Henri gets the Underdog....

Henri's Auntie Toots came to visit, and taught Henri the fine art of the underdog. Here he is...laughing at the result. Enjoy!

More pics from the past week

There was a time in our house when Henri was the professional clapper. Well...Lili has now claimed that role. Here she is, showing off her mad clapping skills:

While Lili claps, here is Henri, focusing on working on the computer. On the computer. Luckily, it's my old Mac from grad school days...not too much that could go wrong:

Reason #1 that Lili is no longer in the infant seat on the counter:

Here she is exploring her new present from the Berens family...they both love to play with the blocks. Thank you!

And...here is Lili with her new baby...she LOVES the baby:

Henri loved the box that everything came in:

Here they are...my two favorite Ethiopians:

Now, Henri is ready to really use the computer. Bugdom game from 1999...yet still very entertaining:

Lili also received this great tunnel from the Berens family...to practice her crawling. She made it all the way through...and then:

She could hear something behind her....what is all that noise:

Not quite fast enough to escape the wrath of Henri! Lili has made major strides in the past week. She has gone from pushing herself up to a sitting position, to pulling herself up to a standing position. It won't be long...and these two are going to be chasing each other around the house:

All of my babes:

Sweet Lili sitting on her daddy's lap:

Kristin sent us a bag full of Emma and Nick's old toys. This thing...while it appears bright and fun...really is not that cool...compared to all the light-up, musical toys out there. Yet...like the tupperware ball with shapes inside (the one that has been around since the 1970's)...it has been a hit with both kids. Henri will play with this for hours...opening and closing each of the doors. Lili has also discovered it...so funny what they enjoy playing with:

Stay tuned for more photos....

Saturday at the park

At 6 a.m. on Saturday morning, Jeff's pager went off...which is never a good sign. So...Henri, Lili and I had the day to play together. We went for a walk at Publix, Henri colored some pictures (he loves to color with crayons), and we played upstairs on the landing. When dad was able to join us...we took off and went to explore some new parks near our house. Here are a few photos from the day.

Here is Henri...he is big into up and down and he loves to jump:

Gearing up for the big jump...can't you just see the determination on his face:

The first park we went to was in Winter Park. Henri was not really into it. The play structures were great...but were natural wood. I think he's so used to bright color, that he didn't even realize where we were. There is always time to enjoy the swing, though. Here he is on the big boy swing:

And of course, Lili had to try as well:

Thanks to the Berens family...Lili has a new baby doll. She takes it with her wherever she goes. Here she is giving it a little kiss.

Henri and Jeff swinging together. Henri even tried to "pump" his legs to make the swing move:

Lili and I are both battling our allergies. She was a little bit out of it...hanging out with her brother's toy while the boys played.

We tried a second park in Maitland. It was great...Henri and Lili even had a chance to see the ducks (one of the animals sounds Henri makes is a "quack"). Here is Henri trying on his second swing for the night.

We usually don't have great photos of Henri. He's always moving so fast...they are blurry, or we just miss the moment. But today...we had tons of great Henri pics:

Here he is again...so happy on the swing:

And here is Miss Lili...she, too, had a great time swinging:

Here they are...looking out onto Lake Lily:

There's our sweet Lili...it was such a beautiful night...nice breeze...it was welcome change from the heat and humidity we have had all summer long:

Here is Henri getting a little help from his daddy:

And our laughing Lili:

Lili needed some tickles from her dad, too:

This is one of my favorite pics...the sky was so beautiful...and the fountain...Henri loved watching the fountain:

Here we all are...our first family photo since we first brought Lili home:

More pictures to post soon! Have a great week....

Catch-up

I am officially back at work full-time. As you can tell by the frequency of updating our blog...time is a bit more scarce. :) All is well...just getting back into the groove of everything. This is going to be a massive update of photos from the past week...and I just posted a video of Henri in the bathtub...so be sure to watch our previous post as well. He is a hoot right now. They both are. Here is the latest:

Here are the kids with dad after a long day at work and school. Everyone looks so happy...well almost happy....

And then five seconds later...this is what we had. Look at sweet Lili. Even when she cries...she has the sweetest expressions. We will cut them some slack...both are cutting teeth...Henri has all four molars coming in...and his eye teeth. So sore. And Lili...she is working on her front teeth. ((Jaws song playing in background.))

