She also discovered how to fight back when Maddy is being pushy – Maddy now has a lovely bruise on her calf in the shape of Hayden’s 4 little, yet sharp, teeth. However, the sisters still love each other. Just check out this great dance video as evidence:

In addition to all this, we had my brother Gavin and my sister Lorna’s family over for the 4th of July, which was a blast. Dave cracked open our new grill, and the kids got a kick (much to my chagrin) from the firecrackers and sparklers he let them play with on our deck (which is made of wood, btw). The best part was that Lorna and crew stayed overnight and us grownups actually got to hang out and enjoy adult conversation over some games of cards after all the kids went to bed.

Then on Tuesday, we Phamsters had a mini-celebration in honor of Hayden’s actual birthday. Dave picked up some yummy cupcakes on his way home from work, and we gave Hayden her birthday gift – a fun toddler band set with cute “instruments” for her and Maddy to play. The best was the look on Maddy’s face when we decided to use a leftover sparkler since we didn’t have any candles for Hayden to blow out.

On Saturday, we had a fun family party in the park near our house with my Portland siblings and their families, my grandparents, and my aunt Sydney and her family. The kids had a blast on the playground, learning tennis from Dave, and blowing bubbles. Then we went back to our house for cake and ice cream. Here’s a slideshow of all Hayden’s bday festivities:

And today, we took Hayden for her 1-year check-up, where the doctor told us she has reached the frightening distinction of being in the 1st percentile for weight for her age. I’m trying not to let that stress me out. She weights 16 lbs 9 oz, is 28.5 inches tall (28th %), and her head is 43.5 cm around (10th %).

Now it’s off to Sunnyvale for me for a couple days…

…and now it’s the middle of June so the title of the post is no longer appropriate but I feel a need to leave it just so I can laugh at how long it’s taken me to get this up. Here are some highlights and media galore from our past 6 weeks that I haven’t had a chance to capture for the blog yet.

The first weekend in May, we had a wonderful visit from cousin Addi, Aunt Crystal, and Grandpa Busath, who flew up to Portland from Utah for my nephew’s blessing. We got to host them at our new house and test out the “guest quarters” in our basement, which worked out nicely. Maddy loved having Addi around for 3 whole days, and has missed her a lot ever since she left.

Below are a couple photos from that awesome weekend.

Since then, we’ve also had lots of other playdates with the rest of the cousins, which we always enjoy thoroughly despite the intensity of the chaos that ensues every time that many toddlers and babies converge (hence my lack of photos of said playdates). If it weren’t for naps and distance, we’d get together with them every day.

In addition to our fun cousin time, Maddy has been lucky enough to go on a couple other cool outings of her own when weather permits. I took her out for coffee with a friend at the cutest little coffee shop and Maddy got a kick out of playing with their dominoes and chess set while drinking a very grown up milk next to my cup of coffee. I also took her to the Rose Festival, which is a fun waterfront fair they have in downtown Portland. She loved the fire truck ride we went on, but was a little scared by the hot air balloon ride. Dave also took her back for the Dragon Boat races on a different day, which amazed and thrilled her – she seemed especially smitten with the drums they have on the boats.

Today she went to her first gymnastics class, which we hope gives her a safer place to practice the “routines” she’s been performing for us lately (basically rotating through a few yoga poses and then running around in circles). Next week Maddy starts preschool/summer camp three mornings a week! We’re very excited for her to meet some new friends up here, because she definitely misses and talks about her Cali buddies all the time, especially Sydney, Sierra, Lily and Chloe.

