Welcome to Walden! (Photos to follow)

Well, I realized I never post because I'm always trying to make time to get some photos uploaded, and I know you all look forward to the pictures the most, but I have got to finally post an update of what is happening in the Kovacs household.

First, we made it to Colorado! We arrived in Walden last Wednesday after 4 grueling days on the road. Kevin's mom came with us and was an absolute lifesaver. I don't know what we would have done had we not had that extra set of hands at all the rest stops to help with the girls and the dogs. Kevin drove the moving truck and trailer while me, Grandma Sue, Elise, Linnaea, and the dogs were packed into the Subaru. Thankfully, we don't have any exciting stories from the road which is exactly how we like it.

So now we're in Walden and what have we been up to? Well, the house we are renting is really big and has a great backyard. The girls have their own toy room next to their bedroom, we have a separate computer room, large living room, and a good sized bedroom and guest bedroom. We do have 2 bathrooms, one even has a groovy green toilet. We have a REALLY nice park 2 blocks away and a public swimming pool and library that we have yet to visit. Our phone guy has already offered to take us fly fishing, which we are really excited about. Kevin LOVES his new job but has been working really long days so they can show him all of the sites he needs to be familiar with. Once September comes he'll be stuck in the office so the days will become more reasonable.

Now...all the things that Linnaea and Elise have been up to! Elise has been waving "ba-ba" for quite a while now, and she continues to do it to every single car and motorcycle that passes our house (we get a bit of traffic since we're right on Highway 14). Both girls want to know what EVERYTHING is by pointing and asking "Ba?" or "Ga?". We taught them about bellybuttons about a month ago and were having so much fun with that that we forgot to move on to the other body parts. So just this week they've learned hair, nose, ear, and toes. Sometimes when Elise is trying to remember toes, she'll put her hands to her hair really fast before she puts them to her toes. They aren't saying any words besides bye-bye but they recognize all sorts of things like window, shoes, juice, milk, peas, cheese, etc. They play with everything in the house except their toys. Favorite things include shoes, underwear, boxes, and any sort of bottle from the refrigerator. They are finally getting their molars in which explains why they have been taking turns waking up and screaming every night.

I really hope to post a bunch of pictures and a video soon but I will at least try to post smaller updates so they don't become so lengthy.

Birthdays and Weddings

Daddy swims with Elise. She was happy for about 15 seconds.



Elise's favorite toy was the cake tupperware lid. Hours of entertainment!



Who says you need expensive toys? A simple box is invaluable!



Linnaea throws a tantrum...again.



Walking the gangplank. Argh!



Look at those gorgeous blue eyes!




I love cheerios...and smiling at the camera!



Mommy always holds Linnaea.


We went down to Florida the week before Memorial Weekend for Aunt Carolyn's wedding. The week before we went, we all had a fantastic stomach flu so we were really ready for a vacation. Grandma and Grandpa watched the girls so Kevin and I could have a day off and go to Busch Gardens. It was the best day ever! There were no lines the whole day long so we walked on to every single roller coaster without a wait. Kevin even went on the Sheikra 3 times in like 10 minutes while I waited. Unfortunately I was feeling a little motion sick so I had to pass on the super scary coaster. But the next day, we discovered we brought the stomach flu from SC because Kevin's parents both got sick, especially Grandma :-(. A day later Carolyn got it too. Thank goodness we all got well by the wedding day! We wanted to send Carolyn off to her Mexcian honeymoon healthy, and maybe her insides got a little training for eating and drinking down there.

We tried to give the girls a party, but no one came except Great-grandma, because everyone was terrified of our flu. We gave the girls cake but they were scared of it. They wouldn't even touch it, and when they did so on accident they started to panic. We had a few good swims in the pool, or at least a few good dips on the steps. They didn't really like being in the pool, just playing around on the stairs.

Also, we went to our one year doctor's checkup when we got back. Elise is in the 90th percentile for height and 95th for weight. She measures in at 24 pounds and 30 3/4 inches. Linnaea is taller, measuring 31 1/4 but is only 21 pounds. They got two shots with really long needles and had sore legs he next day. Every time Elise tried to stand she would just wail. It was so sad. She did take her very first independent steps on her birthday, but no more action since then!

