museum

Last weekend, we went to the Henry Ford Museum to catch the last day of their LEGO exhibition. Kiki did very well and found the interactive museum to be quite interesting. Here are a few shots from our day.

The Human Hot Dog


A Ride Down the LEGO Castle Slide


Kiki Building Her Own Castle


Daddy and Kiki Pose with the Family at the Dymaxion House
(P.S. I want one)


Kiki Learns to Drive


Tinker-WHAT?!?


This is just a bonus picture of Kiki being her silly self this week. She has really been into taking her socks off and putting them on her hands shouting "MITTENS!!" So this was really no surprise.