Moving on UP

A spot (finally!) opened in the Preschool class, and Owen transititioned up over the last week! He'll be starting preschool fulltime Tuesday morning! We are so excited!!

First of all, we love the preschool teacher. Miss Lori is calm and sensitive and so in-tune with this extremely developmental time in our children's lives. She pays very close attention to their levels and provides opportunity to push and encourage them to continue challenging and learning. When Collin was in her class, I met with her frequently for ideas and to watch her work with the children. Collin really blossomed, and I found inspiration and insight! I can't wait to watch and discover the ways Owen will now grow in her care.

Second of all, all of the kids in this class are potty-training! After two months in Miss Lori's class, Collin was fully potty-trained. We sure hope Owen meets the same results!!

Good luck in your new class, Owen!

NW Washington Fair 8.15.08

Do you have a cow impression?? I looked over at Collin as we were checking out the cows and thought for certain he'd had too much fair food and was going to be sick. I asked, "Collin, are you ok? What are you doing?" He smiled and said, "I'm being a cow, of course!" And I just knew it was time to post a video. Enjoy!

We spent a wonderful afternoon at the fair this year on Collin's birthday, joined by Jacqui and Chris! One of my favorite features at this fair is the Toddler Field, littered with FREE games for kids, including the bean-bag toss, ring toss, fishing games, etc! What fun! But even more fun was the Science Hall, where the boys enjoyed manipulating the many stations:

Even still, the most fun of all were the cows. Rows and rows of cows. We spent so much time hanging with the cows that the only other animals we saw were the rabbits (after which, Owen crouched down on the ground and hopped like a rabbit, "ribbet"ting like a frog, for an entire aisle).
Collin played the cows a tune on the horn he found in Little Boy Blue's haystack:
Collin: Mom, stop! Take a picture of us HERE! (... in the horse trailer!)

It was over 90 degrees, and we all were sweating in the hot, glorious sun!
Owen: Hey, where are the keys?

Collin: Hang on, Owie! I'm driving us to the store!

June Pics (in August at last!)

Hey, Owen?! (Hey, What?) Show me how you Bug-a-loo!!

Owen was extra careful as he made Kevin's Father's Day card this year, adding extra color and extra love. He spent over ten minutes on the blank card until it was absolutely perfect!

Grandma J made the boys Super Capes in early June! Look at Collin fly!

What a big month! Owen learned to ride his bike on Father's Day! In his inaugural ride, Owen wouldn't take his eyes off his feet and the pedals ~ he was so fascinated by the results they were accomplishing!

Grandpa J and Grandpa Bob joined us for Father's Day. Here Kate is wishing Grandpa Bob a Happy Grand-Father's Day!

We have a Wii ~ and we love it. But no one more than Collin, who LOVES the many sports and activities on Wii Sports and Wii Fit. In this pic, he's bowling (see the hop as he releases the ball!); he bowled a 211 that game!

2 and 1/2 Months

We usually do the Woodland Park Zoo for Mother's Day each year, but this year, you may remember, the boys were super-sick. So June 27, I claimed my raincheck, and we had an awesome day!

Checking out the Monkeys

Climbing on the Worms

Talking to the Rooster

Milking the (pretend) Cow

Beautiful Works of Art

At Taylor's 2nd Birthday Party, we were fortunate to get all of the grandchildren together with Great Grandma and Great Grandpa G. I love this picture.

Hot Fun in the Summertime!

Happy 4 Months, Kate!

On the Move

She's rolling! Sunday Kate started rolling across her blanket, traversing maybe a foot or two. Monday she started rolling towards toys. By today, she had mastered rolling across a room floor, around chairs, under tables and benches, etc. Activity gyms are useless this week because once she's laid on the ground, she's off! She prefers rolling to her tummy so she can see and scoot. Yep, scoot. She's turning, she's scooting, she's moving. No joke. Four months tomorrow.

