Ainsley Marin is 11 months old!  She's standing alone for long periods of time and took her first two steps last week, then slowly lowered herself to sitting down and hasn't taken a step this week again.  We're not in any rush for her to walk though, we're still getting use to her crawling and that's hectic enough!  This will be a big month for her--we'll be moving her into her own bedroom sometime in the next couple of weeks and she's switching from nursing to formula full-time.  She still only has four teeth but several more seem to be starting to pop through.  She's great a manipulating toys, taking things out of containers and putting them back in and she has a terrific memory when it comes to anticipating what's coming up. She still loves playing peek a boo and getting chased around.  She is into EVERYTHING, especially bathrooms (the toilet paper roll of course) and kitchen cabinets (pots and pans banging). She loves playing ball and throws on command (but also throws her food very well, which isn't so fun!). She now knows what "no" means, but usually doesn't listen (not unlike every baby!) and she is now objecting (definitively!) when one of the other kids takes something from her.  She loves catching her reflection in mirrors or windows and doors and really just thinks she's hysterical!  Ainsley is also loving music, especially the kazoo and flute!  She's had a cold for the past three weeks and can't seem to kick it (she got it two days after her 9 month visit to the doctors office...), the other kids have caught her sniffles too.  At bedtime she hums along with Mommy during bedtime songs, then quietly goes into her crib and continues to hum herself to sleep. In the morning, she still wakes up and plays by herself in the crib before peeking out to wake us up (she's such a darling, that's why we're having a hard time thinking about moving her own room!).

Aidan Kane is 2 years and 4 months old.  He's become quite the story teller and has a wonderfully full imagination.  He'll go on and on to make up stories about exciting adventures "I put on my helmet, an went on rocket ship, 3-2-1 blast off! an I go to moon, an see blue monter, and den climb on rocks and..."  He quickly became a Red Sox fan these past few weeks, staying up way to late each night sneaking out of bed to watch "bayball".   Now that they've won the World Series, he has to think of new excuses to get out of bed like "I have to go poop", so we end up entertaining him as he sits on the potty.  Aidan has a great arm and has been wanting to play catch with his mitt every day.  He's also enthralled with football too, the Packers and Patriots of course.  We continue to be amazed at how he exhibits such strong masculine behaviors with all the girls around here.  Nature and not nurture we suppose!  He loves singing the oldies with the girls and runs around the house singing Miss American Pie, but sings "Bye, Bye, Miss A Mexican Pie, drove bevy, levy, baby dry".  If only we had the video tape rolling all day long, we think we'd have a hit t.v. show with his ability to make everyone laugh all day.
QUESTION:  Aidan, what's your favorite thing about our family?  "When we silly dilly, we funny so much"
What's your favorite thing about Daddy? "I love Daddy, I love fixin' the window with Daddy" about Kaelin "I love Kaelin, she tickle me in bed", about Keeley "I love Keeley, she tickle me", about Ainsley "I like kissin' her, she a baby", about Mommy "I love you kissin' me an I love you too much"

Kaelin Avery is 3 years and 7 months.  She said she wants Daddy to build a farm for her for Christmas so we can buy a real horsey.  We had (yet another) recent trip to the local farm for some pony rides.   A highlight for her this past week was Aidan's finding a praying mantis.  She adores all creatures big and small and couldn't get enough of it.  Daddy found a ladybug and we were trying to see if the mantis would eat it, and Kaelin was not to thrilled about that.  Kaelin has finally opened up to ballet class, it was a slow start, but now she really enjoys it and wants impress Miss Lisa.   She has been enjoying preschool but gymnastics is still her favorite activity during the week.  She also loves getting outside to ride her bike whenever she can she's great at her two wheeler with training wheels and speeds up and down the driveway, but she also still enjoys the tricycle too.  Kaelin, like Keeley, has become such a great caretaker of Ainsley, always watching out for her and making sure she keeps out of trouble. She's very loving with her baby sister and wants to know when we are having another baby she can take care of.  (Sorry, Kaelin, but NOT!)
QUESTION: Kaelin, what's your favorite thing about our family?  "Ainsley", What's your favorite thing about Aidan "his funny jokes", about Keeley "when she helps me with my jacket", about Daddy "the way he drives" (we're not quite sure what that means...), about Mommy "when you rub me before I fall asleep", about Ainsley "when she plays peek a boo with me". 

Keeley Shea is almost 4 years and 10 months old. She's been very busy with school functions and attending friend's birthday parties, looking forward to her own blast in a couple months. She is really interested in academics and is learning how to spell and write more complicated words (banana, apple, etc. and even one the most difficult words of all - her last name).  She'll also quiz the other kids during the day "Kaelin, if I have 7 and take away 3, what do I have left" and she also makes school games for them, like drawing a set of 6 pumpkins (making one slightly different from the rest), then asking the gang "which pumpkin is different than all the others?" It's very cute. Maybe she'll be a teacher like Grandma!
QUESTION:  Keeley, what's your favorite thing about our family?  "When we play rock and roll and dance."
What's your favorite thing about Daddy? "when he gives me rides on his tractor" about Kaelin "when she colors with me", about Ainsley "when I kiss her", about Mommy "when I go fun places with you like shopping"  about Aidan "when he asks me "what" all the time" (Aidan has a habit, even if he hears you, of saying "what you say?"  he thinks it's funny for people to repeat themselves over and over again). 

Halloween:  All the kids loved trick or treating last week (but Ainsley only made the rounds to 6 houses before getting bored).  They were dressed as some characters from the Wizard of Oz and were a neighborhood hit.  Aidan was the most polite lion ever...he would tag along with Keeley and Kaelin who would ring door bells and say "trick or treat" and Aidan would follow-up with a "cuse me, may I please have some candy" and he was always the first to say a very cute "tank you."  Although if people would put the bowl in front of him and tell him to take some candy, he would spend a few minutes looking for some candy with the color blue on it "you have blue candy?".  It was a very fun night.  But, now we have three huge bowls of candy to deal with...can't waste it and throw it out, can't bring to Mommy's office like in past years (unless we FedEx it to LA!)..., can't let the kids eat it all or their teeth will rot, Daddy won't eat because he doesn't like much candy, so....guess where it ends up??  In Mommy's belly...it's a good thing it's big sweater time of the year :-)

Upcoming birthdays & events include:

• November 5th Auntie Amy's 38th Birthday
• November 12th Grandma's Birthday
• November 23rd Grandma and Grandpa's 39th Wedding Anniversary
• November 30th Uncle Mikey's 34th Birthday
• December 4th Ainsley's 1st Birthday
• January 7th Keeley's 4th Birthday
• January 13th Uncle Sean's 37th Birthday