Trains!

Erik took a day off last week & we took Kellen & Annika on the Sounder up to Seattle! Kaarin spent the night/day with my parents, for the first time, & did AWESOME!!:) It was just easier not to have her with us, since she wouldn't have cared about most of it & is so squirmy now that she is mostly walking...oh yes. Anyway, we started our day out at the Pike Place Market (we have 2 books, "Larry Gets Lost in Seattle" & "Seattle ABC" that we read a lot, so we wanted to visit several places in our book! Pike Place is of course one of them) for doughnuts fresh from the oil.:) Delish as usual! We looked at the fish, flowers, etc. (Kellen received quite a scare when the monkfish he was looking at suddenly MOVED, with the help of the 'fisherman', though Kellen did not know that...not the best start to our day!). Then we went down under the viaduct (also in our book) to the Seattle Aquarium (yes, in the book).:) We had lots of fun there, then walked down to Ivar's for lunch...Annika fell asleep on the way there, & slept through lunch! Kellen & Erik fed the seagulls french fries.:) Then we took the monorail to Seattle Center where we saw the EMP (we didn't go in, but it is a site in the book) & the Space Needle! We didn't go up this time...the fountain was on, so we watched that for awhile, then got some (not-very-good, overpriced) ice cream. We took the monorail back then headed back to the Sounder. Kellen fell asleep on the way back to the train & slept the whole way home on the train!! Overall it was a really fun day, aside from a couple of things.:) I'm so glad Kaarin passed the 'spending the night' test! She got another opportunity this past weekend, though Kellen & Annika were with her this time! All 3 kids spent the night Sat. night while Erik & I celebrated his birthday. Happy Birthday!

So, yes, Kaarin is mostly walking now! She is probably at about 80%. She still crawls if she needs to go really fast.:) She is SO proud of herself when she is walking. She grins the whole time. She is so much like Annika in this way.:) Kaarin is also quite the climber. She loves the stairs, ladders, chairs, etc. She climbed up the ladder to the playground the other day, all by herself! She climbs on anything she can. Over the weekend she mastered climbing onto the rocking horse all by herself, & rocking & getting off too! She is still just a joy to have in our home, & is happy most of the time! She is officially down to one nap per day, & usually goes down between 1-1:30. She sleeps about 12+ hrs. each night, from 8ish to 9ish. I am still nursing her twice a day, & plan to continue until Sept. (we are going to Maui for our 10 yr. anniversary, so I will have to be done by then!).

Annika has been sick the last 3 days or so, with a fever. She is going to the Dr. tomorrow, so I'm sure she'll be better by then!;) She is a lot more clingy when she is sick, & is not quite as independent.:) I hope she is feeling better soon! She is doing a great job with her letters, colors, & drawing! Her pictures look a lot like what she says they are! She is not drawing people yet, but has been drawing crabs, jelly fish & dolphins! And shapes. She pretty much knows all her letters by sight (I think I mentioned this before) & knows most numbers 1-10 too.

Kellen has also been sick this week, though his fever is gone now. He is doing a lot better these days, & we are doing a better job parenting him.:) His misbehavior is less often, & is over more quickly too. He is sort of using the potty again...he did great for a few days when he got trains, then I told him he would get 1 more train but lose it if he chose to wear a diaper at home. He has not had those trains for about 4 days now.:( He certainly has his own ideas. He continues to be so funny with his words & conversations.:) I love listening to him talk when he is playing with Annika or his trains/cars. So cute! I can't believe my boy is turning 4 in a couple weeks!

A couple of funnies:

*The other day someone rang our doorbell just as I was getting Kaarin out of bed...Annika & Kellen ran to the door, & Kellen yelled after Annika, "Don't answer it, Annika, it could be a Ranger!" :)

*In the mornings the kids like to get naked either to go to the bathroom or get dressed...Kellen came out the other day all naked, so Annika started stripping. She says, "Almost naked...." Then she started jumping around & said, "We naked! We matching!" Kellen said, "We're not matching, Annika, because you have a binky & I don't." Then he pointed at her and said, "And you have that & I have a penis." hee hee