Springtime/Easter

It is finally springtime in Chicago! We are very excited about the mild weather, although we were a bit skeptical that it would ever come, as this is how we began April:

Krysten has been busy, growing like a weed and perfecting her walking/running skills. In fact, she has decided that she should be allowed to walk up and down the stairs instead of crawling up and sliding down on her tummy like any good toddler would. So, we have a little disagreement each time she goes up or down the stairs as we force her to do it the safer way. I fear this is only the beginning of her stubborn/independent streak.

Krysten also still has her obsession with remote controls and actually has learned that they control the TV. She will point the control at the TV and push buttons and wait to see what happens. She has also figured out which buttons to push on the DVD player to turn her Baby Mozart and Beethoven videos on (which she loves by the way).

Earlier this month, Krysten got into a habit for about a week straight of pooping during dinner. After a few nights, we found it so amusing that we just had to share a picture of her priceless poopy face (we also have video too, but I will spare you).

Easter Sunday came upon us and we had a wonderful day. We spent the day at Nana and Papa's house where Krysten received many gifts from the Easter bunny and all the people who love her.

Krysten also was able to spend some time with her new cousin Jeffrey. Both Brad and Dave never thought we would get the kids to sit long enough to get these pictures, but they were quite content cuddled up together.

"Don't worry Jeffrey, our crazy family will stop taking pictures soon ... "

We had quite the busy day, and Krysten finally cuddled up with Papa after dinner to take in some Baby Mozart.

The Easter Bunny also visited Krysten at home and brought her some gifts from Grandmom in New Jersey as well as and Easter basket full of books and treats and also some alphabet blocks.

Our little girl may go in to demolition when she grows up as she loves to knock down the towers that we build with her blocks.

And, of course, we also had a visit to the Easter Bunny at the mall ...

... which looks quite different from last year's visit ...

... Jeffrey got in on the action this year too.

A New Cousin!!

The Engfer family's newest member made his entrance into the world late last night. Jeffrey David Engfer was born to proud parents Brad and Mary at 11:30 p.m. on Sunday, weighing exactly 6 pounds and measuring 18 1/4 inches long (he is quite the little peanut). Both Mom and baby are doing great!!

Of course, being the proud Auntie that I am I have about a million pictures the little man so far, but here are just a few from his first 24 hours ...

Literally just about an hour after birth.

All snuggled up with Mommy around 3 a.m. this morning.

Taking a late morning snooze today.

Then, this evening we took Krysten to the hospital to meet her new cousin ...

Checking him out at first.

Shaping up to be best friends already :-)

Krysten actually was kind of indifferent about her new cousin as this video shows. We are pretty sure that she is trying to say "baby," but that could just be wishful thinking. I'm sure that she will find him much more interesting in about 3 months or so when he starts perking up a bit.

Musical Baby

Krysten had her 1-year check-up with the pediatrician just after her birthday and is coming along just fine (new stats are on the left). We were given the green light to switch from formula to baby food (thank goodness) and Krysten is 100% on table food now. We are very fortunate that she is fond of fruits and vegetables. In fact, if you put her entire meal on her tray at the same time she will usually eat the fruit or veggies before anything else. Her favorite fruits are watermelon, bananas and grapes. For veggies she loves carrots.

Krysten's walking ability seems to improve each and every day. She still has a bit of a wobble in her walk, but can sure get around now using those two little feet.

Krysten has begun to show a bit of her musical side and has taken to tinkering with Dave's electric keyboard. I took a video of her one night as I found it very interesting how she alternates between banging on the keys to gently pushing on individual keys.

She also started to outgrow her bathing suit from last summer, so I bought her a new one at Target. Even though I bought an 18 mos. size, I don't think it will last through this summer. Regardless, she looks so adorable it it I had to take a picture.






Other than that, not much has been going on around here. We enjoyed a wonderful spring-like weekend over the last two days and hope that it hangs around. And, of course, we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of Krysten's first cousin (actually, Mary is in labor as I write this post!) ... we will be sure to have more info on that very soon.

Krysten's 1st Birthday!

Krysten turned 1 last weekend!! I know is sounds very cliche, but my goodness, it's hard to believe it has been a year already. It's amazing at how much can change in such a short period of time.

