Whoooooo's Two?

Elsie!

Our little Valentine celebrated her second birthday this weekend.

She had an owl-themed party.

Owen entertained our guests by reading aloud.

She also had her two year check-up today. It came as no surprise that she is still tall (35" and 81st percentile) and thin (23 lbs 7oz and 11th percentile).

Elsie Update

Elsie had another appointment with her neurologist today. Some of the tests have suggested that she may have a metabolic disorder. There are three main possibilities at this point, and we will be doing further testing to see if she has one of them. One of the tests requires her skin cells being sent to Amsterdam to the only lab in the world that runs the test.

So we are not expecting any immediate answers, but at least they seem to narrowing down the possible causes. Ironically it wasn't any of the tests that they ran during her hospital stay, but from a urine test we had done because her new medication makes her pee smell funny. It wasn't even the things they were testing for that showed up, but another aspect that happens to be part of the test. The neurologist said, "Sometimes persistence is better than smartness."

Christmas 2009

This year in addition to reading our Advent Storybook every evening, Owen also had a Lego Advent Calendar. Every night he would get a different Lego character or part. On December 24th it ended with Lego Santa. Needless to say, this was very exciting for Owen.

Owen was also very excited about the Norad Santa Tracker. We think he checked it at least 25 times during the day to see where Santa was.

Elsie and Owen opening their stockings.

Owen's toys from Santa.

Elsie enjoying her new chair and table from Santa.

Christmas wouldn't be complete without some tasty gingerbread waffles for breakfast.

Knitting Notes

Can you believe Ray didn't include the details of the hats I made for our photo shoot? ;)

I came up with the idea five days before our appointment. Fortunately, those five days included Thanksgiving, so there was a lot of time spent in the car, as well as doting grandparents to wrangle children (thank you!) while I was knitting.

Owen's -- Ear-Flap Hat
Ray's -- Koolhaas from Interweave Knits Holiday Gifts 2007
Elsie's -- Zeebad
Sarah's -- Star-Crossed Slouchy Beret