"Mama!"

Happy 4th of July!


This week the biggest news is that Kiana is finally starting to say "Mama!" She has said "Dadadadadadada" and "Aidan" for ages, but has not said the "Mmmm" sound more than an accidental once or twice until this week. However, this week she finally started saying "Mamamamamamamama"!!! First, in general, but increasingly (as I excitedly jump and repeat "Mama!" and give her gigantic hugs and lots of attention!) directed towards both me and food (as in "mmmmmm! mamamamamamum"). I am thrilled! I have been waiting for this for a while!


The other big news is that this weekend we moved the kids up in carseats! Aidan is now 40 lbs, Kiana is 20 lbs, and both of the kids are pretty tall (especially Kiana!). So, we bought Aidan a booster carseat, and on Saturday we moved Kiana up to Aidan's old blue carseat, and put him into the new booster. It was very exciting!!! Aidan didn't like how the booster doesn't have neck support to make napping easier, so we are going to have to try to figure out something to help with that. But Kiana ADORED being turned face-forward: she passed out for the first part of the trip up to the Catskills but then beamed and sparkled and smiled and laughed most of the rest of the way - it's so much more fun to SEE people and things than just the boring old back of the car's middle seat!


Our long weekend was fun and busy. Friday night we hosted a postluck in Javits playground with about eight other families, including my friend Sara and her kids Grace and Liam - who have been living in Morocco for over a year but are back visiting for a bit. That was a lot of fun! Kiana prepared for the party all week by being obsessed with the watermelon in the kitchen: she kept trying to pick it up all by herself!! (I have no idea why?) It was much more fun to hang out with friends than to trudge through holiday traffic upstate!


Saturday morning we had a easy drive up to the Catskills (with new carseats!). I vacuumed and wiped down the inside of the car, and the kids had fun playing with Grandpa Ruane and Daddy in the stream and around the house. Later, Grandma Ruane got home and we all went over to a graduation party for Johnny, further down the hollow. Aidan had a blast playing in the kid-sized toy house in their back yard and the drum set upstairs, and ended up passing out in their hammock around 9:30PM. Kiana had fun trying to pick up basketballs (she is really into this kind of thing right now!), and eating hot dogs and strawberries.


Sunday, Mama slept in - with one 6:30-7:30am up exception - until noon! This is unheard of in kid world, and it was wonderful! (I have been exhausted!) I got up with Kiana, passed her off to Grandma when she got up, got up with Aidan, tried to pass him off to Grandpa, was foiled and so passed him off to daddy, and then had Kiana passed off to me for a nap which we both took together - it worked! In the afternoon, we had tea with Marguerite and Nadir (even Kiana tried and liked it!). Then we went to some friends of Mike and Pat's who had horses, a pool, and a toy train set set up in the circle of their driveway! Unfortunately, it poured rain almost all day long, so we didn't get to swim in the pool. However, there were a couple of dry breaks, so Aidan still got to use the remote control to direct the train, which he loved. He also was brave enough to feed their horse Hawk carrots, and Kiana petted her soft nose, and was so excited about the horses (Hawk and Firefly) that she then was upset for 15 minutes after having to leave them!


Monday we left in the morning and caught Kiana's nap for the trip back. We did some bunk bed exploring in New Jersey, and then spent the rest of the afternoon swimming at the pool in Tenafly. We went home sun and water soaked and full of hamburgers and ice cream! Then we stayed up late and tried to catch the fireworks by looking out at the river by our apartment on 187th street between 9:15 and 9:45PM. However, the fireworks never seemed to show up for more than bits here and there, and Aidan fell asleep sitting on the wall while Daddy held onto him while Kiana complained about being up so late. So, we eventually gave up and went home and put the kids to sleep. But we were glad we at least tried!