Aunt Angie's Birthday & Pigtails

We helped Aunt Angie celebrate her 27th birthday at Axel's Bonfire in Woodbury on Tuesday night. Angie's friends, "Aunt" Julie, "Aunt" Steph, and "Aunt" Lexie, came from all over the Twin Cities to help celebrate. We especially enjoyed helping Angie eat her birthday cake (she skipped the candle for our sake), and the suckers! The cake was chocolate, with lots of whipped cream - very great so close to bed time!! All 4 aunts helped put us to bed... a little later than usual!

Kylie & "Aunt" Steph

"Aunt" Lexie feeds Aunt Angie cake while we dig in!

Aunt Angie's birthday present from Mom

When Mom picked us up today, we had pigtails!
We looked so grown up!

Neela feeds Kylie a Cheerio & Kylie feeds Cy a Cheerio!

Kylie enjoys being fed!

Neela tries milk - without the lid!

Kylie tried milk - without the lid, too - but she wore more than Neela!

Monkeys, Lobsters, Face Painting, Spaghetti, Water...

As usual, we never have a dull moment at the Estochen residence! Since we last posted, we helped host a baby shower for Mom's cousin, Kristine and baby Caroline, Mom went to the Quad Cities for two nights, Aunt Angie rode three days of RAGBRAI, Grandma rode 5 days of the MSTram (300 miles), and now Daddy's in Florida! In between all this craziness, we managed to do some crazy things of our own.

Let's start with water... we are OBSESSED with water! Below is a picture of Neela splashing in the tub - good thing Daddy's camera has a high shutter speed!


Mom can't let Papa G. teach us every crazy thing, so... We found a lobster in the tub. Mom taught us a lobster goes "pinch, pinch, pinch" on our nose. Here we are showing off "pinch, pinch, pinch..." Papa G... at least it's a foam lobster, not a hard salad tong!!

We love the water so much, we spend part of every weekend day in the pool. Below, Kylie is showing Mom how to "tickle, tickle" Neela.
At daycare, Jesse brought us home some fun new face masks from the movie theater. These go well with the other new trick Mom taught us... We know monkeys say "EEE", and they scratch under their arms. We will show almost anyone who asks!!
For the last weekend, we had Mom's division picnic on Friday night. We played in the bounce house - that had a monkey on the outside. Neela kept pointing at the monkey and scratching... Mom had some explaining to do to her co-workers. It also rained right before the picnic - Kylie found a big puddle, and played in it for a LONG time. Neela just kept running through it. The theme was the Olympics - we tried the "under 3" race to your parent, but we were more interested in throwing the ball then running! On the way out, Kylie found a flag with a "ball" on it (Japan's), so each girl had to bring a few flags home!

On Saturday, we went to our friend Nicole and Craig's wedding in Golden Valley. Kylie's getting quite good at objecting during the vows... Everyone swears they missed her "no, no, no" (again!), but Mom and Dad heard it plain as day! Here's a picture of all 3 girls getting ready - Mom thinks Daddy was holding the camera at his favorite angle!

On Sunday, Daddy left for Orlando - and Mommy had us alone almost all day. We had Daddy's Public Safety Picnic - so we went to the grocery store to find something for the potluck. We got to play in the bounce house (again!), and went down a big slide on Mommy's lap (two kids - good thing Mom's lap is big!). We also had our faces painted for the first time - Mom asked for something quick, but we sat perfectly still. It was the "dry time" that didn't go so well!We also didn't want to nap at the same time - Kylie helped Mom take a shower in the morning (even though there were toys in the bathroom, her favorite thing to do was pull open the shower curtain and say "hi!"). Neela stayed awake all afternoon - the bounce house just got her all wound up. For supper, we had spaghetti - in our own bowls! Mom and Angie let us eat in our diapers (after the pool), so we didn't make a big mess of our clothes. Then, Grandma and Papa E., and Uncle Chuckie, wanted to know why we were only wearing diapers on the webcam :-)

We did manage to try cleaning out the bowl with the spoon - Daddy wanted a picture for Papa G.

Hmmm... Kylie likes to tell everyone - including herself - "Get Down" now. That's probably everything Mom can remember from the last week!

Tomorrow is Aunt Angie's birthday - we get to go to a restaurant to celebrate -- and have CAKE!! Thanks for having a birthday, Auntie Angie!

Love,
Kylie & Neela

A Hot Week... With Pooh, Elmo & Barney

It's been a warm week in Minnesota - things finally cooled down after the rain on Thursday. Before that, we had to cool off in our pool. We loved playing with the cups, balls, and Cy in the pool. Cy didn't really like the pool for long - but he did stay for about 30 seconds!




We also investigated Aunt Angie's bike tire with her. Neela helped replace a tube early in the week, and it went flat AGAIN. Angie brought it in - and taught us about spokes, gears, rims, grease... it was really interesting!


For more fun, we tried dancing on the stairs - and it was our first time licking the spatula when Mom baked muffins for Kristine and Caroline's shower. Neela especially enjoyed it!


Of course, Kylie is talking up a storm. Her favorite animals are Pooh, "Mo" (Elmo), and "Ba" (Barney). She has Pooh and Mo at home, and Barney at daycare. Both girls also enjoy looking for Mo on their diapers and swim diapers - so much sometimes we can't put them on!


Neela is still difficult to understand - but Angie and I swear she said "Dy Barks" last night... Maybe I'm starting to hear things!

We love our walks each day - especially in the side-by-side stroller where we can give high 5's, ET's, and love and kisses... as well as bend over and touch the wheels!

Happy Birthday (again), Aunt Renee!

Another Crazy, Lazy Week...

