Antie Suzy and cousin Sammy arrived safe and sound. When Leina came downstairs from her nap and saw them in our living room, she was so happy she could not speak. All she could do that stand frozen in place, giddy with joy, clapping her hands, bouncing and grinning from ear to ear.

It makes me a little sad to see Leina and Sammy play because it is clear that these two would be the ultimate best friends if we lived closer together. They copy eachother, play chase, swing together, and splash in the wading pool. Sure, there are a few tiffs over sharing and even a punch or two is thrown but it quickly blows over and they are back together again exploring the world. They are such a study in opposites. Leina, so articulate and bossy; Sammy, so dexterous and fearless. Put them together and they entertain eachother and you. Simply adorable.

And Kulia. Sweet, mild tempered Kulia. She just sits in her little chair and smiles and goos at whoever is passing by. Sammy seems to have no problem watching his mom hold another baby so Suzy is getting lots of chubba chubba time with the little one. Auntie can’t get enough of her sweet smiles and miles and miles of chubbs.

There is nothing like family. Nothing.

I can’t believe it’s been 2 months already. It seems like just yesterday we brought the little McNugget home. She was so small and snuggly it was unreal. I just couldn’t remember Leina being that small. It was definitely a case of baby-nesia.

Now she’s a giant! She reminds me of a little panda bear so I can’t help thinking of her as the “panda-baby” every time I pick her up.

But judge for yourself:

Crazy huh? Now, in just 2 months, she’s smiling, laughing, giggling and goo-gooing (as opposed to googling which I’m sure she’ll do by age 3).

She just keeps getting bigger and bigger and bigger. At this rate she’ll be over 100 lbs at age 2. I hope Huggies go up to size 50.

Today was Kulia’s two month checkup. Yes, that’s right, she is already two months old. Amazing.

Her doctor confirmed what we already knew. Namely, she is one fat little baby. In fact, she weights in at 14lbs, 1oz which places her into the 97th percentile for weight. She is 75th% for length and 50th% for head size so she’s a fat, long kid. But one look at her chubba-chubba face and you can pretty much guess she’s a chunker.

Tutu has been ohhhing and ahhhing over her and basically fullfilling her grandmotherly duties of spoiling both her granddaughters. She has begun offering Kulia a bottle but so far we have had no luck. The kid wants nothing to do with it. But Tutu will persist for her stay here and hopefully we can convince baby sister to take a bottle in the next week ’cause mommy needs to leave the house some day!

We are now in the countdown until Auntie Suzy and Sammy arrive. I am so excited for Leina to have Sammy around to play with. They are totally Bam Bam and Pebbles togther and I’m sure they are going to LOVE playing with eachother.

Poor baby girl is sleeping off her multiple shots in the leg. I sure hope she have a mild reaction to the vaccines. If not, I have the baby Tylenol all prepped and ready to dose her up when she wakes. My sweet fat, fat, fat baby girl!

It has been brought to my attention that there are 2 people arriving in just a few days to see us (really they want to see Kulia and Leina). And while we have a counter dedicated to Tutu – proclaiming to the world the esteem, love and excitement we are feeling for the visit of that wonderful women – we did not have one for Papa. Aka:

Silly Papa
Cold Papa
On an airplane Papa?
Watch me Papa!!!
Papa of Papa and Tutu

Let me categorically state that we are just as excited for Papa’s visit. We know he is going to have a blast playing with his rascally oldest granddaughter as well as be overjoyed at finally seeing his latest granddaughter.

I know Tutu know’s what she’s getting herself into. I just hope Papa does too…

It’s the end of an era here in the McLaughlin house.

The kitties are gone.

Yes, that’s right, the girls have found a new home.

The cats have been on their last life for a while now. The random crying at 5am, the bringing of dead and live mice into the house, and all the cat hair. But last week, we hit a new low. Not only did they manage to bring in a live snake that hide under Kulia’s carseat, we also discovered a large racoon in our garage eating the cat food. The racoon was the last straw. I love the girls, I really do, but racoons are mean and I just couldn’t get the image of one attacking Leina out of my head. So Kevin posted an ad in the paper and a very nice couple came by yesterday to take a look at the cats. They were smitten and decided to take them home. We told them if it didn’t work to call us back but I have a feeling they are gone for good.

So last night, after the 3am nursing, I found myself wondering about my cats. They were in a strange house with strange people. They were probably firmly entrenched under the bed and wondering what was going on. Well girls, I hope you like you new home. I know our house is a little quieter without you.

Leina is hilarious right now.

Tonight we were hanging outside. Baby sister was catnapping in the swing and we had the sprinkler going. Leina was down to her diaper and running amuck. She charged up to me and said….”mommy want a ‘cano?”

“Sure!” I replied.

“OK mommy,” Leina said and ran toward her little playhouse. “Wait mommy! Leina will get you an americano!”

She ran back a moment later with a little cup and handed it to me then turned to Kevin and asked, “Daddy want a mocha?”

I find myself asking her “who taught you that” quite often as she amazes me with all her new tricks. The conversation goes something like this…

“Watch mommy. Me skipping!” Leina exclaimed and began doing a strange shuffle step across the room.

“Who taught you to skip?” I asked my little munchkin.

Leina paused, placed her index finger on her lower lip and tilted her head to one side. “Ummmmmmmm Tutu!” she exclaimed and resumed her skipping.

It seems this is her stock answer because tonight Kevin asked her in all seriousness… “Leina, who taught you calculus?”

“Ummmmm Tutu!” she exclaimed.

Sometimes she throws us a curve ball just to keep us on our feet. At dinner, when asked who taught her to be silly, her answer was Uncle Dan. I sense there might be a bit of truth behind that one. I love asking her open ended questions because I have absolutely no idea what she’s going to say. It is, by far, my favorite game to play.

This kid is an absolute riot!