The adjustment hasn't been too horrible on C, though she still cries daily at drop-off. The first night she was up hourly wanting to nurse - really just spend time with me, I'm sure, but it was still tiring. Tuesday night was a bit better, though she was up at 10:04 and I let her cry that one out. She had barely gone 3 hours since her last feeding so I knew she wasn't truly hungry. She gave it her all, though, and cried for nearly an hour (even with me going in 2 times to soothe her). Wednesday night was GREAT! My little girl was only up once. YAY, Casey! She even continued that trend (up once a night) until this Wednesday night when I had Open House at school and got home just in time to put her to bed (after she'd spent the evening with neighbors as B had a bike race). Needless to say I don't think I got to sleep myself until nearly 1, then T appeared sometime shortly after 2, I think, and then C was up again at 3 or 4. I don't even know. All I know is that I didn't get more than a few hours of true sleep - it did not make for a good day for me mentally yesterday. Last night she was up 3 times again but they were more spread out and I was able to get some decent sleep in. Still woke up tired but not quite as tired as yesterday...
T enjoying an ice cream cone
Here's a peek at an added reason why I think C's been extra cranky (even for us at home).
Can you see them? Yes, Miss C has cut 3 teeth in the past DAY and the 4th cut a few weeks back while on vaca. OUCH!The 3 most important people in my life.
I can't believe how big Casey is getting. Seriously - look at her! (She's gonna be so mad at me someday for posting this isn't she?! hehehe)
Developmentally Casey continues to grow and mature daily. She now will roll wherever she wants to go/be. She sits alone well and will now usually use her hands and arms to correct her position if she starts to tip over. She is still VERY much a Mommy's girl - but I am fine with that as it says a lot about our relationship.Brendan thinks this towel is awfully strange. I think it's so cute! ;)
She will let others hold her if she can't see me while it's happening otherwise there's tears and crying - and she's got quite a voice! She L-O-V-E-S to go "swimming" and wade around the pool with Brendan or myself holding her. She just loves the water and doesn't mind getting splashed in the face and, in fact, is usually causing the splashing :)
Need to get some pics of this activity - her smile when swimming is priceless.She adores Tegan! It's so sweet watching the 2 of the interact...
He and Brendan are the 2 people who can really get her giggling...
If Tegan could hold and carry C around he would be in heaven, though he knows she's too heavy so he doesn't try (thank GOD!). 
she smiles and gets excited with me but rarely giggles unless it's something B or T is doing.C getting frustrated with T going nuts on her exersaucer toys - I don't blame her.
As far as Tegan goes - the everyday daycare schedule (well M-Th) has already done wonders for him. Rarely are there tears in the morning now whereas when it was just the 1 day a week (his summer schedule) it was always rough for us all as there was a tantrum every Wednesday morning. So I'm glad the tantrums are done and the smiles at drop off are back!!!
I just finished downloading the pictures off of the memory cards from both cameras covering who knows how long! (too long, that's for sure!) I'll start with the most recent and work my way back as I continue to post (no promises on how often I post, though. Sorry - this week has been crazy for me back at school.)Doesn't C look like T here?!
A few nights ago Brendan decided it was time to take the training wheels off of T's bike. 
Note that I said that Brendan decided it was time, not Tegan... 
needless to say there were tears... so B decided to try it out. Ha!!!
I think I already mentioned a post or 2 ago that we spent a week in the WI Dells. Needless to say we all had a fabulous time! It was truly one of those vacations where the week was up and we could have easily stayed another several days and not been homesick - it was that fun! We enjoyed activities ranging from a winery tour and wine tasting (adults only) to a tour on the Original Wisconsin Ducks (former Army vehicles that are amphibious),
"speed cars" (as T called them)
and a mini-rollercoaster 
We even went to the Ringling Brothers' Circus Museum.
There was lots and lots of pool time which I don't have any pictures of! (How did that happen?!) I also got most of my training runs in for the week and B got in several bike rides including one that lasted over 5 hours! Yes, we were getting pretty worried about the guys that day. OH - and at the Circus Museum they had a Thomas train table. Really?! So what did T want to play with? The Thomas trains (that were really circus train cars). Seriously, Kid. We've got a train table at home. Silliness I tell you!
As my summer vacation/break started to wind down I made it a point to make it to as many of the playdates organized by my coworkers as possible as we had missed nearly all of them due to naps, vacations, daycare and other scheduling conflicts. I think the year Tegan was born was the first year they started and there were about 5 or 6 kids in the play group at that point. Now there's at least twice that many kids, if not more, as there are now siblings and a whole new set of mommies and kiddos. I think we ended up making it to 3 playdates in 3 weeks (YAY!) and they included the MN Zoo, MN Children's Museum and well... maybe it was just 2. Ha! Anyway - fun was had by all and my only regret is not making it out to more as Tegan always really enjoyed himself - Casey, too, for that matter.
Gettin' close to bedtime but still cute as a button!
At the zoo Tegan had one goal - see the bears.
Lately Tegan has been what some might call "obsessed" with bears. He always wants to know/be reminded where the bears "that eat people" live. He believes that those are the polar bears and they live at the north pole near Santa (maybe that's why Santa only ventures out once a year???). In his eyes the rest of the bears only eat berries and fish, just like the Berenstain Bears. However, he does understand that you should always leave bears alone and you never want to get between a mother bear and her cubs because she wants to keep them safe and gets very angry and mean if there are people near her babies. Interestingly, though, I found some super cute pj's that had an applique grizzly bear on them but Tegan absolutely did NOT want them because the grizzly bears are "very really mean and scare me a lot, Mommy!" --- Back to the zoo - Once Tegan saw the bears (3 that had been abandoned by their moms and then rescued in Alaska) he started to notice the other animals and exhibits. Unfortunately Casey's attention and patience for sitting in the stroller were running short so we didn't go back through and see all the animals, though we did stop at the water fountains on the way out. 
T loved them! 
We did peek at a few including the sea otters, penguins (I think) and others from the Grizzly Coast exhibit (interesting name as the bears there were Brown Bears, not Grizzlies...). I think other than the bears T's favorite was the "boiling mud". 
Doubt it was actually boiling at the zoo but along the Grizzly Coast it does exist. 
We did also visit the Farm animals but that was actually before the bears and was OK'd by T as there was a real tractor that he was able to climb up on and "drive."
The MN Children's Museum was pretty darn fun, too. Even though C had a good time and was even able to interact with a few of the activities I think this would have been more fun for T and I if we would have left C with Grandma or a 'sitter.
Between nursing C and working around her naps we only were able to spend 2 hours or so there and I'm pretty sure T had the stamina to see more. Another time, right?! 
I was very impressed with how well Tegan played and shared with other children, even those that he'd never met before! 
He truly had a blast and I had one watching them both (especially T demonstrating his maturing personality).
OK - enough for now...
Love to all!
~j