I know it's an oxymoron, but it's the best way to describe the last week. It seems like everything is full speed ahead, but we finally had a "normal" week -- 5 work days, no major weekend events... OK, that's not true! Last night, we celebrated the retirement of Dick Stehura from the Woodbury Fire Department after 28 years of service as a chief and firefighter -- we are sad to see him go, but know he has given his time and talent. The poster said it all... "Some people live an entire lifetime and wonder if they have ever made a difference in this world, but firefighters don't have that problem." Congratulations, Dick & Diane!

Another big congratulations to our friends in Virginia - Ryan, Kate and Mary - on the arrival of their little boy, Jackson! He arrived Saturday night - and everything sounds great!

As for the girls... Neela still does not have her molars, so she's beyond miserable! She did a few cute things this week... Yesterday, she came in and pulled on my arm - and pulled at her diaper... I asked her if she needed to be changed - and she just looked, so I changed her -- and what a mess! I guess she's learning to communicate without talking much! She also likes to take clothes and hide them - she hid her pajama pants, her skirt, my flip-flops...

Kylie... loves to say "No", and then do everything she knows she's not supposed to do! It's so hard not to laugh at her - and discipline!! She also is turning into a talker on the phone - she told Uncle Tony, Papa G., and Great-Grandpa Estochen that a cow says Moo... and she loves to say "Hi, Papa!". I know that's why Papa G. calls every morning - hoping they haven't left for daycare yet. We're pretty sure Great-Grandpa told Great-Grandma all about it when he got off the phone, too :-)

Tomorrow starts another week... It should be relatively quiet - as quiet as things can be at the Estochen's! Happy 30th Birthday to Aunt Heidi tomorrow! We heard she wore her tiara all night at her party, and the little kids liked the "30 Sucks" suckers more than Uncle Cory!

Also, an early congratulations to another firefighter, Dan "Hambone" Richardson and his wife, Bonnie. Hambone's party is Tuesday night - after 20 years of service - Brad has some big shoes to fill at his station!

And, lastly... Happy Birthday to Aunt Renee on Friday! We won't tell anyone how old she is... :-)

Our love to all!
BJKN&C

Happy 4th of July!

First, we want to thank everyone who serves or has served our country for everything you do to protect our freedoms!

Second, we have a lot to tell you about! On Thursday night, Daddy brought us home a used playhouse and set it up! We thought it was very cool - and didn't want to get out of his way while he put it together. Neela tripped on the door frame of the house, and got another bump - but it's almost gone already.

On Friday, we spent a lazy morning. Neela decided it was a good day for a shave - so she watched Daddy shave intently...

After lunch, we went swimming in the kiddy pool on our deck. Mom bought us some cool pool toys - and we loved it. We tried to throw Cy in - he didn't like it! Then, we went to Shawn and Heidi's annual 4th party with Mom, Dad, Aunt Angie and Julie. We played with lots of other kids, and then fell asleep in our pack-n-plays until the "big" explosions started. We got up - and went out on the deck to see all the fireworks. At first, re both scared - but we warmed up quickly. By the time the night was done, Kylie was clapping and saying "pretty" for every "blast", and Neela was pointing EVERYWHERE! (You can see about 10-15 fireworks displays from Shawn and Heidi's deck on the bluff in Cottage Grove!)

On Saturday, we played in our pool again (we like looking out the patio door and pointing at it until Mom takes us out there). Then, we went for a bike ride with Aunt Angie and Mom up to Coldstone Creamery. We had a kid-size strawberry AND a kid-size banana ice cream dish! Neela fell asleep on the way home - and Kylie couldn't stop talking for a few hours. Hmm... maybe we should try ice cream more often. Before we went to bed, we had to visit with Papa and Grandma Estochen on the computer so they could see our newest tricks (remember the monkey and Kylie started walking??).

On Sunday, we slept in -- it was a long night for everyone -- both of us decided to take turns waking up. After our nap, we went to Dick and Diane's BIG pool, and played for 2 hours. We were in the pool, playing with the water table, shooting water, riding he tricycle... we had so much fun, we didn't want to leave!


After supper, we played with Cy -- he licked our faces and we tried to tickle him and chase him. It was so much fun - we ran around giggling for an hour! Aunt Angie also helped Neela blow bubbles, too - even though Neela wanted to taste the bubbles! We didn't like Daddy's burritoes - they had a little too much kick for us, so we had some crackers before bed.

And, last night, we didn't want to sleep either. Kylie's getting in a pattern of waking up (and Mom and Dad are planning to stop that by letting her cry in a pack-n-play), and Neela appears to be getting her molars... let's hope for a sleep-filled night tonight!!

Before bed tonight, we played with Aunt Angie's hats and bike gear. Aunt Angie says Kylie wears her helmet just like Papa G. -- BACKWARDS!!

Have a good week!

Swimming Pools & Monkeys

Just a short update... We blew up the two-ring pool Grandma G. bought at Menard's on Monday night, and filled it last night. I thought the girls would find it too cold - but they stood in it for a half hour. Kylie sat down once, and got a bit scared, but they wanted to be in it! Neela kept taking the plastic cups and dumping water on herself - and Cy kept drinking the water! Mom got to put her feet in, and sent Cy for a swim or two. Since we didn't plan to swim, we had to leave clothes and diapers outside!!

When Jenny was little, she asked Papa what monkeys say... and he took a long time to say "EEE!". Last night, Kylie was playing with a monkey toy in the bathtub, and Mom kept telling her, "Monkeys say eee!, eee!, eee!" and scratching under her arms. By the end of the bath, Kylie was saying "eee!, eee!, eee!" and scratching... Papa would be so proud! It goes right along with Kylie dancing like a chicken - whenever the chicken dance comes on, Kylie flaps her "wings" and Neela gives the chicken "love".

Have a good one!