Half birthday

Caris blew out her own candle without help!

Dancing

Liam had a dance recital this past weekend and we think he has the dancing gene.

We think Caris has it too!

Philadelphia

Training

Caris loves Liam (or "Meeum" as she calls him now).  One way she shows it is to grab his shirt tail and follow him around like the caboose of a train.

to: the family from: Liam orion luke

liam and caris.  liam is 5 and caris is 1.  mom  is  34 and  dad  is  35.   i  love   them.  

How to get a wet paper towel

Caris has figured out how to get a wet paper towel!

1) Get a cup from the cabinet
2) Try to get water in the cup from the refrigerator
2a) Dad will see what you're trying to do, and put water in the cup for you.
3) Walk to the carpet with the cup
4) Pour the water on the carpet
4a) Dad will soak up the water with a paper towel
5) Distract Dad by asking for more water
6) Go get the wet paper towel now lying conveniently on the rug.
7) (optional) rip the wet paper towel into tiny shreds and leave them on the floor.

To My Darling Daughter

You, my friend, are a handful, but are worth every minute of racing to the stairs, splash baths and craziness. If I had to predict, I think you will be a tom boy with a small side of girliness. You have a ton of energy, preferring to climb and pick up heavy objects than read books; you also enjoy "brushing" your "hair" and watching me put makeup on. I love that you seem independent and strong willed. These traits will take you far in life.

You did it. You were a walker by your first birthday--you had over 97 steps on your actual birthday and by your party the next day, you were taking laps around the house. At the park the other day, I was in awe of you climbing up the stairs and going down the slide on your own. You know just how to turn around to go down the slide safely. You bumped your head once, but that didn't stop you from continuing your fun. You have a great laugh and are tickled by your brother doing just about anything with you. You are also smart. You say good bye when people are heading out the door. When the garage door goes up at night, you hear it and immediately say "Da da." So happy am I to have you in this world...so, so happy. I am glad you enjoyed your day, little one! Happy Birthday!

Action shot of Frankenstein walking.

Watching the picture slideshow

The cake.

No finger smashing, just delicate looking.

Raven's Fan

So, for those of you that don't know, Liam is exactly like his father in that he will find something that interests him and will know everything there is to know about that one thing. Then, as time passes, he will find a new thing that interests him. We have gone through a sesame street phase, a buzz and woody phase, a super hero phase (which we aren't really out of), but the new one is football--Ravens football to be exact. You may have noticed in our Christmas post that we are all wearing purple. Liam helped me shop and he wanted to make sure no one felt left out on purple Fridays.
I don't know how he did it, but the kid has impeccable timing. He chose this year to become a Raven's fan...a year, that despite all odds, they are going to the super bowl. I did not come from a football home, nor did a marry into a football family, but I have to say it: GO Ravens!

PS: Dear Liam, please do not become a football player. Love, your mother.

Long over due

We posted many shots of Liam's nursery, but have not yet shown off Caris' decor. This is a big blunder on my part because a gigantic thank you goes out to many people for their help in getting this together.
To Steve: thank you for painting and re-painting those stripes on the wall. I don't know if either kid will ever solve the message, but I am glad it is still up there. Next time, I will definitely not change my mind on which color pink to go with, but I may have more struggles with green (fair warning).
To Betty and Kim: thank you for helping finance the nursery re-do and for bringing Pottery Barn Kids to our house so that we could pick our favorite nursery bedding. Thanks for re-doing the valance and dealing with the curtain issues...who knew that curtains are not all the same size. Also, I really do love the nursing chair and am happy to have a seamstress and and engineer in the family.
To Bobo, Betty, Kim and Penny: Thank you for the pink polka dot rug. Next time I will only ask one person for such an item, but it shows how excited everyone was to have another little one running around.

Live wire

Caris and Liam may look similar, but their personalities differ greatly. He was a very calm "thinker" of a baby and she is a live wire. She likes to move, she likes to practice walking and she LOVES stairs.

Here she is about to embark on her adventure down the stairs. Luckily, when she was 9 months old, Steve taught her how to go down backwards. And she listened.

During the climb.

Here, she started on the other side of the diner and climbed through the window.

This is a lego table. She eagerly removed all legos and promptly crawled on top of it.

Christmas 2012

This was the first year that Liam was REALLY excited about Christmas. Because his queen size bed was occupied with guests, we had Liam sleep on an air mattress in Caris' room on Christmas Eve. He was super antsy and couldn't sleep and was keeping Caris awake too. So, we kept him up longer and waited for the baby to drift off. When she was fast asleep, we told Liam to sneak into the room and get into his bed really quietly. He tip-toed in the room, snuck under the covers and promptly shouted, "Guess what, Caris! Santa Clause is coming!"

Family (Garvey side) on Christmas morning

Liam sporting one of his Christmas gifts

Caris playing with one of her many Christmas presents. She didn't really get Christmas and wasn't too happy about having to sit in one room for so long while people opened their gifts.

Notice what Liam is eating--this was one of his favorite gifts. Santa brought him baby food that he didn't need to share with Caris.

This was taken shortly after Caris took her first steps.

Hip Hop santa was a big hit with Caris too!

The morning after.

Family Complete

Just in case not everyone has seen them...

So Happy Together

Yes, there has been some jealousy and maybe even a little bickering, but you can really tell that the two sibs love one another. Liam is especially helpful and sweet towards his sister when he is with mom. Dad is his play partner, and he is not as keen to share him with Caris.

Playing diner

A few years ago, Liam was given a diner from his grandparents. We used it for a while, but then, as with almost all toys, interest was lost. Now, he has someone sitting beside him, so the diner is cool again.