Kira is 7 months old!

Kira is seven months old today and her personality is growing brighter each day.  She is such a happy baby and loves to smile, giggle, blow raspberries, and babble all the time.  Kira is still a great eater, but she is definitely starting to develop food preferences and is less interested in her bottle.   Lately she has started to wake up super early (sometimes before Max!), around 6:00am, but she coos happily in her crib.  As long as Max is still asleep, she lets mommy and daddy stay in bed. She usually sleeps on her back, but she seems to really want to sleep on her side.  She is very skilled at spinning around her crib on her back.  She only rolls from her back to her belly, and once she is on her belly, she is focused on trying to crawl.

Now that Kira can sit up, she enjoys playing with the shape buttons on the activity table, which is the first toy we bought Max when he could sit up.  Max is actually enjoying it again now, too.  Yesterday, he noticed that when you press some of the color buttons the voice says the wrong color.  Apparently, the toy could not keep up with the fast "keystrokes" of a 3.5 year old; it only malfunctions when you press the keys super, super fast.  It was a good reminder that you cannot get anything past Max.  For example, if you were driving down Reston Parkway last night and had a two inch piece of blue painters take on your rear windshield wiper, Max saw your tape job, and he wants you to know that he has blue tape, too.

Just another photo shoot with a side show of Max flinging pom poms off a plastic spoon

Max has been a terrific big brother for seven months.

Kira hugged the giraffe all by herself, which was especially sweet since Max picked it out for her before she was born, but after he picked 10 toys for himself.

Shopping cart for two

Max loves car shopping carts.  He especially loves "the gray cars" at Home Depot, and is also curious as to why Home Depot is orange.  He has been asking when his baby will be able to sit next to him in the cart since last summer, before she was even born.  When Kira was a newborn he was confused as to why he still rode solo.  This will be hilarious in a few months, or a few days, or a few seconds, when he looses interest in sharing toys, time, and oxygen with her.  

On our way to dinner Max "found" Home Depot so we went in to get Miss Miranda a birthday present and take Kira on her maiden voyage on the best free ride around.  Brother and sister enjoyed it very much.

Max's head nearly exploded when we went down this aisle, "LOOK AT ALL THESE BARBEQUES!!!"  "Buy this!!!" he instructed, as if we were in the market for  a grill with a price tag that matches our mortgage.

Kira found her toes, and boy are they yummy!

Big smile, for a big nap!  THREE hours!

We walked to school quickly to avoid the rain, but Kira and mommy were silly and took a new path home.  We got lost, stayed dry, and made it home.  

Max locked Kira and mommy outside.  For real!  He was kind enough to let us in once we said the magic words. "Little pig, little pig, let me in"

"Not by the hair of my chinny, chin, chin"

Max clearly inherited his daddy and uncle's affinity for quoting movies. 

 More pancakes, please!!

"I am making a boy!"

Max had a great morning!! Before he woke up mommy and daddy, he got completely dressed.  "I cleaned up ALL my shirts and ALL my shorts," he proudly reported.  This was undoubted necessary since Max likes to empty all of his clothes on to the floor before selecting the perfect shade of t-shirt to match his mesh shorts de jour.

Ironically, after one of his best mornings at home, Max got his very first time out at school.  He said "no" to Miss Miranada several times and did not follow directions. It is hard to imagine Max saying no...

Pool for two

Second day in the pool and second swim suit

Daddy's girl

Ice cream delivered to the doorstep 

Well now I want all of my ice cream, and yours too!

Mum mum mum 

Festive summer bib

"Mom, Kira isn't racing me!"

These mornings are the greatest

This was Max last night around midnight. Despite daddy moving him back on the bed, he woke up at 4:45am.

The berry best babes

We had such a great day!  From strawberry picking, to busting out the kiddie pool, we spent the whole day outside.  Kira took her first dip in the kiddie pool that daddy filled with warm water from the sink.  Max dove into the pool, which he pretended was chocolate, while be pretended to be Gusty.  The Willy Wonka fixation continues; now if Max could only find a golden ticket.

Pool for two

Of course Kira likes the pool!  She likes the bath...and pretty much everything else in the world with the exception of avacado.

Max kept asking, "Is it summer yet?"

"Mommy! Say Gusty don't fall in the chocolate!"

Homemade "bubble pool" (hot tub)

Water hoops

Kira was blowing raspberries at the strawberry patch.  She was the sweetest little trooper after an abbreviated morning nap.

Max had some turkey jerk to wash down the bucket of strawberries he ate, pre-bucket (and pre-payment).

We only had to hike a million miles back to the bathroom three times.  Max could not understand why he could not just pee in the woods like a bear.  And by woods, he meant strawberry plants.

After learning that you should not put the green strawberries in your bucket, Max plucked them off the plants and threw them.  Great interpretation of the rules.

Of course Max can hoist up his bucket; it is practically empty!  All the berries are in his belly.  He had a lot of fun with Kate!

"Mommy, bite the green part off"