Liftoff-- Finally!!

While Kira is far from immobile (as she scoots around pretty quickly), she had yet to master crawling. She has been receiving physical therapy for a few months now, and even our physical therapist told us that since she was so comfortable with scooting that we shouldn't expect her to crawl, and eventually she would just move straight to walking. However, crawling develops important muscles and skills, so our physical therapist really did want us to encourage crawling if possible.

Just when we had about given up on getting Kira to crawl, today she took her first few "steps" forward! It started when Nana, Poppy and Aunt Lori came to visit this afternoon, and then this evening after bath time she showed us it wasn't a fluke, as she crawled down the entire upstairs hallway. She still clearly prefers scooting, but hopefully this will encourage her to crawl, as well.

Kira also learned how to sit up in her crib this week (scaring the daylights out of her!), prompting Daddy to lower the crib to it's lowest setting today. So it seems like Kira is really on a roll with her gross motor skills this week!

We had a pretty low-key week this week after Alex came down with a fever early Tuesday morning. It had broken by later on Tuesday but Mommy kept everyone home from school on Wednesday just to be safe. To keep us busy, we did lots of baking- zucchini muffins and honey whole wheat bread...yum! Thursday was another housebound day, just to make sure everyone was fully healthy before returning to our regularly scheduled program, and also because of the nasty, cold, rainy weather. We did take a quick trip out to our favorite store, Target, to buy Ari some more underwear. Yes, Ari is officially, fully potty trained. Mommy can't really take the credit, as Ari did it all herself and doesn't even wear a diaper to nap or sleep. She's been going potty out and about (at school, shopping, etc.) and even uses the "big potty" at home now with the potty seat on top. Ari was the first one in her class to become fully potty trained and is referred to by her teachers as a "trailblazer." We are so proud of our little over-achiever!!

Today we started the day with a visit to the Smithsonian's Udvar-Hazy Center, an extension of the Air and Space Museum. All three kids LOVED seeing the airplanes, space shuttle and helicopters. Ari even went on a simulated space shuttle ride (which was actually pretty scary!) with Mommy, declaring at the end "I liked it!" Alex declined the opportunity to go on the ride when he watched it shake and rattle from the outside.

In the afternoon, following a visit from Nana, Poppy, Aunt Lori and Ozzie, Mommy took Alex and Ari to friend Jacob's 3rd birthday party while Daddy and Kira spent some quality time together at home. Ari and Alex had so much fun running around with their friends and Mommy enjoyed watching them (they seemed so independent and grown-up today!) and catching up with her own friends.