Easter Egg Hunt and Backyard Waterplay!! (Week 197/59)

Yikes, almost a week late!  Time to backtrack a little.  This week we took Katelyn to see a pediatric allergist, Dr. Otto Liao.  He came highly recommended from some of our friends as well as our pediatrician's office.  We headed there Friday morning with my nanny.  She was looking very cute in her little shoes and hairbow. 

Such a big girl!  We talked to Dr. Liao, and he took a look at Katelyn's skin.  Of course, as luck would have it, her skin was looking pretty good that day - just some minor patches of exzema, nothing crazy like we usually see.  Luckily I had some photos on my phone to show the doctor so he would know we weren't exaggerating!  I am a little annoyed however, that we have to come back again for Katelyn to get the poke allergy test, and then come back another time after to talk to the doctor about the results.  He apparently has 4 offices that he rotates between, and there is not a day of the week where both the poking nurse and him are at the office the same day.  ...  I had to make sure they didn't expect me to pay the $30 specialist co-pay for each visit!  But I'll have to suck it up and pay it again on our last meeting.  It's only scheduled for 15 minutes so I'll probably leave Katelyn at home with Cheyenne and go myself.  Sheesh, you'd think the doctors' office thinks I don't work or something!  Oh well, anything to help us figure out what's going on with her allergies.  I brought the results of Katelyn's blood allergy test from December and Dr. Liao said the poking test would be more conclusive for us to see what we really should be avoiding.  She's showing up allergic to sesame seed (3/6) and corn (3/6) and then also wheat, egg whites, etc (1/6). 

That afternoon we also had a baby shower for one of the teacher's in Katelyn's infant room class at ICDC.  It was really cute to see Katelyn and the other kids interacting.  Katelyn only goes Tue/Thur, so I could totally see the wheels in her head churning as she saw the MWF kids for the first time.  She would stare at them and she was totally thinking "who are they??".  It was nice having a chance to chat with some of the other parents (especially since I don't really do pick up or drop off for Katelyn - since those are days that I try to go into the office) and I think I made a new mommy friend named Yoko!  Her daughter Harmony (sitting right next to Katelyn in the picture below) has a 3/5 bday, just 2 days after Katelyn!  I was thinking that was really fun, but just realized that, uhoh, are we going to have conflicting birthday parties in the future?  AHHH!

Katelyn was very well behaved and sat there and ate her muffin.  She's a good eater. :)

Here's Katelyn and one of her teachers Ashley.  Ashley used to teach in one of the higher classes (pre-4 maybe?) and knew Tyler in the big yard. 

Katelyn and another teacher Jessica.  This was SO cute!  When I got there, Katelyn sat in my lap and Jessica was next to me.  Then she got up and walked over to Jessica to give her a big soft hug.  Totally unprompted!  Melted my heart.  I did drop off again this week and Katelyn did the same thing again!  Jessica is a really sweet tempered lady and it's wonderful to know that Katelyn really likes her. 

And here's the soon-to-be-mom Daniela!  Daniela was actually one of Tyler's teachers back when he was in the infant room, and moved with his class to the toddler room also - so we definitely got to know her well those 2 years.  I was really excited that Daniela moved back to the infant room when Katelyn started so she could help take care of Katelyn also.

Weekend visitor - our friend Heidi!  I told Tyler that one of mama's friends was coming to visit on the weekend and he asked, "Auntie Trina?".  I said No.  Then he asked, "Auntie Mariam?".  And I said No.  And then he thought about it, and said, "Is she pretty?".  Oh Tyler.  Yes.  Tyler was very excited when Heidi and Chris got there and kept holding Heidi's hand.  Haha! 

He is quite a ham when it comes to pretty girls.  At least I'm exposing him to some pretty Chinese girls as opposed to all the blond nannies he's had!  I love this picture of Tyler and Heidi.

We got to share some of our photo books with them as well.  Chris was a great sport and played with Tyler all morning.  Whenever Chris started chatting with us, Tyler would say, "Will you play with me please?".  Attention hog!

Group picture!  Yay!  LOVE visitors! :)

This weekend was SO hot. (I know I'm at the end of the next weekend -which was cold -posting this, but believe me!).  It was so hot that we decided to put the kids in their swim suits and play in the yard.  I contemplated the pool for a couple of minutes before veto-ing since we always end up so drained after a pool trip!  Tyler was very excited to play with our water sprayer.  I had to keep Katelyn from chewing on the little pebbles in the putting green!

How cute is Katelyn's little bikini?  I think it's a hand-me-down from my older sister.  18 months and it fits tight!

Ahh! Katelyn didn't like getting sprayed.  Those little mini nozzles have a mind of their own - they'll spray and swing all over the place when the water's on full blast!

Yay Tyler!  We lost the matching shark swim trunks when we were in the Bahamas a couple years back.  Interesting that he can still fit that top... he was just a few months over 2 when we went to the Bahamas and now he's pushing 4!

Heehee, look at Katelyn's little tummy.

HI everyone!  I'm styling!

This is only the second time that Katelyn's been in a swimsuit.  The first time was when we went to visit my older sister Grace in Houston last Summer.  She was ~4 months old and I had her in a top/bottom set.  What size was it... for some reason I'm thinking it was 12 months, but it couldn't have... could it?