I just looked in on her in her bed, and it was the first time I'd walked in and she wasn't asleep in essentially the same place I'd laid her. Instead, she had turned her whole body 90 degrees, had a toe poking through the crib bar, and had rolled to her tummy. She was zonked and comfy ~ and she'd gotten that way all on her own.

I got a tad emotional. My baby is already losing her "baby-ness." Collin flipped over at 3 months like Kate, but Owen didn't really (consistently) until he was 5 months. Neither rolled. In fact, neither boy really moved outside the radius of their flip-flop until they started crawling and cruising around 8 months. Kate's movements are astounding me! I am blown away watching her, and she is so proud! Big dimpled-grin from ear to ear each time she reaches her destination and we acknowledge her success!

Speaking of growing (mommy) pains, Kate's maturing daily! She's now pausing during feeds to lift her head and check the scene when she hears good distractions. And oh, is she a social butterfly! Except - again a sign that she's losing her "babyness" - she's beginning to show emotional signs of attachment and crying when she's not being held by those she knows best (a toughie for a mom who asks colleagues to watch her baby in the hallways during court hearings ~ this week I had to argue a motion while Kate cried her lungs out in the hall, knowing that if I walked out there, I could make everything ok. *As soon as the Commissioner made her ruling and before the order was passed and signed, I darted for the hall and Kate joined me in the courtroom happily, cooing for the record.)

Kate was singing in the back of the van on the way to work this morning. I kid you not. Collin heard it too. She sang (to Country music!) nearly 15 minutes. It was adorable and hilarious!

Seriously?

Owen just threw up all over the upstairs landing. I rushed to the top of the stairs and held his shivering, burning body as he uploaded into the porcelain bowl. We're a "sick house" again. Or still??

I'm wondering ... many families choose to live on one-parent incomes ... is it because they know one parent will be required to be at home with sick children so often? If Owen's illness lasts as long as Collin's did, Kevin will have worked "part time" (at home with a sick child, making phone calls at the kitchen table in between bouts of "Cars" and tummy rumbles) more than half of the past 30 days. Add in that it happened to be our vacation month, and that means he'll have been able to work full time one week in the past month ... and we'll have paid daycare for two kids full time for the whole month (whether they attended or not). Doesn't really add up ...

We are truly so fortunate to be in the positions we are, working the jobs we do. I know we'd make it in another boat, but I can't see how we'd really stay afloat.

By the way, Thank You, Kevin, for cleaning up the landing. : )

Got "Big Kid" Milk?

COLLIN: I'm not drinking Cow's milk anymore. I don't like the taste.
ME: Oh, yeah? [Coming from a boy who, on his own, has consistently drank a minimum of 2 gallons of milk a week, I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow in anticipation of what he might say next!]
COLLIN: Yeah. Babies drink Mommy's milk. Little kids drink cow's milk. I'm almost four, so I'm only going to drink chocolate milk!

Should I tell him we just add sugar-free chocolate syrup to his non-fat cow's milk?! Oh boy ... : )

Vacation Success!

- Pediatricians Saturday morning: check.
- Ferry by 2:00 that afternoon: check.
- Camping in a tent with three kids under 4 in (lots of) rain and shine: check.
- Outhouse: check.
- Beachcombing for shells, glass, baby rock crab: check. (Collin's "heaven on earth" is Pebble Beach.)
- Digging a tunnel to China: attempted (check).
- Having quality 1:1 time with my kids: check.
- Spending quality 1:1 time with my hubby: check.
- Running (almost) daily runs with the kids in the jogger (who, to my delight, fought for their "turns" in the buggy; Kate got to go every time in case I detoured on a beach too long and needed to feed her): check.
- Finishing a novel I started over a month ago: check (ok, finished it tonight after the kids went to sleep; only read 6 pages on the vacation.)
- And the last on my "vacation goal" list was to lose 1 pound AND STILL eat and drink to my heart's content (hence, the running goal): CHECK! ... I lost 2.2 pounds and ate a whole package of Nutter Butters in two days! : )

Now it's back to reality ...