Oh and here’s the only video we’ve been able to get so far of Hayden’s little steps, a fun one of her giggling, as well as great videos of Maddy reading a story to her “babies” and then taking them to the “dentist,” Maddy “performing” with Uncle Gavin, Maddy “dancing” to New Kids on the Block, and Maddy at gymnastics class:

Highlights
- Yummy food by everyone, and chaotic, yet fun times with my siblings and their families
- The serene mountain setting we had for a week up at Mt. Hood in Oregon, where we got to see snow (who knew we would see it again just a week later in the Bay Area)!
- Lorna’s great photoshoots with us Phamsters, which she blogged about here, here and here
- Hearing Gavin’s reaction to changing Maddy’s poopie diaper
- Hot tub-ing with my sisters at our condo
- Sage teaching Maddy how to ballroom dance at Lorna’s house
- Swimming with Eva and Maren at our hotel’s indoor pool, where Maddy went from frightened to fearless in 60 seconds

Lowlights
- Maddy, and then Hayden and I, getting sick (thankfully we’re all healthy now)
- Missing out on going tube-ing and on a sleigh ride because we didn’t have chains to get far enough up the mountain in the snow
- Flight home alone with both kids (Hayden made a point of pooping just before the plane took off and then screamed for the first hour of the flight because she didn’t understand why it had taken me so long to change her – guess 5-month-olds don’t understand the concept of a seat-belt rule)

Reading me the “wheels on the bus” book:

Giggling with our cousin Eva:

Checking out her very own tennis racquet that mom and dad gave Maddy for her birthday:

- Hayden

Day 1, Monday 9/21 – Chaotic morning trying to get showered and the girls dressed and fed (you wouldn’t think that would be so difficult, but I’m here to tell you otherwise…). Head to my sister Maren’s apt in the afternoon for a family party with birthday girls Eva and Maddy. Maddy and Eva display their swimming skills for each other in the pool, and then watch in amazement as the place is suddenly filled by their Great-grandparents, Great-aunt Sydney and [large] family, and Aunt Lorna and family.

Day 2 – More hanging at the hotel in the morning, where Maddy loves playing with the phone. At one point, she picks it up and says “Hello? Pizza? Chicken Nuggets?” Not sure how she learned the concept of room service already. That afternoon, we go with Maren and Eva to the beach at Sandy river in Oxbow Park, where Maddy and Eva compete over who can throw the most rocks into the water. On the way home, they also compete over who gets to tell Hayden “It’s okay!” when she cries (Eva wins).

Day 3 – Drive up to St. Helens with Maren to hang out with Maddy’s cousins Sage and Jude while my sister Lorna goes to a doctors appointment. We amazingly get Jude and Maddy to nap at the same time, but Hayden decides to keep us from enjoying it by entering fussy mode. Kids wake up and play in the backyard. Then have a yummy dinner with the family and crash.

Day 4 – More fun with the boy cousins in the morning, then take naps and leave to pick up Sage from kindergarten. Head straight out to meet Maren, Jared and Eva at the super-fun Portland Children’s Museum. Especially enjoy the Dig Pit and Vroom Room. Unfortunately get kicked out at closing time before we finish exploring. Head out for some yummy pizza with everyone. Maddy eats a large, very loaded veggie slice all by herself (no cutting up pieces or urging her on, she just picks it up and goes to town), and then asks for more.

Day 5 – Pack up and head to Maren’s for more fun with Eva until we had to head to the airport. Maddy was very sad to leave and has been asking about Eva, Jude and Sage ever since.

And, here’s my hopefully-not-too-long recap of the vacation:

Day 1, Tuesday, 9/1 – Woke at 5am. Maddy scared of cab driver, but fascinated by airport. Got 2 extra seats on flight to MN and 1 extra on flight to Albany, yay! Hayden did great sleeping and eating on flights, no crying.

Arrived in Albany around 6pm, went to Dave’s mom’s where Maddy was treated to a dinner of chicken nuggets and fries set up in front of the TV with cartoons on. And that was just the beginning of the spoiling, hmmm…

Cousins came over and Maddy was initially pretty overwhelmed by the chaos ensued by TJ (4), Kiara (3) and Lewis (6).

Day 2, Wednesday – Settled in to a much quieter house. Maddy enjoyed exploring ALL of TJ’s toys (especially the electronic and tool varieties) while he was at school.

Day 3, Thursday – Visited with Mrs. DiPietro (Grandma Di). Maddy took her sweet time to warm up, but LOVED the tinkerbell cell phone, My Little Pony, and cool bag she was given (as well as the animal crackers – more spoiling).

