Darby 50/52 v2

Darby loves to discover new things. This weekend it was a pay-phone at the mall where we were meeting friends for a lunch date. The odd thing... She new right away it was a phone and put it straight to her ear, but we can't think of a phone with a cord that she sees?!

Darby 49/52 v2

Easter was a big hit with Darby this year. She loved the pretty treats the Easter Bunny brought her, enjoyed searching for eggs in the yard, and seemed pleased with the apricot glazed ham that Mama smoked for dinner. Darby was a very sweet sharer, dolling out jelly beans and chocolate bunny pieces to her brother (from her basket), and she made it a loving day for all of us.

52 : 4 (part 5)

This year for Easter we continued our tradition of visiting the Academy of Sciences, and also added a stop at the de Young for the Oscar de la Renta exhibit and a nice picnic in Golden Gate Park. While Ewan loved the egg hunt, and the basket of goodies, the picnic seems to have really made an impression as he has told us how fun the picnic was over and over since!

52 : 3 (part 5)

Turning 4 meant a visit to the dentist and the doctor, lucky boy! No cavities and a clean bill of health for our growing kid... 44.5 inches (99%) and 47.6 pounds (98%) specifically, which is the size of the average American 6 year old! When asked to draw a picture for the doctor her drew Kylo Ren and signed his name with pride.

Darby 48/52 v2

23 months! Darby is definitely on an independent streak - "I do it," "Darby walk," "This outfit now," and so on. She is communicating a lot with 4, 5, and 6 word sentences. Her latest skill is counting things and we have heard her get up to 4, which may sound a lot like a certain 4-letter word starting with F and therefore makes us laugh hysterically.

Darby continues to be guided by her belly and can get down right hangry, but always turns it around quickly once she gets some food. Favorite foods are ever-changing, but she does seem to be loving berries while her cheese infatuation persists. Darby is the first to start an epic dance party and seems to have a hankering for pop music that her Daddy is hoping will go away quickly. The song "Baby Shark" is still her favorite and is a sure fire way to calm her if she is upset, and is also a great distraction if her hair needs brushing.

1 month to go until she is 2... every day we ponder how unreal it is that she is so big because at the same time we can't recall life with out her!

Darby Moira - 1 Year 11 Months

#EwanMcDTurns4

In our family birthday celebrations do not last a day, or even a weekend, we do it right and things seem to extend beyond even a week... with the big FOUR for Ewan things were no different and we documented the fun with his special hashtag, #EwanMcDTurns4.

After his classroom birthday party, commemorated in post 52 of his fourth year, Ewan had his special date with us, which was supposed to be just us and him per tradition, but he insisted that his baby Darby join us for Zootopia in 3D and pizza at The Old Spaghetti Factory. The next day we left for Anaheim so Ewan could spend his actual birthday (and the day before) at Disneyland (per his request instead of a party) where he got trained to be a Jedi, ate a ton of treats, and had a generally amazing time. And when we made our way home the celebration did not end, he got to fill up a shopping cart at the toy store for his "friends" at the hospital and celebrated with his Auntie with bowling, stories, and lunch.

All in all I would say that Ewan's 4th birthday was a big success and that our boy loved every bit of celebrating!

52 : 2 (part 5)

St. Paddy's Day in our home requires green, plus corned beef and cabbage. The fancy "on this day" feature in Facebook provided us a reminder this year of Ewan's 1st St. Paddy's day, which is quite the juxtaposition to his 5th!