Here is Krysten just hours old last year ...

And here she is one year later enjoying a nice birthday breakfast ...

Last Saturday was a big day for Krysten, as we had her birthday party on the actual day of her birthday. We started the day with attending our swimming class at the YMCA and Krysten received her very first report card with rave reviews. Then, shortly after we got home, Grandmom Ulmer arrived from New Jersey (despite the snow in Chicago that day) and we got to work preparing for the big event.

Krysten was actually sleeping when her guests began to arrive, but soon woke up from her nap to join the fun. We opened Aunt Liz and Uncle Brian's present before dinner because Aunt Liz had to leave for work.

Then after dinner we had cake. Krysten did very well with her smash cake, as you can see for yourself.

Even though it was obvious that Krysten thoroughly enjoyed her chocolate cake, she was able to make time to stop eating and say goodbye to Rachel.

And finally, just in case anyone didn't know, Krysten decided she needed to remind us how big she is now.

After cake we opened the rest of the presents, and per usual Krysten was a very lucky girl. She received lots of clothes for the summer and some new toys and stuffed animals too. Unfortunately I was busy with opening the gifts and didn't get any pictures of this production on my camera.

One of Krysten's most favorite presents is her little girl chair from her Grandma & Grandpa. Here Krysten tests it out the morning after the party.

Later in the day, she took a break from playing and relaxed in her chair while taking in an episode of Super Why!

Just as the chair is the perfect size for a little girl, it also appears to be the perfect size for 2 fat cats ...

Krysten does not like it when the cats are in her chair, but I guess she needs to learn to share sometime :-)

Sledding, Swimming and Walking!

A few weekends ago we decided to break-in Krysten's new sled that she got for Christmas. We have had plenty of snow here this winter, so we thought we may as well try to make it fun. Here's our girl all bundled up with Daddy and ready to go.

"Um, I'm not sure what you people are thinking, but why are we outside with all this cold white stuff?"

Sledding turned out to be trickier than we anticipated, as with her snowsuit on Krysten was not able to sit up very well by herself in the sled. I wound up running behind and holding her up while Dave pulled the sled.

After that got tiresome (trust me, it didn't take long) we tried her on her tummy. That didn't last too long either.

On a completey different note, Krysten started Parent & Kid swim classes at the YMCA last month. Here are some shots from this morning's class.

Daddy and Krysten hanging out in the pool (that's the teacher, Miss Jenny, on the left).


Krysten didn't like the back float so much ...

... but was OK when she had a toy to play with. Miss Jenny encourage the parents to throw the toy and have the kids practice reaching and swimming towards it.

Noodle time didn't go so well today ...

... so Miss Jenny gave us 2 dolphins to play with

By the end of the class she was all smiles :-)

Krysten is also getting in touch with her domestic side. She LOVES to help load the dishwasher ... let's hope it sticks.

But, the biggest news of all ... Krysten has taken her first steps! Over the last week or so, Krysten has gotten very brave and has taken up to 5 or 6 steps at time on her own. Here is a picture of her getting ready to go and a video of the real thing.

We're thinking she meet expectations and be walking fairly well by her first birthday, which is only 2 weeks away!

Krysten's First Christmas

So, it's pretty much the end of January and I am finally getting around to posting our Christmas pictures ... sorry. Anyway, Krysten had a wonderful first Christmas. Santa, and pretty much everyone else she knows, were VERY generous with her. Needless to say she has plenty of new toys to keep her busy, clothes to keep her warms, and our house now looks like a Fisher Price showroom.

This is our attempt to get Krysten's picture in front of the tree Christmas morning.

After that, we pretty much dove right in to opening gifts. Krysten did a pretty good job of unwrapping her gifts, however most of the time she was much more interested in the paper she had just ripped off than the gift itself.

She really liked her Fisher Price Learning Chair from her Grandmom.

And Mommy and Daddy gave her the Fisher Price Learning Home.



Of course, one her most favorite things to play with was a big empty box.

We celebrated Christmas at Grandma & Grandpa's house too, and Krysten got a princess bath towel, complete with a crown.

Krysten also really enjoys her new rocking horse from Grandma & Grandpa. Here she has fun riding it while showing us she is "so big!"