Day 4, Friday – Visited Mrs. Di at work and played on super-fancy playground with TJ. Loved huge slides, and enjoyed tour of the gorgeous new elementary school.

Went back to grandma’s house and got to visit with family friend Barbara and all the cousins again – ate yummy pizza from The Fountain and enjoyed more chaos.

Left for 2-hour car ride to Syracuse with Dave, Jimmy and Maddy (who napped). Went to Faris’ house (Dave’s college roommate), where Maddy got to know Emelie (21 mos) and Jacob (4), and their cool kitchen toys, and had more yummy pizza before crashing.

Day 5, Saturday – Took way too long getting ready to go to Kristin’s beautiful house (my high-school friend, who I hadn’t seen in WAY too long), where Maddy was taken very good care of by sweet boys Atticus (6) and Thadius (4). Great to see Kristin and her family again, wish we had had more time to catch up.

Went to campus to meet up with Jimmy, Faris, Greg and Karen for the SU vs. Minn. football game. Maddy so excited that she COULD NOT sit still. After meeting Otto the Orange (school mascot), she passed out and spent last 45 minutes sleeping on my shoulder. Game was great until the end when The ‘Cuse sadly let it slip through their fingers.

After game, walked down to Marshall St., where Jimmy won an admirer for life by buying Maddy Otto doll, then back to Faris’ house for some delicious BBQ and a great night during which the girls crushed the boys in Taboo.

Day 6, Sunday – Back to Albany, where I was so happy to see Hayden again (and be done with pumping for a bit) and get more sleep. Rather than sleep, Dave for some reason opted to go to casino and loose money.

Day 7, Monday – Low-key day, hung around the house and visited with Lisa D. and her new man.

Day 8, Tuesday – Fun going apple picking with Malcolm at Bowman Orchards. Maddy loved seeing animals and picking apples – mostly dropping them in the bag. She also didn’t mind getting some homemade ice cream, cider and apple donuts.

Day 9, Wednesday – Off to Springfield Mass. to visit with old roommate Leigh, her son Blake, sister Lynn, and niece Addi. Maddy wasn’t so sure what to make of Lynn’s dog, but had a blast at the cool playground across the street – especially on the big slides, rock-climbing wall, monkey bars and swings.

Day 10, Thursday – Last full day was sad, consisted mostly of packing and some goodbye visits with the DiPietro’s.

Day 11, Friday – Up at 5am again to head back to the airport.

Thanks for all the love and hospitality from our favorite New Yorkers…until next time!

Hayden was an angel during her 1st plane ride, she was good for her grandma when we left her for the 1st time for 2 whole nights (we still have never left Maddy overnight), and she turned 2 months old on Sunday!

Maddy has made lots of new friends, including her cousins TJ, Kiara and Lewis, Dave’s college roommate Faris’ kids Jacob and Emilie, my high school friend Kristin’s boys Atticus and Thadius, and most importantly OTTO THE ORANGE!

Dave and I got to relive some college memories during the SU vs. MN football game, despite Maddy’s restlessness and the sad Orange loss. We’ve all loved the visiting with great friends and family, and are excited about more visiting before we head home on Friday.

In addition to all the wonderful gifts we’ve received for both Hayden and Maddy, we want to give special thanks to the people who traveled from so far to help and visit us…

My sister Lorna from Oregon was a huge help and amazing emotional support during our first week as a family of four. Not only did she keep me calm during the c-section and talk me through my painful nursing issues, she also made fast friends with Maddy while I was in the hospital and helped her adjust seamlessly to being a big sister.

Next my mom came from DC and spent two weeks changing a gazillion diapers, cooking dinners, taking Maddy to the park and swimming lessons, cooing over Hayden, and tolerating my hormonal nastiness.

Then my dad, stepmom and half-brothers Mason and Bennett came for a visit from Utah and it was so great to see them. We spent a relaxing day catching up, stopping by the Metro team picnic, touring Yahoo! and talking talking talking. I can’t believe how grown up my little brothers are getting – it seems like just a few years ago that they were born.