Jeff took this last Saturday. I had a baby shower for a friend...so dad was in charge. Here is Henri helping getting Lili ready for the day. I love this photo...even if it is a bit fuzzy...one of my all-time favorites...so sweet the way they are looking at each other. :)

Henri loves to give his "sissy" kisses. They are really more like a lick...but she doesn't mind, and he is so sweet...it's fun to watch. Yikes...this one might be a little close to the mouth...

When I came home from the baby shower...I found this...note the striped shirt with plaid shorts (all in different colors). Henri is growing like a weed...the shirt looks a bit like a shrink-wrapped half-shirt, and the shorts...he'll be able to squeeze into them for another few weeks. He's already in 24 month clothes...we just went to the doctor...he weighs 26 lbs, and is just over 30 inches tall. Quite impressive considering he weighed five lbs just one year ago. :)

Here is sissy...perched watching the action outdoors. She's probably safer here...

Or here. Look at how happy she is to be sitting on her dad's lap!

Following the splash table...we made a bee-line for the bath-tub. Here is naked Henri climbing up the stairs. I just want to give him a little pinch...so cute....

Ah...the gate. He is very good about the gate at the top of the stairs...but he has started putting his legs underneath, sending his sister's toys down the stairs, or just trying to slide down...especially when he hears daddy come home.

I am so proud. We took Henri to IKEA...and he ate my meatballs over the chicken fingers. He's a true Scandinavian!

Sweet Lili...she's enjoying her soy milk. Yum!

Lili also had a big month at the doctor. She weighs just under 15 lbs...and grew 2 1/2 inches in just over a month. She's still a little pixie...hitting the growth charts at the 20% level...but she's growing and doing great. Here she is eating her first baby food...peas.

Lili is getting to be really strong...and can pretty much move where she wants to go. We have to watch her....because all of the sudden...she'll be right at your feet. She loves to be with everyone else. So cute....

Lili thought she might try out the rocking moose...and take Bruce for a little spin. She wasn't quite sure at first....but she got the hang of it...

Henri the Tornado was here...

We try to only wash their hair twice a week...on Wednesday and Sunday. Here is Henri sporting his shampoo faux-hawk.

Lili too...she couldn't miss out on anything that her big brother does...

Henri decided that he should try and tickle Lili's toes. Hmm...Lili didn't think that was such a great idea.

She tried to go after her brother...but he was too quick. Not for long...that little Lili is going to be a force for Henri to deal with.

It was Jeff's 41st birthday weekend. So...we celebrated by escaping to Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World. We stayed both Friday and Saturday night. Here we are arriving. Both kids were exhausted after a long day at school....they couldn't even focus on the new surroundings...they were so tired.

It was fantastic at Animal Kingdom. This is the inside of the lodge...absolutely gorgeous lighting....a great place for a quick escape.

Here is Henri on the balcony of our room. All the rooms overlook the savannah. We had Okapi outside of our room. If you were an Okapi...and saw this...would you want to hang out nearby?

Our little African babes...

The best part about Disney...all our kids wanted were the plastic spoons from the dining hall. No kidding. I was going to buy them a shirt, or a toy, something. They didn't care...they only wanted spoons. Good choice...Suze Ormann would be proud.

Shocking....but the Okapi did come to play...despite Henri's calls for them to join in the fun. You can see them in the distance...

Here are the giraffe from the other side of the hotel. Henri is really trying to talk. He called the giraffe...raf...so cute. And...whenever the phone rings...he puts his hand to the side of his head and says "elle-oh"...maybe we talk on our cell phones too much?? Yikes.

And the zebra...

Henri was a big boy...and dined on the table in our room. Note little miss Lili crawling under the table. She has to be in on the action. 30 seconds later...she picked up Henri's discarded sippy of water and started drinking. On one hand...great...we can move her out of bottles....on the other...gross.

As we were getting ready to head out to the pool...here are the little ones in front of the giraffes...

My favorite picture from the weekend...what does the lion say? ((Roar!!))

The pool was fantastic. It might be the best pool we have experienced at Disney. There was a splash park and playground attached....Henri could not get enough. They both were absolutely exhausted by the time we left. We realized that we MUST get Henri into swimming lessons. He was in the deep end (5 ft) going under water...jumping in off the side...that boy has no fear. Little Miss Lili...she took a one hour nap on my shoulder while I walked around in the pool. They both love the water.

After a long day of swimming and sun...here they are...crashed and ready to go home.

A little something special from Grandma Carol arrived in the mail...here is Lili in her fancy new hat!

And remember that post about time-out. Hmmm....here is sweet Henri...hanging out in the corner.

We will post again soon. I will try not to wait so long...so many photos. Be sure and check out Henri's Lion video...we'll add more soon!