This was a funny sequence of events.  Katelyn was just standing there innocently and her mischievous older brother decides that it would be funny to spray her.  Tsk Tsk Tyler!

Katelyn is so trusting though.  She still came back for more!

Tyler loves the spraying nozzles.  We went out and bought one of those cheapie little plastic pools.  Before we bough the nicer inflatable type with an attached inflated slide, but we ended up throwing it away because it got slimy and dirty.  I figured a cheapie one was really all we needed this time anyway.

Tyler's conducting a water orchestra- kind of like the fountains at Bellagio! :)

Katelyn got tired of being aimed at by Tyler so she took refuge in her little car. 

It was much more fun getting sprayed this way.   Can't wait to play outside again when it gets hot enough!  LOVE our yard to play in since the kids don't get muddy or dirty with the grass.

Sunday bright and early we headed to the Irvine Park Railroad for their Easter Extravaganza Egg Hunt!  We met up with the Garners and did their 9am 2-5 year old egg hunt.  Here are the boys getting their wrist bands for the egg hunt (they limit the amount of kids for each round).

Katelyn was fine just hanging out in her stroller. - and kept her little hairclip on for quite a while!

Then she wanted out to look around.  How cute is she here in her little jean skirt?  I never thought that I would have so much hot pink little girl clothes - so not my thing, but she looks so cute in it! 

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Me and Katelyn!

Before the egg hunt started, there was a gathering to listen to all the rules - no running, shoving, etc.  And only 8 eggs per child.

And we're off! 

Shouldn't there be some level of hunting in an egg hunt?  I know the age range is 2-5, but really - the eggs were just in plain sight all over the grass!  Tyler filled his basket really fast.

He filled it so fast that we had to start a game of him hiding the eggs he had, just so he would have something to do!  Needless to say, the kids both left with many more than 8 eggs.  We're living dangerously!

Here's a video of Tyler egg hunting:


A family group shot.

And a group shot with the Garners!

Katelyn liked the little wooden chicks.

Tyler in an egg!

Just a couple shots I liked of Tyler:

He was really well behaved that day. :)

The kids also got some bounce-house time in as well.  It was perfect that we went so early cuz Tyler, Kaden and Kylee got the whole house to themselves!

A silly face on Tyler.  I think his mouth was maybe stuffed with gummies.  We opened his eggs and they were all candy, which Tyler promptly said "I don't like candy" and gave it all to me.  I was hoping at least for some chocolate!

Mommy and Tyler!

Next up - a train ride!

Tyler and Kaden!

OK that's too cute!

I am so looking forward to watching these two grow up together!

Silly faces!

They are so silly together.

whoohoo train ride!

Tyler looks so relaxed here!

Me and Katelyn on the train ride!  Kids 12 months and up need a ticket but we snuck her in (she was 13 months!).  But Kylee snuck on too and she's already past 2... so I didn't feel so bad anymore. :)

Last up, pony rides!

Tyler's a natural.

Petting his horse.

Hey my horse pooped!

Here's a video of Tyler chatting away while on his pony ride:


Katelyn was WAY overdue for her nap but we decided to grab a quick lunch at Taco Bell.  I haven't been to Taco Bell forever - but it was quick and close by, just what we needed.  Katelyn was all about using her spork!

Yumm....

And some random pictures from the week:

I'm ready for my workout!

Oh, Monday and I woke up feeling sick.  I was feeling so under the weather that I even skipped out on taekwondo Monday night (Will took Tyler).  Tuesday Will and I woke up even sicker and we both took the day off work and slept almost the whole day in bed.  It was THAT bad.  Tuesday night we were feeling slightly better, but still exhausted, and then Will pulled a back muscle!  To make a long story short, Will couldn't even move after 3 hours of pain, so I called my friend Jenn to watch the sleeping kids, and Will and I headed to the ER.  It was that bad.  We were there ~9pm to past 1am.  Exhausting.  Will got some heavy duty pain meds (Dilaudid IM) and a prescription to help manage his pain later (Vicodin 5-500).  Wednesday we called in the reinforcements (Will's parents) since Will was pretty much bedridden.  Whew!  Will's parents were very helpful and Will's dad did some Chinese massage on Will's back and I think it really helped.  Thank goodness! 

Here's Katelyn feeding herself yogurt.  She's so independent.  She's so smart!  I'll ask her if she wants something and she'll nod her head yes or shake her head no.  Today we were reading stories and it looked like she was starting to poop so I asked her, Katelyn, do you have poo-poo?  And she nodded yes and said poo-poo.  !!  She really did have poop!  She's hilarious, she'll grab her jacket or her shoes and wait at the back or front door to go out.  She loves her shoes!  Plus she is a GREAT eater, she consistently eats more than Tyler, AND she can handle spicy stuff!  Nothing too crazy but I've give her a taste of my red chili sauce and she barely flinched! 

Here's a video of Katelyn feeding herself yogurt with a spoon:


Video of Katelyn actually verbalizing both "more" and "please":


Here's a video of a first for Tyler!  Dodgeball at taekwondo!


Whew, glad we got this out before the next week was due. Have a good week!