Finally, my cousin Allie just finished a two-week visit, during which she unfortunately learned the meaning of both “terrible twos” and colic. Especially because of Maddy and Hayden’s bipolar behaviors, Allie was a big help. We were even able to get out of the house and do lots of fun stuff with the kids, which I never would’ve been able to manage on my own.

HUGE thanks again to our helpers extraordinaire, and to their families and friends who helped make the visits possible. Can’t wait for our next round of visitors – in September my sister Maren and niece Eva are coming down from Oregon, and also my brother Gavin with his girlfriend Jamie and son/dog Lumas. Then in October my best friend Leigh, her husband Jim, and son Blake are all coming to visit from Rhode Island. We’re so lucky!

I know, I know, you’ve all missed my deep thoughts these past few weeks.

While my little sister Hayden has been getting all the attention, I’ve been keeping busy too (mostly by giving her attention myself). I love to give her kisses and hold her hand, and sometimes I get so excited to see her in the morning that I bounce all around on the bed and almost step on her head.

The first week Hayden was here, we also had a visit from my Auntie Lorna (aka “Noena”), who was SO fun to hang with that I can’t stop talking about it. I now use her name to refer to anyone who stays at our house. While she was here, we went to the park and the library and visited mommy and Hayden in the hospital.

On Sunday, my best friend Sydney came over to the house with her mom and dad to visit and it was super super fun. I showed her my rocking horse and car, and we ran all around being silly.

She’s way more fun to play with than Hayden, who just lays there.

This week my Ba Ngoai (aka “Gamma” or “Noena”) came to visit, and she’s been taking me to my first swim classes.

Some days I like it better than others, but overall I think it’s pretty cool to play in such a huge bathtub – especially when we get to check out the water toys. I’ve been blowing bubbles in the water, and kicking my feet, and singing water songs, and today I even bobbed my head under water. I didn’t like that so much, but I tolerated it okay.

Today, mommy’s cousin Becky is visiting and she’s great too. She knows just how to play with me and sometimes I even forget how to be stubborn when she’s around. I also think it’s pretty cool how good she is at changing Hayden’s diapers, because that gives my mommy more time to pay attention to me.

Oh, and we’ve all been reading lots of books. One that I like is Love You Forever. The other day I started singing along with my mom (don’t mind her PJs).

Having visitors is pretty cool – can’t wait for more to come over the next few weeks!

- Maddy

It was great to take some time off of work and spend it at home with Maddy, especially because she entertained us with many deep discussions about “boogars” and “bugs,” as well as her serious concentration while taking care of her doll, aka “baby.”

The boogar conversations started the week before when Dave and I both had colds, which Maddy promptly got herself. Any time someone sneezed or blew their nose, Maddy felt a need to comment with something like “Ewwwee! Boogar! Dada!” That was especially pleasant this morning when after I thought she was taking her morning nap, I was in the room next to hers and accidentally sneezed. Immediately I heard “Mama! Boogar!” through the wall, followed by crying and whining for me to come let her skip her nap.

On Thursday and Friday, Maddy got lots of quality time with her Ba Ngoai (grandma), who we think she actually remembered from Christmas. Ba Ngoai (pronounced “Ba Why” in American) is the first name Maddy’s learned. After my mom left on Saturday morning, Maddy was a little confused and asked a few times “Why?” while pointing upstairs – we were sorry to tell her that Ba Ngoai was not actually upstairs, but on a plane to DC.

And today, we took Maddy to Seacliff Beach in Aptos, which was her first big beach outing. She’s seen a few beaches, but never actually hung out at one to play so she was fascinated. She spent most of the afternoon intensly focused on staring at people, pointing out birds or dogs, and filling her bucket with sand.

We did check out the water at one point, and she was pretty interested in the feeling of wet sand between her toes for a bit, untill she saw a tiny wave coming in and tried to run backwards before wiping out and landing on her bum in an inch or so of water. After that it was back to the dry sand for the rest of the day. I took way too many photos, of which I’ve included a few favorites below and many more in an album here.

Now we’re set for another week of fun. Tomorrow, we’re having lunch with my Uncle Dan and his family, and Maddy may actually get the pleasure of seeing her Uncle Gavin perform live at Cafe Trieste in San Jose.