Smiling, Happy Babies!

This photo is one of our fav shots of Kai. He was 3 months old. We've been hoping to get a similar one of Teia. She is a very cheery girl who smiles all the time but catching her big grin on "film" has been a bit tricky!

Finally! here she is ... same age, same couch, BIG smile!

Ten-tend Time!

Kai's imagination has been taking off as late. Not to say it wasn't there before, he just chose not to share it as much with us. For the last couple weeks, he's been focusing on who is 'Real' and who is 'Ten-tend' (pretend). Usually, Mommy, Daddy, Teia, and most of the bunnies are 'real' and his plastic food is 'pretend' but lately he has been expanding his pretend world.

Last night, he shared his pretend world with us, complete with pretend doors, locks, van, trips to day-care, bedtime routine, books & milk, the whole shebang! Here are couple vids we took of his as he drove away (including the opening & closing of the minivan sliding doors):

And here he is having his book & milk (which is kept on the pretend table, of course!):

Quite the imagination for the lil bugger! We were quite impressed with the level of detail he went into during his show. Teia has some mighty big shoes to fill, I tell you. Right now, she's getting by (just barely) on her cuteness alone, but that may not be enough someday :-)

As anyone will tell you with 1 or more kids, the days just fly by. This weekend was just a blur and suddenly its back to the week. Anyone who proposes a 4-day work week certainly has my vote!!

Aloha, The Fennells

this class is for cyclists

i figured i'd kill some time with a blog post seeing as kai is at daycare and poor sick teia is asleep in my arms. i tried napping with her cuz i'm sick too but she needs to be upright. poor peanut has an ear infection as well as our latest viral interloper.

so eventually you knew i'd have to blog about something other than our kiddos. i swear though, this one handed typing is affecting my creative juices. seems i need both hands tappin' to bring both hemispheres of my brain together and feel the writing groove...or maybe i just have a head cold!

so lately i've taken every free moment (and there aren't many of them), to work on getting back into shape. i've lost a ton of weight but still have a ways to go. in hawaii i had 2 hr+ weekend bike rides with kelley, ryan and jo to whip me back into shape, as well as lots of opportunity to swim and run. its a wee bit harder this time with the wintry weather and 2 kiddos. breast feeding also adds its own unique challenges. so needing a little added structure, i've spent some money and committed to a 2 hr indoor coached training session at a local bike shop on saturday mornings. i was a bit apprehensive at first about the early morning and the workout itself but so far, its been all good.

we ride in the attic of a bike shop amongst gazillions of dollars of racked bikes. our coach is a former nat'l track champion from south africa with lots of experience in different disciplines. he's a friendly guy who takes his cycling seriously. one day he lectured the class on the appropriate way to wear arm and leg warmers (not a concern for our hawaiian readership). he leads a tough work out and i know i'm in trouble when he says "breathe" and instead i hear "three" as in "3, 2, 1 we're finished that interval." he is always good for at least one good quote per class, like the day he said if we were weak we shouldn't be there, or told the guy next to me that his groaning "better be singing!" last week he said "if you want a spinning class to lose weight or get fit, go to gold's gym. this class is for cyclists!" LOVE this guy!!!

did i mention he teaches this 2 hr work out on rollers? at first i was extremely impressed by him and the 3 or 4 others who do the class on rollers. i show up with a rusty relic of a wind trainer every week b/c i'm sure i'd never last on rollers for the entire class. but i've learned that while my focus has been turned away from cycling, huge advances have been made in roller technology. these rollers don't look like mine and i've been assured that doing one-leggeds and getting out of the saddle is easy on these babies. i've yet to give it a try.

the class is a mixed crowd from serious racers, folks training for their first century, triathletes, and the male species of cyclist seen often in these parts known as greyhaired-potbellied-eurogear-rides-litespeed-b/c-have-too-much-disposable-income. Can't wait to kick those guys butts come summer. my favorite is a guy called mr. stinkbomb. i suspect he is new to the sport. he drives a tricked out element (yes, you can trick out an element; he's proven it). greg alluded to him in an earlier post. we were newbies to class on the same day. we get a 1 minute break mid-class to go pee, or fill up water bottles, or just to rest da bum. first day me and my fellow newbie (mr. stinkbomb) headed down to use the facilities...him first. i cannot begin to describe the stench in that room after mr. stinkbomb relieved himself. so, every class since it seems he has a weaker bladder than a postpartum mama b/c he always scoots down to the restroom during break. as for me, i've learned how to hold it.

slowed down...

wow! 2 posts this week (even if one handed). seems kai has a nasty bug that he's sleeping off so i can do a quick post (can't do much else during my one arm resistance training). kai has had a run 'o 'the 'mill cold for about a week when all of a sudden on monday, he napped! we knew something was afoot! sure enough the little man woke with a high temp and a insatiable need for cuddles. we didn't mind the cuddles, but the fever...

