Killian and Payton Ryan: September 2008

Okay, I'll jump right in. Lots of updates when you're only doing an update once a month. A link to current pictures is at the bottom of this post.

Killian is signing so many new words. I tried to add them all to the list (to the right --->) , but he signs more than I can remember. I don't know how he even learns some of them. He must pick up signs we don't when he watches Signing Time. Some of his new signs are friend, clouds, moon, work, boy, girl, backyard, black and white. Both Killian and Payton sign (and sing) "Happy Birthday". It's very cute and they learned it just in time to tell daddy Happy Birthday earlier this month. Not only are they signing new words every day, they are saying new words every day too. Their vocabulary consists of over 100 words, and they are making mini sentences, putting two words together.

I'm so excited to say this: We are a bottle-free house! For over two months I procrastinated dropping that last bottle, the morning bottle. But finally, I decided I had to do it. At 19 months they were still not sleeping through the night. They were waking up at all hours of the night wanting that morning bottle earlier and earlier. Many mornings I would end up on the couch at 3:30 am with Payton with that stupid bottle. I had enough! I talked to them about it for a week, telling them that they had X amount of days left with their bottles, and then the bottles were going Bye-Bye! All-Done! No More Ba-ba! I told them their baby cousin, Michael, needed the bottles and they were going to drink their milk out of their cups in the morning. On Sunday I gave them each two bottles and they threw them in the bag, we packed them up, and sent them "to Michael". And that was that. Today was Payton's 3rd day without it, and Killian's 2nd. No problems other than Killian forgot for a minute this morning and just about chucked his cup of milk through the window, but then I reminded him and he was fine. And, the best part - they don't seem to be waking up early any more. Now, it's only day 2, but they slept through until 6:20 this morning! That's exactly what I was hoping would happen!! Hopefully that keeps up.

Payton has been a biter since she was 11 months old. Killian was not a biter, but has become one after needing to defend himself against his sister. I have been putting them on time-outs as needed since they turned one. We started putting them in their highchairs and turning it around because I could keep them in one place. That never really worked. I think they just thought they were going to eat when put in the chair. So, a few weeks ago, I tried the "Naughty Corner". I know, some parents think that they are too young for time-outs and a naughty corner, but let me tell you it's working! They do not like going to the naughty corner, but when they are placed there (usually for biting), they get it. They cry, and beg, and sometimes have a conniption fit, but 99% of the time, they sit and take their one minute penalty, and that's that. There is a picture in this month's album of them playing in the naughty corner together, or as Payton calls it, "no-no".

Speaking of "no", that is Killian's favorite word. Especially when he can say it to Daddy. Chris gets so sick of it sometimes, but I just tell him to ignore Killian when he does it. So, Killian climbed up onto Chris one day, got right in his face, and said "no no no no" about 35 times (I'm not exaggerating!), and finally Chris had it and said, "Is that all you can say to Daddy? No No No?" and Killian said "Yep". Needless to say, we were busting up laughing after that.

I just started a fitness program called

Couch-to-5K Running Plan. You can read more about it at my new blog, Run, Mommy, Run. It's basically a program to get you from a non-runner to running 5k, or 3 miles, in about 9 weeks. This is one of the reasons for the push to get the twins off the bottle. I need to be able to get up 3 days a week before anyone else, go out and run, then get back home before anyone knows I'm gone. All while letting Chris sleep through until his alarm goes off. If anyone wants to do this program with me, I would LOVE to have a partner - not to physically run with as I don't think you want to meet me at my house at 5:15 AM, but to encourage each other and check-in on progress and stuff. Let me know if you would like to do it with me!

And, here is the most current album, the 19-month pictures. It's pretty much a Smörgåsbord (or as Chris says, Shmorgashborg) of pictures from the last month.

Click on the cutest picture ever below to go to the album:

Niki :)

In the 6 weeks since my last big entry I'm like 10 times busier than I've been in a long time. Probably because the girls are back in school - homework every night and three (yes three) separate drop-offs in the morning before I get to work add hours every week to the already tight scheduled at home. And softball season hasn't even started yet! It's also a very busy time for me at work, too, so I'm doing a lot of work from home. Sitting and updating the blog is not quite a priority lately. But I know you all want pictures, and we have A LOT of updates, so I'll try to post those this week and get the most current pictures up too.

Killian and Payton turned 20 months old today, so I figure I'd better get the last of the 18-month-old pictures up here.

Click on Payton's picture below to see the pictures (posting each one takes way too long!).