{ * T W O * }

Well, our little spitfire has gone and done it...she turned two this month.  Life is busy busy busy, and thus the lack of posts.  Let's see if I can get this out quickly.

Oh, Malaikah girl.  You bring so much color and life to our days!

Labor Day Weekend, 2016.  Essex.

Too cool.

She's a bright spot between two boys, for sure.  And she LOVES her brothers.  Does EVERYTHING that Kyalo does.  Follows him around the whole day long -- which doesn't, of course, mean they never fight -- like a little shadow.  She's tough, though, and won't let him push her around. She definitely holds her own.  I've seen her push him down or knock him off a chair!  As for Kioko, she loves to give him her little head butt kisses. Lately, she's wanted to give him lots of 'hug-gies' which is sweet.

Her speech has really taken often, and she has a lot of 2 word sentences. "Dat Mines"  "My turn!" "No, MY"  (are you sensing a theme here?)  My favorite is how she says 'Peas' so sweetly when asking for something.  Just recently she has started saying her name "Mika! Mika" (sounds more like she's trying to say 'marker').  She still doesn't call Kyalo anything.  

For some reason, she calls sunglasses, "guys guys".  So here's a little selfie with most of us...

Here are a whole bunch of photos from her 2-year photo shoot.  I couldn't come up with an original idea, so just got the letters for TWO and balloons much like we did last year when she turned one. 

took a while to get her to warm up.

sweet face

The picture taking didn't go exactly as planned, but we had a pretty good time.

The best part though, is that Kyalo wanted to get in on it, and so went and put this outfit on.

Love them.

Kioko slept through the whole event.

We had her 2-year check up last week, and all is well.  She's only grown 3/4 of an inch since March and is now in the 2nd percentile for height.   She is now 31 inches tall and 26 pounds, 8 ounces.  The doctor doesn't seem worried about her height.  I am :) I hope she has a growth spurt one of these days.

She is happy and loves life.  And we love her!

two months

Yesterday Kioko hit two months.  It just keeps on spinning!  The newborn-ness is completely gone.  He's filled out, lengthened, he's awake more, not so squishy.  He's a baby now!  Not just a newborn.  These days are sweet. . . and hard. . .and exhausting. . .and busy!

At exactly 6 weeks he smiled for the first time. It was so unexpected and wonderful - it really brightens my day when he smiles at me.

hello cheeks!

still has a furrowed brow, though.  Gives him such an old man look.  He must be a thinker.

Last week he had his first fever.  He probably had it longer than I realized because it didn't even occur to me to take his temp until it seemed like he'd been extra warm a day or so.  Took him to the doctor which involved blood work and a urine sample and was basically the worst thing ever -- it is hard to draw blood from tiny little baby veins so the technician had to try three times.  It was not fun for me.  I had Malaikah with me -- and no snacks or toys because I'd rushed out of the house at the end of the day to see the doctor -- and she did amazing.  She was calm and quiet and behaved the whole time.  And then at the end of our 3 hour visit, when she stated to get cranky, the nurses/medical assistants took pity on me and played with her.  It is nice to live in a small community sometimes.  Anyway... we all survived his first fever, and hope that it doesn't happen again for a long, long time.  

Intially, Kyalo didn't take too much notice of Kioko.  But lately he's been wanting to hold him more, and to try to make him laugh/stop crying/make sure he's covered, etc.  It will be fun to watch these brothers grow up and play together. Kyalo loves having a sister (she does everything he does!) but I think there's something special about him having a little brother to take care of.

I had thought we'd gotten into the swing of things with sleep, but alas, I was wrong.  Granted, he's only two months, but still...we've got to work it out.  Kioko likes to be held most of all - and of course that means especially at night when we're all trying to sleep.  It feels like if I put him down in his crib he's awake and crying with in minutes (seconds?).  I look forward to letting him sleep on his stomach because then I think we'll all get more sleep.  Plus his cry is. . .piercing.  It is this shrill squeak/squawk that is especially grating at midnight :) We'll get through it.  Malaikah was an easy baby. I wish I could remember what tricks I did for her that worked.   

 he does get tired!

that bandaid is from the blood draw.

because of seeing the doc he got weighed: 11 pounds, 4 ounces

we see the doc for the regular check up in the middle of the month

chins

smiles

He is a sweet boy, and we love him so.  We're just tired and can't really think straight.  But that's the joy of it all, I guess.