Cheeeeeese

Erin's most recent new word is cheese, but she says it in 2 different contexts. The first is anytime she sees a camera, as shown in this video. The second is anytime she wants something and we tell her to say "please." She could be sobbing because she wants something that Ryan has and won't give up. In between sobs, she'll say "cheese." Ryan will give her a puzzled look and walk away. It's really quite funny. Maybe you have to be there. =)

Ryan's losing his 1st baby teeth!

A couple of nights ago, we discovered that Ryan's 2 lower front teeth are loose and the adult teeth are cutting through. He's so excited about losing his baby teeth. This was very unexpected for us. Isn't this early? I'm feeling very sad about it. He's going through a rite of passage as he leaves babyhood and becomes a boy. It also makes me feel old because my 1st baby is no longer a baby. Nevertheless, I'm taking full advantage of this opportunity to tell him that once his adult teeth come in, he can't act like a baby anymore...no more whining and complaining and he has to take good care of his little sister. =) He seriously looked at me with big round eyes and said "ok." I'll be posting an update soon.

Wow, it's been 3 months since this post. Even though this is old news, better late than never. Ryan lost his 1st front teeth 2 weeks after this post. The 2nd front tooth was lost at school 3 weeks after this post when one of his classmates elbowed him in the mouth and his tooth fell out into the playground. Ryan's teacher was kind enough to involve the entire class to dig through the tanbark. Unfortunately, it was never found, but it was a good team building exercise!

Erin's Christmas present

Thanks to Brad and Christine for Erin's christmas present! Erin loves it!

Stroller Saga

I am confessing to a sickness/addiction that I can happily say is over. Since Amy blogged about her stroller story, I will also publicly share my comments about all of the strollers that I’ve gone through. I must say that this madness started after Erin was born and my search for the best stroller for a 5 year old and a 1 year old began. Until Ryan was 4, we were happily using a Graco Citilite, only 12 lbs, which has been to Disneyland at least 4x, Disney Cruise, New York, and Hawaii. It was simple, light, and easy to use.

Since my search for the perfect stroller for strolling 2 kids around, I have been through a Peg Perego Aria Twin, a double Ditto Jogging Stroller by Dreamer Design, a Maclaren Triumph, a Maclaren Quest, and now finally AND happily a Peg Perego Pliko P3. When you add our 1st 2 strollers, a Snap N’Go and the Graco Citilite, that’s 7 strollers! Ok, I should admit myself to a 12-step program or something.

Ok, here are some quick comments about some of them and what happened to them…
Snap N’Go – gave it to Calissa Wong.
Graco Citilite – sold on Craigslist to someone in Washington who begged me to ship it to her. I was only selling it for $20 and shipping cost another $20. I don’t get it but she begged me.
Peg Perego Aria Twin – was not easy to push around with a 40-lb kid on one side and a 20-lb kid on the other. Sold on craigslist.
Ditto Jogging Stroller – I had ambitious dreams of taking long walks (I won’t lie and say jogging). After Erin was old enough to hold her head up, we ended up going on bike rides with a babyseat on my bike and Ryan riding his bike. Sold on craigslist.
Maclaren Triumph and Quest – love both of them but, for a couple of reasons, was not practical for us. Sold the Triumph on Craigslist this week and in the process of selling the Quest on Craigslist.
Peg Perego Pliko P3 – This works really well for us with Ryan standing in the back. Erin loves her snack tray and its compartments. The adult cup holder needs help but that’s probably the only complaint. We discovered this stroller only after going to San Diego Zoo with the Crawfords and Ryan loved standing in the back of JD.

If I were to do all over again and had 2 young kids, I think I would go for the Peg Perego Tender XL. I found a practically new one for my friend, Sharon, for $150 on Craigslist. It retails around $400-500. For a tandem stroller, it was very easy to push and I like that it has a bar for pushing rather than the 2 separate handles like the P3 because you can’t push with 1 hand with separate handles. I think the older Tender model could fit 2 infant car seats whereas, the newer models cannot. See, why am I even thinking about this?

Side comment – You just gotta love Craigslist! I also went through a similar story on my search for the perfect diaper bags but I think I’ll refrain from admitting total insanity! Last night,Wilson and I counted maybe around 7-8 bags. =P

Test video

I'm testing this video website (thanks Frank for the tip) since not all sites are mac friendly. This latest video is of the kids bowling on New Year's day with Gung Gung. Gotta love those rails! absolutely no gutter balls.