kai has had high fevers before but this one was accompanied by a painful and productive cough (that produced all over my pjs at 3 am). early tuesday morning he woke delirious and in pain. it took a popsicle and a DVD party in our cold basement plus some motrin to soothe the little man and take the edge off the temp, which has persisted since. let's just say there wasn't much sleepin' going on at old billerica that night. of course teia also got in on the fun but she just wanted to eat. we're crossing all our appendages that she won't get sick too.

yesterday kai napped a bit after his largely unsatisfying visit to the doc: "it's a virus, nothing we can do..." then he spent the rest of the day sprawled out on the hardwood in our hallway. not too comfy looking but he nearly fell asleep there and nothing could coax him off the floor. i had a specialist apt for my ankle issues so i had to head out on the sloppy winter roads and leave greg to man the house. he said it wasn't too bad as he, kai and teia all hung out on the hallway floor til i got home. last evening kai seemed to be feeling a little better but his motor was definitely idling low. greg and i watched in amazement as he puttered around the house, sitting down here and there to play with something. now we have an idea of what it might be like to have a child who sits still!

he's enjoying an epic sleep right now so hopefully he'll awaken good as new...now if only i could put opihi down...

3 months today!

Our little Teia Bean is 3 months old today. The pic above was taken a week or so ago and is a very typical Teia expression. We cannot believe how fast the time has flown by. Most parents anxiously await this milestone as it marks the end of the "4th trimester" and babies are supposed to begin to chill out on this special day. We haven't noticed much difference as Greg noted, Teia is one chill little chick. The other day Kai dropped his wet, post-lunch wipe-down facecloth on her face...no problem, Teia shook it off. Yesterday he moved quicker than lightening and "attacked" her with his Tiger puppet who was busy munching on everyone's knees before he decided Teia's head looked tasty. Again, Teia was not phased. I guess this is how you have to be when you have a big brother!

We haven't blogged much lately so we figured Teia's 3 month birthday was as a good a time as any to post some recent pics. Here she is checking out her "bling" that our friend Harpreet sent as a gift. It is actually a teether and we didn't realize we'd need it so soon but little miss Teia appears to be teething already! Her cousin Eva cut her first tooth at 4 months so maybe this is a Fennell trait. I am a little anxious about it, seeing as we're nursing.

We haven't quite managed to catch a full smile on camera. Teia smiles all the time, especially when she is supposed to be nursing, but once she sees the camera she gets a bit shy. Nursing has been a bit challenging lately as Teia grows more and more aware of what is going on around her. She often stops so she can engage me in some stimulating "conversation." Most often, the cause of her distraction is her brother and she'll stop nursing so she can whip her head around and watch his antics.

Trying to guess her eye colour? So are we. Most of the time her eyes look a dark navy blue but in certain lights they look brown. I am guessing she is not going to follow in Kai's blue-eyed footprints but will be hazel like her daddy. I'm willing to bet money on it in fact. Call it mother's intuition.

Kai remains quite fascinated with his little sis and seems to really enjoy having her around. He also really enjoys her various toys and devices and can operate all of them like a pro.

This morning we took out Kai's bumbo type seat to see if Teia was ready to sit in it. She seemed to enjoy it quite a bit! She seems to be quite strong and can hold her head up really well. She still loves to stand although she is a bit wobbly, hence her latest nickname "Wobbles."

Here is our little lady again, all pretty in pink wearing her first pink dress, that came all the way from England, courtesy of Auntie Lyn. As you can see, she is busy "talking" in this photo.

Still Kickin'!

Hey all,
Sorry for the massive delay since L's last splendid post. Hard to believe time has gone by so quickly; such is life w/ 2 little ones. Right now, Louise is holding Teia-no-nap-unless-you're-holding-me while Kai-Never-Stop is chattering away in his crib.

After making us a little worried with quiet-ness last year, Kai is making up for lost time in a big hurry. Tonight was a typical scene - non-stop chatter from the moment I got home till, well, now (30 min after being put in his crib for a night's sleep). We're not really sure how he keeps going - I think he only gets 10hrs of sleep a night and doesn't nap anymore. Toddlers are advertised 12-13, so we're looking into our warranty on this one. Some typical phrases: "Teia's real!" (as opposed to "pretend"), "Teia's hands small, mommy's hands big", "Red door has handle" and even occasional zingers about poopy and peenies (best left off of our G-rated blog). It definitely keeps Teia entertained - check oot the vid of our 3 mos old wondering what the heck is this household she's stuck in (at bottom).

On the school front, things are a little easier this month. We're working on a ship conversion project (taking a navy ship and doing some mods to have it do something else). Pretty interesting from a naval architecture point of view, but probably boring to the remaining 99.99999% of the earth's population. Oh well... :-) We're hoping to keep this 'less time at school, more time at home' trend through the spring semester without putting my thesis plans too much in peril. I'm hoping to avoid the final semester panic attacks that I saw last year's graduating class go through - wish a life-long procrastinator luck!

Louise is getting her game face on already for her morning bike training. On Saturday mornings, she heads down to a local bike shop to hammer away for 2 hours on a bike trainer. Pretty dedicated! Her dedication did waiver last week when she was stuck next to a pretty odoriferous older gent, so wish her luck to get a spot next to a cleaner coiffed fellow or female!