Elise is definitely the sensitive one. She bumps her head ever so slightly and screams and screams, reaching that high pitch that only Mariah Carey can. Then she pops out the biggest tears you have ever seen and it is just so hard not to laugh. Kevin and I do end up laughing at it quite a bit. She is still the biggest eater and has mastered smashed bananas but doesn't really know what to do with finger foods. She can squish 'em and squeeze 'em and spit 'em but the food pieces just end up stuck in all the cracks and crevices of her high chair.

Linnaea is our little energizer bunny and just goes, goes, goes. She likes to put anything and everything on her head, like bibs, books, blankets, and my tank tops and robe sashes. I feel she is on the verge of saying her first word any day now. She loves to be scared by things, like me jumping out from behind a door or something. And that first picture above is her genuine, not messed with or styled in any way, bed head.

They are both becoming very observant and can now imitate things that we do like put our hands on our head, clap, or make the "wa-wa-wa" sound by putting our hand over our mouths. The still love to sit in the stroller for walks and swinging at the park.

We Have Walking!

Elise isn't quite there yet but we needed to include her in the video montage. She is probably going to be an 18-month walker because she is in NO hurry to catch up to Linnaea!

Future Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Models

We are gearing up for our trip to Florida in May and are picking out bathing suits. Grandma Kitty sent us these and we had a fashion show. Elise will probably get embarrassed if I say this, but the suit that fits her the best is size 18 months.

Today we went to Publix and used the racecar cart again. We got lots of attention and we are using that to practice waving. While we were at the checkout, Linnaea grabbed Elise's hair and slammed her head into the steering wheel, all action-movie style. The cashiers and baggers thought it was the funniest thing ever.

Elise is trying to stand on her own for a few seconds. Linnaea can walk 6 steps on her own. I swear she knows how to say "baby" but Kevin doesn't agree.

Groovin'

If You're Happy and You Know It...

We got to go to the doctor yesterday for our 9 month checkup. No shots--Yay! Elise weighed 22.6 pounds and was 30 1/8 inches tall. Linnaea was 19.2 pounds and 30 1/4 inches tall. The doctor told us we have the heights of an average 15 month old! Nothing else exciting happened there, which is how we like it sometimes.





Elise is doing all sorts of fun stuff. She was the first one to start clapping and she claps in response to mommy clapping and singing patty cake, or when she's all done with her bottle or food. She also LOVES to rock her head to music, which is on the video. Isn't it the cutest? She has the most attention for things. She will play with one toy for a long time before she goes to find another one. She gets extremely frustrated when she puts herself into positions in which she feels stuck, like up on the fireplace hearth. She is also the most sensitve, for when she falls or gets bumped by Linnaea or the dogs she screams quite heartily. And then she squeezes out the two biggest, most perfect tears you've ever seen. Last week we went to the library and she fell down one step in the children's theatre. She screamed so loud that I am sure every single person in the entire 2-story library heard her. Then mommy had to show her face up at the counter to check out books. She was embarrassed. Elise is still the heartiest eater but the doctor assured us she won't max out on food. She polishes off formula, cereal, and two jars of baby food and still has room for cheerios.





Linnaea is trying her best to walk on her own. She is up to four steps without assistance and I think the only reason she goes to the floor is because she knows she can crawl faster to get where she wants to go, which is anywhere and everywhere. She doesn't like to focus too long on one toy because there are just too many unexplored places to go! She can clap now, too, and she likes to stand and bounce to music and songs. When she falls, she rarely cries. Even today when Rosie knocked her from behind, smashing her face into the door, she cried a little but was focused on something else within seconds. Linnaea is the best at feeding herself finger foods, particularly dog food and cheerios. She also has a bit of separation anxiety, and those are the moments she'll really let you know she's unhappy. She will be playing with daddy and Elise just fine, but as soon as she sees mommy she will start to cry and eventually get hysterical until mommy picks her up. It seems to be the worst when she's tired and hungry, or always when mommy needs to be doing something else.





We have discovered that we fit into the racecar shopping cart at Publix, which is SO exciting. Elise holds her steering wheel at ten and two and keeps her hands there the whole time as she smiles at the people shopping. Linnaea spins her steering wheel, then tries to undo her harness, then tries to climb over Elise, then grabs Elise's steering wheel, tries to undo Elise's harness, then tries to climb out the other side...