Speaking of biking, I made two trips into school this week. It wasn't too too bad - lots of layers, wool socks, and a smooth hand on the snowy sections of the bike path. I decided to not push my luck and only went on the bike path once due to the snow on it - my wrist, injured in a running fall a couple weeks ago, can't handle any more shocks if I fall again.

Leaving the last Fennell for last, Teia continues to amaze us w/ her chill-ness. When you think of lounge music, swinging in a hammock, or pupu's on the beach, think Teia - she's one chill chick! She does cry, don't get me wrong (and she's probably going to read this blog tomorrow and huff "I'll show THEM I gotta set of lungs!") but overall she's pretty easy to get to sleep and is fairly perky when awake.
Unfortunately, she doesn't always STAY asleep, especially when she's not glued to one of us, so it has taken one-armed multi-tasking to a whole new level as we spend much of her napping time holding her. I was even able to get Kai out of the high-chair one day w/ one arm (he sorta slid out w/ me sorta slowing him down) and I can type almost as fast w/ one hand as I can with two. But we're still trying to get her to sleep more on her own so we can, at the very least, limit the amount of damage Kai does to the house and himself at any given moment.

We'll do our best to keep this blog updated more often (even if we're typing w/ one hand).

Bedtime Chit Chat

Tonight was one of those nights where you share a moment, or moments, with your kiddo and you don't want to ever forget it. That is what is so great about this blog. We get to save what we write down, so in essence we are keeping a journal to look back on. I have tried various paper journals since becoming a mom but haven't been consistent with any of them. So, tonight's entry is really for us so we can look back on it but I thought it might be a fun read for our family and friends too.

Kai had a really good weekend and today he got to go skiing with Daddy. Well, Daddy skied and the little man rode behind in style in the Chariot on skis sipping warm apple cider, his latest favorite drink. But what he didn't get this weekend was alot of mommy time. I spent part of Saturday morning at a local bike shop doing 2 hours of indoor bike training. Then when I got home, Teia needed feeding, and holding, and then feeding and holding and then feeding and holding again. Today I scooted out in the afternoon for my turn on skis and was gone again for about 2 hours. When I arrived home, the little milk lover was again pining for Mommy's arms and milk. Kai was pretty good about this all weekend long and enjoyed his Daddy time.

Greg and Kai have a pretty well established bedtime routine from the days when my big belly did not permit me to bend over the tub or have Kai sit on my lap for books. They have continued it since I am usually nursing Teia at bedtime. Tonight Kai spied me leaving the bedroom as he stood naked in the bathroom after his bath. He yelled "Daddy go away!" (meant in the nicest way of course), and wanted Mommy to put his diaper and pjs on. So I complied and then Greg moved toward the book reading chair. At this point Kai demanded "Daddy go in bathroom!" and led Greg by the hand into the bathroom and closed the door on him. Good thing Greg is an easy going Daddy! Then Kai led me into his bedroom and climbed onto the chair, book in hand. The message was clear; he wanted some mommy time.

After books and teeth brushing Kai told me he wanted to sit on the chair and wanted mommy to sit on the chair too. This was a little out of the ordinary but I complied. I told him 5 minutes of sitting on the chair and then he'd be "chucked" into his crib (he likes it when I say that, honestly!) Well, he proceeded to sit quietly, cuddled back against me for almost 30 minutes. Those who know Kai well know that sitting quietly does not come easily to our little man who is on the go from the moment its power on in the morning; he even watches TV while bouncing on a trampoline. Well, we sat and we chatted. We talked about some of his favorite things: doors, windows, hinges, houses. We talked about how if he built a snow house outside he wanted it to have snow locks. We looked at shadows on the wall. We talked about the sounds we heard: a snow plow, an airplane, the heater beside us. At one point I asked Kai if he liked cuddling to which he replied "no, just sitting." No problem, we can call it sitting but it was cuddling. He is such a boy. We talked about his time skiing with his Daddy today. He told me he wanted to go "siing with Mommy morrow." We even talked about how he might start sleeping in a bed soon instead of his crib. It was the longest 5 minute countdown Kai has ever had because Mommy didn't want it to end. Finally I knew I had to put him to bed so that both of us could get some sleep so I carried him to the window and we said goodnight to the snow, stars and moon. Kai then added "night night isfmasf tree, night night forest," which I thought was especially precious as he knew that our isfmasf tree (aka Christmas tree) was out there in the cold, stripped of all its glory, lying the forest. Greg had taken him out there to see it a few days ago. (We really need to get a potted tree for next year. I don't know how much more of this sad tree death I can take, especially when I have to explain it to my children).

When you hold your little tiny baby in your arms you can't help but think of the future and what they might be like, what they might say to you, even though you don't want them to grow up too fast and you don't want to rush it. Tonight was one of those nights where I felt like we had arrived at one of those dream moments. I always wondered what it would be like to spend some quiet time in the dark of the night just chatting with my little son. It was extra special too because Greg was quietly listening on the monitor so he got to share in some of what I experienced. We both agreed that it is times like these that make it all worthwhile...